General Haberdashery III

Ms. Yvonne -- professionally known as "That Mexican Wife" -- writes:

OK - I haven't been reading you as long as most TBG aficionados so I hope you'll forgive my ignorance. I really do get most of your jokes (even the wrestling ones!) but for the life of me I can't figure out what "General Haberdashery" means. Little help?

Prepare to be disappointed, Yvonne. It means...nothing. I lifted it from an episode of King of the Hill. Chris Rock had a guest spot as the voice of a stand-up comedian who worked at a traffic school and used the line, "Now that's what I call 'general haberdashery'!" It was a ridiculous non sequitur that became my title for the weekly links section of my old Friday music news column and carried over to TBG.

Today, I use it to highlight the work of my former online colleagues -- especially when I'm busy working on a certain annual month-long feature that's scheduled to start in about a week.

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It's Oscar season and Mrs. Bootleg's favorite blogger -- wait, what...? -- is cranking out the cinematic material. Movie Joe Reid walks you through the best trailers of the year, his 30 most amazing movie moments of 2010 and an excellent look back -- in hindsight -- at Academy Awards handed out in 1990, 1995 and 2000. Would it be inappropriate to mention how much I hated Gladiator or that I've never seen The Usual Suspects or how I still get choked up during Ghost? It would? Well, then.

I'm a sucker for "travel diaries" and m'man Daniels spins a terrific lil' tale of 34-ounce steaks, Atlantic City casinos and suffering through the Super Bowl...in standard definition.

My friends at 85% Sports have been quietly crafting one of the more intelligent and thorough sports blog you'll see. Their NFL Offseason Series is terrific, as are their MLB Positional Rankings. And, check out the biggest St. Louis Cardinals fan on the planet as he's forced to deal with the Albert Pujols negotiations discussions stuff in real time.

Finally, the crew at Fish & Spaghetti revisit one of my all-time favorite TV shows with a face-off of two former inmates at the Oswald State Correctional Facility. I'm with 'em on each and every point -- even though Ryan O'Reily's short-lived, ironic stint on Law & Order: SVU is completely ignored.