As a friend aptly said, “Want it, don’t need it.”

Icon is bespoke utility at its best. High quality hand-built vehicles that combine classic styling with modern performance. These puppies exude fun. The attention to detail is phenomenal.

Seating for four with removable rear bench seat. Roll cage with bikini top and Baja style spare tire placement. 5.3 litre LS all aluminum V-8 producing 350HP and 350ft/lb of torque mated to a 4 speed automatic. Atlas 3.0 twin stick transfer case with 87:1 final crawl ratio. ICON Sport Brake package combines 14” front slotted and vented rotors, 6 piston calipers and 13” rears with 4 piston calipers. Dynatrac high rock pinion Dana 60 rear axle and Dynatrac Dana 44 with 31 splines in the front. Interior upholstered in Chilewich textile. AM-FM, CD audio upgraded with Bluetooth module for hands free calling. Lear jet sourced visors, hand knurled aluminum dash knobs, Bell & Ross inspired instrument cluster. Tuffy locking console between front passengers holds audio head unit as well as offering ample storage. All aluminum body powder coated in matte clear with Volcanic Black trim accents.

I guess I don’t know enough about auto manufacturing, but if I were a major auto company, I’d be all over this idea. Guitar companies have been doing it for years, producing “relic” models that are almost identical to their historical counterparts, but with the guts of new model. Why wouldn’t VW produce a 60’s VW bus, but with modern technology. Or 70’s hatchback. Sure, the new Beetle does this to a certain extent, but there are so many more classic models that we would love to drive. Imagine a Mercedes Gullwing hybrid, or a 1950s Ford F-100, or a…

Made from 10,000 drinking straws, the Clutch Chair is an exploratory research piece that speaks to our disposable culture. Developed by observing the structural characteristics of trees.

Mansheng Wang is from Taiyuan, a city in north central China. He began studying Chinese calligraphy and painting at age seven. Following graduation from the Classical Chinese Literature Department of Shanghai’s Fudan University in 1985, he worked for over a decade as a director and producer of documentary programs on Chinese and Tibetan art and culture at China Central Television in Beijing. 

Thanks to Ken Segall at the Observatory for calling out this impressive artist. 

I’m having fun with Percolator, a new iPhone app that turns your photos into beautiful circular mosaics.

Over the past couple of months, Brand66 has gotten in a few fender benders, had its doors dinged in the parking lot, and the engine warning light has been blinking red. So I thought it was time for a bit of a makeover. This time around we’re trying out Squarespace. I’ve been eager to give this hosting/design service a try, since they offer an easy way for perfectionists to perfectionize to their heart’s content, without knowing too much code. After spending the last year with Wordpress, I have to say that changing styles and tweaking colors with Squarespace is easier. The interface is more intuitive and there’s a nice iPhone app, to boot. Gone are the myriad of Wordpress plugins (which some bloggers may miss). In my mind, Squarespace is very Apple-like: a curated experience that works beautifully, as long that experience appeals to you. In my case, I feel like I’m getting 90% of the functionality and customization of Wordpress, with much less hassle. So for me, the tradeoff is worth it. I’d be curious to know your experience with either platform.

Squarespace: the engine behind Brand66

Visitors to Warhol’s Factory in New York City were often invited to sit for a screen test. Starting in 1964, he made more than 500, of which, so far, 277 have been preserved. The Factory camera (not necessarily operated by Warhol) would record the subject on a single unedited one-hundred-foot 16 mm silent cartridge. The tests were shot at sound speed (twenty-four frames per second), but Warhol wanted them projected at silent speed (sixteen flames per second), so they take longer to see than they did to make. The sitter was often instructed not to move. Most disobeyed.