Random Acts of Adventure
The Binary Chef - Get On The Burger Bus
June 17, 2009
Here at Horny Toad, we are obsessed with food. Sure, we make and are passionate about our clothes, but we are driven by good food and lucky enough to have an office full of some amazing chefs. From gourmet grilled cheese cook offs and backyard office barbeques to weekly doses of banana bread and some killer hand-made guac, we take our food very seriously. And, just to clarify, not "serious" in a buttoned up, stuffy way, but we Toads (an Nauians) are always actively engaged in finding and experiencing what life has to offer, and often that search leads us to finding and eating great food. Sometimes these discoveries come from unexpected places. Knausifer (Jenn Jenn) and I recently had the pleasure of experiencing Santa Barbara's newest lunch adventure, The Burger Bus. For anyone that has yet to have the pleasure, The Burger Bus [http://theburgerbus.com/index.html] is a converted school bus (short and yellow) that migrates around the Santa Barbara/Goleta area to serve up gourmet burgers (with ciabatta bread and jalapeño jelly), Telegraph [http://www.telegraphbrewing.com/purchase.htm] beer battered onion rings, kick-ass veggie falafel and fried pickle chips to those in the know on where it will be that day. It ponies up (well, drives) to several key private parking lots around town and makes it's whereabouts for the afternoon known via Twitter (@TheBurgerBus). The husband and wife owners/chefs seem to delight in serving up grub to the lunchers and pride themselves on using local SB farmer's market ingredients mixed in with breads and cheeses (from Our Daily Bread and Spring Hill Cheese of Petaluma, respectively).
Now, as we were waiting for our order yesterday and watching the throngs of other eager eaters gravitate towards the beacon of deliciousness, all we could think was "Why didn't we think of this?" quickly followed by "Why don't we have a parking lot?" Kudos to The Burger Bus for giving us and our taste buds something else to take very seriously.
P.S. Did you know that the Italian translation for "ciabatta" is literally "carpet slipper"?
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Lessons For An Optimist - Off The Grid
June 16, 2009
Wherever you go to get off the grid, clear the mind and recharge, I suggest you get to it as soon as possible … it is so fulfilling to reset at this moment as the summer of 2009 arrives. I am just re-entering the grid after several days in my favorite getaway in the Eastern Sierras near the east entrance of Yosemite.All that kept coming to me as I reflected on the last nine months was how fortunate we are to still be here making it happen at Nau, Horny Toad and the Lizard Lounge. While these are and will be tough times for the foreseeable future, we imagined far worse just a few months back. I feel like we have turned that psychological corner from managing fear of the unknown and managing a baseline level of productivity to really being able to think long term, plan and be fired up for the potential for the future. What a refreshing change and one that could not be more exhilarating at Nau given the chance for a second life.
That said, we should remember the many lessons learned to not let history repeat itself.
Here was my short list of things not to lose sight of:
1) The things that really matter, are often those that get neglected – quality time with family and friends, pursuing your passions and maintaining balance. Live fully everyday because it is what really matters.
2) All the stuff that appeared unsustainable or too good to be true was exactly what our instincts told us … it just took longer than we expected to unravel.
3) When the shit hits the fan, you learn who your true friends are and we really now know how strength and loyalty of our community. Thanks for the support of customers, vendors and partners alike.
We are back at our passion of building meaningful products, brands and a lasting company and will remain dedicated to enjoying the journey as much as the results.
Thanks for reading,
G
Rock, Paper, Scissors - Sock Monkey
June 11, 2009
I also have this deep, driving need to do something with everything that has exceeded its regular life, like socks. But socks are a problem here in beautiful Santa Barbara because we don’t usually wear them. In fact, wearing socks has become somewhat de rigeur. I have friends who don’t even wear socks under their boots - wouldn’t want to whiff that closet.Anyway, I tire of my sock drawer laying unloved and unused, so here’s how to make a sock monkey and give an old pair a new lease on life.
Note: If you have wool socks, wash them in hot water and shrink them. Shrunk socks make great sock monkeys. If you have white athletic socks, use them to clean your windows, because they make sick looking albino sock monkeys.
1. Flatten one sock so the heel faces up (no bends), see “Sock 1 Figure A.”
2. Cut from the rib to 1” from the heel. See “Sock 1 Figure B.” These are the legs.
3. Take the other sock “Sock 2 Figure A” and
• cut down the rib to the heel to make arms. I like long arms
• cut off the toe to make the nose
• cut out a tail, ears, a hat, anything else you want your monkey to have
4. Turn the body inside out. Sew the leg seams. Leave a hole in the crotch. Turn right side out and stuff the body. You can stuff the legs or not. Sew the crotch closed.
5. Figure out where the neck will be. Tie a string around it. This defines the head.
6. Fold arm pieces right sides together and sew them. Stuff or not. Attach to body at shoulders (unless you want the arms somewhere else).
7. Stuff and sew on the nose, ears, and tail embroider a mouth (or use fabric paint).
8. Sew buttons for eyes.
9. You’re done.
10. WHEW!
Keeping Us Real - Remembering Jonny Copp
June 9, 2009
I was on an amazing surf trip in Costa Rica when my husband called me to let me know that our friend Jonny was missing on a climbing trip. My heart sank immediately because missing generally translates to passing in these situations. Jonny was a friend and a great being and I will miss him dearly. I’m glad that the last time I saw him he was swinging me around the dance floor at 2:00 a.m. and we were laughing our asses off. The man knew how to live and for that I will continue to pay attention to the minutes, hours and days I have left. Love and peace to all who are missing these great people. A message from Eugenie at our sister company Nau.
The outdoor industry is collectively mourning a terrible loss with the recent deaths of climbers Jonny Copp and Wade Johnson. They and fellow climber Micah Dash (who is, as of this writing, still missing) were attempting a new route on Mt. Edgar’s Minya Konka massif, in China’s Western Sichuan Province, when an apparent avalanche swept across their path.
I only knew Micah and Wade distantly, and send love, strength and condolences to their families and friends, as have hundreds of people from all over the world, whose support continues to stream in at an impressive volume via Facebook and the Adventure Film Festival blog. (Facebook, I am learning, can have some real heart, when used toward the good of a thing.)
Jonny was an early member of Nau’s community of Influencers, those artists, athletes, and activists who unabashedly rock our world through their authentic pursuit of their passions in outdoor sport, design, and environmental and social activism.
We established the Influencers early on, knowing we would need a community of peers not only to review our products each season, but also to keep us real; to remind us, when wandering astray, of our priorities, which are, simply put, to move, be moved, and move others.
Through his work as a climber, photographer, filmmaker, and Director of the Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, Jonny was, in his never tiring, slightly goofy, and always humble way, an Influencer to a tee.
As the photo editor at Nau, I first met Jonny through his eyes. I was immediately drawn to his photographs and films, not only for the way they captured the breathtaking rarity of the people and places he knew, but also for their clarity and honesty. There wasn’t a lot of clutter, just clean lines, clear faces, and a direct route from me, the viewer, to the essence of whatever he was trying to convey, whether it was to get me outside, to show me someone’s spirit, or to make me laugh my ass off. His view to the world was rare, curious, courageous, real, fresh, funny, and inspiring.
As was Jonny himself. During Nau 1.0, we met or spoke every few months, and I always looked forward to those meetings. I was impressed (given his lifestyle) with his ability to sit still, to look me in the eye, hear what I had to say, offer constructive feedback, and to tell tales of his mind blowing adventures without ever spinning off into a space of self-congratulatory bravado.
We tossed around how, then when, we could fold his work into our ever-evolving efforts at Nau. Things never lined up, not for lack of trying, but only because Jonny was always about to leave, or already gone, off to his next best thing.
There never seems to be enough time. This can be an annoying thing, but occasionally a good thing, too. Jonny made the most of this – not wasting a single moment of his very full, but far too short, life. Thinking about my own experience of this man, I am also reminded that sometimes a blip in time is all it takes to reveal a powerful force. I did not need to know him for years to recognize how profound Jonny’s impact on our world would be.
I will miss his bright eyes, his crushing hug, and his ear-to-ear smile, but I will not miss his inspiration, because that will stay right here, in his lasting work and in my mind, a little nudge from Jonny here and there, keeping me motivated, keeping me real.
Love to you, Jonny Copp.
Love to the crew at Sender Films, too, who, along with everyone at Adventure Film Festival, are still working around the clock to find Micah and bring these guys home.
Learn how you can help here.
(photos gently borrowed from coppworks.com and adventurefilm.org, and I am hoping that in this case it’s ok…)
- Eugenie
One Word of Wisdom
June 2, 2009
See the new Pixar movie ‘Up!’ as soon as you can.Like Walle, the underlying life message is likely more meaningful to its adult audience yet it will be equally appreciated and inspirational for kids if only from a perspective. Prepare for some tears in the first 15 minutes and lots of self reflection and life appreciation to follow.
And as always, feel free to let us know what you thought…
Urban Bike Polo
May 29, 2009
Having just taking a gigantic spill on my mountain bike last night, I'm ready to try a new sport where crashing is just part of it. However, in this case, the civilized side of two wheeling is shown in all its urban glory. This is great!
Rock, Paper, Scissors - Western Spaghetti
May 27, 2009
This is the first installment of a bi-weekly contribution to our lovely blog. Entries will be centered around the artsy fartsy stuff out there in the world. There are so many unique and beautiful things we see on a daily basis we simply must share.In my travels to Telluride Mountainfilm this past Memorial Day weekend, I discovered a super creative short called Western Spaghetti.
The animator, PES, uses commonplace and unexpected items to put together a magical and creative plate of spaghetti. It has that retro toad-like quality. And, somehow, it makes me want to eat pick up sticks. Gotta love it!
Lessons For An Optimist - Giving a Dam
May 26, 2009
On a recent trip to connect my 80-year old father-in-law with the Grand Canyon for the first time, I came away with an unexpected realization ... while our lives may be short in the bigger scheme of things, our impact can still be great.Contrasting an 80-year lifetime to the two billion year old layers of rock at the bottom of the canyon, you immediately get a sense of how short our time is on this wonderful planet. Yet, it was just 26 years ago in 1983 that the Glen Canyon Dam almost spilled over as Lake Powell had reached “full pole” and the water needed to be released to allow the Colorado River to flow into the Sea of Cortez for the last time. Lake Powell is now estimated to be less than 50% full. While drought has contributed some to this trend, the vast majority of the depletion is a result of exponential growth in demand by a growing population.
Recently, our friends at Teva teamed up with our hero Wade Davis – and frequent guest at our Telluride Mountainfilm event – to release the recent Imax film River at Risk documenting the challenges this beautiful river faces after spending its lifetime carving one of the planet’s most spectacular natural monuments.
The optimist in me says we can reverse this trend by just paying more attention to the water we use everyday. I recently learned that one of the largest impacts on energy and water in the clothing chain was customer care. Reducing the number of washes, hang drying and applying efficient practices to care can reduce impact by upwards of 30-40%. So we are on a mission to promote lower impact care requirements and practices. We can also take shorter and fewer showers and reduce usage in many other obvious ways in our daily lives.
So let’s fill Lake Powell back up and spill the Glen Canyon dam by 2040!
Lessons For An Optimist - Question of the Month
May 18, 2009
Last week we spent some time out of the office to establish our priorities for the coming year and refine our 5-year vision for the family of brands (Horny Toad, Nau and Lizard Lounge). Being committed to creating value with a sense of balance between social, environmental and financial impacts creates an energizing environment for innovation and inspiring possibilities. But the reality is that we also have to be practical and somewhat prudent in the challenging economic climate of today, so some of those great ideas might not have had a chance to surface or fully develop. So I thought it would be enlightening to broaden the dialogue to our community of enthusiastic product and brand fans.
So here is my first of many “Questions of the Month”
Q: What is your favorite aspect of our company and what should be our top priority for improvement?
I will respond and comment on submissions to provide a window into our efforts to address your suggestions. I look forward to your thoughts.
Ping-Pong Door
May 15, 2009
We are fanatical about a few things here at the Toad – beer, dogs and ping-pong. All of which help us remember to play and have fun even in the middle of a busy day – uhhh, beer is saved for a little later. So, when our friend Jessica found this amazing invention, we nearly lost our collective, ping-pong minds! First there was sliced bread and then there was the ping-pong door.Designed by Tobias Fraenzel, this pint-sized version of ping pong is too good to be true. This ingenius design was in a DesignBoom contest.
Here’s some more really cool takes on our favorite game.
Crusade Against the Mundane
Welcome to the Horny Toad Community. This is where you get to tell us what Every Day Is An Adventure means to you. The best part is that you will help define what the Toad Community becomes. So let us know what you think, check out an event in your area, or just sit back and laugh a little. The idea is to have fun!
