Monday, September 10, 2012


I would ask everyone check out the links on this post.

Please visit Rescue 1's web site to see some of the others and the great history that they where a part of.
http://www.rescue1fdny.com/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please visit our own squidkidd's dad site and see what a wonderful project he took upon himself to under take. I will never be able to thank Henry Kidd enough for all he has done.
http://www.henrykiddart.com/91101.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;




I can't believe another years has gone by. I'm sure most of everyone knows by now that I was originally from the "Big Apple." I lived there for the first 33 years of my life and always wanted to be a New York City firemen since I was 5. I had the honor to know a few of the guys from Rescue 1 and was very supportive when I was taking all the test to just make the list. They where there for me from the moment I put in my application to when I got the letter to start the academy. It took a total of 8 years from the point of the application until they starting calling people. The FDNY had the biggest list prior to 9/11. My list was 42,631 deep. The guys from rescue one kept my spirits up and would offer to pay any of the fees that was needed to take the test. I don't think I could have done it without their support. It went a long way.

I worked as personal trainer in a near by gym and would see them almost every day. They would ask me to go with them on ride-a-longs and if they ever saw me walking home they would give me a lift home ( at the time I lived right down the block from them). I got dragged to a few fires because of it but that was ok. Thats where I wanted to be anyway.

When I did finally got the letter to start in the FDNY I had moved out west 4 months before for my wife's job. I had to turn down the FDNY 2 days before my start date. It was the hardest thing I had to do. Now being out west and had to start the whole thing from scratch I used their strength of character to get though all the training. I had to start a little older than most guys but got though everything and enjoyed every moment.

I wanted to share this with everyone here so they know a little something about these guys that meant so much to me. They gave so much so I think we should remember them this day of September 11
.
Firefighter Patrick O'Keefe Rescue1




Battalion Chief John Moran Battalion 49



Lieutenant Dennis Mojica Rescue 1


Captain Terrance Hattan Resue 1


Captain Patrick Brown Ladder 3

Firefighter Joseph Angelini sr. Rescue 1


The biggest regret I have is not going fishing with my friend Patrick. I will miss him and all the guys that I now call fallen brothers.


Please don't forget what they did on that day.


John

Friday, September 7, 2012


I wanted to give everyone a peak at how I work. I know most think I work one hat at a time but that would not be very productive at all. I work on a dozen and a half at a time. Sometimes more, sometimes less. This is one reason why I can't give an exact time for when ones hat will be done. A month is all I can do at this time.

 Im going to start with 4 photo's and add to them when I can. I'm open to any questions you might ask.

I'm going to start with me prepping bows/ribbon and sweatbands while I wait for the felt bodies to dry at one point of the production.





As you can see that I built and prepped the bows and measured and cut the sweatbands.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I'm sorry to inform everyone about some very sad news. The Mascot of the Penman hat co. (and good friend of mine) Mack had Lymphoma spread though out  his body. I had to help him pass on this past monday morning . Mack was only 5 1/2 years old. He will remain on the liners of all my hats like he has been since I started this company. I'm sorry to all those customers that I didn't respond to in these past two weeks when he was really sick and needed my attention. I am now back on to work and responding to phone calls and e-mails. Thank you all for your understanding.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A real american hero

I just wanted to share that my very good friend Barney Krein's book is now out. There is a soft cover, hard cover and soon to be a e-book. Its a great read, written by a man who wore many hats in his life. I designed the cover and wrote the introduction as well as the afterwards. Thank you in advance for taking a look.

here is the link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1456763369/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_8I83ob01ANKQH
I will keep everyone posted when the ebook is out.

John

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Cigars and hats

I had a great time attending this cigar event this past week. I had a great time with everyone. Enjoy the read.


Smokin' Ladies Night at The Mark : Expanding the Cigar Community even further

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Brenton Agena, Portland Cigar Examiner
December 1, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.
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Opening the frosted glass door to The Mark’s cigar and sports bar, I was taken by surprise. This establishment – soon to be reviewed in full – which normally provided a much needed service of a estside cigar sanctuary for cigar aficionados was transformed! The door had opened into an alternate dimension where men and women smoked cigars and drank scotch together. It was a realm of pure cohesion between men and the fairer sex encapsulated by scents of tobacco and cedar. Previously the only women to be seen in the room filled with billowing smoke and sports-based conversation were serving drinks and delivering food orders. Tonight was different. Tonight was buzzing. At the risk of concluding in the opening paragraph, Lady’s Night was a good night at The Mark.

Lady’s Night at The Mark is a brainchild of a very prominent member of the Portland cigar community. Cigar Lady PDX or Ruth as most refer to as, is the founder of the Smokin’ Ladies club and the event’s MC. Fluttering from group to group, this social butterfly carried herself with poise while seeming to be constantly be in motion, only taking time to enjoy small moments of cigar appreciation. Ruth had packed The Mark’s cigar room with enough points of interest to keep everyone in the room engaged throughout the evening. The sweet sounds of Mario Depriest’s voice carried through the room like a warm blanket as he sang classic holiday tunes as well as some jazz and blues standards to keep the mood just so.

What truly stood out about the event was the representation of some local companies. Ruth is a large supporter of local business growth and invited several companies to set up tables at the event both for advertising and educational purposes. There was a fantastic scotch sampling table offering several options of single malt and blended scotches as well all with a friendly education of each bottle being offered. Befittingly, next to the scotch sampling was Broadway Cigar’s table, well stocked and offering boxes of cigars at event prices as well as high quality accessories including Cuban Crafter cigar cutters. One of the best examples of local talent in the room was the presence of John Penman of Penman Hats. This outrageously talented hatter is based in Hillsboro and produces what may be the finest handmade rabbit and beaver hats you can find. The quality of these wet-blocked and hand-stitched hats rival that of the finest cappellerias in Italy. John is also the creator of one-off women’s hats that can set off any ensemble with a sense of propriety and flair.

As this event is designed to appeal to female cigar enthusiasts, the offerings were not limited to scotch, smokes and fine hats. Spread throughout the event were tables filled with beautiful jewelry and lingerie by oh Baby Lingerie, as well as a fantastic chair massage offered by Jermaine Peake. For any shoe and handbag craving present, Gregory from Inspire Your Attire was on hand to quench that thirst. The feminine touch was complete with representation by the beautiful Elizabeth and Jennifer from VIPMedispa based in Clackamas. The two aestheticians were on hand enjoying the offerings of the evening and socializing openly aside an army of over a dozen female cigar enthusiasts.

The evening carried on strongly past its scheduled end time. As if the patrons of the event didn’t want to see it come to a close. The concept of men and women all getting together to enjoy a smoke and conversation is well-conceived but rarely executed. This was the perfect realization of that notion. When asked what about the event appealed to women and what they thought about the cigar hobby in general  VIPMedispa Elizabeth responded with the notion that , “... appreciating [cigars] requires maturity and appreciation for finer things. It involves a bit of class and refined tastes…” I couldn’t agree more.

For information on the next Lady’s Night and other events being thrown by Ruth, check out her blog at cigarladypdx.com

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Howard Hughes replica




Hey everyone. Just wanted to share a big trill for me. yesterday I delivered a hat I made for the Evergreen Museum for the Howard Hughes H1 or as better known as "the Spruce Goose" exhibit. It was a honor to make this hat and a big trill to say the least. I spent months working to get this hat as accurate as possible and had access to parts of the plane that no one has been in over 9 years. I have to give a big thank you to brian aka squidkidd for coming along to take some amazing photo's. Im sure he was trilled because he took shots that you just can't take. A big sound out to stewart and Wayne from the museum. Easy guys to like and work with. I had a blast and now on to the pics.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

update 9/24/11

just finishing off of September orders. just one or two will run over to October. October orders look like they should be running on time.

john

Saturday, September 10, 2011

9/11

I'm just going to re-post this. I miss them greatly.

I would ask everyone check out the links on this post.

Please visit Rescue 1's web site to see some of the others and the great history that they where a part of.
http://www.rescue1fdny.com/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please visit our own squidkidd's dad site and see what a wonderful project he took upon himself to under take. I will never be able to thank Henry Kidd enough for all he has done.
http://www.henrykiddart.com/91101.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;




I can't believe another years has gone by. I'm sure most of everyone knows by now that I was originally from the "Big Apple." I lived there for the first 33 years of my life and always wanted to be a New York City firemen since I was 5. I had the honor to know a few of the guys from Rescue 1 and was very supportive when I was taking all the test to just make the list. They where there for me from the moment I put in my application to when I got the letter to start the academy. It took a total of 8 years from the point of the application until they starting calling people. The FDNY had the biggest list prior to 9/11. My list was 42,631 deep. The guys from rescue one kept my spirits up and would offer to pay any of the fees that was needed to take the test. I don't think I could have done it without their support. It went a long way.

I worked as personal trainer in a near by gym and would see them almost every day. They would ask me to go with them on ride-a-longs and if they ever saw me walking home they would give me a lift home ( at the time I lived right down the block from them). I got dragged to a few fires because of it but that was ok. Thats where I wanted to be anyway.

When I did finally got the letter to start in the FDNY I had moved out west 4 months before for my wife's job. I had to turn down the FDNY 2 days before my start date. It was the hardest thing I had to do. Now being out west and had to start the whole thing from scratch I used their strength of character to get though all the training. I had to start a little older than most guys but got though everything and enjoyed every moment.

I wanted to share this with everyone here so they know a little something about these guys that meant so much to me. They gave so much so I think we should remember them this day of September 11
.
Firefighter Patrick O'Keefe Rescue1




Battalion Chief John Moran Battalion 49



Lieutenant Dennis Mojica Rescue 1


Captain Terrance Hattan Resue 1


Captain Patrick Brown Ladder 3

Firefighter Joseph Angelini sr. Rescue 1


The biggest regret I have is not going fishing with my friend Patrick. I will miss him and all the guys that I now call fallen brothers.


Please don't forget what they did on that day.


John

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Leverage/kane

 I had the pleasure recently to make a hat for the hit TNT show Leverage worn by Christian kane. here are a few shot from season 4 called "Boiler Room."




Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Portland Hat Parade

Portland had there 2nd annual hat parade this past weekend. I'm very sorry that I couldn't make it this year but Alyce from that hat museum was there in all her glory.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/124544314.html

Saturday, June 11, 2011

June orders are going well. Everyone should be on time. Looking ahead to July orders and they should be running on time as well.

Monday, May 23, 2011

update 5/23/2011

rapping up May orders and starting on Orders due in June. Things are looking good time wise.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

update 5/18/2011

just wanted to keep everyone posted. Running on time with all orders as of date. should be running on time with all order over the summer months but will keep everyone posted.