Sandwiches

NIGHTSWIMMING

We're all little kids. Boys. Girls. Don't believe us? Try swimming at night, sneaking away, maybe go somewhere you're not supposed to, hop the fence with a few friends and take a swim. For us, dipping, skinny, at the Congress Park pool is the key ingredient in what some of us insist is the greatest summer of all time.

ROADRUNNER SHOEFITI: BROOKLYN

Gallante Tillman, Clovis and Darnell's brother from another mother, chucked a pair of Roadrunners in Brooklyn and snapped these shots of the little chairs with bits of the New York skyline. Our Tillmans (that's how we like to think of the boys) claim Gallante is the wild one in the bunch and that's saying something. Like André Roussimoff telling you his brother is the big one in the family.

ALAMEDA NURSERY

The Tillman boys, under the direction of Denver pater familias E.B., headed out to Alameda Wholesale Nursery this week to jumpstart the shop landscaping. An amazing spread, they say. Acres of lush in the Platte Valley (or thereabouts) with all manner of interesting building and variety of plant. We'll post up the resulting improvements at the shop compound once we finish building the main gate (we'll get to it, Clovis; back the fuck off). Funny, at least to us, the shot of the American highbush cranberry sign since we know for a fact that Darnell has been rocking the highbush all summer. Late night skinny dipping at the Congress Park pool shows all.

CITIES X DESIGN X GRAMZINSKI

PECHA KUCHA NIGHT

We had the great good fortune of presenting last week at the sixth edition of Pecha Kucha Night in Denver at Buntport Theater. Actually in the parking lot of Buntport Theater. An overflow crowd was anticipated, we were told. We'd like to think that the overflow was attributable to our being on the bill, of course, but that was hardly the case. Bruce Mau, international design heavyweight, was also on the bill. He's the figurehead atop the inaugural Denver Biennial of the Americas next year. Very fancy. However, between you and us, his presentation was a disaster. Sorry, but it's the honest truth. His bit was a tad disrespectful, even. Take a minute and prepare. The rest of the line-up did (and everyone else brought it, properly). You've got over three hundred people out to hear what you have to say about a major design event in our hometown and you haven't even seen your slides yet? Haven't even glanced at your prepared text? Really? And this is the guy to drive the biennial? No one in Denver up to the task? Why do we have to troll outside our fair city to find fancymen to handle many of our big cultural tasks? We've got the talent here and we should use it. If we don't we will die a sad and slow death.

HORSEHEAD TATTOOS AT TH'INK TANK

A while back Darnell and Clovis Tillman, the sibling doofuses behind Horsehead Crating Company, drew up our new logos over a weekend on a borrowed computer. In return we agreed to get their goofy logo tattooed on our biceps (seemed like a good deal at the time). Well after a couple months of prepubescent taunts—how many times can one grown man call another grown man a sissy? (turns out the number is infinite)—we finally made an appointment and did the deed. Luckily, Jef Kopp at Th'ink Tank had a cancellation and squeezed us in. That man has a seriously fine hand (and a fresh booth set-up at the shop, shown above at left), wasted of course on the silliness we had him draw up. If you want him to do some work on you, plan ahead: he's booked through 2010.

HINTON STEEL

We took a couple trips this week to Hinton Steel at 1401 West Wesley in Denver for material, probably an extra trip or two since we always seem to forget something. But the drive from our shop is short and not unpleasant: along the Platte, through some interesting industrial parts of town. Their spot is beautiful in its way, aside from the strange and lame office and showroom (made lamer when they abandoned doughnut Fridays: lame buildings get lamer when you subtract doughnuts). They've got a great crew and Kirby Hinton is an honest, straightforward and stand-up guy. They do a bit of forming for some of our production pieces in the main building (above at left) on a fine Amada brake (above at right).

ROADRUNNER SHOEFITI: SAN DIEGO

Jimajames Tillman, another cousin or brother or who-knows-what, sent through a fresh batch of Roadrunner street project photos, this time from San Diego. Word from Clovis is that the spot is down the street from PG (for Papa Grande) and Books Tillman's sweet pad in a sweet part of town. They were big fans of Mercalia and they wanted the chairs close by, for the memories. So, while not the most scenic shots of what's an obscenely lovely city, hard to push back on family love. Jimajames did beg another set for a second toss in another location. It certainly won't be the original shoe tree in Balboa Park, lost to the winds in January of aught eight. By the way, that's PG Tillman hitting the wheelie hard in another great photo from the Tillman archives.