Fairfax By Night

10 of the Oldest, Most Historic Bars in the USA

At the crossroads of American history, classic architecture and drinking establishments, comes the list of the 10 Oldest, Most Historic Bars in the USA, a collection our country’s oldest taverns and pubs. Like artifacts frozen in time, the authentic vintage aesthetic contained in these establishments are exuded from their century old original interiors and architectural elements. Character like this cannot be replicated.

Daft Punk Essential Mix 1997

With the impending release of their new album Random Access Memories, Daft Punk’s 1997 Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1 has come back to the forefront of the electronic music scene giving listeners a feel for classic House music, and a sense of this dynamic duo’s roots. I’ve had this on repeat all weekend, and am thoroughly impressed with the groovin’ track list and solid mixing techniques performed on equipment far less advanced than those used by DJ’s today.

Banner Cards

Though thoughtful and enjoyed by most, I’ve always considered greetings cards to be just a formality that anyone can simply buy, sign the name and consider it a gift. Not to say they are worthless, I just think a little more thought and creativity could be applied. However, some greeting cards are much more elaborate than your standard Hallmark one with a cute picture and witty message. Here we find the Banner Cards from Fifi Du Vie, normal cardstock accompanied with a crafty mini banner attached to the front that you might actually keep as decoration instead of just throwing away in a week. [SwissMiss]

Porsche 550 Spyder

The Porsche 550 spyder needs no introduction, quite simply one of the most legendary race cars of all time. The above photographs are of an extremely detailed and well executed digital 3D model of the 550. No eloquently worded prose can describe the magnitude of beauty in these photographs, so lets just gaze and enjoy.

Los Angeles 2013 Circa 1988

On April 3, 1988 the Los Angeles Times Magazine published a futuristic expose of what life in Los Angeles would be like in 25 years entitled LA 2013. The article (click here for the full PDF) included everything from revolutionary technology that would modernize our daily lives, to our futuristic transportation system, to the transformed urban environment. One of the things I found most fascinating with the article were the absolutley stunning illustrations of the futuristic Los Angeles cityscape composed by reknowned designer Syd Mead. Famous for his visual contributions to the science fiction masterpiece Bladerunner, Mead’s creation envisions a future Los Angeles categorized by clean lines, high buildings, sleek transportation and few remnants of the 20th century.

Beckett Simonon Shoes

Shoe designer Beckett Simonon set out to make a line of shoes and boots that not only were good looking, but also affordable. By cutting out the middle man and selling direct the consumer, they were able to reduce their price point and reinvest the savings into high quality materials and manufacturing. The result is a fantastic looking line Chukka Boots, Derbies and Brogues come in a great range of brown leathers with same great style you would see from the higher end shoemakers. [Valet]

Dehen 1920 Clothing

Touting a rich history in textile and clothing manufacturing, Dehen has been in continuous operation in Portland, Oregon making quality outerwear since 1920. Most known for collegiate sweaters, their current line of Varsity V-Neck sweaters and Varsity Cardigan sweaters come in an assortment of classic colors, that are sure to layer nicely with oxford button down shirt. I especially like the arm stripes in contrasting colors, its a nice little detail that sets it apart from a normal sweatshirt.

Toro y Moi – Rose Quartz (Richnuss Edit)

A passion project of two musician buddies of mine, Richnuss, have started retooling some of their favorite tracks for their DJ sets. Their newest release is a solid bootleg edit of Rose Quartz by Toro Y Moi. By adding some big bass synths and 4 to the floor beat, the track now has a great deep house vibe with a lot of depth and attitude.

MFEO Furniture

There is something special about salvaged building materials, like old beams, flooring, doors etc… that have such great character from their years of wear and use. They possess an aesthetic that is impossible to replicate, and have a certain striking aura that I have come to greatly appreciate. Luckily, many of these materials are in good enough condition to be re-purposed into new pieces of furniture like the ones you see above from MFEO Furniture. Wire spools and an old parquet floor that have been turn into some very sharp looking tables; spectacular pieces from some very innovative designers. [LAImYours ]

Wood & Faulk Leather Coasters

Wood & Faulk out of Portland Oregon is renowned for finely crafted leather goods ranging from bags to belts to camera straps. Self proclaimed “designer, builder and tinkerer”, Wood & Faulk founder Matt Smith decided to compile all of his passion projects into one blog and offer his goods for sale. One of their newest products caught my eye because of it’s simplicity and handsome aesthetic, the leather coaster. It functions well and looks really nice on a raw wood table.

Northern Grade Pop-Up Shop Los Angeles

Up until recently, the much lauded menswear pop-up shop Northern Grade had only opened up it’s flea market style boutique in it’s Midwest home of Minneapolis and Chicago. Now, the annual event is expanding out to other cities to showcase a wide variety of american made menswear apparel and goods, including Los Angeles this Saturday April 6th 11AM-7PM and Sunday April 7th 11Am-5PM. Sponsored by Apolis and Pierrepont Hicks, some of the best local and national brands in menswear will be attending, along with food and drinks from Handsome Coffee Roasters, Wurstkuche and Coolhaus. See the flyer above for more details.

Mission Gothic Typeface

Big fan of the newly released typeface Mission Gothic from Lost Type Co-op, a sans serif family in five weights and italics. “A year in the making, Mission Gothic is a collaboration between Trevor Baum and James T. Edmondson inspired by the hand-painted signage and lettering found in the Mission District during Field Trip SF.” I greatly admire how they designed a font on some old hand painted signage they stumbled onto in the Mission, now that’s some authentic inspiration. Like the other fonts in their collection, these can be donwloaded by naming your own price (which means you could do it for $0), but the quality of their design are worth every dollar you are willing to pay.