Field Trip: Billykirk, Jersey City, NJ.

A short while ago, I was invited by the always gracious brothers Bray, Chris and Kirk, out to their relatively new work space located just across the Hudson in Jersey City.
A conversation with Chris and Kirk is a dynamic thing, always shifting and always interesting.
In the space of a few hours, we covered numerous topics, ranging from the disappearance of craft guilds, teenage rebellion, bike riding, jackalopes, Amish country, and of course, what they have in store for upcoming seasons and their expanding product line.

Saturdays\ NYC.

Saturdays short directed by Adam Neustadter. Very rad.

The Drawing Board: Summer, pt. II.

The second installment of the pictorial guide to a proper, stylish and adventurous summer. Keep it simple. (pt. I HERE)

Articles&Effects: Kerouac's Underwood.

With which he wrote "On the Road" on a 120' long scroll, single spaced with neither margins nor paragraph breaks. In three weeks.

Still Got it: Mike Carroll, Fully Flared.

I made a trip to San Fran back in late '92, around the time that EMB and the kids that skated there were getting really well known. Plan B's "Questionable" had just come out and made something of a star out of EMB, the guys who skated it everyday and specifically, Mike Carroll.

We had come to San Fran to skate and not much else. We pushed down Market and up to EMB. It was hugely intimidating. There is something still very distinct in my mind about the clack, clack, clack your wheels made rolling around the plaza.
A short while later, Carroll and some others showed up and fairly immediately, everyone(myself included) took a seat on the steps. I remember having this perception of him as a fairly temperamental type and as he pushed around, being watched like a goldfish, his mood indeed went south and as he was leaving, and walking past me, he muttered "your board's for riding, not sitting on."
Words to live by.

It's in the Wash: Imogene + Willie for J. Crew.

Things can start with a phone call. And sometimes, if you're Matt and Carrie Eddmensun, it's Mickey Drexler on the other end.

Happy Fourth.

To all the friends of Secret Forts, have a safe one.

Allez.

The Tour de France kicks off today with a prologue in Rotterdam finishing twenty stages later, July 25th on the famed Champs-Élysées in Paris. Tune in, if your so inclined, to Versus or if you're in the city, head over to the Rapha Cycle Club, 352 Bowery, NYC,(open just today) for daily viewing. Allez.

Excerpted: NYTimes visits w/ Peter Buchanan-Smith.

The Times has a look around Peter Buchanan-Smith's design studio. He's a graphic designer + Founder of the Best Made Co. who sell Maine-made, hand painted axes and hatchets, or camp axes. Click HERE to read the article and HERE to go the BestMadeCo site.

Head to Toe: An Out East Fourth.

Independence Day Weekend in much indigo and olive drab.