Beckett Simonon | Graham Desert Boot

The story behind Beckett Simonon is an interesting one. You may remember twenty-something Colombian entrepreneurs Andrés Niño and Nicholas Hurtado from Hasso, a longtime T.I.C. favorite. The two launched Beckett Simonon in 2012. The idea is simple: design and produce affordable shoes (all styles are currently under $90 and include free shipping) and sell them directly to customers online. For the visual learners, it looks something like this:

The bottom line is that by keeping overhead low (think: skeleton team, no PR) and eliminating the middle man, consumers save big on quality shoes. 

The boys at Beckett Simonon generously passed along a pair of their newest style, the Graham Desert Boot in "Tan Waxed" leather, and it does not disappoint. It's their take on the classic Clarks style, with the most notable (and stylish) change being the addition of a red brick sole. These are going to wear in beautifully, both aesthetically (as the leather ages and develops a patina) and from a comfort standpoint (as the leather lining conforms to your foot). You've had a chance to pound the pavement in them for a short time now, and neither the shoes nor your feet are any worse for wear. The Graham Desert Boot is available in three colors.

On The Menzingers' "On the Impossible Past"

On the Impossible Past, the critically acclaimed 2012 release from punk rockers The Menzingers, is among the very best albums of last year for its raw, evocative, lyrical strength. It is a striking statement on the decline of the American dream from the perspective of the youth it left behind.

That the record comes from four musicians who, though now based in Philadelphia, are originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Northeast PA. Seventy-five years ago, the region and the city of Scranton thrived as an epicenter of anthracite coal mining, but the industry dried up after the Second World War with the rise of oil and natural gas. Gone was the economic and social prosperity. Left on the languishing landscape were culm banks, strip mines, abandoned breakers, and people hard as flint. The Menzingers, with their storytelling prowess and flair for poetic imagery, spark the imagination and manage to tap into the decades-old nostalgia that hangs over that bygone corner of America like the perpetual stratus cloud cover. Furthermore, the impressionistic songs embrace the anguish of the band’s own generation as it grapples with inherited hopelessness.

The world of On the Impossible Past is one of diners and drugs, cigarettes and muscle cars, recklessness and failure. It is a world in which ennui and apathy thrive. Though it is not unique to punk rock or to Northeastern Pennsylvania, it is as pointedly placed--and serves much the same purpose--as Fitzgerald’s “valley of ashes” in The Great Gatsby, a reference to the massive trash-burning dump that existed in Queens en route to the opulence of East and West Egg on Long Island. Both locales are the byproduct of the ever-churning engine of industrialism and commercialism that separates the haves and the have-nots and leaves the latter struggling to find their way among the detritus.

Opportunity seldom avails itself for the characters in these mid-tempo songs. Consequently, they do what they can to stave off pain and loneliness. In “On the Impossible Past,” friends who futilely “always dreamt of having nice things” drink, drive, and ultimately crash their “American muscle car into a ditch on Saw Mill Road.” “Casey” is a recollection “on the long ride back to Philly” of the heyday of a romance with a waitress “before all the parties grew bored.” It chronicles the relationship’s evolution from cigarette-break courtship to every evening “getting drunk before [doing] the dishes…getting high and listening to our boredom…’cause it was so much easier than dealing with everything.” The narrator yearns for the past, to search with Casey “for that old place [they] found forever ago.” In “Gates,” drunkenness behind the Lion’s Club precedes another earnest diner waitress love and a detached second-person voice foretells: “You’ll carve your names into the Paupack Cliffs just to read them when you get old enough to know that happiness is just a moment.”

One of the things that makes On the Impossible Past a distinctly American record for the Millennial Generation is that characters’ longing replaces active striving. The fruitlessness of that inaction can be partly attributed to the decaying, economically depressed environment in which it is set. As “Sun Hotel” states, the region is “the loneliest corner in the whole world…[where] all eyes are glued on the 6:00 news for another fire, another impending deer season.” What is not there for the voices in these songs is as important as what is, and it sparks the idea in “The Obituaries” that “maybe I’m not dying, I’m just living in decaying cities.” Somehow, though, in the absence of vim and vibrancy, the eagerness and impetuosity of youth persist. If there is sweetness or redemption to be found in The Menzingers brilliant third LP, it is in these enduring qualities.

Ignoble | Marion Tombs Backpack

At first you think the 29-liter Marion Tombs Backpack (11.5” W x 22” H x 9” D) from Ignoble might be too big, but then again, all of your weekends are three days long, so it’s perfect.  You didn't perviously carry your own stuff, but with this bag you're into it.  

With its deep and capacious primary pocket, the Marion Tombs does not try to control you with a heavy regulatory environment.  Ignoble opted for a large, dual-zippered trout mouth for top access to the main compartment.  After repeated use, you adjust to the top entry and discover that it works pretty well.  However, just one side zipper--to allow another access point--would make the bag perfect.  You quickly discover and grow to depend on the internal hanging pocket, but there is an assortment of nooks and crannies for additional storage.  The two side pockets are larger than you would expect and one pocket easily holds glasses case, toothbrush, and phone charger. The zippered front stash pocket makes it easy to access The Brothers Karamazov, Man’s Search for Meaning, or whatever light reading you happen to be toting around.  The laptop sleeve (11” W x 14” H x 4” D) holds your computer safe and in place; although, you are starting to forget why you keep bringing it with you. 

The compression straps on both sides are useful if only to hide from your gracious hosts the overindulgence of your packing job or the booty with which you’ll abscond upon your departure.

The more you use the Marion Tombs Backpack, the more realize this is the bag you have been missing.  The craftsmanship (it is entirely made in the USA) and quality of materials (fully-lined 200D nylon construction) are apparent and make a difference as you use the bag more and more.  It’s most definitely built to last.  It's lightweight (at about 1.5 lbs.), but when fully loaded it holds a significant amount of weight very well.  In fact, those three-day weekends might as well swell to four days.  You've got the room. 

Lumina Clothing Company | Raleigh, NC, USA

You're always up for American brands that are committed to manufacturing their products here in the States, so when the folks at Lumina reached out, you were grateful for the opportunity to take a few of their pieces for a spin.  

Lumina is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based company composed of four young entrepreneurs whose professional backgrounds range from architecture to nuclear engineering. When they launched Lumina in 2009, their objective was to not only design and build clothes of superior quality, but to do so in a way that was "innately North Carolinian and [would] bolster the industries that were once so predominant in [the] state, but have fallen away, such as textiles, agriculture, and manufacturing." With a storefront in Raleigh, the ultimate goal is to have their entire operation in North Carolina. In the meantime, all products are manufactured in South Carolina, Chicago, or New York.   

The lightweight "Casual Poplin" shirt in purple gingham was perfect for the 80-degree afternoon you spent lounging, swimming, and luncheoning at Halekulani. At 5'9", you're sporting a size small, which you figure equates roughly to a 14.5" (neck)/32" (sleeve). The fit is spot-on--slim, but not Gitman Vintage micro. In other words, you can still move actively. You can see this shirt being a versatile all-rounder; it could just as easily be dressed up with blazer and tie.

Also in the mix are a bag and two ties. The Lumina x Parrott Market Tote is a collaboration with Parrott Canvas of Greenville, NC. It's a no-frills tote that's big enough to serve as an everyday carry. So far, you've had it on the beach and in the city. Work and play type stuff. The understated design features durable canvas duck and riveted leather straps. You expect it will wear in beautifully. The ties ("Alexander" and "Richmond") are classic, simple and clean. At 2 5/8" in width, they're right where you need them to be and, of course, solidly constructed.  

For more North Carolina heritage- and durable, workwear-inspired items, visit LuminaClothing.com.

Hudson Sutler | Biscayne Weekender Duffel

Hudson Sutler gave you a duffel to test out recently.  It was the Biscayne Weekender, a bag so thoughtfully made for beaching it that they named it after one of Floridaʻs historic bays.  You decided to give it to a friend to test it out thoroughly.  Heʻs a champion sailor in your neck of the woods, and he likes to read on remote beaches. His report follows:

Dear Things Is Cool –

Must begin with a big MAHALO for entrusting me with a review of one of your finds.  As far a deluxe sailbag is concerned, this gem exceeded expectations.  In fact, itʻs ideal for what I need on the boat.  I can fill it with all my gear – pads and gloves, shoes and foulies, rum and cola - and thereʻs still pockets inside and out for sunscreen, keys, phone, wallet and more.  Moreover, the tackle on this beast is as-advertised and perfect for ocean-going: stainless rings and nylon zipper operate smoothly and durably.  No catches, no snags.  The fabric – triple-weight - is rugged yet pliant.  No break-in period.  Ready upon delivery.

After putting the Weekender through its paces on a Saturday practice sail with my discerning crew (who approved heartily, by the way) I took it on another test – the beach hike.  Its classic and charming gingham liner and matching navy shoulder strap practically insisted on a faraway picnic.  I must admit then came what seemed, initially, to be the only curious part of the product.  Those acres of delicious, super-thick canvas add a little weight, and conspired to feel like the reason our hour trek to and from an empty beach became a little tough.  But while I was walking through the ironwoods and gazing at the seven-foot swell on the way home, I realized perhaps it was my fault for being seduced by the deceiving, double-portioned dimensions that effortlessly ate up the travel books, two queen-sized terry beach sheets, water and sundries that I jammed in there.  Yeah… that was it.  The Weekender is coyly huge, and ravenously hungry.  Finally, back at the car, I realized I was in love - the glorious sky-blue weave: nothing sticks to it.  Sand and pokies just brush right off. 

So… thanks again; you wonʻt be getting this twofer back.  Please tell the Hudson Sutler folks itʻs perfect for work and play, and pass along my

Warmest Aloha,

AR

Review: Andrew Rose at Andrew Rose Gallery | Honolulu | May-June 2012

The new paintings presented by Honolulu-based artist Andrew Rose at his eponymous white box gallery grew out of a meditation process on brushstroke and color.  As the artist states in his exhibition notes, these paintings, all from 2012, continue “an investigation of how gesture and pattern function across different scales and palettes in an effort to understand aesthetic apprehension.”  Rose initially began the exploration in a series of pluvial abstractions from 2008 known as “Rain Paintings.”  His latest show, “Kaleidoscope” (so called for the Ancient Greek derivation of the word, which translates as “observer of beautiful forms”), further refines and elucidates both theme and process.

Each of the eight works, which range in size from 30-by-40 inches to 5-by-15 feet, is made of a minimum of five to over fifteen layers of acrylic paint on canvas or paper.  The effect produces a harmony of color, as seen in Danaë, in which a central swell of gold emanates from a sweeping bloom of a backdrop.  Thousands of brushstrokes in varying shades, each a separate spark of light, make up the radiance that pours from the top of the canvas, a nod to the myth of Danaë being impregnated by Zeus in the form of golden rain.  In his use of both brushstroke and color, Rose’s work calls to mind Pointillism and Impressionism and is additionally connected to late 19th-century European painting in its expression of movement and spirit.  This is best illustrated in Kamakanimomi, an abstracted view of Honolulu ostensibly from the artist’s rainforest studio in the mountains above the city.  A work on paper, it is a massive, wall-length panorama in which countless calligraphic dashes of blues, yellows, and whites churn and swirl, blending sky, sun, and sea in expansive rapture.    

These are dynamic works of art; they are documents of an activity, and in that way are akin to action painting.  For Rose, process is as important as product, and his pieces emerge from the meditative spirit.  Each painting is a reflection of the contemplation and concentration by which it was made.  It is for this reason that there is such balance in the work.  Form and color coalesce.  Organic, human rhythms appear to the eye in the same subtle way that the ear might detect them in Shakespeare’s iambic verse, for example.  That the paintings buzz with life perpetuates our spirit and is an uplifting validation of our own existence.

Andrew Rose, Danaë, 2012. Acrylic on canvas. 30” x 40”.

Andrew Rose, Kamakanimomi, 2012. 55” x 180”. Acrylic on paper.

Dolbeau | Madras Tie

From the department of What You're Rocking/Peep Your Steez/Boom! comes "Julien's Japanese Madras Tie" from Dolbeau, a Montreal-based purveyor of seriously fresh accessories--ties, scarves, lapel pins, and bracelets. It's the kind of stuff that adds zing to your daily look, and this little madras piece that they kindly sent over is a prime example. A collaboration with author/artist Julien Smith, the tie is cut from 100% Japanese madras cotton and is tipped with eco-friendly Japanese Bemberg cupro. Its lining is in two layers, brushed cotton and spun horsehair, which give the tie an easy, pliable feel and a lightness appropriate to the warmer months. It is available in six different colors and patterns, and the width is spot-on at 2.75 inches. In case you need additional incentive, each tie is individually cut and sewn by hand in Canada.

On Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go"

Seldom does a book convey existential melancholy as well as Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel, Never Let Me Go.  It may be because stories about loss, in particular the loss of hope, are rarely told so plainly and without melodrama.  At its core, Never Let Me Go is about human decency, particularly as it survives in the face of swiftly moving time and weighty, ever-present duty.  The memories recounted by the narrator, Kathy H., are imbued with what is best described by the Portuguese word, saudade, in essence, a nostalgic longing for something that does not and cannot exist.  Ishiguro captures the idea beautifully through characters who are compelled by their unique world to accept their own mortality.  

On Seeing "The Artist"

A few weeks back, you went to see The Artist.  It was a Monday evening, and you were alone, as you often are.  On that night, however, solitude followed you into the theater, and it was in her company that you eschewed the pre-show calls to silence cell phones with an ungentlemanly gesture at the screen.

You also said, in full voice, because you could, “It doesn’t matter!  I’m the only one in the theater!” 

But you turned your phone off anyway.

What you were expecting when the lights dimmed is still not exactly clear, but the cinematic experience that unfolded over the next 100 minutes was unprecedented.  Two realizations in particular remain with you. 

The first is that despite being a lifelong fan of silent films, you had never seen one on the big screen until that night.  The same was probably the case with most modern audiences who screened the picture; their exposure to Hollywood’s silent era likely came from watching on a television.  The scale made all the difference.  Nuance and subtlety were enhanced and the smallest moments were that much more powerful.  In a room equipped to deliver multi-dimensional sound, the images took center stage.

In the absence of other audience members, themselves a chorus of crunching, slurping, and other fidgeting, the only sound (other than your sobs) was the musical score of the film.  You might have forgotten that you were in a Cineplex had you not been reminded by the faint booms from the adjacent theaters.  You were, after all, in a temple of Bruckheimer and Bay.  While neighboring explosions rattled the chests and squeezed the heads of fellow moviegoers, the concrete walls did their best to rebuff any impingement on your cocoon of silence.  For that 100 minutes, you existed somewhere in the awkward intersection of art, entertainment, and history.  

At Duckie Brown F/W 2012

With their most recent presentation, Steven Cox and Daniel Silver, the duo behind Duckie Brown, offered the usual tour of the next level on which they’re operating. It was a collection full of juxtapositions—in silhouettes, proportions, patterns and textures. Buffalo check, wide-pleated trousers billowed beneath trim-fitting tailored jackets in Fair Isle and tweed herringbone. While the palette was primarily somber blacks and grays, including a fair amount of dark barathea, there were splashes of orange and purple in the form of an “exploded” plaid overcoat and oversized trousers. Designer Steven Cox calls the look “hiking-evening,” which makes perfect sense in the Duckie landscape.