Belted Cow artist Alison Bramhall is passionate about color in her work and play.  She is constantly pushing the boundary with bright energetic colors on her belt designs.  Alison has created some of our most vivid ribbon designs including Beach Blocks, Starfish, Haiti Help, Sea Turtles, and Go Girl Go.  Come along as we spend some time with the artist in her home studio to learn more about the artist, her inspirations and her life.  Take a look.

Just visited with a good friend who recently had a double mastectomy.  With astonishingly good humor she proudly showed me the wig she had just picked out in the morning – a  sexy, straight haired beauty; Raquel Welch Signature Line.  Now I realize that not everyone under…say 30, will know Raquel Welch, but I guarantee most everyone with at least one gray hair will.  My wonderful friend commented on the irony of Raquel Welch (who made her name with her striking good looks and notable breasts)  is now the marquis name in high quality wigs, often purchased by those who may have just undergone a mastectomy.  Funny the twists of the world, but  I can’t help applaud Raquel Welch for endorsing something with so worthy of purpose.  My friend also commented 3 different times to me on how lost and adrift she would feel if she did not have adequate insurance and family support.  Her heartfelt observation made me proud to be associated with a company like The Belted Cow Company who recognizes the importance of organizations like the Maine Cancer Foundation, dedicated to advancing the path to a cancer-free future.  Please check them out and while you’re at it, thank you for taking a peek at The Belted Cow Company’s pink ribbon collection, a line that contributes 25% of all gross proceeds to the Maine Cancer Foundation.

Ok, I admit that I’m a fair weather tennis fan, but was mesmerized watching the U.S. Open men’s final this evening between Spaniard, Rafael Nadal and Serb,  Novak Djokovic.  A  powerful display of explosive athleticism and finesse by both players. 

So as I’m watching, Nadal work his way toward to the record books as the seventh man in history to win tennis’ triple crown (i.e. winning 3 of 4 Grand Slam tournaments, consisting of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbleton and the U.S. Open).  I’m thinking, like most everyone who plays or watches tennis from time to time, “what’s the deal with this bizarre scoring system?”  I mean, Love, 15, 30, 40? C’mon!

One would expect the roots of such a singular scoring system to be clear, but interestingly, they’re not.  Apparently most agree on the roots of “Love,” which is derived from the French word for egg, “l’oeuf”, symbolizing the round shaped zero, or nothing, but the 15, 30 and 40 are less clear.  With French and medieval roots, some say that the numbers reflect the face of a clock at the end of the court and with every point, the hand was one-quarter turned, until the “win” at 60.  Well, this makes some sense, but doesn’t really explain the “40,” although many say the “5” portion of the 45 was just dropped for convenience, as was the “60.”  The other explanation has to do with medieval numerology whereby “60” was considered a “complete” number, (like our modern day “100”) and the 4 point system was based on 4 even splits of that number (oops, with an appreciated 45 again). 

Regardless, while I’m on the etymology kick, I do like the derivation of the word, “tennis,” which apparently comes from French tradition of calling out “tenez!” (take this!) before serving.

I’d like to call out “tenez!” before serving you this great new tennis belt from The Belted Cow Company.

Having just walked the Brunswick (Maine) Sidewalk Art Festival, it occurs to us that summertime in Maine, among many other things, is a festival of festivals.  It seems every town has at least one summer festival and some have many.  Clam Festival, Lobster Festival, Blueberry Festival, music festivals, craft festivals…the list is endless!  Of course Maine holds no exclusive and we recently learned of a most interesting festival in Nevada that makes Maine festivals look dowright docile.  One of Belted Cow’s newest team members is actually the Maine Regional Coordinator for the Burning Man Festival.   Always in search of new ideas for designs, the Belted Cow Company tagged along  this year to experience first hand the 2010 Burning Man Festival. 

Wow!

It’s practically impossible to describe Burning Man in words.  But it’s worth meandering through many websites devoted to this most unique “festival” that is a combination of art, music and pyrotechnics– all taking place once a year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert (also known as “the playa”) where a temporary city (i.e. 50,000 “burners” strong) come “to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.  They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever.” Photos definitely help with an explantion.   Google “Burning Man Photos” for some of the many sites devoted to recording what goes on.  Taking place this year, as every year, the Monday before the American Labor day, the event is named from the annual burning of a gigantic wood effigy on Saturday evening before the event closes.  We are fascinated and hope to transfer a similar energy, creativity and freshness to our designs. 

Had dinner last night with a limnologist (I didn’t know either), who had to tell me that a limnologist is to fresh water as an oceanographer is to salt water bodies.  The he proceeded to tell me of some research in which he was involved on a freshwater lake in Siberia  that holds about 20% of the world’s fresh surface water!  Twenty percent?  One lake?  I doubted it.  But as it turns out, he is correct, Lake Baikal is the not only the oldest (25 million years old) and deepest (5,385-ft.!) lake in the world, but indeed contains approximately 20% of the world’s fresh water.  Incredible!  What’s really interesting to me is that the surface area of the lake (12,248 square miles) is less than Lake Superior or Lake Victoria.  Sorry to keep quoting statistics, but this is quite amazing.  Then, incredibly, the lake is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, over one thousand of which can be found nowhere else in the world!

Ok, I’ll stop with the stats.  It’s not  easy to get to the “Pearl of Siberia,” but definitely wear warm clothes –even in summer.  And if you decide to go fishing, send us some drawings so that we can add some more freshwater fish to The Belted Cow Company’s  freshwater fish and fly belt.

Ok, I’ll admit it, I want to meet Lisbeth Salander.   And when I do, I want to give her a gift.  There is only one item that the Belted Cow Company makes that she would enjoy, so this is what I intend to give her.

Scott -

So I have to admit that as much as Maine has to offer, we are probably not the epicenter of culture.  For instance, when my brother started talking about Joshua Bell, I had no idea that he was referring to a man who unquestionably is one of, if not the, best violinists in the world.  Anyway, he told me a great story about Mr. Bell, who about 3 years ago, agreed to be planted as a busker in the DC subway station to see if uninformed passerby’s would stop and listen to this unique talent (typically commanding $1,000 per minute) playing his $3.5 million Stradivari for one hour.  Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post writes a fascinating piece of what happened.   I don’t want to give it away because it is worth a read.  Read it here.   I know, this is perhaps old news now, but hey, maybe some others culturally deprived readers may have missed the story and can enjoy it now.  Maybe we can add a little culture around your waist too!  Check out our Guitar Fret design at the Belted Cow Company. 

Scott -

Thanks to all our Belted Cow customers who submitted photos for our 1st photo contest.  It was a huge success and we received some really great photos from all over the place. It was great to see how far and wide the Belted Cow travels.  We are already looking forward to a Fall contest so get your shutter finger ready.  For the 2010 Summer Photo contest we selected:

Camilla sporting her History of the US Flag collar near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  Nick, her owner, will receive a $150 gift certificate from the Belted Cow.  We think Camilla has her eye on a few more collars.

Our second photo contest winner is Devon Anderson.  Here he is in Pownal, Maine doing what he loves best – working on wooden boats and wearing his HOC Crew blades belt.  There will be more belts in Devon’s future when he receives his $150 Belted Cow gift certificate. 

Hey, for you English major types who are intrigued by the wonders of world, but run the other way at the mention of science, may I recommend a fabulous book (not so new any longer, but still VERY worthwhile) by Bill Bryson called A Short History of Nearly Everything.  (Broadway Books, 2003).  Since I can’t begin to do it justice with a review, here’s a random excerpt:

The Right Kind of Planet.  I don’t imagine even many geophysicists, when asked to count their blessings, would include living on a planet with a molten interior, but it’s a pretty near certainty that without all that magma swirling around beneath us we wouldn’t be here right now.  Apart from much else, our lively interior created the outgassing that helped to build an atmosphere and provided us with the magnetic field that shields us from cosmic radiation.  It also gave us plate tectonics, which continually renews and rumples the surface.  If Earth were perfectly smooth, it would be covered everywhere with water to a depth of four kilometers.  There might be life in that lonesome ocean, but there certainly wouldn’t be baseball.

…What?  No baseball!  Check out the Belted Cow Company’s “Classic  Baseball” belt design to help celebrate what we do have!

Scott
- Belted Cow Bard

I normally don’t read many articles from Sunday newspaper inserts, but over the July 4^th weekend, I read an interesting account of the circumstances giving birth to our current national anthem.  I guess everybody knows that the Star Spangled Banner referred to in our National Anthem refers to the flag flying over Fort McHenry amid British Royal Navy bombardment during the war of 1812.  (The actual Battle of Fort McHenry took place in 1814).  Interesting to me was that the 15-star, 15-stripe flag was actually sent to England for safe keeping during the American Civil War.  Nice ironic twist there, huh.

 But what intrigued me most about Francis Scott Key’s poem is that Fort McHenry actually flew two flags, a smaller “storm flag” during the night of the battle and a larger one at dawn to signify that the Americans had held their ground.  Also, according to Wikapeadia, the tune is that of a British drinking song, The Anacreontic Song, from a London social club, the Anacreontic Society.  Funny- the Battle was against the Brits, yet their culture seems wrapped up in our National Anthem. 

 Finally, I guess that I knew, but really didn’t, that the song has four verses.  It seems so “complete” whenever I hear it, that it escapes me that there is more to the poem (song).  So, for the curious, I’ve included all four stanzas below, as well as an image of the flag design that flew over Fort McHenry.  Check out the Belted Cow Company’s, Historical Flag Designs that depicts the Star-spangled banner flag as well as other historically significant American flag designs.  It’s a classy, but not ostentatious, way to express patriotic pride.

 The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Scott Samuelson
Belted Cow “Bard”