HOLIDAY 2011 & WINTER 2012 • ISSUE 9
MAGAZINE
CIRCUS CITY RETIRE IN STYLE THE NEW ROTHMAN’S ON PAR A VISIT
BY
WITH THE
PROS
MAYOR BLOOMBERG
Well, you have probably heard the news by now. We are moving! After 25 years on Union Square we are moving our NYC flagship store exactly one block north to a bigger and better space on the northwest corner of 18th and Park. We expect to open our beautiful new store around March 1, 2012. In the meantime, please continue to visit us on Union Square and in Scarsdale for the next few months, take advantage of our sale, and add a visit early next year for our NYC Moving Sale. The new space will be significantly larger. We are upgrading from 7,000 square feet to 11,000 square feet, primarily on street level, and it will certainly be one of the largest menswear stores to be built in NYC in decades. After 86 years in business, we have a pretty good idea of what makes a successful New York City store. Although we do not have vast experience in store construction and design, we are very skilled at hiring people who do. We have put together a "dream team" of architects, designers, store planners, visual merchandisers and more, to do this the right way. We figure we get to move about once every quarter century (c'mon, how many of you have had the same windowless office for 25 years?), so we might as well nail it. We understand the core strengths of our business. Our research indicated that our customers really like the existing Union Square shop, despite the aging infrastructure (referring to the store layout we hope…not the owners). We try to do a good job of offering great clothes, reasonable prices, a curated selection, along with superior customer service. We never take ourselves too seriously, lest we hear our Grandfather and Founder Harry Rothman whispering in our ear "you are just selling pants boys, just selling pants." So we make this move without a grand plan of dramatically changing the essence of Rothman's, just making the shopping experience so much more efficient, attractive and enjoyable. Unlike seemingly every new NYC business that straps a weathered piece of wood to a cast iron base to create some faux history, we have real heritage that we believe in, and it guides us. We are going to build a beautiful store, and you can see some very early construction photos inside. We also plan to renovate Scarsdale in 2012 as well. We are excited, and we hope you are excited as the Rothman's Man takes just one giant step forward in the Spring (see this magazine cover!) Speaking of the magazine, we have put together another collection of articles written by, and about our customers. We never hesitate to mention that the best part of this business for us, is the clients we meet who become our friends. Several of them are featured as writers or subjects in this issue. We hope you enjoy Issue IX of the magazine, and don’t forget to use the coupons inside. We thank you once again for all of your support, and we look forward to welcoming you to our new home in the Spring.
Jim and Ken Giddon jim@rothmansny.com ken@rothmansny.com
[Rothman’s]
rothman’s U n i o n S q u a r e : 2 0 0 PA R K AV E N U E S O U T H • N E W YO R K , N y 1 0 0 0 3 • T E L 2 1 2 7 7 7 7 4 0 0 Scarsdale: 1 Boniface Circle • Scarsdale, New York, NY 10583 • Tel 914 713 0300 w w w. r o t h m a n s n y. c o m
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Predator Ridge Resort, Kelowna, BC
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Welcome The New Rothman’s The Mayor Visits Rothman’s The Fixer–Cool Jobs Circus City Why I Wear What I Wear Rothman’s Fashion Tips
ON THE COVER: The Rothman’s Man Illustrated by Douglas Fraser
On Par with the Pros 100 Best Band Names of All-Time
Todd Tufts • Editor in Chief, Publisher Leslie C. Smith • Editorial Director
Octo Man
Vence Vida • Production Manager
The Most Expensive Cars in the World Retire in Style Rob Walsh and Mayor Bloomberg’s Speech
R O T H M A N ’ S
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Rothman’s Magazine is published by Tufts Communications, 1201 E. 5th Street, Suite 1009 • Anderson, IN 46012 T: 765-608-3081 • E: todd@tuftscom.com © 2011, Tufts Communications. All rights reserved.
beginnings
T H E N E W R O T H M A N ’S Opening Spring of 2012 – Preliminary photos of the “work in progress” The new flagship store is slated to open on March 1, 2012 at the corner of 18th and Park Avenue South. It is just one block north in 11,000 square feet (our current Union Square store is 7000 square feet), We are looking forward to welcoming you to this beautiful and bigger space designed by the team at Lalire March Architects. Enjoy the sneak peak photos and check out video updates on our "Rothman's" Facebook page.
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DIFFERENT CHARACTERS
The Marques, Balvenie Distillery (culmination of a series).
Every expression of The Balvenie is related through the distinctive honeyed taste we achieve through our one has its own individual character
Handcrafted to be enjoyed responsibly. www.TheBalvenie.com
Facebook.com/TheBalvenie
The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky Š2011 Imported by William Grant & Sons, Inc. New York, NY.
recognition
Rothman’s Recognized as a success story by Small Business Saturday
On Thursday, October 27, Rothman’s was selected to host Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he unveiled this year’s Small Business Saturday initiative. We were honored to be featured as one of New York City’s small business success stories. Additional speakers included City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, American Express CEO Ken Chenault, and Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services Rob Walsh. Small Business Saturday was launched in 2010 by American Express as a way to promote shopping local, independent retailers across the country. Ken Chenault, the chairman and CEO of American Express, designed the “shop small” idea to be the small business version of national stores’ Black Friday and online outlets’ Cyber Monday. We are proud to be an independent business in New York City and would like to thank everyone who did their part to support our local economy and Small Business Saturday on November 26.
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Photos courtesy of William Alatriste
FA L L 2 0 1 1 coppley.com
i n t e r v i e w
w i t h
K E N
G I D D O N
Forget your mental image of private detectives in the movies like Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. The present day private investigators are more likely to have a degree in finance than a pistol permit. We spent a few moments with our friend and Rothman’s client Adam Deutsch, founder of Synergy Intelligence, to get a sense of his business, the degree of danger, and what is the proper dress code for surveillance? KG: You went to George Washington University, played baseball, and studied finance. Why didn’t you end up on Wall Street? AD: My father, who was a Wall Street trader for many years, always encouraged me to do something I enjoyed, and to do it well. He never pushed me one way or the other. When I was in high school I worked as a laborer for a big NYC construction company. It was a great job, great money, and I worked with some very interesting people. I enjoyed doing things with my hands, but even back then, it bothered me when I saw fraud and waste. It irritated me when I witnessed the hard workers receive a disproportionate workload. I think that may have been my inspiration. I spend a considerable amount of time uncovering waste, abuse, fraud and inefficiency. Of course, many of my Wall Street buddies have a greater degree of financial independence, but I have been fortunate enough to have found a career that challenges me every day, is different, and rewards me when I can help right some wrongs. As far as baseball goes, I was not a very good hitter and I only played for a few years. More importantly, I was catching behind a guy named John Flaherty, who retired from the New York Yankees just a few years ago.
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jobs
KG: What are the major components of your business? AD: In our business, the exciting part is that nothing is normal. Typically, most requests are to gather information. That may be from documents that are hard to locate, from computers that have allegedly been sanitized, or from people that are hard to find. We have been asked to assist with many types of investigative and fact finding assignments. For example, Synergy does due diligence on transactions, potential partners, and board members. We are often called in to examine accounting fraud or to provide expertise regarding money laundering methods that avoid traditional government oversight. By far, the cases that are most rewarding are those related to work assisting the wrongfully accused. KG: Your business must be very technical now. Has old fashion police work been replaced by understanding DNA and internet security? AD: There are many aspects of the business which are very high tech. We spend a lot of time with electronic discovery of deleted material, database and tracking software, and this type of technology improves each day. Still, I have found in a majority of cases, that the greatest information is still derived from people. Our investigative skill, or perhaps "secret sauce", is not only knowing how to find those people, but how to effectively extract the information. At times, this is a technical process, but in many others, it is getting the people who are familiar with a situation to feel comfortable enough to reveal what they know. That is the challenge, and very related to "old fashion police work"
KG: I know that you do some pro bono work for the wrongfully imprisoned. Anything you can tell us about? AD: I was fortunate enough to have been asked by some very prominent attorneys and law firms to work on a cases related to the wrongfully accused. These cases are extremely rewarding as you get a chance to dramatically change someone's life. In two cases, we were persuasive enough with our facts to have the witnesses recant their earlier testimony, which ultimately led to the release of innocent men from prison. It is very difficult convincing someone to tell the truth once they have already gone on record with a fabrication. In both of these cases, the witnesses had originally testified and disclosed what they did, out of a misguided understanding of friendship, and by improper threats by law enforcement. Personally, this is very satisfying work.
jobs
KG: You have worked on Ponzi schemes. Has Madoff flushed them out into the open, or are there many more out there?
KG: Is identity theft really something to worry about? What about sending your credit card numbers via email?
AD: Unfortunately, like Lou Manheim said in the movie Wall Street, “money makes people do things they wouldn’t otherwise do.” I know this is both accurate and unfortunate. It may sound like a fortune cookie, but behind many great fortunes, lies a great crime. Of course, Madoff was an eye opener for regulators, law enforcement and, most importantly, for investors. He hooked people on being involved in something "exclusive." There will always be schemes to defraud and separate those from their money. My hope is that investors exercise a bit more due diligence on their own, by hiring experts to examine where the money is going or the legitimacy of the purported track record. We were the lead investigator for a group of investors related to the Salander O’Reilly Gallery fraud. This $100 million case was similar to Madoff in many ways, because people who really should have known better, trusted Larry Salander because he had the nicest gallery in town.
AD: Yes, worry about it. Remember that the best security is something you know (password), something you are (fingerprint), and something you have (access card). Although you cannot always incorporate all of this into your everyday life, it is a good way to think about protecting yourself.
KG: Stupid question...If I had a document and deleted it, is it gone, or can guys like you still find it somewhere? AD: No such thing as a stupid question, just stupid criminals and that’s why they get caught. Very rarely are documents gone. There are many programs that can access deleted files and they have been used with great success in many cases which we have worked. KG: Is spyware real or is it a myth? AD: Spyware, which monitors key strokes, web sites visited, emails, passwords, etc. is very real. Legally it is a very interesting question based on both jurisdiction and consent. Just last week we discovered spyware installed on a client’s laptop. That discovery opens up many options for us to either expose or provide misinformation.
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KG: I have always maintained that a guy should have “his guy.” You know, his barber, his car guy, and his clothing guy. I have heard people refer to you as "the fixer”, as in the guy you go to when you need help — like “The Wolf” in Pulp Fiction. What is up with that? AD: Well Ken, I will not dispose of bodies like Harvey Keitel (ironically, I did speak to his brother once during the course of an investigation), but I do think a natural progression of working on a variety of assignments is that you learn how to be resourceful with both information and people. What is critical is to always address your client’s sense of urgency, and when appropriate, put yourself in their position. Recently, I had a client who needed to work around a very sticky situation, and I was able to provide advice and introductions to people that he would have not known. It is very rewarding to help those who both need it and deserve it. KG: You are a guy who knows guys. Do people still ask you to get them a passport in one day, or to help get their college son out of a Turkish prison? AD: There have been vast improvements in Turkish prisons, so no worries. It’s not that I can get a passport in one day, but I have been fortunate enough to learn how the system works, and who people should call to provide them with the proper advice in order to get a passport in one day. KG: Cameras are everywhere, but what is actually legal in surveillance? AD: Get used to it because they are not going away. Surveillance cameras are different than surveillance. Video is allowed in most locations, it is the audio that becomes the issue. Without proper consent, if audio is being recorded, it can be illegal.
KG: You probably do a lot of matrimonial work. Is it all forensic work or do you sometimes do the surveillance stuff that you see in movies? AD: We don’t do a tremendous amount of it, but we did work on a case shortly after I started my company for a very prominent attorney. It was a horrible case where a recently fired nanny fabricated parental abuse stories about an innocent divorced mom. We got to the bottom of it, but not before the mom’s life was turned upside down. This case ended up on the cover of New York Magazine. KG: You are a sharp dresser. You always wear suits. How would you describe your personal style and what do people like to see their investigator wear? AD: My great uncle was the head of the haute couture department for Neiman Marcus. He always said to make sure that your shoes are leather, your suits are wool, your shirts are cotton, and your ties are silk. That is pretty basic and sound advice. The reality is that I have constant meetings with lawyers, bankers, and business professionals. You are always taken more seriously when you are dressed professionally, and that counts whether it is in a courtroom, or on the street talking to a witness. KG: Since you are always finding out information, tell us something about you we don’t know. AD: I like spending time with my children, playing ice hockey (I started when I was 40), cooking, chopping wood, watching my friends perform standup comedy, reading a book by David Ignatius, and donating platelets. Adam can be reached at Synergy Intelligence Holdings, LLC, adeutsch@synergyintell.com
staff
Kristin Denae Rothman’s sportswear buyer Kristin Denae was born and raised in Oklahoma. We searched the country long and hard until we found someone with her innate talents. Her skills have kept Rothman’s on the cutting edge of fashion and technology, and have even made us a bit eccentric at times. When she told us the story of her hometown, we thought our magazine readers would find it fascinating too. — Ken and Jim I have been a New Yorker for about two years, and I’ve learned the locals find it very amusing that I am from Oklahoma. Everything from my ethnicity, (part Cherokee Indian,) to my childhood pastimes, (digging up arrowheads,)
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seems a worthy topic for discussion. But one of the most unique aspects of my past is my hometown of Hugo. Hugo, Oklahoma is located in the southeast region of the state and boasts a population of less than six thousand residents. If you were to drive through (presumably on your way to someplace else), you would see a sunny, picturesque town with a railroad depot and deep green grass. This is not a bustling metropolis you would refer to as a city, however, it is known to many as Circus City USA. The guidebooks tell how Vernon Pratt, a local grocer, convinced Obert Miller to bring his circus to Hugo in 1937. In fact, Miller didn’t bring the circus to Hugo only for a single performance, but for good. The G. Kelley-Miller Circus would become the first traveling circus to use Hugo as their home base, and more than 22 national circus companies have followed suit. Every December, the circus companies begin their winter hiatus. Upon their return, the workers and performers are met with a celebration welcoming them back to their adopted home.
Growing up in a circus town has its advantages. For instance,
in the least. In fact, the workmanship and care the grounds con-
I got the chance to ride an elephant when I was six. One year
tinue to receive is indicative of a place that holds a deep respect
my sister Courtney and I argued over who had the best circus
for the people who dedicated their lives to the art of the circus.
performer in her class. Courtney, being three years older and
My personal favorite is a granite wagon wheel marking the final
therefore better at every competition, boasted about having a
resting place of Ted Bowman. Bowman was the general manag-
classmate who was an actual contortionist. Apparently, the girl
er of Carson & Barnes Circus and a noted circus historian. His
had displayed her skills on the playground by twisting her small
inscription reads: “There’s nothing left but empty popcorn
frame into knots. The lion tamer’s son who was my peer sud-
sacks and wagon tracks.” The show must go on.
denly seemed less impressive — until the day he brought a live cub to show-and-tell. During one father-daughter Saturday, I was introduced to what has become my favorite part of Circus City. Showmen’s Rest is a section of the town cemetery that was purchased by the Miller family to honor the lives of these dedicated performers. The entrance of Showmen’s Rest is marked by two massive monuments, each topped with an elephant balancing on a ball. There is an inscription that reads, “A Tribute to all Showmen under God’s Big Top.” Scattered throughout the grounds are gleaming stone markers, replicas of show horses, clowns, acrobats, even a replica of the big top itself. These are not the small, neat edifices that you are accustomed to seeing and even as a little girl, they didn’t seem morbid or frightening
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— Kristin Denae
b y
words
L A R R Y
S M I T H
Why I Wear What I Wear The editor of the wildly popular Six-Word Memoir project poses a challenge: Can you describe your fashion outlook in exactly six words? There’s a literary legend that writers love to retell. As the story goes, Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to compose a whole novel in just six words. Papa responded with: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Could be true, could be a myth. But we do know this for sure: the six-word challenge works. In 2006, on an online storytelling community I started, SMITH Magazine, I gave the Hemingway tale a contemporary twist, challenging people to tell the true story of their own lives in exactly six words. I called the form the “Six-Word Memoir” and figured it would be a month-long contest on the site. More than five years and half a million stories later from the playful (“Met wife at her bachelorette party”) to the profound (“Can’t look at heart donor’s picture”) the Six-Word Memoir project has become a bestselling book series, board game, classroom exercise and a powerful way to express oneself. A Six-Word Memoir can be very specific (“Found on Craigslist: table, apartment, fiancé”), or an attempt to describe a whole life. Millions of words have been written on celebrity chef, Mario Batali, but Molto Mario cuts right to the chase with his own Six-Word Memoir: “Brought it to a boil often.” One day I woke up and checked out the latest bunch of submissions on SMITH to find this six-word
Here are some of our favorite submissions from the Rothman’s staff: •
Men, leave your wives at home — Jennifer
•
My shoes are just as important — Jennifer
•
To cuff, or not to cuff? — Kenny
•
I match suits, shirts, and ties — Kenny
•
No to fashion, yes to style — Kristin
•
Sir, those pants do not fit — Kristin
•
I’m a shark in a suit — Ray
•
Care how you look, others do. — Jim
•
3 button pleated suits. Great price. — Jim
•
Wives have pedicures, you have Rothman’s — Jessica
•
My Canali suit says “new diet” — Ken
And here are some customer/facebook fan responses: •
Make an impression worthy of history — Omar
•
Show your inside on the outside — Courtney
•
Don Draper – the power of style — Robin
•
This suit matches my drink exactly — Joel
•
Anyone see where my pants went? — Wes
gem: “Married by Elvis. Divorced by Friday.” Clearly, someone had a wilder weekend than me. So what makes a good Six-Word Memoir? Honesty, specificity, and creativity are all key ingredients. Yet in my five years swimming in sixes, I’ve found that the one thing that fuels people to write compelling Six-Word Memoirs is passion. Some people are passionate about food (“Carbohydrates call my name every day”), some about work (“My classroom is my Carnegie Hall”), some about pop culture (“Coulda rocked that Pan Am uniform.”) We posed a challenge to the Rothman’s staff, customers and friends, to author six words on their personal style. Why do you wear what you wear? What informs your gift of garb? Who’s your fashion ideal? What is your favorite thing to wear–and what would you not be caught dead in? We wanted to know — in just six words. We think the father of the six-word form, the ever-dashing Hemingway, would be proud.
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Larry Smith (“Own a tux, all grown up”) is the founder of SMITH Magazine (smithmag.net), and online community devoted to personal storytelling, and home of the SixWord Memoir project.
888 55 ZEGNA ZEGNA.com
Water Repellent Bomber in Technical Wool
haves
We asked the team at Rothman's to help us put together a list of some important things to know or have for this season. We sometimes hesitate to say some of these things to your face, so perhaps this list will help.
1 Vested Suits are coming back. You don't need to own one yet‌ but you will.
2 Casual pants require casual shoes. Please do not wear your black wing-tips with khakis.
3 Pleated pants are NOT back. Continue to donate the ones in your closet.
4 Custom shirts are a very good "bang for the buck." You might also be surprised how good you are at designing your own shirt with a little help.
5 Your iPad, or other mobile device case is quickly becoming an item of fashion, or at least something that is an important part of your appearance.
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6 The trend to narrower, fitted clothing is still in full force, and the width of lapels, ties, and shirts all move in concert in this regard.
7 Pocket Squares- an easy, inexpensive trend that can complement or replace a tie in many situations.
8 Really great jeans cost $150 and up, which is worth it if you wear them all the time, or just like great jeans.
9 A man should own a dress belt and a belt that goes with his jeans.
10 Unless you got married in the last 5 years, your tuxedo should probably not be the one that you got married in. This is especially true if you now have kids in college.
11 Be careful buying suits at outlet malls or sample sales...we will say no more.
Photo Courtesy of PAL ZILERI
like the gods
b y
J E F F WA L L AC H
La Quinta Resort, Palm Springs, CA
If you’re anything like me, when watching golf on television (if you can stay awake with all that whispering), you hope for the rare opportunity to see a world-class tour professional shank an iron shot into the shrubbery. Then you can say: “Geez, I could have hit a better shot than that.” Folks who are inclined to compare themselves to professional athletes will find ample opportunity to do so at a number of North American golf courses that host pro tournaments but are also open for public play. Then you can tell your friends that when you were at La Costa, you holed out a sand shot that some tall, skinny guy with a dozen tournament wins to his credit left twelve feet short. You just don’t have to mention that you holed yours out for an eight. the following are a handful of venues good enough to challenge the pros and also generous enough to let hacks like you and me try to follow in their spike prints.
Kelowna, British Columbia The excellent Predator Ridge Resort (45 minutes north of Kelowna) has hosted both the Xerox BC Open and the 2000 Skins Game, which pitted Fred Couples, Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, and Phil Mickelson in an event that might have been called “Who Wants to Be an Even Bigger Millionaire?” The accommodations and other amenities at Predator Ridge were enticing enough that Garcia (who won a mere $120,000 to Couples’s $635,000) bought property here. The resort combines 27 fine holes designed by Les Furber with lovely craftsman-style lodge suites and cottages. PR also sports a fine restaurant — all of it in a remote setting that is nearly all about golf (except for the pool, spa, tennis courts, etc.). The resort’s golf academy promises that you will arrive as prey and leave as a predator — and if all goes well, it won’t be lost golf balls that you’re stalking.
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The golf here spreads languorously across 1,200 acres of ponds, streams, pine ridges, dry grasslands, lakes, and wheatgrass meadows. Despite the rugged topography, the holes exude a powerfully linksy feel. The three nines can combine to play from 5,373 to 7,144 yards. Blind shots abound on the Red Tail nine. The Osprey nine, which plays to a par of only 35, opens softly, but every one of its par fours flaps its wings for more than 400 yards. The sole par five covers nearly 600 yards. And the two par threes average 220 yards. Still, this collection is easier and more walkable than the other nines. The Peregrine layout, which also features one par three and one par five, disappears into the forest until number eight breaks out into the open again, with views of giant mounds in the distance.
of a bunker protecting the green. The ninth, a 461-yard par four, might call for hitting driver/wedge/eight iron unless you execute perfectly. And the 572-yard, round-busting fifteenth could not possibly be more arduous; even an immaculate layup leaves a nearly-impossible flop shot over water and sand to the green. The course ramps up to 7,204 yards, but seek professional help (and I don’t mean a golf pro) if you play from the tips. It’s rating should exclude minors due to violence and adult language. But what, really, could be more fun?
Palm Springs, California Just outside Palm Springs, La Quinta Resort — associated with the PGA West complex of, well, complex golf courses — has several trophy layouts that golfers love to collect. But let’s consider one of the lesser-known tracks — the 7,126-yard Nicklaus Tournament Course, which has hosted such events as the Diners Club Matches and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. While the meek may inherit the earth, they’ll still do well to avoid this layout. From the first hole, missed fairways or greens may result in fun-house sidehill lies, hysterically difficult pitches out of thick grass, or worse. The landing areas and putting surfaces form carved platforms with steep sides and no sense of humor. Number five is a fine example. This 364yard par four enigma features two fairways split by a smirking bunker; guess where you’ll land with a long, dead-center drive? At number eight, a 172-yard sortie over water, even the drop area is penal, still requiring a water crossing and negotiation The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club Portland, OR
like the gods
Predator Ridge Resort, Kelowna, BC
Portland, Oregon The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club, thirty minutes from Portland, has served as the hospitable home to the Champions Tour’s Jeld-Wen Tradition — considered one of the majors on the seniors rotation. The Reserve decants two thirst-quenching winethemed courses, one each designed by John Fought and Bob Cupp. A combination of holes — mostly from the Fought course — are used to host the tournament. The facility rotates the two tracks between public and private play twice per month. The entire complex is decorated with grapevine icons and even has its own wine label. You may produce a few whines of your own if you misplace your “A” game — although the courses are more likely to elicit Bacchanalian delight. Cupp’s, now called the North Course, runneth over with 6,845 yards of heathland-style golf featuring such modern elements as rolling mounds and distinctive ground shaping, short-grass green
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surrounds, tough putting surfaces, and what may be the only triple green in the world. Don your thinking cap for holes such as number seven, 289 yards from the blue tees with a tree guarding the green; you’ll want to leave your woods (and possibly your golf ball) in the bag. Sip from the Cupp Course’s directional bunkers and other lovely subtleties and you’ll feel warm all over. Fought’s design, known as the South Course, pours more like a bold cabernet, though a sandy one, as more than 100 bunkers speckle this venerable track winding through mature trees over natural terrain. If you’re like me, you might play the entire layout without landing on grass — although I don’t recommend this, as grass is much softer than sand and doesn’t get in your eyes. Reaching to 7,172 from the tips with three par threes over 200 yards, Fought’s layout has the potential to stomp you like a barrel full of grapes. Imbibe this delicious vintage layout — with classic overtones, heady bou-
quet, and a bold, turfy nose — and still wake up without a hangover.
Las Vegas, Nevada The TPC Canyons Course, in Las Vegas, has played host to a tournament that’s had more names than a guy on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Let’s call it by its most traditional moniker — the Las Vegas Invitational, which has a string of firsts to its credit: first PGA Tour event to offer a $1 million purse, first non-major to offer a $5 million purse, and site of the first PGA Tour victory by a youngster named Tiger Woods. This 7,063-yard Bobby Weed design opens gently, by which I mean it doesn’t confront you with a forced carry until the second hole. By number eight the layout really cinches down, with a 458-yard uphill par four into the wind. From number ten on, nearly ever single hole grows progressively tougher, with more and longer forced carries over deep arroyos. The signature fourteenth
TPC Canyon Course, Las Vegas, NV
TPC Canyon Course, Las Vegas, NV
rior tees and encompasses sensible par threes ranging from 121 to 224 yards, narrow fairways, hidden hazards, and crowned greens. Most holes are especially playful close to the pin. But as on other Egan tracks, the difficulty is subtle; while the course looks easy on paper, paper is generally flat — a condition that won’t characterize many lies Play Championship in which Geoff Ogilvy here. Further, head professional Gary beat Davis Love 3 and 2 to win the blue Lindeblad takes pride in “letting the rough Wedgewood Walter Hagen Trophy, oh, and a grow up until everyone complains.” One local check for $1.3 million. La Costa added a second golf course and stick recently inquired whether the superineventually paired new nines and old nines to tendent’s mower had broken. Indian Canyon opens create the North and South Courses. The well with two short par Match Play Championship, which was held fives, the first playing here seven times, took place on a composite downhill, the second course that is available to guests several featuring an amphithe- times each year. In addition to myself (I preater green that kicks vailed in a $2 Nassau against another golf balls toward a greenside writer), winners at La Costa include bunker you can’t see Nicklaus, Trevino, Miller, and Woods. Both layouts feature Bermuda grass in the from the fairway. Hole seven offers big guys a fairways and roughs, and Bent grass greens. chance to fire at the They play through mature trees of seeminggreen 287 yards away, ly infinite variety, with generous fairways, but most should hit 215 rounded grabby bunkers ingeniously placed, to the knee of the sharp man-made lakes, and small, elevated putting dogleg. Ben Hogan surfaces. North plays a bit longer while called the 224-yard South requires a little more accuracy. Wind eighth the toughest sin- is a factor throughout and you must have an gle-shot hole he’d ever aerial game to survive on either venue. La Quinta Resort, Palm Springs, CA Number three is the toughest on the seen. The back begins with South Course — an uphill three-shot par another downhill romp from a box that tees four with five bunkers clustering around the of top-notch golf. Early holes on both the front and back up views of downtown Spokane and a gaggle green. The eighth presents a fine par three nines climb along steep canyons before of mountains. Added height provides balls with a swampy waste area to the right. On descending with dramatic views to finishing with plenty of time to decide whether to the back side, number fourteen, an excellent holes beside the lake. The 199-yard par-three hook or slice. Number fourteen weighs in as uphill par three with elevated green and four eighth is set on a peninsula jutting into the one of the state’s toughest par four holes: deep bunkers, cries out for loft — but it also cries out for accuracy, a cry I didn’t hear water, and nestled among beaches, bunkers, 438 yards through a narrow canyon. until it was too late. The last four holes are palms, and rockwork. Eighty-one bunkers known as “the Longest Mile” because they and three waterfalls plus several holes fea- San Diego, California turing double carries over water and/or Professional golfers have been teeing it up play 1,847 yards into the wind. Whichever of these courses you play, ravines, gave the pros plenty of challenge. at the beloved La Costa Resort virtually since the toney property opened in the don’t forget to sign a few autographs for the rolling, coastal foothills 30 miles north of kids waiting outside the clubhouse. Spokane, Washington If good old municipal golf courses were San Diego in 1965. Designed by Dick supermodels, then Spokane’s Indian Canyon Wilson and Joe Lee, La Costa’s golf courses would be sashaying down the runway in a have hosted events ranging slinky dress and Manolo Blahnik shoes. from the Haig and Haig La Costa Resort, San Diego, CA Which is just weird. So never mind. Still, this Scotch Mixed Tournament to the richly-turfed Chandler Egan track built in (1965–67) 1935 twice hosted the USGA Men’s Public Tournament of Champions Links Championship (in 1941 and 1984). (1969–98). In the early days, And at the 1945 Esmeralda Open, Byron names like Hope, Martin, Nelson won with a 266 total, and Sam Snead and Crosby showed up regushot 63 on the final day to tie for third with larly on the tee sheet. Most recently, La Costa was the Ben Hogan, who had a hole-in-one. Egan’s routing plays 6,255 from the war- site of the Accenture Match plays 365 yards over an arroyo and bunker with an approach to a green perched on the lip of another arroyo Just outside Vegas, Henderson, Nevada, is also home to a fine tournament venue — Jack Nicklaus’s Reflection Bay Golf Club, which gave me plenty to reflect upon: such as, Why am I such a lousy golfer? The course, which has been the site of the Wendy’s Three-Tour Challenge (including players from the PGA, LPGA, and Champions tours competing together), is part of the $4 billion Lake Las Vegas Resort. Five holes here unfurl along 1.5 miles of lakeshore. Wide fairways with great visual lines occasionally force hidden shots across these 7,261 yards
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100 Best Band Names of All Time Naming your band is an art all of its own, one that doesn't necessarily correlate with an ability to make music. In high school, the worst of my ideas included the name Something Completely Different, just so we could be introduced at our school's talent show with the Monty Python line, “And now for Something Completely Different.” Thankfully, my bandmates outvoted me. Music editor Steve LaBate, on the other hand, is in a band called Attractive Eighties Women fronted by a burly dude named Phoebe Cates. A good band name can be an exercise in cleverness, a perfect descriptor, or just something that sounds cool. We come across thousands of band names in our line of work, and we narrowed them down to the best. We quickly realized categories were emerging; so rather than ranking them 1 to 100, we grouped thematically and concluded the list with our 10 absolute favorites:
The Celebrity Tribute Nothing says “I love you” quite like mashing up your name with a bucket of fried chicken or recreational vehicle. We appreciate these clever takes on more established personalities. 1. JFKFC (An Atlanta metal supergroup featuring members of other notably named bands like Necropolis, Dick Delicious, and Artemis Pyledriver) 2. Camper Van Beethoven (Cracker never had the same ring to it.) 3. Kathleen Turner Overdrive (It was a sad day in 1994 when Tim Neilsen left Atlanta's KTO to join with the less awesomely named Drivin’ ’N’ Cryin’.)
4. Mary Tyler Morphine (From TV newswoman to female-fronted hardcore band) 5. John Cougar Concentration Camp (They'll never drop the “cougar” from their name.) 6. Gringo Star (Atlanta is apparently a big town for celebrity-driven puns. The awfully named A Fir-Ju Well continued the trend, becoming Gringo Star.) 7. The Lee Harvey Keitel Band (These ’90s rockers had a song called “Our Love Has Died a William Holden Death.” We assume that either means by injuries from a fall or Bridge on the River Kwai-style at Sir Alec Guinness’ feet.)
8. Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head (The band puts the V for Vendetta actress on the guest list of every show to no avail.) 9. Propagandhi (Great name, but Canadian bandmates Chris Hannah and Jordan Samolesky also ran a label that released music from a band named Swallowing Shit. And Hannah was named one of The Worst Canadians in History by a journal from the Canadian National History Society. Gandhi would be so proud.) 10. Gnarls Barkley (Brian Burton and Thomas Callaway were already great at coming up with names — Danger Mouse, Cee-Lo Green.)
Black Moth Super Rainbow
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The Brilliantly Generic Back in 1962, ? and the Mysterians launched a pair of trends, giving themselves an enigmatic moniker and introducing punctuation into band names. This culminated 38 years later when !!! turned a Gods Must Be Crazy reference into one of the most genius (or idiotic) band names of all time. 1. X (With a frontman named John Doe, no less) 2. The The (One of three bands on this list to contain Johnny Marr. Only 97 to go.) 3. The Who (Originally called the less memorable Detours) 4. The Band (Definitive named backed up by the music) 5. The Smiths (Morrissey told Melody Maker in 1984, it was “time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces.”) 6. Average White Band (What else would you call a Scottish band playing funk, soul, and disco?) 7. !!! (Pronounced “Chk Chk Chk.” The Pygmys don't have any trouble pronouncing it, at least.)
1. The Libertines (One look at Pete Doherty, and the band found its name.)
5. Sunny Day Real Estate 6. Throbbing Gristle
2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (The music is potentially even more precious than that sounds, but I love it anyway.)
7. The Velvet Underground 8. The Flaming Lips
3. The Clash (God bless Joe Strummer for living up to it.) 4. Parliament Funkadelic (And George Clinton was prime minister.)
9. The Apples in Stereo 10. Drive-By Truckers (tie) 10. Talking Heads (tie)
5. One Bad Pig (Christian punk band warned moms ahead of time.) 6. Morphine (Mark Sandman’s laid-back minimalism could be addictive.) 7. Southern Culture on the (Celebrating the redneck in us all)
Skids
The (Mostly) Complete Sentence 1. Betty’s Not a Vitamin (It takes a minute for this one to sink in until you realize that Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Dino all were. Thankfully, Bayer fixed this oversight in 1994.) 2. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
8. The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash (Part of country’s rowdier wing) 9. Suburban Kids with Biblical Names (The name may have come from a Silver Jews song, but the band is actually led by Swedish boys Johan and Peter.)
3. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. (If it were only so easy ) 4. Say Hi to Your Mom (During college, the rule was that if you implied a certain intimacy with someone's mom, you had to take a punch in the arm. It was usually worth it.)
10. De La Soul (Truly “of the” soul) 5. Be Your Own Pet
8. The Names (Quite possibly the most famous post-punk band from Belgium who used to be called The Passengers)
Most of these speak for themselves, but I'll add that Paradise Vendors gets bonus points for naming themselves after a hot dog stand in one of my favorite novels, John Kennedy O’Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces.
6. I Am the World Trade Center (This name was even better pre-9/11.)
10. Question Mark and the Mysterians aka ? and the Mysterians (Today they would be ?&the!mySTerians*.)
1. Throwing Muses
8. Dead Can Dance
2. Butthole Surfers
9. Follow for Now
The Truth in Advertising
3. Meat Puppets
Sometimes a glance at the name tells you everything you need to know about a band.
4. Paradise Vendors
10. Pretty Girls Make Graves (Smith’s reference or no, that's a lot of responsibility to put on the aesthetically gifted.)
9. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The The would be jealous of their second EP, Is Is.)
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7. Dogs Die in Hot Cars (A band name and a public service announcement)
The Ominous/Ridiculously Ominous
The Meek/Mild
I've always preferred the ridiculously ominous to the just plain ominous.
A great band name doesn't always have to be grand or scary. Sometimes it can be just the opposite.
1. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead 2. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness (Still, he does love you.) 3. Megadeth (I hate intentional misspellings, but megadeth is a real unit of measurement — the death of one million people in a nuclear disaster.) 4. Bloody Wall of Gore (If you're going to go gore, you have to go all the way.) 5. Motorhead 6. Dead Kennedys (Despite the insensitivity of their name, they did continue the Kennedy cause of fighting Republicanism during the Reagan ‘80s.) 7. Suicidal Tendencies 8. Wiccan Guidance Counselor (These guys know how to scare your mom.) 9. Sex Pistols 10. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Grand Hyperbole If you're going to name yourself The Supremes, you better back it up. They did. 1. The Supremes 2. The Jesus and Mary Chain 3. Queen
1. Super Furry Animals (A band of great big Welshmen of varying levels of hairiness) 2. Echo & the Bunnymen 3. Fuzzy Bunny Slippers (The ska is sweeter in New Jersey.) 4. Modest Mouse (Pulled from a Virginia Woolfe line, but I still wouldn't want to mess with Isaac Brock.) 5. Startled Insects (Who can forget their 1987 breakout LP, Curse of the Pheromones?) 6. Local to Indianapolis (No big aspirations here) 7. The Rural Alberta Advantage 8. Pixies (When Black Francis gets on stage, a fairy is the last thing that comes to mind.) 9. The Replacements (Rumored to have been chosen when a different band didn't show up for a gig) 10. Black Moth Super Rainbow
The Perfectly Executed Pun There are hundreds of terrible band name puns. We love all of them, but here are the worst/best:
The Best of the Best Rather than completely copping out on the rankings, these are our 10 absolute favorites, in order. 1. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (Leave it to The Muppets to come up with the BEST BAND NAME OF ALL TIME.) 2. Guided by Voices (This always seemed like the secret to Robert Pollard's prolific and bizarre output.) 3. Joy Division (The name came from the 1955 novel House of Dolls in which a Nazi concentration camp had a prostitution arm.) 4. Led Zeppelin 5. A Tribe Called Quest
1. Japancakes 6. 13th Floor Elevators
2. The Dictatortots
7. Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Like Lemmy and the umlaut, we'd have retired random punctuation after these post-rock legends used it best.)
3. Swimming Pool Qs
4. Supreme Beings of Leisure (Also falls under truth in advertising)
4. Hostile Comb-Over
5. They Might Be Giants
5. Abracadaver
6. T. Rex
6. Pabst Smear
7. Jesus Lizard
7. Test Icicles
8. Tenacious D (Great name, but most of the hyperbole comes from the mouth of Jack Black.)
8. Rumpleforeskin
8. Public Enemy 9. Man or Astro-Man? (After seeing them live, you still wonder.)
9. Furious George 10. We Were Promised Jetpacks! (Yes, Scottish frontman Adam Thompson, we sure were.)
9. 40 Lb Head 10. Thank God We're Immortal
Butthole Surfers
The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
Josh Jackson is the editor of Paste magazine.
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So I am downstairs at Rothman’s fitting this gorgeous new Calvin Klein suit, with skinny legs, peak lapels, and a shiny ’60-ish sharkskin style. While head fitter Eddie Acosta is doing his thing to make it look even better, I strike up a conversation with the proprietor of Rothman’s, Ken Giddon. As a long time customer, I have known Ken for almost 20 years.“What are you working on these days Steve?” he says. “Well, something a bit off the normal track.” I reply. I will just come out and say it. Yes, I am involved in a variety of ventures, but the one that keeps grabbing me...Octopus Broker. About nine years ago I was looking for a new career. I was at that point where you reach a certain age, and you start re-thinking your life, your work and what you want to do with yourself. I had been in the tech world for 19 years. I began working on video based software, working in DOS, Lotus, Symphony and Enable. Later I moved on to CD ROM delivery, and then to online e-learning. I spent years working with Microsoft delivering e-learning to the Army and Navy. It was satisfying work, until… it was not any more. I wanted out. It was not my thing anymore. I had enough. I wanted to be involved with something that I was passionate about. Cooking and food had always been an interest. I thought about opening a restaurant. I did the research and came up with concepts, but my good friends kept talking me out of the idea. Through some connections, I was introduced to an upscale private dining directory called Great Places (www.greatplacesdirectory.com). I was hired to sell advertising, and eventually became a partner. I developed tremendous relationships with restaurateurs, chefs, and hospitality industry leaders. Since I was immersed in the food business, I started a cooking show called“Beyond the Dish.”That show was tied together with another cooking show with Steve Shirippa of Sopranos fame, and our show was called “A Table for Two Steve’s.” It ran on NYC TV Channel 5 for a year and a half and received some very positive feedback.Which led to an acquaintance asking me if I could help him sell some octopus. My friend described the work that goes into bringing the octopus product here. He explained how it can only be found in certain waters, how it is tenderized, and how the top chefs are using it. The concept got a hold on me. I was an octopus broker.
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I was soon visiting top kitchens across the NY region, letting them sample my exclusive offerings of the world’s finest baby and large octopus, and sepia (cuttlefish). Fished in the Canary Islands, it is then tenderized in special stainless steel tumblers using ice water and sea salt. It takes a tough team to make a tender octopus, and the faraway fisherman listen to the importers, Frank and Paula Gullo of Gullo Sea Foods, who are up every workday at 3 am demanding the highest quality catch and working carefully to tenderize these fabulous creatures of the sea. For you foodies out there, the flavor profile is a bit briny and the texture amazing. It is all sushi quality. Some notable chefs and restaurants using our products include: Eli Kaimeh of Per Se, Aaron Chambers of Boulud Sud, Michael White of Marea and Ai Fiori, David Burke, John Frasier of Dove Tail, Lee Hanson of Minetta Tavern, Jesse Shanker of Resette, Michael Anthony of Gramercy, Marco Canora of Hearth, Marc Forgione, George Mendez of Aldea, Marc Spitzer of Bond Street, Craig Hopson of Le Cirque and so many more. Ruth Reichl has even picked it up for her Gilt Taste website www.gilttaste.com, and it is now available to octopus lovers all over America. As I travel the country pushing octopus, I am constantly asked by chefs, “what else ya got?” My latest passion is a wonderful Cretan extra virgin olive oil; made from 5000 year old trees on the island of Crete. They say the older the tree, the better the olives. The brand is called Elyros and is fruity, clean, has low acidity, and a soft, smooth peppery finish. This product is already being used by many great restaurants, and is now sold at Fairway, Garden of Eden, Fresh Direct, and soon, will be private labeled by Dean + Deluca. So with an open mind, a thirst for new culinary exploration, and a palette that is always up for new and exciting flavors, I continue to search out all of the world’s culinary bounty. Yours truly,
Octo Man Steve can be reached at sfried@nyc.rr.com
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The Most Expensive Cars in the World What’s the most expensive car in the world? I had reason to think about this while writing about the Porsche 918 Spyder, which is a plug-in hybrid with 16 miles of all-electric range. But it’s also a fire-breathing supercar that can reach 60 mph in 3.1 seconds and top 199 mph. The bottom line? A mere $845,000. Wow, that’s a lotta loot. But it’s not the most expensive car you can buy right now. I thought the top spot was held by the 1,001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron 16.4, which I seemed to recall costs a million dollars. It turns out the price is actually way more than that — the bottom line is well over $2 million if you opt for the Grand Sport version. Which, of course, you’re going to do, because who'd want to pay that much for a car knowing there was a more exclusive version out there? And it turns out there are really, really expensive cars on the market that are so exclusive I’ve never even heard of them. Here are a few:
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automobile extravagance The Pagani Zonda Cinque Coupe. This Italian supercar is a mere $1.738 million and is built in an edition of only five. Exclusiveness outweighs the fact that it’s kind of ugly. The prettier Zonda F Roadster is a mere $1.44 million. But you’ll want the Cinque, because its 678-horsepower V12 takes it to 217 mph and because you're not going to see another one in the WalMart parking lot. They made only one of the Absolute variant and shipped it to Hong Kong. I couldn't find a fuel economy rating, but it isn't going to compete with a Prius.
Koenigsegg CCXR: This oddly named entity offers a stunning 806 horsepower from a twin-supercharged V8. You pay for engines like that, in this case $1.2 million. The car delivers just 11 mpg, but it can run on E85 ethanol!
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Maybach Laundaulet. This is one of the few cars here built for parades, not the race track — though it’s fast, too. A proud descendant of the Mercedes 600 Pullman, which was mostly bought by African dictators, the Maybach Laundaulet allows its potentate owner to enjoy al fresco waving to his subjects, and for just $1.38 million. The Maybach, a Daimler product, gets 10 mpg in town and an amazingly good 16 on the highway. If you don’t need the parade roof (or if the population is restive), go for the enclosed Maybach 62 Zeppelin, which is less than half the price and still plenty exclusive. It comes with champagne flutes.
Spyker C8 Aerilon Spyder. This is the supercar company that bought Saab. I interviewed CEO Victor Muller and found him refreshingly candid, very in touch with American slang although he’s Dutch. The mid-engined C8, with a 40-valve V8, tops out at 187 mph. Since that’s well short of 200 mph, the price is a mere $219,190. Muller is making Saabs now, but Spyker survives to bedazzle other kazillionaires. Expect just 13 mpg.
The millionaire playboy market can't be huge, but there's a lot of competition. In addition to the above, there are such cars as the Leblanc Mirabeau ($861,798), the Lamborghini Reventon ($1.45 million) and the SSC Ultimate Aero ($740,000). If you have an open shirt, medallions and millions of dollars burning a hole in your pocket, there are plenty of people willing to take your unearned money. Jim Motavalli is an online contributor to the New York Times, CBS Interactive, Hearst and the Mother Nature Network, as well as author of six books including Forward Drive: The Race to Build Clean Cars for the Future.
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Whether you made your bundle and quit work early or you’ve taken your leave at the traditional age, retired style doesn’t have to mean a track suit and cane. Here’s how to take years off your non-working appearance. Let’s start at the top: If you still have hair: Do: Flaunt it, with a well-styled, relatively short crop, and consider using a shampoo that brings out the best shades in your saltand-pepper locks. Don’t: Try to mask your age with an overthe-counter hair dye, which is tricky to get just right and tends to look fake anyway, especially when your roots start showing.
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If not, don’t obsess about it. Do: Relax. Approximately 40% of all men undergo some hair loss by the age of 40, and that percentage has been driven way up by our current shave-it-bald-in-yourtwenties generation. A clean-shaven head is not recommended, though, for an older man. To see how it’s done just right, check out Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s closecropped scalp on a rerun of Star Trek: Next Generation, and remember, most women still find this guy seriously sexy. Don’t: Grow your side hair long to compensate for any upper losses — this actually draws more attention to your baldness and also makes you appear a little sad.
Hair or not, pay attention to the style of your hat. Do: Choose a moderately brimmed, small-weave straw for the summer, a wider-brimmed fedora in felted fur for wintertime. A nice, non-golfing driver’s cap makes for a good back-up option. Don’t: Wear a cloth bucket hat any time of the year — nothing says “old guy” quite like this unfortunate furnishing.
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“The Coat” About seven years ago, we found a 3/4 length, black nylon outercoat from a Canadian company called Radley. People LOVED it. Sort of a raincoat/overcoat hybrid, with a removable wool collar; it could be worn over a suit, or even with jeans. Then after a few years, much to our dismay, Radley stopped making the coat. In 25 years of business, we have never had an item with a more loyal following. After two years of pleading, planning and small adjustments, we have brought it back to America, as the exclusive distributor.
Rothman’s Magazine Special: “The Coat” regularly $550, now $440! With a copy of this advertisement.
Available in both the NYC and Scarsdale locations.
aged to perfection
Your shirt says a lot about you. Do: Acquire quality knit tops and woven cloth shirts. If you need a reminder that you’re not at the office anymore, wear the latter open-necked, without a tie. Try selecting colors that are outside of your normal comfort zone; we guarantee you’ll be glad you did. Don’t: For the love of all that’s holy, don’t wear a white undershirt with your opencollared shirt. If you feel you must wear a tee underneath, make it taupe, black, anything but white. Do: Choose knits and wovens with finished hems that can be worn outside the pants for a relaxed look (and can help cover a slight paunch). Don’t: Go all short-sleeved on us. Some polos are nice to have around, but longsleeved shirts and knits are much more versatile, and work well with today’s layered ensembles.
Your jacket says even more. Do: Buy a well-tailored, up-to-date dark navy blazer with plain horn buttons. And stick a folded handkerchief into its breast pocket, just to show those younger guys you know a thing or two about style. Don’t: Hang onto a jacket left over from your office days. It’s old and tired, which mean that you’ll look old and tired too.
Pants are never beneath your notice. Do: Pair your blazer, shirts, and knits with dark dress denims for most casual and casual-dress occasions. Don’t: Believe that khakis are your only style choice. There are plenty of easy, comfortable trouser options out there with a tad more panache. Treat yourself to a few.
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Let’s end at the bottom: Take a good, hard look at your feet. Do: Maintain at least one good pair of dress shoes for formal occasions, and keep your casual slip-ons and sneakers neatly spruced up. The latter may be canvas, but make the rest leather — it breathes better, shapes naturally to your lower appendages, and looks mahvellous. Don’t: Opt for synthetic shoes or footwear that’s too obviously orthopaedic (try using insole inserts instead). And trust us, black work socks do not look cool worn with running shoes — ever.
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C O M M I S S I O N E R RO B WA L S H S A L U T E S ROT H M A N S When Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Christine Quinn, Commissioner Rob Walsh and American Express Chairman Ken Chenault launched Small Business Saturday at Rothman’s Union Square on October 27th, it drew quite a crowd. We asked Commissioner Walsh for a copy of the speech that he prepared for the event. When Mayor Bloomberg needed to make a recent announcement on small businesses with American Express CEO, Ken Chenault, I immediately recommended Rothman’s. Was it because Rothman’s accepts American Express? That would have worked. Or, was it because Ken Chenault shops at Rothman’s? That’s even better. Maybe it was because I spent many years working with Ken and Jim on the revitalization of Union Square? Combined with the other two, it seems like a great answer. But, there’s so much more to the story. Ken and Jim’s story begins with their great-grandfather who sold rags out of a push cart on the Lower East Side. He
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was tragically killed in an accident, so Ken and Jim’s grandfather, Harry Rothman, took over the cart at the age of 12 to support his mother and seven siblings. In 1926, he opened up a store which ultimately relocated to Lower Fifth Avenue. Harry passed away in 1985, and Ken was called in from Boston to close up the store for his family. Ken was 25 at the time. He was a bond trader on his way to business school. But when Ken got down to New York, he had second thoughts and poured his heart and soul into reviving the family business. I guess you could say he went from riches – to rags. He teamed up with his brother Jim and rebranded the business.
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Ken also became active in cleaning up the neighborhood through his work on the City's first Business Improvement District. I spent many a day huddling with Ken on strategies to improve Union Square. Ken also gave back to New Yorkers in need as a founding member of New York Cares. He even pinched hit as their Executive Director when they needed some extra help. The addition of Ken, and this store, was a big boost for Union Square. Ken Giddon used to sleep in the storefront window armed with a Louisville Slugger to guard the store from vandals. But now, 25 years later, Rothman’s is growing. Ken and Jim are moving on up – one block north, that is – expanding from 7,000 to 11,000 square feet, and making an even greater investment in our City. It’s pretty hard to believe today that Union Square’s entire 17th Street corridor was empty at the time when Ken first moved in. It is people like Ken and Jim Giddon who are turning neighborhoods around throughout our City. Rothman’s is the perfect example of what small retail businesses can achieve in strengthening our neighborhoods and local economy. In fact, more than half of the City’s private sector workforce is employed by small businesses like Rothman’s.
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And that’s why the Mayor has been so committed to do all that he can to help small businesses in NYC grow and succeed. Ken and Jim are taking advantage of the Mayor's New Business Acceleration Team, to help get their doors open faster. The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) will help them recruit new staff through our Workforce1 Centers. And our NYC Business Solutions Centers are ready to offer more, if they need. And we’re not stopping there. With Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York City Council’s help, we have also created new initiatives through the “Building Blocks for Neighborhood Retail” program that will help strengthen neighborhood retail corridors throughout NYC. The City is making it easier for small businesses like Rothman’s to do what’s necessary to help revitalize commercial corridors throughout New York City, so that neighborhoods in need of a boost can transform into a new neighborhood that is completely unrecognizable from the old one, like Union Square. Well, except maybe for an old bank vault in a basement. Rob Walsh is the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), and former Executive Director of the Union Square Partnership. For more information on programs for small businesses provided through SBS visit www.nyc.gov/sbs or call 311.