So design some penguin ones, somebody

John Fluevog would rather have a tongue in cheek than foot in mouth. Else how to explain the shoe maker's felicitous approach to his business, his shoes, and his approaches to making and selling them.

The about page on fluevog's site begins,

John and his longtime friend and ex - partner, Peter Fox, go back to biblical times. In those days, such scriptural characters as Methuselah lived to be, quite literally, thousands of years old. John, himself, is thousands of years old and Peter Fox is, in fact, Methuselah. Before they founded Fox & Fluevog, in the ancient biblical age of 1970, they were shepherds. Actually, they worked at Sheppard's, a venerable Vancouver shoe emporium, albeit a tad on the conventional side.

The story goes from here to Fox & Fluevog, "the very coolest place to treat the feet and has remained so ever since. Then, "Around 1980, Peter heard the siren song of New York City and moved there to open his own store, specializing in design of Ladies' (particularly wedding) shoes. John took over the business and built it into the multinational mega corporation it is today, along the way forging his undaunted reputation for the world's most distinctive shoes."

The FAQ below has questions such as "What's the capital of Uruguay?" (the answer is in Spanish) and "Are John Fluevog Angels really Satan resistant?" (answer: "You're wearing Angels right now, right? Look around - do you see him?")

Among the many delightful pages on the extensive Fluevog.com site is one that goes,

You've Heard of Open Source Software • Get Ready for John Fluevog's Open Source Footwear™.

"But how can a software concept work with shoes?", we hear you gasp in astonishment. Keep reading.

YOU ALL KNOW how Open Source software works, right. Sure you do: everybody has access to the program's source code and anybody who thinks of an improvement can just write it up and send it in. If others use it, Yahtzee! Everybody wins! It's simple, it's people-driven, it's non-monetary and it makes software peoploe really want. We're going to make shoes the same way.

(In a word balloon from a video frame of John Fluevog speaking) It's a concept that's well, maniacally tremendous: Got an idea for a shoe? Even just for part of a shoe? Scribble it down and send it to me. I don't care if it's on a bar napkin, as long as I can make it out.

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED, not finding the shoes you really want? Is your imagination ahead of the whole shoe industry and you're sick of waiting for them to catch up? Here's your chance to go over their heads and deal with someone who really cares what you want. All you need is a brilliant idea. Fax it, mail it, upload it, email it, bring it in - just get it to me.

These lead to an updated Results page where readers can vote on submitted designs.

And below that is a link to a page that explains open source as "both a software philosophy and an important progressive movement".

Not coincidentally, the Fluevog site runs fast for a graphics-heavy one. It should be no surprise that it's served by Apache off Linux servers in Vancouver. Same with Peter Fox Shoes.

By the way, if your shoes really do get produced, John names them after you, and the design goes into the public domain. As well as admission to what John modestly calls "the hallowed ranks of Fluevog Design Alumni".

If any of you submit designs, and they turn into real Vogs on real feet, send us photos and we'll show them here.

To submit your order, visit this page: http://www.fluevog.com/files_2/os-1.html

- Doc Searls