Introducing the very, very, very newest member of the Channon and D/C families: Evelina Brooke Channon, one day old. xoxoxoxo to mama Rita and proud papa Parker and their beautiful daughter. Many, many, many more pics to come (we’re pretty sure).

Hey, I recently took an interesting trip. It wasn’t to anywhere cool like India, Jack Daniel’s home state or San Miguel de Allende — no, it was to the California Pacific Medical Center on California Street, here in San Francisco.

It all started at 3:30 am when I woke up with a slight ache in my stomach. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but by 6:30 it had gotten worse and ejecting my dinner did not help. At 9, I found myself in the waiting room of an urgent care doctor. Unable to pinpoint the problem, she sent me to the biggest crooks in the medical industry, [name of testing place redacted for lawsuit reasons], for the usual rigamarole. From there I was instructed to go to a radiology center for a CT scan. After two hours of increasingly painful waiting for an insurance authorization, I opted to foot the bill myself and had the scan of my abdomen performed. Needless to say, something is wrong with the insurance system if it requires a person in pain to sit and wait while some office drone passes around an authorization form. But I digress.

I have gone insane.

You probably thought the pressures of the down economy had kept me from shopping (and writing about it) of late, but the truth is far scarier. Much has happened, dear reader, since my last post – and I’m now ready to tell all. It began months ago during a routine trip to NY. I had an hour to kill before a lunch meeting at the Hard Rock in Times Square (which rocks, btw), so I decided to use Yelp on my iPhone to find a great shoe store near my hotel. Yelp pointed me to Benedetti Shoes on 34th, near Macy’s, that, according to the reviews, sold “exquisite, Italian hand-made shoes.” Bingo. So I hacked through 10 blocks of sidewalk-fashion-district insanity only to discover that my destination had “relocated,” due to the fact the building was being renovated by some Korean multinational. Destined to be a retail Mecca sometime in the future, no doubt. But for now, there I stood, heartbroken that there was no shoe gold at the end of my rainbow.

Then I noticed Famous Footwear.

Famous Footwear? I know they sell a lot of shoes to a lot of people, but Burke Andrews had never darkened the doorstep of an FF, likely for fear of being spotted slumming by TMZ. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I was in NY with no time to get to 8th street, I freakin’ needed some shoes, bad. So, I sucked it up and jaywalked 34th right in the door of Famous Footwear.

It was as bad as I feared, mobs of be-socked shoppers promiscuously trying on white Reebok high-tops and late-model Timberlands. I scanned the tops of the display shelves looking for something truly interesting. What’s this? A decent looking shoe, in FF? I pulled on the pair of side-zip black boots, with the below-ankle style of a clip-toe cowboy boot. $95? I quickly took a picture with my phone and emailed it to my personal assistant. “What do you think?” No answer. F-it, who cares that I never heard of Zodiac shoes, they look cool, pointy and booty, and I was jonesing. I would have bought a pair of Capezios just to stop the shouting in my head.

Apparently this happened last week. Thank you, Schroeder’s.

The bottom is behind us, if you will. That’s what I’m hearing, at least. The end of bad times is nigh.

Who knows if it’s true — certainly not the world’s economists — but what I know is I’ve had just about enough of picking through the closet looking for old shoes and pretending they’re new (see previous post). It was a good thought, but it didn’t really satisfy. And, making matters worse (and better) is that the agency I have some affiliation with is working on the now famous (infamous?) pitch for one of my absolute favorite brands. Zappos. That’s right, the all-time ultimate cyber-shoe store (and so much more, they would hasten to remind us), Zappos.com.

My feet are singing just thinking about it.

In fact, as part of our homework, I’ve had to spend a lot of time browsing the Zappos site. I know, tough duty, but someone had to do it. My favorite discovery so far is explore.zappos.com – talk about WOW. It’s an entirely new way to shop for shoes, and it totally kicks ass. It allows you to look at shoes that are “like” other shoes, all on one page. It’s a miracle of data management and so exactly what I want when I shop that I found myself browsing for hours. In fact, so much so, that I finally couldn’t resist buying a pair. This time, however, instead of looking at roughly 25 pairs, before selecting a few, I looked at probably 200 pairs and picked one. How psyched is Zappos? Way. A ton less stuff for me to send back.

So, what did I get? Well, allow me to regale you with the story of my first new pair in way too long.

I’ve always fancied picking up a pair of “combat-style” boots. Something badass and army-ish, but chic. I especially dig those Special Forces types with the fabric and leather, tough and light. But the biggest issue with those kinds of boots is the lacing, and that had always kept me from enlisting in a pair. I never understood why there were no zippers. My handsome Orvis wading boots are lace-ups that also have a zip up the side — for easy on-off once you’ve set your size. So why isn’t that an option?

Well, thanks again to Zappos, I discovered that it is. By using their new search tool, I found a pair of combat boots from Guess that are both awesome and zip up the side. I know, Guess?? It never would have dawned on me either. So the new search engine helped me find something I never, ever would have found. And while you can snicker at the brand — and at Burke Andrews, Esq., for wearing it — these kicks look cool, and that’s Burke’s bottom line.

Anyway, in an unlikely move, I ordered one pair in size 11 – not my usual six pairs. They arrived two days later (ordered in the evening), and, yes, they kick ass. They have a cool, square-toe with a slight taper, so they aren’t too clunky looking. Nice and shiny, too — but not too much. And they have cool fabric uppers and just might be the most comfortable combat boots a soldier of style ever wore.

Ahhh, it feels good to be back in a new pair of shoes. More than ever, I look forward to marching toward a robust recovery.

See all the photos on Flickr.

Patagonia, Uruguay, Argentina: they’re all part of the area known as the Southern Cone. And each in its own way is beyond words. Or, at least, my words. Anyway, I hate that question, “So what was the best part of your trip?” Well, there’s the stunning natural beauty of Patagonia, with the relentless winds of the high mountain steppe of El Chalten, or the grandeur of the glaciers just outside of Calafate. Or unassuming Uruguay, with its extreme lack of tourist information, despite being one of the most charming countries I’ve ever visited. Or urban Buenos Aires, whose vibrant soul resonates throughout its distinctive music, art and history. The best part? No, instead of going on for pages without answering the question, I’d like to let these diecinueve photos speak their thousands of more eloquent words.

It has been a long while since these tired feet have felt the loving grasp of a new pair of shoes. How they have longed to be held closely by a new pair of hand-crafted cowhide uppers and cushioned by fresh man-made, air-filled soles. But it is 2009, after all – the Great Recession – and like you, I’m learning to live with less. So, I’ve actually resisted the urge to buy a new pair of shoes — and not once, but several times.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve tried them on. I still browse the shoe stores, where the desperate sales people are more than happy to get me another pair of 10.5’s in brown from the back room, only to gaze at my back, crestfallen, as I leave empty-handed.

I’m also likely on Zappos’ most-hated list, cause I keep taking advantage of their generous offer of free shipping both ways to try stuff on. But, despite a regular flow of large white boxes, nothing has succeeded in separating me from my money in a long time. And, frankly, my feet are pissed. They’re getting bored. They think I don’t love them anymore.

So what is a shoe-a-holic to do in such a crisis? How can I get my feet to feel loved again, without getting that look from my wallet? Well, dear reader, there is always a way.

Two years ago, my feet and I visited an excellent outlet mall in Cabazon near Palm Springs. At one particular shoe store, they were selling Skechers at the bargain basement price of “Buy one pair and get 50% off the second.” Having no need whatsoever for two pair, I immediately and impulsively purchased two pair: casual, low-top shoes — one brown lace-up, one black slip-on — with a groovy European vibe I thought might work with jeans.

Turns out the black ones got a lot of use. They were comfy and cool, and I found myself wearing them more than I expected. The browns, on the other hand, not so much. Not sure why, maybe I had a lot of brown at the time and just didn’t need another pair. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them, it’s just that they never seemed to earn their way into the first-string rotation.

Well, faced with the new economic reality of our times, I recently went to the guest room closet (the official last resting place of shoes on their way out) with the hopes of discovering something exciting in there that maybe I had overlooked. And there they were – worn only a handful of times and looking as good as the day I bought them.

Hmmm, could they temporarily satisfy the urge for “newness” my feet had been craving?

Well, they are on my feet as I type this and all seems well. I’m not sure they’ll ever rise to the first string, but they are definitely moving into the bedroom closet – and off the termination list. And, because they haven’t been worn much, my feet are living the snug, supportive existence of their pre-recession selves.

Crisis averted. Fiscal sanity preserved. But will it last…?

Is it a measure of how high we’ve risen or how low Colbert has fallen? News arrives today that former Duncan/Channon copywriter, Toby Wexner (né Max Werner, pictured above left), has been hired as a writer for the Colbert Report. (Yeah, we’d never heard of it either.)

Toby/Max was green as a tree frog with swine flu when he arrived at our august institution, straight from four years at some Slacker U. on Harvard Square. D/C-style tough love helped transform the callow amphibian into a prince of an advertising scribe, yet a mere five years later he was told, in no uncertain terms, to get out and stay out. Well, after he announced he was going to Hollywood to be a screenwriter (good luck with that!).

So today’s Alumni News is offered as a cautionary tale. After all, you wouldn’t want to wind up like Toby: national TV, fancy NY crib, big salary, famous friends, and all the nose candy you can hoover. Sucks.

Update 17 June: Two days into the job and he’s already on camera.

Frank is onto us. (Image courtesy of the ChuMaker, by ACME Labs.)

Sometimes we rub elbows with the rich and famous. Duncan, especially.

We walk alike. We talk alike. Sometimes we even dress alike. See the evidence on Flickr.

If you had told me four months ago that I’d soon be hurtling across the middle of Denmark in a high-speed train wearing a pair of clogs, I would have said you were high.

But here I am, in seat 26 of the IC121 train, speeding across the snow-covered countryside on my way to a meeting in Herning, Denmark. And the weirdest part is that I am actually wearing clogs. Not the old-timey wood clogs worn to repair a hole in some errant dike. No, I’m wearing a pair of slick black Sanitas – the original Danish clog, made here since 1907. They are quite comfortable and actually quite cool looking – a two-tone sole and steel toe ensure they are sufficiently butch for my idiom. At a glance, they sort of look like boots. But trust me, they’re clogs.

So how, pray tell, did I end up in this unlikely predicament? Interesting story (to me, at least). A few months ago, I was contacted by a friend and former client who had recently assumed the role of CEO at Sanita USA. We’d worked together before on another European shoe brand — 50 cents if you can guess which one — and after a brief discussion of the situation, he and I came to the conclusion that Sanita needed an entire brand overhaul. He subsequently engaged our services and off we went.

For me — a shoe lover, but never a clog-wearer — the biggest challenge of the whole endeavor was to grok what this clog thing is all about. My wife has been a fan for years, but something has kept me away. They look great on women. On men, I’m not so sure. Maybe on a chef or a surgeon. Maybe. But being neither, I was not interested. Still, when it comes to shoes, as you know, my curiosity is sure to get the better of me — especially if there is a discount involved. So, in an effort to better understand the brand, I agreed to try them out. I sorted through the styles and finally settled on the manliest pair I could find — the Leo steel-toe.

So?

I find them quite comfortable, especially for standing — which I guess explains the chef and surgeon thing. I’m not too keen on long walks in them yet, but who knows, maybe after they break in a bit more. The biggest challenge is that the height of the sole makes them dangerous for the clog neophyte. I have literally fallen off the heels several times, and I feel it’s only dumb luck that has kept me from badly spraining my ankle. However, I’m confident this is a temporary risk, suffered by only the greenest clog rookies, and will soon be overcome. The positive side of standing atop a 2” heel is that for a guy who stands 5’11” on a good day, even on a bad day I’m over 6 feet tall with these puppies on. Pretty cool. The other obvious benefit is that they are quite impervious to almost all forms of animal droppings — at least ones we are likely to encounter in our daily travels in the good old US of A. Having seen wild elephant poop in Africa, I’m not sure they’d survive that encounter unscathed. But that’s a story for another time. Anyway, all things being equal, I’m quite enjoying this new shoe adventure.

Weirdly, I haven’t seen a lot of clogs on Danes since I’ve been here. Maybe it’s like Corona in Mexico — only for the turistas. Either way, I’m feeling good – about my feet and about being in Denmark, a beautiful and unique place, where the people are as friendly as can be and they all speak perfect English. (Details from our Danish adventures will appear in the next post of Tripping on this very website.)

And now the sales pitch: if you think you might be interested in your own pair of Sanita clogs, why not help a friend and his agency out by visiting your local clog retailer? Or after February 12th, stop by sanitaclogs.com for a browse.

For those beset by an unusual obsession, there is often a physical place in the world that brings that obsession to life in a vivid, almost erotic way. Whether it’s a walk in front of Mann’s Chinese Theater, a visit to Cooperstown, or even a road trip to Mt. Rushmore, there are places in the world that obsessive people dream of visiting one day.

For those who love shoes, there is single block in New York City that is precisely that — the Mecca of shoes — West 8th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Some know it as the heart of shoe Mecca, others simply as West 8th. Whatever you call it, it’s unbelievable: a single block that somehow supports upwards of 20 shoe stores, all jammed with footwear and other leather goods and outnumbering the head-shops that are the other main industry of this block 3-to-1. (But don’t worry — there are still plenty of head shops.)

I was lucky enough to pay West 8th a visit on a recent trip. With a business colleague and friend from Europe in tow, I walked the Village, had lunch at the Mt. Everest of pizza joints — John’s on Bleecker Street — and then took my sweet time shopping W8th. As we walked the block from west to east and scanned the crowded window displays, the sheer number of shoe stores threatened to become overwhelming. To the untrained eye, many look like they are carrying the same shoes. And while some are indeed the same, the trained (obsessive) eye knows that many of those “same” shoes actually reflect subtly different lines and styles. So the first challenge for the discerning shopper is to find just the right store — one that offers the styles and the prices to meet your needs. I was looking to continue down the pointy path and was hoping for something in the $100/pair range. My European friend was looking for something in an American shit-kicker.

We eventually settled on a store called Mind Boggler (a shoe store that, judging by its name, should have been a head shop, or once was). We’d browsed several others, but were still unsure we’d be able to find what we were looking for. But there in the back, past the racks of leather jackets, was an extensive inner sanctum of shoes. Jackpot!

We spent 45 glorious minutes auditioning styles. I ended up with not one, but two pair. The first, Steve Madden, side-zip, black, square-toe pointy boots with clean lines and a low heel. The other pair shared the silhouette with the Maddens, but had double goring on top of the arch and a subtle wing tip pattern on the toe. This pair is a deep and beautiful brown and apparently a private label brand “hand-made just for us in Italy,” the salesman told me.

I’m sure.

Regardless, they are beautiful. My European friend found her perfect American shit-kickers in a pair of Georgia Boot brown-suede cowboy boots, with harness straps and ring. They are awesome.

After getting our fill, we strolled the rest of the block feeling like you might if you strolled through San Francisco’s Ferry Building after eating lunch at Boulevard — completely satisfied but still surrounded by mouth-watering and delicious foods. It was positively decadent.

So, if you’re ever in Manhattan and have a hankering to feel up some footwear, head directly to W8th Street, walk from Sixth to Fifth Avenue and revel in the Mecca of shoes.

If you can’t wait, click here.

I recently had the opportunity to return to my hometown of Rochester, NY, and it was, without a doubt, the travel equivalent of comfort food. Most everything I remembered from my youth was still there, frozen in time. Sort of like Ted Williams. Except that he was a dude and this is a town. Pompeii, maybe? Yeah, that’ll work. Any-hoo, I invite you now on a journey to the land of Chuck Mangione, Susan B. Anthony and Foreigner’s Lou Gramm (he is, in fact, hot blooded – I checked it and saw).

Parker, Anne and Joe are out of the office today. We’ll go ahead and assume there’s a good reason.

They were mostly uncomfortable, but they looked bad-ass. In my head, I was The Man with No Name hunting down Angel Eyes.

Fast forward like 400 years to the early ‘00’s. I was on vacation in the south of France (la-de-da!), and, while strolling between postcard stands and dodging ridiculously small vehicles, I noticed that the Euro dudes were all sporting pointy shoes. Once again, I was struck.

“Those look bad-ass!”

But having no idea if the pointy thing was going to cross the pond, I decided it was safer to stick to my chunky, American, round-toe boots.

Of course, soon enough, the point did catch on here. Now my problem became that I was unable to find a pair I liked. And so began a search that would last for years.

Well, I’m happy to report that my Goldielocksian quest for a pair that is “just right” has now come to a happy end. But prior to finding the winning points, I had to order literally $1,000 worth of shoes from Zappos.com. I tried everything from square-toed, yet ever-so-slightly pointy, shoes from Kenneth Cole to crazy cowboy boot imitations that I couldn’t even walk in. Nothing worked – they all looked like I was wearing some weird costume.

But the other day, on a lunch excursion to none other than Shoe Pavilion, I discovered, completely by accident, this great pair of shoes (I know, not boots) from Jump. What made things even better was that they were only $30. That’s right, $30. I even checked them on Zappos, where they were listed for $110. That sealed it. What did I have to lose?

The shoes are sort of elongated wingtips with a two-tone, brown-black fade, making them look almost dusty. And while the point is absolutely there, it’s subtle enough that it feels just right. I gotta say, I don’t think they’ll last very long. But for $30, who cares?

In the meantime, I’m back to being The Man with No Name. Now all I need is a poncho and a ceegar. Giddy-up!

A message from the Executive Creative Director.

See more photos on Flickr.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a list of things I wanted to do before I die — and just to be clear, this was way before that retarded Bucket List movie. Anyway, last week, my list got one entry shorter — I went to Egypt and, in an ironic twist, almost died doing it.

My friend Ashley and I were in the Valley of the Kings (previous resting place of Tutankhamun and a bunch of Ramses), checking out the tombs, marveling at hieroglyphs and generally sweating our asses off (turns out, early May is the meteorological equivalent of our mid-August — in Death Valley). From the Valley of the Kings, our plan was to hike over the mountain to Hatshepsut Temple, a mortuary dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra and site of the infamous 1997 massacre of 60 tourists by an Islamic terrorist group. Though it was clearly delineated on our map, we could not find the trail that would lead us to the other side. Instead, there were various criss-crossing paths peopled with groups of Egyptian boys waiting for hapless tourists to try their luck at navigating them.

Gotta love the Wayback Machine. This is the Duncan/Channon website circa 1996. Yes, really. I Photoshopped the browser window on there, btw. I’m pretty sure that version of Netscape Navigator wasn’t even around until ’97 or ’98.

When it comes to shoes for work, I actually prefer boots. Slip-on boots. Maybe it’s that they take no effort putting on, and maybe it’s that they’re, I dunno, slightly bad-ass. Maybe it’s that they help me stay connected to my weekend self – the guy with the tool belt who fixes stuff. Or maybe it’s because, for a guy with a 31-inch inseam, they make my legs – and, by implication, my unit – look longer. Whatever the reason, I love me some slip-on boots.

Unfortunately, there just aren’t a lot of great looking boots out there. So I’m constantly on the lookout. I look online. I accost people on the street, “What kind of boots are those?” I peer into shop windows and try things on whenever I get the chance. But my favorite mode of boot-exploration is to order eight or ten pairs from Zappos – the most excellent shoe store on earth. Of course, I almost always send them all back. Some are too long, some too narrow. Some have high heels, and some just look plain stupid. Like I said, there really aren’t many great shoes out there.

But every once in a while I hit the jackpot. Recently, during one of my routine drive-bys of Zappos, I checked out the latest Clarks, a usual suspect for me. What’s this?! New slip-on boots?! No way! I promptly ordered six pairs – two models in two sizes and two different colors. When they arrived, I was ecstatic. Two very distinct styles, each with its own singular strengths. I kept a pair of each – unheard of.

Here’s what I bought:

One pair of black Clarks Parthenon.
These are slightly on the dressy side, especially for Clarks, with a high-gloss leather and a slightly tapered, yet boxed, toe. They remind me of a pair of sweet Rockports I had a long time ago. They have a soft, comfortable insole and are easy to slip on, thanks to the two elastic panels at the ankles. But they fit snugly once they’re on. I wear these mostly for evening events or fancier daytime needs – like new business pitches. They have a hint of “pointyness” and that generally means an after-hours shoe for me.

One pair of black Clarks Rider.
I wasn’t sure about these at first. They are broad and round at the toe, and the leather is a dull, almost oiled finish. The sole is thinner than the Parthenon and much more rugged looking, and way rougher around the edges. Interestingly – like the Parthenon – the shoe is built of two main pieces of leather and has a double-stitch seam right up the center, from toe to shin. This must be the new thing, I thought to myself. And while I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, now I’m really digging it. It’s like a racing stripe. These boots are way more of an everyday deal for me — in fact, I’m now wearing them 3-4 days a week. They are simple, rugged, comfortable, and I, for one, think they look cool. What more could you want in a shoe?

— Burke Andrews

Doodling while a teacher drones on? Well, it happens in the post-academic world, too (and that’s why, one surmises, this item belongs in Yearbook???). Crafted during a boring conf call, this mega-doodle makes reference to a bizarre new business pitch that added the word “GMROI” to the D/C lexicon. A prospective client insisted on showing us his corporate video, explaining it would make everything clear. Periodically during the vid an acronym would pop up onscreen and an old-school announcer would exclaim, “Gimroy!” Round about the fifth repetition, some of us started to laugh. Soon all of us were laughing. We didn’t get the job. But we did get GMROI. To you it may mean Gross Margin Return On Investment. To us, it means, well, “Gimroy!”

GMROI Encabulator
US Patent 6707659 and other patents PENDING
Filed 1 Nov 1990 | Duncan/Channon Inc.