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Finding hidden treasures in OpenOffice 2.0's Charting Wizard
Take a tour of the multilayered charting tools of OpenOffice 2.0's Charting Wizard, as you learn to create, edit and master the art of making a polished chart.
|Solveig Haugland, Site expert
I loved Nancy Drew mysteries. Somehow, Nancy always had a hunch about where to look, in the old clock or the mysterious ballet dancer's closet, to find the jewels, the glowing eye or the kidnapped heiress.
Nancy would have been great at doing charts in OpenOffice 2.0.
The chart features in OpenOffice are kind of like a mystery-lover's dream vacation: a huge, mysterious old house with lots of long halls and secret bookcases.
Now, I realize that all this mystery can be extremely annoying if you don't have three months to enjoy solving the Mystery of the Disappearing Statistics Tab. Fortunately, even though much of the power of OpenOffice charts is hidden, it's not too much of a hassle to figure out the basics of how to get there. It's just a matter of clicking on what you want. And clicking again -- and again, if necessary. That's the most important thing, and what I'm focusing on the most: how to click on the right thing so you get the options you need in order to make the changes you need to make. Plus a few other helpful hints like where the modification tools are (many convenient locations near you) and a little setup support.
So, here's my guide to the not-quite-wildly-obvious charting tools in OpenOffice 2.0. If you're already an expert looking for power tips to get you to the next level or provide you more experience points, this isn't for you. If charts are driving you crazy and you want to know how to modify them and make them behave, then this will be helpful.
Setting up the Chart
The chart generates colored lines, bars, or other shapes to show the data. Some of these colors are, well, yucky. Specify the colors you want to use ahead of time -- you can do it later, but this is more efficient.
Choose Tools > Options > Chart > Colors. For any colors you don't like, such as the pale yellow, just select something different. Click OK when you're done.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can even choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Color and make your own colors.
When you're modifying the chart later, you can change the colors too, and you can also use other filler like gradients or even graphics to fill the bar, line, etc.
Making the Chart
Making a chart is fairly simple. There are a few checkboxes you definitely want to mark, however, and a few lists that you should scroll through to see all the options.
The basics:
- You make a table, in Writer
- Or you just type up your data, in Calc.
- Select it all, including the titles
- choose Insert > Object > Chart (Writer) or Insert > Chart (Calc).
The first window appears, showing the range of data
Click Next to go from one window to the other, and specify how you want the chart. At the end, click Create, and the chart appears.
Finding the important selections along the way
It's tempting to just whiz through and accept the defaults, but you miss stuff that way. When you create the chart, always mark everything you can. If you have the option, as you do here, for labels on the X and Y axes, do it. When you have the option to switch data from rows to columns, try it and see the effect. Scroll through all the options in any window of chart types and variations. Whenever you see any of these items in the wizard, mark them and/or fiddle with them to see how it affects the results.
Modifying the Chart: The Tools
You've got your chart and it looks great.
But you just need to change a few things. What do you do to change it? There aren't any attached "change this" or "update this" buttons. It just sits there and stares at you.
What it lacks in obviousness, OpenOffice makes up for in the many ways to find the tools. They're in four places. You can see these options once you've double-clicked in the chart and at any point thereafter.
- Format menu
- Formatting toolbar
- Right-click and view the context menu. (One of my favorite things to say in training classes is, "when in doubt, right-click." It's good in any situation, not just charts.)
4. Just double-click on what you want
Note: Especially when double-clicking and right-clicking, do so on exactly the item you want to modify.
Of the options listed, Object Properties is especially useful. Chart Wall is the data portion of the chart and Chart Area is the whole chart.
Modifying the Chart: Selecting it the Right Way
Here's a summary of how you need to select a chart in order to use those modification tools. Think of it as an overall guide to the OpenOffice.org equivalent of "push the spine of War and Peace, twist the third candle from the left and the hidden bookcase will twirl around to show you the hidden passageway down to the mad scientist's laboratory."
- Select once for green handles to move the chart.
- Then double-click, for black handles that let you resize and modify things like the background color of the chart.
- Then, click again on a particular component to modify it, like the legend, a chart title, the main data section, etc.
- (Main data section only) Click in the data area to see green handles and modify additional aspects of the data display like statistics.
- (Main data section only) Click on a particular component like one bar in the graph to modify aspects of just that component.
The descriptions of the handles aren't as good as seeing them. Here's what each level looks like, with a summary of what you can do at each level.
Here are some of the options you can get from right-clicking and choosing to modify the title, the axes and the legend.
If you're not seeing what you need to at this point, go on to level 4.
Here's the difference in Object Properties between level 3 and 4, for the main data area.
The options for level 5 look pretty much the same as before. The only difference: you just get to apply the options very specifically to the individual selected component.
I would not go out of my way to nominate the OpenOffice.org chart interface for the "Easy-Breezy Intuitive Powerful Yet Simple" award. It is a solid tool, however, once you know where the secret passageways are and how to twist the third candle from the left to get at what you want. If you're looking for additional charting tools, I wanted to mention that gnuplot has many fans.
A warning: if you get up in the middle of the night to do some charting and you hear violins playing behind the Object Properties window -- don't even think about following it."
Solveig Haugland has worked as an instructor, course developer, author and technical writer in the high-tech industry for 15 years, for employers including Microsoft Great Plains, Sun Microsystems,and BEA. Currently, Solveig is a StarOffice and OpenOffice.org instructor, author, and freelance technical writer. She is also co-author, with Floyd Jones, of three books: Staroffice 5.2 Companion, Staroffice 6.0 Office Suite Companion and OpenOffice.Org 1.0 Resource Kit, published by Prentice Hall PTR. Her fourth book, on OpenOffice.org 2.0, is coming this summer. For more tips on working in OpenOffice, visit Solveig's OpenOffice blog.


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The Removu S1 is a 3-axis stabilising gimbal designed and made for use with GoPro Hero 3, 4, 5 and Session cameras. This rainproof gimbal features a detachable handgrip, removable battery, wireless remote control and is fully compatible with GoPro's range of helmet, body and bike mounts.
Removu S1
Advanced stabilisation
The Removu S1 delivers extremely stable and vibration free footage. The 3-axis stabilisation is manufactured with world class brushless DC motors and rotary sensors, removing unwanted movements and giving your footage a smooth professional look.
Water resistant
The motors and body of the Removu S1 are specifically designed to be water resistant. So whether your using the waterproof GoPro Hero5 or the S1's rainproof housing for GoPro's 3 & 4, you can keep shooting through whatever nature can throw at you!
Wireless control
The Removu S1 comes equipped with a detachable wireless joystick remote control. This allows you to control the angle of the camera and switch between the different modes on the gimbal using the 5-way jog key on the wireless remote.
Hold. Wear. Mount.
Removing the handrip from the body transforms the Removu S1 into mountable gimbal. You can attach the main gimbal body to any GoPro compatible mounting system o譠ering incredible versatility.
Control modes
PAN: The camera will smoothly follow your panning motion but cancel out any pitch or roll movements.
FOLLOW: The camera will follow the direction the S1 is facing left, right, up and down.
LOCK: The camera is locked into it's current position and maintains that orientation regardless of how the S1 is moved.
Extended battery life
The S1 has an excellent battery life of 3-5 hours. But what makes the Removu S1 even more attractive is that once the battery does run low, you can simply swap it out for a fully charged spare! There are also two micro SD slots in the handle cap so you'll be able to capture every second of your adventure.
Removu S1 Specification
Operating Voltage (DC): 6.4V ~ 8.4V
Weight: 380g (Housing and Battery excluded)
Vertical Tilt Angle: 292°
Roll Angle: 90°
Horizontal Panning Angle: 292°
Operating Time (@25°C): 3h ~ 5h
Battery: 7.4V / 850mAh
Battery Charging Time: 2.5h (5V/2A)
Operating Temperature: -20°C ~ 45°C
Dimensions: 32.8 x 32.0 x 160.4 mm
Weight: 70g
Remote Control
Operating Time (@25°C): 10h
Operating Distance: 33ft (10m)
Weight: 24g
Battery: 3.7V / 200mAh
Battery Charging Time: 2.5h (5V/2A)
Operating Temperature: -20°C ~ 45°C
Removu S1 SRP: £349.99

subset: commoncrawl


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IMF Survey Vol.29, No.8 April 2000
- Spring 2000 meetings: IMFC reaffirms benefits of open world economy, urges all countries to move ahead with poverty reduction strategies
- IMFC press conference: Brown, Fischer respond to questions on IMF role, discuss progress on debt relief efforts
- IMFC communiqué: Participants welcome signs of economic recovery and progress on adapting IMF facilities
- Development committee communiqué: Ministers stress importance of trade for poverty reduction and development
- Group of Seven communiqué: Ministers underscore central role of IMF in context of changing global landscape
- Group of 10 communiqué: Ministers attach priority to balanced economic growth and strengthened financial systems
- Group of 24 communiqué: Developing country representatives call for increased support for HIPC Initiative
- World Economic Outlook: Report sees stronger recovery than anticipated but expresses concern at continuing imbalances
- Public Information Notice: IMF adopts two-stage approach to strengthen safeguards on use of its resources
- Emerging markets and new financial system: Prospect of continued volatility underscores need to enhance crisis prevention, recovery strategies
- IMF appoints Flemming Larsen as new Director of Europe Office
- IMF Institute seminar: Krueger says "delinking" future financial crises from payments crises could reduce costs
- Bretton Woods Committee annual meeting: IMF, World Bank need to develop political constituency at home, focus on poverty reduction
- Recent publications
- Selected IMF rates
- Available on the web
- Members' use of IMF credit: (million SDRs)
- Stand-By, EFF, and PRGF Arrangements as of March 31
Bretton Woods Committee annual meeting: IMF, World Bank need to develop political constituency at home, focus on poverty reduction
- International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
- Published Date:
- January 2000
Show Summary Details
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Our general chat forum for Ambient music, discuss any aspect of ambient music, or just share your cosmic thoughts. New members can introduce themselves here :)
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Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
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Jim Bob Howard
Jim Bob Howard is first a husband and father. For fun, he gets to go to work and play with SharePoint. Jim Bob has invested over 17 years in software development and website management for companies of all sizes. Since March 2009, he has applied his expertise to his role as webmaster/designer in the healthcare arena. Meanwhile, Jim Bob also donates his time to helping others work with SharePoint. His eBook, Extending the DVWP, is scheduled for a late Nov. 2010 release. Find him on Twitter @jbhoward.


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In addition to books, classes and magazines, you can glean a lot of gardening knowledge from your smartphone and tablet.
Gardening is a hands-on activity. We need to (and like to) get down and dirty while practicing our craft, but after we've come back inside and cleaned the dirt from underneath our fingernails (toenails too, sometimes), we can continue from our chair where we left off in the garden.
Basics never change – plant a seed and watch it grow – but some of the ways we do things have. Seeking help and gaining new knowledge about our plants and how to grow them is very much a part of the digital age, as evidenced by the growing number of garden-related apps developed for use with tablets and smartphones.
When deciding which apps are worth taking up space on your smartphone's hard drive, be sure to read users' comments and reviews that accompany the app listings. Keep in mind that not everyone is as comfortable with technology as some, and comments may be a reflection of that.
Here are some of the gardening-related apps that are available in iTunes and Google Play:
Garden Time Planner
Garden Planning
• Gardening Tool Kit (iOS) from Applied Objects. This app, which claims to have it all, does have a lot: a database of more than 1,000 plants, month-by-month advice, idea lists, watering guide and more. $1.99.
• Garden Plan Pro (iOS) from Growing Interactive. Helps you plan and keep track of your vegetable, herb and fruit gardens with suggestions based on your location. $7.99.
• Garden Time Planner (iOS, Android) from Burpee. Vegetables and herbs are featured with all the information you need to have a successful edible garden, including links to videos, region-specific tips and task lists. Free.
Home Outside Palette
Landscape Design
• Home Outside Palette (iOS, Android) from Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio. One of the best landscape design apps I've seen, allowing the backyard gardener to create professional-looking renderings of their own designs, which can be shared via email and social media. A desktop version is being developed. Free, plus in-app purchase options.
• iScape (iOS, Android) from iScape Apps. This is a pretty standard landscape design app that allows you to create images of your design ideas. The basic app is free, but most of the elements you'll use in your design cost extra. Free, plus in-app purchase options.
Plant Reference and Field Guides
• Landscaper's Companion (iOS) from Stevenson Software, LLC. With a database of more than 26,000 plants with about 21,000 pictures, this app boasts of being the number-one plant reference guide available. An upgrade with additional pro features is optional. $4.99 basic/additional $4.99 pro upgrade.
Plant Picks for Small Gardens, Leafsnap
Armitage's Greatest Perennials and Annuals
Local Pickins, Farmstand
• Plant Picks For Small Gardens (iOS, Android) from Sutro Media. More than 90 plants are featured as viable choices for small spaces with sorting by USDA Zone, flower color, drought tolerance and more. Basic gardening information plus links to videos and online nurseries are included. $2.99.
• Audubon Wildflowers (iOS, Android) from Green Mountain Digital. Get help with identification of more than 1600 North American wildflowers. Includes range maps, color photos and natural history. Just one of several Audubon apps. $4.99/$3.99.
• Leafsnap (iOS) from Columbia University, University of Maryland and Smithsonian Institution. Uses visual recognition software to help identify plants from your photos of their leaves. Free.
• Dirr's Tree and Shrub Finder (iOS) from Timber Press. Based on Dr. Michael Dirr's classic and popular book, The Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, this app contains information on more than 9,400 woody plants, searchable by 72 criteria. $14.99.
• Armitage's Greatest Perennials and Annuals (iOS, Android) from Sutro Media. More than 70 genera of plants are featured, including photos and videos with growing tips and why each plant made Dr. Allan Armitage's list of the greatest. $4.99.
• Garden Compass Plant/Disease Identifier (iOS, Android) from TeamSOA, Inc. Take a photo and submit it and you'll get identification of plants, diseases and pests from their team of horticulture experts. Free.
• Sprout It (iOS, Android, Desktop) from Växa Design Group in partnership with Miracle-Gro. Get help with plant choices, how to grow, common problems, storage, cooking tips and more. Location based for a personalized experience. Free.
Local Farm Markets
If you don't grow your own, and you want fresh local produce, these apps will help you locate it:
• Fresh Food Finder (iOS, Android) from Andrew Trice. Free.
• Farmstand (iOS, Android, Desktop) from Mostly Brothers. Free.
• Local Pickins (iOS, Android) from Local Pickins. Free.
The biggest share of gardening apps are developed for the iPhone and iPad, but Android users will find plenty to choose from. Many of the iPhone apps already have Android versions and others have indicated that they're in the works, so keep checking Google Play for current offerings.
Both iTunes and Google Play suggest other similar apps on the same page as the one you're looking at, so be sure to take a look at those, too. You can also search on each of those download sites using the search term "garden" or google "garden apps" to find other available apps.
A version of this article appeared in a March/April 2015 print edition of State-by-State Gardening.
Photography courtesy of Michelle Byrne Walsh.


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The Minnesota State University Student Association will have a decidedly Bemidji State University flavor when its 2014-15 session begins this fall, as a pair of BSU students have been elected as the association's chair-elect and vice-chair elect.
In elections held during the organization's April 11-13 spring delegates assembly in Brainerd, Minn., Kari Cooper, a senior liberal studies major from Sauk Rapids, Minn., was elected state chair. She will serve a one-year term representing all students at the seven state universities in the Minnesota Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU). Laura Duscher, a senior in nursing from Bemidji, was elected vice-chair.
"I have been involved with MSUSA since my freshman year," Cooper said. "I saw this as the next step to taking on another leadership role. It's exciting. There are a lot of opportunities to collaborate and work to find common issues, and then advocate for those issues on the MnSCU level."
Cooper says one of her priorities as state chair will be to spearhead the association's efforts related to student awareness of Minnesota's SELF Loan program, administered through the state's Office of Higher Education.
"Private loans have higher interest rates; these SELF loans are more affordable and easier to get," Cooper said. "We want to make sure students know they have an opportunity to take that loan instead of a private loan that has much higher interest rates."
Cooper will be the fifth Bemidji State graduate to hold the post of MSUSA state chair, following Andrew Spaeth (2010-11), Justin Klander (2001-02), John Ross (1979) and John Borg (1970-71).
In addition to being elected vice-chair, Duscher won the organization's Most Engaged Leader Award. Bemidji State's MSUSA chapter also shared the organization's Campus Committee of the Year award with Metropolitan State University in St. Paul.
"We are thrilled to work with Kari and Laura next year," said Elsbeth Howe, director of the Minnesota State University Student Association. "Kari has served on the MSUSA board for two years and has been an excellent leader for both the association and for Bemidji State. Laura has won awards from the association and her enthusiasm will be a huge asset for us."
About the Minnesota State University Student Association
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., the Minnesota State University Student Association is a focused, professional organization that shares the common interests and concerns of students at Minnesota's seven state universities and works to identify a course of action to seek solutions for those concerns. The association provides an educational and developmental experience for the students through student participation in university and system governance. It also provides representatives to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Office of Higher Education, Board of Trustees, State of Minnesota and other public agencies that require student input on committees, commissions, task forces, study groups, search committees and other groups that impact Minnesota state university students and Minnesota public higher education. Every student at Minnesota's seven state universities is considered a member of the association.
• Elsbeth Howe, director, Minnesota State University Student Association; email@example.com, @elsbethhowe
• Jered Weber, director of communications, Minnesota State University Student Association; email@example.com
• Minnesota State University Student Association
• SELF loans


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Classic Boot (normal to wide fit)
The classic boot shoe with lace has a firm support and the perfect fit for normal to wider sized feet. This shoe is made of soft calf skin with an ecological and chrome-free lining.
The soles are flexible and made of lightweight recycled rubber. The shoes have a great supporting cushion around the ankle. These are suitable as the child's first walking shoes if the child has a normal to wide foot.
NEW: These shoes can be found in a 100% ecological, 100% vegetable tanned, 100% biodegradable and 100% chrome-free leather in colors: Black, Navy, Cognac, Olive, Berry, and Mustard.


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You are currently browsingthe website for symfony 1
Visit the Symfony2 website
« Back to API menu
sfSecurityUser interface provides advanced security manipulation methods.
Add a credential to this user.
Clear all credentials associated with this user.
Indicates whether or not this user has a credential.
returns true, if this user has the credential, otherwise false.
Indicates whether or not this user is authenticated.
returns true, if this user is authenticated, otherwise false.
Remove a credential from this user.
Set the authenticated status of this user.


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Stack Your Board with People Your Investor Can't Argue With
TheFunded.com Advice
Posted by RichieBlueEyes on 2008-03-05
Tags: Operations Board
You should always be in control of your own board. There is a simple way to do this, stack your board with people that are beyond reproach that are in your corner. Yes, you need to be well connected to pull this off but if do, you could end up with at least an even say on the board. Most entrepreneurs get board members from referrals, I say, get your friends! Don't get 100 board members, just a few that no one can tell you to get rid of...After-all you just gave them free stock...so they'll probably back you at least for the first year. However, don't get rubber stamp people that won't do anything. Make sure to get people that actually will be active.PRIVATE: Members Only (149 Characters)


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EyeOfTheTiger needed a new coded website design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 21 designs submitted by 10 freelance designers.
Logo and Full html template eith css for http://www.ExperienceIdeas.com
Gift Vouchers for Experience Days
Desired Color Scheme:
Free reign
Desired Style:
Think Web2.0, rounded conours, funky colours, active and adventurous target market of customer
Accepted File Formats:
Standard Web Formats (.jpg, .gif or .png)
template layout to follow what is currently on http://www.ExperienceIdeas.com


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Pine Man 08:46 01 May 2010
The uninstall facility leaves loads of files littered all over the place and takes some time to find and remove them. A very poor facility.
Most of the program seems fairly intuitive and I tried to create a quotation, which included both products and services and was only able to do it on separate quotations, one for the labour involved and the other for the parts used.
Couldn't find a way of importing bank information from other programs such as excel or MS Money.


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Teeth are incredibly important, and you only get one permanent set in a lifetime. Eating certain food can be an easy way to help maintain the enamel on your pearly white smile.
Strengthen Your Teeth with These 5 Foods:
- Cereal grains – Grains like rice, corn, oats, wheat and barley are a great source of magnesium, which helps with jaw and tooth enamel formation.
- Fish – Fish contains Vitamin D, which helps the body use the calcium it receives.
- Citrus – Fruits like oranges, limes and lemons are full of Vitamin C, which helps the cells involved in tooth formation and strengthening.
- Dairy products – Milk products are known for being a significant source of calcium, which strengthens bones, including tooth enamel.
- Foods high in protein – Protein contains phosphorous, which is key in strengthening the jaw structure and teeth. Try eggs, meat, beans or nuts.
Eating these five foods can help strengthen your teeth. If you take care of your pearly whites, they could last a lifetime, so you should do your best to keep them as strong and healthy as possible!
Hannah Daniel writes for a dental blog backed by 1Dental.com, which offers discount dental plans nationwide. She enjoys keeping people up to date on dental news and helping them save money on dental care.


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Configuration: Default Template
Posted by , Last modified by Robert Papalid on 30 October 2019 08:42 AM
Default Template:
The NE1 Web Builder has hundreds of templates to be used for a stylish web design. However, there may be a time when the use of 2 or more templates for one website is desired. If so, the "Default Template" drop-down menu determines which template is used whenever a new page is created. (It is always possible to change the template on each page at any time.) Select the template you wish to use in the drop-down menu and press the button to save what you have entered.
Related Topics:
Configuration: Admin Email Address
Configuration: Date Format
Configuration: Default Home Page
Configuration: Default Template
Configuration: General Info
Configuration: Language
Configuration: Maximum Menu Item Length
Configuration: Navigation Clues
Configuration: SEO Friendly
Configuration: Sub-menu Options
Configuration: Time Format
Configuration: Website Footer
Configuration: Website Logo
Configuration: Website Name
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Configuration: WYSIWYG Editor
*Note: In order to select a different template it must first be imported. Click the "Layout Design" option in the menu at the top of the page to do that.


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Results tagged ' Sam Raimi '
My Favorite Baseball Flick
With so many MLB bloggers posting their favorite baseball movies the past few days, I thought I might have to include my personal favorite movie that I have to watch almost institutionally before Spring Training. It is a movie that everyone knows, but might not put on the top of their prospective lists. I put the German version DVD cover on the top of the blog to show you that this movie has made the move to International, and is not just a US baseball classic.
To count, I have seen this movie only about 6 times this past off season, but the movie never seems to be dull to me. Maybe it is the fact that in each viewing, I sometimes try and find something new I have not seen in other viewings. But beyond all of that, For the Love of the Game is by and far my favorite " go-to " movie when it comes to baseball.
I actually see this movie as two movies in one: A Baseball movie and a romance. The sporting sequences are easily worth the price of admission. Little known fact here, Costner threw every pitch you see in the movie. He did not use a "stunt" pitcher. Every pitch came from his shoulder and there is nor CGI magic or photographic magic to render his image over another pitcher's body.
That to me spells out the love that Costner truly has for the game of baseball. I know you might think that this is a fantasy for him, and it is, but it is also the type of role that he is born to play. He is that type of guy you can believe in this role. Not like some other sports movies made in the past, this movie you could believe that he was the character, and not just someone propped up on the mound for publicity shots. But then he is also the kind of guy you would root for if he actually had a chance at a perfect game.
As for that second part of the sequence, the romance. I can also see him with a woman as complex and beautiful as Kelly Preston in real life. I got an off chance to meet his wife, by accident at the Rays Rally in November 2007. Costner has great taste in women, I can assure you of that 100 percent. What most people do not know about professional athletes is that they do have women and people thrown at them all the time.
Most are people who have loved the way you play, but women tend to love the way you fill out your uniform. I remember when I was playing ball one time in Cincinnati this pretty little thing came up to me asking for an autograph, but the paper already had her phone number on it and I asked where she wanted me to sign since she did not want me to ruin this piece of paper. Well, let's just say she did not have the autograph showing when I left the stadium parking lot.
That is why the romance scene actually make sense to me in the movie. I know of a few ball players on the Rays that sit in the Bullpen area and check out the stands every game. A few phone numbers have trickled down to the bench, even if they are not wanted by the players. That is a part of life playing a professional sport. Romance is on your own time, and sometimes you have to juggle a lot to even get a simple kiss.
Being the Renaissance man that I am, I can dig a good romance. Being a regular guy, I love baseball. While this movie isn't perfect, it's a great "compromise video choice" for couples at the video store. As tough as it seems to achieve a balance between the game sequences and the lovey-dovey stuff, director Sam Raimi acquits himself a lot better than most directors would have.
Aging pitcher Billy Chapel ( Costner ) is having one rotten day. He finds out that the only team he has ever played for, his beloved Detroit Tigers are being sold and that he'll consequently be traded to the San Francisco Giants at the end of the season. And if that might not derail you enough for one day, he then learns that his girlfriend Jane (Preston) is moving to England to pursue her editorial dream job. (The nerve. ) But the third strike in all of this is that Chapel is scheduled to pitch his final start of a losing season during that same day, and he's basically in a sour mood.
Through the course of Billy's preparations and the game itself, the movie flashes back to earlier points in his career. While most of these deal with his romance with Jane, some are memories of distant friendships and unhappy decisions. Granted, the constant 'back-and-forth' gimmick may grow a bit tiresome, but by that point you'll either hate the movie or be completely caught up in it.
I actually took it as reflective moments that we all have sometimes at work. A simple 30 second day dream can sometimes take you out of the dull drums or even elevate your mood and confidence before going into the boss's office. The moments in this picture that bring the focus to the character are poised around these flashbacks. You get a better sense of the man because of the sequences you see about his past career highlights ( Tigers World Series appearance), his regrets and his accident in the off season at his winter lodge.
I fall into the latter category, I enjoy that kind of playful reflection into a character and actually find the movie a better picture because it is played out like elements of the game as he is pitching. Given some of Costner's recent films, there's no real reason to expect this movie to be any good. But it actually is quite an entertaining movie, thanks mainly to the direction of Sam Raimi ( The Evil Dead series, A Simple Plan ).
Whenever Dana Stevens' (City of Angels) script veers close to true corn, Raimi pulls
up just short, flashes to the present, and presents some fantastic baseball sequences. I still think that the film crew did an outstanding job making old Tiger Stadium look like Yankees Stadium for the production. And even though they had to do multiple shots of the crowds moving around the stadium and then CGI-ing them into position all over the ballpark, it is a great job of creating the New York vibe in the film.
Costner plays Billy as melancholy and regretful, the very things that cause him so much trouble in his love life. Unfortunately ( and as usual ) Costner never loosens up at all; he's always stoic and mellow. He offers the typical "Don't get too close to me or I'll end up hurting you" role with his usual professionalism, but he'd seem more real if he
smiled maybe twice. Kevin Costner suffers from "Movie Star Syndrome". When he plays a real character, like in Tin Cup, he shines. While she's no Oscar threat here, Kelly Preston easily holds her own as Jane, although her character is a bit underwritten for the female lead a romantic film.
What matters most in a movie like this is whether or not you care if these characters have a happy ending or not. There are several things that can ruin this for you: poor performances, a cliched and lazy script, or just an air of what I can only call 'fakeness'. ( See Fools Rush In or Costner's own Message in a Bottle for examples of such romantic 'fakeness'. ) For Love of the Game avoids these romantic maladies ( for the most part ). If Costner and Preston don't always click as a couple, that's OK because she's really beautiful ( I sometime hate John Travolta for getting to her first ).
If the baseball sequences seem a tad forced or convenient, that's OK because it's a damn well-made baseball movie. The scenes are pretty fresh. My favorite is still the one where a rookie is playing in the outfield in Fenway Park, and a ball ends up bouncing off his head aka Canseco and the Boston crowd just laugh as he looks up at them. Now I know for a fact that if that happened, it would have to be in right field at Fenway, and they would more than just laugh at or with the guy the rest of the series.
Maybe you just need to be a baseball guy like me who likes winning and happy endings, and truly loves baseball as much as breathing. But let's put it this way: Male OR female, if you pick up the box at the video store, and it already looks pretty good to
you, you'll like it.
In between mediocre Hollywood flicks ( I still do not get "The Bodyguard", but have been hit in the head with the DVD a few times ) , Costner does another baseball movie. As a matter of fact, there is a rumor circulating throughout baseball circles that there might be a Bull Durham 2 being passed around as we speak. And in that movie, you might see Costner actually finally play that manager he was thinking about at the end of the original movie.
While it might not compare in the same breath as some of his other impressive baseball works like Bull Durham or Field of Dreams. But the true test to if you might love this movie is the simple fact that you want to and can believe that Chapel can evolve during the movie. I actually see this film as a morphing of him from the top flight ballplayer to finally seeing his life without the game with Jane. And in that last scene you see that he truly can let the game go without remorse or regret. And as an athlete, that is an huge thing.
As a 'baseball movie', neither one of the above mentioned films those can claim to have as romantic a heart and soul as For the Love of the Game does. ( Another example: If you found the previous sentence really sappy, you probably won't like this movie, you cold-hearted cynic you. )


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A better solution for Rist Canyon traffic
Larimer County officials have backtracked from a foolhardy plan to discourage only cyclists from traveling Rist Canyon, an area devastated by wildfire.
Instead, they'll put up a sign asking all non-residents to limit travel on Rist Canyon Road as repair efforts take place. It's a better idea than their previous plan which would have added fuel to the ongoing battle between motorists and bikers who traverse the canyon's winding road.
Yesterday, I blogged about how county officials, reacting to residents' complaints, were going to put up a sign asking cyclists to keep out. Residents of the area were mad, thinking that recreational cyclists were rubbernecking on their tragedy and were clogging roads already stressed by repair vehicles.
The county had no legal authority to prohibit cyclists from riding the road, but planned to put up a sign asking them not to. The problem is that residents and cyclists had been clashing for years — well before the High Park Fire. And by taking sides it would make cyclists who chose to ride the road anyway vulnerable to an escalation in tensions.
It's good county officials recognized their error before installing the sign. Now, if only they could figure out a way to engineer a detente in the ongoing war in Rist Canyon between cyclists and residents.


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By Eddie Knalson
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo, North Dakota, 2012, 127 pages, Softcover.
2012 Beverley M. Paulson Family History Memoir Award, Heritage Education Commission, Minnesota State University-Moorhead
Book review by Marie (Tandeski) Delizonna, San Jose, California
The Farm at Pony Gulch tells the story of Michael and Anna Sophia (Witt) Baier, who came to America in 1883 from Arzis, Bessarabia. As German-Russian immigrants, they had become disillusioned with the promises made to them by Catherine the Great and her grandson, Czar Alexander I. The Baiers first settled at Scotland, S.D., and then, in 1896, homesteaded in Pony Gulch Township near Harvey, N.D.
For the most part, "The Farm at Pony Gulch" is the memoirs of their grandson, Eddie Knalson, who helped on the Baier farm when he was young. He included much oral history told to him by his Aunt Bertha. Patsy Knalson Ramberg, Eddie's daughter, adds insight into the family and areas where they lived.
Knalson tells how the family with 10 children moved from Scotland to Pony Gulch, which was a six-week walk, with four wagons full of "chickens, pigs and whatnot." They built a sod house, and later a gastatza (Batsa) summer kitchen, a mud and brick construction unique to Germans from Russia.
Of interest is the oral history from Aunt Bertha. Recorded in 1970, she tells how the Pony Gulch site was chosen, how the family lived in the sod house with its big Russian oven and gives her remedy for frozen fingers in the winter.
Knalson (1909-1995) wrote the tale of Pony Gulch in his retirement. After her retirement, Patsy Knalson Ramberg decided it was time to share his story with a wider audience, and The Farm at Pony Gulch is the result.
The Farm on Pony Gulch
$20.00 plus Shipping & Handling


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Baby Boy It's a Boy Blue Teal Custom Printed Table Runner CP-C0102
Custom Party's table runners are made from our lightweight cloth material and printed with vibrancy and clarity. Available in 3 sizes, these are sure to work for all event types. Made to run down the middle of the table, these add the perfect pop to any event. Custom Printed Table Runners are great for weddings, bridal shower, rehearsal, baby shower, graduation, birthday party or any other special event. Machine washable and highly durable these are great to reuse for multiple events.
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text: Pediatric patients with relapsed leukemia can now be enrolled in the CCTL019B2202 study. This multicenter phase II study investigates the efficiency and saftety of CTL019 (CAR-T-Cells) in pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed acute lymphoblastic B-Cell-Leukemia. Children and adolescents at the age of 3-25 years with CD19-positive relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation can be enrolled.


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Ancient American Art: The Aztecs and Their Ancestors
Grade Level:
Student Level:
Middle School
Optional Spanish language presentation available on request for an additional fee.
This lesson introduces the art of selected cultures in ancient Mesoamerica (today, Mexico, Guatemala, and adjacent countries). Objects of ceramic, gold, and stone (including jade) shed light on religion and rulership among the Aztec, Maya, and others in the centuries before European contact. Students learn to think critically as they analyze art works and their meanings.
Graphic organizer included in the teacher materials aids students in comparison of materials, dress, diet, and innovations of selected Mesoamerican cultures.
Program Format:
- Discuss map of Mesoamerica.
- Introduce Olmec culture, their materials, and technical processes.
- Introduce Maya culture, sacred ballgame, artifacts, and glyphs.
- Discuss ancient site of Teotihuacán, and look at the grid plan of the city.
- Introduce Aztec culture, including their use of calendar systems and religious beliefs.
- Discuss European contact, and its effect on Ancient American civilizations.
- Through artifacts in the CMA's collection, students will be introduced to aspects of the daily life and rituals of Mesoamerican cultures.
- Students will learn about the various materials and technical innovations used to make objects.
- Students will learn how these objects and artifacts are interpreted.


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Bishop Jonah of Obukhov on pilgrimage to Georgia
Bishop Jonah of Obukhov, a vicar of the Kiev metropolia, leads a pilgrims' group from Ukraine to Georgia with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The pilgrims stayed in Georgia from 5-9 December and visited monasteries and churches in Tbilisi, Mtskheta, and other cities. They prayed for the health of Hid Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir, official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reports.
Bishop Jonah of Obukhov met with Metropolitan Seraphim of Borjomi and Bakuriani and Metropolitan David of Alaverdi. The Georgian hierarchs, who visited Ukraine several times, recalled with pleasure hospitality of the God-loving Ukrainian people.
Source: mospat.ru


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Tonya wrote:I believe that Renessmee will have the ability to bare children. Her body is capable of changing and I agree that Jacob could not have imprinted on her if she wold not be able to have kids. They need to be able to pass on the gene. I think that he imprinted on her because she was the most powerful good female "human" around. To make a super race like someone had said before. The powers that be saw an opportunity to make the Quileute's more powerful. I also think that "they" realized that the Cullens and the wolfs needed to start working together instead of trying to kill each other all the time.
I have heard referance of this but where did you actually have it that the imprinting is to have a "most powerful good female" and the human is wrong because Renessmee is not human 100% and I know that you are not the only one that stated about being strong to breed so somebody tell me where and in which book that is in because my mind has completely forgot or its just not there. So I am not disagreeing I just want to know where and what book. Thanks


text: Zerry Woods International Limited Set as homepage Add to Favorites Home About US Products Production Process Feedback Contact Us Product Categories More>> engineered/reconstituted veneer bamboo veneer plywood fancy board rotary cut veneer sliced cut poplar veneer particle board grooved plywood Zerry Woods International Limited Address:UNIT 04 7/F,BRIGHT WAY TOWER,NO.33 MONG KOK ROAD KOWLOON,HK Contacter:MISS Kitty Tel:00852 27935511 Fax: 00852 35902333 Mob:13826505101 Email:firstname.lastname@example.com Products tulip2-1# crown grain ZW engineered veneer is a sliced reconstituted real wood veneer. It is made from rotary peeled timber that is color enhanced, reformed to a square "log" and then re-sliced into rectangular veneer sheets. Standard size:0.5x2500x640mmOther specification available:Length: 2200mm~3100mmWidth: 640mm~900mmThickness: 0.15mm~0.70mmCustomized sizes are also available. 相关链接:全讯网www.zrylqxw.com真人娱乐,真人游戏,现金娱乐,新全讯网,全讯网****导航,****全讯网,全讯网**** Zerry Woods International Limited Address:UNIT 04 7/F,BRIGHT WAY TOWER,NO.33 MONG KOK ROAD KOWLOON,HK Web:http://www.zerrywoods.com


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Arvest Bank's one-day donation blitz to help reduce food insecurity in North Central Arkansas resulted in a record number of donations to the third annual campaign.
Volunteers in Mountain Home, Yellville, Flippin and Gassville collected $20,275 from residents in those communities. Those donations will provide 101,375 meals to local children facing food insecurity. For eleven hours on April 27, dozens of volunteers took shifts collecting donations at intersections and in front of participating stores.
All of the donations benefit the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas' backpack program, as well as backpack programs managed by other hunger relief organizations in the area. Through backpack programs, school children who face food insecurity are sent home with supplemental food on weekends and holidays, times when they don't have access to school meal programs and when they likely would not receive enough to eat at home.
"The generosity of our friends and neighbors in these communities is always encouraging and humbling, and are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed to Feed the Pack this year," said Sally Gilbert, market president of Arvest Bank in Mountain Home. "This is how we make a difference in our community and, most importantly, for the several hundred children who will receive the food these donations will provide, instead of being hungry. We certainly could not have reached this record number of donations without our wonderful volunteers for them, we are very grateful."
Area schools and businesses also held change drives, give back nights and other events to help collect donations to Feed the Pack in advance of the event. For every one-dollar donation, hunger relief organizations are able to provide five meals to those in need.
"One-third of children in our area face food insecurity, so there is a very large and widespread need," said Jeff Quick, chief executive officer of the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas. "We see an increased need during the summer months so Feed the Pack will help all of the agencies in our area who provide a backpack program, support these children for months to come."
Since creating Feed the Pack Day in 2016, Arvest Bank has now collected more than $57,250 in donations, which translates to a donation of more than 286,250 meals that were donated to local backpack programs.
Feed the Pack Day is one of several community events that are held in support of Arvest Bank's 8th annual 1 Million Meals campaign that challenges bank associates, customers and community members to participate in fundraising efforts and nonperishable food drives to fight hunger in the more than 120 communities the bank serves. The initiative is needed, as the United States Department of Agriculture reports more than 12 percent of American households surveyed in 2015 were food insecure.
The goal of the two-month, bank-wide effort is to collect enough food or monetary donations to provide at least one million meals to local, hungry families. Donations to Arvest's 1 Million Meals campaign may be dropped off at any Arvest Bank location by June 2 or by calling (866) 952-9523. Arvest credit card customers can donate Arvest Flex Rewards™ points by visiting arvestflexrewards.com and clicking on the 1 Million Meals banner, and customers who use the Arvest Go mobile banking app may contribute through the app on their smartphone.
Submitted questions will be answered by an Arvest banker and may appear on the Arvest Blog.
All Arvest banks are Equal Housing Lenders and Member FDIC.
Investment products and services are provided by Arvest Investments, Inc., doing business as Arvest Asset Management, member FINRA/SIPC, an SEC registered investment adviser and a subsidiary of Arvest Bank. Trust services are provided by Arvest Bank. Insurance products are made available through Arvest Insurance, Inc., which is registered as an insurance agency. Insurance products are marketed through Arvest Insurance, Inc., but are underwritten by insurance companies.
Securities and Insurance Products: Not Insured by FDIC or any Federal Government Agency, May Lose Value, Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by a Bank or any Bank Affiliate.


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Ep. 4 — Talking Buffs with ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit
Emmy-award winning analyst Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN's College GameDay joins The Denver Post's Nick Kosmider to talk about Colorado's resurgence, Mike MacIntyre's coach of the year chances and why he'd never leave college to cover the NFL.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


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It's been 1 month since I started my Book Bucket List and I've knocked the second one off the list: Katherine Arden's The Bear & The Nightingale. You can see the review here.
In its place, I've added The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas. Below is the link to the on-going Book Bucket List and a background on what it's all about. My Very Own "Book Bucket List" — Click here for the on-going detailed Book Bucket List.
Please take a look and help me decide which book I should read in September to satisfy this mini-challenge. You can vote in the poll below until August 28th, 2017. The poll is at:
About Me
I am a writer. I am currently searching for an agent and looking at independent publishing options for my first book, Watching a Glass Shatter. To see more, please check out the website for this novel where you will find the first 3 chapters, character bios and sample quotes.
I am writing my second novel, Father Figure, with plans to finish it in December, 2017. As part of the process to engage with my fans and followers, I am publishing a weekly status on the progress of this second book. For a description of this book, check out the post where my friends and followers voted for this book as my second novel.
Beyond these two books, I have a number of short stories, poems and other novels in various shapes and forms. I also read A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, Tags, Awards, Age/Genre/Book Reads and Author Spotlights, as well as the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge.
You can also access my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.


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A peach was a sweet-tasting fruit, grown on a tree known by the same name, that originated on Earth. Starfleet field rations included freeze dried peaches. (DS9: "Sons and Daughters")
In the United States of America, the state of Georgia, was well known for its abundant crops of peaches. Trip Tucker was very fond of Georgia peaches.
Prior to their departure from Earth during the Xindi incident, in 2153, Tucker picked up a crate of Georgia peaches to bring aboard Enterprise, after which Chef kept them in stasis – where they, according to Tucker, "stayed as fresh as the day they were picked."
Tucker later gave T'Pol a bowl of peaches in exchange of her giving him neuro-pressure treatments. At first T'Pol avoided tasting them, stating she didn't usually eat that late, but would finally take a bite of one at Tucker's request. After T'Pol became infected with a mutagenic virus, Tucker was able to retrieve the peach she had bitten out of to help Phlox acquire a sample of her DNA. (ENT: "Extinction")
The food synthesizers aboard the USS Enterprise were capable of producing ice cream with a peach flavor. (TOS: "And the Children Shall Lead")
Peaches are also a primary ingredient in peach cobbler, a favored dessert of Counselor Deanna Troi. (TNG: "Liaisons")


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In 1987, a streetwise d.j. from Queens named Eric Barrier released an album with an eerily mature teen-age rapper from Long Island named William Griffin. They called themselves Eric B. & Rakim (Griffin had adopted an Arabic name after joining an offshoot of the Nation of Islam), and they called the album "Paid in Full." Its cover was meant to provide proof of the boast: the two men are photographed holding fans of cash, superimposed on a green-tinted image of giant bills. Their fingers are covered in gold rings; around each man's neck is a gold chain that looks thick enough to suspend a bridge.
Even so, most people who see the cover will find their eyes drawn to the matching leather outfits that the two are wearing. The jackets dominate the frame, and, on the back cover, one of them serves as a backdrop for an impressive still-life composed of jewelry, money, and a personal check signed by Ronald Reagan. The sleeves and torso are black, but the collar and shoulders and wrists and pockets are white leather, decorated with a tiny logo print: a series of double "G"s, the second one inverted, each pair separated from its diagonal neighbor by a black dot. If you look closely at the black leather, you can see the same pattern there, black on black. It's a Gucci logo, and on the chest is another one: a pair of fist-size interlocking "G"s.
"Paid in Full" was a hit, and a turning point: its imaginative samples inspired hip-hop producers to broaden their palettes, its sinuous rhymes inspired rappers to stretch out their verses, and its audacious cover helped convince rivals and fans that hip-hop fashion might mean something more luxurious than a T-shirt or a track suit. Of course, fans hoping to buy their own logo-print Gucci jackets wouldn't have met with much success at the company's Manhattan boutique, at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street, which sold mostly handbags and wallets. But within the emerging hip-hop industry the source of those outfits was an open secret: they came from a bustling shop seventy blocks north, in Harlem, called Dapper Dan's Boutique.
By the time "Paid in Full" was released, the boutique was already a success. Its storefront, on 125th Street, was open twenty-four hours a day, providing custom tailoring and name-brand cachet—Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton—to anyone who could afford the prices, which ranged from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. At Dapper Dan's, "made to order" didn't always mean "one of a kind": customers often requested copies of other customers' clothes, causing the best-loved pieces to replicate and spread outward from celebrities to regular folks—albeit regular folks willing to spend an irregular amount on luxury clothing of dubious provenance. Many of the celebrities were rappers and athletes: LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, and KRS-One were regular clients, and so were Mike Tyson and the basketball star Walter Berry. Major drug dealers counted as celebrities, too, like Alberto Martinez, known as Alpo, whose purchases included a beautiful tan-and-brown Louis Vuitton logo-print snorkel parka with a fox-fur hood. (It had cleverly designed double pockets in the front, just in case the wearer had something he might want to store separately or discard quickly.) Martinez was arrested in 1991 and convicted on multiple charges of homicide, but the parka, commonly known as the Alpo Coat, became one of the boutique's signature creations—a crack-era classic.
It seems possible that, in the nineteen-eighties, Dapper Dan was the most influential haberdasher in the city. His work presaged both the rise of the hip-hop fashion industry and the reinvention of Europe's luxury design houses. June Ambrose, a stylist who made her name by bridging hip-hop and high fashion, grew up in the Bronx, and she remembers marvelling at Dapper Dan's rogue creations, which allowed his new-money clients to festoon themselves in old-money symbols. "It was like wearing a Rolls-Royce on your back—it was so cocky," she says. "It was luxury on steroids. You didn't have to say this jacket was ten thousand dollars. It just looked like it was ten thousand dollars."
In the convivial atmosphere of the shop, Dapper Dan was a friendly but serious presence. He took measurements and drew up designs, leaving most of the sewing and cutting to African tailors, mostly Senegalese, who worked in shifts upstairs from the shop, sometimes a dozen at a time. Dapper Dan wielded several different kinds of authority, depending on whom he was talking to: he could be a self-taught philosopher, a refined couturier, a gruff salesman (no discounts, no matter what), or a local guy who found subtle ways to remind people that he knew lots of other local guys, not all of them quite so refined as him. He cultivated a sense of mystery about the trademarked materials he used, and about himself. Mike Tyson remembers him as "a beautiful guy," with a slightly anomalous sense of propriety. "He conducted himself real dignified," Tyson says. "You know, them African guys are dignified and shit—I thought Dapper Dan was African."
Dapper Dan's Boutique closed in 1992—its demise hastened, indirectly, by Tyson's patronage. In the two decades since then, Dapper Dan has lived on mainly in the mythology of hip-hop: through old album covers and magazine snapshots, as well as occasional acknowledgment on rap records. Fat Joe, a longtime customer, once declared, in a song, "You can ask Dapper Dan, Who was the man?" Jay-Z, who largely missed out on the Dapper Dan era, offered a more equivocal salute to those famous Gucci jackets: "Wear a G on my chest—I don't need Dapper Dan."
It was doubly startling, then, when Dapper Dan reappeared, a few months ago, in a five-minute biographical video that was posted on Life + Times, Jay-Z's life-style Web site. He is sixty-eight now, though he looks at least ten years younger: he is skinny and bald and dark—it's not hard to see why Tyson thought he was an African immigrant. In fact, he was born in Harlem, the son of a homemaker and her husband, a civil servant who had moved north from Virginia in 1910. Dapper Dan's real name is Daniel Day, and he still lives in Harlem, in a brownstone a few blocks from 125th Street. He still dresses, too, like an uptown dandy. One day, not long after the video surfaced, he answered the door wearing a slim-fitting black shirt with small red polka dots and a white collar and cuffs; gold cufflinks matched the gold clip that held down his red tie. In person, his natural exuberance often seems to be doing battle with his learned wariness, both of which have served him well. He has a tendency to tell even the most benign story in a near-whisper, which makes the sudden explosions of laughter more dramatic.
Day grew up poor, the youngest of four brothers, and poverty magnified his innate interest in clothes; he used pieces of linoleum to cover the holes in the soles of his shoes. He still remembers a friend's casual but devastating response the day his mother bought him a new pair: "Oh, look, they must have hit the number." The friend was right—the Day boys got new clothes only when their mother's lucky number, 150, came up in the local lottery. As a teen-ager, he became an accomplished shoplifter (pillaging department stores like Alexander's and Hearns), and therefore a stylish dresser, but it never occurred to him to study fashion—instead, he dropped out of school. He was once a budding kingpin, the president of the Sportsmen Tots, the youth division of a fearsome gang. But by the time he reached his late teens he had become something of an idealist, a believer in the virtues of total sobriety, even though most of his friends were confirmed skeptics. Eventually, Day found his way to the Urban League, which offered a program to instill pride and discipline in wayward young black and Latino men by sending them to Africa for the summer. Day still has a copy of a test he took as a prerequisite, which reflects the political vision of the trip's sponsors. One question asked candidates to imagine themselves as leaders of a small African country battling starvation: would they accept a loan from a larger country if it came with conditions? Day's answer, written in soft pencil, is firm: "I would reject it because African unity means more than the lives of thousands it mean the lives of 10 of millions." Underneath, one of the instructors wrote, in red ballpoint, "Excellent!!"
The trip began in Ghana, where Day and his fellow New Yorkers were sometimes shocked to see black Africans behave deferentially around their white counterparts. The leader of the expedition was a white man named Bill Stirling, a teacher and advocate who went on to become a real-estate developer in Colorado. (In the eighties, he was the mayor of Aspen.) Stirling remembers Day as a charismatic young man and a great dancer—and, like the rest of the group, a conspicuous American. "They could wear a dashiki and indigenous sandals, and walk into a market," Stirling recalls. "And these Ghanaian guys would walk up to them and say, 'Where are you from in the States?' Just completely blow their cover."
The tour also touched down in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Tanzania, where Day was struck by President Julius Nyerere's efforts at black economic empowerment. In America, he had been reading authors ranging from Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam leader, to Jethro Kloss, the pioneering herbalist. Africa, with its old traditions and new politics, seemed to be full of the kind of secret knowledge he was seeking. Six years later, in 1974, Day went back to Africa, for the Rumble in the Jungle, and when George Foreman was cut during training, postponing the fight for more than a month, Day bought an unlimited plane ticket and took another tour of Africa. In Zaire, he traded most of his belongings for local carvings and oil paintings, which now line the walls of his brownstone. And in Liberia he befriended a tailor who sewed him outfits that no one had back in New York: a few dashikis, but mainly leisure suits, fitted and flared, and cut from vivid local fabrics—a West African take on American style.
Throughout the nineteen-seventies, Day was a professional gambler, devoted to the lucrative art of educating amateurs. He took this vocation seriously, mastering all the odds, tips, and tricks for winning craps and cee-lo, and he made pilgrimages downtown to meet with one of the men who taught John Scarne, the legendary author of "Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling." Day was brought up among hustlers—his father was the only man in his family with a legitimate job—and he had three older brothers and two older cousins with reputations fearsome enough to keep him safe, despite his suspiciously good luck with dice. "I had that salesman's personality," he says. "I knew how to generate excitement. Plus I could dance, and dress." Dressing fly was part of his strategy: fellow-players would get angry and stay in the game just for the chance to humiliate him. "They want to win me—I want to win money," he says. "That's the difference."
The idea for Dapper Dan's Boutique formed slowly, as Day studied what people in Harlem were wearing and where they were getting it. Selling clothes, like gambling, was a way for him to liquefy his social capital. If people in the neighborhood wanted to dress like him, why not profit by helping them? For a time, he sold imported dress shirts on the street, but soon he found himself drawn to the fur trade, an insular market with high margins, and one that seemed to be ill serving neighborhoods like his. As far as he was concerned, furriers had long exploited African-American customers, because they could. "Diamonds and furs, black people don't know nothing about," Day says. "You can sell 'em anything."
In 1982, he opened his shop, at 43 East 125th Street, near Madison Avenue, where the Harlem Children's Zone school now stands. Day's landlord was a furrier, who hoped that his new tenant would help him unload patchy, inferior garments—"chitlin' coats," Day calls them, because they were made from scraps. Instead, Day offered high-quality furs, at prices that were slightly less extortionate than the competition's. If A. J. Lester, the mini-chain down the street, was selling a leather jacket with opossum lining for twelve hundred dollars, at a two-hundred-per-cent markup, Day would offer the same jacket for eight hundred dollars, content merely to double his money. When the wholesaler objected to this arrangement, Day resolved to become his own supplier. Thinking back to the tailor in Liberia, he gave his business card to a Senegalese vender in midtown and told him, "If you know any Africans that can sew, tell them to come to my store." Within a week, the boutique was beginning its transformation into a full-service factory.
Unlike the department stores, Day had a keen sense of what his customers wanted. He started lining his leather jackets with fox, which was more vivid than opossum, and pretty soon he began to wonder why the fur had to be hidden in the lining. "That was, like, a white-boy thing, that fur inside," he says. "I started putting it outside—inside and outside, so you could reverse it." Soon his customers started to compete with one another, forcing Day to find ways to make his coats increasingly luxurious. One of his favorite tricks was to use designer-leather trim to turn a generic garment—even a generic mink coat—into a name-brand one. His quest for the right material sometimes took him to the Gucci boutique, where he would puzzle the clerks by buying every garment bag in the shop. The long leather panels, printed with the Gucci logo, were perfect for the jackets he wanted to make. "You could get a complete yoke, front and back," he says. "But it was costly."
Harvesting garment bags worked well enough for yokes and trim, but to make the all-over print jackets and long coats that his clients wanted Day needed to create his own raw materials. The solution he hit upon was so obvious that it never occurred to many of his best customers: he turned the high-fashion logos into huge silk screens, and then, through trial and error, found a paint tenacious enough to adhere to the soft plonge leather he liked to use. Day and his assistants screened leather right in the shop, working on skins that were about three feet wide and six feet long. (They tried to schedule their silk-screen sessions for odd hours, so that customers wouldn't smell the paint fumes.) If they pushed paint evenly through the screen, and if the screen didn't smudge when they pulled it off the skin, the result was an unlimited supply of logo-print leather, which could be used for just about anything.
The Louis Vuitton logo pattern, which looked sensible on a valise, seemed surreal on a knee-length coat. For Day, that was part of the excitement—he wanted to improve venerable brands by hijacking them. "I Africanized it," he says. "Took it away from that, like, Madison Avenue look." Of course, Day's boutique was just a few steps away from Madison Avenue's northern end, and only a few miles from the shopping districts of midtown. But in Harlem he created his own world of luxury. He expanded from jackets and suits to hats and automobile upholstery; over by the Harlem River, he had a garage, where cars could get a Gucci or a Fendi makeover, complete with a custom-logo wheel cover. Day wasn't oblivious of the possibility that, eventually, one of the European companies whose logo was being "Africanized" would notice and object. "I knew that from Day One," he says. "But I'm a gambler."
Like a lot of people who made good money in Harlem in the eighties, Day talks about crack cocaine with a mixture of disgust and nostalgia. He opened his shop just as crack was revolutionizing the cocaine trade, and this turned out to be a lucky coincidence. "The timing was beautiful," he says. "New York guys were spreading that demon everywhere, bringing in demon money." He had given up gambling, because he found it hard to take pleasure in seeing people lose their money, even if they were losing it to him. At the boutique, people were happy to give him their money, even though the stories of how they got it weren't always so happy.
It's fair to say that Dapper Dan's Boutique wouldn't have survived without the crack boom, which created a new generation of kingpins and mini-kingpins. One of them was Azie Faison, a dominant force in the uptown crack trade and a former partner of Alpo Martinez. Faison, who is now a rapper and motivational speaker, remembers the dilemma of having too much money and nothing sensible to do with it. "Trying to invest can hurt you, because the people that you invest with know where you're getting it from, so they become crooks, too," he says. "Then, when you try to stash the money in your house, the police might come by—or the crooked police." For someone like Faison, Day's high prices were part of the appeal. "I'm not the type that's gon' come in your business and ask for a bargain—I might pay extra to get my shit quicker," he says. "Who I am in the game, I don't care about money. I'm throwing money up in the street." For the right price, Day was known to make a great show of telling all the tailors to stop whatever they were doing and work on their new No. 1 priority. The prices also protected Day against any suggestion that he was a mere bootlegger. "You had to pay on the same level as if it was from Gucci," Faison says. "So it is Gucci, to us."
Day learned that it wasn't wise to have men on the sales floor, because male customers might be tempted to haggle with them, out of pride. (About eighty per cent of the shop's clientele was male—it was, by and large, a place for rich men to show off.) Instead, he staffed the shop with young women, whom the hustlers could try to impress. When announcing a price to a persnickety customer, Day would sometimes affect contempt—"Just give me a punk five hundred dollars," he might say—to imply that any further discussion would be beneath both of them.
Many gangsters of the seventies, like Leroy (Nicky) Barnes, were veteran criminals who styled themselves as smooth businessmen, or as scions of some imaginary dynasty. In 1977, when Barnes posed for the cover of the Times Magazine, beside the headline "MISTER UNTOUCHABLE," he wore a gray sport coat with patch pockets, a light-blue shirt, and a striped tie. (This was a provocation, and it may have helped inspire the government to arrest him, in order to disprove the headline.) A lot of the old-time gangsters got their natty suits from Orie Walls, a renowned Harlem tailor who had a storefront next to the Apollo Theatre. The eighties upstarts, like Faison and Martinez, were just as brash, but in a different way: instead of impersonating powerful executives, they presented themselves as boyish heartthrobs, resplendent in bright and sometimes whimsical outfits. In addition to the Alpo coat, Day made Martinez a white-black-and-red leather Gucci windbreaker with a hood that unzipped down the middle, so that its two halves lay flat across his shoulders. Like their rapper counterparts, these gangsters saw no reason to dress like old men if they didn't have to.
In some ways, the gangsters made even better customers than the rappers, who tended to have less money and less faith in their own fashion instincts. "That's what I like about the gangster clientele," Day says. "Nobody's telling them what's right. You know? Might make right, in the street." Day began adding a Kevlar lining to the coat of any customer who thought he might need it, though he wouldn't vouch for its effectiveness—buyers were encouraged to conduct their own research by taking the Kevlar up to the roof and shooting it. (Some also requested Kevlar hats, which Day produced, though never without first warning that a Kevlar hat is both heavy and useless.) Whenever violence flared in Harlem, he learned, he could expect an uptick in customers looking for armored jackets.
On 125th Street, "gangster" and "rapper" weren't mutually exclusive. Fat Joe, long before he got a record deal, would drive down from the Bronx to shop at Dapper Dan's, where he was afforded the respect due an established "street hustler," as he describes himself. "I remember going to a club in Manhattan and walking in with my Dapper Dan suit, the red-and-white Gucci, with my jewelry," he says. "They were looking at me, like, 'Who is this? He gotta be somebody.' And I wasn't famous—I was just a nigga with a Dapper Dan suit. The suit made me famous." At its height, Dapper Dan's Boutique was bringing in more than ten thousand dollars a day, boosted by out-of-towners. Young men with ready cash and flexible schedules would converge on the shop from around the country, eager for a custom car interior, or five thousand dollars' worth of jackets and shorts sets. They might stay all day and night, waiting for a job to be finished. The cheapest custom item in the shop was a velour sweatsuit, which sold for three hundred and seventy-five dollars, but customers who wanted one were sometimes sent to shops in the outer boroughs; when the boutique was full of leather and fur customers, Day couldn't afford to waste time selling velour.
There's no denying that Day's logo-print leathers were central to his business. "They was just killing," he says—and he was the only designer who had them. "People just kept asking for them, and asking for them." But part of his success had to do with the way his clothes fit. Because he knew his customers' bodies and preferences, he could create jackets and trousers that were baggy without being oversized, even though his own taste ran to trimmer, neater silhouettes. And, by creating flamboyant pieces that were both glamorous and streetwise, Day helped lay the groundwork for the modern hip-hop aesthetic, in which the distinction between onstage and offstage is always blurred.
On August 23, 1988, Mike Tyson was having an unhappy night. "I was drinking a lot, and I was having a lot of marital problems," he says. "I ain't want to go home." So he went, instead, to Dapper Dan's, sometime around four-thirty in the morning, to check on the progress of an item he had ordered, for eight hundred and fifty dollars: a white leather jacket, with "Don't Believe the Hype" written in black across the back. The jacket wasn't ready yet, and as Tyson chatted with the tailors he was waylaid by Mitch (Blood) Green, another heavyweight boxer, who had apparently heard a rumor that Tyson was in the shop. They had fought two years earlier, when Green became just the second boxer to last ten rounds against Tyson. Green was hungry for a rematch, and for a payday, and his encounter with Tyson turned unfriendly when the two men moved outside. According to some reports, Green broke the side mirror off Tyson's Rolls-Royce; according to all reports, Tyson punched Green in the nose, giving him a nasty cut and a swollen-shut eye, both of which Green exhibited at a press conference the next day. Day wasn't in the shop during the altercation, but it scarcely mattered: suddenly, he was famous, besieged by reporters and fans curious about the incident—and curious, too, about a clothing store that welcomes prizefighters at four-thirty in the morning.
Not long afterward, this curiosity spread to lawyers at the Manhattan firm of Pavia & Harcourt. They came across a picture of Tyson wearing an odd Fendi jacket—odd because the firm represented Fendi, and yet no one there had ever seen a jacket like that. Tyson's shopping habits had become notorious, so it didn't take long to figure out where the jacket came from. One of the lawyers assigned to Fendi was Sonia Sotomayor, the current Supreme Court Justice. In her autobiography, "My Beloved World," Sotomayor explains that the firm's primary target was the growing wave of "cheap knockoffs of Fendi handbags." Although there were federal and state laws against trademark violations, prosecutions were rare, and so companies like Fendi often used civil actions. Lawyers would get a sealed order from a judge, allowing them to seize suspected counterfeit goods and hold them until trial; when the suspected counterfeiters failed to appear, as they generally did, the goods were destroyed.
In researching these cases, Sotomayor often relied on Dempster Leech, a private investigator with a thoughtful manner who had emerged as perhaps the city's foremost expert on luxury counterfeiting. His raids frequently took him into the tunnels beneath Canal Street, where Asian gangs dominated the profitable knockoff market. He didn't know what he might find at Dapper Dan's Boutique, so he prepared for the worst: he added extra security, and he made sure to schedule the raid for daylight hours, in case it got chaotic. Sotomayor, Leech, and half a dozen private security guards rushed into the shop, where they found no violent resistance but lots to look at. The racks were full of name-brand clothing, and the walls were lined with celebrity photographs; in the window hung the most impressive custom jackets, waiting for their buyers to come up with the final payment.
Leech, who is now retired and living in Vermont, remembers a moment of excitement in the attic. "It smelled like somebody was buried in the walls," he says. In fact, the stench came from racks of old fur coats, waiting to be repurposed. Leech was accustomed to grim back rooms full of assembly-line knockoffs, so he was impressed by Day's quirky, do-it-yourself enterprise. "It was a much more artisanal process—a high-fashion place," he says. He was especially struck by the hand-operated silk-screen table, and by a Jeep with a Fendi-logo roof, which was among the goods seized. Day was unhappy, of course, but he stayed calm; the raid was, by all accounts, a polite affair, especially compared to the tense, sometimes violent raids on Canal Street. Leech says, "I recall, Sonia was—I can't say that she didn't mind it. Obviously, she was representing the Italian designers. But she thought it was kind of funny. And kind of fun, too."
From the perspective of a trademark owner, a counterfeiter gets no points for creativity or quirkiness. The law doesn't distinguish between a knockoff purse and a one-of-a-kind Gucci-logo jacket. Even Day's early creations, accented with leather from Gucci's own garment bags, might well have been considered counterfeit, under the theory that they were likely to mislead consumers. One of the lawyers involved in subsequent Fendi raids, Anthony Cannatella, who still represents Fendi in counterfeit cases in New York, was taken aback by Day's brazenness. "I remember a coat that had one fashion trademark as its lining, another fashion trademark as its outer portion, a third trademark as its lapel, and pocket squares as its fourth trademark," he says. To a company looking to protect its brand, a jolly mishmash like that might seem more threatening than a mere knockoff. "He sometimes made a mockery out of some of the fashions," Cannatella says. "Notwithstanding that his customers thought it was cool, and they looked great in it—but the actual designers took offense."
In Day's view, of course, he wasn't parodying these brands; he was paying tribute to them, and so were his customers. Another Fendi lawyer remembers being amused to see, on Day's walls, photographs of young African-American men with Fendi logos shaved into their heads. Like many customers, Tito Dones, from the early hip-hop group the Fearless Four, often paired Day's creations with genuine articles. "If I was wearing a white Gucci outfit from Dapper Dan," he says, "I'd go to the Gucci store and cop some white Gucci shoes—because that made it super official." A customer might want his car upholstery to match his girlfriend's name-brand purse, or shoes. Tyson says he had a hard time finding designer clothes that fit. "I'm a big nigga," he says. "They don't carry clothes for big black men like me—at least, back then they didn't." Sometimes he would buy a too snug designer jacket, commission a bigger version from Dapper Dan, and give the original away.
Day, no less than any multinational fashion conglomerate, is a great believer in the power of icons and symbols. When he discovered that Bally, another of his favorite brands, didn't have a sufficiently regal crest, he went to the New York Public Library to research the families of its owners, so he could supply one. Still, Cannatella isn't wrong to see something slightly irreverent in Day's approach, which reflected two contradictory impulses, both essential to hip-hop: a desire to claim traditional status symbols, and a desire to remake and redefine those symbols—to "Africanize" them, perhaps, or to sample them, the way hip-hop producers sampled their favorite records. Companies like Fendi and Gucci weren't necessarily wrong, either, to worry about brand dilution. Part of the appeal of those European fashion houses was that, from the vantage point of 125th Street, they were impossibly exotic and impossibly rarefied. Without that sense of exclusivity—maintained with the help of lawyers like Cannatella—no one would have been interested in wearing Gucci jackets on a hip-hop album cover in the first place.
Day was raided and sometimes sued by virtually all the companies whose logos he used. Most times, the fine amounted to the loss of whatever inventory and equipment the lawyers happened to find. By 1992, Day was ready to admit defeat. For a time, he became a travelling salesman, peddling luxury suits and jackets to gangsters and hustlers in bleak neighborhoods up and down the East Coast, and as far west as Chicago. (Once, in Richmond, Virginia, he was about to be robbed in an alley when one of the assailants recognized him from an old "Yo! MTV Raps" episode, and brought him to the local kingpin, who promptly became a customer.) Back in New York, as the crack trade slowed down and hip-hop fashion moved on, he found himself doing things he hadn't done in decades, like riding the subway, and selling cheap T-shirts on the sidewalk. Soon enough, though, he found new ways to prosper, some of which entailed moving down-market. When he noticed that local shops were undersupplied with Timberland jackets, he hit upon a solution that didn't require him to trouble the executives at Timberland. And one summer, when the Guess brand was hot, he became one of Harlem's leading suppliers of triangle-and-question-mark denim.
By the end of the nineties, Day was ready to resume being Dapper Dan, if quietly. He maintains a secret production facility, and attentive hip-hop fans have surely seen his handiwork. In 2001, at the Grammy Awards, Nelly turned up wearing a baggy brown Louis Vuitton-logo leather sports coat with matching leather pants. And in "Let's Get It," a music video that popularized the original "Harlem Shake" dance, Sean (Diddy) Combs and the other rappers can be seen wearing Fendi suits that have the distinct look of 125th Street. These days, though, many of Day's clothes are the sort that even Anthony Cannatella might appreciate—outlandish but uninfringing creations that bear no logo at all. Before every fight, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., commissions a pair of boxing trunks from Day, who calls Mayweather his favorite client. The two collaborate on designs, and Mayweather shares Day's commitment to seemingly athlete-unfriendly materials like mink fur and ostrich leather.
One afternoon, at Day's brownstone, his mobile phone rang: it was a prominent local hustler, for whom he had recently performed a jacket upgrade, adding a new white zipper and a light-blue mink collar. Day switched his phone to speaker to broadcast his customer's satisfaction. "At first, I was kinda"—the customer left an unimpressed silence. "But, as I wore it, it looked so rich," he said. "Oh, man, that motherfucker mean, man!"
By the time Day closed his boutique, he had helped inspire a generation of younger designers, and hip-hop fashion was emerging as a profitable industry. One of the early success stories was Shabazz Brothers Urbanwear, which was co-founded by Haussan Bakr, Day's former shop manager. For a time, hip-hop fashion labels like Phat Farm, Sean John, and Roc-a-Wear seemed poised to establish themselves as dominant brands, but each has struggled with the tension between its business plan, which was to sell modestly priced clothes, and hip-hop's central aspiration, which is to get rich enough not to have to buy modestly priced clothes.
Day's influence was felt, too, at some of the same fashion houses that had helped to shut him down. Many luxury brands found ways to acknowledge—and, to a limited extent, return—the affection of hip-hop, increasing sales without sacrificing exclusivity. Formerly sedate houses grew willing to flaunt their logos in ways they might once have considered vulgar, creating clothes for consumers who weren't inclined to pretend that they didn't care about name brands. In 1996, Helmut Lang designed a limited edition, logo-print record case for Louis Vuitton, which advertised the case with a picture of Grandmaster Flash, squatting on top of it in Timberland boots. At Gucci, Tom Ford created loose-fitting logo-print trousers and jackets that probably would have sold swiftly at Dapper Dan's Boutique in the nineteen-eighties. At the same time, luxury brands have grown more assiduous about defending their trademarks, just as record companies have cracked down on unauthorized sampling. In 2008, Louis Vuitton won a hundred-and-fifty-four-thousand-euro judgment from Sony BMG in recognition of a number of infringements, including a Britney Spears video set partially inside a hot-pink Hummer with Louis Vuitton-pattern upholstery.
Back when Day was creating his parkas and wheel covers, though, his unauthorized methods seemed startling. Pharrell Williams, the music producer and designer, grew up admiring Day's work—he still fondly recalls an MCM-branded trenchcoat that Day made for the rapper Big Daddy Kane. He sees Day as a kind of fashion "folk artist," influencing the mainstream from outside. Williams's many projects include a collaboration with Marc Jacobs, the creative director at Louis Vuitton, and he says that he and Jacobs have talked about Day's mutant version of haute couture. The photographer David LaChapelle, a longtime admirer of Day, paid tribute to his work with a photograph of the rapper Lil' Kim. In the image, which appeared on the cover of Interview, she is naked, with the Louis Vuitton logo airbrushed on her body.
Sometimes, when Day talks, he sounds a bit like the fiery young man he must have been in 1968. He likes to describe himself as "militant," by which he also means independent. In all his years on 125th Street, he never developed relationships with the fashion world a few miles downtown, and he stayed away from industry events, although his position may now be softening. With help and prodding from his youngest son, Jelani, Day is starting to emerge from the shadows. Jelani arranged the Life + Times video, and he has been turning his father's bins of photographs and scraps into a digital archive. He is also tracking down some of his best-loved creations, starting with the Alpo coat, which now resides in a plastic garment bag in Day's brownstone—unfaded, Day is quick to point out, after nearly thirty years.
Earlier this year, Day and his son ventured out to some of the city's trade and fashion shows, where Day was an ambiguous presence—half interloper, half undercover celebrity. (One of the people who recognized him was the hip-hop producer Clark Kent, who pumped his hand excitedly while reminiscing about Day's greatest hits: "Making coats with pockets to hide the heat? Ooh!") At Capsule, a casual-fashion exposition held in a gymnasium on the East River, Day seemed to see every garment as a collection of possibilities, not as a finished product. He paused in front of an overcoat trimmed in what was purported to be pony hide, and did a quick thumb-and-forefinger inspection. "I ain't never seen that treatment before," he murmured, skeptically, once the attendant was out of earshot. One aisle over, he spied some men's espadrilles. "I used to take those, take 'em apart, and put 'em back together with Louis Vuitton fabric," he said. "Alpo was the one who made that popular." Just then, a tall white man walked by wearing a brown leather varsity jacket that barely reached his belt. "You see how he's wearing his jacket," Day said. "In Harlem, they would tell you that's too small—it looks like your little brother's joint."
Day has been taking meetings, too, in the hope of figuring out what an aboveground Dapper Dan operation might look like. One afternoon in January, he stopped by the offices of Billionaire Boys Club, Pharrell Williams's fashion label, to meet with Phillip Leeds, a brand manager. Like virtually everyone at the company, Leeds is a longtime fan, and he didn't seem to mind that Day kept stepping away to field a series of unexplained and increasingly urgent phone calls. Day was dressed in his version of business casual: neatly tailored black trousers, a black shirt, and a white snakeskin jacket with a high collar. The meeting took place at a conference table half-piled with clothing samples and surrounded by racks. Day had brought a few props, including a white paper shopping bag that held a heavily distressed Louis Vuitton satchel with one broken strap. He was talking about making a logo-free version of one of his old Louis Vuitton jackets—the bag was strictly for reference.
"These are treatments I've been working on," Day said. He produced some small leather samples and passed them to Leeds—even if there were to be a collaboration, Day insisted, he would do all the leather printing himself. The idea was to start with two custom jackets: one for Williams, and one for Jay-Z. If they appeared together, each wearing a new—and legal—Dapper Dan creation, then the venture would have all the publicity and credibility it needed. Day liked the idea, but he also thought it would be important to get some of the guys he knew—local hustlers—involved, so that this wouldn't be viewed as merely a celebrity project. Most important, he wanted to make sure that people in his neighborhood would approve. "Jay and Pharrell, outside of New York, they can sanction stuff," he said. "But Harlem got a mind of its own." ♦