Wednesday, August 10, 2011


Neckties in the Desert

Major Mandolin



I have heard this joke before and even have my version of it posted on this blog  Desert Necktie Joke

I like the way this guy delivers it. It has something to do with his hat and his eyes. Not too mention he labels the necktie guy as a Jewish entrepreneur and the weary desert trekking soul an Arab. In my "Ties in the Desert Joke" I leave the religion out of it.  However, I must admit the ethnic mention of these men is effective.


Major Mandolin Neckties in the Desert Joke - click to see the video






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Sunday, August 7, 2011


A Pro Basketball Player and Neckties

Former Harrisburg High standout
Lawrence Hamm enjoys being a
role model to kids.
This professional basketball player teaches kids how to to neckties, then how to play basketball.

This professional basketball player teaches kids how to neckties, then how to play basketball. Former pro basketball player Lawrence Hamm wants the young men and women to understand a strategy for success. I have been working on a post that examines the dress code of the NBA compared to the NFL that I hope will be ready for posting in a couple of weeks.

I have long been aware of the fact that high school basketball coaches demand that student on the team where ties to matches and even to practice. Now I do not mean just basketball neckties, any tie.  However, you can imagine that a kid showing up for practice wearing a basketball tie would win over the coach and anyone else like girls for instance. 

You may find this article very interesting because here is a guy that was a pro athlete trying to set examples that will encourage kids to do good and become successful at whatever they do by wearing neckties.  It seems that as far as basketball is concerned sports neckties are a very important part of being a pro.

Lawrence Hamm teaches kids how to wear
neckties - then how to play basketball
At Hamm Camp, it’s loops before hoops.

The camp director, professional basketball player Lawrence Hamm, lets kids play basketball only after they practice tying neckties each morning. Even the girls have to do it because, sometimes, brothers and even dads need help.

“Lawrence says we have to look like we’re suitable if we have an interview or something,” said Naasir Johnson, an eighth-grader at Nativity School of Harrisburg. “He wants us to succeed in life, not just basketball.”

He goes on to explain that learning how to tie ties is part of having positive life skills.  He says, “You want to dress in a way that people will respect you. And that means they have to know how to tie a tie.”

Read the entire article here - Former basketball pro Lawrence Hamm's camp teaches kids a strategy for success.

Further information - Hamm gives back to Harrsburg,

Check out our basketball neckties at Sport Ties at Nice Tie Store

Basketball Necktie
Basketball Tie


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Friday, August 5, 2011

Another Gorilla Wearing a Tie

Donkey Kong Country Returns: the tie wearing gorilla is back.

Why would a gorilla wear a tie - probably to make himself look more serious





















I don't know "donkey" about video games but this was a funny thing to find after my post yesterday about a gorilla that wears a tie vs, an ape with a riffle. You can see that post here A Gorilla Wears Neckties.  I had to ask myself, "why would a video game gorilla wear a tie?"  So with my interest up high, I did some research and here is the scoop on the fashion conscious Donkey Kong Gorilla who wear neckties.

In this successor to the classic 1994 Super Nintendo game Donkey Kong Country which originally was a Miyamoto character from 1980 the gorilla had to be very special.  The man who created Donkey Kong had some specific advice for the people who were making the next Donkey Kong game: "The gorilla better slap the ground properly."  Further technical stuff, facts and information on the game can be found on Kotaku.com  I do not know if the other gorilla in the original Donkey Kongs wore neckties but I have a feeling I know why this one his wearing a tie.  In this day and age of the casual dress code being so popular you would have to admit that a gorilla that wears a tie is not a gorilla to be taken lightly.  He means business.

Although, not a real gorilla, just a cartoon gorilla he is wearing a tie like the gorilla in my previous post. The tie has the logo DK on it, obviously for the sake of promoting the video game, Donkey Kong, not because the tie is a Donna Karen tie. Anyway in this new version of the game called Donkey Kong Country Returns the gorilla pounces on frogs while rampaging through the jungle, and swinging on vines through trees devouring bananas. Through a gauntlet of giant Venus fly traps caving in paths, pirate boats shooting cannon balls at him, dodging a giant Octopus's tentacles along the beach Doney Kong is on it.

The charming and debonair gorilla never once seems to be un-sure of himself. He even has a side kick, Diddy Kong but the little guy has no necktie. However wearing a necktie or not both of them are none-the-less fairly formidable looking. I especially like the parts when the gorilla is pounding his chest. At that, he reminded me of stock brokers that I know, they are so arrogant at times and so dam egotistical.   This tie wearing gorilla, doesn't play around, he wants his bananas and nothing is going to stop him.  Kind of like suave those stock brokers that will stop at nothing in pursuit of their commisions.  So that is why he wears the necktie. 

I will admit, to make sure I used the correct adjective here I looked up the word suave on line. "smoothly though often superficially gracious and sophisticated -  suggests a specific ability to deal with others easily and without friction -  stresses an ability to deal with ticklish situations tactfully."  Man can he swing through the jungle or what -  sounds good to me.

You may want to check out another cartoon character post on out blog Why does Fred Flintstone wear ties.

Check out the You TubeVideo 



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Thursday, August 4, 2011


A Gorilla Wearing a Tie vs. and Ape with a Riffle


A Gorilla wearing neckties

I would never, ever say the world of fashion is not like a jungle, surely not the fashion world of neckties.

An ape shooting an AK 47 Assault Riffle is not something to laugh at; well at least it's not supposed to be funny, ( video below ).  This is a very alarming instance of men and beast interacting with each other. Gauging the advance of evolution is a funny science given all of the variables. Being civilized in the jungle of our world can be a bit complicated given all of the different beliefs in religion and more important, taking into account the greed factor.

If an ape were to get a hold of a loaded AK 47 Riffle what would he think about? Now, what if the ape was given a necktie? Could he tie a tie? Would he wear it and would he become more civil? I believe that we have a testament to the Darwin Theory of evolution here. Certainly this is a monkey see, monkey do thing but what is clearly unique here is that ape becomes very celebratory after he conquers his territory. We live in a very dangerous world. I guess this is proof that being a killer does not take much intelligence. The Ape sure caught on fast as you may note that in the end he is displaying the absolute characteristics of a victorious warrior. 

Ape shoots an AK 47 Riffle instead or wearing neckties
Just imagine if his behavior were changed and he was not being so aggressive but being much more friendly and as well receiving kind gestures and body language in return.  I am sure that if the ape were to be handed a tie and given a few short lessons in tying it he would like wearing neckties. In fact he would become quite attached to his new found fashionable look. I am sure that if the ape were to be handed a tie and given a few short lessons in tying it he would like wearing ties.

The celebration of the victory may be scary
then the shooting
In fact he would probably become quite attached to his new found fashionable look. Most likely the extra respect he would receive would become an addiction to him. The added attraction from female apes and the possibility of higher political status he would gain would improve his character substantially. Just considering how elegant his cousin, the gorilla appears in the photo above compared to the chaotic images from the video from YouTube below,  the answer is obvious. Soon Yahoo will be tooting the fashion horn, “Gorilla trending neckties sets the jungle fashion world on fire.”

Watch the video below if you have any doubt that the behavior of an ape can become a bit of a problem once he has his grip on a loaded AK 47 Assault Riffle. In a viral ad campaign, producers of the new film "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" released a series of videos showing weapon-wielding apes. Stylized to look like documentary footage out of Africa, one video features a chimp shooting an AK-47 at a group of off-duty soldiers who had been taunting it.  Yes those are actors, but that is a real ape and he is surely taking matters into his own hands.



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Wednesday, July 27, 2011


A Necktie Poem by Hallgrimur Helgason - Suit & Tie


Suit and Tie

A Poem in English About Post-Crash Iceland, written and performed by Icelandic writer Hallgrimur Helgason.
First performed at the Kapittel 09 Festival in Stavanger, Norway, September 16th 2009.  
This video made Sept. 30th 2010. Thanks to Snorri and the guys at Pegasus.  Hallgrimur

The complete poem is below 
While searching for articles and videos the discuss the diminished use of neckties in today's society I found a real gem. This poem about the financial crisis and the blame that the men of those institutions surely deserve. This modern work by Icelander Hallgrimur Helgason is worth reading but please view the video first - the link is just above and here - Hallgrimur Helgason - "Suit and Tie". Since the men who control the financial machines and those institutions that run economies are them same men who religiously wear neckties I guess it is only natural to resent suits and ties.

Now that there is so much blame and eager fingers to point some people have a problem with the necktie at what it represents - authority and unfortunately with bankers and stock brokers - a blatant character flaw - arrogance. I actually believe that the author really doesn't have a dislike of neckties. Without a necktie you won't have much fun at night in Reykjavik as every night club or restaurant worth a visit will not allow a casually dressed man in. So a popular, and surely very creative poem or rap song, the necktie will still be an important part of and Icelandic man's attire.

The Icelanders are very creative so this wonderful poem or rap is not a surprise to me. The work illustrates the frustration of the trouble that the North Atlantic Island of some 350,000 people has fallen into, a result of the world's economic failure that forced the country of Iceland to declare bankruptcy, the first ever in history.

I have been to Iceland more times than I can remember between the sumer of 1984 and the spring of 1995.  I was married to a beautiful Icelandic lady and for those ten years I photographed the beautiful Icelandic unspoiled nature as a pro photographer.  Below the poem you may see some of my photographs.- Jeffrey Hunter

Reykjavik Iceland
Suit and tie
Suit and tie
We're deadly afraid of the clever guy
Wearing suit and tie



They used to roam the streets of Reykjavik

And thought they were what made the city tic

From bank to lunch with Nikkei, Dow Jones and FTSE
Dressed to kill in Armani, Boss and Gucci

Cheerful, laughing, full of self esteem

The players of our national team



But now you hardly see them anymore

The crisis took them through a different door
Their bank got crunched by Euro, Dollar and Yen

So now they're trying Tai Chi, Yoga and Zen
Still they're good in playing the blaming game
The players of our national shame



Iceland: The home of young and retired bosses
And regular people busy counting their losses
The high-flying heroes of good times past

Have come to the ground and had their blast

Hiding inside his fancy house

The bull now meets his inner mouse

And both are dressed in suit and tie
Suit and tie

Nothing scares like suit and tie

We're left alone in the arctic sea

For they left the loan for you and me

To pay
But they

Do have enough to last an eon
Silently kept in the Caribbean

So true, so true

So mad, so bad

But we don't want back the life we had


Full of lies and numbers high

Enough to keep a country high

On hope of becoming the new Dubai


Where all the women were suit and tie

Suit and tie
Suit and tie we kiss goodbye


Communism lasted long
Nations led by Mr. Wrong

Western brokers, young and brave
Went disco dancing on its grave
But victory got to their head

Big ambitions were overfed

The color of blue contained some red

The Wall Street Wall came down one night

And we were all raped by Mr. Right.


Capitalism fell on its nose

Died from an overdue overdose

Of arrogance and loneliness

And left the world in a state of mess



We were fooled by suit and tie
Suit and tie

Who tricked us, told us: To sell and buy

While speeding across their private skies
Engines fuelled by loans and lies

The boys of Bush and global greed
Left us with a local need

For truth and nothing but the truth

To put inside a confession booth

The Brothers Lehman and all their sons


The neo-cons were just plain cons


In suit and tie

Suit and tie

Trained to loot and taught to lie



Yet we try

To struggle on

A nation betrayed by an evil don

A nation so small you can easily whip

All of it into a cruise line ship

The former captain and his crew

Are still on board but out of view

Sipping on Scotch inside their cabins

And telling jokes like desperate has-beens

Or faking calls
In bathroom stalls

While nervously looking for their balls


We carry on, on a vessel unwell

Steering away from the icebergs of hell
The national body still infected

By the virus we long neglected

Called suit and tie

Suit and tie
Hoping it won't make us die

At the airport a father of three

Spends his last in the Duty Free
"We're going to Norway, to get a life
Wife will study, I'll be her wife
It's sad to leave your fatherland

A bit like parting with your hand
But they took the house, they took the car
Does Stavanger have a strip-tease bar

And the politician on the TV screen

Speaks of ways to cure the spleen

But his words no longer do apply

For he's still wearing suit and tie

Suit and tie

Suit and tie we kiss goodbye



And when you roam the streets of Reykjavik
You spot the signs that made your city sick

Empty houses, vacant office spaces

And way too many fancy meeting places

On the map, nearby the valley parks
The financial district is now shown in quotation marks


And on the streets and freeways, parking lots
There still are lots and lots

Of black and shiny Range Rover jeeps
Luxurious creeps

Once the symbols of all our national vices

Now they are the coffins of the crisis

Driven by people who died a market-death

But were allowed to prolong their final breath

In suit and tie

Suit and tie

They're all still wearing their suit and tie

In Germany they have the Nazi outfits

To remind them of the thing that rhymes with... outfitz

In Iceland we have suit and tie

Suit and tie

Suit and tie

- Hallgrimur Helgason



About Hallgrimur Helgason

Hallgrímur studied at the Art Academy of Iceland, and then the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. 

He has worked independently as an artist and writer since 1982, and has held over twenty solo exhibitions in Iceland, Boston, Paris and Malmö.  His work has also been displayed in over 30 group exhibitions in various countries.

His first novel Hella came out in 1990. His best-known works are 101 Reykjavík, which was made into a popular film of the same name, and Höfundur Íslands, which won the Icelandic Literary Prize in 2001.

Hallgrimur Helgason's web site


Below are just a few of my photograhs of Iceland.  The nature is unspoiled and about as pristine as possible.  - Jeffrey Hunter

Myvatn, northern Iceland volcanic zone,
Jeffrey Hunter
 


Gain souther Iceland, Jeffrey Hunter
 


Arctic River Rose - Brynudalsa,
by Jeffrey Hunter



Midnight Sun Hornafjordur, Jeffrey Hunter
 


Skogarfoss 62 meters tall, Jeffrey Hunter


Hestur - Icelandic pony, Jeffrey Hunter

Hella, Iceland's fertile south, Jeffrey Hunter



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Still Wearing a Necktie?

Further articles and videos about the necktie or the absence of the tie.  They area bit dated by a about 2 - 3 years but still relevant.  I still wear ties, but I sell them so I guess it's part of my job.   I also write about them, design them, dream about them, and.....  I like wearing neckties  - Jeffrey Hunter

Recent poll shows few men still wear neckties to work. What message does that send? And is the more casual look good, bad or meaningless?

Lancaster New Era

Updated Oct 03, 2008
By CINDY STAUFFER

Just 6 percent of men wear a necktie to work every day, according to a recent Gallup poll. This news was so shocking that it made the front page of the Wall Street Journal last month. Well, that might be a gasper to Mr. Gallup and fancypants New Yorkers, but out here in the real world, in places like Lancaster County, it's hardly a revelation.

Look around your office. OK, the summer interns are wearing a tie (a very snappy bright-green number on the tall guy). So is your boss (a more subdued blue and tan stripe).  But the rest of the fellows? Not so much, unless you work in a law office or bank.

What does the decline of the necktie say about our lives today? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Read more: Still wearing a necktie?


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Outlawing Neckties in the U.S.A.

Nothing to do with ties but I love Jane Russell
How the Necktie Became A Man's Noose

Many men have to wear neckties each day to work, but how did this fashionaccessory become a staple of "dressing up"?   Jason Falls explains the history of the necktie. He then lobbies for a cease and desist and blames the French on the whole fiasco.
The Daily Idea from http://www.popcruch.com/  - the web's premier celebrity tabloid.  This is laugh-a-ble but actually I think the guy is serious about men hating ties.



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Amanda Brooks From Men's Vogue Magazine Talks Neckties

Neckties Both Rare And Trendy.  

Amanda brooks from Men's Vogue magazine talks neckties to suit men of all types. Chris Wragge reports.

She just loves neckties.  Ties are not down and out according to Men's Vouge Magazine.  Check out the necktie fashion show.



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CBS News Ben Stein On Neckties

The necktie is the sign of a man who is there to work, not to play.  It when a man who takes his responsibilities seriously, wears.   It makes a man look better - smarter. 

Ben Stein discussed the future of the necktie on CBS Sunday Morning.   According to him wearing neckties is classy.



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Friday, July 22, 2011


No More Neckties... What’s The World Coming To?


President Obama Not Wearing a Necktie
 I found an interesting article on line; No More Ties What is This World Coming To? I was inspired to write this post. Below you may find the link to the article. – Jeffrey Hunter


John F. Kennedy, the only president of late that had convictions and played straight pool wore neckties and had such style he could make adversaries quiver without drawing a big bad gun. President Obama is not wearing ties like so many other men in or out of government that surely have a problem with credibility. See this ABC News Post about President Obama and his lack of neckties here. Heck, Obama cannot even claim when or where he was born. I am beginning to believe that he is actually from another Galaxy and was planted here from that alien base on the Moon. Just consider those ears, and of course I did find an interesting photograph of him with an alien, that you can check out right here on an early blog post - President Obama Endorced by an Alien. In that blog post you can see that aliens wear ties but at the moment not many ties are tied around the necks of male half of the human species. Well, at least I can say more ties for the rest of us human men. It is ironic now that we necktie aficionados are the non-conformists.  Lets not forget the aliens that also wear ties

It is true neckties are not as popular as they once were and they have become part of an anti conformist culture to the extent that neckties are truly hated. It is as if a man’s freedom has to be relinquished if he is to wear a necktie. Maybe the guys that hate ties so much are afraid of strangling themselves by accident, or possibly they were hung in a past life, and just cannot deal with it. More likely, the explanation of the absence of ties gracing the male form is the result of a relaxed society and a somewhat less than serious demeanor concerning the attitude of dressing. This casual lifestyle that started with casual Friday has become a “casual everyday” excepted by society as the norm, giving cause to the guys who decided that wearing ties were a symbol conforming to authority.

Whatever it is, their rebellion against tradition has waged for 10 years or more since the dot com evolution ushered in the relaxed dress code at work, something less than professionalism as we once knew. Unfortunately there are effects that this casual approach is exacting that some see as a decline in the overall character of gentlemen and lifestyle. Even the President does not wear ties every day now which has been noted lately in the press. Now that is the “casual” craze cast in bronze if I did not see it with my own eyes. Maybe the future presidents of the U.S.A. will wear fatigues like Fidel Castro next; we are at the crux of a war against terror, or so they say. Wearing urban camouflaged attire in the White House may suit the propagandists; now that would be some message. After all if what they say is true, we have a lot to be worried about.  If in fact, the U.S.A. is up against a lot of people with different ideals, here, over there, in every non American enclave or even not, then civilization is in a very critical balance. It is the justification to invade other countries and even the American home itself with no restraints on what, how, where, and when it is executed.  Now, eves dropping, wire tapping, warrantless searches, arrests and imprisoned without charges, etc can be directed – even on us. So far, the guns are not pointed at civilians but sooner or later that may be.  So fatigues as the dress code for government officials may not be so crazy of an idea.  Now it is unbuttoned shirts and no neckties, nerxt?

For now, the men who make the laws and govern the U.S.A should wear neckties, if not only to make them appear trust worthy with the appearance of credibility, for the sake of tradition. I really do not take much stock in politicians – they are just too much to trust and as always this new president has lied and switched course on every promise he made before election. He has somehow managed to gain support, even if he is a casually dressed guy. None-the-less he should wear a tie everyday so at least his level of seriousness is clear and his influence strong. I guess times have changed but I still wear ties, and I feel a greater sense confidence as unusually of late; I am not competing with much of an equal tie wearing public.

No more ties... what’s world coming to? Sentinelsource New Hampshire

Here is the article from the Sentinelsource New Hampshire

When the Old West posse finally nabbed the varmint who had swiped some chickens from the poor old widow lady’s henhouse, the guys in the posse all yelled “Give him a neck tie!” (They did?) What they meant, of course, was to TIE a rope around his NECK and string him up a tree. Over the decades, that expression has endured, at least in one area of our culture.



Today, whenever a kid asks his mom “What can I give Dad for Father’s Day?”, she is likely to answer (you guessed it) “Give him a necktie!” That prolly won’t work anymore, though, unless the kid’s dad is a minister, a banker, a politician (maybe), a coffin salesman, or a basketball coach (why is that?). For most other men, every day is “casual Friday.”


Ah, the necktie! Whence cometh? Wherefore? And how come? As far as I can figure out from my complicated, exhaustive cravat research, it might well have been Croatian mercenaries in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) who — for some unclear reason — wore small knotted strips of cloth wrapped around their necks. Somebody in Paris in the fashion game took a look at them and got all excited. Inspired by the Croatian creation, he started a neckwear craze in Europe using similar arrangements of wrap-arounds. So that by the 18th century, high fashion dictated that bands of white muslin be worn outside men’s shirt collars and they were called “stocks.”


Later, in the 1700s, according to my sources, “Young Englishmen returning from Italy (the “macaronis” of Yankee Doodle fame) brought new neckwear fashions (but doesn’t say what they were). Anyway, by well into the 19th century, the necktie had undergone several modifications and improvements, and interest in them became more about how to tie ‘em.


In fact, a bestseller at the time was the how-to book “Neckclothitania,” which described how to tie 14 different cravats, in text and illustrations. And around the mid-1800s, black stocks became more popular than the white ones. I’m sure you’ve seen old photos of famous men of the period like Abraham Lincoln wearing ‘em with a large bow knot tied in front.


From the Lincoln era well into the 20th century, a lot of different neckwear types showed up: the bowtie, four-in-hand, Ascot, cravat, knit, bolo, clip-ons, and even a wide variety of novelties. Especially after World War II, when neckties went bananas. First they got wide — up to 41/2 inches — then narrow to 2 inches — weirdly colored, hand-painted, sexy, and touting schools, teams, products, corporations and organizations of all stripes. Some had photos. Others had mottoes, slogans, adages, jokes, or cartoons.


I was a card-carrying necktie-wearer for many years. So what brought about today’s harangue about neckties? Well, for one thing, their clout is fast disappearing. For decades, no matter how rich you were, you couldn’t get a table at the exclusive “21” Club in Manhattan if you weren’t wearing a necktie with your jacket. Tuxedoed greeter (or not) Chuck Anderson rode herd on who’s goin’ in and who ain’t. If you were otherwise a good paying “member,” you could wear a “loaner” while there. But recently a headline in The New York Times read “Last Bastion for Neckties Throws in the Towel,” with a boo-hoo story about how the present owners of “21” have dumped the necktie requirement, with the comment “So what’s the big deal?” (Jack and Pete Kriendler and Charlie Berns would turn over in their hidden wine cellar if they knew!)


Jackets are still required there, as they are in most of the city’s elegantest eateries. Next thing you know, “21” will be selling off all those great jockey statues in their racing colors out front as “no big deal.” Bah! Humbug! Does every day have to be “casual Friday”? Why, they prolly won’t even allow cigar-smoking at “21” anymore! For Jack, every day is “casual Friday” at The Woodward



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