NAME: Our Style Icons

At NAME we understand that we do not live in a vacuum. The World has it's influence on us and we in turn try to at least interact if not necessarily influence the world. That being said after we saw the GQ list of the Fifty Most Stylish Men of the Last Fifty Years it got us to thinking how we wanted to share our style icons so here is a partial list.

Vintage Dad(this is our ground zero, when we think of stylish men...we always start here)

Malcolm X( Clean, dignified, a man)

Bob Dylan( Hipster archetype)

Neil Young( The only hippie punks ever liked)

G.I. JOE(uniforms are tricky, on one hand they can be boring,but the JOE team always rocked the best color combos and they were fighting terrorists)

Han Solo(not as new age jedi as say Luke, more space cowboy from a long time ago and a galaxy far far away.)

Ralph Lauren( so this guy pretty much invented the concept of lifestyle dressing, and he looked good doing it too.)

Bob Marley( spiritual man, community man, rastaman, stylish man)

Steve McQueen(when tough guys and action heroes were also really smart about their sartorial choices)

James Bond 007 ( I mean really though...debonair, smart, and as at home in the seat of a spy class Aston Martin, a Monte Carlo poker table, thwarting a megalomaniac's plans for world domination or straight kickin it to the most enticing women on earth.)
Morrissey(If you know us then you know why the MOZ gets 2pictures, if you don't... well check the man's style and sound for the past 25years.)

NAME: Vampires

(SHARK NIGGAS by JENONE acrylic on wood panel 9inx12in 2005)

With so many people and so many ideas floating around through so many filters like the internet, imagined nostalgia, and retro-culture; questions about who started what trend or whose ideas are whose get debated in fashion, music and even among friends. You know like when your friend got a dope pair of wingtips and you wanted to get some just like them or when you started to voice your new found appreciation for a particular aesthetic and now all of sudden your friends are into that same aesthetic. On the streets this phenomena is known as biting, or copping someone else's style. It's pretty common, those Retro kids even got a write in up in the New York Times for doing it. Its often very hard to say with totally accuracy who came up with what, everyone is a product of their influences and there is not a new idea under the sun. So it makes sense to build on things you appreciate and like tweaking odds and ends to make it more personal. One could even argue that this is one of the most dominant forces in the evolution of fashion and music. What we are saying, yes this is a bit of a P.S.A./ us saying what we want cause this is our damn blog, if you will, is that its OK to appreciate what has come before... to sweat it even, but it's not OK to not give credit where credit is due. When you do this you become a VAMPIRE, Jenone actually came up with that term, see how easy it is to give credit. VAMPIRES just suck the life out things for their own rejuvenation, not concerned about anything else. DON'T repeat DON'T be a VAMPIRE, be a connoisseur, be appreciative, bring something to the table. Raekwon and Ghostface said it best in "Shark Niggas" from "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx":
Man keep it real, get your own shit man, and be original
Word up
That's all man
And you'll be a better man
And you gonna come out on your own
Word up
Whatever how you gonna take it man, fuck it
Word up

NAME: yeah like Duh..real political styles

OK OK, not to get too terribly heavy or anything, but I just found out that Former 4star general Wesley Clarke has written a memoir, "A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country",about his days of military service, running for president and what not. Clarke says that just weeks after the 9/11 attacks plans were already being constructed under the the direction of the Office of the Secretary of Defense(sigh old Don Rumsfield he does have the best steely, squinty eyed glare like ever)to pretty much take over/liberate/help with a regime change for 7 different middle eastern countries in the next 5 years. Starting with Iraq and ending with Iran. Well if that's true we're a bit off schedule. I mean really how are we gonna go and duke it out with a people in the desert who have been duking it out in the desert since the time of Mesopotamia with that much accuracy in that little a time? Clarke also writes that since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the regret of Leaving Saddam in power has been softened by the fact that since our cold war relationship with Russia has warmed its possible to use the US military with impunity cause our comrades won't block us.
So the quest for a US controlled or at least US approved middle east is not new. We just seem to be too arrogant, stupid or inexperienced with dessert combat to make it happen,but that don't mean we won't stop trying.

NAME: we're sweatin this-MAD MEN

Here at NAME: we comment on culture so we're fortunate cause that means we can really get away with talking about anything. Now we usually don't sweat television shows, but MAD MEN on AMC is an exception to that norm. It's about ad men in 1960 New York,think well fitting suits, skinny ties, drinks at the office by 10:30AM daily, lots and lots of cigarette smoking and the affluent creative lifestyle pre- hippie, pre-AIDS, pre-civil rights and pre-women's liberation. In other words its the guilty daydream life of middle aged young adult males who are old enough to repay,but still young enough to sell.

A Real American hero: Blackwater?

Part of our mission at NAME: is to comment on contemporary culture,its in our tag line. So we had to add our two cents about how the war in Iraq is turning more into of a G.I.Joe cartoon/Chuck Norris movie on a daily basis. The independent military contractors(read mercenaries) Blackwater is causing a stir in the media allegedly killing Iraqi civilians in the name of the U.S., and its swooping Eagle of Liberty/mission of protecting diplomats. Seemingly being in a no man's land legally speaking where neither US or Iraqi law can moderate any of Blackwaters' actions. Can you say "Yo JOE"?Even our competent commander and chief does not seem to have an answer for this dilemma,or more accurately his answer is "Help."



It makes all the capitalist sense in the world;privatize the army. The men and women of Blackwater can earn up to $400-$600 a day or $144,000 to $216,000 a year tax free. Just as reference compare that to the salary of US military in combat zones(imminent danger pay) at $225.00 per month. But to be fair the president and or congress may designate these areas tax-exempt meaning that those $225.00 may be exempt from federal taxes. Well if Blackwater is doing such a bang up job,what's the problem? Well the fact that Blackwater plays into the fantasy of a 12yr old's army game, added to the fact that these patriotic men and women have NO OVERSIGHT, and Blackwater conceivably being used at home in U.S. emergencies may just be some...maybe...it's not like we're experts over here,just thinking.