We will be launching our first ever radio spots in advance of the looming Father's Day holiday -- it's June 21st if you haven't heard -- and you can hear them here first. In fact, if you send us some feedback in the next 24 hours, you may influence which one we run first.

We've got two different spots, both of which reflect the tongue-in-cheek attitude we try to bring to our business. The first attempts to define the "On The Fly guy", while the second announces our boycott of the term "Metrosexual".

We hope you enjoy listening to them as much we enjoyed producing them.

We've got a pretty full calendar at the San Francisco store leading up to Father's Day on Sunday, June 21st.

On Thursday, June 11th, the winemaker from JAQK Cellars will be in attendance from 5pm-8pm to pour their fine wines and answer questions. Appetizers will be served. You can RSVP for this event on our Facebook page here.

And, on Thursday, June 18th, the Single Malt Scotch Ambassador from Balvenie will be on hand from 5pm-8pm to educate gentlemen on their craft, and of course, pour some Scotch. Again, appetizers will be served, and you can RSVP for this event here.

Attendance is limited to each of these events, so kindly RSVP. We look forward to seeing you at one -- or both -- of these special events.

GQ is all over the news this week thanks to the attention given to Robert Draper's article on former "SecDef" Donald Rumsfeld. It's a fascinating - perhaps downright scary - read, but if you're like me, you were probably dying to know what all those acronyms are atop each brief.

Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic says, "The briefings are replete with bodacious classification markings, like TOP SECRET//HCS-COMINT-GAMMA//ORCON, NOFORN//EXDIS/X1, X6."

He then proceeds, for the benefit of us civilians, to break them all down here. Please commit these to memory as it is quite possible that future On The Fly email campaigns will borrow some of them. This post will self-destruct in 5...4...3...

What a difference a economic collapse makes! Not that should come as any surprise, really, but it hit me in a new way this last week. 

For the past couple years, there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of blogs that have popped up that follow the "ultra-luxe" market. They're blogs that highlight diamond-covered iPhones for $35,000, 24K gold-plated flat screens, and tiaras for dogs that sell for $4.2 MILLION! Admittedly, I follow many blogs like those in a futile attempt to satiate my own unquenchable thirst for luxury.

However, the message to brands was clear: to get onto the pages of magazines or to generate blog buzz, you needed a product that was outrageously over-the-top. Not just luxurious, but profanely so. Who cares if it's never going to sell? It was a form of advertising based on the premise that people would want to read -- or dream, rather -- about objects of excessive luxury.

And we fell into the trap as well, but to a much lesser extent. We have some over-the-top products that we like to show off: a $500 belt made of dinosaur, a $2,600 Sterling Silver shave set, or the $13,000 Tumbled Croc gym bag pictured above. They are expensive, and luxurious for sure, but I would argue they are just under "profane".

So as we started putting some feelers out to our favorite press contacts about gifts for Father's Day -- it's June 21st this year! -- I was shocked to hear back that a very popular regional luxe magazine was focusing on gifts under $30. Ultimately, I shouldn't have been surprised at all, but it did illuminate how quickly things can change. From the-most-expensive-product-someone-may-never-buy to a-pricepoint-below-what-most-luxury-companies-offer in less than a year.

That said, we have some great gifts for Dad under $40, including magnetic collar stays, shave cream from the oldest barbershop in the world, and our favorite socks among other ideas. After all, it's the thought that counts.

UPDATE: What's one of the first things I read about this morning? A $24,000 mattress that incorporates 22K gold. You couldn't make this stuff up!

I will be in Boston for a couple days next week, and thought it would be a good excuse to do some legwork on the Modern Gentleman's Guide to Boston. While I plan to use the interwebs to find some of the places I'll visit, I figured it would be even better to go directly to those that share many of my preferences: you, our loyal blog reader. 

Any thoughts on the best steak house in Boston (no chains please)? Best martini? Barbershop? Wine shop? Spot for a business lunch? 

Well, the website has been open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for almost 5 years now with just a few ugly exceptions (even Amazon & eBay have occasional outages so we're in good company). With the opening of our store in downtown San Francisco, the issue of "hours of operation" has been hotly debated, and is still evolving. 

Nevertheless, we can say with some level of certainty that the store will now be OPEN on Sundays from 11am until 5pm. In addition, our Saturday hours are now being extended from 10am until 6pm. Of course, all of this is subject to change, but for now, you can take it to the bank (does that phrase mean anything any more?).

Stop by and see us -- it's nice to put faces with names!