We’re back with Beck—and this time we’re making music. A whole album of it!
Beck’s Song Reader album is the first officially recorded incarnation of the sheet music album he released in late 2012. Produced by Randall Poster and Beck, the 20-track collection features interpretations by Jack White, Jeff Tweedy, David Johansen, Jason Isbell, Fun., Eleanor Friedberger, and many more (including Beck, because DUH).
The limited-edition Carmichael frame has also returned in a new two-toned hue: Black Cherry. And just for good measure, we’ve also released an updated edition of Beck’s Song Reader (the book version) with McSweeney’s.
Click here to give the album a listen or the frame a look-see.
All album sale proceeds will go to 826 National, a non-profit dedicated to cultivating writing skills in students aged 6-18.
On July 9, 1984, President Ronald Regan officially designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.
On July 9, 1984, President Ronald Reagan officially designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day, stating, “I call upon the people of the United States to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”
Well, if you insist, Mr. President.
Following strict orders from the former commander-in-chief, the copy team recently struck out on a soft-serve crawl of lower Manhattan. Why soft serve? It’s twice as lickable as normal ice cream, comes in a pleasing swirly shape and is apparently trending. There’s also a convenience factor. As one team member noted, “You can consume it much faster—and the toppings tend to stay put.”
On a recent blisteringly-hot Friday afternoon, the team took a stroll to seven of downtown New York City’s best soft serve shops. Here is the review.
Filled with an unimaginable amount of excitement, we walked up to the counter, looked at the menu and saw exactly zero ice cream options. Is this a joke? Nope. Epic fail.
The goat’s milk soft serve was delicious—and especially creamy. We tried a handful of flavors, but the Tangy Goat Milk with dried mulberries was a clear favorite. Also recommended: Chocolate Rosemary and Salted Caramel.
Bonus: The employees were incredibly nice, and a World Cup game was showing on TV.
Here we ordered two sundae varieties: a Mermaid (vanilla soft serve, key lime curd, crushed graham crackers, whipped cream) and a Salty Pimp (vanilla soft serve, dulce de leche, sea salt, chocolate dip). The Salty Pimp contained seductive veins of dulce de leche. “I was worried the Salty Pimp would remind me of licking a man’s skin, due to the name, but it did not,” observed one team member.
The Mermaid was equally enchanting, with its ripples of tangy lime curd. “Curd” is such a gross word for what it is.
Immediately after this photo was taken, we poured the rest of the ice cream out to pay respects.
As lunchtime hit, we decided to consolidate our dietary efforts into one meal. One copy team member (a Florida native) swore by the Chicken Strip Basket, so we sprang for the combo.
The Mini Mint OREO® Blizzard® was the sweetest treat of the day. After dipping a French fry into the Blizzard, one copy team member explained that, “It had potential, but the mint was a little jarring with the potato.” Surprisingly, our Blizzard® had absolutely zero odor. (Any scientists out there who can tell us why?)
Fun fact #1: The first brain freeze of the outing occurred here.
Fun fact #2: DQ founder J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, claim to have invented soft serve in the mid 1930s.
Just as our bellies were starting to show and our pants were “mysteriously” beginning to unbutton, one copy team member pulled an audible and pulled the team into Off the Wall. Although not previously on our itinerary, this stop provided us with an invaluable learning experience: always squat when dealing with self-serve yogurt.
A slight hesitation filled the air as we walked into Chloe’s. “I don’t know if I can get excited about fruit in a bowl,” admitted one team member.
We couldn’t have been more wrong about this sleeper hit. A tropical concoction of mango, pineapple, berries, and coconut shavings proved to us that fruit can be delightful on its own.
The shop’s soundtrack of mid-era Ashlee Simpson songs (yes!) and XL-sized cups of free ice water sweetened the deal.
At this point, we were feeling uncomfortable and queasy. One team member had jam on her leg. A slurry of fruit, heavy cream, milk, chocolate, and flavoring agents sloshed against our stomach walls as we waddled up to the counter.
We ordered the classic: Cereal Milk™ soft serve with crunch. It was very tasty (and salty!), but we were unfortunately forced to retire our spoons after a few dozen bites. We had reached our limit.
A desk can tell you a lot about a person—and we think we’ve got some pretty interesting ones here in our office. These are the stories of our favorites (and the folks who sit behind them).
A desk can tell you a lot about a person, and these are the stories of our favorites. (Desks, that is. And also people.)
Lee Ellis, Business Analyst
Hot leads/sales posters
“Our team’s goal this quarter was to support the launch of new products in stores and online. To reflect our mission, we named our team ‘the Sales team.’ We put up a folder for leads and tossed up a few business-y looking graphs (with fake data). The cat? I just think the cat is cute.”
“I use this when I’m testing new features in our custom-built Point of Sale system. Next quarter, we’ll be adding a lot of great features that our employees and customers have been asking for. This baby is going to get a lot of use.”
Readers
“I wear the Rowan frame in Graphite Fog. I was prescribed readers at my last eye exam here. People kid me for needing them, but they make working at a computer all day much more tolerable on the eyes. Also, I really like pushing them down my nose when making an important point.”
Created by: Warby Parker x Uncrate
Frame material: black matte acetate
Hinges: three-barrel with Teflon-coated screws
Lenses: lightweight, flexible nylon lenses with hydrophobic Zeiss Ri-Pel coating
Design: bridge, end pieces, and angled teardrop shape inspired by iconic curves of 1960s-era European sports cars
Number produced: 500
Valued at: $145
A desk can tell you a lot about a person—and we think we’ve got some pretty interesting ones here in our office. These are the stories of our favorites (and the folks who sit behind them).
A desk can tell you a lot about a person, and these are the stories of our favorites. (Desks, that is. And also people.)
Mara Isip, Senior Graphic Designer
Summer 2014 creative
“There’s a lot of design debris on my desk, but it always makes a colorful cluster. I collected these Pantone chips to reference the color palette of our Summer 2014 Collection. We use these palettes on everything from the website to the photo shoots to the visual displays in stores. It helps bring it all together.”
Toy car
“The yellow Mini Cooper was used as a prop on our Home Try-On page. It’s nice to keep something you can fidget/play with at your desk—it helps me think. My dad was a car designer and used to keep car models around the perimeter of his workspace, so it’s kind of a nod to him, too.”
1922 Collection frame box
“This is the leather block for the 1922 Collection, which we displayed with the frames in-store when the collection launched. I designed the logo that is embossed in it. I kept it because it was the first project I worked on here. It went kind of like ‘Oh hey, we’re launching a new collection inspired by the 1920s next week….go!’ And the rest is history.”
Thank you card
“I ordered a cat greeting card on Etsy called ‘Jazz Pants’ and received this note from the seller. It reads, ‘Mara, enjoy your Jazz Pants! P.S. I just ordered glasses from Warby Parker— had to mention!’ The note was so nice and personal that I had to hang it up. Support your local cat lovers!”
Sunglasses
“I tend to wear oversized sunglasses, but prefer if they’re not too overpowering. Reilly is a good in-between. And I like to imagine they’re named after John C. Reilly.”