Royal Crown Cola has been around, in one fashion or another, since 1905. This flavorful cola is arguably a happy medium between the sweet end of the cola spectrum that is Pepsi, and more bitter edge of Coke – a sort of Goldie Locks of the cola world. And, as such, RC remains a third option in the minds of consumers. With restaurants engaging in non compete agreements – denoted by affiliated brands adorning the soda fountain spigots – the common statement when taking orders is: “We offer Pepsi products,” or, of course, “We offer Coke products.” Within that paradigm, the restaurant goer has to mentally translate what type of non cola beverages that might be. “Let's see here, would that mean Sprite, or was it Sierra Mist? Or 7up?” This monopolistic grip on the restaurant industry delimits customer choice, and also presupposes that all colas, and subsequent sodas are the same. Not really true. A bar would gladly offer various brands of liquor of a similar ilk, right? Why not sodas?

That aside, RC cola has maintained itself as a distinct brand with grassroots affiliations. For instance, Shea Stadium of Mets fame boasted RC sponsorship for nearly three decades. Singer Nancy Sinatra even made a jingle for the cola. And, of course, RC cola is noted within Andy Griffith lore as being coupled with Moon Pies, and symbolic of down home goodness and simple pleasures.

Since 1920, this Denver candy maker has been churning out sweets, and every holiday season they put out a fleet of candy canes, with varied flavors and colors and permutations. The confectioners take the process of candy making seriously, with the hard candies undergoing a long process of precision heating, melting, kneading, rolling, reheating, and eventually hand shaping the various stripes of flavored and colored caramelized sugar into the recognizable crooked cane known so well – almost shepherding in the Christmas season.

And that brings up the obscure history of the candy cane. It came about as a bribe of sorts to boisterous children attending church in Germany in the 1600’s . The candy: to pacify kids during Christmas mass. The justification: it’s shaped like a crosier, the symbolic shepherd’s crook carried by a bishop (incidentally, the crosier is also the namesake of lacrosse, bestowed by French Jesuits upon the Iroquois sport for similar reasons). The canes were didactic – instructive in nature from an authority perspective – but as every kid knows, they were really just fun. The canes stuck. Hanging perfectly from the boughs of trees. Splaying from the top of a stocking. The colors seemed to match Santa’s.

Hammond’s confectioners, like the confectioners of most great candy makers, take years to perfect their craft. And the candy cane remains one of the more complicated hard candies to fashion. As the sugars cool from molten softness to the brittle hard of the finished candy, working with it is akin to working with glass. Deft hands have to preen and tease the material. Reheat it along a table lined with specialize gas burners. Roll it and caress it into the familiar stripes. Give it a hook. This all has to be completed within a certain temperature and moisture range. Hammond’s candy canes are a Cadillac of candy canes, and are still made the old fashioned way.

These chromed puppies are still made stateside, and carry a sort of benchmark in the realm of “lifetime warranty”. Take any hand tool: a wrench, a screwdriver. Maybe some pliers. Use them. Heck, even abuse them. They’re good for life. And not just your life.

Maybe you inherited them from dad. Or grandpa. Or maybe the tools cascaded down through the obscure flume of antiquity from a distant ancestor. They might have been bought 3rd hand twice removed at a flea market out of some guy’s trunk. They may be etched and caked with grime from untold use on long extinct automobiles, whose parts have been melted down and made into new Craftsman hand tools. No matter. That tool is guaranteed for life. Break a tool, and take it directly to any Sears (yes, they still exist), and a replacement will be proffered.

Obviously, Craftsman remains well made. Somehow the longevity of these tools flouts conventions of the typical lifetime warranty. Perhaps, it should read: “Multiple Lifetimes”. Or: “Guaranteed for the life of a family tree”. Or maybe even: “Whosoever haveth this tool at such time it doth break shall be entitled to a new one”. Like many well made things, Craftsman hand tools just seem to last.

The messenger bag has, in many ways, become the lynchpin of small, upstart, domestic manufacturing here in the states. The demand is there, with the utility needs of carry and transport intersecting with the DIY mindset of the young city dwelling professional whose trappings include ever shrinking rectangular tablet and smart phone devices, and who actively seek out homespun reinventions of American manufacture. With a range of sleek urban bags, the Rickshaw Bagworks Company is carving a niche for itself in San Francisco.

Rickshaw is formed around the notion that people love bags as pragmatic devices of use value, and, by way of natural extension, fashionable accents. The name of the company, Rickshaw, is an obvious reference to the human drawn bicycle carts, and speaks to the core ethos of the bag maker. There is something simple, timeless, and perhaps even poetic about the singularity and efficiency of a bicycle. And a rickshaw – well hey – that even pulls the weight of others.

Rickshaw carries a line of messenger bags, laptop bags, totes, sleeves of various dimensions and ilk, backpacks, and folios (even a folio for the still ubiquitous and somewhat timeless Moleskine journal). There’s also a bag designed for the handlebars of a bike for added storage space in transit. For urban transit, daily commutes, cross town errand running, by way of taxi, subway, bus or foot, Rickshaw bags offers an array of carrying options.

When most of us envision a pharmacy, we recall aisles upon aisles of magic weight loss pills and periodicals, a blood pressure machine, cheap plastic toys and lines queued with the elderly. In the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s, one particular drug store was the center of Hollywood. Simply, it was headquarters.

Schwab’s Pharmacy was its own monster. Tinsel town legend dictates that gorgeous sweater queen Lana Turner was discovered here. This tale is one in a million. 8024 Sunset Boulevard was a who’s who of industry players, a venue to fill prescriptions, grab an ice cream cone, feast on a light dinner, and solidify blockbuster deals that would lead to cinema gold. On any given night, a trip to pick up aspirin for that nagging headache would yield a glimpse at the likes of Judy Garland, Ronald Reagan, and the Marx Brothers talking shop. Charlie Chaplin was a notorious pinball machine hustler, while future leading lady Ava Gardner poured sodas behind the counter for the entertainment elite. The titanic film “The Wizard of Oz” might have gone down in the annals of motion picture history as an also ran if not for the enigmatic anthem “Somewhere over the Rainbow”-quickly composed on the famous countertops of Schwab’s Pharmacy. F.Scott Fitzgerald suffered a heart attack (fortunately amidst a plethora of meds) inside the pharmacy’s hallowed walls, and Marilyn Monroe fed a grandiose appetite for pills though the pharmacist/chefs of Schwab’s.

The behind the scenes brass, arguably more important than their fresh faced and replaceable talents for hire, brokered some of cinema’s greatest collaborations over Coca Cola floats and cheeseburgers. The magical building was the last of its kind, a convergence of wanna be’s, has been’s, and current stars. It was a place where a misplaced drama club performer from a small town in Iowa could light Mickey Rooney’s Lucky Strike, where James Dean might seek the opinion of a stock boy strategically placing industry rags near the checkout lane.

8024 Sunset has been demolished and rebuilt several times, reborn as a multiplex and a shopping center to name a few. Nothing has lived up to the iconoclast known as Schwab’s Pharmacy, but it is not their fault, as nothing possibly could. Hollywood collectors treasure many things; Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, Rocky Balboa’s American flag inspired trunks, Luke Skywalker’s light saber- magnificent, all, yet none can touch the almost biblical rolodex that once was within the grasp of a teenaged soda jerk at Schwab’s.

On Sunday Night Football, Bob Costas, perennial sports journalist, the face of the NBC Olympic coverage, and a voice who has spoken to generations of fans with mealy threads entwining the dramas of athletic contests with the obvious parallels of the human condition, chose to intone on gun control. In the wake of the tragic murder-suicide of Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins - Costas - whose commentary often puts bookends to momentous sporting news crossed a definite line: broaching into polemics and ideology. Sports, in American culture, often perceived as a unifying activity of observation and rooting - with fans of various teams setting aside widely ranging political, and religious beliefs, and picking up the banner, face paint, or jersey of a team and standing as one.,/p>

Divisive pontification is left at the stadium door. Costas knows that. Using a tragic event as a bully pulpit to push an agenda is not a new phenomenon. Politicians have been doing it since the start. But a beloved sportscaster, whose job it is to unify, say some pithy commentary about the analogous nature of an athletic event and the dramatic unfoldings of life? Seems a little off. It seems best to stick to the game, and keep heavy topics out.

April Singer Straten launched Rufus Shirts in Spring 2004, and began with the development of a classic dress shirt. By taking the traditional elements of Savile Row and stitching them together with contemporary American style, they created a unique look for the "updated traditionalist".

You launched in 2004. What fueled your decision? 

I started Rufus when I returned to NYC after living in London for five years. After visiting many men’s stores I realized that there lacked a happy medium in men’s contemporary shirting. It was either the classically boxy shapes of decades past or the very slim European cut which overlooked the more casual approach of American style. Prompted by the encouragement of my boyfriend at the time (now husband) I set out to create a brand that spoke directly to this underserved category.

What's the origin of the name Rufus? 

When I was living in London I met Brett Theodore Rufus Straten who would eventually become my husband.  Rufus means red in Latin and Brett was actually called Rufus when he was a child because of his red hair.  I admired his sense of style that reflected an eclectic mixing of current and classic pieces.

Tell us about the brand's value proposition.  

Rufus shirts are classic yet eclectic. Manufactured in the United States of exceptional quality European fabric, Rufus was born from the desire to have a quality fashionable shirt that will travel beyond this year’s trend.

Where are the shirts currently produced? 

The shirts are produced in Fall River, Mass.

Who's your target customer?  

We found our target customer to be men 30 – 50yrs old. Our guy is optimistic, self-possessed and embracing of color. The details are for the personal consumption of the man who wears a Rufus shirt.

Our shirts will never shout across a room, but at a conversational distance, a Rufus shirt will confidently exhibit all the assurance and style of the man wearing it.

Walk us through your distinctive design details, and of course those signature red cufflinks. 

The color red is used subtly through detailing. Red stitching on the shirt cuff buttonholes and signature red cufflinks come with all French cuff shirts. All shirts have contrast fabric on the inside of the cuff.

Our fit is classic American with generous shoulders and a fitted body. Darts down the back take out the excess fabric on the main line and the sides are shaped with out the darting on the casual line. We use a traditional cut away collar with a high neck stand and thick collar stays so it can be worn open and casual but also looks great with a tie.

Last but not least our stacked shatter resistant buttons add an element of fashion and distinction.

Assuming we had the power to confidentially grant you a do-over regarding the Rufus launch, what would it be? 

Honestly I don’t know. The stars all seemed to be aligned at the launch and the business has flowed since day one.

Are there any product line extensions on the horizon? 

We are beginning development of a jacket line to launch with Fall 2011. Expect clean lines and impactful Rufus details.

How do you envision Rufus brand evolving in the coming years? 

As we've become known as a preeminent shirting resource, a natural evolution for us would be to introduce new shirt fits and models. In addition to the shirts our plan is to design other categories to create a total Rufus line for our customer.

Having lived abroad and worked in the international markets for several years prior to launching Rufus, I look forward to launching the line internationally.

You can learn more about Rufus at http://www.rufus.com/.

On the heels of serpentine lines corralling frenzied mobs outside of gratuitous box stores on Black Friday, and dutiful strolling of central business districts full of mom and pop operations of Small Business Saturday, the work week returns with surreptitious purchases between office tasks on Cyber Monday. Smart phones have boosted office time shopping, with browsing and purchasing circumventing traditional computer IT channels. No longer can an employee’s cyber use on company time be necessarily observed in a comprehensive Big Brother way. Well, at least for now.

This year’s Cyber Monday revenue is expected to easily top $1.2 billion in sales, with an average increase of 13.2% per year over the last five years. Those numbers aren’t to be scoffed at – they represent a real earning potential for online positioned businesses that could significantly push a year end bottom line.

Criticisms of online shopping point to a lack of interaction had by traditional sales – from sales people to the product in question – the online premise is inherently alienated from those familiar means of purchase. Customers sometimes sheepishly visit brick and mortar retail stores, and inspect a product physically before making an online purchase. The really brash make an online purchase right then and there. Commission based salesmen beware. With deals and incentives devoid of overhead costs had by traditional retail, Cyber Monday isn’t a fad, or a blip, and continues to reinvent the Christmas shopping experience.

These screeds of legalese describe, in painstaking detail, the factors, circumstances, evidence, and purpose of a case. They lay out a game plan, a set of wants and needs, and perhaps most egregiously, they present a narrative of a person or thing in question.

These narratives paint a somewhat disembodied picture of a crime or tort. A person’s actions are depicted as specimen; they no longer describe personality, and become deprived of subtle nuances that make a person unique. They may frame, depending upon the side of the author of the brief, the person or thing in a positive or negative light, but they ultimately lack certain detail. Legal briefs abstract what is known into digestible morsels – actions described in tone and timbre congruent with the case, congruent with the intent of the counsel. The person in a brief becomes a defining crime or tortfeasance – culpability or lack of culpability, the intonation. They are no longer people; they are simply an action tied to a crime or a lawsuit.

The briefs are constructed with precedent in mind. Flanks of leatherbound texts of caselaw, showed conspicuously in commercials and websites of firms, inform the legal brief as it is scribed. The specificity of the brief – the details of what happened, Kantian considerations of intent, and who or what was harmed and at what cost – are written adhering to those precedents. In essence, the legal brief ties itself to a body of work filling shelves and libraries across the nation and even world. Borrowing from John Stewart Mill, the person described in a legal brief becomes a sort of utilitarian means to an end – regardless of the side of the counsel. In that vein, the question of intentionality, in a Kantian sense becomes oddly contradicted, because Kant himself saw it as wrong to use a person as a means to an end at all.

The briefs are then pored over, in writing, and in reading, by countless attorneys, law clerks, law students, and paralegals – creating a sort of cloistered community, and accounting for thousands of billable hours. Further abstracting the initial impetus of the narrative – that person in question is alienated nearly beyond recognition, as they now represent a written document, and, more pointedly, a monetary number.

This shared office space is on the cutting edge of workspace solutions. The concept is simple: various levels of rental, from private suites, to dedicated desks, to virtual offices, all offering 24 hour access to the amenities of a well heeled corporate office at a fraction of the cost, and, perhaps most profoundly, fostering a community of young entrepreneurs and like minded up and comers of the “creative class”.

That communal essence of Pipeline Brickell is the main selling point. Why shed hundreds, or even thousands for office space rental, sequestered perhaps into some obscure corner of town, when a new business can be incubated in a vibrant, youthful environment. That same premise was the main thrust of New York’s famed Brill Building, where recording studios and artists mingled and cross pollinated, producing some of the musical masterpieces of the 20th century. Born out of financial necessity, the cohabitation and commingling of these various interests proved to be a benefit beyond a mere sum of their constituent parts.

Miami’s Pipeline Brickell represents a resurgent trend in American creativity, with various other shared office spaces popping up across the nation, and the collaborative, even collective nature of entrepreneurialism becoming a driving force in the new economy. There’s something appealing about being around driven, interesting minds, and burgeoning businesses organically evolving amid conversation, and the sharing of skills and ideas.