Matt Helt | SecretPenguin Blog

Finally had a chance to catch my breath after three amazing days in LA. I’m sitting on a couch that’s located in Kurt Daradics house in Van Nuys, CA. Kurt, or KurtyD as his friends affectionately call him, is my host on this trip. To say he’s a juggernaut would be an understatement. The guy is on fire. As I’m writing this at almost 11 pm, he’s juggling phone calls, texts, emails, tweets and reading various blogs. Best of all, he does this with passion. The guy doesn’t complain. He just keeps moving forward, starting bonfires along the way. I feel very fortunate to be connected to this energy.

And what exactly is this energy? I wish I could explain it in a single post. But that’s impossible. No, it’s too deep for my simple mind to articulate. Let’s just say we’re on the cusp of something truly amazing. It’s like staring up at an avalanche the second the snow starts to break. You hear the crack and it starts to move your way. I’m in the “stunned” stage, wondering if I should run or let it overtake me. I’m thinking I’ll try to ride it out. See where it spits me out.

I’m sure this all sounds very cryptic and probably doesn’t make much sense. I feel like Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now when Marty Sheen arrives at Col. Kurtz’s camp. Talking about big ideas for three days can do that to a guy.

So I’ve got three days left here and I have a strong feeling that on day six of my trip I’ll head back to Omaha with a completely different outlook on how things can and should be done. As Duke Stump of Real 100 says, “Shift Happens.” Damn right it does.

SecretPenguin had the pleasure of presenting a runway show by our longtime client Autopilot. Alexia Thiele is the designer behind Autopilot and she put on quite the show. Here’s some photos from the event.

Poster for the show.

Alexia starting things off.

Great kids collection.

A dress from the adult collection.

Three dresses for the “Tilly and the Wall” collection.

Congrats to Alexia on her first solo show! It was really amazing to see her work come to life on the runway.

If you’re interested in anything you see, please contact Alexia at autopilot_art@yahoo.com.

When Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer with The New Yorker magazine and author of “The Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and “Outliers,” stopped by our studio yesterday we had only one thing in mind: Paddle Battle. Sure, we could have bombarded him with questions about his books (I’ve read all three) or bored him with our take on why extraordinary people succeed regardless of their surroundings. But no, we wanted to battle - and battle him we did. Here’s a couple of photos from the event. Be watching for the video of the full battle which will be featured on PaddleBattle.com next week.

Malcolm practicing his game with the frog paddle.

From Left: Malcolm, me, and Dave getting ready to start the battle.

Many thanks to Malcolm for taking the time to battle us! We hope he enjoyed his time in Omaha and was able to see what a great city this is.

Brad Douglas - Basket Case Mid Dunks

We’re proud to announce that we’re working with one of Omaha’s (and the nation’s for that matter) premier custom shoe designers - Brad Douglas. Brad puts his own spin on the Nike SB line of shoes. Keep an eye out for his new website, which we should be launching in the next couple of weeks.

Check out some of his work on NikeSB.org:

Basket Case Dunks

Grip Tape Dunks

We’re really excited to be working with such a talented designer!

SecretPenguin is honored to be working with the Kent Bellows Studio, an organization created to honor the life and work of Kent Bellows. Kent was an American Realist who created an amazing body of work.

We’ll be putting together the organization’s website over the next couple of months. The Studio has solicited the help of a lot of really talented people, so when they asked to be involved we were very flattered. Here’s a few photos of our visit to Kent’s studio yesterday morning.

Chair and Moon

Broken Glass

Heart and Flowers

Skeletons on the wall

We’ll keep you up to date on our progress. We look forward to working with Anne, Cathy, Jill, Katie, and Becca!

We had an amazing time out in L.A. last week! We met a bunch of really cool people and hung with a few old friends. Needless to say, we’re going to make every effort to get back out that way as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe we’ll need to set up a SecretPenguin Los Angeles office?! Here are some pics from the trip and a few from the photo shoot for our new client - Dr. Lisa.

Dave asleep on Richard Mulder’s couch. Thanks, Richard and Sarah!

The Hollywood sign.

The Capitol Records building.

Lindsay. She chauffeured Jon (her husband) and I around L.A. Thanks, Lindsay!

Jon & Lindsay, dropping me off at my hotel.

Lisa’s room at the Mondrian for the photo shoot. Amazing view towards downtown L.A.

Andrew Marinkovich, our photographer for this shoot.

The spread.

Dave dreaming of Hollywood stardom.

Creepy black hand. I guess body parts are considered accessories in L.A.

Dave reviewing photos during the shoot.

Dr. Lisa getting ready for a shot, with the help of the wonderful stylist, Martha Clark.

Dr. Lisa and Roland. Lisa was a real trooper that day. She’s got a lot of stamina!

Roland. Downtown L.A. out the window.

Special thanks to Andrew for doing such an amazing job!

Venice Beach

Bird of Paradise (Venice Beach)

Palms (Venice Beach)

Hotel (Marine Del Rey)

View from our room.

We’re excited to introduce you to a new friend of SecretPenguin! Dora, an adorable Chihuahua who resides in sunny California, sent us this picture of herself devouring her favorite toy, a penguin. Although we usually don’t condone the chewing of penguins, we’re willing to let Dora slide on this one knowing that this is actually a sign of affection (and it’s a toy, so… yeah). Anyone who loves penguins is a friend of ours, so we’re happy to welcome Dora to the SecretPenguin Family!

(Dora’s owner is Dr. Lisa Chong. Dr. Lisa is an ob/gyn who lives in L.A. and is an expert on teen sex issues. You’ll be hearing a lot about her this year!)

Mechanics

John Henry and I had braved the cold weather today to fix his sweet wagon.

I had the pleasure of participating in a standoff with a skunk yesterday while I was on a hike at Boyer Chute. The standoff ended when I yelled really loud at the skunk to move.