Yes, yes, yes, NO

It's Gore-Tex - you know about Gore-Tex?

I was awoken this morn by the sound of rain thrashing my bedroom window, and the usual demands of an angry morning bladder. But it was the rain that filled me with joy - a chance to wear my ace Adidas Tokio Hi shoes. I got these a few months ago off ebay (I don't think they're in the shops any more).

They're a solid, smart piece of kit - really comfortable and, thanks to the goretex uppers, totally waterproof - with just a hint of Back to the Future. There's even a webbed bit at the top of the tongue to keep water from sneaking in at the top of the laces. So it's all good. Except. Ex-cept the soles - they slip in the wet.

This seems a monumental error in a pair of shoes whose main selling point is keeping water at bay. I've nearly gone on my arse both times I've worn these and that is not a good look for a man of my years, and girth. Hopefully the sole will wear down a bit in time, but even so, it's a fair balls up for something that had an RRP of over £100. And I have still to traverse the journey home.

The offending sole

My fave jacket

Reading Keith Wildman's excellent 'top 14 jackets' story on Sabotagetimes nudged me to mention my fave. I've got a fair few coats but for look, fit, gadgetry and all-round aceness it has to be the Paul & Shark iPod jacket which I got a couple of years ago off Italian ebay for about £170 (brand new like - I'm not a meff).
Mine's dark grey and, I think, a sample so that bit rarer, at least I've never seen another one. It's a large - all P&S samples are large - but, unlike say CP Company, it's a decent large, for the fuller-figured gent.
I think part of what I like about it is that the colour, along with the iPod control panel on the sleeve (pictured below, top), allows me to pretend I'm a cyborg when in reality I'm sitting on the bus with a bag of food from the 'whoops!' aisle, fending off south London's most wretched.
The iPod goes in a zip-up padded pouch (below, middle) on the inside, from which the earphones come out through a small hole in the top. The iPod plugs into a little box which does some kind of magic and the panel on the sleeves features a stitched button for each of the ipod controls, although they can be hit and miss, and frequently don't work at all. I sent it back to the P&S lab (that's what they call it) but they found no fault so I assume it's just temperamental. Although what was cutting edge two or three years ago is now out of date as it's not really compatible with the iPod touch or iPhone. How fast things move on - I remember five or six years ago passing a mate my new iPod in the pub and telling him to hold it under the table to look at it, lest it be taxed by envious have-nots.

But even with lessened gadgetry this is still a smart piece of kit and typical of the better stuff P&S do - ie the items that don't have writing all over them. It's waterproof, with taped seams, lined and pretty lightweight, and pockets up the wazoo - an essential feature for a fave jacket.