I'll concede that Indy's Crusade was somewhat cooler

Those who spent time with me in England two years ago will remember that those four months were really less about taking English courses in a castle than searching for a most prized jacket I had seen Hugh Grant wear in the movie About a Boy. It took some time, but at a store on Regent Street one rainy London day I found my Holy Grail, and have been wearing it lovingly ever since.

Well, there is a new textilian mistress in town, and I must have her. This time, it's a jacket I espied, worn by Beck in a Filter magazine spread. Thus began an obsession that has seen me employ some sleuthing techniques that have paid off surprisingly well.

Now, Filter is commendable for using the bare minimum of advertisements in their publication, and even then they only advertise new albums. However, this also means they are less concerned about the sharing the fashion displayed in their magazine, which threw a wrench into the early stages of my search. What I did glean from those glossy pages, nevertheless, was the name of the photographer.

Autumn de Wilde, on top of having an unassailably cool name, is also apparently known for stealing the souls of great musicians. Among the photography on his website are shots of Eels, Elliott Smith, Death Cab and the Flaming Lips. It was on this site where I found a link to a clothing designer he rather fancies.

The search narrowing, I was able to find the jacket on the designer's fall 2004 collection. Now I at least knew that the jacket actually existed outside of Beck's closet, and wasn't the machination of his own twisted fashion sense. From there, I ran a search to see where such clothing was sold. Fearing that only those denizens of Los Angeles and New York, who already unfairly get advance showing of movies, would have access to the jacket, I was relieved to see it was available at a store in Vancouver!

Motherland Clothing on Main Street is a cool store, not only for it's propagandic-U.S.S.R. design aesthetic. There, on a hanger near the front, was the jacket. Even better, it fit perfectly. The only downside to the whole affair, however, was the small tag emerging from the sleeve, displaying the price.

It is here this crusade is held in check, as those riches so often associated with lawyers have failed to materialize. Thus, for the time being, the jacket is on hold, while I flex those negotiating muscles with a force more frightful than lawyers (the 'rents.) So for now, I simply pine away, awaiting this new Holy Grail.

Hmm, now I sorta have the urge to watch that third Indy movie. It features a tank versus a horse. How awesome is that?!