School Supplies: Fleeced

-Most of the complaints we hear about collegiate style tend to center around the prevalence of the North Face fleece jacket. Its an easy target: an overpriced, seemingly contrived product that has become overwhelmingly popular on Greek Row. While buying multiple colors for the sake of matching is ludicrous (and surprisingly common), so is the outcry against such a practical garment. We live in an area famous for shitty weather, and a light fleece jacket can be a huge asset. Believe it or not, you can stay warm this fall while retaining some semblance of originality.

-There was a time when The North Face was simply known as one of the best outdoor companies around. They recently commemorated the 1990 Trans-Antarctica Expedition with some throwback colors and minor design changes. Calling these colors loud would be an understatement, but they are anything but unoriginal and they make the jacket pretty hard to lose at a kegger.

-Patagonia is a pretty solid company, as they don't force you to sacrifice style for the sake of your ecological footprint (as evidenced by one of our first PowerPoints). Anyone who has ever worn a North Face fleece can tell you that even the slightest amount of wind renders them obsolete. Patagonia's Retro-X is windproof, thus making it a lot warmer than the alternative. After all, before pink fleeces and Uggs got popular, warmth was the reason people wore jackets and boots to begin with. The times they are a changin'....at least according to the guy on that Lucky shirt. more

Music Theory: Conor Oberst Goes Solo (kind of)

-I've long had a love/hate relationship with Conor Oberst. I dug Bright Eyes when a friend first showed them to me in 9th grade, but I fell off the bandwagon as we were barraged with side project after side project and every magazine hailing Oberst as the next Dylan.
-For his new self titled album, Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band headed to a remote mountain villa in Mexico to record for a month, and however many cliché organic cringes that may induce, the results are surprisingly good.
-There are certain people that are going to say that I've gone back on my principles for suddenly liking Oberst, and maybe I have. More likely though, is that I've just been so entrenched in unpoetically direct music for the last few years that a stew of metaphor set to an easy going blues-rock backdrop is refreshing. I still won't call him the next Dylan though.
-Overall B+
-New video for the song "Souled Out" after the jump.

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