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HOTCALi.COM for everything stylish and spicy.

TEST-DRIVING VIKTOR & ROLF’S SPICEBOMB

Our latest smell test comes from Viktor & Rolf, who shifted their popular women’s scent Flowerbomb into a men’s spinoff, dubbed Spicebomb.
The result is full of rich, sweet florals—but in the interest of describing it without perfume lingo, we thought we’d ask a few of our ruthlessly articulate lady friends what they thought of the scent. What follows is an unedited transcript. This could get ugly…
Here’s what our panel had to say:
I feel like I’m in a store with lots of pine trees and a train going around.
Smells like a wealthy European man who doesn’t care what people think.
There’s a hint of Christmas here. I wouldn’t wear it until it gets colder.
Fall potpourri? With some wood? Too sweet, though.
Best cologne I’ve ever smelled.

OPTIMO'S PRIME

At times, it can be so hard—excruciating even—deciding whether to follow your head or your heart.

Your heart: the core of your soul, the source of your passion, the fire of your... well, you understand.

Your head: just so happens to look really great in a new hat.

Head 1, heart 0.

Announcing the downtown arrival of Optimo Hats, Chicago’s finest full-featured millinery, now upgrading heads worldwide from the historic Monadnock Building.

Imagine a place where the hat is not an accessory—es un estilo de vida . The kind of hat shop where wearing a snapback ball cap could get you escorted from the premises by a man bearing a striking resemblance to Danny Trejo. This is that place—well, minus the Danny Trejo look-alike. Actually, the owner’s name is Graham, and he’s kind of a big deal in the Hollywood scene (think “every single hat worn in Public Enemies” big).

Step inside and breathe in the fresh, nutty fragrance of steamed felt—and take a seat at the massive walnut bar topped with heated concrete. Here, Graham will begin sizing you up, summoning forth fedoras and trilbies and porkpies of all shapes and sizes until the perfect, snug—but comfortable—fit is found.

And if nothing from their collection suits you, they’ll design a new hat from scratch that doesn’t even exist yet.

Pero por favor, don’t let all their pampering go to your head.

THE BASEBALL SHOE

We usually stay far away from anything that might be thought of as novelty footwear—but thanks to the divine harmony between boat shoes and summer days at the ballpark (not to mention the handsomeness of baseball leather), we’re willing to give this one a pass. It arrived this morning from Allen Edmonds. It should look best sockless, and in a stadium.

SPEAKERBALLL

Some occasions call for the sounds of silence.

Memorial Day weekend is not one of them.

Instead, treat you and your cookout cohorts to some poolside mood music with the Aqua Sounder Floating Speaker, an awe-inspiring waterproof gadget that lets you take your tunes for a swim.

Imagine, if you will, an evening in the pool (or maybe the hot tub) with a few of your closest friends. You’re in need of some aural pleasure—Al Green, or if you’re feeling freaky, a little Rick James. You could hope the moment will wait while you hop out and splash water all over your iPod. Or you could wade over to this buoyant gizmo—slightly smaller than a volleyball—and crank it up.

Inside you’ll find a weatherproof speaker, which broadcasts tunes from your iPod, safely nestled up to 150 feet away in the included transmitter. The battery should last about six hours—which, if you’re sweating away in a hot tub, is about five and a half more than you really need. And because mood music is no good without mood lighting, they’ve even packed two LED lights inside. Finally, your chance to create the perfect light show to complement "Awesome Seduction Playlist #12."

You can leave the Jaws theme off that one, by the way.

SHELL SHOCKEDB

Picture this: it’s Sunday and you’re relaxing by the pool with friends, a tequila matador in your right hand.

You have your iPad in its case, extended outward in your left.

Your friends and family watch in shock as it slides off your palm and into the water.

You just smile. You’ll retrieve it when you’re done with your drink.

Introducing the Pelican i1075 HardBack Case, a nearly impervious shell that keeps your iPad safe under the most treacherous of conditions.

This is not a mere carrying case. This is a watertight, crush-resistant-polymer caja fuerte that is virtually indestructible. Take a hammer to it, step on it, call it nasty names—this aegis of electronics doesn’t care. In fact, they offer a lifetime guarantee against its demise.

The Pelican secures your iPad and its accessories in high-impact molded foam, so once you snap the latch closed, you’re free to pursue your usual slew of adventures without worrying that you’re damaging your baby.

Don’t worry about it being jostled in the airplane overhead compartment or bouncing on the back of your mountain bike. Your iPad is safe even if you drop the case from three feet onto solid concrete. And yes, you can take it for a swim—up to a yard underwater—without a drop getting in.

Let’s just hope you didn’t drop yours in the deep end.

The World’s Manliest Barbecue Grill

Barbecue-wise, you have nothing to prove to anyone, anywhere.

You just let your bratwursts do the talking.

Nonetheless, you can’t be blamed if at this point in the spring you’re overcome by the urge to let caution fly and flaunt your prowess at the grill.

For that, there’s this: The BBQ for Men [or Manly Women], the cookout equivalent of a 1970s muscle car, available now for your first backyard shindig of 2012.

First of all, we know: right now, it’s a little chilly. That’s fine. It’s going to take a few weeks for one of these to be handmade to your exact specifications, anyway. It’s another product by the Chicago tinkerer who brought you a retro-amplified iPod. Here, he uses the same design principles, but applies them to that too-long neglected field of charbroiled-hamburger technology.

In other words: he repurposes an 80-gallon industrial drum, adding a bi-level grill and finishing it in the color of your choice. (The base model is icy royal blue on the outside and painted brass on the inside. Earl Scheib couldn’t have done better.)

It’s fairly portable, too. So you’ll probably be showing this thing off at various city parks and stadium parking lots, even the occasional sausage-buying mission up to Wisconsin.

The mileage this baby gets is incredible.