JULIAN WOLKENSTEIN

Julian Wolkenstein, Australian, London-based photographer, is amazing with his amazing conceptual works.

Above photos of horses with human hairstyles are some of my favorite.

julianwolkenstein.com

PANTHEON OF SOCCER GREATS

An 800 square meter ceiling poster, shown in the main train station in Cologne during the World Cup 2006.

Why are we reporting this just now? That's because they just received the Bronze Award for Innovative Use of Media - Outdoor: Single (THE ONE SHOW).

It took Hamburg-based illustrator, Felix Reidenbach, 40 days to complete this mammoth poster.

LANDMARKS.ORG

It's about time the rest of the world take notice! Preserving our landmarks is part of taking care of our arts and culture...

But what really caught my eyes was this ad for Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. (See! Great ads does help!)

Congrats to Ogilvy and Mather Chicago for the ONE SHOW Bronze award!

OPUS OR iPHONE?

You be the judge. But then again, we are talking about two completely different platforms here.

Zenum homepage

NATURA CLASSICA - TRIED AND TESTED

Hooray! We finally got our hands on our very own Natura Classica (and the Natura 1600 film)!! Above are couple of pictures I took with a standard ISO 800 film. It's a great little camera, very simple and straight-forward, it reminds me of my Olympus µ back in the days (for its simplicity!).

The camera costed me 250 USD, so for its price, this is exactly what I expected; which leads me to my only complain for this lil' gadget - it lacks a manual mode! But I suppose that is the difference in its price.

HK GIFTS AND PREMIUM FAIR

Many thanks to everyone who came by our booth during the HK Gifts and Premium Fair.
This year, we added a full range of mobile ashtray to our existing collection.

More photos of the event to come later.

See you all again in Shanghai this coming September!

24 VIEWS OF ANUBIS

I always like the figure of Anubis, it's just a personal thing. But here I've found 24 mechanical view of it, quite interesting. A mechanical version of Anubis is display in the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Otaru, Japan. This theatre is actually a museum of Automata (mechanical sculpture) based in UK. Inside you will find a series of mechanical sculptures, mostly made with wood.. each piece will demostrate a mechanical display movements of human or animals, some could be quite violent.

Background info of Anubis: A man with the head of a jackal-like animal. As most should know that Anubis is the Greek name for ancient jackal-headed God of Dead in Egyptian mythology. Unlike real jackal, its head is black. Rarely shown fully-human, but he is depicted so in the Temple of Abydos of Rameses II.

Post a poem on your shirt

Get bored with your old tee shirts? Take a look and shop on "Post A Poem"! There were tee shirts with comics by famous artists from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, the graphics are not only interesting, but also have messages in them.

One of the artists is Siu Hak, my favorite artist from Hong Kong. His illustrations were shown in many commercial cooperates, music labels, and publishing houses, he was also awarded the Silver Medal at the New York Festival 2002.

http://www.postapoem.net/eng/main.php

(Photos from www.postapoem.net)

An art hotel in Bangkok

Bangkok is known as an excellent place for holiday, not only because of sunny weather, beautiful beach and tasty foods, but also those nice hotels.


The above rooms are artistic and unique, and surprisingly they are all from the same hotel!


Reflections is an art Hotel with 30 rooms for world travelers in Bangkok. There are only 30 rooms but each of the distinct rooms are designed by celebrated and honored Thai and international designers. Decoration, style and spirit reflect the taste of the temper of each designer. Don't worry about the price, it only costs 2,850 - 3600 Baht per night!


Room No.207 is my favorite, what are yours?


See all 30 lovely rooms: http://www.reflections-thai.com/rooms.html
(Photos from www.reflections-thai.com)

Tapisofa

Guess what are they? Carpet? Waste paper?

The answer is: sofa!

This sofa, called Tapisofa, was designed to be placed in corner, with unpredictable but natural shapes that create seats in your house. (But I think your guests won't know this "carpet" is a sofa...)

It is designed by a young french product designer Olivier Gregoire. He shows a balance between art and industry, form and content, the sensitive and the functional.

Take a look at other works by Olivier! They are really cool and amazing~

http://www.oliviergregoire.com

THE McQUEEN FERRARI

1963 Ferrari 250GT, only 350 were ever made.

I think the picture pretty much says it all... I don't think I need to elaborate more on how sweet this ride is.

The ex-Steve McQueen 1963 Ferrari 250GT Lusso Chassis #4891 will be the centerpiece of Christie’s auction of Exceptional Motor Cars at the Monterey Jet Center on August 16th. GRRRR...

FIXIES THE NEXT BIG THING

An article in NY Times on the topic of the fixie sensation. It's a good article for those of us who have no clue what fixie is all about.

Fixies are "beautiful objects with simple, clean, stripped-down lines that make them look fast even when they’re standing still"

"Just as die-hard skateboarders 15 years ago stood on the cusp of providing a new lifestyle, so the fixed-gear bike culture could be the tip of something that nobody can accurately predict but something that is huge."

YAH, we think it will be just as big as skateboarding! I wonder who will be the first to start a fixie fashion line...

For full article in NY Times- click here

RIVA IN SHANGHAI

Riva, the impeccable Italian speed boats, introduces the very first Aquariva ever arrived in China during the 2007 Shanghai Boat Show on April 5th, 2007.
But i must say that my all time favorite is the Riva Ariston (1950 – 1974). Fully restored Ariston can be found at Teamriva.com

THE SARTORIALIST

The Sartorialist is our new favourite blog on fashion. We wonder why we never see so many fashionable individuals when we go out shopping. I suppose it takes an eye of a professional photographer (Scott Schuman) to really spot them.

Swobo Bikes

Swobo's galvanized-finish fixie and matt grey coaster-bike. Shipping out on April... though I don't particularly like their grips, they should have kept the design to a minimal, just like it's paint scheme.

For full details and spec - SWOBO fixie

ONE NUMBER FOR LIFE

GrandCentral.com came up with the idea of unifying multiple phone numbers to one single number. Now when someone calls you on the unified-number, your office phone, home phone, phone on the yacht, mobile will all ring simutaneously. This eliminates the hassle of giving out multiple numbers. And minimize the frastration of carrying multiple mobile phones.

On top of that, there are a few options to utilize: listening in (can choose to direct call to anwering machine if it's an undesirable caller), call recording, customize greetings and the best yet, a web button that will direct the link to your phone.

Lamborghini LM002, 1990

Saw this beast in Hong Kong, apparently, only 542 units of Lamborghini LM002 were ever made.

The LM were originally developed for the US Army, but it was too pricey. And so they converted this vehicle to a commercially used ride. Its main target customers were the royalties in the middle east (including Uday Hassein, before the US Army blew up his super-buggy).

Engine: V12 light alloy 5.2L powerful twin cam 48 valves EFI Engine
Transmission: 5 speed manual with Hi,Low range , both permanent 4wd and part time 4wd system with three ZF limited-slip differentials
Speed: 210 Km/h ( EFI Model ) 0--100 less than 8 seconds.

PIET HEIN EEK vs PLAY SAM racer

OMG, the dream ride for kids with a billionaire daddy.

Okay, that wasn't the point really, I genuinely think that Piet Hein Eek's finely crafted racer is a lost art that we should cherish. Hand-built, craftsmanship, and it's really all about the nostalgia.

The € 3.540,00 Piet Hein Eek racer sure beats Play Sam's Sixten Sason hands down!

HOMEMADE FISH EYE LENS

Dr.USO teaches you how to create your own FISH-EYE lens!!

All it takes is cardboard, cardboard roll of your toilet paper, a magnifying lens and a fish eye (yes, the real thing)!
It's unfortunate that the video is in Japanese and the subtitles are in Chinese only. But it's relatively straight-forward and quite self-explanatory.

Be warned though, do not try this with your precious GR1V!

Watch the video!

elBulli

Spanish chef Ferrán Adria, of elBulli, the best restaurant in the world, launched FACES Ferrán Adria, a new collection of professional cooking and dining utensils. His creations are tailored specifically for the chef's surreal and quirky meals.

I hear that booking for elBulli, Barcelona, will take up to two years... eeek.

AMBIENTE, BORING FRANKFURT

Just back from the Ambiente show in Frankfurt.
It's no wonder Frankfurt has the reputation as the most boring city in Europe... and I suspect for that reason, the attendance at Ambiente is dropping every year.

Anyway, here are some postings of some of the new items we showed there.

MERCIAN x PAUL SMITH fixies

Well, according to the story, Paul Smith was an avid cycling fan before a cycliing accident at 17 years of age. AND he was riding a Mercian during that time as well...

Regardless, the Mercian x PS fixie is still a beauty to behold. Dish out £2,800.00 if you can afford one.

For full details and spec - Mercian x PS fixie

R.MUTT 1917

Yeah, and speaking of 'art' vs 'found-objects'... here is a great sticker of Duchamp's "R.MUTT" signature on his famous work, Fountain.

Hmm, I am contemplating if I should attach this to my TOTO at home.

'Design' by Teruhiro Yanagihara.

500円 at Calo Book Shop.

MR. MARTIN

We would never endorse any Windows Vista commercial... but we love Microsoft's campaign featuring comedian, Mr. Martin.
Go to The NY Times for more thoughts on such 'non-pitches.'
www.clearification.com

WE ARE ALL FOR THE CRATE

Oh yeah, the never-ending debate of 'design' vs 'found-objects.' Click 'here' to read excerpts of Freegorifero and Jasper Morrison's e-mail exchange regarding Morrison's £95 designer table/storage.

My opinion of The Crate? I couldn't agree more with Morrison's view on this matter; but I already have a found-wine-crate beside my bed.

BANKSY SHOP

Banksy, certainly one of our favorite artists, have a new 'shop' open. 'Paintings' that were previously hung in the Louvre, Tate, MOMA and Met are now available for download.

New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual (1970)

New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual (1970), woh, this is classic and a worthy collectors' item. Triborough claims to have bought it from Transit Museum a few years ago for around $5 to $10!!!

NATURA CLASSICA

!!! the NATURA CLASSICA is THE 35mm camera next in line to the ricoh gr. though i think the natura is currently only available in japan. we will get our hands on one and give it a try. test-drive report to follow.

in the mean time, below are some natura photosets available on flickr:
tathei photoset on flickr
flickr photosets 1
flickr photosets 2