Gear Patrol

We’re not ignoring the “Skyfall” trailer; we’re watching it for the third time right now. But a new adaptation of Gatsby seems somehow important, American — a story handed down to the next generation, a role bestowed on DiCaprio by Redford, a soundtrack with Irving Berlin for one with Kanye and Hov. A cautionary tale…

Life is filled with surprises, like the Netherlands tightening its marijuana laws even as we relax ours in the States. What’s next — freedom of religion? Geez. News about that, plus things on wheels (bikes, exploding cars) and people who run really fast, in this week’s Briefings. It’s a big and complicated world. We’re at…

In a perfect world we’d spend every week playing snooker, fishing, drinking cocktails, reading children’s books, and eating a meal with mom. We’re allowed approximately two of these weeks in America. Make the most of them. It’s a big and complicated world. We’re at tips [at] gearpatrol.com if you think there’s something we should know…

This week we’re reporting from Edinburgh, UK, and seeing things through the traveler’s lens (more on Edinburgh in the coming weeks). In that spirit, this week’s picks are all about seeing familiar things from a different perspective. We’ve also got two recipes that celebrate the changing of the seasons, which is exactly what happened this…

Sometimes it feels like there’s this prevailing attitude of cool indifference, not taking things too seriously, blase raised to the nth power. We’re glad to see signs of change. For one thing, Kevin Costner had a good conversation with Esquire about shoving people against fences and not being able to afford chocolate milk. For another,…

Most of the time we agree with Dylan: You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a-changin’. But even as we embrace new technology all the time, there seems to be a broad cultural clinginess to nostalgia. Clinging to the old way like an abalone clings to the…

This week is mainly about things we like to know about but are fairly comfortable observing from afar: a formerly secret town in eastern Tennessee where the government enriched uranium; Snoop Dogg’s new book/package of rolling papers; and new developments in the world of hormone replacement therapy, which, well, we’re glad to know it’s there……

If you’ve only got time for one significant distraction today, use it wisely. Consider that it’s the beginning of spring and warm outside in many parts of these here United States. The perfect day to ride some trails or drink a few brewskies al fresco. If you’re still with us, though, you’ve got to watch…

One way to look at this week’s serving of culture is by taking a second to enumerate the things we chose not to write about: a swimsuit video with Candice Swanepoel, Justice Antonin Scalia on broccoli, The Hunger Games, and Geraldo Rivera’s mustache. Make of it what you will. We’re at tips [at] gearpatrol.com if…

As spring has commenced, we thought we’d honor the new season, warm weather in New York, cherry blossoms in DC, and people generally wearing a lot less clothing by sharing some stories that offer a fresh look at topics we may already know a thing or two about. It’s a big and complicated world. We’re…

Today being National Pi Day and Albert Einstein’s birthday, fortuitously, we’re contributing our part with another round-up of the week’s most important cultural events. Chief among them: meat straws. But also the greatest race on earth, a new study about the origins of the Sicilian mafia, and a single elimination tournament for books. It’s a…

It’s hard to argue that the most important things going on in the world this week have nothing to do with baby sloths and robotic cheetahs, but if we can have your ear for just a second… no? Come on. Email us at tips [at] gearpatrol.com if you think there’s something we should know about.

It’s Week 2 of our more cultivated Briefings, and we hope we’re giving you some cool stuff to talk about, even if you’re just muttering to yourself at the office. This week we’re going to shield our eyes against the political race, talking instead about free money, errant anchors, lit mags, and nostalgia. Email us…

Editor’s Note: Building on the growing popularity of Briefings, we’ve decided to expand our link coverage with a weekly dose of what’s happening out there in the world of man, beyond the world of gear. More than a link drop, less than a TPS Report, look forward to 3-5 doses of culture with a spoonful…

How and Why to Write Your Own Personal Manifesto Art of Manliness Billy Reid Autumn Winter 2012 Selectism A Year Of Barbecue: Eastern Carolina Food Republic Saturday at ICON A Continuous Lean How to Write A Love Letter Esquire Muscle Beach and the Dawn of Huge Men’s Journal How to Deal with Twitter Overload Macworld…

How a Landline Can Get You Out of Jail The Verge Survival Training for When a Pilot’s World Turns Upside Down NYTimes Now is the Time to Quit Facebook ReadWriteWeb A Closer Look at the Patek Philippe 5270 Perpetual Calendar Hodinkee The Amazing Spiderman Trailer Acquire A Man’s Home Valet The Internet Makes You Stupid,…

China May Never Match America’s Creative Muscle Fast Company Falling Mad Men Esquire ACL Field Trip: Mr Porters Office A Continuous Lean Con Artist Starred in Sting That Cost Google Millions WSJ Standout Films at Sundance 2012 Cool Hunting Day 31: Invest in Leather Valet A Visit with the Worst College Basketball Team in America…

A Guide to SOPA WSJ Progressive Change Campaign Committee Petition PCCC End Piracy, Not Liberty Google NYTimes and LATimes Come Out Against SOPA TechDirt How SOPA Would Affect You, an FAQ CNet The President’s Challenge O’Reilly SOPA on Wikipedia Wikipedia

The Grid at 200: Lines That Shaped Manhattan NYTimes Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Ultra-Thin Tribute To Mad Men Hodinkee What George Clooney Learned This Year Esquire 10 Things We Learned About Apple This Year SplatF TV Producers Applaud Film Producers Variety This Will be the Year That Was The Morning News World’s Fastest Car Named for Sluggish…

The Real Story Behind Apple’s Think Different Campaign Forbes Food Republic Coffee Power Rankings Food Republic 7 Things Highly Productive People Do Inc Invasion of the $10 Wardrobe, Profile with Tadashi Yanai GQ Count Us In: Find My Smart Kar Kickstarter How to Lead a Creative Life: Martin Scorsese Fast Company

The Imogene+Willie Guide to Nashville Park & Bond A Taxi Test New Yorker How Coffee Can Galvanize Your Workout NYTimes About that Live Standup: What Louis C.K. Has to Say About His Sales Louis C.K. One of the Most Complex Rolex Watches Ever Made Hodinkee Essential Viewing: The Spielberg Face Fandor Meet the Longest, Fastest…

When Pan Am Airlines Still Set the Tone CookieSound Red Rooster Coffee Mill Selectism Architecting the Future Cool Hunting A Personal Trainer You Can Wear on Your Wrist NYTimes (with our very own, Jason Heaton) Take It or Leave It, This is the New Twitter Twitter

Life as a US Military Front Lines Photographer PopPhoto Bruce Weber’s Documentary on Film Legend Chet Baker Open Culture The Most Comprehensive Infographic About Money, Ever XKCD 5 Boroughs in 48 Hours Dwell How to Write with Style (Long Read) Novelr The Sportsman’s Guide to London Garden & Gun

A Soldier’s Life in Afghanistan Totally Cool Pix Christmas Gifts for Men Art of Manliness Why We Will All Forget the NBA Lockout Grantland Disruptions: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why Bits NYTimes Red Scarlet, Canon C300, and the Paradox of Choice Prolost Great Mountains of the World: K2 Adventure Journal

Interview with Intelligentsia’s Geoff Watts Cool Hunting The Pop-Up Flea Rises A Continuous Lean The Testosterone Dilemma Men’s Journal Theming the Criterion Collection Criterion The Occupy Wall Street Digital Land Grab Bloomberg Businessweek Edison vs. Westinghouse: A Shocking Rivalry Smithsonian

National Geographic Photo Contest 2011 Roundup The Atlantic One man, 100,000 toothpicks, and 35 years: An incredible kinetic sculpture of San Francisco This is Colossal Did Manny Pacquiao Just Become the Villain? Grantland Inside the Nest: iPod creator Tony Fadell wants to reinvent the thermostat The Verge Americans of the Year Esquire A Clear Explanation…

The Footage the NFL Won’t Show You Wall Street Journal (account required) George Clooney Talks Sex, Politics and Fame Rolling Stone How to Take Better Camera Phone Photos National Geographic Fall Cycling Gear Cool Hunting The Macallan X-Ray Boxes by Nick Veasey NOTCOT How to Calibrate Your HDTV and Boost Your Video Quality in 30…

Twitter Stories Twitter Cured Meat for the Soul A Continuous Lean Fab Forward Entrepreneur Style Innovators: New Voices in American Menswear Valet Watching the Birth of an Iceberg NASA

GQ Interviews Lil’ Wayne GQ How the Macintosh Might Have Been Called Bicycle Folklore World War II Narrated in Real Time via Twitter Twitter An Incubator of Baseball Talent NYTimes How to Throw a Knife Like Bill the Butcher Art of Manliness Top Games to Play on iPhone 4S VentureBeat

Death of a Playboy WSJ Magazine Fuel for the City That Never Sleeps NYTimes Commerce as Content: Shopping Through Art SplatF Auroral photography: A guide to capturing the Northern Lights DPReview Textured Ties for Fall Valet America’s Classic Resorts, from the Greenbrier to the Breakers Vanity Fair Vice Guide to Congo: Part 1 Vice