Ahoy matey

As I have mentioned many times, I lived in New York City for a good portion of my adult life. (8 years if you're askin') I have many memories of this time. This is one of them:


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I was walking to work in the East Village around 11am on a sunny spring day. I was thinking deep thoughts when a delivery van drove by me pretty slowly in anticipation of a red light. I didn't really notice him until I heard "Arrr, arrr, arrr" coming out of the driver. That made me look up in a hurry. I only caught a glimpse of what could only be described as a pirate: big beard,captain's hat, big gut, tall black boots, the works. I was shocked. I think might have even stopped walking. But quickly I hurried up to confirm my suspicions and check if he had a parrot on his shoulder. The light changed, but I was able to get one more quick glance and I confirmed that I had seen correctly. A pirate was riding around NYC delivering crap.


I called my brother right away, to report the breaking news about pirates in NYC. He was totally into it. He was all asking if he had an eye-patch or a peg-leg. I think he always had a soft spot for pirates.


Did you all know pirates had a holiday. To be more precise, it is "Talk Like a Pirate Day". OK, so it might not be a nationally recognized day yet, but it's doing a lot better than "Talk Like a Bandit Day".

So what does this all have to do with me...now, in 2007. Well, Nike has been pushing the skulls as of late. I came across these nice samples the other day. I like them a lot.


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They are called "Wheatskulls 90s" I like the color combo...but still can't get past the leather toebox. (Me = broken record) But, unless you got eagle eyes, you might be wondering why the name includes "skulls". How about a close up of the mudguard.


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It is a nice skull in my opinion. But not quite as nice as the skull I showed in the last post. For those of you who have a short memory, here it is again...in the other colorway.


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Oh...you wanted to see the WHOLE shoe!!! My bad.


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And to wrap this skull themed post, we at last arrive to my latest purchase. The ones that stopped me from buy the very nice shoe above. A teaser shot.


I have been shopping at Mita Sneakers for a minute now: let's call it just under a year. I strongly believe it's the best kix spot in Tokyo. They might not get every single Nike, but they have lots of exclusive deals with New Balance and others. Plus it is a big shop in a sketchy old build in Ueno...off the well beaten track of Uruhara. And to top it all off...the shop staff have always been welcoming and helpful.


I even made a friend there a while ago. We exchanged emails a couple times and we chatted every time I went. Nice guy, with good English...which helped a lot. Anyways about a month ago I stopped in and he said he was movin' on up to bigger and better things and he introduced me to my new personal shopping assistant. What my new guy may lack in the English department he more than makes up for in his customer service.


I went there Sunday morning with some bills in my wallet, ready to bring these home with me. Even though their retail price is no joke: ¥18,900 ($155). So I tried them on and told my man to wrap them up for me. He brings over the calculator and shows me ¥17,900. Discount! Score! I was pleased. I said thanks and got my shoes. How can you not LOVE the good customer discount?!?! I knew I had good taste in picking my favorite store.


I like these shoes a lot. I like the badassness of them. All dark and brooding. That blue really pops! But, maybe not as much this.


Love that 3M with the blue laces. I don't imagine I will use the brown laces in there a lot. Maybe I will try some black at some point. So back to my story. After I bought the shoes, I had a bit of time to kill in Ueno, so I checked out some of the other kix shops in the area. I found something that reduced my high a bit. A shop had the same shoes for ¥18,000. So, after all that rejoicing, I got a tiny ¥100 discount. But it's the thought that counts. My thought of being given a "bro discount". I'm keepin' that thought damn it. Click HERE for some nice pics of the other shoes in the pack. The full name of the pack is "skull crossbone / clash". The skulls part of the name is easy to understand. The "clash" part might be harder to explain. Let me try.


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I first heard about it HERE. It sounds like a pretty brutal race. It is between Oregon and Washington runners. Held on Nike grounds. And the best part. Well...actually. You can read this from one of their websites.

* The Race: A cross country meet between the best runners in Oregon and Washington to determine the top running state in the Northwest. Washington leads the series 4-2.

* Participants: 160 athletes--top 40 boys and top 40 girls from Oregon and Washington (based on state meet performance)

* Race course: 4.2k course on grass and chip trails around the scenic Nike World Headquarters Campus.

* Start: “Braveheart” style start, with each team on separate starting lines, running directly at each other for the first 100 meters, then merging onto the course.

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So that explains the green and blue: state colors. And it also explains the badassness of it. A "Braveheart" style start!!!! Come on...that is bananas! All this talk of running almost wants me to get off my ass and run too. Almost being the operative word.

Later all.