Seaplanes

Growing up, I knew a family (The Vollums) who had a Turbo Grumman Goose. On weekends the Vollums would fly their Goose to a lake house in British Columbia or McCall Idaho. In under two hours they could be worlds away from their house in downtown Portland (Oregon). I will always remember my first ride in an "Airplane-go-water," as I lovingly called them.

Seaplanes are used for exploring the territories and connecting urban and remote worlds and thus are inherently rugged.

A couple times an hour, commercial seaplanes leave from Lake Union in downtown Seattle, shuttling commuters to and from the San Juan Islands and British Columbia. These seaplanes turn a 4 hour commute involving ferries and multiple highways into 45 minute plane ride.

This is what I imagine every seaplane pilot looking like.

Despite improved roads and highways, Seaplanes remain the preferred means of transportation in much of Alaska and British Columbia.

I want to live on a secluded island or lake and commute to work one of these guys.

The location of runways doesn't hold these guys back. Seaplanes can land on roughly 75% of the Earth's surface. Ohh the freedom...

Thanks to Seaplanes in the Great Northwest for some photos.

Here are some more links,
Seaplanes in the Great North West (Blog),
Grumman Goose (Wiki),
Howard Vollum (Wiki),
NW Seaplanes (Scheduled Seaplane flights from Seatle to the San Juan Islands and BC),
DHC-2 Beaver Wiki.

The Fat of The Land

I am interested in basing a brand around a blog. At the heart of a brand lies a core philosophy that defines purpose and product. Most brands rely on physical products as the primary means to convey their ideals. For example, a Submariner conveys Rolex's message of supreme quality, heritage, and exclusivity. A Prius conveys Toyota's commitment to protecting the environment and creating quality automobiles. Toyota and Rolex first built quality products and then established brands around these products.

Technology is changing this paradigm. Now, a brand can define itself through online content such as photos, editorials or selection of other quality content. In other words, a brand can now establish itself and gain traction before selling its first product. Hypebeast could leverage their online following and authority on streetwear to create a collaboration with Nike or Adidas on a limited edition sneaker. Will Common Projects collaborate with Selectism?

For the last few months I have been toying around the idea of starting a blog(and hopefully a brand) with my friend Edge. Based around self reliance, a connection to nature, rustication and exploration, we call our collection of photos and writings The Fat of The Land.

Teardrop Trailers

Originally built with surplus aluminum (from WWII plane wings) and a 4' by 8' piece of plywood, the teardrop trailer is light, small and easy to tow. They gained popularity during the 1940's, as G.I.'s, returning from the war, wanted an easy and inexpensive way travel America. A teardrop trailer has a main sleeping quarters with either a full or a queen size bed and an external kitchen with a stove and a cooler (as pictured above). Their light and minimalist design allowed for a relatively inexperienced driver with a small car safely to tow a teardrop on single lane roads.

As cars' horsepower increased and the quality of roads improved, the teardrop trailer gave way to larger, heavier trailers like the Airstream, limiting their reign as king of the road to just two decades.

Today Teardrop Trailers are the prized possesions of forties and fifties car enthusiasts, who make the car show circuit in proper 1950's style. I saw my first Teardop over ten years ago at a car show in Portland Oregon. Their inherent minimalism and liberating ability captured my imagination.

Few things are more appealing than letting out to the territories with the hope of finding adventure and greener pasture. A "tent on wheels," as teardrop trailers are often called, would be awesome way to see the world and a great addition to any restless lifestyle.

These photos are of a Sundance Teardrop Trailer available through the Sundance Catalog for $24,000. They come complete with a Colemen stove and cooler, Formica counter tops, maple cabinets and efficient LED lighting.

If you are sufficiently inspired, here is a how to video for building a Teardrop Trailer.

Classic circa 1950's kitchen complete with Coleman camping gear. I imagine that plenty of babies were boomed in small living quarters of teardrops in the decade following WWII. Teardrop trailers democratized travel and enabled 20th century manifest destiny; they are American as Apple Pie.

Here are some more links,
AZteardrops.com Gallery
Teardrops.net Classifieds
TomSweson Teardrop Project

African Safari

I have mixed feelings about African safaris. The idea of leaving urban areas behind and experiencing nature has and will always appeal to me. I spend far too much time connected to the Internet through my laptop, Xbox, and Blackberry and the allure of an idealized rustic experience, like a safari, is very compelling.

However, along with the rustic experiences come many of the negative connotations associated with European Colonialism in Africa, specifically gluttony, racial superiority, and entitlement. Even a safari's documentation conveys the West’s inherent feeling of entitlement. Why is it considered cultured and anthropological to show “Native’s breasts” on TV or in National Geographic but degenerate to show a white or black American's boobs? In some twisted way, writing about the problems with Safaris makes them even more romantic. Here are some photos gleaned from my hours perusing the Life Archive that embody the iconic African Safari including the staples: Landrover Defender, binoculars, high-socks-short-shorts, side-by-side shotguns, scoped hunting rifles, Safari Helmets, cigars, and of course, nude natives.

This guy is hunting more than just the local animals.

You know these trackers did all of the work. Check out his Desert Boots.

The Landrover Defender is an essential part of the African Safari.

Gold inlay and short shorts.

The Prize.

Barbour Internation Jacket

Since its introduction in 1936, Barbour has done little more than change the location of their logo on the iconic International Jacket. The International's 8 oz waxed cotton has kept motorcyclists dry, warm and protected from gravel for the last seventy years. The diagonal left breast pocket, designed for easy access while in the saddle, plainly identifies the jacket and influenced WWII Submarine Allied Officer Jackets.

Today, the jacket is a homage to Triumph and Indian riders like bad boys Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen. I am surprised that Brad Pitt's in the Curious Life of Benjamin Button didn't wear an International in the "look book" like motorcycle montage. Here are some photos from the Life Archive of Ekins and McQueen racing through the Mojave Desert in 1963 wearing their Barbour Jackets.

Note the Barbour plaid on Steve McQueen's well worn jacket.

An Ode to Transplants More Restless Than Me: Sean Flynn and Dana Stone

Sean Flynn and Dana Stone were last seen on April 6, 1969 on Route One somewhere near the Viet Cong front in Cambodian. Dana and Sean were American photographers covering the Vietnam War via motorcycle when they were captured by the Viet Cong at a Cambodian check point. The photo above was taken roughly two hours before their capture.

Flynn, a former actor, singer and Duke student, and Stone, a former logger, model, sailor and gold prospector, had no prior formal photographic training before arriving in Southeast Asia. Their appetite for risk and adventure put them in great situations to take photos established them as some of the most famous photographers of the war. It also brought about their demise.

Zalin Grant wrote a great piece discussing their lives and their disappearance available here.

Men's Vogue has a slideshow documenting Sean Flynn's.

It looks like Dana is carrying three German made 35mm Nikon F's with what I imagine to be a 50mm, an 85mm and a 135mm.

Before becoming a photojournalist, Sean Flynn followed his father's foot steps, Errol Flynn, and tried his hand at acting, staring in two B grade action movies.

Francis Ford Coppola and John Milius based Dennis Hopper's character in Apocalypse Now, pictured below, around Flynn and Stone.

Prospecters

For hundreds of years, American prospectors pushed the frontiers outwards in search of valuable minerals. With just what they could carry on their backs and a couple of mules, these prospectors braved the elements and harsh environments to stake claim to mining rights. They forced the Cherokee from Georgia and dislodged the Sioux from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Few of them ever struck it big, but the allure of instant wealth continues to push geologists, hermits and adventurers to head out for the territories today.

There is something very appealing about leaving the trials of society behind in search of independence, wealth and adventure.

Mt. Hood Circa 1950

I spend a lot of time around snow. I go to college in central Maine where the snow comes early and leaves late. I grew up snowboarding at Mt. Hood Meadows in the winter and Timberline in the summer. Skiing and snowboarding style has gotten pretty boring recently with everyone wearing variations of the same prints and cuts. I want to dress like this when I snowboard.

Juicing

I have been juicing all day. Not in the Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens sense but in the Jay Kordich, aka the Juiceman, stealing-produce-from-the-college-dining-halls sense.

My brother brought a copy of The Juiceman Audio Cassette Series for comic relief on a cross country drive in late August of 07. The Juiceman's soothing voice got us through a flat tire in South Dakatoa, the let down of Mt. Rushmore, and a shitty motel in Minnesota.

Today, I stumbled across a 4.99 (5.25 with tax) Juiceman jr. in the electronics section of my neighborhood Goodwill. After giving the cashier a five dollar bill and one quarter and telling her to keep the change, I ran across the street to my apartment tenderly holding my bounty like an LA Riot looter. In my kitchen, I rummaged through the cabinets and refrigerator looking for anything juice-able. Eventually, I found some baby carrots, next to the humus, and some apples and made a nice cup of nutrients and vitamins.

Here are some videos that ad context to the juicing movement.

Sinn U2 EZM 5 Diver's Watch

Diving watches are rugged, classic, and wearable in any situation. However, most people limit their search to conservative, icon brands, such as Rolex, Omega or Panerai, and miss the point. A good watch contrasts and adds texture to a person's style. For high school graduation, my family gave me the watch of my choice. After much deliberation, I picked a Rolex Submariner Date for boring yet rational reasons. Few watches can stay relevant, hold their value as well, or last as long as a Submariner. As denoted in the title of this blog however, I am restless and often wish I had a less conventional watch.

From time to time, I poke around watchbuys.com, similar to how I reminisce about ex-girlfriends and occasionally look through their pictures on facebook. My mouse usually finds its way to the Sinn section of the site, a little known but well respected German watch maker, and specifically the U2 EZM 5 divers watch.

Sinn watches are crafted from the same scratch, magnetic, and corrosive resistant steel used by Emden GmbH (a leading provider of steal for military applications) to create the outer hulls of German submarines. The steel used for the U2 EZM 5 is rated to 2000 Hardness Vickers (a metric form measuring hardness), nine times harder than the 200-240 HV steel used on most diving watches. In addition to sturdier bezel and body construction, the U2 also boasts a pressure resistant, Argon lubricated Swiss movement that functions between -45 to 80 degrees Celsius. This all means that a U2 EZM 5 will keep the H2O out below 2000 meters, 6.6 times deeper than my Rolex Submariner.

The exclusive, excessively rugged and rarely necessary (being a mile underwater) U2 EZM 5 is near perfect lifestyle watch. Eventually I would love to have a watch like it.

Cars

My posts on BMW 2002 Turbo and Edge's Defender made me dig deeper into my interest in cars as extensions of lifestyles

Like horses and buggies before them, the internal combustion car will give way to a newer, more efficient means of transportation. The recent demise of the U.S. automakers indicates the inevitability of this shift. No longer will cars be the vehicle of the masses, but the luxury of a few. This shift from a transportation vehicle for everyone to a toy for the wealthy is merely a return to a way things were. At the dawn of the automobile age, cars were a play toy for the supper wealthy. Oil prices will dictate the duration of this transition, but the gears of change are already in motion.

Over time the allure of cars and the accompanying culture will gain relevancy similarly to how cowboy and horse riding are popular today. Soon automobile culture will be such a novelty that people will flock to it.

In the not too distant future, leading designers will create romanticized renditions of driving attire and automobile inspired clothing. These designers will look back to classic automobiles and the accompanying culture in the same way that designers like Alex Carelton look to nineteenth century sailing culture for brand inspiration.

So could NASCAR ever be chic? Its too early to tell. However the ability to go faster and farther than ever before and for intimidate independence has enduring appeal to men regardless of time or place.

Edge's Landrover Defender 90

Few cars on the road today are as badass as the Land Rover Defender. The Defender has a certain purity and anachronism about it. The car itself could not be more minimal. Land Rover has made few changes to it since they introduced the new model in 1983. It is still assembled by hand in England. The Defender is one of those rare cars that seems to be at home no matter where it goes. The Defender is the car of choice in many of the problem spots around the world. It represents a symbol of colonialism, mainly because of the introduction of the earlier Series I and Series II models in East Africa by the British. Land Rover imported only about a thousand Defenders into the United States between 1993 and 1997. One of their appeals is the fact that they are very hard to find on American streets. Like a good dog, the Defender is an extension of a lifestyle.