From the monthly archives:

September 2008

A Health Plan So Easy, Even a Caveman Can Do It

by Brett

Editor’s Note: This guest post was by Mike O’Donnell a professional fitness coach and trainer. His blog can be seen at The IF Life

Fred Flintstone is not my idea of a real caveman as he had a car (albeit powered by a foot engine), worked sitting on a dinosaur, and got his food from a [...]

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The Original Hawaiiabera Giveaway

by Brett & Kate McKay

What do you get when you cross a Mexican Guayabera with a Hawaiian floral print shirt? You get The Original Hawaiiabera shirt. I’ve always been a big fan of Guayabera or “Old man Mexican barber shirts” as my friends and I call them. I’ve also enjoyed sporting a Hawaiian shirt every now and then. [...]

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Nice Guys Don’t Have to Finish Last

by Brett

Image from KeelyE
Oftentimes, when a man sees yet another bombshell on the arm of a dude who from all appearances is a complete d-bag, he is compelled to shake his fist at the sky and wonder if there is any justice in the world. “What does she see in him?” he asks in exasperation.
The poser [...]

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Manvotional: Albert Jeremiah Beveridge’s The Young Man and the World

by Brett & Kate McKay

Image by Softypapa
We’ve written before on the importance of spending time with Mother Nature. The modern man’s life with all it’s stress, expectations, and constraints can suffocate your man spirit and extinguish your vim and vigor. In this excerpt from Albert Jeremiah Beveridge’s The Young Man and the World, we’re reminded how Nature can help [...]

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A Tribute to Paul Newman

by Brett & Kate McKay

Today, the great American actor Paul Newman died of cancer in his Connecticut home. He was 83. I’ve always been a fan of Paul Newman. He’s one of the last of the great manly movie stars. Newman played some of the manliest characters in American cinema and played them well, infusing each one with a [...]

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Are You Hep to the Jive? The Cab Calloway Hepster Dictionary

by Brett & Kate McKay

Each generation has their own slang and lingo, a language that defines them. Each generation also has a purveyor of cool who creates a language that only the initiated understand. During the 1950s and 60s, Frank Sinatra created a personal lingo that influenced a generation of swanky and swaggering men.
But before Sinatra, there was Cab [...]

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The 10 Manliest Sea Shanties

by Brett & Kate McKay

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Art of Manliness Forum regular, Karmazon. Make sure to check out his posts in the forum. He always provides good fodder for discussion.

I soon got used to this singing, for the sailors never touched a rope without it . . . Some sea captains, before shipping a [...]

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Swordless Samurai Winners

by Brett & Kate McKay

Last week, we had a giveaway for Tim Clark’s Swordless Samurai. We asked readers to leave their best piece of negotiation advice in the comments. The response was fantastic. 124 of you left sage advice on how to become better negotiators. If you haven’t read the comments, make sure you do. Especially if you have [...]

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How To Debate Politics Like A Gentleman

by Brett & Kate McKay

Kate grandpa’s is fond of repeating the mantra he and his fellow sailors repeated while serving aboard the USS Indiana during World War II. “Never discuss politics or religion.” And he always adds, “So what does that leave to talk about? Girls, of course.”
Gramp’s advice is certainly appropriate if you’re going to be trapped on [...]

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Manvotional #3: Adversity Molds the Great Man

by Brett & Kate McKay

It is in times of turmoil and strife that true manliness is shown. A life without adversity makes a man weak, dull, and effeminate. In his essay, On Providence, the Roman philosopher Seneca discuses the importance of adversity in shaping a man’s life. According to Seneca, it is only through adversity that the Great Man [...]

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Thinking Outside the Flask: 10 Groomsmen Gift Ideas

by Brett

Your groomsmen are your best buddies, guys who have been there for you through thick and thin. And on the most important day of your life, they’ll be there for you once again, standing by your side as you take the plunge. Of course no one likes going to weddings and getting dressed up in [...]

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Mayday! Mayday! How to Land a Plane in an Emergency

by schaefer

Image by Martin Hartland
We’ve all had the thought cross our mind while flying, “What if the pilot(s) somehow became incapacitated and I had to land this thing? What would I do?” Or maybe more timely for today’s world, “What if a terrorist takes over the plane and I have to save the day by knocking [...]

98 comments | Read the full article →

Book Giveaway: The Swordless Samurai by Tim Clark

by Brett & Kate McKay

Yesterday, Tim Clark wrote a fantastic guest post on the 8 Virtues of the Samurai. In the post, Tim discussed the history of Hideyoshi, a peasant who rose through the ranks of the samurai and became the supreme ruler in Japan during the 16th century. Unlike his contemporaries, Hideyoshi sought to overcome his adversaries peaceably, [...]

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The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai

by Brett & Kate McKay

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Tim Clark. He blogs at Soul Shelter with novelist Mark Cunningham. Make sure to check out Tim Clark’s second book, The Swordless Samurai.

“So, boy. You wish to serve me?” Silhouetted against the blue-black sky, the horse-mounted samurai with the horned helmet towered over me like [...]

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Manvotional #2: We Few, We Happy Few, We Band of Brothers

by Brett & Kate McKay

Knowing how to inspire and lead others is an essential manly attribute. In Shakespeare’s Henry V, King Henry exemplifies manliness in action as he rallies his army against the highly skilled French knights. In his “Saint Crispin’s Day” speech, Henry V speaks of glory, honor, and brotherhood- all ideals that inspire even the most despairing [...]

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