Adam Sandler, Method Man and Steve Buscemi in a movie about magic shoes?
Don’t expect Tollbooth Willy meets Tical in Tree’s Lounge, but hey.. it’s a movie about a cobbler.
Category Archives: humor
The Captain’s Socks or Horween New Balances
Attention: Used Derek Jeter game socks are on sale from Steiner Sports Memorabilia for only $409.99. Peep the screenshot.
Since you bought a baseball player’s sock for so much, it put a huge dent in your basketball sneaker budget and you can no longer afford $240 for these new Titolo Reebok pumps. No problem because Shaquille O’Neal now has his own inexpensive brand of high-tops available at Walmart.
It’s no secret that Nike is chomping their competition in worldwide sneaker and apparel sales. Rival Adidas went and hired three Nike design vets and will stick them in a Brooklyn design studio in hopes they can carve a bigger piece of the North American pie.
Since you bought that Jeter sock, you won’t have enough for a pair of these $400 New Balance Horween leather models
Bus to Philly for a chance to buy some of these limited edition U.S. made NBs on October 1st: $11
It appears the New Balance Berry-compliant 950v2 models we talked about earlier this year may be closer to hitting real ground.
Members of congress visited a New Balance biomechanical research/prototype lab in Lawrence, Massachusetts last month to see how an athletic sneaker is made entirely in The United States using US materials. The Department of Defense is expected to make a decision soon about enforcing a rules that states new military recruits should buy products (sneakers) made in the USA with their vouchers. Read the full article in Navy Times.
Comedy Kicks #3
POPDIATRY TALKS SHOES WITH COMEDIAN HAYWOOD TURNIPSEED JR.
P. Adidas is supposed to be coming out with an app/service where users can put a custom photo on a pair of sneakers. Can you think of anything that could go wrong with that?
Haywood: Boobs. You’re going to see people putting boobs on their sneakers. If you can upload any picture you want, unless they have some type of guidelines… but I didn’t see that when I was looking at it.
P. That has to be a tough call for Adidas- choosing whether to say yea or nay- like what if you did that but had pasties on them?Haywood: Remember when Nike started doing the customized sneakers? It was okay for a minute. You could make it your own color, you could put your birthyear on there- but nobody really took advantage of it. My brother made a pair, I know another kid that made a pair, but nobody really took advantage of it until the last few years when people started getting custom Air Force 1s and what not.
P. Sneaker Con was just in New York City last week. What’s your take on sneakerhead culture in general?Haywood: I’m torn- I shouldn’t say torn- that comes from the hip-hop generation- it really does. Hip-hop heads- sneakers are part of the culture, part of the gear, part of the outfit that we wear. It’s taken on a life of its own. My cousin has a booth- he sells sneakers- the kiosk at the mall with custom sneakers. He went to Sneaker Con and he was just telling me how ridiculously good it was. There were people from all over- Japan, Europe, and they had limited editions. They’re talking about thousand dollar- ten thousand dollar sneakers. I was like “Are you serious?”, and he’s like “Yes”.
P. They’re investments to some people..Haywood: Yeah, exactly. Cats like Fat Joe will put them in glass boxes to keep them. They had a pair of Jordans that had 24 karat gold eyelets, and all I could think of was cars- like when people used to get cars customized- when they first started putting on gold hood ornaments. They don’t have those anymore, so sneakers have become the new ornaments for this entire culture. On one level I dig it- it’s great- but please save some money (laughter). It’s like comic book culture, it will ebb and flow. Right now it’s really good, but in four, five years what are you going to do with those gold-plated Jordans?
P. Yeah, it’s like- do you like to read comics, or with sneakers- wear them? A lot of materials in sneakers aren’t meant to last a long time. I’ve heard stories about people unboxing unworn Jordans from the 90s and the glue has come unattached, and they just fell apart. The pressure of your foot actually serves to mush the entire product and keep everything in place.Haywood: Jordans, that’s kind of what changed the culture- Jordan getting his own sneaker deal. When they started having automotive guys engineer the sneaker based on the foot- it’s like- Jordan used to wear a different sneaker every game because they would break down and wear down. If you’re wearing it on a regular basis it’s gonna break down, but if you don’t, it’s still going to do the same thing. Like you said, it’s not designed to be put up, they’re designed to be worn. That Foamposite thing- that stuff cracks in dry heat. Now we’re talking about it like a cigar. You gotta keep ‘em in a humidifier.
P. I’m sure there’s someone out there with a special climate controlled chamber just for their sneakers
Haywood: I know- an oxygen chamber for their sneaks…
P. A giant freezer or something…Haywood: I would like to know cuz I have a couple pairs I would like to put in there.
Haywood: When I was growing up the brands were Stride Rite, or Kangaroos- with the pouch on the side so you could put your money in there, and you had the Hush Puppies if you wanted to get dressed up…
P. Or Buster Browns.Haywood: Exactly, and now it’s like- part of the sneaker culture bleeding over. One of my neighbors- she bought her kid some Jordans. I’m like “You know he’s going to grow out of those in two to three months.”. You want something that they can grow into, not something to shape their foot, but to just house their foot. Personally I still go to Stride Rite for my kids. They’ve got on a pair of Stride Rites right now!
P. Out and about in DC, have you noticed any blatant footwear fashion violations lately where you’re like “What the hell…”Haywood: We were talking Adidas and sneaker culture- I see a lot of kids these days- they’ll rock an Adidas track suit- not just the jacket, but the full track suit and then a pair of Jordans just because they match with the color scheme…. No! That’s a hip-hop faux pas. You don’t do that. You don’t just throw stuff together. Skateboard culture can get away with that. Hip-hop culture can’t get away with that.
P. Where I went to high school in Brockton Massachusetts, you could get bullied for wearing mismatched brands- like Reebok shoes with Puma socks. It was known as perpetration..Haywood: Exactly- you’re perpetrating. Now cats just do it like it’s okay. A couple of my buddies who rap- they’re actually hip-hop heads- call people out on twitter for that, and Instagram. The old hip-hop guard is paying attention (laughter). They gotta rep the culture right.
Click your way to the comedic stylings of Haywood Turnipseed Jr.
Comedy Kicks #2
POPDIATRY TALKS SHOES WITH COMEDIAN TJ YOUNG
P. Adidas is launching an app soon that will allow users to print custom photographs on sneakers. What could go wrong with that?
TJ: I can’t see a problem with that… actually I see one problem so far- it’s the very first picture I saw- nobody should be wearing hamburger shoes.
P. Especially with some of these rats in New York City-you know, since I started doing this shoe blog I’ve been asked questions about vegan and vegetarian options for shoes- not to eat- just to wear!TJ: I don’t think that’s possible because even if you go with no footwear at all, your feet are made of meat, so you’re screwed either way.
P. Do you have a position on flip-flops?TJ: Good question- usually on top of them- that’s my usual position if I wear them. . . that’s a tricky one- flip-flops in general- one, growing up, we used to call them thongs, have you heard that before?
P. YepTJ: Yeah, then obviously as a teenager I found out a thong is a very different thing- not nearly as comfortable to wear on your feet.. flip-flops- I know some people have very strong opinions on them, and I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle. I know that I’ve made some terrible flip-flop mistakes in my past, things like wearing flip-flops with jeans for instance- I believe that to be a no-no. I have some friends who are like “flip-flops are never acceptable footwear”, except I think those people would probably say “in the shower”, because you’re protecting your feet from something. I know I would certainly judge someone, no matter what other clothes they were wearing, if they were wearing flip-flops in the winter. At that point you’re just showing off.
P. Do you remember velcro shoes?TJ: Absolutely, I had some as a kid. I just feel like your shoes shouldn’t make that much noise going on or off- especially off. Any time you’re about to do something where you need to take your shoes off it’s usually a pretty chill activity; you’re going to sit down and watch a movie, you’re going to bed, you’re winding down at that point- it shouldn’t be a moment where you’re startled awake by the noise of ripping plastic.
P. We know when it comes to personal fashion, that there are no rules- but there are, and they come into play when you notice someone breaking them badly. Have you noticed any blatant rule-breakers in New York City lately?TJ: I think it’s ballsy to wear any kind of open footwear in New York City, and I think it specifically means Manhattan for some reason… on a really nice summer day I’ll walk in my (Brooklyn) neighborhood in shorts and flip-flops to go the Bodega, or the park, as long as it’s close by, but if I have to take public transportation and go underground I need coverage on my feet. I knew that before, but I just learned from my mother, who’s been doing some essential oils therapy- this woman told her that your biggest pores are on the bottom of your feet- a lot of these essential oils that this lady uses- they rub them on their feet because that’s how it gets into your bloodstream the quickest…
TJ: Instinctually I have been doing that, but now it’s even more important that if you are going anywhere underground in New York City, cover up your feet! Not just the bottoms because things can seep down. I never know what’s in the subway. The station near my home is so dank and drippy- there’s so much standing water and dripping water that I just go there to spot ninja turtles. I don’t want to be caught anywhere near there with my feet exposed.