sires eyewear

Sires Eyewear from Los Angeles, California is the maker and producer wood framed eyewear, whose goods were on display at the Renegade Craft Festival, the traveling fair that moves across the country. Their fantastic mid century designs are mirrored with their light weight wood that sits comfortably on your face. At Renegade they had all the styles laid out and accessible to try on. Each one more interesting and easy to wear as the last. Frame pricing does include state of the art lens, though can be pricey, but for those looking to have a new and funky woodsy pair of glasses these are the ones. 

sun airway

Definitely my Summer romance of albums, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier by Sun Airway! Their rhythm and melodic sound is perfect for the traveling experience and introspective moments. The group from Philadelphia is a sound project that came from a dissolved band, A-Sides. Originally releasing a 4 song EP, called 'Oh, Naoko,' popularity called for them to produce the full length album 'Nocturne' in 2010. If you are loking for a well developed sound that will take you anywhere for the rest of the season, check them out on their website: Sun Airway, for more details.

arsenal handicraft

The Renegade Craft Show in Chicago's Bucktown / Wicker Park area was just filled with fantastic art and artisans. One such group was Arsenal Handicraft, formally known as Perfect Laughter, which had such amazing print work, we stood at the tent for a good 10 minutes. Arsenal Handicraft's home base is straight from the Midwest; Detroit, MI. Their collection of print work was mainly rugged, forestry, or boat themed at the show, though on further investigation he showed that they also have prints that explore bands, humor and pop art. Arsenal Handicraft also dabbles in tote bags and note cards, they definitely have something that will add a degree of originality to any space. Check them out on their old page and their new website, Arsenal Handicraft. 

circa ceramics

The Renegade Art Festival happened in Chicago's Wicker Park / Bucktown neighborhood, it is a traveling show, so be sure to check the link for a city near you.  The festival focuses on small independent start ups that all have a very indie, crafty, handmade feel to their wares. One such start up is Circa Ceramics, a duo from Chicago, who specialize in painted ceramic, utilitarian goods; bowls, mugs and plates. The items are painted in bright eye catching colors that are bold and modern while printed in a design savvy mind; mugs with Eames chairs, bowls with tandem bicycles, and mixing sets in nautical patterns. I bought a white coffee mug with a blue painted whale on it during the event. The wide variety of styles and patterns will keep you flipping through their Etsy catalogue looking for the perfect one. 

floating cabins

Located in beautiful Rockport, Washington tucked in between picturesque mountains the Ross Lake Resort floats its cabins on the lake. The lake itself was created due to the damming of the Skagit River and is located in the North Cascades National Park. Its 1600 foot elevation keeps you in view of snowy mountain caps and the lush rolling pine landscape. The cabins were built on log floats that are fixed to shore though do drift gently on the lake. Known for its seclusion the floating cabins are the only facility other than the dam on the entire lake. To get there, you can ferry to a shuttle truck or hike, there is no direct road access, so be prepared to bring your own provisions. All pricing for the locations do include most everything you would need from a hotel, plus pots and pans for cooking. There is also availability to rent low power motor boats, canoes, kayaks, and fishing equipment. There may need to be an addition to our perfect fall after all!

anthroplogie

The new season at Anthropologie is beyond words. Their furniture and home line is beyond modernism, it is strong, deconstructivist, brutalist, and sculptural. Chairs are left to their bare essentials, metal and wood. While lamps are geometric and balanced on pulleys and levers. The accents are softer and lighter colored materials; lamps wool, linens, and cottons, to compliment the harder goods. Everything appears to be stripped down to their skeletons and left in natural materials. 

the perfect fall

Wow, how can you even begin to answer a question that spans all my ideals! Just recently The Rustic Camp was asked by Katie Garton from Dream Till Green; "what my dream Fall would be?" In an instant, the picture of what began to appear was rather concise. Knowing it wouldn't be an easy answer as it would have to be more of a feeling than an experience, and it developed just like that. One place that stays picturesque all year round, but becomes even more so during the fall is Washington State. One place that would beckon the most pristine landscape would be Olympic National Park, Washington. Olympic National is located on the western shores nestled next to the ocean, with vistas over mountains, rivers, and a bay over looking Seattle. There, set up camp for the season in a luxury yurt from Pacific Yurts just outside of the park boundaries set with camp provisions such as Pendleton Camp blankets and half the catalogue from Best Made Co to stay warm during the early chill. During the day there would be little to do other than hike the scenic wonderland, canoe, and fish while leisurely reading The Count Of Monte Cristo, which was listed on The Art of Manliness's: 100 must-read books.   In the evenings there would be nothing better than to sit curled up around a campfire lounging in Slim Fit denim from Gap and a Quilted vest from Barbour to be slightly bundled up while roasting marshmallows and enjoying a bourbon. There couldn't be a better fall. 

happy labor day

In 1882 a machinist, Matthew Maguire, proposed a holiday for the Central Labor Union of New York. The same year another Maguire; Peter, proposed the same holiday in May for the American Federation of Labor, after observing the annual labour festival held in Toronto, Canada. Regardless of whom first proposed the idea, Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on Feb. 21, 1887. By 1894 it was a federal holiday with thirty states observing. It was rushed into being a national holiday by congress, due to the Pullman strike of 1894. The Pullman strike was a bloodied massacre that occurred on the south side of Chicago, involving the American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, that was originally a peaceful protest where the workers refused to pull Pullman railcars, in exchange for lower rent worker housing, which George Pullman refused. The standoff became unruly and Debs ultimately lost control of the 125,000 workers who began to set fire to buildings, overturning a locomotive and spurring demonstrators across the US to block the flow of goods through the Midwest by blocking railways and job walk offs. President Grover Cleveland with US Attorney General Richard Olney originally obtained an injunction against the striking work force and its leaders from protesting, causing more boycotting, resulting in a total of 30 deaths and 57 wounded when a military attempt to control the situation failed, the total collateral damage amounted to over 80 million dollars. After Pullman's company's practices were considered "un-American," by the Illinois Supreme Court, Pullman was forced to give up the rights to his land and it ultimately became public housing ran by the US government. While labor forces were still a hot button topic, Cleveland and the US congress pushed through Labor Day as national holiday to quell the tensions between unions. Resulting in having every first Monday of September as a paid day of rest from the work force in America. Labor Day also unfortunately marks the official last day of Summer before the Fall season rolls around. So soak up what sun and fun you can get today; jump in a lake, bar-b-q outdoors, go for a hike, play a game of bocce, but just enjoy the last throughs of the season while you can! 

Happy Labor Day!

slowed down music

Time. A concept that humans sometimes loose themselves in. Days are measured in hours and minutes and years are measured in weeks and months, though even occurrences happen second by second we fail to understand its fleeting. As it passes by us we find that it can change in moments for each of us, sometimes fast, sometimes slower. The pace, rhythm, beat and melody of a song are all wrapped in time. This can make us feel different when the song is played. A fast tune with light melody may be perceived a happy or fun, while slow and heavy may feel sad or angry. These are natural emotions that we establish when listening to the song. Case in point, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen is fast, light and full of teenage angst when giving out your number, though when it is stretched out over 30 minutes it sounds like yearning, wavering, haunting, almost sci-fi. Take a listen above, and if you want to speed things along, about 14:10 is when the chorus starts.

Above Jolene, by Dolly Parton is a song about a Woman who confront this beautiful woman who is trying to steal her man. Though, even though it is a song about standing up and making sure what yours stays yours, when slowed down by 25% the song now sounds as if she is begging this woman to not take her man away, almost pleading. It becomes more about heartache and pain versus owning love. 

What really started me on this journey was a segment on Radio Lab based on Time, and how we perceive the moments in it differently. In that segment they experienced an art happening in New York where the Beethoven's 5th Symphony was stretched out over 24 hours in a glorious expansion of time dilation in music, which feels dreamy and surreal. In the above piece Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata stretches beautifully gracefully and romantically. Each of the above stretch into an aether of slowed grace. All forming a dreamscape of sound and feeling. 

son of a sailor

Ahoy there, from Son of a Sailor, a cool hipster upstart from Austin, Texas. The aesthetic is relaxed boho meets urban woodsman, a familiar sight here in Chicago's, Wicker Park. The duo William Knopp and Jessica Tata mix playful colors on leathers, beads and straps. They focus on delicate and light jewelry that has a brilliant pops of color that give character to each piece. Along side their bobbles they create fantastically curated leather and wood goods, in the form of woodsman pocket knives and mens shaving kits. This week they are at (capsule) in Las Vegas showing their wares but can be found normally on their website, and if your lucky a shop near you. Follow them on their really well curated blog.