Bay Area residents remotely involved in the high-tech sector are undoubtedly familiar with TED. Short for "Technology, Entertainment, Design", the first conferences were about world-changing ideas in those 3 fields. To be invited to the TED conference was/is a big deal; I have never been invited, and yes I am bitter about it. Today, TED presentations cover a slightly wider array of topics, but I'm certainly not complaining after having watched Sam Martin's presentation on "Manspaces". 

There's nothing particularly revolutionary about the idea, but if you've ever built a manspace or mancave of your own, you'll be happy you're not alone. At just under 5 minutes in length, it's a quick respite from work and it may just manspire you to create a manspace of your own. 

In honor of the Manspace, On The Fly will gladly giveaway a $100 Gift Certificate to the site to the reader who sends us a photo of their manspace with them in it (a "proof of life" item like the day's newspaper is required for authenticity so no one is just Googling photos of other people's manspaces). We'll pick a winner by November 7th. 

You can watch the entire presentation here. 

Last Fall, Bills Khakis introduced their first casual jacket called the Colby Jacket. It was a Barracuda-style jacket done in their Driving Twill fabric in their British Khaki color, and while it seemed classic at the time - like everything they do - I was reminded how classic it was last week.

While watching the original Thomas Crown Affair from 1968, featuring Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway, there are a few scenes where McQueen is wearing a pair of plain front khakis and a blue Barracuda-style jacket. Forty-plus years later and the first thing I did after the movie ended was shoot Bills an email to see if they ever did the jacket in blue (they haven't, but I'm sure if some of you mention it, they will).

We didn't order the Colby Jacket this Fall, but if Bills Khakis has one in your size, we can get it for you. 

Later in the movie, while wearing the same jacket and smoking a cigar, Tommy Crown heads out his back door to a patio featuring a telescope on a tripod. At the time, we had not yet launched Authentic Models' products on our website, but I knew they made a similar piece. In fact, you can now buy one from us here.

Once we start selling three-piece suits, gliders, and dune-buggies...we'll have the whole movie covered.

Bonus: The funniest line in the movie? "What does a guy with four million bucks want with two million more?"

Versace did it. Armani did it. Other designers have thought about it, or talked about it. And last night, Mulholland Brothers, based in San Francisco, unveiled The Mulholland Suite at the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood. Mulholland loyalists know that the company dabbled in the furniture business for a few years with a beautiful line of what we called "boldly masculine" pieces in dark wood stains with complementary leather accents. That, and their particular expertise in leather goods, inspired the design of the suite.

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When we first saw the Official Game Haven Crystalcade at a Player magazine party in Los Angeles, we thought it was cool because it was an arcade cabinet with colorful lights. Little did we know about the magic inside. For our Superbowl party, OGH shipped us a Crystalcade of our very own (shown above in our showroom after dark), and it was the most popular guest at the party.

Official Game Haven products are based on an optimized Windows XP operating system, which means in a nutshell, that is a full-fledged computer system in addition to hosting just about every arcade game you've ever played or heard of. That's right -- on the Crystalcade, you can play everything from Tiger Woods Golf or any PC game to over 200+ classic Atari games going back to Pong.

The real power of all of the OGH products is their ability to transport you back to more innocent days. Watching guests choose their favorite games illuminated much about the player's personality, and each choice brought back memories of my own youth. When was the last time I saw someone playing Joust? Or Double Dragon? Or Tecmo Bowl? Other favorites were NBA Jams, Commando, Super Mario Bros (the original), Donkey Kong, Street Fighter, and of course, Ms. Pac-Man.

The features of the Crystalcade are too numerous to list in this blog (we do list them here), but let's just say that the one thing that no spec sheet can convey is how strong the feelings of nostalgia will be when you are confronted with images you may not have seen for a decade or more. Now, none of us can get any work done!

Poor Veep. That whole quail hunting accident is going to be the butt of more jokes than the last Quayle that was VP. For as long as he is alive. And probably after that even.

But if you've ever imagined what dinner would like when Dick Cheney and Antonin Scalia go on one of their infamous hunting trips, we think we have a clue.

When we were approached by a couple of local interior designers to assist them with a table setting for a charity dinner, we were, admittedly, hesitant. Until we heard the theme: Camp Luxe.If someone as rich as Bill Gates, but as stylish as George Clooney, and as avid (albeit controversial) an outdoorsman like Dick Cheney went hunting, this is what his tent would look like.

Read all about the charity event On The Fly participated in, and see additional pictures in our article entitled Dining On The Fly.

Ok, so we're not counting the flat-panel TV, the overstuffed leather club chair, or the pool table as "furniture", but rather necessities.

While we like to think we are solving problems for the modern gentleman, every once in a while we come across a company that is really solving problems for guys like us. So when we heard about a company making an armoire for men, we were skeptical but open-minded. Boy, were we blown away.

Evolution Furniture's InteGridy (pronounced like "integrity") is an 18-compartment armoire designed for the modern gentleman. No wonder it recently won the "Best Home Organizing Product" award from the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).

The InteGridy Center holds dress shirts, pants, suits, coats, shoes, belts, neckties, underclothes, sweaters, t-shirts, caps, sport articles, magazines, personal care items, purses, wallets, key rings, pens, eyeglasses, change, cellular phone, electrical accessories, first aid items, dirty clothes, towels, and more.

Of course you could stuff all those things into any armoire that's big enough, but that's hardly taking proper care of them. It is the way in which the InteGridy accomplishes its mission that is its strength. Even the picture above does not reveal secret compartments for storing stuff neatly.

We were sold instantly, and are pleased to offer the InteGridy to the gentleman in need of a truly first rate storage solution.