The Ideology
It takes a common interest in order to unify. And the love for jeans is shared by people from every imaginable background. As such, “oneculture” is a collective reference to the denim lovers of the world…

The NEW Pulsar: Behind the Seams
Initially, I wanted to begin developing new styles for 2010. But after thinking it through, I swiftly drew the conclusion that that wouldn’t make much sense. After all, oneculture is still a very obscure brand. I figured that at this point it would make more sense to solidify my foundation before I begin building onto it. So I opted instead to try and perfect what has become my signature style: PULSAR.

Coffee, Music: ACTION!
I went into this season with the understanding that sometimes making the slightest adjustment(s) can make a world of difference. One thing I felt it necessary to do was to re-cut the back pockets. So I framed the stitching template in a more conventional manner. While I still dig the slanted pockets from last season, I wanted a pocket that looked good on every ass, whether worn sagged or pulled up. That was the rationale “behind” it; no pun intended!

Among other slight adjustments (fit-wise), I too was finally ready to explore the idea of doing a leather patch…

Motivation 101
Northern California is full of interesting, creative souls and inspiring stories. For instance, the first motion picture was created & developed in San Francisco, CA years before Hollywood even existed. Silicon Valley created the home computer; to say the very least! Pixar Animation Studios (here in Emeryville, CA) has completely lifted the bar with regard to children’s films.  Napa, CA is among the world’s finest wine producers. The comedic prowess of the legendary Richard Pryor took shape within the Haight-Ashbury community. And in 1969, a 40 year-old Donald Fisher started The GAP.

So, as a local business owner, I’m motivated to simply be able add to the rich history of my region. Furthermore, as a local resident, I’m motivated to produce shuttle loom denim jeans that reflect a Bay Area point of view.

The Sutro Tower
The leather patch artwork (1st edition) is derived from the idea that oneculture is a signal to the denim lovers of the world, sent from the original epicenter of blue jean culture: San Francisco, CA.

Having formulated the idea, I went into conceiving the design with only one stipulation: NO Golden Gate Bridge! One reason being is that the San Francisco – GG Bridge connection is all too predictable. Plus, in this case, it doesn’t effectively communicate the message, so using its image would’ve been completely pointless! On the other hand, The Sutro Tower has far more meaning to me. And in addition, it lends itself perfectly to my idea…

Erected in 1972, The Sutro Tower is like a gentle giant that stands vigilant over the Bay Area, keeping us supplied with great radio and television programs. As a kid, I vividly remember losing myself within the story lines of my favorite afternoon shows on KTVU Channel 2 and KQED Channel 9. Notables include the extremely cheesy “Captain Cosmic” show (Channel 2) and “High Feather” (Channel 9):

And I’m certain that no late-30’s Bay Area native could ever forget those educational shorts brought to you by “Charley & Humphrey” and “Snippets“:

Ahhh…to be a kid again!! For me, The Sutro Tower will always be more than a mere local landmark: it’s an icon of 1970′s Bay Area childhood nostalgia.

Thread Color Reference: East Bay MUD
The East Bay Municipal Utility District, or East Bay MUD (or even EBMUD) for short, is our local utility/water company. I did a temporary stint here as a water meter reader back in 07’—seriously, best job I’ve ever had! In any case, “mud” is strongest adjective that came to mind while conceiving a reference name for the brown thread. And together with the indigo thread, it sort of inspired me to think of all things mud and water. I eventually settled on “East Bay MUD” in order to give it a bit of local flavor.

Option: T
Additionally, I gave my top stitching pattern some serious consideration this season. The result: “T”. And the T stands for tonal, as in tonal stitching on “The Arrow” and along the back pocket openings. The “T” option was created specifically for those who prefer a more conservative look. The Arrow and pocket openings should gradually become visible during the fading process. This is a detail that I’ve decided to incorporate into my other thread color references as well, “1970” and “1978”.

THE FUTURE…
I have a new development in store which I will address here within a day or two (lots more photos on the way!)…

But as always, my focus lies squarely on developing uniquely stylish, high quality products. Getting this aspect *just right* is what’s ultimately going to help bring the entire scope of my vision to fruition…

But life is full of curves, peaks, valleys and dead-ends. Whether I’ll actually “make it” or not is unknown. But, to me, the “unknown factor” has been the most compelling part of my journey thus far. I’m an industry outsider: just a creative guy with lots of ideas and a crystal clear vision. But from where I sit I have nothing to lose by giving it my best effort.

I’ll keep you all posted. Stay tuned…

Join me on facebook

Cheers,
Mark
oneculture
For those who love jeans
mark@houseofoneculture.com  (for all inquiries, contact me directly)

Available @

1827 Union St
San Francisco, CA‎
(415) 346-4280

1409 Montana Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 656-7898

2210 N. Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 248-5326

Herb Caen on Sutro Tower: “I keep waiting for it to stalk down the hill and attack the Golden Gate Bridge.”

photo by Stuart Dixon > alybooboo > itsnotthatserious > generic

The reaction to the tower when it was built in 1971-1973 is rather different than today (via sutro.org):

Supervisor Dianne Feinstein:
“This is undoubtedly one of the worst structures, visually, I have an opportunity to view.”

Allan B. Jacobs, Director of City Planning, City and County of San Francisco:
“It’s pretty terrible – esthetically, environmentally, from about every standpoint you can imagine.”

Supervisor Robert E. Gonzales:
“In the fall of 1971, when it was one-fourth built, I called it Godzilla the Monster. Now it’s Godzilla fully grown. I think it’s ugly. When it was approved in 1966, no one recognized the magnitude and overpowering effect it would have.”

Period quip (via reader Sean):

“It’s the packing case the Tramsamerica building came in.”

And here’s what was a minority (and admittedly biased) opinion at the time:

Russ Coughlan, general manager of KGO-TV and president of Sutro Tower, Inc.:
“I like the way it looks. It’s as attractive as anything that structural can be. I don’t think it’s an eyesore. I think it’s attractive and has its own identity…”

More in line with today’s thinking, or at least for many who have moved here since it was built.

This is what our great protector sees as it endlessly scans the horizon for threats to our fair City.  Shouldn’t it be facing the Pacific Coast, though?  Perhaps Chief Gascon has succeeded in enlisting Sutro to help fight crime in the city.

Previously:

Sutro Comes ALIVE

Sutro Tower Lightning Strike

Sutro, the Mission’s sentry:

Epic wide shot, worth clicking upon and seeing the 2000p wide version:

Up in the sky!  A bird!  A plane!

Yep, a plane.

I love the house below and to the right of Sutro.

After Midnight, with light and incense, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA

Snowman Ornament on a White Tree

My Mom's Christmas Village

Vintage Angel Ornament

Christmas Village, the Town Square

Saint Ignatius Church - Winter Night

Vintage Elf Ornament

Christmas Village - Snow Fight

Sutro Tower in the Winter Clouds

“The Action of Snowfall”

Act on your life like
a billion-billion snowflakes.
You will see
in time,
garlands of crystalline acts –
All unique –
adorning those same branches where
green leaves shivered
yellow and dropped by the weight
of mortality.

One by one, let
each act
loose,
To wander in the crisp breeze
of your yearning soul –
A meandering harmony of many acts,
a carol aloft
on life’s unpredictable
breath.

Make all life yuletide:
Quiet evenings
with tea,
by fires, beside love.
Let Blitzen, herself, deliver
your needs
with a bell.

Finally, Traveler,
Let every soft-diamond act
twinkle brilliance
as it descends –
Until your own head is
wreathed in acts
you’ve let loose in love,
only to return to you:

This Crown –
Priceless, transient jewels,
is your life’s reward.

San Francisco at Twilight

Last evening I joined a few others from the Night Photography Meetup group on the top of Twin Peaks above San Francisco – along with a whole bunch of other folks! It was a gorgeous and warm evening (for October November) so it was a bit crowded. There are views in all directions, though, and a moon that was just about full. The moon rose, then the sun set, then the city lights came on. It was such a pleasant evening that I was happy staying and shooting for a little over three hours. The main street you see in the shots of the city is Market Street. The Bay Bridge is visible in both shots, too.

Enjoying the sunset from Twin Peaks

San Francisco City Lights

At some point after posting about my first Gama-Go squid shirt, I realized that I need to blog about their current selection before they are discontinued!

Here we have San Francisco’s Sutro Tower being attached by enormous tentacles…or is it being lovingly caressed? With a squid is there any way to tell the difference?

The shirt is $28 and available in both olive and black.

Buy it from Gama-Go (while you still can!)

The moon from 35,000 feet over Oregon:

And here’s a blind shot that worked out rather nicely: Dolores, La Lengua, Bernal in late afternoon shadow — and Sutro peeking out from the bottom.

SF Citizen, via SFist.

I took the liberty of merging them into a panorama (which is of course completely illegible thanks to the WordPress 450 pixel width limit. Do click to enlarge — especially nice if you have an 8000 pixel wide monitor).

Fuzzy Highlights (keep in mind Mt. Diablo is 31 miles away from here…)

I use the angle between the Transamerica Pyramid and the Bank of America building to get perspective when I’m looking at SF from a weird position. Still, I was getting seriously confused trying to figure out what I was looking at here.  This view encompasses the Mission.

(Ok, so there’s Sutro Tower, and,um there’s Twin Peaks, I think… No, wait. What the hell is that big thing over to the left? Where’s Bernal? Potrero? Hey, I think I see Japan in the background. I need a drink.)

In today’s edition of Know Your Hills, we learn that Mount Sutro is the one to the right/north of Sutro Tower (it’s on a subhill of Sutro, Clarendon Heights, tricky!) and that Mt Davidson (the one with the cross) is actually the tallest hill in the city at 925 feet. To its right is the surprisingly high Forest Hill at 778 feet. (Hills in the rest of the city are insignificantly low. Pacific Heights?  I laugh at your 370 feet.  Russian Hill?  Come back when you break 300.)

But where is my favorite hill, Bernal Heights?

Google Maps to the rescue.  We draw lines from Mt. Diablo to the hills we can see, et voila, vectors. (Click to get a zoomable Google Map.)

Using the power of line/arrow color coordination, we can tell that Bernal is the green patch to the left of Mt. Davidson, which is certainly not what I was expecting.

Click to enlarge:

The angles get really weird, but just remember that Mt. Diablo is east by northeast rather than the straight shot east as I tend to think (which is the excuse I am using if any of this is wrong).

I’d love to get a photo from Mt. Diablo using a ridiculously powerful zoom lens showing the fog curling around these hills protecting the Mission while the rest of the city is socked in. (Hint hint, Plug1.)

Anyway, the guy that started this whole damn post also has some dramatic shots of Sutro standing sentry over the city at sunset:

Even when really foggy, Sutro Tower promises not to attack the Golden Gate Bridge.  (The Bay Bridge is another matter entirely.)

Click to embiggen (and click again if your browser autosizes wide images). New 2.0 version of Panorama lets you make ridiculously wide (or tall) pictures on an iPhone. But both bridges, 270 degrees or so, not too shabby.

The scary part is it being 70 degrees – should I really be able to wear shorts when it’s nearly December?

The Dolores shots are actually from the weekend before last, but regardless, we’re going to have an Indian Winter if this keeps up.

Fader

Kris and I had dinner at Round Table Pizza at Linda Mar Shopping Center in Pacifica. This isn’t your regular pizza joint. They have a lot of booths for family style dining, a full salad bar, juke box, arcade, and big screens. I remember going there when I was a kid and I loved it. They also had a shit load of 49ers memorabilia all over the wall which brought back even more memories. Me and Kris shared a medium Artisan pizza but I was still hungry after. I had to get a mini meal at McDonald’s after. I also took some pictures around the house when we were just chillin. When I got home, I took some more shots around my mom’s house too.

Old School Shots of My Grandpa

Orchids

Daisy

Quaker Oats Dawg

Day 3 was kind of whack to start off. I woke up pretty late and wanted to get breakfast. I was out before 11AM and I had no plans until 3:30PM. I was headed to this place named Superstar to get Topsilog (Filipino food) for breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any change to feed to meter so I went to Roxie’s, a corner market that makes great sandwiches (especially anything on hot dutch crunch bread). I was trying to parallel park outside and couldn’t manage. In the process I was embarrassing myself in front of entering patrons. I would have to stand in line with them for 5-10 minutes and feel like they were laughing at me on the inside, so I took off. I decided to eat at Joe’s Cable Car. This place is pretty highly regarded by SF residents and visited from people from all over the world. It was a sit down restaurant and I was sitting by myself. I got a Country Burger (with over easy egg), fries, and a soda. It was really good but the bill came out to $22 with tip at the end and I felt like “all that for a burger, fries, and soda?”

Joe's Cable Car

After Joe’s, I headed to Hayes to hopefully pick up some gear at Huf, but I couldn’t seem to find parking. I didn’t want to park in the hood (Fillmore) either, which was a block away. I left and went to Haight and Fillmore to check out Upper Playground. I actually found parking about a block away on Waller and Fillmore within 3 minutes of looking. Upper Playground is dope. They had this new line of shirts that were made up city teams with taboo mascots. There were the Miami Kilos with a razor mascot, San Francisco Panhandlers with a homeless guy with cup mascot, Los Angeles Diablos with a devil mascot, and the New York Pickpockets with two fingers slowly pulling some bills mascot. I ended up buying 3 shirts which came out to about $80. Afterwards I tried to go back to Huf, no luck finding parking again.

Taken from the Car on the Way to Huf

Next, I headed to Market and Portola to get a shot of the San Francisco skyline. After that, I went to check out my old elementary and middle schools which were both just down the block. Then I headed over to Diamond Heights to check out more views of the house lined hills of SF. Later, I ended up at St. Paul’s Cathedral in the Mission Dolores district. The church’s exterior was pretty impressive. Then I headed to McClaren Park to get some shots of Visitacion Valley but none of those really came out that good.

No Parking Here

SF Skyline

Looking East

My Old School Elementary School, Rooftop

Proof

Rooftop Middle School

Sutro Tower from Diamond Heights

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

My time to kill adventure was over, now I was headed to Pacifica to my nephew Kyle’s birthday party at Sea Bowl to see all my cousins, their kids, and my aunt and uncle. I also had to get a digital record pool DVD from my cousin. Two birds with one stone, you know. So, I had to take some shots of my nephew TJ because my family says that he looks like me when I was a baby. I don’t see it but everyone agrees. I also ordered a Pacquiao shirt through my cousin for $20. It has his face on the front and a Filipino flag on the back with some Filipino Pride wording. I may just get my ass beat with this on in LA.

My nephew Kyle Blowing Out the Candles with his Cousins

My nephew TJ

Me in Toddler Form and My Late Uncle Jac (Jacinto)

Rules at Sea Bowl

My Cousin Ted (DJ Tom Solo) Ordering More Pacquiao Shirts for the Family

I left Pacifica to pick up my mom in SF. We were going to a birthday dinner for my Tita (aunt) Lu at Oriental Seafood Restaurant on Noriega, east of Sunset in SF. The food was pretty good and I finally got to taste the inside of the crab (nothing special). The only thing that was weird was how the bathrooms were in the kitchen. I went to the bathroom and saw how filthy thr kitchen was as well as a compost bin in the bathroom. My little cousin Vincent is so hyper that he just couldn’t stop playing the whole time. He even had to blow out the candle on the cake with my aunt.

Name is Right There

My Little Cousin Vincent

Appetizer?

Tea to Neutralize the MSG

For the Soup

My Tita Lu and Cousin Vincent

B-Day Cake

After

After dinner, we went for ice cream at Polly Ann on Noriega, west of Sunset in SF. I got a scoop of Turkish Coffee and Caramel Oreo. They were good, but it seemed that I was full from dinner so I didn’t even finish it. I think I saw an old friend, Freida, there but I didn’t say hello cause it didn’t seem like she recognized me and the last time I approached an old friend I got the “where do we know each other from again?” line. 10 years people.

Polly Ann for Ice Cream

After resting at home, me and my cousin Kris went to Milk Bar on Haight and Ashbury in SF. The party was called Flava of the Month. It was a special tribute party to artists that passed away recently, like Biggie, 2PAC, Left Eye, Big Pun, and Luther Vandross. I really only went to check out the bar that everyone has been telling me about for years and for Shortkut, Apollo, Vinroc, and Swift Rock on the turntables. I only got to see Swift Rock and Shortkut because me and my cousin felt really sick while we were drinking. I think it was the amount of greasy ass MSG heavy Chinese food that we ate plus the ice cream. We both felt like yakking. Milk was fucking dope though. Shorkut killed it with his tribute to fallen artists. You should have seen the whole room go wild when he played Mac Dre – Too Hard for the Fuckin Radio. Everybody was singing along. There were some Latin chicks next to us that kept making eye contact with me and my cousin to ask them to dance and we would have if we were not feeling like we were. My nose was hella running too and I had to go to the bathroom like every 15 minutes to blow it. I usually get major allergies when I come home to SF because my mom has a dog and I am allergic. But back to Milk, it’s fuckin dope. Drinks are average and expensive at the same time. Beers are $5 and hen and coke is $10. You see what I mean when I say average and expensive. I am a little mad that I didn’t get to see Apollo and Vinroc go on but we were feeling like shit. We will try to hit up Milk again, maybe for the reggae club. If not, when I come back to SF.

Flyer Front

Flyer Back

This is the problem with the whole blogging thing; the stuff I want to tell you hardly has anything to do with you at all. Well, okay. Not completely true. I want to tell you everything. When I see something beautiful you’re usually the first person I think of when I think I want to tell someone what I’m thinking. But again, it’s not so much that I want to tell you, it’s way more that I just want to tell someone, anyone.

Anyway, I won’t tell you right now. There is a letting out of energy in the waiting it takes to let the telling urge pass. I could just admit that those things are boring, that this post is boring, that I had fun writing this, that it won’t matter to anyone.

I still say: You should sit quietly on a crowded subway car and listen to this. It’s how I usually feel when I wake up in the morning. 

Xoxo,
Me 

‘To Each Source, Its Own Emission‘

A report on new California initiative to measure greenhouse gases emissions at the source. I am so proud to be a Californian . . .