Author: catcutillo

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Editorial On the Detour Vermont

Inconceivable Style: Condom Jewelry & Fashion

Sarah Hoffert and Angie Hilow are tackling the inconceivable: Creating jewelry that’s fun, fashionable and prevents teen pregnancy.

They’ve created a line of condom-centered styles, which includes earrings, necklaces, boutonnieres, headbands and even a condom dress that is fashionable and 100% usable.

“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for someone to go out and feel great and to put on a splashy piece of jewelry that is different and fun and at the same time gives them easy access to condoms,” says Hoffert, the Teen Pregnancy and Outreach Specialist for Lund Family Center.

Hoffert says the condom creations are a way to celebrate Vermont teens making great decisions around safer sex. In fact, Vermont has the second lowest teen pregnancy rate in the entire country, and of the 40% of Vermont teens that have had sex, 65% use condoms.

“There are not a lot of opportunities to celebrate when it comes to teen pregnancy prevention, but we have this great local arts festival and part of it is a fashion show. We thought what a better way to promote how well Vermont is doing and to talk about the great decisions teens are making,” says Hoffert.

29-year-old Hoffert and 16-year-old Hilow, who is the Outreach Assistant, consider themselves the dream team fusing a multi-generational fashion viewpoint into each accessory.

“I am so lucky to have a 16-year-old perspective,” says Hoffert. “(Angie) is the height of cool so I always know if I’m going in the wrong direction she will bring me back. We’re really a dream team because we represent two women but different age groups and different populations that use condoms and we’re really have a fun time being creative and taking fashion risks with condoms,” says Hoffert.

Hilow says its been a lesson in thinking outside-the-box, “Nobody wears condoms but why not,” she says.

And as for the future, Hoffert and Hilow are hoping the Art Hop debut of their outside-the-box thinking will generate much more than a fashion trend.

“People (often) have this idea that teens are acting crazy and they don’t have an accurate idea of how great teens are doing in Vermont,” says Hoffert. “We’re trying to present a more accurate perception because we’re on the right track.”

 
Come see it at the Art Hop Strut Fashion Show:
Saturday, September 10th 2011
Under the SEABA tent
Behind the Maltex Building
431 Pine Street, Burlington, VT
SHOWTIMES 6:30 & 8:30 PM
$12 admission or $5 with an Art Hop Hero Button

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Families

Porch Days

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Families

Wyatt’s Birth

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On the Detour

A Good Buzz

Beekeeping has some sweet benefits—the most obvious being honey and then there’s the pollination perks of a plentiful garden.  In fact, bees help grow a third of our food, so when you keep them near your plants, you’re bound to see the payoffs in fruits and vegetables.  And beekeepers say the hobby nourishes them in other ways as well by relieving stress and triggering creativity.

Some of that creativity has even spilled over into the beekeeping itself.

Multimedia Producer Eva Sollberger captured a group of beekeepers in Shelburn, Vermont, who have been harvesting bees for more than 3 years.  What’s surprising is where these folks are living: A retirement community.  Eva’s video shows how both residents and visitors are getting much more than a sweet fix from this community beekeeping project. Check out her Stuck in Vermont video here.

And some beekeepers are taking the hobby to new heights, raising bees in locations that guarantee great views; that is Rooftop Beekeeping.  Last spring I produced a video on Urban Beekeeper Cameo Wood who opened up Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper in San Francisco, which Cameo said was the only Urban Beekeeping store in the world. The store closed last summer, but the swarm of Urban Beekeepers continues buzzing in cities around the world.  Check out the video “Buzz Kill” below.

And some beekeepers have even found a very entertaining way to wear their bees.

During The annual Clovermead Bee Beard Competition in Ontario, Canada, beekeepers compete for the “Best Bee Beard.”  This is a beard competition that might even scare the heavyweight beard builders from the Petaluma Whiskerino, which I posted about last October.

This year’s winner, Tibor Szabo, had 22,500 bees covering his entire face, neck, shoulders and hands.  Talk about a bee in his bonnet, It’s unclear how this man was even breathing.  See photos here.

“Buzz Kill” video produced last May on Urban Beekeeping in San Francisco

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On the Detour

I Hate to Burst Your Bubble

Jamie Marraccini must be a teacher’s worst nightmare.  Not only does he chomp gum regularly, he’s always sticking it to inanimate objects. But he has a good excuse; he’s a professional Gum Artist.  The Virginia native does things to Bubbalicious that would make even the strictest of disciplinarians soften.  Check out his work here.

And right up his alley would be Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California.  Equally interesting as it is gross, this has to be of the most chewed over passageways on the planet. Forty years worth of cold gum layer the walls of this alleyway saturating it with both color and saliva.

Some believe the gum-sticking started in the late 1950’s as a rivalry between San Luis Obispo High School and Cal Poly students while others say the tradition traces back to after WWII.  It even survived two cleanings in the 70′s.

But this landmark has stuck and paved the way for more recent gum attractions likeThe Gum Wall in downtown Seattle.  This conglomeration of used gum began around 1993 and was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009, second to the Blarney Stone.

Now there’s some eye candy that won’t lose its flavor anytime soon.