Do you Remember Hit Stix?

Do you remember Hit Stix? If you grew up in the 80's, you might remember: the toy that let you play drums without actually playing drums. Okay, I'll stop the nostalgia and move to explaining this contraption.

The toy featured a pair of rubber tipped drum sticks that cabled to a battery powered amp. Clip the amp to your belt and simply shake the sticks in the air to get a white noise snare-ish sound. (note: I didn’t know any 8-year-olds who wore belts – not sure about you). And the beauty of it was that you didn't actually have to hit the sticks against anything, but where's the fun in that?

Anyway, I always wanted the toy until a friend of mine got it and after trying it I realized how boring it actually was. I mean, sure it might have been better with the batteries in, but check out the commercial for yourself after the jump.

So, who wants in to start a band with me? All we need is Autotune. Now we can take over the world.

Jobs & Life

Since the lab has been pretty busy lately, sometimes I need an "upper" to get me through the night. And, when I talk about an upper it doesn't come from a "can of caffeine" or from a pill; It is usually through music or videos. Last night's inspiration came from Steve Jobs 2005 commencement speech. Personally, I found his speech to be very motivational, so I wanted to share it with you guys.

Win a Free T-shirt!

Thanks to everyone that submitted an entry so far. The response has been great! We didn't expect to get this many responses. So for everyone who is late, Don't miss a chance to win a free t-shirt! Send your entries to contest@weargrits.com with your basic info. One winner will receive a free t-shirt of their choice from our upcoming release! This contest ends this Friday, July 30th.

EXTRA EXTRA– Read all about it!

I don’t ever want my customers to feel like they’re just buying a t-shirt. With the packaging, design, exclusivity, and experience set aside – I want you to feel like you’re a part of a club, a clubhouse, a family. So I figured, what's better than to just expand The Chattabox to print. Here is a sneak peek of The Chattabox Zine. We will be distributing them at our booth at the upcoming H-town Sneaker Summit this Sunday. We will also be including a couple in every online order after August 1st, free of charge. So feel free to share with your friends!

The War of Art

As I get closer to a deadline, there is always a fear of not shipping on time or even not at all. Shipping is always fraught with risk and responsibility. When you launch a new product or design you expose yourself to criticism, but these are the negative consequences that come with launching any idea.

Its no wonder when launching you experience anxiety.

But, you don't have much choice. Would you rather not do anything or do something "less risky?"

Since we are going to do it anyway, why bother aiding our anxieties?

So, If you have the same issues, I just finished a book that may help. It definitely gave me a kick in the ass. Its called the "War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. I recommend it to anyone trying to get pass their own creative hurdles.

Tools of the Trade

Plenty of late nights can make you crazy or make you a genius. This is what it takes to operate on the same level of Pharrell (If you don't know who that is. Wiki Here)

In order to do that, we don’t get to hate our job. We don’t get to be indecisive. We don’t get to daydream about one day getting a better paying job. No, we’ve got to be totally into it from Day One. No slackers allowed.

No Grits No Glory

Do you remember?

Reading Rainbow. This show was best for all us latchkey kids. For a half an hour we sat down with LeVar Burton and learned that our imagination was freedom and books were the door to uncharted worlds. Well at least for 30 minutes, then it was on to the next thing.

I dont know if the children today have anything similar to the show. But, I know one thing for sure; if you grew up in the 80's - early 2000's you knew this theme song.

It's never too early...

There isn't a week that has gone by, so far, that a friend or random person hasn't asked me, "How do you do what you love to do? and what could I do to do the same?"

I always have the same answer, "Start right now. Do it now." Don't act like you are an artist, writer, or a consultant. Be an artist, writer or a consultant. Whatever you apply your energy to, apply it fully.

The earlier you start on your path, the easier it will be to actually create something and pull it off. It's never too early to start.

No Grits No Glory

Grits Contest!

For those who haven't seen this character, he has been hanging around Grits for sometime now: Appearing at meetings, events, and somehow in our ads। Anyway, after much discussion, we made him our unofficial mascot. So today I make it official, he is on the roster. But, the only problem is we don't have a name for him. So instead of us doing all the hard work, we figured you can do it for us.

We are taking suggestions for a for our new friend. Send names to contest@weargrits.com with your basic info. Our 5 favorite submissions will be featured here on the Chattabox. One winner will receive a free t-shirt of their choice from our upcoming release! This contest ends July 30th.

Keep it creative!

Do you remember Captain Planet?

Do you remember the cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers? I used to watch it all the time when I was kid. For those who didn't get the opportunity to experience the show, The Planeteers were like the cartoon equivelant of the Benetton ads from the 80's. All the races get together to save the world from the evils of pollution.

The Planeteers consist of Kwame-Earth, Wheeler-Fire, Linka-Power of Wind, Gi-Power of Water and Ma-ti-Power of Heart. Everybody wanted to be fire and nobody wanted to be heart. Poor Ma-ti. It was the equivalent of being picked last for the basketball game. Anyway, when the Planeteers found themselves in situations they could not solve individually, they would combine their powers and summon Captain Planet; like the Earth's own version of Superman. Despite his vulnerability to pollution, He would always put the bad guys away.

I wonder what Captain Planet would do in the midst of the BP Spill? I am sure that He would put BP's CEO Tony Hayward (Looten Plunder) in jail.

I miss cartoons like that, especially the theme music. Matter of fact, lets jam.

"The power is yours!"