Robert Hegyes, Epstein from ‘Welcome Back Kotter’, Dies

American actor, Robert Hegyes, most notable for his role as Juan Epstein on the seminal 1970's sitcom Welcome Back Kotter, is dead at age 60. Hegyes' character, Epstein, Incorporated a recurring tag line: "I got a note!" which would be read by Mr. Kotter, and was always signed: Epstein's Mother, excusing any absence or shortcoming. As one of four Sweathogs, including Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo), and a young John Travola as Vinnie Barbarino. After Welcome Back Kotter, Hegyes had small roles in various films and television shows, often as some parody of the eponymous Epstein. Hegyes also taught writing, acting, and public speaking at Brooks College, in Long Beach, California, and had a stint as an artist in residence at his alma mater, Rowan University.

Abe’s Coney Island, Ypsilanti, MI

The Northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Hamilton Street in the “other” city of Ypsilanti (“othered”, of course, by the stalwart sister of Ann Arbor to her west), Abe’s is a twenty four hour destination. College kids, locals, and nearly anyone toddling around the extended, rusted grid of Greater Detroit would be a likely patron of Abe’s at 3:37 am.

The corner is sconced with a vinyl green awning – beckoning, perhaps as a green light to come on in. Have some chili fries. One of Abe’s famous gyros, or maybe one of many stylized omelettes, and some hashbrowns. A steak, and two eggs might do it. Of course, coffee and pie. Padded booths of staunch wood grain Formica contain clusters of twos or fives, as they sway, and clamor loudly into the depths of night, dwindling by the faint light of dawn.

Wood & Faulk

When considering the creative explosion of craftsman style, Wichita, Kansas is not the pioneering frontier that brings one's mind to bear. For graphic designer and Wichita native—Matt Pierce—the slow, flat, farming and industry good-life made for a solid upbringing. It was also the foundation for Pierce’s documentation of experiments in style and craft—a.k.a. Wood & Faulk.

What began on the Wichita streets of Woodrow and Faulkner, Pierce was studious in the art of craftsmanship. Always the tinkerer and customizer, his early forays into building crossed several mediums. Pierce’s uncle taught him how to build car engines. On commission, he worked on furniture. He refined his skills also working on homes. For Pierce it was never a business. He would take jobs simply for the pleasure in building.

Any sum obtained through his endeavors, were invested in the purchase of well-made tools—each new building interest allowing him to accumulate a garage full.

After Pierce migrated to Portland, Oregon, he initially rented but later purchased a home due to the confines of a small shop space. He bought an old house and again embraced tinkering through home repair. Eventually he began publishing the progress of his efforts through pictures via the popular gallery service, Flickr.

Friends and fellow creative’s took notice and encouraged Pierce to share on a personal site of his own, which quickly evolved into Wood & Faulk, his “Documentation of experiments, style, and craft.”

Since the creation of Wood & Faulk, Pierce has been building in other ways—community—as a natural, organic evolution of his sharing efforts. His experiments also feature a small, carefully crafted range of products including shop-wear, bags, and leather goods.

We asked about the societal trend towards fulfillment through do-it-yourself, handmade creativity, and Pierce noted that he believes in the power of craftsmanship and trusts it is not a passing fad. “We had gotten away from build something yourself and taking pride in it. If you do it right, it lasts a long time. Do it right. Spend the dollars and it will last a whole lot longer. It is better with effort.”

The notion of Made in America also resonates with Pierce. “Not in a blinding patriotic way, however. No matter where things are made, you must look for the quality of the craft. We have seen wondering Made in America companies that have done things horribly. It should really stand for something good and strong. It should benefit the consumers that are buying things.”

Looking at Wood & Faulk, it is clear that Pierce looks at Made in America with the fondness of timeless quality. “You can’t take it at face value these days. Consumers must look beyond the Made in America stamp. Go beyond the advertising. Only then can you decide if it is worth the investment.”

Wood & Faulk is built on exposing ideas and opening dialog with people who desire to create or those who want to have more lasting creations. Pierce remains encouraged about the prospect of Wood & Faulk’s impact in the future as well. “It is about sharing ideas and I have been excited about how well mine have been received.”

Photography by Lisa Warninger.

http://www.woodandfaulk.com/

Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in college football history, died after a rapid and precipitous bout with lung cancer. Paterno was fired as head coach in 2011, after allegations of a cover up the longitudinal sexual abuse by defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky. Paterno himself a Brooklyn native and Italian American, broke some glass ceilings in his time as a player for Brown, attending cocktail parties - entering as a pall would befall the attendees in sharkskin suits doffing snobby beverages in shallow glasses would stop and stare, everyone wondering what this swarthy, dark haired non WASP was doing there.

He went on to Penn State after graduating from Brown, and eventually became the legendary head coach. The oft plagiarized and imitated chant “We Are Penn State!” originated during a 1948 matchup with Southern Methodist in the Cotton Bowl, where segregation was still alive and well. Penn State had a black starting player who was made to feel most unwelcome. That underlying ethos of Penn State was parlayed and perpetuated when Paterno signed on as an assistant coach in 1950. He was known for taking players, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, under his wing, and seeing to it that they excelled beyond the football field. His reported graduation rate of players hovered somewhere around eighty seven percent.

Expo Dry Erase Markers

Produced by Sanford Brands, and based in Oak Brook, Illinois, this iconic marker has been smoothly squeaking and diagramming since the 1970’s. Lines carve out from the chiseled point of the Expo onto the inert sheen of the whiteboard, and an audience – round a boardroom table, or perched in swivel top airplane desks, or standing arm folded in a semi circle amid hulking machinery being diagramed and described – is taken by the poetic way that from once where nothingness stood, there was now a bold line of some color commanded by the demonstrator.

After much demonstration, a room might bear a hint of an Expo; a smell of something evocative of an ethylene compound, or acetone, and somehow extraordinarily familiar. Flowcharts have been discussed here. Several arrows tell of points to be had. A rudimentary and scrawled outline, perhaps. Maybe some hieroglyphics depicting a metaphoric insight. Zips and squiggles become demonstrative of thought itself, as ideas are taken from the abstract and put into very tangible representations on the whiteboard. The Expo Dry Erase Marker makes this happen.

Acela Express

Along the megalopolis trunk from Boston to Washington D.C., the reality of high speed rail has been in place for over a decade. Designed with banking turns, car tilting technology, and a sleek, almost trademark tapered engine car, the Acela boasts a travel time between Boston and DC as a seven hour trip.

The Acela’s top speed is listed at 150 miles per hour, though unofficial clockings have been rumored at upwards of 180 mph. Staring out the window, feeling almost no motion beneath one’s feet, yet seeing trees blur into inhuman smears of browns and greens – streaks twice as amorphous as the fastest car trip one may have witnessed from the backseat of a station wagon, or riding shotgun in a teenage friend’s uncle’s Viper – is sure to evoke some level of cognitive dissonance. Just maybe, time has been warped; perhaps the Acela is so fast, that arrival time is in the past? Ostensibly, the Acela significantly reduces travel time, especially in a region nearly asphyxiated by traffic, but a mosaic of shared right of ways with freight, commuter, and regular speed Amtrak trains, and community speed restrictions turn an otherwise seamless alternative to air travel into a series of whooshing sprints and turgid, albeit smooth slowdowns.

The Acela cars follow the airline coach model, with ample seating; include multiple ports for the recharging of various accoutrements, have wifi, a café car for light snacking, and even what is referred to as the Quiet car. Perhaps what an airplane might have if it were four times longer.

New Orleans Athletic Club

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano.

In English, this means “ a healthy mind will exist in a healthy body”. In the French Quarter, this motto has been employed since 1872 at the iconic New Orleans Athletic Club.

Such concepts were fleeting when young gymnast J.G. Aleix was struck with the vision of bringing physical fitness to the masses in the 19th century. What first began as a club in his backyard blossomed into a serious industry in the heart of New Orleans, and the club has not slowed down since. In a world of mass produced gyms, where the spandex is neon, the music is loud and monotonous, and the treadmills are stacked in organized rows like cattle, the New Orleans Athletic Club is a charming aesthetic coated in a rich heritage. Equal parts Victorian mansion, old time social club and fitness bastion, the club is a throwback; carpeted floors, chandeliers, massive steel grated fans. Inside the walls, one can box in the same ring that trained John L. Sullivan, swim in the old saltwater pool once shared by Johnny Weismuller, practice skills on the hardwood John Havlicek roamed, and shadow the paces walked by Clark Gable and Tennessee Williams.

Amenities such as a barbershop and a library are offered, a welcomed reprieve from the tanning beds and smoothie shops typically found in modern fitness centers. And true to NOLA style, a fully functioning and thriving saloon lies adjacent to the weight room.Perhaps such an idea would never float in any other city in the country, but since it is New Orleans, it cannot help but feel right.

In the middle of the Earthly home of debauchery and sinfully delicious imbibement, an oasis stands, waiting to help us sweat it out and live another day. And that refuge from insanity can only be the New Orleans Athletic Club.

Legendary Artist Etta James Passes

Etta James at Chess Records, Chicago, 1960

Etta James, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and even Rockabilly Hall of Fame passed. Her iconic, bellowing song "At Last" became as ubiquitous as Queen's "We Are the Champions" as an anthem of a long awaited victory of a sports team or political candidate. James' voice and songs carried a distinctive, plaintive tone that would build and swell with emotion from the depths of the soul, zapping the listener down to the marrow. Ultimately, her artistry seemed to transcend genres in American Music.

The Story of L.L. Bean

Leon Leonwood Bean left,brothers Otto center, & Guy Bean right

Leon Leonwood Bean was an avid outdoorsman with a cool name who happened to develop a waterproof boot, out of necessity, for fellow nature enthusiasts in Greenwood, Maine, in 1912. So fast did the word travel, Bean constructed a four-page mail order catalogue to service non-resident clients. One hundred years later, LL Bean endures as a “folksy, down Maine” company-and an industry icon.

Durable and functional sportswear was never meant to be stylish in the days before LL Bean stepped its moccasin clad feet onto the scene. Hiking, fishing, snowshoeing…these undertakings were fueled by clothing, accessories and accoutrements that were commonly stored in garages and sheds. Upon LL Bean’s arrival, the outdoor couture trend has become a cultural sidebar, a do-it-yourself community that spans from the woods of Maine to the asphalt of Manhattan, the treacherous pools of the Everglades to the dry terrain of Hollywood. From children lugging around half of their bodyweight in school books, the graphic designer wearing a classic wool travel blazer, or the fly fisher plying his trade while strapped into Leon Bean’s original boots, the company has secured a global reach with its homey themed products.

On the cusp of its centennial, LL Bean continues to set the standard for fashionable outdoors wear. As Americans go greener, the possibilities of Earth’s sustainability grow. As long as we allow Mother Nature to thrive and maintain a hankering for flair, LL Bean can start planning for the next hundred years.

And to think it all started because Leon Leonwood Bean was catching his lunch.

E.T.

This year, the Pearl Anniversary (30th) falls upon one of American cinema’s most groundbreaking and poignant contributions. It has been hailed as the standard of a genre it largely created, celebrated as a work of brilliance in storytelling, special effects and such now-common film nuances as branding. There could only be one E.T.

His face was modeled after the poet Carl Sandburg and the genius Albert Einstein. Ever since he found his way into young Elliot’s closet, the heartwarming tale of the wayward alien and a young boy has, like its aesthetic inspirations, always been both poetic and genius. Like every good story, it emanated from the recesses of a creative maestro. That maestro was Steven Spielberg. Upon the divorce of his parents in 1960, Spielberg filled the emotional gap with an imaginary alien sidekick, a “friend who could be the brother I never had and a father that I didn't feel I had anymore." As the director helmed Raiders of the Lost Ark in Tunisia, boredom overtook him, leading way to memories of his childhood friend. Testament to an artist’s torment, the tentatively titled A Boy’s Life simply had to be made.



The entire film was shot from a low camera angle to portray the vantage of young Elliot and his sister Gertie (future Hollywood royalty Drew Barrymore), and instantly became the symbol of “what to do” in terms of creating an all-ages friendly blockbuster. There was the concept of allowing unknown children and the mythical creature to be the true stars (Harrison Ford played the school principal, but his only scene was cut; E.T. was portrayed by a 2’10” actor, his voice partially by actress Debra Winger). Then there was the product placement that turned Reese’s Pieces into an instantly recognizable brand (rumors endure of a bidding war between Reese’s and M&M’s). Lastly, there was the Disney-esque feel (with the exception of Elliot’s mother, no adults appear until much later in the film) while waging themes of adult issues such as war, peace, and the loss of innocence.

E.T. would hold the trophy as the world’s top grossing film of all time until Spielberg would later best himself with Jurassic Park. The film is ranked as the sixth best movie of all time by AFI, and catapulted its director and much of the cast into household names. Much like the Nike Swoosh and McDonald’s Golden Arches, the image of Elliot on his bike, peddling away against the backdrop of the moon as E.T. sits on the handlebars, has become an international symbol that translates to all languages. At the heart of it all, beyond the glitter, E.T., in its thirtieth year, endures as a landmark work of art that transcends generations.

Phone home.