Archive for ‘September 2010’

Comedian Greg Giraldo died Wednesday (September 29) at age 44 from a reportedly accidental prescription-drug overdose. Giraldo had been hospitalized in New Brunswick, New Jersey, after he overdosed on prescription pills last weekend. According to TMZ, the overdose was not a suicide attempt.

Giraldo reportedly collapsed Saturday evening in his hotel room in New Jersey, where he was performing at a club. He was discovered by friends after he failed to show up for his scheduled performance. He was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Jim Norton confirmed the news via Twitter, including a picture with his fellow comedian: "Greg Giraldo passed away today. This is the last photo of us together, taken June 28 at Noam's wedding. RIP buddy."

A source close to Giraldo told TMZ: "Greg passed away today at the hospital in New Brunswick as a result of an accidental overdose. His family was by his side."

The Giraldo family's plans for a memorial service will reportedly be made public when they become available.

Giraldo was best known for his celebrity roast appearances and was a frequent guest on "The Late Show With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brian" and "The Howard Stern Show." He had also been a judge on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and appeared as a panelist on Jerry Seinfeld's "The Marriage Ref."

Before Giraldo became a comic, he worked as a lawyer. He was a graduate of Columbia University and attended Harvard Law School.

A few of Giraldo's noteworthy Comedy Central Roast subjects included: Chevy Chase, Pam Anderson, William Shatner, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, Larry the Cable Guy and David Hasselhoff.

Amanda Ware has been crowned Australia's Next Top Model, but not before a major blunder on live TV which saw host Sarah Murdoch announce the wrong winner.

Model-turned-television host Murdoch originally named Kelsey Martinovich, 19, as the winner but minutes later she was told via her earpiece feed that the actual winner was 18-year-old Ware.

Martinovich had already made an acceptance speech before a close-to-tears Murdoch realised a mistake had been made.

"I don't know what to say right now. I'm feeling a bit sick about this," Murdoch told the live studio audience.

"I'm so sorry, oh my God, I don't know what to say.

"This is a complete accident. I'm so sorry ... It's Amanda. I'm so sorry."

Murdoch, holding her head in her hands, said the original name was fed to her wrongly.

"This is what happens when you have live TV folks. This is insane, insane, insane," she said.

Martinovich was gracious upon hearing the mistake and hugged and congratulated Queenslander Ware.

Ware said she was ecstatic about the win, but admitted the situation was "like a bizarre dream".

"I was like really gracious for Kelsey, I was so happy she'd won," Ware said.

"And then she's like, 'Actually, Amanda's won' and I was like, that's a bit weird but woo hoo.

"I'll just go with the flow.

"[I'm happy] as bad as that is. Live television's always got mistakes. That was a big one, but it's all right, we got through it."

Murdoch said the competition was so close and the final tally literally came down to just a few votes.

Foxtel has confirmed Martinovich will be given a $20,000 cash prize and a trip to New York as compensation for the bungle.

As the winner of the show, which is broadcast on FOX8, Ware receives a modelling contract, a $20,000 cash prize, a car and a trip to New York.

Is this an iPad Killer? Only time will tell.

Research in Motion (RIM) has announced in their annual BlackBerry Developer Conference, by CEO Mike Lazaridis, the company’s new tablet called the PlayBook. The tablet will employ an OS created by the recently acquired QNX (just like the rumour said) called the BlackBerry Tablet OS. It’ll offer full OpenGL and POSIX support alongside web standards such as HTML5. All these will be tied into RIM’s new WebWorks SDK.

- 7-inch LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
- BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
- 1 GHz dual-core processor
- 1 GB RAM
- Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
- Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
- Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
- HDMI video output
- Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
- Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, - - Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
- Ultra thin and portable:
- Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
- Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
- RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Located over two floors on Marylebone’s Chiltern Street, Trunk introduces a much needed new style to the menswear retailing scene in the capital which I was able to experience for myself earlier today. The seventy square metres brings together a carefully curated selection of the finest menswear and accessories from across the globe. Trunk is a store that sets the standard for gentlemen seeking modern classics of the highest quality matched with impeccable service.


Boots by Common Projects, belt by Ki:ts, bag by BAG'n'NOUN and scarves by Drakes. Ki:ts is a Japanese brand that is now based in London, all of the belts are made by hand and each is stunning.

Italy’s Glanshirt has crafted fine men's and women's wear since the 1960’s. Recently they joined the brand family over at Slowear joining the ranks of Incotex and Zanone to name two.

Headwear by Wigens, the one on the right is the product of a collaboration with Harris Tweed. Wigens is a brand that you might encounter in an old gentleman's store in Sweden but Klinsberg discovered it in Iseten in Japan.

The store is full of seemingly unpronounceable brand names, the producer of this super soft scarf being a case in point, LA+H, hailing from Japan.

In addition to offering a plethora of new discoveries, the store is also home to a few old favourites. Here are two examples, socks by Tabio and knitted ties by Drakes.

Pocket Squares.

Handkerchiefs by Drakes.

An eye popping tote from Bag’n’Noun crammed full of scarves by Drakes. The Bag’n’Noun products from Takeshi Ozawa are all handmade in a small factory in Osaka and this is the first European store to stock them.

Boots by Lodger.

A closer look at those boots by Common Projects.

This is an inside look at how Joseph Cheaney and Sons shoes are crafted.


What makes a Goodyear wellted brogue?

The first construction stage is clicking and this is the process where the leather is cut. The term clicking refers to the sound made by the knife. Depending on the shoe, this stage can be performed by a press knife – a pneumatic machine that effectively punches through the leather like a cookie cutter or by hand.



Clicked leather, ready for the next stage...

The next stage is closing. The is where the various parts of the upper are sewn together. With a bespoke shoe it would be done by hand, but every other type of shoe is closed by machine.

The upper begins to take shape.

The embellishment of the upper.

Given the intricacy of the pattern it was mind blowing to see how fast the ladies transformed the uppers.

Another closing scene that is only just the beginning for this shoe.

The next stage is lasting.

The lasts.

Throughout the shoe making process the leather loses moisture so here the uppers are placed in a steam machine to soften the leather.

The uppers are then pressed and pinched on to the last...

The shoe is readied for the welted sole with the help of a few staples...

A closer look at the early stages of the lasting process.

Any wrinkles are smoothed out before the iconic lasting stage...

Goodyear Welting is, after two hundred years of shoemaking in Northampton, still considered the finest method of shoe construction. Once the upper leather has been ‘closed’ it is placed onto the wooden last and the insole is attached. A strip of leather called the ‘welt’ is then stitched through the upper leather to the underside of the leather insole. The outer sole is then stitched to the welt. This ‘Goodyear welting’ is time consuming and requires highly skilled craftsmen. However it means the sole can be replaced time and again without damaging the upper leather. As the leather components are stitched rather than glued together all the natural properties of the leather are retained, giving superior thermal insulation, durability and shape retention, as well as the best possible breathing conditions for feet. The more a Goodyear Welted shoe is worn, the more comfortable it becomes as the leather components gradually mould to the shape of the foot.

A closer look at the highly important welting.

The welt is fed and stitched using this ingenious machine.

This process is so important to English shoe making.

The under sole is then prepared for the outer shell.

A strip of wood is inserted to ensure a better structure before the outer sole is glued in to place.

The excess from the outer sole is removed.

The next stages sees the welt sewed to the upper, and both to the sole.

The machine in action

A closer look at how the stitching is locked.

We then move on to the final two stages, the bevelling of the waist and polishing of the the upper. These processes should not be underestimated because they combine to provide the distinguishable aesthetic of English made shoes very special indeed. Bevelling is a particular treatment of the waist of the shoe, specifically that part of the sole at the waist lying between the flared-out ball-of-the-foot area and the heel. The treatment is one in which the sole at that point is shaped into a quite convex form, with the bottom of the curve right in the middle (from side to side), and the sole curving up at the edges.

The sole and heel are sanded and smoothed using various machines.

The heel takes shape.

The surface is smoothed and rounded.


The attention to detail and reliance on the craftsman's eye are key at this point.

A more recognizable form. Simply stunning.

Applying the finishing touches to the sole.

On to the burnishing of the upper.

The final product ready for packing.

Notice the variety of designs.

A final inspection.

A quick finish to ensure perfection in each and every shoe.

The Mentor shoe will be available to purchase very soon.

Using only the best available materials, including calf upper leather and oak bark tanned soles, Cheaney’s craftsmen apply their skills to produce handmade and bench-made shoes which maintain a standard seldom equalled in the world of Goodyear welted footwear. This is a company that continues to learn and strive for the highest quality in an environment that has changed very little in well over two hundred years.