Caring for Your UGG Boots

You probably spent quite a bit of money on your ugg boots, so it’s important you take care of them properly to ensure they last for a long time. No one wants to run around in a pair of boots that look dirty and ratty, so here are a few things you can do to make sure your UGG boots keep that brand new look for as long as possible.

Start by making sure you take advantage of the ugg Water & Oil Repellent that came with your boots (sometimes called the UGG Protector spray). Pre-treat your boots before you start wearing them. Doing so will help to waterproof the exterior and will protect the sheepskin from light weather (rain and snow) or oils. You still shouldn’t wear your boots out in a blizzard, but they’ll be protected from natural wear and tear.

Do NOT wash your ugg boot. If you should find they’ve been stained you should attempt to spot treat them before you do anything else. You may need to scrub the entire boot if spot treatments do not work, but this is not something you should do on a regular basis.

If you do decide to wash your uggboots you’ll need to start by dipping them in cold water. You’ll then use a brush to gently scrub the exterior and then rinse the boots again. Always use COLD water. Warm water will cause the wool to shrink more than usual.

Make sure you stuff your boots with paper towels or newspapers and place them in a warm area to dry. Never put your boots in front of a direct heat source (like your heating vent) or in direct sunlight as this type of heat will cause excess shrinkage as well.

Treat your UGGs kindly and they’ll last for a lifetime. Use the UGG cleaning and repellant solutions as often as necessary to ensure you’re safe from the elements. Otherwise, have fun!

When Times Are Tough, The Cobbler Grows Busy

It strikes fear into the hearts of most business owners, but the recession does not scare Nancy MacMullen, the Island cobbler.

Nancy MacMullen.A look around her Oak Bluffs workshop will tell you why: always cluttered, it is overrun these days with queued shoes.

Ms. MacMullen, 56, is operating a two-week waiting list before she even gets a look at your footwear. Same goes for jackets, luggage sets, golf bags, deck chairs and die cups.

“People are fixing things rather than buying new stuff,” she said, perusing the frayed zigzag stitching on a child’s Ugg boots. “Yeah, business is going well.”

Ms. MacMullen provides a broad rage of services at The Cobbler Shop — its motto: saving your soles one shoe at a time — which are very tricky even for the most dedicated penny-pincher to accomplish with do-it-yourself skills.

“You can’t repair shoes yourself unless you use duct tape,” she said. “And something like a zipper, or a new slide, people just don’t have that lying around. I’ve got all the tools. I have the cement and the thing that fits inside the shoe and clamps it down.”

Looks like many islanders are wearing only socks.Mannequins are dotted around the workshop, next to Singer sewing machines, laces, chisels and thread spools. On one workbench is a pair of glossy black patent leather boots which Ms. MacMullen is trying with little success to de-shine. She works with Landis industrial lock and chain stitching machines and uses a curved stitch for parts, since she can no longer get someone to come and repair the old-fashioned equipment.

“They want me to take off the head and send it down to New York. Yeah, right,” she said.

As long as people have shoes on their feet (something this reporter’s father, who grew up during the London Blitz, regularly tells him wasn’t always so), Ms. MacMullen will have a viable business.

But in her experience the Vineyard is a particularly target-rich environment for several more reasons.

Heel to toe, and when she is done they’re just like new, without breaking the bank.“Cobblestones and bricks are my friend,” she said. “New Yorkers aren’t walking on Edgartown streets, getting the leathers all scraped. In New York city they have these places that say, ‘Instant shoe repair.’ They just take off the stiletto and pop a new one in,” she said. “Plus, you can’t go to Wal-mart here and buy something new. And then, of course, people have their favorites.”

Over by one of the four stitching machines she picks up a worn-out leather boat shoe with several patches on the sole.

“This shoe is perfectly good, it just needs to be restitched. They have been in four times. People wear their shoes to death, they’re flopping off,” she said.

Then of course, they don’t make shoes like they used to.

“They’re cutting costs with the materials. More lightweight manufacturing,” Ms. MacMullen said. “I think these designers make shoes for carpeted offices in office buildings.”

Tools of the cobbler’s trade.But she admits that business hasn’t always been this good.

When Ms. MacMullen took over the shop in 1981 and later moved the business from downtown Oak Bluffs to its present workshop, she was hurt by a decline in the use of leather shoes.

“It used to be slow months in the winter,” she said, which is why she decided to expand her business to include clothing and other repair work.

Now she says there are reliable cycles to her business, cycles that mirror somewhat the rhythms of a resort Island in New England.

“It gets really busy in the fall, with people pulling out their shoes after summer. Christmas is hectic, then in January people get their suitcases ready,” she said.

Ms. MacMullen closed last week for a trip to Boston, and the workload waiting for her on her return was formidable.

“It’s hard for me to catch up,” she said, noting that she hasn’t even gotten through all the messages on her machine.

Then she added with a smile: “People have to be patient.”

Ugg boots destroy cold weather fashion

The chill of winter weather has made its presence known to the University’s campus and many a student has obtained some sort of sickness.

But one winter problem that plagues the college campus is not biological at all. It is material in nature and a visual nuisance in need of extermination: the Ugg boots.

This sickness begins when the Georgia temperature starts flirting with the 50s. And at the turn of the millennium, someone, the Antichrist perhaps, decided to bring the Ugg boot to Hollywood.

From there, madness spread.

I’m more perplexed by the “fashion” status of the Ugg boot than I am Scientology. Honestly.

A few years back, the disease hit Georgia and spread more fiercely than kudzu. These horrible boot/suede/fur fusion footings have become a mainstay, it seems, on the University campus.

But I ask you today to quarantine the afflicted parties and cleanse the campus of these God-forsaken shoes.

Originally invented to warm the feet and calves of the Australian surfer, the Uggboots is composed of a soft sheepskin suede outer and a shearling lining. Its roominess and lightweight design are very popular comfort features.

And I understand how nice a lightweight and warm shoe must be for winter weather. But God, they are so ugly. Find something else. Please!

Ladies, I know they may be comfortable, but you must stop. As soothing as they must be to the soles, they are far more unattractive.

If you just don’t care how you look or you’re not trying to attract the opposite sex, then wear them out. But Valentine’s Day is coming up, and if you aim to have someone to share it with, I would donate or burn whatever Uggs you have.

I have yet to meet a fellow male who has even thought about saying, “Ya know, I kinda like ‘em.” It just won’t happen. More power to the Australians for their sheepskin ingenuity, but leave it for the Aussies and the swimmers, and only them.

I admit, I’ve seen a few outfits that incorporate Uggs and actually work.

But in my time here, I can count those instances on one hand. What’s more, you girls can’t arrange a decent outfit to go to class in! Sweatpants, leggings, or the bare leg are not appropriate parings for your Ugg-ly outfit.

And the Uggs and exercise shorts ensemble? Honestly? Do you own a mirror? Is it full length? And for those of you who reach for your Uggs when it’s 75 out, I have no advice for you because you’re simply too far gone.

Now, technically, the Ugg is a unisex shoe. So to you ladies and you few brave gentlemen, please wear your horrid shoes with caution. Or better yet, don’t wear them at all.

I need to love life and find confidence in my generation. You girls are making me doubt our future as a society.

So, please, keep the campus out of attire agony and opt for a better boot.

Ugg boots destroy cold weather fashion

The chill of winter weather has made its presence known to the University’s campus and many a student has obtained some sort of sickness.

But one winter problem that plagues the college campus is not biological at all. It is material in nature and a visual nuisance in need of extermination: the Ugg boots.

This sickness begins when the Georgia temperature starts flirting with the 50s. And at the turn of the millennium, someone, the Antichrist perhaps, decided to bring the Ugg boot to Hollywood.

From there, madness spread.

I’m more perplexed by the “fashion” status of the Ugg boot than I am Scientology. Honestly.

A few years back, the disease hit Georgia and spread more fiercely than kudzu. These horrible boot/suede/fur fusion footings have become a mainstay, it seems, on the University campus.

But I ask you today to quarantine the afflicted parties and cleanse the campus of these God-forsaken shoes.

Originally invented to warm the feet and calves of the Australian surfer, the Uggboots is composed of a soft sheepskin suede outer and a shearling lining. Its roominess and lightweight design are very popular comfort features.

And I understand how nice a lightweight and warm shoe must be for winter weather. But God, they are so ugly. Find something else. Please!

Ladies, I know they may be comfortable, but you must stop. As soothing as they must be to the soles, they are far more unattractive.

If you just don’t care how you look or you’re not trying to attract the opposite sex, then wear them out. But Valentine’s Day is coming up, and if you aim to have someone to share it with, I would donate or burn whatever Uggs you have.

I have yet to meet a fellow male who has even thought about saying, “Ya know, I kinda like ‘em.” It just won’t happen. More power to the Australians for their sheepskin ingenuity, but leave it for the Aussies and the swimmers, and only them.

I admit, I’ve seen a few outfits that incorporate Uggs and actually work.

But in my time here, I can count those instances on one hand. What’s more, you girls can’t arrange a decent outfit to go to class in! Sweatpants, leggings, or the bare leg are not appropriate parings for your Ugg-ly outfit.

And the Uggs and exercise shorts ensemble? Honestly? Do you own a mirror? Is it full length? And for those of you who reach for your Uggs when it’s 75 out, I have no advice for you because you’re simply too far gone.

Now, technically, the Ugg is a unisex shoe. So to you ladies and you few brave gentlemen, please wear your horrid shoes with caution. Or better yet, don’t wear them at all.

I need to love life and find confidence in my generation. You girls are making me doubt our future as a society.

So, please, keep the campus out of attire agony and opt for a better boot.

UGGs Will Make You Say Ugh

Thought UGGs were comfy? Turns out a pair of UGG boots can be as bad for your feet as a pair of torturous stilettos. And they don’t even elongate your legs or look cute! Dr. Ed Chairman, a Philadelphia podiatrist, said the popular boots lack foot or ankle supports, which turns UGG-wearers into pain-havers. If treated early, the pain can be resolved with an orthotic, but if the UGG-lover waits too long to seek treatment, surgery could be required. Wouldn’t it be easier to ditch ‘em altogether?

Four inch heels and liquor, fall down quicker

The recent sorority and fraternity rush seasons have led to a marked escalation in social events, which inevitably leads to a dramatic increase in the number of dressed up girls heading in the direction of Zimple street. We, the onlookers who have chosen not to be involved in Greek life, have been privy to the gaggles of girls leaving for their themed formals, rainbow parties or what have you.

Don’t get me wrong, this happens all year long, but it has been more noticeable as of late. Whether it be cowgirls, mermaids or wooly mammoths, there seems to be one thing that most have in common - the total lack of ability to walk in high-heeled shoes.

There is something very important to realize here: If you wear Rainbows, Havaianas or Ugg boots every single day of your life, and you think that you can slip on your $20 pair of stilettos and survive an entire night of drunken revelry, well, then you are totally, sadly, devastatingly wrong.

How do I know that you are incapable of walking in shoes that aren’t as flat as your chest (circa 1996)? Well, there are a few telltale signs: Your upper body weight is pitched forward at a precarious angle; your eyes are roving maniacally on the ground to watch for any upcoming hazards; you seem unable to straighten your legs all the way and are making movements similar to that of a burglar pussyfooting around a sleeping house.

Now let’s assume that somehow you’ve made it to your destination in one piece. What’s next? Drinks and dancing, of course. Here’s where another crucial factor comes into play: Things aren’t going to get any easier after you’ve had a few drinks. The general consensus among inexperienced heel wearers seems to be that if you get drunk, you will forget how much those shoes hurt you and the night will go perfectly. Sorry to burst your bubble: You’re wrong!

Drunkenly dancing and flailing around in your $20 heels will result in the development of agonizing blisters. Even if by some miracle of baby Jesus you manage to survive the night, you will have hell to pay for the next two weeks.

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Scarvey column: Do you want it, or do you need it?

My family has an amazing collection of letters from one of my ancestors, Jesse Rolston Jr., a Confederate soldier. He wrote to his wife Mary, who was at home running their Virginia farm advising her on things like how much to pay for clover seed. Sometimes, he made modest requests: salt or a pair of suspenders.

In one letter, he mentioned coffee, which was increasingly a luxury. He told Mary not to “scant” herself — assuring her that it was OK for her to buy a little from time to time

“You need to live while you do live,” he told her.

And he was right. A life without coffee, or other such pleasures, isn’t much of a life.

Still, too many folks these days haven’t dreamed of “scanting” themselves of anything. Whether it’s Ugg boots, i-Phones or a 4,000 square foot McMansion, we’ve told ourselves that we deserve it.

Now, many are left wondering why they weren’t more careful during the good times.

The good news is that more people seem to be realizing that pulling back on spending doesn’t necessarily mean “scanting” themselves.

Earlier this week on the “Today” show, host Matt Lauer was interviewing “cheapskate” media personality Jeff Yeager. One of Yeager’s money-saving suggestions was ditching the cell phone.I got the sense from Lauer’s reaction that Yeager might as well have been advocating ripping out phone book pages to use as toilet paper — but Yeager stuck to his guns.

And why not? He practices what he preaches. Yeager cheerfully exists without a cell phone — and reminded Lauer that not so very long ago, everyone did.

I do have a cell phone, but only because it was a gift from my brother when we were spending a lot of time away from home for my daughter’s medical care. I rarely use it now and could pretty easily give it up. My husband manages without one entirely, as do the two teenagers currently under my roof (including a Brazilian exchange student).

My daughter in college is the only one in my family for whom a cell phone will soon be a necessity, since her university is phasing out land lines in residence halls.

Consider, as Yeager points out, that the average cell phone plan costs about $100 a month. Many families spend more than that.

As the economy worsens and people need to do more with less, we’re all going to need to ask ourselves which budget items add to the quality of our lives and which are luxuries we’ve grown to see as necessities. Maybe a cell phone is a necessity for you. But maybe not.

In my parents’ generation, many families survived nicely with one car. They cooked at home, ate out rarely. They understood household budgeting. They distrusted credit.

At some point, people quit doing the math.

Debt lost its sting.

Saving was for suckers.

We believed advertising hype. We deserved to have “it,” whatever “it” was.

Maybe what we really deserve is the peace of mind that comes from living within our means and saving for a rainy day.

Because as we’re all being reminded, the rainy day will surely come.

‘Bruno’ Trailer, Sneak Peek Raise Our Expectations

The “Brüno” trailer has arrived in all its red-banded glory, complete with outrageous public stunts, nude bedroom brawls and adult toy fights. It’s a Sacha Baron Cohen production — what did you expect?

As the trailer’s opening reminds us, three years ago, Cohen introduced the world to a little-known Kazakhstani journalist named Borat, whose crude, provocative, “lavatorial” — and, of course, insanely hilarious — comedy appalled and enchanted audiences. The movie that bears his name went on to gross almost $130 million at the box office. By all accounts “Brüno” — yet another spin-off of a character from “Da Ali G Show” — is even cruder, more provocative and perhaps even more hilarious than “Borat.” And given Cohen’s increased exposure this time around, the film is looking to do even bigger business.

Combining the footage in this trailer with word coming out of last month’s South by Southwest Festival, where Universal Pictures screened 22 minutes of “Brüno,” we can begin to piece together a rough idea of what this still-mysterious movie about a gay Austrian fashion reporter will deliver at movie theaters starting on July 10. Turn back now if you’re even mildly spoiler-averse.

The film begins as Brüno gets ready for Milan fashion week. Perhaps in preparation for his assignment, he tries on a see-through plastic blazer and then dons a pink unitard, with matching Ugg boots and protruding genitalia. He ends up opting for a jumpsuit made entirely out of Velcro. Backstage at a show by Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, he sticks to curtains and high-priced garments before tumbling out onto the actual runway.

The flamboyant Austrian gets fired for making such a mess of things, and thus begins his journey: He travels to America to become a star. Taking a cue from Brangelina and Madonna, Brüno decides to adopt an African baby. We actually see him remove an infant from a cardboard box (with air holes punched in it, of course) from a luggage carousel at the airport.

From there he stages an outrageous photo shoot (Brüno hugging the baby while wearing a beekeeper suit and surrounded by a swarm of bees) and heads to the made-up “Today With Richard Bay” show, a Jerry-Springer-style talker in which Brüno says he gave the child a “traditional African name: O.J.” The show devolves into a full-on brawl.

At some point, Brüno seems to lose custody of the baby and decides to reinvent himself as a straight man. The first stop in this quest might be a Sears store, where he tells an unsuspecting clerk, “You might find this very hard to believe, but I am gay.”

Brüno’s other attempts to engage in purportedly macho activities include: finding his way into a swingers’ party and then into the bedroom with an aggressive, silicone-enhanced woman who mercilessly whips him; joining some sort of military training camp, where he stylizes his uniform with a little help from Dolce & Gabbana; and going on an overnight hunting trip with a group of camouflaged Southerners.

“Look at the four of us,” he says as they sit around the campfire. “We are so like the ‘Sex and the City’ girls.”

“Oh, no we aren’t either,” comes one uncomfortable response.

“I ain’t neither one of ‘em,” another hunter says. “I’m Donnie.”

“That is such a Samantha thing to say,” Brüno quips.

With more than three months until the movie’s release date, we can surely expect much more of “Brüno” to trickle onto the Web. For now, we’ll just have to savor this first two minutes and 35 seconds of insanity. Brüno putting his infant on the handlebars of a Vespa? Brüno showing up at the mall handcuffed to a man wearing nothing but boxers and a few leather straps? Sacha, can we have some more please?

By Emilie Raguso

EMPIRE — Diane Terhune’s black-framed glasses are still on her desk in the warehouse where she and her husband, Ken, ran their wine accessories business, which they owned for 17 years.

Her tan Ugg boots, which she’d put on after coming in from her three-day-a-week yoga class, sit on the filing cabinet behind her desk.

The vitamins she took and photographs of her 16-year-old son, Elliot, remain where she left them, within reach on her desk. A dark pink rose in a small vase has yet to open.

“Everything is exactly the same. I can just hear them speaking to me,” office manager and friend Teri Trujillo said Wednesday. “It’s like working with ghosts.”

Authorities found the couple’s bodies in their Del Rio home Jan. 15. Court documents indicated they were shot to death two days earlier. Diane Terhune was 56. Her husband was 65.

Authorities arrested their 24-year-old son, Cameron Terhune, in the deaths.

Trujillo, 47, said she worked for the couple for more than six years and that she had been their sole employee for two years.

“It was more like a family than a business,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I was doing a real job. It was kind of like what you’d do for your mom and dad.”

The Terhunes were like Ozzie and Harriet from the 1950s and ’60s TV sitcom, said Trujillo.

“Diane would walk through the door in the morning and Ken would go, ‘Good morning, darlin!’ and give her a big smooch,” she said. “I don’t think I ever saw them have a major argument or heard them raise their voices.”

She said Ken Terhune’s day would start at about 4:30 or 5 a.m. when he would wake up to walk his dog, Cliff, around the neighborhood. “Alone time” with the small white terrier was precious to him, Trujillo said. He’d get home and shower, then take Elliot to school before coming into the office.

Trujillo said Ken Terhune was a workaholic and that the business was “his baby.” He’d stay in the office until 4:30 or 5 p.m. each day, depending on what needed to be done. Diane Terhune would leave at 2:30 p.m. each day to pick up Elliot from school.

Ken Terhune loved recommending camping spots, restaurants or other discoveries to his friends, Trujillo said.

The last day they worked together, Jan. 12, he came into the office raving about a deli in Gustine.

“He’d always say, ‘You gotta try this, you gotta try that,’ ” she said, sitting at her desk in the small warehouse. “He was a quiet person and it took a long time for him to open up. But once he did, he just took you in.”

The couple befriended everyone they met and worked with, Trujillo said. They ended up on a camping trip at Jackson Rancheria in December with the people from whom they purchased their motor home. Each year during the holidays, Diane Terhune would give boxes of homemade almond roca to the mail carrier, the UPS worker and the FedEx deliveryman who collected packages from and delivered mail to the warehouse.

“She cared about everybody,” Trujillo said. “She didn’t just say, ‘How are you?’ and walk on. Diane always asked about the kids, the dogs, the cats and the family.”

Diane Terhune would be outside in seconds if she spotted a dog or other animal pattering along the street, Trujillo said.

“She’d be out the door, calling, ‘Here puppy, puppy, puppy.’ If there was a tag on it, she’d call the owner. If not, she’d call the ASPCA. We had a duck, a rabbit, birds,” said Trujillo. “If it hadn’t been for Ken, Diane might have been the crazy cat lady, the woman with all the animals.”

Trujillo said family members asked her to continue running the business. So the orders come in for the special wicks and decorative covers that turn wine bottles into candleholders, and she fills them. Trujillo said she’s doing the best she can.

Many of the customers who call ask how she’s doing and send condolences.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Sometimes it’s a little hard,” she told one caller Wednesday.

Trujillo last spoke to Diane Terhune on Jan. 13 at 11:45 a.m. Terhune explained to Trujillo about a special gift they would begin including in orders above $50. She told Trujillo she didn’t need to come in until Friday because business was slow.

The couple planned to go to the Bay Area on that Friday, Jan. 16, for doctor visits and to see family, Trujillo said.

But they never made it.

Trujillo was watching the 10 p.m. news Jan. 15 when she saw the report about two bodies found in a home on Stewart Road.

“I asked my husband, ‘I wonder if Ken and Diane know about that?’ since that’s where they live. Then the news came up with a suspect photo and I lost it. It was Cameron.”

Trujillo said her husband, Tim, made her breathe into a paper bag to catch her breath.

“I was walking around the room for 45 minutes to get myself together,” she said.

She called the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department as soon as she calmed down.

That Friday morning, she went into the office and spent several hours going through the Rolodex, calling customers, friends and family members to tell them the news.

“I was crying on the phone with them,” she said. “It’s been a shock. It’s just hard to understand.” I like uggboots .

Sarah goes in search of a teenage fanclub

Remember when you were a teenager? Think back to those angst-ridden days when you felt that no-one could possibly understand you or just what you were going through. It’s definitely not a phase we’d happily relive so 13-year-old Amy Green can thank her lucky stars that her crazy/beautiful Aunt Clover is there to help her negotiate safely through the treacherous waters.

Amy is going through a tough time. Her parents have split up, her mother is distracted by her two new babies, her father is wrapped up in his relationship with Shelley, aka Miss Perky, and her best friend Mills has had her head turned by the aspirational Sophie who wants nothing more than to be part of the D4 crowd. And this is a set to which Amy will never belong, no matter how religiously she wears her Ugg boots or straightens her hair, especially if she develops a friendship with the intriguing Seth.

Seventeen-year-old Clover is cool, so cool in fact that one February she drove her convertible Mini, top-down naturally, through Dublin’s city centre clad only in a bikini. She made the national newspapers though. She’s now got a job as an agony aunt on teen mag, The Goss, and in between juggling invites to fabulous launches, fashion shows and parties, she needs Amy’s advice so that she can truly help her readers. Clover isn’t planning on spouting platitudes, she believes in taking action and Amy is going to help her.

Amy Green: Teen Agony Queen is the first teen novel by author Sarah Webb. It’s a slightly different departure for the prolific novelist better known for her adult fiction and her forays into the children’s market.

But the tales of Amy Green are certain to spawn a series as they address the issues facing young teens from bullying and divorce to step families and peer isolation in a language that isn’t patronising to her readers. Webb also manages to subtly incorporate a theme throughout: that we should always be true to ourselves, rather than simply following the herd. It may not be easy but it will be worthwhile. Amy isn’t perfect, but then what 13-year-old girl is?

And it’s her very flaws that are endearing. If you’re a parent wondering just why your teenager is sweet as sugar one moment and black as night the next, then you’ll enjoy this novel too. I love uggs and ugg boot .

GOOD OLD DAYS:A business model that survives time

Driving by the worn, wood-paneled Old West-style facade of the Grant Boys gun, outdoor supply and clothing shop on Newport Boulevard, it’s hard to imagine that the family-owned business — which has become a Costa Mesa icon — has not gone away by now.

When Edward “Buddy” Grant came down from Los Angeles to start the business 60 years ago, Costa Mesa was a one-horse town with less than 4,000 people — far from the upper-middle class suburb of more than 100,000 that it is today. The business started as Grant’s War Surplus in 1949, selling a motley assortment of goods that the military would get rid of at rock-bottom prices (World War II had just ended and there was a lot of excess stuff).

“The original store has very little in common with what the store sells today,” recalls Mike Grant, Buddy’s oldest son, in a short retrospective he recently started to write. “People would buy surplus parachutes to cover their cars. We would cut the lines off them and sell them as nylon rope. We sold a lot of paint, garden hose, work boots, but no Levi’s.”

It’s precisely the store’s ability to change with the times, while staying solidly grounded in its identity, that has allowed the business to survive and prosper in a market filled with chain camping and outdoor sports stores. Over the years, the Grant family has capitalized on countless opportunities.

Buddy didn’t care for guns or hunting at all, according to Randy Garell, who took over the store in the ’70s with his wife, Alexa, Buddy’s daughter. Before opening the Grant Boys, Buddy had a ladies dress shop in Los Angeles in the 1930s.

Since then, the store has gone through countless phases. In the early 1950s, men working on the construction of the 5 Freeway and Disneyland all wore jeans and Georgia steel-toed boots, so Grant’s started carrying them and business boomed. At one point the shop was among the top 10 Levi’s dealers in the country, according to Mike.

Then in the early ’60s, when surf culture blew up in the area, Grant’s started carrying Hang Ten T-shirts, which, in the height of their popularity, were often plucked straight off the delivery truck before they ever made it into the store.

“We carved out a niche business for ourselves, and we can turn on a dime,” Randy said.

Even in the last decade, Alexa saw the Ugg boots craze coming. The store stocked up in 2000 and this past December, the shop sold one pair of the fur-lined, leather shoes every 12 minutes. Exceedingly popular in ladies fashion, the boots are not exactly what you would expect to find in a store specializing in guns and hunting equipment, yet they have become a staple of the company’s business.

“The average Newport Beach housewife is not ordinarily going to walk into what she thinks is a gun store,” Randy said, but now they are part of Grants’ demographic.

Randy says gun sales have also increased because of fears brought about by the Y2K scare, the crashing economy and the election of President Obama, who some gun enthusiasts fear will crack down on the industry.

“Business is better than ever,” Alexa said.

Even as the store morphs to meet the demands of an ever-changing population, it retains its homely character. Randy and Alexa have worked there since they were teenagers, and they’re not the only ones who have stuck with the store for decades.

Jack Carver, who joined the staff in his teens emptying garbage cans more than 40 years ago, is now in charge of buying the store’s guns and hunting and fishing equipment.

So while the Grant Boys might look odd among square-framed strip malls and impeccably clean mega chains of Costa Mesa, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine the store still being around 60 years from now, with its hokey Western-themed building that will be just as out of place as it was the day it went up.

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Kate Middleton: man-pleaser

We all know it is wrong — however tempting — to speculate on whether Kate Middleton is the right woman for Prince William. How can any of us guess how they are as a couple when all we have to go on is photographs? Clearly it’s unfair to have misgivings about the heir to the throne’s girlfriend when she is the very model of appropriateness — and the fact that we do makes us feel a bit guilty. Which is why Kate’s comments, at a recent polo match, have come as a huge relief. What Kate said, to the writer Kathy Lette, is: “I have to pay attention to every second. I’ll be discussing the game in minute detail later on.” And there you have it. The throwaway line that sums up the problem we knew existed, but couldn’t quite put our finger on: KM is a professional man-pleaser.

It’s obvious now the cat is out of the bag — the carefully chosen outfits (a little flattering, a little demure, never an Ugg boots or man-scaring bit of fashion in sight). The diligent study of the prince’s hobbies (remember the shooting lessons), including careful observation of the nuances of polo, although she is allergic to horses. The girlie part-time job that evaporated altogether because Kate needs to be ready to leap into an Issa dress at a moment’s notice and scurry to HRH’s side.

All this would be fine, were it not for the fact that Prince William is surely a bloke looking for a woman to live up to (Laura Linney in John Adams, only younger and good at skiing). And it’s no good for any of us subjects to have a wannabe royal clone in the royal family whose idea of ringing the changes is wearing Spanish riding boots instead of Hunters. We want bright and feisty, a fresh perspective, a sense of humour. Instead, in KM, we have the girl that Country Casuals might hire for its pastel cashmere campaign. A young woman on a mission, who takes her responsibilities too seriously and who has undoubtedly contributed to making William seem ever so slightly short on surprises.

This explains why some of us have been mysteriously despondent since Chelsy and Harry’s break-up. Honestly, I am going to miss Chelsy. That cheeky gap-toothed laugh. Those incongruous blonde locks and bling striding out in the driving Leeds rain. I don’t care if she’s orange. At least she has a personality and sex appeal and her own life and — most important — she was never in any doubt about who was pleasing who in that relationship. Harry had to stay on his toes, and when he fell short of her standards (when he failed to meet her off a flight and left her beating off paparazzi, for example), she let him have it. You wouldn’t catch Chelsy getting shooting lessons to impress her man on the range — she didn’t need to.

Harry may be sad now, but at least he knows he had a girlfriend who cared about him, not playing the good princess. Can William really say the same?

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Student hurt during bad weather

In spite of hourly checks last week of the campus status information page as well as my eden mail for a possible note from my professor, I realized there was, in fact, class. I decided, in spite of my better judgment, to head out to my 7:40 p.m. “Sociology of Deviant Behavior” class in Murray 221. I had my trusty snow boots with the all-terrain grip soles and I thought nothing could possibly happen in the two blocks between my close apartment and Murray. The University had surely cleared the paths.

“Maybe when I get there, it’ll be canceled. I just can’t imagine the University not canceling class in this weather, as there is more than 6 inches of fresh snow.” These were the thoughts in my head as I crossed George Street and headed toward Murray across Vorhees Quad. The ground was deceptively slick, as the earlier snow had frozen to a sheet of ice topped by seemingly innocent fresh powder. As I rounded the corner after passing Scott Hall I slipped for the first time, a victim of the slight downgrade. Mostly just embarrassed, I thanked the good Samaritans who had stopped to check that I was OK and brushed myself off.

Another 20 feet or so down the central path that leads right up to Murray Hall, I was feeling good. Slippery, yes, but I was walking slowly and carefully. All of a sudden, the uneven pavement got me again. Boom! Busted my butt again… this time less gracefully, and I landed rather hard on my left wrist. One of the same good Samaritans asked, “Where are you going? Do you need help?” I assured him I would be fine to make it to Murray — which I was, as it was only about ten feet away.

Finally reaching the inside of the building, I shook off the cold and realized, holy mother of God, my wrist hurt! Looking down, I noticed my wrist was about the size of a baseball and rather lumpy. Having come this far, I walked upstairs and told my professor that I was afraid I had hurt myself and would like to go get checked out. He, very graciously, let me leave class. I crossed the quad without incident this time, noticing that the University had finally decided to do something about the snow; there was a pickup truck plowing the walk. No salt, just plow. I then walked to the hospital in a great deal of pain.

It is now two hours later and I have just arrived home from Robert Wood Johnson ER, where the nice orthopedic doctors took my x-rays and were kind enough to diagnose me with a fractured wrist — all because the University was too cavalier with their weather preparations. Who needs salt when you can plow? Sand? Pfft! We laugh at your amateur desire for traction. I cannot fathom that I am the only person who had an issue with this Wednesday, given the predilection of the female student body for fashionable yet wholly unsafe Ugg boots.

So thank you, Rutgers. I got a whole slew of new experiences today. I fell trying to go to class. I became an ER patient. I broke my first bone! Just thought I’d share how much your preparation meant to me!

I can only hope that there was some sort of grave mistake that prevented the quad from being salted and safe for passing.buy ugg boot .

What about those Uggs?

NEW YORK It’s probably safe to retire - or at least put to rest for a long winter snooze - your skinny-leg pants. Once the first signs of spring start to stir, the favored silhouette will be loose.

“Wide pants - if you invested in the dramatic floppy-leg pant that just skims the ankle, you are in luck. These are still a big trend,” said Avril Graham, executive fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar.

That’s the thing about fashion: Almost every look comes back, even if it’s slightly tweaked.

Take Uggs, for example. Constance White, eBay style director, said the cozy, furry boot is already a must-have item again for many women - and it’s a trend driven by consumers.

“The fashion gods forgive me: I will not throw out a pair of Ugg boots. . . . They dipped - came off the radar and weren’t ‘it’ anymore - but they’ve had the huge rise in popularity again, White said.

Some other likely top (and not) looks of 2009:

·  Sandy neutrals and tropical colors are likely to make a splash, but there might be a changing of the guard for regal purple, which has reigned for a few years. Painterly prints had a shorter run, but Graham said they too are on their way out. “Best to look for sweet florals,” she advised.

·  Safari styles, whether they’re vintage Yves Saint Laurent or new Banana Republic, are enjoying a high point on their arc of popularity. That’s good news, said Graham, because it’s an easy look for most women to wear.

·  The 1980s continue to inspire and haunt fashion, but if you ever wore harem pants and highlighter colors the first time, you might consider giving only a wink to the decade with a bangle bracelet or fluorescent accessories.

·  A low-platform heel is a shoe that takes you through every season and most occasions, said eBay’s White. Extreme platforms can get tossed, but hold on to all your peep-toe shoes, she advised. The popular gladiator-style sandal will triumph again this summer, but it’ll be even more aggressive looking with higher heels.

·  The big-statement necklace popular last year is still a trend, but it’s one you can cut back on. “If you’ve accumulated three or four, part with two of them,” White said. “Instead hold on to any bracelets - cuffs or stacking bracelets, especially. They’re fresher, new and they’re going to be hot right through spring and summer.”

·  Logos are out and subtlety is in. “It’s not the right time for flash,” Graham said. Cheap ugg boots .

New father Gareth Gates steps out in tatty jeans… and Ugg boots

It’s usually new mothers who look a little bedraggled - so what’s Gareth Gates’ excuse?

After becoming a father for the first time yesterday, the former Pop Idol runner-up emerged from his London home looking a little more than scruffy in ripped jeans - and Ugg boots.

Uggh!: Tatty Gareth Gates leaves his house wearing ripped jeans and Uggs

The 24-year-old was on his way to hospital to see his newborn daughter Missy. His wife Suzanne gave birth to their 7lb 8z child yesterday.

The singer and former lover of Jordan is currently starring in the title role in the West End production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The 24-year-old star, who shot to fame in the first series of Pop Idol, said: ‘We are so excited, Missy is beautiful and we can’t wait to spend time together as a family.’

In a recent interview, Gates said of dancer Suzanne: ‘She’s like my mum, really. I always wanted to be with a woman who has the same mindset and wants to look after me like my mum. She loves me, but she’ll never be my mum and she knows that, bless her.

‘She knows that my mum’s the most important person in my life. Because I see my mum and dad as such amazing friends, I think I’ll be a really good dad.’

Judging by Gates’ choice of clothing today, let’s hope little Missy takes after her mum in the fashion stakes.

Modern dress is code for sinful sexual desires

For those of you who know me, you know I’m a raging Republican whose main goal is to coerce The University of Montana to become the most conservative college campus in the nation.

In fact, I support assistant law professor Kristen Juras’ attempt to remove the Bess Sex column from this ragingly-liberal college newspaper so much that I’m going to take her old-fashioned principles one step further.

Students, in order to save your souls from the propaganda of America’s MTV culture, I’m determined to see a dress code enforced on this campus.

That’s right, girls. No more slutty outfits that make you look like you should be on the Stockman’s dance floor on a Saturday night instead of in Anthropology 101 on a Wednesday afternoon. No more outfits that merely consist of a t-shirt, tights and Ugg boots, which make you look like you forgot to put pants on.

No more Chacos or flip-flops before May and no more skirts that show your coochie when you bend over. Unless you’re a sexpert or a stripper on your way to Fred’s Lounge, you don’t have the professional authority to dress like one.

For the men, I’ll reverse the horrible trend started by the Beatles in the ‘60s and promote short hairstyles, which means there will be no more free-flowing dreadlocks bobbing around campus.  We all know those dreadlocks really mean you’re just a raging pseudo-hippie and you like having unprotected sex on drugs.

Just look around you. I know you’ll see one of these people in nearly every one of your classes, and I’m tired of it. I pay tuition to go to this university, so I should have a say in what the students wear, because their scandalous outfits affect my learning capabilities.

Students should have to dress for class the same way they dress for church. It’s disrespectful to your teachers to come to class wearing next-to-nothing.

Freedom to wear what you want comes with responsibilities, and it is inappropriate and unprofessional to dress like the stars you see on MTV.

Sex is so pervasive in our culture that it’s even infiltrated your minds when you decide what to wear in the morning. College is a place for learning, not a place to express your post-pubescent sexual desires through what you wear.

So dig out that chastity belt, quit reading the Bess Sex column, and for God’s sake, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON.

Let’s work together to save our souls from the sin of sexuality before we all go to hell — the only place it’s warm enough to wear mini-skirts all year long.

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The Ugg Boots

Dry the ugg boots

Stuff your boots with recycled paper towels to allow your uggboots to keep their shape, and leave them to dry in a clean, warm place.

How Not to Dry Sheepskin Boots

Avoid direct heat sources like a fireplace, radiator, or blazing sun here, which can cause the sheepskin to pucker or crack.

How to Deodorize ugg boot

Now, what if you got a bad case of the ol‘ smelly dogs? Well, there’s hope here, too. Once your ugg boot are dry, sprinkling a couple tablespoons of baking soda inside then giving them a shake and letting them sit, should kill any funky odors overnight. Be sure to gently brush the outsides of your cheap ugg boots with a suede brush to restore the pile, and you’re good to go. So just stay on top of ‘em from here on out, and these boots can last you nearly a lifetime.

Huntsville’s Monday crime report

• Police who stopped a vehicle at University and Meadow drives confiscated a bag of marijuana and a .45-caliber Taurus handgun.
• A Remington .12-gauge shotgun and Ugg boots valued at $250 were stolen from a Chevrolet Sierra parked outside Shogun Japanese Steak & Sushi, 3991 University Drive.
• A convenience store customer in the 5000 block of N. Memorial Parkway tried to pass a counterfeit $50 bill.
• Three bowling machines valued at $4,500 were stolen from a business at 2000 Country Club Ave.
• Police confiscated a bag of marijuana and a partially smoked marijuana cigarette from a vehicle outside a Sparkman Drive business.
• One of two drivers involved in a wreck at Jordan and Shields roads left the scene. The accident damaged the bumper of a Ford Ranger driven by a 16-year-old boy. The report says the other driver may have been drinking.
• A 1995 Lexus was stolen outside a Pulaski Pike convenience store.
• A purse was stolen from a vehicle in a Jordan Lane parking lot; police later recovered it, along with $47.29.
• A 1995 Ford valued at $7,000 was stolen from an Argyle Road home.
• Someone was cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession after police found a bag of pot and a partly-smoked marijuana cigarette on Meridian Street.
• Police investigated the death of a 76-year-old black female at a home at 503 Eastbrook Drive.
• During a stop at Garvin Road and Green Hill Drive, officers searched a vehicle and found eight rocks of crack cocaine and a set of scales. The owner was charged with felony cocaine possession.
• Two Sony digital cameras, $50 and miscellaneous clothes were stolen from a home in the 500 block of Bob Wade Lane.
• Police who stopped a pickup truck at Alabama 53 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard confiscated a Cobra .380-caliber handgun, seven .380-caliber bullets and 26 bullets for a 9mm handgun. The driver was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit.
• A 40-year-old black male was reported missing from his home on Forsythe Drive.

Robbie Savage back in shop window as Nigel Clough picks him to face Manchester United

Less than three months ago, Robbie Savage was spending time during his loan period at League One side Brighton and Hove Albion mulling over the possibility of a move to Lebanese club Al-Ansar in an attempt to prolong his career.

Fast forward to the present, and the midfielder is back at Derby County, with the opportunity of assisting the club to the Carling Cup final at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, after their astonishing 1-0 win at Pride Park nearly a fortnight ago.

But for the arrival of Nigel Clough as new manager of Derby County two weeks ago, Savage would probably have been shopping for a new pair of UGG boots in Manchester rather than making it into the stadium. As it is, Clough’s arrival has brought Savage back in from the cold, an experience he has likened to being pardoned from enforced exile in Siberia. It has saved him some money in the process, he jokes.

“The gaffer has saved me a lot of dough because I am usually in Manchester shopping, spending my money,” Savage said on Monday. “Under the previous manager I knew no matter how hard I trained I wasn’t going to play.

“I thought I would never play for Derby again and I wouldn’t have if [Paul] Jewell was still the manager – no matter how well I trained.

“I would be going out in the street and people were saying, ‘Who are you playing for now?’ I was made to feel that low on confidence and that bad a player that I was looking an any option possible. I went from Siberia to Beirut.”

What better opportunity for Savage to prove his worth this evening than against the club where he was a trainee, and against former team-mates Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who he describes as the “best two Premier League players ever”.

However, while the 34-year-old is restoring his own confidence under Clough, the rest of his team-mates seem to have stalled in their attempts to rebuild their own self-belief.

Their 2-0 defeat at home to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday was their third in a row in the league, and revealed “the deep-rooted” structural flaws that have caused the side to fall to fifth from bottom in the table, leaving their manager to accept his former side would have performed the basics better.

“The lads at Burton were better at doing certain things,” Clough confessed. “No player in the lower leagues would have made those basic mistakes on Saturday. I have been in a state of shock for the last 48 hours.”

Yet while he accepts that his side’s confidence is low, he does believe the fact that they have little pressure or expectations on them to win tonight will only help them.

“We were expected to beat QPR at home, and in the home match here [against United] we weren’t expected to get anything,” he said. “With the way the players are at the moment, that almost suits them. I think they would rather be going to Old Trafford than Blackpool or Barnsley.” Buy cheap ugg boots .

The art of planning

As a student, you may find yourself spending more time planning than doing anything else. A typical day may involve devising a study timetable; thinking that you really ought to ring your parents; emailing friends about where to go for a night out; writing an essay plan; deciding what to do with the rest of your life; going through the TV schedules; and planning to get out of bed.

One useful way to start is to buy a diary. Creative types worried that planning is for squares might like to buy different coloured pens for different activities. But resist the temptation to buy different diaries for different facets of your life. You will waste too much time trying to decide which bit of your life goes where and remembering where you put the right diary to note it down.

Then you need to think about goals.

If you make these too vague, such as wanting to be rich, or too ambitious, such as wanting to be prime minister, you will need to break them down into smaller, more precise goals, such as getting a part-time job or completing a politics assignment. Visualise yourself achieving the goal and then work backwards, visualising each likely step. Think about problems you might face and how to tackle them. Don’t be tempted to give up in favour of the TV schedules.

The next step is to draw up a to-do list. Actually, you may need several. One should focus on long-term goals - a list of things you need to do before you reach No 10, such as joining a political party, delivering leaflets, getting elected. Another could look at what you need to do that term, such as paying the electricity bill, finding out where the library is and cleaning the bathroom.

Then you should make daily to-do lists. Don’t make the list too detailed because the longer it is, the less likely you are to do it, and the more likely you are to feel a failure, and the bigger the chance of descending into despondent chaos.

Do put the most important things at the top, as you will need to tackle those first. And plan to do the bits first that you really don’t want to do.

Any kind of planning demands a similar approach. When it comes to drawing up a study programme, essay plan or night out, the first thing to do is define what you want to achieve, then think about how you are going to get there, then set yourself precise tasks.

For example: goal - attend night out in pub without spending entire termly budget, trashing new Ugg boots, texting your ex. Route - eat beforehand, avoid drinking spirits, decline offers to dance on tables. Precise task - put on pasta water, delete ex’s number from phone.

Keep reminding yourself of your plans. Don’t worry too much if you find yourself veering off course - it is important to be flexible, and your goals may change as your research, or evening, progresses. But do keep track of your achievements. The problem with planning is that it isn’t half as difficult as carrying out what you’ve planned.

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