Bad Dudes From Dude City.

Let’s be honest, we all need some bad dudes around sometimes and they might as well be from Dude City.

An advanced degree in “material culture” has some disadvantages. It turns one into an “archivist,” or more sadly a pack rat.

The antiquarian urge to preserve the past… and remnants of my youth… results in boxes and boxes of unfiltered crap. I unearthed one of these boxes this weekend (while in DC) and found a small cache of music t-shirts. They range in graphic quality and in genre. Some are quite good. Some, as you’ll find, border on the embarrassing.

Enjoy.

R. Kelly as “Mr. Showbiz” from The Light It Up Tour.

Pause.

Rawkus promotional t-shirt for Pharoahe Monch Internal Affairs.

Def Jux promotional t-shirt for Murs The End of the Beginning.

Mark under – Why do I own this?

I originally ran this on Highsnobiety as an editorial at the end of May, but wanted to share it here as well. My take on the current crop of Nike Tennis shoes. Tennis is what made me love sneakers, and as such the excitement of a new court shoe can (just barely) trump that for basketball sneaks. I’m very hyped about the new Hyperfuse, which has a fit and feel similar to the Challenge Court LWP (which I wore for tennis and hoops) and as I’ve just come home from wear testing those thought ‘hell, why not re-post the tennis piece.’

Nike Tennis is Back.

What’s that? Hasn’t Nike recently clothed the now legendary carrier of Roger Federer, furthering a legacy of brand success, Grand Slam victories, and bringing the blazer back into regular tennis rotation? Yes, of course. Nike Tennis hasn’t exactly fallen off the map, but it has been sometime since a shoe from the lineup had the glorious street potential of the Air Courtballistic 2.3.

Last week we showed the kit Raphael Nadal is sporting on the Parisian red clay. The color and styling of the outfit harken to Andre Agassi’s rebel days. Days which put Nike tennis on the map and on the feet of folks who’d perhaps not even thought about swinging a racket.

Tennis and Nike have a long tradition. John McEnroe began working with the swoosh in 1978. He appeared in the “Rebel With a Cause” ad campaign and later championed the original cross trainer. Phil Knight’s choice of McEnroe beginning a legacy of tennis with personality at the swoosh.

Agassi, quite clearly, extended this vision (his rebelliousness featured heavily in advertisements by Cannon). He was the face of the Challenge Court series, one that perpetually challenged tennis norms in terms of aesthetic and color. Some even thought it was the all-white rule of Wimbledon he was avoiding when he sat out the tournament 3 years in a row.

Rebellion.

Nike Tennis had for a time a swagger that translated beyond the bounds of the court. It rebelled against the traditional refinement of European looks that had found favor on British terraces and on American street corners. It was brash and it was distinct.

Nike’s tennis heyday was undoubtedly the 1990s. Save for Michael Chang’s Pumps, it was Agassi’s models that were the most stylish. Two other American’s also figured in the mix – Jim Courier and Pete Sampras. Both were equipped with models fitting of their personality. Courier’s scrappy play generated extraordinarily durable trainers and his love of baseball found shape in pinstriped polos. The Air Resistance had a six month guarantee (to be fair, Adidas also placed a similar guarantee on one of their models), and was dubbed a future classic by Bobbito Garcia in his Where Did You Get Those?. Sampras’ shoes might have lacked the panache of his homegrown rivals, but certainly didn’t fail. Shit, they were fitting of his pure business style.

Still, those tennis shoes from the 1990s have remained (with the exception of Challenge Court models) a touch under the radar. Nike Basketball hits rule the retro roost, and while contemporary hardwood footwear still presents a tide of interest, the tennis shoe remains relatively quite.
With the Air Courtballistic 2.3 Nike quietly raises the profile of its tennis department once again. We can’t miss the nods to Agassi. With its DragOn X toe tip, those of us with a ‘90s lust can’t avoid thinking of Mr. Courier. And, in its white, black and medium gray incarnation, they might still work for the sartorially subdued Sampras.

Much like Agassi’s original climb, the bold shoe challenges stylistic notions of “classic.” We live in an era when odes to tennis past aren’t unfamiliar to street style. Canvas uppers and rubber soles – those duel facets of the traditional court shoe – are on the feet of just about everyone.

Can Nike tennis shake things up again? [I] sure think so.

Gilbere Forte is gearing up for his debut release, 87 Dreams. I’ve had the great pleasure of watching the project develop, and to watch Gilbere grow as a man over the last year. He’s taken a huge risk in 1. making a go of the music industry and 2. offering up an impressive collection of originally produced songs when most people just opt to come out over popular beats. The result is an open and varied selection of songs – a collection that showcases Gilbere’s range as a rapper and as a singer.

The above trailer gives a little taste of the sound of 87 Dreams… and even a look that I helped “style.”

Give the kid a go. He’s a man of passion, and his first release proves him a man of talent as well.

Best of luck homie.

I have a ton of reverence for Mark Mahoney. With Jack Rudy, he really helped usher the West Coast black and gray style into the tattoo mainstream. We see it a ton today. (Mr. Cartoon being the most overt example, but their are others and some get a ton of hype in streetwear).

Dickies Europe tapped Mahoney for a t-shirt project. They’ve also made a fantastic short video with Mahoney at his Shamrock Social Club in LA. It’s the type of shop I like. A real tattoo shop… even if I feel weird saying that, the reality is it isn’t a pretentious place and with guys like Mahoney keeps to old school tattoo values.

The video is well worth your time – especially if you’re interested in the LA punk scene, tattooing, and all that awesome stuff.

I’ll be proud to add this t-shirt to my rather large tattoo shirt collection.

Did a little judging at the NY Tattoo Convention roughly a week ago. I make an appearance at 27 seconds in to this recap video.

This was my JAM for several years of Prep School. Exactly what you’d expect right?

I’ll take this vision of Chicago over Lupe, Kanye, and the Cool Kids any day. With a pizza from Home Run Inn.

On October 22, 2009 I gave the following talk at the Tattoo Scuttlebug held by Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum. It was a great pleasure to share the stage with Chuck Eldridge of the Tattoo Archive, the great Philadelphia Eddy, and Troy Temple. The following is a brief, and quite general, overview of the sailors mark on early American tattoo design. I don’t often share my work in the field through this platform… but as the script and images are basically just sitting on my computer, I figured why not give it a go. I’ve included some images, but will note that the original presentation included roughly 30 more.

The Olympia

It’s fitting to begin here, with this image of USS Olympia. Now docked outside this very building, the Olympia is the oldest steel warship afloat today, having launched in 1892. The ship played an integral role in the Spanish American War and won fame for her most famous officer, Commodore George Dewey.

Aboard ship in 1899, outside on the weather deck, William Reader tattooed his shipmates. This wonderful photograph allows us to look this evening at the Olympia not as just a ship, but as representative vehicle for the tattoo. Tattooing, of course, is not exclusive to the sailor, but in the American context the sailor and the sea play an extraordinary roll in shaping the artistic and professional development of the industry. As you’ll learn through my colleagues tonight, many tattooists were sailors first. And, many tattooists best clients too were sailors.

The history of tattooing is long and varied. Cultures all over the world have marked their skin, and marked their identities, through tattoos. In the Americas, tattooing was practiced by several native cultures, but it was through the Sailor that interest in the art was invigorated and through their bodies that the initial visual vocabulary of the “American tattoo” was formed.

Like the men seen here aboard the Olympia, American sailors have marked their national identity, memorialized events, and forged their individual identities with tattoos. My hope tonight is not to present a full history of American tattooing, but give a sense of the types of images that were popular in the first decades of a true American tattoo trade. The sailor, without question, helped make this possible. His on shore stomping grounds became fertile soil for the opening of full scale tattoo shops. His interests gave way to the images that filled the tattooists books and covered his walls.

New England is home to several regional delicacies. There’s the obvious (Clam Chowder) and the famous (the Lobster Roll). Beyond these notable treats, good old fashioned Yankee ingenuity has brought to life another legendary, though lesser known, item – The steamed cheeseburger.

Invented in Central Connecticut, an area of the State filled with decades of strong industrial legacy, the “steamer” originated as an effective way to feed throngs of hungry factory workers. Ted’s Steamed Cheeseburgers, in Meriden, stands as the mecca of this particular sandwich. Roughly halfway between Hartford and New Haven, the town has little else going for it (sorry, this is firm personal opinion), but the lure of Ted’s makes it a regular stopping point.

Regularly featured in “foodie” media, Ted’s appears in George Motz’s fantastic Hamburger America film… sadly along side the very overrated Louis’ Lunch of New Haven, CT. More recently, super eater Adam Richman visited the landmark, producing the best television segement on the steamed cheeseburger to date.

The clip, in a nutshell, gives all the required basics of the steamed cheeseburger.

But, for my money, they are best made at home.

Several years ago, my father received a “Steamed Cheeseburger Chest” as a holiday gift.

As you can see, the chest sit directly on the burner. The lower portion is filled with water to provide the steam and the “locker” equipped with shelves for easy placement of the individual burger sized trays.

In this close up, you will see that the trays can be fully stuffed. I use a relatively high fat content ground (say 15%) and season liberally with salt & pepper. On this particular day, I used an extra sharp cheddar. I cook both at the same time for roughly 8 minutes.

The result is not the most flattering to the mighty burger. The taste, however, does justice. Once removed from the chest, it is important to pour off the excess fat. The cheese will have reached an almost perfect consistency (please note – my cheese choice does not exactly resemble that of Ted’s, it is is more a taste preference). Cheese can be slathered directly from its tray onto the sandwich.

It is also possible to achieve quite exacting levels of “doneness.” Here I shot for medium rare, and was pretty darn close (I hadn’t used the chest for over a year, and will blame timing on rust).

The chest does wonders to ground turkey and chicken too. A marvel of Connecticut invention, and a reminder (in food) of CT’s industrial past, the steamed cheeseburger deserves a place in the heart of every man.

You should all own at “Steamed Cheeseburger Chest.”

Founded in Woodstock, Vermont, Ibex Outdoor Clothing produces functional and simple wool garments. They blend comfort, performance and style, crafting pieces with an eye towards sustainability.

Today it is 80 degrees in Philadelphia. Summer feels as if it has begun, and I have already started yearning for the cooler temperatures of my favorite seasons – fall & winter. A few weeks ago, my friend Chris Milliman sent over a preview of the look book he shot for Ibex’s autumn/winter collection. On this hot day, it seems most appropriate to share them.

Given the minor flak I’ve received for ogling breasts, it also seems appropriate to share my love of attractive winter wooly clad women too. (I’ve got a certain soft spot for the outdoorsy type).