100 Days, 100 Ties

Monday was a pretty big day in Chamberland (or should I call it Chambertown? Chamberville? Dang, Chamber City sounds pretty cool, too). A several-week search for a new Executive Director culminated in a decathlon-style, 10-event face-to-face battle, held at Ryan Field/Dyche Stadium. A pulsating throng of 55,000 rabid citizens chanted the opponents’ names as they vied for the opportunity to lead the…oh, who am I kidding? Two very qualified candidates interviewed with Elaine and me at the chamber offices before making a presentation before our board, our search committee and other members. It was a very nice process…but tell me the decathlon battle-royal wouldn’t have been cool. You can’t! Oh, well, next time.

I felt it was a day for a professional tie, and I think my John W. Nordstrom strip (the Nordstrip?) fit the bill. It’s a dark navy with lighter blue diamonds and ninja throwing stars adorning. Actually they’re probably regular stars, as condoning such a violent implement of death was likely not Nordstrom’s intent. That would’ve definitely affected my choice along the aforementioned professional lines.

There were a lot of ties in the room, and I was able to get a couple of GWT alums to re-pose…

Dave Skrodzki was a vital cog in the machine that was our search committee. Through his firm, PharmExecs, Dave has been a part of a multitude of executive recruiting exercises, so his expertise was very valuable to us. Plus, he wears only Jerry Garcia ties…

Our board president, Steve Hagerty, was of course on hand to direct the proceedings. He has overseen this process from the very beginning.

Back at the office, I found that Andrew Freeman, of Pension Specialists (who sub-lease part of our office from us), was sporting a tie (it’s not that often that he does). It takes a real man to wear a pink tie, in my humble, Chinese-throwing-star-tie-wearing opinion. Not many Harley Davidson riders can pull it off, but Andrew certainly did.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Looks like a bow tie, no?

Since there are about 1,843 cable channels nowadays, with 44,232 hours to program (I have a calculator), it’s just not that surprising to see infomercials and other commercials that have gone horribly wrong. Sex symbol (it was the 70s, so don’t get too excited) Suzanne Somers spent much of her post-Three’s Company days shilling for a spring-loaded workout tool called the Thigh Master.

Thursday was one of those busy days where there’s no point in putting stuff on your calendar, as it just doesn’t relate to a half-hourly slot in the day’s allotment of time. It was Julia’s post-birthday, my parents were in town, it was my boss’s last day, I had Leadership Evanston, Julia had a school concert, I had an introduction/connection to make at dinner, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!!

And yet, as that curly, redheaded orphan loves to sing about, the sun came out (didn’t warm anything though) the next day. Friday still came to pass. But, as this is a blog about the Tie du Thursday, we’ll get to Friday later.

Throughout the day, my TdJ was called “whimsical”, “my favorite” and the fairly obvious, “polka-dotted”. My navy-field-with-sky-blue-dotted strip is from the Portfolio line of the Perry Ellis house o’ fashion.

Back to the aforementioned Leadership Evanston session…I was able to recapture a GWT alum, Assistant City Manager Marty Lyons, as he spoke to us about city services, as well as his cool projector.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

I’ll begin today with a new item in the “Stuff-You-May-Not-Have-Ever-Learned” category. John Masefield was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for nearly four decades, and his poem ‘Sea-Fever’ is oft quoted. Well, maybe not quite ‘oft’…but it is in this blog, and it is in my favorite movie of all time, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” Another new item is Masefield’s charting course for the PLWT (Poet Laureate With Tie, of course) category. He is looking properly laureate-ate in this pic, wouldn’t you agree?

And, since we’re mentioning Willy Wonka, I may as well put a shot of Gene Wilder in his dandiest finery (or would it be finest dandery?). If I see that this movie is on, I simply cannot turn it off, or turn away. With a bow tie like that, can you blame a brother?

I chose a sea-faring theme (or lake-faring, as it may be) because of my Tie du Jour. Since it was Julia’s birthday (she’s 10!! a full decade! double digits! okay, you get it–she’s ten), I let her choose a strip. She chose this nautically-inspired number from Alynn Neckwear. It’s called, not surprisingly, “Regatta,” and it was designed by Eric Hulch (so sayeth the label). It’s yellow, obviously, with drawings of flags, race courses and sailboats in action. This tie was given to me by my friend Pat Kelly (GWT alum, works for John J Cahill Inc).

While on a short quest for caffeine, I ran into my friend/barista Anna (aka Little Green Pixie). I had given her some ties when she said she was making a dress made of paisley ties, and I gave her a couple of more for a skirt that she was crafting. You can see what the skirt looks like on her blog. She also has an Etsy shop…

Wednesday at the Chamber we hosted the selection committee for one of the awards that will be presented at our Annual Meeting in May: The NorthShore University HealthSystem Public Service/Nonprofit Person of the Year (we should win an award for number of letters in that award). Last year’s winner, Gerald Gulley, sported a tie, and I needed to get it. Welcome to the Guys With Ties club, Mr. Gulley! Jerry, who is blind, has been the executive director of SHORE, an organization that strives to better the lives of persons with developmental disabilities, for 33 of its 60 years in existence.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

SGWT-Super Group W/Ties

Plant. Page. Are they nouns? Verbs? Or are they the heart and soul of one of the pantheon rock and roll bands? Yes, yes, this is a tie blog, but it’s Rockin’ Tie Week. The ties themselves may not rock, but the song alluded in my subject heading sure does. I thought finding a tie on these guys would be as difficult as Bono (and UB40…go figure), but it was the second pic. Bonzo and John Paul will just have to stand there looking cool, and relatively untied.

I should just come out and say that my Tie du Jour is not as rockin’ as Jimmy’s and Robert’s strips are. Sadly, I needed to attend a wake later on in the day, so my general ensemble was rather gray. The son of a former fellow teacher at School for Little Children passed away suddenly. Way too young, way too young. My thoughts go out to the Erickson family.

My TdJ is very dark, black with red tinges that one probably can’t see on this picture. Well, maybe you can. From Claiborne, it has gray crescent moon shapes all over. I got it at the Salvation Army in Skokie several weeks ago.

Later that evening was my daughter’s Science Fair at Lincoln School. As this is about the 3rd or 4th year of the event, the controlled chaos is getting more and more controlled. Julia presented a project on fingerprints that she had just come up with a few days before, and was able to knock it out. This is totally unlike her dad, who would have come up with a plan months before, only to just get started on it a couple nights before.

I was able to get a new GWT during the evening’s scientific festivities. Dave Bennett, who’s a fellow Lincoln dad as well as a member of the admissions staff at Lake Forest College, was kind enough to pose with his summery tie.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

…goes to my head.

Do you remember where U B when you heard UB40 for the 40th time? Didn’t think so…me neither.

So, a mere two days after wearing a solid red tie, what does the tie selection portion of my brain go and do? It decides it’s time to wear…a solid red tie. The Tie du Jour is definitely approaching the maroon section of the spectrum, but in the grand scheme of things–things like colors, and ties–it’s a red tie. It’s from Emile Lafaurie.

And yes, I realize a Few things:

1. Red Red Wine is not a rock song, and doesn’t generally fit Rockin’ Tie Week.
2. UB40 are a ska band, and do not generally fit Rockin’ Tie Week.
3. I need to go with what the aforementioned tie-selecting brain chooses, and can’t always remember that a tie should fit Rockin’ Tie Week.
4. Numbered lists don’t fit anything that is rockin’.

Now that we’ve got that settled, thanks for reading…Brooke

The chances of my finding a picture of the Ramones wearing ties is about as slim as Dee Dee himself. RIP DD and all those guys–Joey & Johnny–who made up what was arguably the first punk rock band in history. They were efficient songwriters (stanza 1, stanza 2, chorus, repeat stanzas 1 & 2) and unforgiving showmen. They are the inaugural members of the GWOT (Guys WithOUT Ties).

So, now that I have glorified non-tie wearers who glorified lobotomies, I guess I’ll have to move on to the tie portion of this blog entry. But, I have to write one more thing from them… Now I guess I’ll have to tell ’em / That I got no cerebellum. That completes me.

On to the Tie du Jour…it’s a good one. A pretty eye-catching paisley is the featured strip, and it’s from Woodward. I’ve never heard of them either, but I’d like to see more. It looks like part of it is hand-painted, these little flecks of gold. Even though there is no ‘base color’ with this tie, there is plenty of character.

Gary

John

Tuesday evening, I took some time to head over to Lincoln School (where my daughter attends) for a presentation on the future plans for the school building. Two gents–John Castellana & Gary Jelin–from TMP Architecture were sporting very different ties. John had a lime green tie that was very calming, and Gary wore one from the Save the Childen collection, complete with carousel! I had to leave early, so I didn’t find out if the carousel survived the vote. I suggested a heli-port, but I don’t think that will make it very far.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Well, I think I’ve found my Tie Week of the Week. It’s going to be Rockers Tie Week. I won’t be wearing the tie, but a different rock-n-roller will be, and it’ll be tied in with a lyrical tie pun.

So, since I allude to Irish superdupergroup U2 and their megasuperduper anthem “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, I would like to put a picture of Bono wearing a tie. So here we go…

Oops, different Bono. RIP Sonny, you were a much better musician and politician than you were a skier.

Bono through rose-colored glasses

That said, it was very difficult to find a picture of Bono (née Paul Hewson) with a tie on. I had to scroll through 12 pages or so to find this one. Turns out the picture looks like the tie was photoshopped on. Oh, well…

Here’s a tie that definitely was not photoshopped. It’s a bright red beauty, from the Armani Collezioni. This another tie that was loaned to me by my friend David Colker. I just had the thought this morning that I wanted my tie to be noticed, and my TdJ accomplished the desired result.

We have a new member, not only of the human race, but of the BWT group (that’s Babies With Ties), thanks to one of my roving tie-tographers, aka [“Mom”]. That’s Ella, Evan and Dee Goesting…Evan is the tyke with the tie painted onto his shirt (duh).

Thanks for reading…Brooke

My subject du jour alludes to one of my favorite Rolling Stones tunes, which is like asking which is your preferred child. Good thing Mick has been singing that song, because not only has time truly been on his side, but also there aren’t many vocalists who have the mouth to rock that song. Here’s an old video, when they’re too young to know they’ll be together for 40 years; nice to see Charlie and Brian (RIP) in ties, but I can’t tell if Keiff is wearing one. Here’s a newer one, and it’s 30 years old; listening to this may be harmful to your health. It is their drawn-out career in one song. The crowds will come runnin’ back…

My Tie du Jour was selected today for purely economical purposes. It’s the second of those Hermès ties that I found at the Salvation Army over the weekend. I decided to wear them quickly so I could put them up on eBay. My eBay presence is evanstoncajun; they should be on there by the end of the weekend, so check ’em out. Hard to believe that a used Hermès may go for north of $100; but then, when you look at the fact that you can find $75 thousand (yes, that’s correct, 75 k-burgers) purses, they may be a bargain.

Anyway, this strip is fairly simple…a pattern of buckled belts on a field of royal blue.

On Wednesday, we honored another rocker, Warren Zevon, by hosting our 10th (or thereabouts) Lawyers, Guns & Money networking event. I kept my crapiPhone camera on the bench for most of the night, but I did manage to snap one of David Frank, President of Somercor 504, who helps small businesses borrow money for capital expenditures (did I impress you with my coherent-thought paragraph, plocked with multisyllabic words?)…

Thanks for reading…Brooke

During my last year at U of I (3 syllables are clinically proven to be much easier to say that than the 16 in its full name–the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), I lived in a rented, 7-bedroom house which had been called Rancho Destructo since…since, well, the Dawn of Man. The first semester there were 6 young men (John, Paul, Bob, Brooke, Dave and Don) living with 2 young ladies, who happened to be twin sisters. We all loved Kim and Kate like our own sisters, and they loved us like brothers…until they lived with us. When they moved out right before Christmas, I sincerely felt that they gave us a wonderful gift. The gift of life. They wanted to kill us. I think the only syllable that Kate said for the last two weeks of living there was “Pigs”. It was as 4-letter as any 4-letter word could be, as accusatory as any noun could be. Hmm, speaking of syllables, I notice (my brain just works this way) that all of our names were 1 syllable. Until Alfie replaced Kim and Kate, that is.

I'm back!

Anyway, I digress…since we also lived with a pool table, we loved the movie ‘Color of Money’, with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Being guys, we’d quote it all the time…sounds like fun, doesn’t it?! The flick was on tonight, and I caught an action scene of Fast Eddie Felson sporting a tie on his way to kicking some 9-ball ass in A-City.

As you probably know from reading 100 Days, 100 Ties, I have a tie-buying problem. I don’t spend a lot of money, maybe a buck or two…but, I may never run out of ties. My sister-in-law reminded me that it’s Mardi Gras tomorrow, so perhaps I’ll give up buying ties for Lent (not that I’ve given anything up in years). We’ll give it a shot, but if I see something like I saw on Saturday, I make no promises to the Holy Trinity.

The H stands for two things: HOLY SHIT! and HOW MUCH?!!

While at the new Salvation Army in Skokie, I ran across two Lee Allison ties, which I’ll sport in the next couple of weeks, I’m sure. But, another treasure was this Hermès tie, and another one just like it. Ties like these come from the land of Whatever-Price-You-Stamp-It-With-People-With-Boatloads-Of-Money-Will-Pay. I got mine for $2.56 apiece, before taxes. Somewhere, somebody is asking their wife, lover, husband or housekeeper where their Hermès strips are. Check eBay, bitches!

Thanks for reading…Brooke

I'm sure there's a tie in there

Just another crazy Pulaski Day Weekend! I mean, it’s an incredible weekend, celebrated the entire breadth of Cook County, honoring the life of Casimir Pulaski (or Cazzie P, as he was known around the pre-battle campsite), who saved the life of the Father of our Country. If he hadn’t, perhaps Peyton Randolph (Pres of 1st Continental Congress), would have been first president. We’d have Randolph DC, the Randolph Monument, Randolph Apples and the Randolph Redskins.

And, most importantly, Mortimer Duke might not have had a brother named Randolph, and he may not have worn a sweet bow tie. What category would these guys be in? TWT (Tycoons With Ties)? HWT (Humanitarians With Ties)? In all likelihood, I’d say MODWT (Manipulative Old Douchebags With Ties) would be best…

As for my Tie du Jour, it was a loaner from my friend David Colker. Every time he sees me in a tie, David gleefully informs me that he doesn’t have to wear them very much any more. So, last week, he gladly dropped off about a dozen or so, from his days as CEO of the Cincinnati Stock Exchange (which became the National Stock Exchange). This first one is from the house of [the brand name of this TdJ has been withheld, due to the fact that the author removed the tie at the office on Friday, and will not be able to retrieve the aforementioned brand name until he gets to the office around 11am], and it went really well with the houndstooth pants that aren’t seen in this picture. Trust me.

Thanks for trusting. Thanks for reading…Brooke