style
BEARPAW
Who is Your Ideal Guy? Page 21
BOOT SEASON IS HERE! (We’ve got you covered.)
Brains & Beauty
Actress JILLIAN MURRAY
Listen Up! MATTHEW JORDAN is a Real Piano Man
AUTUMN IS AWESOME... Apple Picking, Corn Mazes and Leaf Peeping
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The COOL Season WE MIGHT BE all about chillaxing at BEARPAW, but things get crazy when we’re gearing up for fall. It’s an exciting, exhilarating, exhausting time for our team, but we love it. As I’m writing this, I’m standing in our showroom looking at 100 styles. A hundred! Sometimes I think we must be crazy to include so many. It would be so much easier to cull it down to 20. But that’s not how we do things around here. The way I see it, anything less than 100 looks would shortchange you, our customers. And BEARPAW would never do that. “Exceed expectations and you’ll succeed.” That’s my motto. It’s what I tell myself, my kids and my team at BEARPAW every day. I hope this issue and especially our cornucopia of fall fashions will exceed your expectations. We’ve got some awesome new looks, including wedges, shorter boots and head turning embellishments. But we haven’t forgotten about the classics you’ve grown to know and love. They’re still in the mix, with some We’ve got some fresh new twists. awesome new When you combine innovation and looks... wedges, creativity with wellshorter boots loved favorites that never go out of style, and head turning you’ve got a recipe for embellishments. success. In fact, our fall issue celebrates that same great combination of the fresh and the new blended with cherished autumn traditions that never get old. One perfect example is our feature on pumpkin carver extraordinaire (and BEARPAW fan) Ray Villafane, whose work has been featured everywhere from Food Network to the White House. We love the way he’s taken a time-honored October staple and put his own creative Above: Siren boots. stamp on it. Check out the photos of Ray’s On the cover: masterpieces here and on our Facebook Chloe boot. page. And watch BEARPAW TV for more. We’re equally thrilled to bring you
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an exclusive interview with talented up-and-coming actress Jillian Murray. There’s no question that she’s got classic movie star beauty, but there’s a whole lot more to her than that. Jillian’s brains, daring and individuality give glamour an awesome update: She’s a chess champion, a computer geek, a drag racing aficionado and a former stuntwoman. She’s also a BEARPAW fan, natch. We decided to showcase both of them because we love the way they think beyond the ordinary. And they make us do the same. That’s one thing we love to do at BEARPAW. Be sure to check out BEARPAW Style online regularly to keep up on the exciting, out-of-the-ordinary events we’ve got in the works, from hitting Park City for the Sundance Film Festival to sharing the love by donating BEARPAWs to help those less fortunate stay warm and live life comfortably in the winter months ahead. Speaking of the months ahead, I’ll be texting like a mad fool to find out what you like best and what you want more of. If you’ve got thoughts on any of it—or all of it—I’d love to hear them. Email, write, post, Tweet. Tell us. We’ll listen. We’re the kind of guys who bump into people because we’re concentrating more on what shoes everybody’s wearing than where we’re going. That only happens when you love your work. And we do— even when we’re engulfed in 100 styles and overwhelmed by our own fall line. You’ve given us the opportunity of a lifetime by buying BEARPAW. For that, we thank you.
— Tom Romeo, CEO of BEARPAW
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Juliette Lewis Kathy Griffin
Dean Geyer
Beverly Mitchell Aisha Dee
Perez Hilton
Stephanie Pratt
Rachel G Fox
Nick Krause
Grant Guston
Jane Stone
Ronnie OrtizMagro
Kayla Ewell
PAWSPOTTING!
We’d love to see a picture of you wearing BEARPAW. Please email your photos to: info@bearpawshoes.com
Donald Driver
Anna Trebunskaya Lara Prepon
STAR POWER Celebrities who love their BEARPAWs. 1
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Brains, Beauty and
BEARPAWS Playing 20 questions with rising star Jillian Murray.
f you’re going to act in horror films, it helps to be fearless. And Jillian Murray certainly seems to be. A drag racing enthusiast who used to own a Kawasaki ninja sport bike and once worked as a stunt woman in a wild west live action show, the 28-yearold Pennsylvania-born actress says even competing on Fear Factor didn’t make her blanch. Need more convincing? On the set of her first fright flick The Graves (2009), she accidentally put her hand through a glass door in the middle of a scene, but the unflappable Murray just ignored the shattered glass and dripping blood and continued her lines. In her latest scary movie, Visible Scars, Murray plays a troubled girl who holes up in a remote cabin to flee an abusive boyfriend, only to discover that the cabin is—you guessed it—haunted. Though in demand as a scream queen, Murray has a lighter side too. In fact, she launched her acting career with big-screen comedies and Disney TV tween hits including Drake & Josh and Sonny With a Chance. As if that didn’t make her multi-talented enough, she’s a champion chess player and a self-confessed computer geek. And a BEARPAW fan. BEARPAW Style caught up with Murray after she wrapped her new drama Bad Ass to find out what makes her tick.
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1) Which is harder to act in, comedy or horror? Horror for sure! It’s emotionally exhausting. After a month of crying every single day on set your body starts to fall apart. 2) When you’re on set, how do you psych yourself up to act terrified with all those cameras and people around? You have to know what triggers you emotionally and then trust that the triggers will work when push comes to shove. You don’t have much time on set to get to those places emotionally and you don’t have any privacy, so you have to prepare to be very vulnerable. 3) Who are your acting idols? Meryl Streep. I try not to blink when she’s on screen. 4) What’s your dream role? I would love to do a romantic comedy since I haven’t attempted that yet. I’ve also been eyeing the Casey Anthony story. That would be a challenging role if they make a movie based on what happened with her and her daughter. 5) Who are your dream co-stars? Joseph Gordon Levitt and Meryl Streep.
10) Which are your favorite and why? My favorite pair is my black Vienna boots. They’re higher than most. I love them because they’re sooooo soft. They’re great to slip into when I’m on set in between takes. 11) What’s your favorite fall activity? The fall is so beautiful. I love seeing the leaves change colors. I guess my favorite activity would have to be just taking a nice walk and enjoying nature with someone I love.
You have to know what triggers you emotionally and then trust that the triggers will work when push comes to shove.
6) What’s the best thing about being an actor? What’s the worst? The best things are that you get to affect a large audience and you get to examine different characters. The psychology behind why characters do certain things keeps me fascinated. The worst thing is that your personal life becomes secondary. When you film on location for months, you get lonely.
7) What do you like most about yourself ? What do you like least? I am extremely forgiving and understanding and I’m uncommonly honest. That’s also one of the things I like the least about myself: I can’t tell a lie to someone’s face. I may be one of the worst liars ever. 8) How would you describe your personal style? It’s constantly evolving. At the moment, it’s very flirty, light and comfortable. When it’s summer in California, I get to pull out the sundresses, floppy hats, wedges and big sunglasses. 9) How many BEARPAWS do you own? I own two pairs right now, but I could always use more. (Hint, hint. Ha!)
12) What’s your idea of the perfect way to spend a free day? The perfect day would include breakfast with friends and family and being outdoors and laughing all day. 13) What’s your favorite guilty pleasure? The Internet. I love connecting with friends and family and doing video calls. 14) What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten? What’s meant to be will be. Trust that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to. 15) What’s the most memorable Halloween costume you’ve ever worn? I was Rainbow Brite, from the animated kids’ TV series, last year. Loved that costume!
16) What frightens you the most? To be honest, nothing. That’s why when I was asked to do Fear Factor last summer I was all for it! 17) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you pick? I adore food, so I couldn’t pick just one. But I adore dessert, the sweeter the better, so pretty much anything with sugar in it would be on my list. 18) What’s playing on your iPod now? Hall and Oates, Michael McDonald, Goyte and Demi Lovato. Kind of an eclectic mix. 19) If you weren’t acting, what do you think you’d be doing for a career? Producing full time. 20) What are people most often surprised to find out about you? That I’m a computer geek. I also have an obsessive desire to learn new things. BEARPAWSHOES.COM 3
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GET OU
Three great autumn outings Apple picking, testing your innate GPS skills in a challenging corn maze and looking at beautiful leaves without having to rake them are three fun-filled fall activities that you should add to your must-do list this season.
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Go Apple Picking! WHY STICK TO an apple a day when you can collect baskets full of the juicy red, gold and green fruit fresh from the source? Fall is peak apple season, and farms from New England to the Pacific Northwest offer visitors a chance to pick their own favorite varieties from Honeycrisps to Red Delicious, for pie-baking, apple sauce-making, caramel-dipping or just plain eating. Many of them let you board a horse-drawn or tractor-drawn wagon and rumble out into the field for a taste of old-fashioned farm life. All of them give you a chance to breathe in fresh fall air as crisp as the apples you’ll pick. Besides, you can think of it as agritourism: You’re giving a business boost to a small farm.
Here are a few options. 8[Wh ImWcf EhY^WhZ0 7i^\ehZ" C7" *') ,(+#(.*/1 www.bearswamporchard.com 8_i^efÊi EhY^WhZ0 =k_b\ehZ" 9J" (&) *+)#()).1 www.bishopsorchards.com H_Y^WhZÊi <hk_j CWha[j0 C_ZZb[jemd" L7" +*& .,/#'*++1 www.richardsfruitmarket.com >kX[h EhY^WhZ M_d[ho0 IjWhb_]^j" ?D" .&& )*+#/*,)1 www.huberwinery.com Iao Jef EhY^WhZ0 P_hYed_W" D9" .(. ,/(#-/)&1 www.skytoporchard.com @e^died EhY^WhZi0 OWa_cW" M7" +&/ /,,#-*-/1 www.johnsonorchardsfruit.com
For orchards in your area, go to www.localharvest.org 4 BEARPAWSHOES.COM
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OUT!
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Was There Really a Johnny Appleseed?
Believe it or not, Johnny Appleseed was a real guy. Born in Massachusetts in 1774, John Chapman was the son of a Minuteman at Concord (site of the famous shot heard round the world, for American history buffs) and a captain in the Revolutionary War. When he grew up, John moved to the frontier town of Warren, Pennsylvania, then traveled to the Ohio Valley, where he stayed for almost 50 years and became a missionary, preacher and—most important—a grower of apple trees. He traveled regularly through Ohio, Indiana and neighboring states, planting and caring for apple trees and teaching farmers how to do the same. During his lifetime, he planted thousands of apple trees. The apples you pick this fall may just be from one of his trees.
A PPLE FACTS: đƫƫ $!ƫ 2!. #!ƫ ċ ċƫ citizen ate an estimated 16.4 pounds of fresh-market apples and 33.3 pounds of processed apples, for a total of 49.8 pounds. ƫđƫƫ ,,(!/ƫ .!ƫ#.+3*ƫ%*ƫ every state in the +*0%*!*0 (ƫ *%0! ƫ 0 0!/ċƫ The top-producing apple state is Washington.
Houghton
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A Brief History of Popcorn
Get Lost in a Corn Maze
VENTURING INTO SEEMINGLY endless rows of towering corn stalks give you a sense of leaving reality behind and stepping into another worldâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;part dreamy, part spooky and altogether fun. Come fall, farms across the country turn sprawling fields from 4 to 40 acres or more into labyrinths with multiple paths and clues planted along the way, where you can spend hours challenging your powers of navigation. Some offer after-dark flashlight mazes or haunted versions with props or actors lurking among the stalks to appeal to the stouthearted. A few words to the wise: Finding your way out almost always means a lot of walking, so bring your BEARPAWs, and if the forecast is gloomy, reschedule. Cornfields produce serious mud and slippery surfaces.
A few options include:
Â&#x161; :_ned 9ehd CWp[%9eeb FWjY^ Fkcfa_di0 :_ned" 97" (530) 304-0163; www.coolpatchpumpkins.com Â&#x161; J^[ =h[Wj L[hcedj 9ehd CWp[0 :Wdl_bb[" LJ" .&( -*.#')//1 www.vermontcornmaze.com Â&#x161; J^[ H_Y^WhZied <Whc0 Ifh_d] =hel[" ?B" .'+ ,-+#/-(/1 www.richardsonadventurefarm.com Â&#x161; 8[bl[Z[h[ FbWdjWj_ed0 <h[Z[h_YaiXkh]" L7" +*& )-'#.*/*1 www.belvedereplantation.com Â&#x161; 9^[hho 9h[ij 7Zl[djkh[ <Whc0 Hedai" F7" .,, +*,#'-//1 www.cherrycrestfarm.com Â&#x161; J^[ CW_p[ Wj J^[ Fkcfa_d FWjY^0 FehjbWdZ" EH" +&) ,('#-''&1 www.portlandmaze.com For mazes near you, go to www.cornfieldmaze.com eh mmm$YehdcWp[iWc[h_YW$Yec%Z_h[Yjeho Cool Patch Pumpkins
The Maize at the Pumpkin Patch
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CORN FACTS:
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Become a Leaf Peeper
CALL IT NATURE’S own fireworks
display. In the fall, trees explode into bursts of brilliant color, so why not get out and admire the views before the foliage falls around your BEARPAW-clad feet? If you’re a nature girl, take a hike. If not, take a drive, a train or even a hot air balloon. Although New England is the classic leaf-peeper’s destination—famous for its fiery red and orange maples—Colorado’s annual “gold rush” of yellow Aspens is equally stunning, as are many other parts of the country. Peak leaf-peeping season ranges from mid-September to early November, depending on where you are, weather and rainfall. To find out when the leaves will be at their most breathtaking wherever you’re headed, call the State Tourism Board or check out its website.
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Here are a few great options for foliage fans: Hekj[ '&& j^hek]^ L[hcedjÊi =h[[d CekdjW_di0 .&&#L;HCEDJ1 www.vermontvacation.com CW_d[Êi 7YWZ_W DWj_edWb FWha" FWha Beef HeWZ0 (&- (..#))).1 www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm J^[ 8bk[ H_Z][ FWhamWo j^hek]^ Dehj^ 9Wheb_dWÊi 8bk[ H_Z][ CekdjW_di0 .(. (/.#&)/. h[YehZ[Z c[iiW][ " .(. (-'#*--/ fWha ^[WZgkWhj[hi 1 www.blueridgeparkway.org BWa[ Ikf[h_eh 9_hYb[ Hekj[ j^hek]^ C_Y^_]Wd" M_iYedi_d" C_dd[iejW WdZ EdjWh_e0 ... -.*#-)(.1 mmm$c_Y^_]Wd$eh]
Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina Acadia National Park in Maine
9ebehWZeÊi =ebZ[d =Wj[ 9Wdoed IjWj[ FWha0 )&) +.(#)-&-1 www.parks.state.co.us/parks/goldengatecanyon Eh[]edÊi 9ebkcX_W H_l[h =eh][ DWj_edWb IY[d_Y 7h[W0 +*' )&.#'-&&1 www.fs.fed.us
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getting crafty
CAN YOU MAKE THE CUT? Upload
PUMPKIN CARVER EXTRAORDINAIRE RAY VILLAFANE GIVES A HALLOWEEN TRADITION A MEMORABLE MAKEOVER
CARVING ARTIST EVIL ZOMBIES. SNARLING linebackers. Goofy toothless wonders. The faces are so breathtakingly lifelike that it’s hard to believe they’ve been carved from the flesh of a humble pumpkin. But once you’ve seen sculptor Ray Villafane’s work, you’ll never think of jack-olanterns the same way again. The 43-year-old has elevated the folksy tradition of carving pumpkins for Halloween to an art form. His elaborate designs have been featured everywhere from Food Network to the White House, Bermuda to New Zealand. Last fall supermodel Heidi Klum hired him to carve at her Halloween party. Oddly enough, Villafane stumbled onto pumpkins as an artistic medium by accident. “I wish I could say I had a great passion for pumpkins as a kid and that I carved tons of them, but I didn’t,” he confesses. “I was just a normal kid, locked in this mindset of triangle eyes and a half moon mouth.” After graduating from Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts in 1991, the New York native landed a job teaching art to kids in the small town of Bellaire, Michigan, in 1993. “One day around 1998, a student mentioned that he was growing a 60-pound pumpkin,” Villafane recalls. “I said, ‘Why don’t you bring it in? I’ll carve it for you.’ I experimented with clay loops and some other sculpting tools, and the kids liked the result so much that the next thing I knew they started bringing in pumpkins for me to carve. I would find dozens of them lined up outside my door, all with little notes on them.” Before long, Villafane drew the attention of local news crews and a few businesses, which hired him to carve pumpkins for them to display at Halloween. The positive reaction got him thinking there might be a way to turn his
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photos of your pumpkin carving masterpieces to our Facebook page during the month of October and we will award the 20 most innovative designers with a FREE pair of BEARPAWs!
sculpting talent into a sideline to supplement his teaching salary—but in clay, not squash. First, he was allergic to pumpkins. After carving a few, he started to itch and his palms developed scabs. Second, it would leave him at the mercy of local farmers’ seasonal harvests. In 2004, he started sculpting superheroes, hoping to amass enough prototypes to build a portfolio he could show to comic book companies. “My first practice piece got picked up by Marvel,” he recalls. “I wasn’t even done with it when they assigned me another.” Within a year, Villafane was sculpting for Marvel, DC Comics, Warner Bros. and other big names in the worlds of comics and collectibles. Eventually, he gave up teaching in 2006 to focus on it fulltime. “Suddenly I had to really up the level of my work and demand more of myself because I had clients,” he remembers. “I applied that same approach to pumpkins, and they started getting much better very fast.” Still, Villafane was so swamped with “real” work that he found time to carve only a few pumpkins every fall and post photos of his favorites on his website. But just as he had back in northern Michigan, he developed a cult following among pumpkin lovers across the U.S, Europe and even Asia. Requests poured in for him to appear on national TV and to pull off superhero-worthy feats like carving a 1,600-pound pumpkin for the New York Botanical Garden. Villafane, who by now has carved so many of the ubiquitous orange vegetables that he’s built up a tolerance and no longer itches when he touches them, recently finished a photo book of his best pumpkins, is creating a calendar and has developed a number of pumpkin-related products including a set of carving tools, a how-to DVD and—his newest—bendable pumpkin vine arms. He has
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also discovered a talent for sand sculpting and has traveled as far as Italy and Russia to create professional sand sculptures. It’s not the kind of work that lends itself to a 9-to5 lifestyle or business attire. Villafane does most of his best pieces late at night clad in sweatpants and slippers, sometimes sculpting until 5 a.m. in his home studio. He’s prone to tracking pumpkin guts through the house that he shares with his wife Tamara and their blended family of six kids in Surprise, Arizona, but the family is used to it now. In fact, his five-yearold likes to hand out his dad’s business card at school and sometimes “fixes” his dad’s carving mistakes. Villafane’s masterpieces generally take five to six hours to complete, though a few stretch to 12 hours. (After that, the pumpkin flesh gets too spongy to sculpt.) “My wife says if I were a comic book character, my name would be Obsesso, because once I get into something, I think about it 24-7,” Villafane says. “I think about pumpkins nonstop. Every year I try to do something different. Last year, it was 1,000-pound pumpkins with life-sized figures, and pumpkins with a malleable, fleshy look to them.” He works primarily with clay loops, a paring knife and scrubbing pads to smooth out rough surfaces. Depending on the temperature and humidity, his masterpieces can last a week, though most of the faces start to sag within a few days. “People say, ‘Why work that hard on something that’s just going to rot?’ But, to me, pumpkins are even more magical because of their temporary nature. Besides, I can preserve them with photos. I’ve never seen Michelangelo’s statue of David, but I’ve still really enjoyed it through photos. What’s the difference with a pumpkin?” Of course, even Michelangelo had his failures, and Villafane is quick to concede that a fair number of his pumpkins end up on the proverbial cutting room floor. “Creativity can be a recipe for failure,” he says. “But you can’t have success without failure. And, hey, it’s just a pumpkin. You can throw it out and start on another.” If you can find them, that is. Last year, he drove 13 hours each way to San Jose to get pumpkins and brought back more than 80 of them. “It was too hot to leave them outside, so our living room was filled with them,” he says. Villafane has even been known to fly to other countries when it’s pumpkin season there and is brainstorming with greenhouses about ways to ripen pumpkins as early as July. Does he have any advice for novice carvers, who still lean toward triangle eyes and half moon mouths? “If you’re going to carve into the flesh rather than cut all the way through, look for pumpkins with a thick skin. They’ll feel heavy for their size. And look for protruding ridges; that’s where a face could naturally go. Most people go for perfectly round pumpkins, but they’re not as %*0!.!/0%*#ċĘƫđ
PIMP YOUR PAWS
4 steps to customize your BEARPAWs to show off your unique style. Easy and fun! 1. Go to your local craft store and buy metal studs with flat backs. A pack of 50 studs should cost about $5. 2. Buy a glue gun or borrow one. 3. Find a cool boot. We chose BEARPAW’s Brighton wedge style. Select an area you want to decorate. Place a bead of glue on the boot and place stud immediately on top. Repeat. To create interest, scatter studs randomly and use different sizes or shapes. 4. Let set, put on and start rocking your customized BEARPAWs!
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IT’S A
SCREAM!
Would You Survive a Horror Film? Take Our Quiz and Find Out! 10 BEARPAWSHOES.COM
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T H E H OR R OR IQ TE ST The witching season is just a hatchet’s throw away. So, to get you in the “spirit”, here’s a list of scenarios borrowed from famous fright fests. Would you be a victim or a victor? Hint: It depends on whether you’re wearing your BEARPAWs.
1. Bump in the Night You’re home alone late one Saturday night when you hear a crash downstairs. What do you do? a. Rush down to find out what made the noise. When you see a homicidal maniac sneaking in through the window, you grab the nearest blunt instrument and bash him over the head, knocking him senseless and giving yourself time to escape. b. Tiptoe silently downstairs to find out what made the noise. When you see a homicidal maniac sneaking in through the window, you slip noiselessly out the front door and escape before he knows you’ve gone. c. Don’t wait to find out what made the noise. You climb out the window, shimmy down the drainpipe and escape. d. Call out, “Hello? Who’s there?” in a trembling voice and wait for an answer. 2. Crank Caller The phone rings in the middle of the night and when you answer, you hear heavy breathing followed by a menacing voice warning, “you’re next.” What do you do? a. Hit *69, call back and threaten him. b. Call the cops and have them put a trace on the phone then send a patrol car to your house. c. Call all your friends and invite them over for an impromptu monster mash, figuring there’s safety in numbers. d. Slam the phone down, look panicked then wait for him to call back.
3. Nervous Breakdown You’re driving along a lonely highway listening to a radio news report about an escaped lunatic targeting motorists when you get a flat tire. What do you do? a. Keeping a tire iron handy just in case, you hop out and change the flat faster than a pit crew boss at the Daytona 500. You’re cruising down the highway again before the convict can even read your license plate. b. Call AAA on your cell, lock all the car doors and wait until help arrives. c. Hop on the mountain bike you keep in the trunk with other outdoor gear and speed off, confident that you’re faster than the average lunatic. d. Get out of the car and flag down the first motorist you see. He looks a little creepy in that orange jumpsuit, but hey, you really need a ride. 4. Zombie Zone You’re enjoying a relaxing vacation on an exotic island when the living dead suddenly swarm over the beaches. What do you do? a. Organize the resistance, arming everybody in the resort with baseball bats and flaming tiki torches. b. Consult the web to find out how to protect yourself from zombies, then barricade yourself in the hotel safe while you assemble a defense kit. c. Grab a kayak and head for the nearest body of water before the zombies can catch you. d. Hide under the bed and hope for the best. 5. Phantom Freeze-out You’re spending the night with friends in a creepy old house when you hear weird moans and the temperature suddenly plunges to below freezing, thanks to all the ghosts haunting the place. What do you do? a. Grab that rusty-looking axe, chop up some old furniture lying around and build a blaze to keep everybody warm. b. Find a bunch of blankets and convince everyone to sleep in a pile to stay warm. c. Stage a makeshift séance/exorcism to figure out what’s troubling these ghosts
and get them to clear off. d. Take off your coat then tell everyone, “I’m going to see if I can figure out what’s causing those weird noises. I’ll be right back.” 6. Last Licks The movie is almost over and Dracula’s great grandson appears to be dead. What do you do? a. Drive an extra stake through his heart just to be safe. b. Use this opportunity to get the h-edouble hockey sticks out of Dodge. c. Keeping a wooden stake and a mallet at the ready, nudge him with your toe to see if he wakes up. d. Crumple up into a ball on the floor conveniently near the “dead” vampire and start weeping.
What your answers say about you:
Sorenson
If you chose mostly A: You’re bold and fearless, with a bit of a rock and roll edge that lets even scary movie monsters know you are not a woman to be messed with. If you chose mostly B: You’re smart, sensible and grounded in both your style and your approach to life—traits that let you keep a cool head when others are losing theirs literally.
Sarah
If you chose mostly C: You’re a bit of a daredevil, with a flair for drama and flamboyance, yet you’re also resourceful and courageous. Monsters, beware!
Ralston
If you chose mostly D: Oh no, you forgot your BEARPAWs! And that wasn’t your only misstep. Looks like you won’t be starring in the sequel.
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Kola
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Kayla
Baltoe
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Highland BEARPAWSHOES.COM 15
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HAIR AND MAKEUP: ROBERT HUITRON FOR MARK EDWARD INC.
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Flatiron
Brighton
Tama
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Waverly
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Wallis
Tristen
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Y Meet Matthew Jordan
The up-and-coming musician hails from L.A. and his high school choir was the inspiration for Glee. But that’s not the only reasons he’s singing his heart out.
OU MIGHT SAY it all started in kindergarten, when Matthew Jordan heard a kid on the playground singing Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” “I went home and asked my dad about it, and he showed me all his albums,” Jordan remembers. “Billy Joel became my first love when it came to music. I would come home from school, jump around on the couch and sing his songs.” Flash forward and Jordan is an accomplished singer-songwriter in his own right with three releases (Horizon, Book of Days and his new EP Our Time), a worldwide fan base and credits including a starring role in the award-winning Five for Fighting video “100 Years.” “I was just one of those weird kids who always knew what he wanted to do,” says Jordan, who started playing the piano at age 5. His dad, who was a musician before becoming a photographer, gave him lessons at their home in southern California and neighbor Tori Amos sometimes dropped by. “A lot of musicians talk about how unsupportive their families are, but I’m not nearly so tormented,” says Jordan with trademark humor and humility. “My family was extremely supportive.” By the time he was a teen, Jordan was writing original songs with his dad, many inspired by jazz, blues, folk and other genres he had come to love along with piano-driven rock and roll. He was a soloist with his high school choir in Burbank—the same choir that later inspired the hit show Glee. Jordan went on to graduate from USC’s renowned Thornton School of Music in 2006 and continued to evolve and expand his music, building a solid fan base by performing in coffeehouses and rock clubs in L.A. as well as through YouTube videos. “One of the things that’s really validating and that keeps you going as an indie artist is personal feedback and contact with fans,” says Jordan, who gets up to 700 comments in a day when he posts a new video and tries his best to respond to each fan personally online. “I have great fans all over the world who’ve spread the word about my music.” With his latest music, Jordan has begun to branch out in exciting new directions. “I’m always trying to bring in fresh influences and write in different styles. Right now I’m working on a new track in a more hip-hoppy direction with a great female rapper from Philly.
But I always make sure my songs have a sound that’s traceable to me.” To hear Matthew Jordan’s latest singles, check out youtube.com/matthewjordanmusic or follow him on Twitter (@matthew_jordan). Where do you get inspiration for your songs? I focus on the music and the melody, and I always gravitate toward a piano hook. Often that will suggest the feel of the song and what the lyrics should be. What was the first album you ever bought? What’s The Story Morning Glory by Oasis. If you could sing a duet with anyone, who would it be? Billy Joel or maybe Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. “God Only Knows” is my favorite song. What’s the strangest thing a fan has ever done to get your attention? I have a fan in Japan who’s an amazing artist and she made a cake with me on it in icing. What are the most played songs on your iPod now? “That’s Why God Made The Radio” by The Beach Boys, “Some Nights” by Fun and everything on John Mayer’s new album Born and Raised. What do you like to do when you’re not playing music? After a lifetime of working inside, I finally started to appreciate the outdoors. I’ve gotten into hiking and being more active. How would you describe your personal style? I’ve always loved boots and skinny jeans. When I’m hanging out in the studio I wear lots of T-shirts, but when I perform I wear over-dyed dress shirts and jackets. I also love wristbands... my brother got me some cool piano wire ones that are my favorite. What are the qualities you most admire in a woman? A good sense of humor, honesty and someone who can broaden my horizons. What’s the quality you like least? Being fake. I once asked a girl out and during dinner she told me about her boyfriend. Then she texted him the whole evening. I’d have to say my number-one deal breaker is having a boyfriend and not telling me until we’re already on a date!
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What type of guy do you love?
Guys are s-ooo cool in many different ways! Which one of these guy types makes your heart beat faster and puts a bounce in your walk?
The Hipster WHERE TO FIND HIM: any coffeehouse that hosts poetry slams and acoustic open mic nights CATCHPHRASE: Is this vegan? WHAT HE DRIVES: a mountain bike HOW TO IDENTIFY HIM: piercings, tattoos, plaid shirt with skinny jeans, messenger bag
McKinley
The Prep WHERE TO FIND HIM: the golf course, the lacrosse field or the yacht club CATCHPHRASE: Where do you summer?
The Jock WHERE TO FIND HIM: at the gym, at the game or tailgating in the parking lot
WHAT HE DRIVES: a Mercedes convertible HOW TO IDENTIFY HIM: madras plaid shorts or chinos, crew neck sweater over pastel Oxford shirt, ridiculously expensive sunglasses
CATCHPHRASE: How much do you bench?
Moc
WHAT HE DRIVES: tricked-out SUV HOW TO IDENTIFY HIM: six-pack abs under team jersey, letterman’s jacket, baseball cap and gym bag
Stowe
The Geek WHERE TO FIND HIM: the computer lab, Hacker Square (Facebook’s headquarters) or behind the scenes on the Big Bang Theory set CATCHPHRASE: Live long and prosper WHAT HE DRIVES: a Prius HOW TO IDENTIFY HIM: lab coat, slide rule, hoodie, “I Í π” T-shirt Carson
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