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Never Buy Another Belt Buckle Again!

Posted on July 23, 2008 by Stuart Kerty Filed Under Collecting Belt Buckles, Fun, Novelty, Video | Leave a Comment

The Egokast is a video-playing buckle with 3″ LCD screen.  Sure, you might be able to show videos on it.  Or maybe you can run their exclusive looping Egovideo graphics that look strangely like screensavers from the early nineties or lava lamps from the late sixties.  Or if you really want people staring at your crotch for hours on end, perhaps you can preview a few pirated blockbusters before they come out on the big screen. 

We are not going to bore you with the specs.  You got the wrong site baby.  We don’t care about the megaflurtz, giga-pixars, or screen revolutions.   If you want the techno-geek stuff, go check out Gizmodo elsewhere on the interweb.  We’re here to talk about buckles.

Egokast has made leaving the house wearing only one belt buckle as archaic as sporting a Walkman with only one cassette.  What if your tastes change while you are out?  Whether tapes or buckles, maybe you can carry one or two extras in your pocket, but you can’t carry your entire collection everywhere you go! 

Or can you?

The real undiscovered killer app here is for collectors to be able to wear all their buckles, all the time.  Simply photograph all your buckles and run them in an endless slideshow!  Or for even more control, create “playlists” based on themes that fit your outfit, such as rodeo, rhinestone, or retro. 

Yes, the Egokast is the buckle collector’s answer to the iPod.  Instead of 10,000 songs in your pocket, it’s 10,000 buckles on your belt!

Buckle of Shards

Posted on July 13, 2008 by Stuart Kerty Filed Under Abstract, Artistic, Handmade, Special Buckles, Video | Leave a Comment

Paul Pearman boasts a wide variety of creative talents, including graphic design, sculpture, stained glass, painting and mosaics.  He even made a living for a while knocking off the work of Van Gogh.   Inspired by art nouveau and impressionist styles, he carefully places the glass in his mosaics to emulate the movement and direction of brush strokes.   In addition to cut glass, he embellishes his work with semi-precious stones and exotic materials including coral, opals, turquoise, emeralds, jasper, ancient shark’s teeth, and the occasional carved skull.

Just as the impressionist masters before him, before art, Pearman started out as a kick boxer and a skateboarder.  He captured the 1989 Guinness World Record for the jumping his skateboard over 26 barrels, snatching the record away from the previous title holders, Renoir and Monet, who purportedly turned to painting to console themselves over their loss.

Anyway, back to belt buckles.  Paul was caught off guard by the success of his custom-designed mosaic belt buckles, which have garnered placement in high-end boutiques and galleries and attracting celebrity clients who pay from $500 to $3500 for his work.  The response has created an endless workload for him, trapping him in self-described “belt buckle purgatory” in his basement studio, as he scrambles to keep up with demand.   What the video below for the back story.

So visit New School Mosaics if you would like to own one of these unique creations or simply because you think it would be cool to keep Paul toiling away in his basement a little longer.

Reagan’s Belt Buckles Trickle Down

Posted on March 27, 2008 by admin Filed Under Politics, Special Buckles, Video | Leave a Comment

Here’s an interesting story. The Reagan library has lost most of The Gippers prized belt buckle collection. A November 2007 NPR Radio Show, The Ramble, reported that hundreds of belt buckles “could not be accounted for”. One host suggested checking the waistlines of library employees or searching ebay for the items.
As far as fashion goes, seasonal must-haves fall in and out of favor faster than you can say “Tear down this wall” but owning a piece of presidential history is always cool (even though, in this case, highly illegal). Maybe spreading the wealth by sharing his renowned belt buckle collection is the former Prez’s post-mortem attempt at an economic stimulus package. You heard it hear first…the definitive analysis of Reaganomics.

Click here to listen to The Ramble (at about a minute into the show).
Above Photo Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library.

Fashion Statement: “Put Your Hands Up”

Posted on March 13, 2008 by admin Filed Under Articles, Fashion, Special Buckles, Video | 1 Comment

So here’s a twist on the gun/belt buckle connection. Instead of concealing an actual gun, a store in Pine Ridge, Idaho sells belt buckles that reveal them. The stores owner claims they are among their most in demand accessories. They’re fake, at least–some encrusted with diamonds and fur–but since when did it become cool to wear a plastic gun around your waist? In New York, that might get you shot. The po po don’t take kindly to kids who carry what appear to be weapons, whether diamond encrusted or not. Click here for the story and video.

Homage to a True American Cowboy

Posted on February 8, 2008 by admin Filed Under Quotes, Video | 3 Comments

As my Grandpa’s birthday approaches I thought I’d share a few of the many wise words he spoke. He passed at 55, when I was just five years old, but my memory of him is as vivid as if he was sitting next to me now.

He was a true American cowboy. An engineer by trade–working for the “outer space program”, as my Texas-accented Grandma used to say–he held fast to his cowboy roots. He was soft-spoken but firm, gentle but mighty. He’d put on a pair of dusty Levi’s and work on his truck every Saturday morning with a Budweiser on the garage shelf and Buck Owens playing on the radio. When I’d spend weekends with him and my Grandma he’d give me a quarter if I finished my oatmeal before he did: “One for the money, two for the show” was how our race always began. He always let me win.

Anyway, a few of his favorite phrases come to mind whenever I think of him.

On loose-lipped, fast-talkin’: “Speak slowly. Think quickly”.

On being a good listener: “Never miss a chance to shut up and learn”.

On women who wore tight clothes and too much makeup: “She’s rode hard and hung up wet”.

And on western belt buckles: “A good belt buckle will keep your pants up but only careful consideration and plain talk will keep your head on straight”.

Hats off to you, Grandpa.

For more cowboy quotes, click here. Listen to Buck Owens sing one of my (and my Granpa’s) favorite songs below.

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