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Two pair here, one for distance and one for close up, both for the same client. The pair on the left sports an asymmetrical bridge and is made from Tulipwood. The other pair, made from Bloodwood, has small steel dots set throughout the wood to mimic a pattern of a star-scape in the sky of the country. A first time for Bloodwood and its inner glow makes me want to soon use it again.
Here is a bit of video to show the effects of the Starry Sky specs.
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The second portrait trade has been made. This one comes from Son Nguyen of San Jose. When Son offered the trade of his custom lego portraiture, I just couldn't pass up on this one. He made it huge too and so I made sure that everybody who enters my house will be greeted by my mug in legos. Son has some of his other work to look at here.
For Son's specs, he decided that he wanted the edges to be a bit more on the square side rather than slightly rounded which turned out well. And this is the first time I've used Panga Panga as a material and am very pleased with the resulting grain and look.
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An update on the wood glasses of Number (N)ine’s Takahiro Miyashita. When relaxing in NYC in early March, I made Barney's on Madison a priority pit stop. So I walked in there with my epoxy stained jeans and was directed to the eyewear department only to find that the Barney's rep had never even heard of Number (N)ine's wood eyewear. Its always great to hear that the New York Times does write ups on nonexistent products. (backstory)
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This pair is made from zircote. And there was a standard for wood specs set before me when making these as Petr has been wearing assorted wood frames for at least 10 years.
There is a new first that came with this pair and it's in the lenses. Petr wanted to have progressive bifocals (without the line) and I have heard of horror stories of them not working with peoples eyes if the lenses are off slightly. We went ahead and put progressives in and Petr sees excellently out of them. There is an extra step involved with these lenses as I had to send Petr the unfinished frames and he took them to an eye doc to get a seg height measurement so that the lenses and frames matched with his eyes. I just hope when I grow up I can rock the wood spectacles as well as Petr now does.
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A Sesame Street game for you using the two specs below. I suggest clicking the "PLAY" button which will open the song for you in another window while you are guessing away at the game.
Or if you are more literary minded, just skip the music all together and enjoy the lyrics.
"One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely...right!"
If you guessed that the inlays were changed, you are absolutely right. Don't ask me how I did it, but by slowly eating away at the original turquoise inlays (right), I was able to swap them for ebony inlays (left) at the wishes of a client. I was a bit nervous at the start of this operation as I wasn't sure if it would come out nice, but like most other daunting tasks I encounter, it seems to work well by pretending I can do them. And the results, in this case anyways, turned out just right.
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Here are a couple more pair made from Desert Ironwood that really show the variation and depth of its grain structure.
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Another pair made in a style I have done before but this time with Desert Ironwood. The more I work with this material, the more I find that it is certainly one of my favorites. It is so densely structured that its finish is almost as seamless as a solid piece of steel, or iron. The grain characteristics of ironwood are also very contrasty, leaving many bright tones of gold all the way to the very deep blacks swirling throughout. When viewed in the sunlight the grain really pops out well like an optical illusion.
Another great fact about this material is that it can only be harvested from naturally dead logs common to certain deserts of Arizona and Utah, into Mexico as well. But the point being that no trees are being cut down to produce this material, only gathered dead logs that have been baking in the sun for most likely over one hundred years.
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Professor Ray Fisman's Al Jazeera appearance, speaking about relationships, wearing Urban Spectacles.
His second pair, coming soon, really it is!
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Aaron Seckman moved from Chicago to Brooklyn a few months ago, but before he did, he worked tirelessly to finish this portrait of me. I know he spent much over 50 hours to complete this painting and I also feel that anyone who views this in person will be able to comprehend his quest for a pure and intricate portrayal of the figure. His work here has already blown away many of the visitors to my house and I'm sure it will continue to do so. Thank you Aaron, as I am completely honored to own a piece, or two, of your work. To anyone in the NYC area, if you would like a truly well painted portrait or just would like to speak with Aaron about his work, please contact him and I could promise that you will not be disappointed. Though, don't expect to get by with him painting from a photo as he prefers to paint the way his eyes see, with all the depths of you sitting in front of him.
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This pair was made as a sample for a professor at Harvard Business School. He wanted a pair that is very similar to his Mikli's and since i had not yet made a 1/2 frame style, I wanted to try it out before confirming with him that is would work. And the results proved well, it can be done. So after sending Prof. Gavetti the sample pair for his approval, we went ahead and made him a pair in this style (which will soon be appearing). This style was a challenge to think through, but I am very glad it was proposed as it now expands the collection into a whole new realm.
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I'm big in Taiwan! Well with the owner of Hot Ice Optical anyways. Originally he asked if he could carry my frames in his shop, but not being a machine and all, I can't really offer wholesale prices at this point. But it is possible that machines are in the horizon, maybe. Regardless, he wanted a pair for himself made from some Pink Floyd vinyl, so now there is a pair out there that can be called Tommy.
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A Bit of the Ole Compare and Contrast.
or
Ideas Are Made to be Stolen.
The pair on the bottom are mine. The pair on the top were seen in the September 16 issue of New York Times' T Magazine and will be sold at Barney's eventually. The designer behind this deal is Number (N)ine’s Takahiro Miyashita. My design on the bottom was seen all over New York in Absolute Magazine's September '07 issue, released somewhere around August 15th.
Wait a second. Something fishy's going on here.
I had to investigate further. Here Are My Results.
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A first time for this wood, desert ironwood burl. I am blown away with the distinct swirls of color variations this burl wood has to offer, and its grain structure is so tight that its finish resembles a flawless sheet of glass. I will look forward to offering this wood as a highly recommended choice from here out.
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This pair of record specs was made using Stxy's "Paradise Theater" album which has a hologram imprinted in the grooves of the record. If you catch the perfect glimpse of light, you will see the psychedelic colors swirling around the frames. totally trippy. This record was donated from Karen and Nick's collection, Karen being the lady who had a pair made from splat wax and neon and glow in the dark records. Thanks.
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If you live in New York or anywhere else where Absolute Magazine is distributed, you will see a somewhat image of the following three pair of specs. I've made the first pair with turquoise inlays my regular wear pair.
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Mark it on your calendar or don't, I really don't or won't much care. But if you want to see some of my new sample specs along with my marionette progress, which has so far been null but hopefully will be done by then (fat chance), come out to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago either on September 15 or 16 on Division between Damen and Wood. I am still offering a free pair of custom specs to the first who can name the icon I have used to fashion my marionette's head after (see blog, scroll to the bottom, here). I will have the marionette there or at least the head for personal inspection if you want to give your guess a go. Or bring a beer and we can have a cheers. At the same time there is also a street fest called Do-Vision going on, so at the least you can come see me and hear some shitty music. I hear calendars being marked.
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For his second pair, his first being record specs from Lenny Dee and Hawaiian music albums, Nicolas decided to go wood. While it seems his main instrument is the theremin, he also plays the ukulele and is very into the tiki theme. His uke, seen below, is made from curly koa.
Knowing Nicolas' interest in such culture, my mind immediately sprung into offering the material option of Hawaiian curly koa, and only later did i find out that he has a few vintage ukuleles made from koa. He agreed and we constructed him a pair from the wood. He liked the Dadda style, but after seeing it on a digital composition that i sent to him, he requested that it be a bit smaller than the original design, and for his facial features I completely agreed, so it was scaled down a bit. The results...
This was actually my first time using curly koa and its now one of my favorite woods. If you remember those baseball cards (and were a kid in the 80's like me) that had two pictures in them depending on the way you moved the card back and forth, that is what this wood does due to its figured structure. Very wavy and optically illusionary.
Let's not forget the tiki motif at the end of the temples.
And I must give credit to Nicolas for making a pair of specs from a material I have yet to explore. They are Paper Specs. He made these from cutting out the proof design in .pdf form that I sent him. Tres bien, c'est magnifique.
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Here we have two pair of specs, or would that be one pair of specs, anyways one for shortsided and the other for farsighted, both replicated in the same design, except the temples. Living in the Chicagoland area, Matthew was able to come to my home and studio for a personal measuring session. His biggest qualm with all the eyewear he has worn previously was that they did not fit him properly. He has a very small nose bridge and his ears are a touch more forward that what the common denominator of eyewear manufacturers construct for (and actually we learned on his second visit to pick up his frames that one of his ears is a millimeter or two higher than the other, a problem easily fixed in seconds). So now Matthew is finally able to wear spectacles that actually fit him, and not some computer generated model of the average human. Let us not allow anyone, especially the eyewear industry, place us under the label of "normal", we've all got funked up heads, let our eyewear reflect that, sorry a bit preachy, hallelujah.
And not only did Matthew and I discuss eyewear for a bit at my place, we had many great conversations over bowls of pho on Argyle St. When is the last time Mikli took you out for good food and hopefully good discussion. Thanks again Matthew.
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These beergoggles were really tasty, errr, pleasant to construct. Using Stone Brewing Company's Arrogant Bastard Ale and Rogue's Dead Guy Ale, there is a nice theme of devil and skeleton running through the imagery. How better to show your man on his 40th that there is still plenty of time to live. Beergoggles for a man's 40th birthday, a second now; seems a trend is ruing (speaking of rue, i happen to make the best biscuits and gravy i've ever tried and i always try when the opportunity is there. take me up on the offer if you are a b&g aficionado. your buds will thank you for it). Happy birthday and thanks for the excellent ale recommendations. Cheers.
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For this pair, Tom sent me an old pair of frames that he has worn for many years and told me to use those as the basis for the design and measurements. He also wanted to add stone inlays for which he chose jagged slate, as if it had been lodged directly into the wood. This would seem to fit for one like Tom whom I believe is into the more rugged/extreme sorts of sports, why wouldn't one be when residing in Calgary. And too, he has his own clothing line based around such ideas which you can browse here.
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Here is another pair to be found floating around in Chicago. Going for a more symmetrical balance, the bridge has an intricate detail while not being too out there. I chose the layout of the wood grain to work in the symmetrical realm, notice how the wood flows equally from the bridge outward. And Marc, the frame's owner, has asked that I patina the steel rivets so as they blend in more with the wood and i will be working with acids to do so. I suppose that is a new option, to have the rivets in a natural steel state or to apply a patina of a range of colors.
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This pair was made for The Fader magazine. They will be taking some images and may have a little article for them in next months issue, or perhaps the one after that, not too sure how magazines work. They are in the style of the "dadda" design and are made from bocote. Notice the nice swirls to be found in this wood.
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Thanks for the comments dalas. Though it may seem so, i promise i did not pay him to say this. dalas is just a rad dude who makes many videos.
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I have proposed a contest and the winner gets a free pair of spectacles. It is posted on my new blog where i will ramble not only about spectacles to wear but other kinds of spectacles as well.
be sure to check it periodically as i do plan to update frequently.
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When designing these frames for dalas verdugo, I gave him three thickness option: thick, thicker or thickest. He went with thickest and the results even surprised me. The extra space provides a great canvass for the grain of the wood to be displayed. In fact, when I tried these on and looked in the mirror, I knew I had to make myself a pair.
dalas has some images of himself wearing his new specs here and he told me that he will put up a video involving his new frames soon at here. And if you are into video, you should check out his multi-hundred uploads at his vimeo account.
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Here is a pair of beergoggles that were made for a man's 40th birthday party. Supposedly they had plans to play pineapple bowling while wearing the beergoggles.
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Seems we have started a trend, or maybe architects just like to design their own frames, but this pair will be the second in a row to be worn by an architect. Staying true to the material, Jeanne Gang, of Studio Gang in Chicago, was thinking in terms of driftwood as inspiration. We played around with the idea of doing some carvings to mimic erosion, but we found that by simply rounding the edges the wood took on a character of its own. On a side note, if you either are into architecture or live in Chicago, it is a must you check out some of her work. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the exterior flow of the Aqua Tower in Chicago as it begins to take its shape over the next few years.
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These are no Phillip Johnson specs, but they will be the first of my frames to be worn by an architect. When designing these frames we were thinking about how to bring in horizontal elements. This is where the two layered inlays came from. The frames are made of cocobolo for the base material and incorporate an inlaid horizontal band of afzelia burl. And a first in another material: stone. The outsides of the fronts have rectangles of turquoise inlaid between the afzelia. As well as lines, this pair plays around with contrasting colors.
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This pair is the first to use ebony gabon as the main material. The inlays on the temples are carved from curly bubinga and match the design from the relief details on the front of the frame. Also notice how we incorporated a little gap on the end of the lenses allowing them to be somewhat open sided.
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Not only do I accept money as payment for my specs, I also will accept a painting of my portrait. And the first trade is in progress. Chicago based artist Aaron Seckman will be painting my portrait in exchange for an interesting pair of frames. Aaron and I will be working together to come up with spectacles that are made from the traditional materials and/or tools of oil painting. I've been sitting for Aaron for a few weeks now and his progress on the portrait blows my mind every time a session is complete. Here is an image of his work in progress. Go ahead and take a look at some of Aaron's work at here and here. He is available to make commissioned portraits, but the man wants you to sit through the experience rather than painting from a photo like many other portrait artists. And that's basically why I like his style, he does it the old world way with meticulous attention to detail.
Although Aaron is not finished with the portrait, he has made notable progress, along with my hair. There are also two more portrait for specs trades in the works.
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Bird/Heart pair, they are finally complete.
For a bit of an explanation and more images, please go
here.
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Exciting news, I have been asked to have a pair of my frames included in an art auction which will benefit the Lions Eye Research Institute at UIC. The event will go down in the intensely colored Wicker Park optical boutique EYE WANT (1543 N. Milwaukee) on Saturday the 17th of February starting at 6:30 and winning bids will be announced two hours later. There should be some twenty five Chicago artists donating works of all different media and I believe most of the art will reflect notions of "vision." Here is a link to bios of the Participating Artists. And for general info on the event follow here.
This is the piece that will be up for auction. For a more detailed look go here.
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Here is a bit of a journal that was sent along with James' bird/heart pair. Don't let the wisdom of the word fool you into thinking contemplatively, or seriously.
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Guess what these frames are made from.
click image to find out.
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Aluminum Specs. I no longer make frames just from wood, as has actually been evident for some time. But I do want to start playing with that other material so common to eyewear now days and all throughout history. These are my current frames for the time being and they were designed after the first pair I owned.
My problem with most current metal frames is that the manufactures want to hide the fact that they are made of metal. They make the smallest, most invisible frames possible, almost as if there were nothing holding the lenses to the face. I find this annoying and think that the lustrous properties of metals deserve to be displayed and not hidden. So with this in mind, I will now be making frames from various metals which showcase the characteristics of the material. I want to mix the frame size of 50's and 60's plastic frames with metal as the material. And again, any design can be made from metals just as with the wood. This pair is made from a quite thin piece of aluminum, but I am looking forward to the next pair I will make of a thicker gauge of the metal. Though, also be on the lookout for the individually cast metal frames during the summer when the weather allows me to work outside.
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Author and blogger Cory Doctorow is now the proud owner of a pair of my wooden specs. He said he has been living in the vintage frame realm for at least a decade now so the shape of his frames are based off of my "dadda" pair. He allowed me the freedom to come up with my own bridge design and we are both very pleased with the results.
Cory's lagniappe actually came from a slice of extra wood after the front of his frames had been cut. And I just thought that with his writing skills, the man needs a new bookmark to compliment his specs. And voila.
Cory sent me this image of him wearing his custom wood specs at the Haunted Mansion.
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Norman Mailer came to Borders on Michigan Avenue last weekend to promote his new book "The Castle in the Forest" so Lisa and I went down there to listen to him speak. I wanted to offer him a free pair of custom specs, but the line to speak with him was too long for me, and I also figured he is settled into his wire rim frames at his age. But here's an image of him, somewhat.
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If you are in Chicago over the next few months, you may want to stop by the Chicago Tourism Center located street-level at 72 E. Randolph St. (across from the Chicago Cultural Center) to view some of my specs along with interesting works from other Chicago artists. I just dropped off five of my frames to be displayed in the Stitching Salon show which runs until the end of March. For more information you can go here.
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Here is one of the neatest and most well put together zines that I have ever seen, though I don't claim the status of zinester at the slightest. It is called "Hey, 4-Eyes" and it is packed with eyewear culture. It is meticulously put together by Robyn Chapman and in it you can find interviews, comics, trivia, spectacles history, and much beyond. Try to get your hands on a copy while you still can because it is a real gem and they run out of print quite quickly. You can find out more about the zine here and here. Also, keep an eye out for this years issue where Robyn plans on doing an eyeglass cross country road trip. I may even be interviewed during her wanderings.
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I couldn't resist the urge to make a little extra gift involving this pair. Since a bird and heart are the theme of the figures involved with this extremely custom pair of frames, I thought that I would mimic the theme in the form of a letter opener. Just wanted to send James something to get him excited about his frames.
Design is complete on this pair where a carved human heart and a bird will be involved. Have a look at some sketches . I've been working back and forth with James on design ideas for his pair, and the new bird sketch (right) is the chosen design. Ill be updating with images as this pair unfolds in construction.
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Also for this pair, since James is already going all out on the design, he is also decided to stretch way beyond the norm for his materials. Take a look at the woods we will be using, from left: Amboyna Burl and Curly Waterfall Bubinga.
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The newest line of eyewear, introducing: Beer Goggles.
These specs are hand carved from two bottles of your favorite beer, or any other bottle for that matter. And they also come with a legal disclaimer, because I'm sure there is somebody out there who would purposely buy a pair only to take a hammer to them, causing a shard of glass to be lodged in their eye and then come back to me with a law suit. I suppose glass in the area of the eyes isn't that smartest idea, but that wont really stop me from wearing these goggles around town. They are quite the show stoppers.
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Here's a little piece of video not only explaining my feelings about the others who make eyewear, but also when people ask to try my specs on, and then that other part of me that doesn't really know why this video was made.
Often times people have asked me if I can actually play my Record Specs on a record player so I thought I would investigate. The results were better than I had expected, just as my dancing skills were in Footloose. But really, my acting career ended when I was very young, four or five perhaps, when trying out for a child role of Kevin Bacon in "She's Having A Baby", they told me that I was too fat for the part. Damn, I couldn't be a child actor.
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An exciting pair of Record Specs personalizes the frames not from musical taste, but visual interest. The albums used are not the typical black vinyl, rather they are see through greens and blues with a glow in the dark Kraftwerk album in between. When polished, they look as if they were constructed from ice or glass. And yes, they do actually glow in the dark. Karen Flowers, the new owner of these Record Specs called me the other day raving about her pleasure with her new frames. Karen makes gorgeous custom jewelry, to see a few samples you can visit here. And in a bit, we may collaborate once again on a wooden pair next time around, and it sounds like she wants to go far out there.
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Here's a pair that I am making for myself out of ebony. These are my "spectacle makers' masterpiece". The design for this pair was inspired by a Koloman Moser buckle from 1904. And to the right are a few examples of what "spectacle makers' masterpieces" have looked like centuries ago when all frames were actually still handmade. I say it's time to bring back some real craftsmanship to the creation of spectacles.
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Just wanted to make mention of satisfied client Ray Fisman, mastermind of all things economics and love (and he even mixes the two in his studies). You can learn more about Ray's studies HERE. Also, look out for other specs that we may make together in the near future.
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The following pair of Record Specs will be the first to be worn in Paris. Tres Bien! The owner of these frames told me he is really into exotica music so for the construction of the frames I used a bit of Hawaiian music and some Lenny Dee. It was hard for me to part with, but my thrift store bought, Lenny Dee autographed copy of "Where Is The Love" adds the perfect touch to the frame's case, so I thought he should have it. The specs are called, "Le Beachcomber", because the owner is a beachcomber. I met Nicolas at the National Gallery in London where I presented him with his new specs. Si vous comprendez le Francais, voila le blog de Nicolas le Beachcomber (its been years since I have parle(d)).
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The Renegade Fair in Chicago happened last summer and I brought some specs for my hometown to view. Thanks to all who were interested in my frames. If you want to see a few images of the fair and my display which didn't really end up being a large pair of glasses as I had thought, click HERE to see Lisa's page of her images. But you should really click HERE to see some of her photography work. Her images are beautiful. Or to see some of our travels together, HERE.
