Day: June 16, 2022

I wouldn't go so far as to call them "stripped down" or exceedingly plain, mind you; they are made with advanced materials and have all the updated bits you'd want from a modern trail runner. These new Arc'teryx shoes simply don't have anything you don't want or need. For its third version of the Norvan LD (the latter letters stand for Long Distance), Arc'teryx has outfitted the shoe with a well-stacked, shock-absorbing Vibram Litebase sole finished with 4.0mm lugs, in a pattern that Vibram has dubbed Megagrip. The shoe is Hoka Running Shoes extremely light and features a minimal, durable upper that is in no way flashy (other than when found in the bright blue Fluidity colorway). The toebox is wide, to accommodate splay, and the stretchy tongue provides a comfortable, friction-free fit. ...

In January, Nashville-based musician Benn Park founded Shoes Off Music Booking Agency – an agency devoted to booking and showcasing local Asian American and Pacific Islander artists. “I reached out to a lot of Asian artists based in Nashville on Instagram that I already knew, and all of them were very much excited about it,” Park said. “That support is really what kept the ball rolling. Shoes Off was originally supposed to be just a live music series, like a lot of writers’ series, but I think it became more than that just based off of the support I've garnered behind it.“ Although Music City is brimming with talent, visibility of Asian American and Pacific Islander  performers and opportunities to showcase their artistry has been lacking. Shoes Off has hosted a variety of events for As...

A great shoeshine is only partly about the polish that comes out of the can. It’s also about the polish that comes out of the shoeshine man. It’s about the breeze he shoots. It’s about the drama he creates as he whisks the brushes against your wingtips and the sense of ceremony he brings when he snaps the cloth across your toecap. Fewer D.C. shoeshine men were as much fun to watch work as Tony “White Pony” Lugthart, who died of liver cancer on June 11 at the age of 62. I was a customer of White Pony Tony’s, regularly settling into the well-upholstered stand he had in the window of McCormick & Schmick’s on K Street NW. Over the years, Hoka Sneakers Tony operated other stands around town — including on the Hill and at Reagan National Airport — but that two-seater wa...