Just got word of a North Face sample sale going on today only. Here are the details. Thanks to Caleb for the info:

Here’s a little info on the sale we discussed earlier. Its taking place in a corporate business park in Tukwila from 9-5 today. All items are on sale for 40% below wholesale. Wholesale, of course, is typically 50% below retail. If you do the math, today’s sample sale pricing is about 72% below retail. The merchandise is not factory seconds, returns, or anything else. All of the items are brand new, first condition. They may have been used in a photo shoot or been on display in a corporate office at some point, but that’s about it. Some of the items are one-of-a-kind items that were designed and produced individually, but never produced in large quantities for distribution. All Clothing for men & women are size Medium, though there is a great deal of variation in the sizing. They do have some junior clothing, but not toddler. They have a ton of nice day packs and smaller hiking packs as well. Again, all priced 40% below wholesale.

A friend of mine asked me if I knew of any companies that produced clothing labels and tags. I had come across this issue too while I was thinking of producing more t-shirts, but all my research was old. I asked a few friends with ties to fashion industry for some help digging up some information. Many thanks to Courtney, Lissy, and Peter for the info below:

Avery Dennison/Paxar
Westlake Village, CA
(818) 735-5000

Tagtime USA
Corporate office: Vernon, CA
(866) TAG-TIME

Northwest location: Bothell, WA
(425) 329-2633

BCI Labels
Seattle, WA
(206) 937-3000
info@bcilabels.com

Just learned of a hard-to-miss $500 off coupon deal over at HP from the mobile experience blog. I understand this coupon is rare. If you’re about to purchase a new notebook computer jump on this coupon before it expires.

Just come through the email wire from my contact at Skateornot.com…pretty interesting that Burton is positioning itself as a boardsports coming, not simply a snowboard brand…

DNA Distribution, which includes skateboarding brands Alien Workshop, Habitat and Reflex, today announced that the company has been acquired by Burton.

The two companies began discussions over a year ago and found that they share a common approach in the way that they contribute to boardsports culture, including a commitment to creating long-lasting relationships with their teams of international athletes. In addition, both are committed to advancing and innovating hardgoods technologies, as well as the artistry and creativity associated with these sports; supporting a solid team of amateur riders; and providing best customer service practices.

The Cesario by Creative Recreation. Photographed by me with a Canon S110 Digital Elph.

It is a rare day that I step outside of my normal sneaker purchasing habit of Nikes, but because I work in a hip shop with different kinds of shoes I discovered a small shoe company called Creative Recreation or sometimes spelled Cr8tive Recreation.

When I first saw these shoes I was drawn to them because of their simplicity. You won’t find air windows here or anything reminiscent of the popular chunky urban sneakers around these days. No, the Cesario shoe, which is photographed above is mostly unadorned except for a metal Creative Recreation keychain. Perhaps the most flashy element of these shoes is the oversized velcro strap across the top of the foot.

The other night I was trying to find a cool photo sharing service. I’ve been using Flickr for artsy purposes, but I wanted something for sharing family photos so people could print the photos they wanted. I searched around the web and found a few services. I also found a nifty Kodak EasyShare add-on for Firefox here.
The Kodak EasyShare Photo Gallery is good for:

Sharing Photos
Ordering Digital Prints

You can do other things with the Kodak Gallery
like create a photo book, which would be cool to try out.

Just got an email today that the new Ride Chronicles is now up on the newly revamped 07/08 season website. This past snowboard season I purchased a Ride Decade 162 and it treated me well the whole season.

Check out Ride and the Decade at evogear

Or, read the latest edition of the Ride Chronicles here. You have to sign up to get them via email, but you can down load PDFs of past issues right from that link.

evo correspondent, Molly Hawkins, just posted photos of SIA and a write-up of the whole event from the latest product to parties, including one soiree featuring hip-hop legend Biz Markie. Read all about it at www.evoseattle.com/community.

Photographer and friend, Peter Dawson, passed this site along to me a couple mornings ago. The site, www.facesofskateboarding.com, represents a 160 page book featuring portraits of some of the best skateboarders in the world by photographer Daniel Mansson. You’ll see images of Tony Hawk, Tom Penny, Jason Lee, Danny Way, and others. It’s truly an epic work. Be sure to check out Daniel’s portfolio site too.

Since posting the, “Thank You Coffee Bean Farmers,” article a couple of days ago I got a few replies with links to coffee sites. I thought it would be good to make these links a post so everyone can visit them who is interested.

Finca Vista Hermosa (Guatemalan Coffee):
fincavistahermosa.wordpress.com
Edwin, from Finca Vista, told me that it takes the coffee beans from 1 tree to make 1lb of coffee!

Starbucks Documents the Entire Coffee Process:
starbucks.com/whatemakescoffeegood

Pura Vida Coffee (My insertion):
puravidacoffee.com