Alex Beh’s latest short film, Coffees made its debut today on Funny or Die, and it is the cat’s ass.

He told me to say that.

I love you, Mom.

Their Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, Wisconsin might be recognizable to you, as virtually every clothing company and editorial publication in the United States have used their well-appointed, idyllic summer camp setting to sell you on their version of The Endless Summer.

Well, now, they invite you to take a piece of Wandawega home with you.

The Camp Store is a practice in nostalgia: one part Boy Scout, one part DIY adventure, and one part classic outdoorsman style. Standouts include a hand-forged steel dinner bell, made by a blacksmith from St. Louis, Missouri; a leather moccasin kit; and antique wood tennis racquets (collected from every dusty, old side road used goods store by the author of Found Free & Flea herself. And you know how I love wood tennis racquets); and The Field & Forest Handbook: an old favorite of mine, it ranks right up there with Forest & Thicket.

Relive the summer camp of your youth or introduce some of your favorite camp activities to your kids in the Wandawega Camp Store.

I was on WBEZ’s Sound Opinions last week. Listen here.

Jim DeRogatis & Greg Kot, the hosts of Sound Opinions

“There’s a young man in a t-shirt, listenin’ to a rock ‘n roll station. He’s got greasy hair, greasy smile. He says, ‘Lord, this must be my destination.’” – from “Pink Houses” by John Mellencamp

That was me. I was totally obsessed with the radio as a kid. Every week, I would tape Kasey Kasem’s American Top 40 and cut my own top ten on Maxell tapes (I would add a well-placed “W” with a Sharpie). I have distinct memories of listening to those radio call-in shows, lying on the thick carpet of my bedroom, feverishly dialing a cordless phone. Q106.5. Hot 97. 105.7, The Point. KLOU, Oldies 103.3 (Good Times, Great Oldies). All those be-the-ninth-caller contests, the busy signals, and the thrill of “getting through.” I won CDs like Weezer’s Blue album, tickets to concert festivals, shows like Phish (with special guest Blues Traveller’s John Popper) and Pointfest. On long drives in high school, my friend Joe and I would plot playlists for our dream radio station, thinking we’d take over the FM dial one day. He still sends me e-mail with his lamentations on the state of radio today.

Following several viewings of Almost Famous — in which Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of the god of rock critics, Lester Bangs left me quoting forever after, “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool” — and thanks to a subsequent semi-obsessive delving into the life of Bangs, I became familiar with Jim DeRogatis through a biography of Bangs he penned called Let It Blurt. Alongside the Chicago Tribune’s rock critic, Greg Kot, DeRogatis hosts a weekly radio program on Chicago’s public radio station, WBEZ, called Sound Opinions where the two pick a topic and host an hourlong discussion selecting tracks which reflect the given topic. I’ve been a fan for as long as I’ve been familiar with DeRogatis, but I’d never called to contribute my two cents, which they air the following week in the form of voicemail.

Well, I can finally say I’m a “long time listener, first time caller.”

With the news that Bob Dylan’s seminal 1975 album Blood on the Tracks has been greenlit for the silverscreen, DeRogatis and Kot asked listeners to call with their own ideas for screenplays centered around a single album. Ears were burning, I shot up immediately, feverishly dialed as I had when I was a kid, and I culled together a semblance of what I wanted to say, and lo-and-behold, a week later I was on the air.

It was the same year Almost Famous was released. I was a sophomore in college. After an inspiring conversation about the film with my poetry professor, who’d just profiled one of the film’s stars for a magazine, I ended my dream of becoming a broadcast journalist to focus on becoming a screenwriter, for, I believed I could tell a story on screen that hadn’t been told before.

One of the stories I wanted to tell was of Grace. I didn’t know who she was or exactly what it was going to look like, but I knew I had the music. Jeff Buckley’s masterpiece released in 1994 is filled with these perfect, cinematic tales of love and heartache and breaking up and making up and chasing after something larger than oneself, all of which I wanted to capture in a movie. That, and the notion of the word “Grace.” What does it mean to be gracious, to be graceful? Though I never put pen to paper and made something of Grace, it still lives in my mind, the idea of crafting a story around an album.

If you just want to listen to my contribution, download the Mp3 and fast forward to minute 55:10. Otherwise, give the whole show a listen. It’s a good one. They talk a bit about the legacy left by Dick Clark and the week’s topic is a selection of the best second acts (though, I was surprised the omitted Aerosmith, who in 1998 had their first number one hit single with “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”).

The radio station is not dead, and NPR is borrowing the philosophy of agile software development, by offering their products early in the development phase and updated or changed as new information presents itself. I’m sure my high school buddy Joe would have something to say about this.

In the meantime, I’m happy to debate with any and all comers the best albums-as-movies. Lord knows nothing could be worse than Frampton and The Bee Gee’s take on Sgt. Pepper’s.

Thank you to producer Jason Saldanha and the entire staff at Sound Opinions for playing my voicemail for your listeners.

“How do you teach grit?”

“It’s a great question. We don’t have a good answer yet.”

It was the only question remaining at the end of his hour-long reading, and he couldn’t answer it (though he still provided a ten minute response about the concept of “grit”).

Last Wednesday, at the Chicago Public Library, New York Times’ best-selling author Jonah Lehrer hosted a reading of his latest book, Imagine: How Creativity Works. He spoke for nearly one hour, quoting large swaths of the book virtually from memory.

By providing an abundance of wonderfully inspiring, anecdotal stories and some not-too-heady data, the book does a great job of explaining how we can all learn to be more creative.

Jonah Lehrer on Charlie Rose

Did you know that Steve Jobs tore-up initial blueprints for Pixar’s headquarters? Their centralized bathrooms have become legendary for providing lightbulb moments. Did you know that brainstorming — the “new idea” creation technique pioneered by Alex F. Osborn, the “O” in BBDO – is a bad idea? Public debate and dissent or harsh criticism leads to more fruitful results. Did you know that the color blue can help you double your creative output? Me neither. Now, I want every room in my house to have a hue of robin’s egg.

This book is written in a crystal-clear voice. It provides a revelatory look at the new science of creativity and in a completely approachable manner. In it, Lehrer quashes the myth of muses, higher powers, and “creative types.” He demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.

Additional advice includes, but isn’t limited to: embrace the rut, think like a child, daydream productively, and, through travel, adopt an outsider’s perspective.

THE CONTEST

In the past three weeks, I have shared this book with close friends and loved ones, and today, I would love to share it with you. At last week’s reading, I picked up an autographed copy which I’m happy to send to the reader who shares a book that inspired them.

The commenter who provides the best suggestion and reasons to read the book will receive one autographed copy of Jonah Leher’s Imagine: How Creativity Works. Note: this can be any book. Do not forget to provide your reasoning. Oh, and use your creativity.

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If you have an hour, listen to the reading at the CPL.

I also enjoyed Lehrer’s interview on Slate’s podcast, The Afterword, hosted by June Thomas. It’s only thirty minutes.

Lehrer on The Colbert Report.

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Best of luck with the giveaway. May the most creative entrant win.

Contest ends Monday.

“Me in this business is just part of life’s great folly. Stay loose, men, keep ‘em off balance.”

- Paul Newman

“There are three rules for running a business; fortunately we don’t know any of them.”

- A.E. Hotchner

Recently at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, several celebrities gathered for an annual benefit meant to raise money for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps which were built to provide a camp experience to kids with terminal diseases. Started in 1988 in Ashford, Connecticut by Newman’s Own partners, the writer A.E. Hotchner and the actor Paul Newman, over the years, the camps’ benefit has seen performances from everyone from Kevin Kline to Meryl Streep, Big Bird to Baryshnikov. “What we had in mind was a kind of revue entertainment, using a few of the children along with Hollywood and Broadway stars” said Hotch in his book In Pursuit of the Common Good.

A.E. Hotchner and Paul Newman

Hearing this news, I leapt with excitement. In the past couple weeks, I re-read In Pursuit of the Common Good and Paul & Me, two books penned by fellow St. Louisan, Mr. Hotchner. Alongside his pal, Mr. Newman, the two turned a salad dressing they made as Christmas gifts into a multi-million dollar company, Newman’s Own. Rather than pocketing these funds, the founders and now successors of Newman’s Own famously give “all profits to charity.” Reading these books inspired me to write about the direct impact the charitable efforts of Newman’s Own had on my own life, and to explain how I would like to, in some way, give back, too.

“Just when things look darkest, they go black.” – P. L. Newman

Brooding. The very word conjures images of ridiculous young men, not unlike myself, pacing back-and-forth in the transom of their minds, saddled with something to prove. There I was, 24 years old, a frustrated acting student at a well-known program in New York City. Sitting in the pitch black of the school’s darkened theater, upset about my poor performance, I slumped in a torn-and-chipped-to-bits back row seat. Petulant, I kicked the back of the chair in front of mine, denting it in the process. My teacher and mentor, standing behind me, gently patted my shoulder with his giant, bear claw of a hand. Leaning in, he whispered, “You know: Paul Newman paid for those chairs.” That last pat on the back landed with an extra bit of weight, quite literally putting me in my place.

My heart sunk into my stomach. I didn’t know that. I knew his wife, Joanne Woodward, was a graduate, but I’d forgotten about the couples’ philanthropic efforts. It was then it hit me like a spoonful of Sockarooni Spaghetti Sauce. I was a direct beneficiary of the “All Profits to Charity” salad dressing. Newman’s Own donated money to buy the very chairs in which we sat.

Olive oil and red wine vinegar helped to fund my salad days in New York.

Writer Will Marre talks about how Newman’s Own epitomizes his idea “Giving is Winning.”

“The good thing about excesses is that you can’t get too much of them.” – Stolen from an unknown poet by P. L. Newman, 1985

Those two years were a luxury. Not only did I explore the work of Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams, elocution and the Alexander Technique, I discovered what matters in my life. It sounds corny or cliché, but those years in acting school, spent thinking and creating, helped to boil things down to the essentials. It was in acting school I realized I don’t need much. I’m a lucky guy with some good, creative ideas. While I am still working to find the best place to execute many of those ideas, I’m lucky I had the opportunity to explore for as long as I did in such an inspired environment.

In this video from Newman’s Own Foundation, Newman and Hotchner talk about the origins of their organization, and in true Newman fashion he signs off with “I thank you for [your generosity]. Just lay back and raise hell.”

With Newman’s Own providing charitable donations to educational organizations like my alma mater, The Neighborhood Playhouse, Newman’s alma mater, Kenyon College, and Hotchner’s alma mater, Washington University, many of us should be thanking them for their generosity in arts education.

Ten years after the salad dressing launched, Gene Shalit and Paul Newman take a look at new products in the Newman’s Own family, and Paul tells a story about a gambling priest.

“When you talk to Paul and Hotch, there’s this sense that life is really serious, but you can’t take it too seriously. And out of humor and amusing situations, profound ideas can be communicated.” – Tom Beeby, Chairman Emeritus at HBRA and designer of the first Hole in the Wall Gang Camp

It wasn’t until Mr. Newman’s passing in 2008 that my passion for his story was reignited. It was at that time I first read about the wonderful things Newman’s Own did with their charitable efforts. It was then I learned of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps.

Spurred by my recent re-reading of Hotchner’s books and by reflections on the joys brought by my theater school experiences and by my own summer camp experiences, I realized I’d like to thank Mr. Newman and Mr. Hotchner for their contributions to my education by adding my own ingredients to their salad dressing, so to speak. Joe Gannon and I are hard at work to bring something to our shop, Buckshot Sonny’s, which will directly benefit Serious Fun, the newly renamed organization begun by Newman and Hotch. We chose Serious Fun for its desire to provide happy experiences in the great outdoors to kids who’ve been told they weren’t allowed to go to camp.

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For more on Serious Fun, please be certain to visit their website.

For more on Newman’s Own and the relationship between A.E. Hotchner and Paul Newman, read the books In Pursuit of the Common Good and Paul & Me.

For more on Mr. Beeby’s contribution as an architect, visit this post on Clio’s Calendar which does a nice job explaining the difficult task of designing camp facilities for kids with terminal illnesses.

Donna Fenn briefly explains why Newman succeeded as an entrepreneur on Inc. Magazine’s site.

Mary Kathryn Paytner recently recounted the love story of Newman and Woodward on Design*Sponge, and here’s the couple on What’s My Line?

Watch the first ever episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio, featuring Mr. Newman.

And please stay tuned to our shop, Buckshot Sonny’s, where we hope to have some serious fun of our own.

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“We are now in business, but we are determined that it not turn into a serious business.” – A.E. Hotchner

“You can get straight As in marketing and still flunk ordinary life.” – Paul Newman

When I dream of the perfect fabric, nothing compares to the feel of flannel, and no one makes flannel quite like the Portuguese. While working in New York for an outdoor adventure outfitter, I had the unique opportunity to meet the design team, flown in expressly for our benefit. When I learned one of the designers had flown to Portugal to research and work with the finest flannel mill in the world to make a new line of shirts using vintage or vintage-inspired plaids and patterns, I took note. Doing a little digging, I discovered she must have been referring to Teviz.

Teviz is a family-owned, family-operated mill in the north of Portugal, situated in a valley, the Vale do Ave. They have been churning out the softest cotton fabrics in the world since 1935. If I were to inherit any library in the world, I wish I could inherit theirs. Each year’s collection of plaids and patterns is collected into large, leather-bound books used for reference for years to come.

Special thanks to Miguel Ramalhão, who learned about Teviz from my Twitter, and felt compelled to take a camera to the factory for a terrific post of his own.

A few years after meeting that designer, I found myself working for a shirt manufacturer where I assisted in the selection of fabrics for some of the fall shirting. When I learned Teviz was under consideration as a flannel source, recalling my encounter, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to sit with Teviz’s Manuel Pires. He lugged one of their big books to New York for our meeting. It was from the mid-1960s. I discovered in that book several unique, vibrantly colored plaids and patterns. I’d died and gone to Textile Nerd Heaven. When Manuel explained all that he could make with what was sitting in front of me, my mind was flooded with ideas: the hairiest of flannels would be reserved for fabrics dyed tartans of the Stewart Clan and the Black Watch, a flatter nap for a crazy collection of  multi-colored prints, and a square weave of chamois cloth in subdued earth tones. The Portuguese have made flannel fabrics for every reputable manufacturer in the world, and the best of the best go to Teviz.

Last fall, when we were presented with the chance to work with Taylor Stitch on shirts for Buckshot Sonny’s, I dredged up my knowledge of this magnificent material, and we worked with the California dudes at TS to put together the Yosemite Shirt, our take on the classic chamois. You can imagine my satisfaction in learning that the shirts no sooner launched and they were sold out. While it is my hope we’re able to rely on more fabrics from my favorite mill in the future, it made me so happy to introduce Taylor Stitch to the wonders of Portuguese flannel.

For the unordained, you’ll have to wait for the fall, when it’s my hope we’re able to offer some iteration of these terrific shirts once again.

Special thanks again to Miguel Ramalhão for posting photos of the Teviz facilities. May I be lucky enough to travel to Portugal one day to see their craftspeople at work, and of course, to meet you, Miguel. Obrigado.

Following photos of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Babe Ruth, my face — and more importantly my Norwegian sweater — show up in the video L.L. Bean created to celebrate their 100th Anniversary (00:57 seconds). It’s somehow all-the-more fitting that I’m followed by kindergartners on their way to school with their first backpacks… and a snowman.

Christmas morning, my mother nearly shed a tear as she opened to the dog-eared page in Guaranteed to Last, Bean’s 100th Anniversary book, to see me flashing the widest grin I could muster.

Note: a simple tweet shared while driving around in my mother’s convertible in Saint Louis, Missouri on a balmy fall weekend afternoon showed up in print and on video, part of a campaign to celebrate the centennial of a company, one of my favorite companies, L.L. Bean.

For those unfamiliar, read about my trip to the boot factory and their boot and jacket archives in 2009.

Special thanks to L.L. Bean’s Laurie Brooks and Mary Rose MacKinnon for making this happen. And thanks to David Maher for snapping the photo with my iPhone and to my father for snapping the photos of my mother’s book.

For more on the 100th Anniversary book, read Bruce Pask’s story in The New York Times.

Oh, and please buy the book!

“The part I have a hard time with, buying things I wouldn’t pick out for myself.”

Matt Smith, started buying vintage pieces while working at Abercrombie and Ralph Lauren’s Rugby. Traveling around the country to help Rugby open new shops across the country, in 2006, he landed in Chicago. After paying his dues at “Ralph University,” he’s struck out on his own with a pop-up called Vintage Smith, his tribute to Americana. But for hand-painted signs by Jake Turner “The Sign Guy,” Matt’s left the space pretty raw.

“You know that shirt that was your dad’s favorite shirt? It had his name written in the collar. That’s the kind of stuff I get really excited about. That’s what I aim for with each piece I sell. I want it to become your favorite.”

Heavy on flannels, fatigues, and denim, he has also collected a nice stash of vintage Coach bags for your girlfriend, OshKosh and Levi’s denim jackets for your kids, plus a selection of jungle fatigues, lots of leather jackets, and a Scottish village-sized selection of plaid.

While the shop’s losing its pop March 1st, fret not. After this stint, Matt’s taking his talents to Bean Town. In the meantime, look for Matt this weekend at Dose Market, and be sure to swing by his shop to shake out your winter wearies. This train’s leaving end-of-February.

2041 N Damen Ave.
Chicago, Illinois