Object of desire XVIII

My object of desire XVIII is Piaggios 2014 edition of the Vespa 50 Primavera. This Vespa is just made for scooting around town and as it's made on a robotic production line, the quality of manufacture is superb. Apparently the base monocoque structure is 150% more rigid than the previous model, the LX. Also, the wheelbase is longer, the wheels slightly larger (11" instead of 10") and the suspension is tweaked to give a more grown-up ride. I suppose I could go on and on about technical data, how economical it is to own and all that. But I'll just admit that I like it's lines so much that I just want one.

Object of desire XVII

Three years ago I discovered Magrette Timepieces (www.magrette.com). I wrote: "I never thought I would desire a hybrid watch with a japanese movement, but this watch (and the whole concept -great storytelling there! -of this New Zealand watch company is so cool!) is suave. I will feel cool wearing this. Not only because it reminds me of "home" and looks fantastic -it's only made in 500 pieces. Good enough for me".

Now they've gone and done it all again! A little while back they offered a fantastic chronograph with unidirectional bezel. That disappeared right quick, as they only make so many (usually 500pcs) of each. Their latest offering is the Moana Pacific Diver, in three different color combinations:

Stainless steel / blue dial (pictured)

Black PVD / black dial and

Rose gold PVD / grey dial

They have made it extremely difficult to choose one before another, I want all three! But, as reality catches up with me I will go with the retro blue one. It's just wearable cool.

Object of desire XVI

I designed these about fifteen years ago, in 1997. I've come in contact with an artist who sometimes makes her own glassware at Skruf. Apparently, you can hire a glassblower by the hour, and a good craftsman can make about 30 objects such as mine in one hour. Sounds interesting enough to pursue. I imagine making a small series of perhaps 100 pieces, numbered and signed.



Japonica tattoo

This is a sketch I made, based on the chinaware "Japonica" from Rörstrands in Sweden. I mean to have it as background for the previous image I posted of a monkey (representing my wife and my daughter) sitting atop the "Chi" calligraphy power, life-force, authority, etc looking at a dragon (me) appearing out of the clouds.

Object of desire

Just in: A friend tipped me off to apply as testdriver of the new Peugeot sportscar.

Let me just say "Yes, please! Please! Please?"

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Object of desire XV

Go to the ICON 4X4 homepage and experience that special thrill you can only have when seeing an true object of desire and where you just know that "I really, really...really want one of those". Sure it's a truck and not a car. Sure it's unnecessarily big for your everyday commute. And quite surely there are zillions of cars more suited to city life. But look at it... Look at the paintwork. The suspension. The rapt attention given to even the minutest detail...

I'm actually finding myself trying to work out an equation including my carbon footprint where at the end, I can have one. So, if I ride my electric bike five of seven weekdays thus saving loads of environment, can I drive it to work one day and go on a little weekend trip, then? Oh, they don't sell them in Sweden? Well, suppose I sell my house and move to California, live in the hills and work in a vineyard...then can I have one? Please? Pretty please, with ecologic fairtrade sugar on top?

An island of joy

Click on the picture and you will be swept away to one of my favourite places in Göteborg, the Röhsska Design Museum.

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Object of desire XIV

This is the DeLonghi kMix collection espresso-maker. Apparently, it's not available in Sweden yet, so I will have to
a) order it from broadwaypanhandler.com
b) ask someone to bring it back for me, or
c) fly over there and get it myself

alternative d) (not having this piece of art) is not an option.

Telling tiles

My new hobby is creating three-dimensional objects of a datamatrix. I make them out of those small pieces of plastic tube the kids use at Kindergarten, where you first assemble the plastic tubes on a grid, then iron the whole thing with a waxed paper in between.

My next project is to re-tile my bathroom with mosaic...

Time for a new ride?

So, I finally did something I never thought I would do. I've put my Honda Zoomer up for sale, and on top of that I'm offering to sell it for half of what I paid for it, just to make sure that band-aid comes off really quickly. Why? Because I want to have the new Ecoride Trend electric-bicycle!

Why? Because I love the concept of cruising into and around town in my tweed jacket, while reading a book...on the way to my favourite café... Or riding it to meetings with my clients, who seem to think it utterly and endlessly important to have the latest Range Rover/Ferrari/Mercedes or whatever. So much for that.

It will also be fun to figure out alternative ways to charge it. A miniature-wind farm? A solar panel on my roof? I wonder how long it will take until I have a Brammo, too...

UPDATE: It's been almost two weeks since sold the Zoomer and aquired the bike. So far, it has lived up to my expectations excellently. My next mod on it will be to replace the mudguards with recycled wooden blinds.

Olympus PEN 2

This is my latest object of desire.

Scarpa shoes

Travel

OK, I wanna go home. To Oz. Miss the surf!

Object of desire XIII

I still yearn for this car! It's so cool... I think I'd go for the diesel version, as it has more torque. Air-con, leather seats and gear-shift paddles on the steering wheel. Oh, a decent radio with bluetooth for my Spotify playlists...
That's it! What more do you need?