This will be long. I have worn a Yes of one form or another since 2002. They were first advertised in the back of American Cinematographer as a way of knowing how much light you have left - these things matter to cinematographers and photographers. But it's so much more than that. Yes is a one-man operation. His name is Bjorn and he lives in La Jolla, CA. I saw a Yes for sale on eBay exactly once, and I bought it. That was in 2002 and I haven't seen one since. Adam Savage wears one, as does Complexity. They've been to the ISS twice. And here's the thing: Any device can tell time. The Yes is so much more than that. Hours and minutes and seconds have always seemed so arbitrary to me because we're completely divorced from them. You'll be interested to know that we have 24-hour days because the Babylonians noticed that 12 constellations rose during the course of a night and just multiplied by two; we have twelve months because that's how many cycles the moon has (about). Yet nobody has made the barest attempt to anchor our time schedules to anything that isn't arbitrary. I like having a 24-hour day. It makes a lot more sense to me. I like knowing how much daylight we have left. I like watching the wedge of darkness ebb and flow over the course of a year. I like watching the moonrise and moonset precess around the outside (although when I first bought my Yeswatch that wasn't even an option). And I like relating my day to the natural processes of the outside world because it's good to feel connected to something utterly beyond the ability of daylight savings time to fuck with. Doesn't matter who's in office, doesn't matter what Arizona does, the moon rises when the moon rises and the sun sets when the sun sets. Certain members of our community can't handle this. Let's be honest: 'pablo is apologizing for owning a hand-me-down Burberry. A Tati costs that much and it doesn't even have a mechanical movement. But I don't wear a lot of jewelry - I've got my bitchin' iron'n'gold Mokume Gane wedding ring, I've got a titanium and silver byzantine chain bracelet my wife made and I've got one or the other of the watches. One of 'em is stainless, the other is titanium and gold. And Cee-Lo Green struck up a conversation with me over my watch and he was wearing a $50k Arctica. Things that I put on every day I value. And owning a hand-made unique timepiece counts. If Bjorn didn't make watches I'd own a Seiko Astron: Or I'd own an Omega speedmaster. Why? EDIT: The last time we talked about watches, b_b suggested shinola. I could totally go that way, too.
It's ghetto chic. Very popular around here. Building a brand around being "gritty", which is euphemism for "There's black people all over where we work." Chrysler has the same thing, but at least they aren't a luxury brand. I guess pretty much all ad campaigns seek to exploit someone. I got a bad taste with Shinola in particular, because of their audacity to sell $400 tennis shoes on a block where people starve and freeze routinely. I'm not going to defend myself to vigorously. Not sure my feelings are entirely rational on the issue.
You know what, you can't have your cake and eat it too. How dare Dan Gilbert sell home loans from downtown Detroit when people don't have homes? How dare anyone sell anything in Detroit when so many have so little? As for using Detroit as a brand, I never, ever think of "black people" when people reference the "grit" of Detroit, but I do think of hard working people, black, white, brown etc. As you know, Detroit was once the epicenter of business and culture, I think brands like Shinola are harkening to that. Brands like "Made in Detroit" are "exploiting" the work ethic that was synonymous with pre-labor union craziness Detroit. "Built Ford Tough" is the same way. The city was once known for building the highest quality machines in the world. How dare a brand try to hitch it's wagon to that. Actually, what they're doing is rebuilding that wagon and to be pissed about that is fucked up.
Yes, but I think the unions themselves started getting crazy.
Were you able to abscond any of the riches from that errant abbey? I have had a number of "jobs" over the years leading up to my life in Business Development and it occurs to me that I've never belonged to a union.
Dude, I think you're putting some words in my mouth there. All I said was that their ad campaign was lame, while also saying that I like their products (what I should have said was that I like their watches; their bikes are hella lame). It's a pretty big stretch from there to me being pissed off about anyone making money in Detroit.
their audacity to sell $400 tennis shoes on a block where people starve and freeze routinely
is what I was responding to. Are there restaurants on that street too? Stores that sell blankets? That would be criminal.
Ah. That. I owe you a clarification. Shinola maintains a store in Detroit, but only for cred. They don't intend to make money off it. They make money off selling things in, for example, NYC. Their "flagship" store in midtown detroit exists solely to import celebrities to do photo shoots and other marketing events. It feels like they're making fun of the neighborhood. At least it did in the beginning. I will give them credit that they have recently donated a bunch of money to build a green space near their store. That I applaud.
Well thank you pal, I dig it. As for the ghetto chic, it's a bit derivative don't you think? Did you go white gold or yellow?
Apology accepted. I've worked in Detroit for a decade, and I lived in downtown for 7 of those years. It would be fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with the city. What is offensive about referring to capitalizing on Detroit's downtrodden image as "ghetto chic"?
I feel like it implies that all Detroit is is a ghetto. I've lived in Detroit or in the Metro Detroit area all my life, and I get mad when the conversation can only come back to "Lel Detroit is a warzone." I thought that was what you were doing. Besides, the ad says "This is how you stuff a stocking in Detroit." I didn't (and don't) see how that even goes into exploitation of the poor when all it does is mention Detroit. Then later you mentioned "Ghetto chic," and I lost sight of things for a bit. The answer to your question might just be that I don't see where poverty comes into it.
That specific ad isn't bad. They, in my opinion, have used the decaying image of Detroit to their advantage, and that kind of thing annoys me. How many photographers have made careers out of capturing the "beautiful" ruins of Detroit? Too many. Each of them sucks the soul out of the city just a little bit more. There's a reason that you're not allowed to photograph prisoners of war--it's dehumanizing to exploit tragedy. I'm not against Detroit. I'm for Detroit, and I want to see it and its people treated with dignity. Where in Detroit do/did you live?
I was pretty young when my family moved to where we are now, but I live in Waterford. I can't remember where in the city we were before we moved. And yeah, fuck those guys. They come to Detroit with the same mentality as they go to Brazilian slums or to villages in Africa. Drum up sympathy, but do nothing.
I know nothing of their shtick, I had never seen an advert for them prior to the newspaper ad wasoxygen posted above in the comment. The ref is from the ad on the left of the paper. It's a joke.
My Zulu is currently (finally) wending its way to Bjorn for a repair wherein he'll probably have to replace its poor water-damaged electronic brains. Godspeed, my fallen warrior. You will return to me soon. Edit: Hah. Bjorn took receipt of my Zulu and his diagnosis and assessment of my treatment of it could basically be boiled down to: ಠ_ಠ I think he loves them like children. Either way, he's fixing it up and sending it back to me asap.