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"\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In this series of posts, I review some of my choice gifts from Christmas morn. In the spirit of patriotic commercialism and material excess, I give every product a perfect 10 rating and my highest recommendation. Please buy accordingly. Any product NOT reviewed can be assumed to also receive a 10, and furthermore, it may be assumed that I did not get that product for Christmas. Please send accordingly.&lt;\\/em&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;\\u00a0&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.surfingmagazine.com\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/6219-646830-d.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-90\\\" title=\\\"6219-646830-d\\\" src=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.surfingmagazine.com\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/6219-646830-d.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"\\\" width=\\\"240\\\" height=\\\"240\\\" srcset=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.surfingmagazine.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/6219-646830-d.jpg 240w, http:\\/\\/www.surfingmagazine.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/\\/files\\/2009\\/01\\/6219-646830-d-150x150.jpg 150w\\\" sizes=\\\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;\\u00a0&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;At school there was a kid in one of my economics classes who wore these shoes. He also wore denim cutoffs just above the knee, v-necks, had a messenger bag and rode a fixed gear around campus. I imagine he listened to a lot of nameless underground rock outfits and old, forgotten 1970&amp;#8217;s punk &amp;#8211; except on a customized hi-fi, never an iPod, and only while entertaining casual acquaintances with wine in a quaint but tasteful apartment. This is how I thought of Alvin, whose real name is a mystery. Alvin seemed like a pretty cool cat; probably the type who regularly uses the phrase &amp;#8220;cool cat.&amp;#8221; Deep down, though it isn&amp;#8217;t a conscious decision, I know that I wanted these shoes because they&amp;#8217;ve got a trendy association with cool cats like Alvin.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;\\u00a0&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Recognizing this, I abstained from buying the shoes when I first saw them in a Manhattan shop last September. I thought it a very mindful and sensible thing to do, resisting more unnecessary foot ornamentation. I get rubbah slippah. Stay jus as good. But my mother asked for a Christmas list, so I mentioned the M410&amp;#8217;s and I got them. And they&amp;#8217;re NEAT!&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;\\u00a0&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The shoes themselves are lightweight and soft in the heel, so there&amp;#8217;s no chafing or discomfort when you walk about town. Socks are totally optional. The soles have a sort of uneven topography that makes you feel like you could run in them if you wanted to (try that in slip-ons). In fact, the M410s are part of New Balance&amp;#8217;s Retro Running line and are described as &amp;#8220;running-inspired.&amp;#8221; Note briefly: if you wear something that&amp;#8217;s explicitly &amp;#8220;retro,&amp;#8221; you&amp;#8217;re a doofus. I&amp;#8217;m ok with that, I like my shoes.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;\\u00a0&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;People are thinking a lot lately about the way we consume various products and how those consumption decisions reflect our values. One of the best among such thinkers is &lt;a href=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.murketing.com\\/journal\\/\\\"&gt;Rob Walker&lt;\\/a&gt;, whose ideas are worth a solid read. But whatever you believe about shallow materialism or environmental responsibility or fiscal conservatism, walking around in sweet new shoes is a pleasant experience (buy buy buy). What does this all have to do with surfing? Nothing! New Balance isn&amp;#8217;t a surf company, it&amp;#8217;s for treadmill fatties and gridiron gangs. And that&amp;#8217;s the point, actually, the most important point. We&amp;#8217;ve arrived at (and perhaps already passed through) a period in which surfers actively suppress their beach roots in image and behavior to don a more urban costume. No baggies and sandals and bushy-bushy-blonde-hairdos. RVCA makes money selling cardigan sweaters, like Mr. Rogers wore. What does it all mean? I think the next post will be a diatribe on this most recent anti-surf aesthetic, its significance (or lack thereof) for surfers, and what might be coming next.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.surfingmagazine.com/stuart/reviewing-my-christmas-presents-2-new-balance-m410-shoes/>