Tease!

I don't like to post about concept cars, and I long ago gave up letting myself get too excited by them. Concept cars are too much like having a super-hot, witty and smart model flirt with you all night...and then ditch you shortly after you start believing you're actually going to get lucky.

But this — this is a car I'm willing to be teased by. I just want to think about owning a car like this for a while. I know it's not real, I know that even if I wait 15 years, everything that's brilliant about this design will be watered down and shaded toward the blandest common denominator in any real "production model."

As a fantasy, though, it's dreamy.

Wine Bottles Are So 2007

I'm a convert to wine packaging that eschews the heavy glass bottle, and I really want to try this version from Revelry Vintners.

My lingering attachment to tradition in the face of innovation began to falter when I first heard about French Rabbit wines in their eco-friendly and camping/backpacking-convenient packaging.



But it was Target's WineCube that fully sold me on the idea. I mean, seriously, not only is this stuff a bargain, super-convenient, and environmentally friendly, but it tastes great, too!

Antique Blogging Platform

Only two posts here all year? Really? I blame LiveJournal.

So, anyway, long story short, I just ordered some of these. Because I have poor impulse control. And they look cool.

Hello? Is this thing on? Yeah, that's what I thought...

McCarran Airport, FTW!

You know what would be great? If when you got to the airport and had a little time to kill before your next flight, you could pop open your laptop and instantly get a strong, free wi-fi connection. Even better would be if the first page you see after a ridiculously simple log-in (email address only) is a well-laid-out page listing up-to-date arrivals and departures.

Well that's exactly the experience I just had here at the Southwest gate at McCarran airport in Las Vegas.

Now granted I didn't even try this at SFO -- maybe it was just as painlessly convenient. I haven't flown in years, so this could be pretty standard. But either way, I appreciate it.

Good job, McCarran!

Rock-a-bye Baby!

This. Bed. Rocks. Yes. Literally.

Want want want want want.

In case you can't tell, I think this is the coolest thing ever.

Domes for Darfur

This is a good cause, and if you can spare a few bucks you'll be doing a mitzvah for some people who haven't seen a whole lot of mitzvahs from our side of the world recently.

I just had the honor of donating the first $50. Maybe you'll be the first to donate more!

I Can See Clearly Now, Part III

Why does stuff have to be so darn expensive? This is the iGen Night Vision Viewer, and it would be so cool to have at Burning Man. (Mostly to play "spot the lurking law enforcement officers.") $700 at SkyMall, but it can be found for under $500 elsewhere online. SkyMall's satisfaction guarantee is pretty tempting, though:

Satisfaction. Your complete satisfaction is our first concern. If you're unhappy with any purchase, for any reason, you can return it within 60 days for exchange or refund. Guaranteed.

Sounds a lot like "Free Rental for Burning Man" to me...

Clever Little Wine Rack Substitute

The Wine Wedge — $14.95. I spotted this on Gizmodo, and they were all yakkety-yak-yak about it. Doesn't the picture pretty much speak for itself?

By the way, does it seem like an inordinate number of my posts here have to do with alcohol accessories? Totally unintentional, I assure you.

Don't Leave Home Without It

Neat. Another to file under Wish I'd Thought Of It.

You Look Like a Drunk on the Go!

My latest covetables are both from Snow Peak: the Titanium Flask you see above, and the portable Chopsticks below. About $100 and $25, respectively.

There are only two versions of the flask listed on their website, and both are different from the one above, but this one supposedly holds 6.7 oz. of hooch, and weighs only 2.3 oz. itself. It doesn't get much more awesome than that, friends. A little web surfing indicates that these aren't easy to come by -- seems most places are "temporarily out of stock." Good luck!

2 Fools + 1 Adventure + 0 Idea = Tuxedo Travels

Hello, random person with a still-active RSS feed! Surprise!

No promises that I'll be posting with any regularity anytime soon, but I'll try. I just wanted to alert the world about Tuxedo Travels. A friend I met at the TED conference a couple of years ago is hitting the road with a guy he barely knows, travelling from Hong Kong to London, wearing a tuxedo the whole way. You wish you'd thought of that, you say? Me, too! Track their progress, and maybe kick down a few bucks to their Silly Fund.

Love your horse?

My good friends Federica and Anton have a ranch near Winters, CA where they board and train horses. Federica just moved her website to a new URL, so I'm linking to her here. So if you have a horse you want boarded near Davis or Winters, check out Somerset Farms. Thanks.

Do Want!

This demanded a return to blogging. There's an image meme going around now with pictures of people and animals seeming to grimace or react badly to something, with the caption "Do not want!" (Many of these are NSFW, so search for them at your peril.) In any case, that's where the title of this post comes from. I so Do Want!

Apple iPhone.

Fandango PARK(ing) - Timelapse

Here's a YouTube video of the timelapse movie I made of our PARK(ing) adventure. I hope it works!

Park(ing) Day, Fandango Style

Today is Park(ing) Day in San Francisco, so of course Fandango had to get involved. We built a Park at 22nd & Mission. We kept ours simple -- a bench and a couple of chairs showed up shortly after this picture was taken. But I hear there's a more elaborate one near where I work.

Check out yours truly, enjoying his moment in the sun. It was actually really wonderful and park-like, laying on the warm grass. Even with cars driving by just a couple of feet from your head and, you know, parking right next to you, the smell of the grass was really refreshing.

Alamo Square Flea Market

Just up the street from my house, this Saturday -- the 24th Annual Alamo Square Flea Market. I only heard about it yesterday (and I've lived just 1/2 a block away from the park for three years!). But it looks like a great opportunity to get some cool cast-offs -- including stuff from yours truly. I'm still waiting to hear back about whether there's enough space for me to set up in the park, but since I recently put together a bunch of stuff that had been cluttering up my apartment, I'll at least take the opportunity to set up across the street.

Bonus!, Part II

Second year anniversary here at work, so this time I get two, count 'em, two crisp, new $100 bills. Suh-weet!

The Wheel of Life?

If you're heading to the playa, you could do worse than to bring one of these along -- though you'd have to build your own, of course.

This rates right up there as one of the very coolest things I've seen in months.

[via inhabitat]

It's Like a Digital Camera for Voices

Oh, man. This would be so cool to have. I do occasional man-on-the-street type interviews for work, but this would also make spontaneous podcasting a breeze. The FlashMic is just what the name suggests -- it's a high-quality cordless Sennheiser microphone with 1GB of flash memory. It runs on 2 AA batteries (for about 8 hours recording time), and can record up to 18 hours of broadcast quality mp3 action. The catch? Until some competition comes along to drive down the price, it'll set you back about $1300. Ouch!

[via OhGizmo!]

Utility Belt Item #6

simplehuman's design philosophy is apparently right up my alley. I have one of their little covered trash cans in my bathroom, and just as the company's name suggests, it's simple and ergonomic. But it's the little touches that make good design great, and the bags that come with the can utilize package design that perfectly complements the can and exemplifies simplehuman's brand personality. So I was delighted, but not surprised, to discover this innovative gem.

The simplehuman Bag Capsule is, as the name suggests, a compact container that holds a spool of "bags" -- but the clever trick is, there are no perforations or really even bags, per se. You just "[p]ull out the plastic tubing inside to make any size bag with the built-in cutter by simply knotting the end." Nice! Each Bag Capsule is only $5.99 and comes with two plastic tubing rolls "for over 65 feet of bags," and a 3-pack of replacement rolls is just $4.99. Perfect for the Leave No Trace® event in your life.


[via productdose]

You Can Keep Your Sporks

I believe this little item speaks for itself. $12 here.

Westfalia Coolness

I make no secret of my lust for motorhomes and other portable shelter systems. It's one of my favorite design problems, and some of the solutions--both proposed and actual--can be simply stunning. Like this one: a Volkswagen Westfalia concept from Verdier in Canada.

[via notcot.org]

If I Were A Rich Man...

OMG, drool! Screw the Batmobile, I want this. It's the Bugatti Veyron $1.2 million, 0-60 in 3 seconds, top speed of 253 MPH.

[via Uncrate]

How Come Japan Gets The Glowy Mushrooms?

Anyone know how (or even if) I could get some of these to grow in my shower?

[via Neatorama]

Sexy Beast

The 2007 Kawasaki KLR650 has been revealed, and I like it. I currently ride the 1995 model of this bike, and the cool thing about these bikes is, you could literally swap any part from the 2007 bike onto the 1995 bike, and vice versa. They're virtually identical. And a new one is only about $5200. Alas, if I bought a new one, I'd have to put about another $1500 into it to give it my favorite add-ons my current bike has -- or, I could just swap 'em onto the new bike... Hmmmm.

Will The Real Slim Slanty...Oh, Nevermind.

I just really like the look of this table. Is that so wrong? It's about $1100 at Vivavi, but I'm pretty sure I could make something similar for a lot less if I weren't so lazy...

[via productdose, of course]

Infinitely Cool

This is a really fun, infinitely cool infinite regression. Whee!

Airstream = Art

Oh, drool! As I've mentioned here before, I have a huge motorhome/house-on-wheels fetish. I've always wanted to buy an old (or even a cool, newer) Airstream trailer and design the interior myself. Well, it looks like this weekend I'm going to miss out on seeing some of Kristiana Spaulding's work, showing at The Spring Open Studios at Hunters Point Shipyard. Dang!

[via ReadyMade blog]

Anti-Intellectualism is My Power Move

Remind me to tell you the story of the time I scared Ze Frank in a men's room when one or both of us might have had a little too much to drink. (Sorry, Ze!) In the meantime, tune in to his daily podcast -- because 9 times out of 10, it's going to be the funniest thing you see all day.

At The X, Y Coordinates, The Time Will Be...

The Bhudda said that desire is the source of all suffering, or something like that. Well, it must be true 'cause I want this watch, but I can't afford to buy it right now, and it hurts. My trusty currency calculator tells me that the ¥1499 price at TokyoFlash is about $132 to you, and more importantly, me. But noooo, I have to pay my rent. Stupid rent... Oh, how does it work? Um, X-axis = hours, Y-axis = minutes (w/in 5 minutes), count the number of the 4 red LEDs lit, and add to your Cartesian 5-minute mark to get within 1-minute of the actual time. In the picture here, it's 9:37. Duh.

[via boing boing]

Water, Water Everywhere...

Mission accomplished -- this commercial for Evian will probably get me to buy a bottle next time I have the choice.

Late to the Party

New-to-me web comic, Diesel Sweeties is pretty funny. Now you know. (P.S., be sure to start at the beginning and read the last 5 years worth.)