Ron Arad Design 'Rover' Chairs For Sale

Two Ron Arad design 'Rover' Chairs have come up for sale in the San Francisco Bay Area! This is the same limited edition chair used by Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC's Top Gear car show. The beautiful pleated leather seats are taken from 1963-1977 Rover P6's.

From the seller: "I have two of them, not in mint condition, and would like to sell them. I was wondering if you knew of any potential buyers here in the Bay Area."

"I really do not know what the price should be. The only time I have seen them sold was in 2002 when they fetched $1900 each in auction. They were in good condition and my upholstery is not."

Categories:Furniture Cars

Presidio Spire by Andy Goldsworthy

This spire showed up last year on the Presidio with no explanation. Now there is an explanation: The Spire was made by Goldsworthy from trees felled from the 300 acre Presidio forest. (Trees planted by the army between 1886 and 1900 are being replaced 3 acres at a time to create an unevenly aged forest that will be easier to maintain)

"...as new young trees grow up to meet the sculpture, it will disappear into the forest."

The International Language of Hucksterism

This MINI advertisement is for Dutch consumption. It seems that American English is the international language of hucksterism.


Categories:Hucksterism

Tarantino Floor Exercise

Thanks Diagonal View
Categories:Movies Sports

Harry Allen Branch Table

Steal this idea, but make the top opaque.
Or pay $500 retail.

Categories:Furniture

You're Breaking Up

He thought this would be a good time for them to break up. He was going to make a decision as to what was good for the both of them. As if he knew best. Of course he didn't know best. What he meant to think was "This is a good time for me to break up with you". Whether it was a good time for her was beside the point. He thought they should end now, and all it would take is for him to say "I think we should break up".

Starting a break up is easy. Then it gets harder until all ties are cut. Then it gets better. That takes weeks. Weeks of mental discomfort. Weeks of physical dislocation. For it was he who was breaking up with her, and therefore it was he who must leave. He who must find a place to live.

They had no children, or really even close lives. Their friends were all hers. Their finances were separate. He worked night shift and she worked days. They saw each other on weekends.

So how did the end begin?
She was a naturally unhappy person. In the beginning this didn't bother him. Balancing the unhappieness, she was intelligent and they liked the same movies.

He had seen examples of her irrational anger. In the beginning he just laughed inside and walked away. As the years past it took him longer to recover from her rage. After eight years it was taking him 3 weeks to bounce back. Since she raged every 3 weeks his life was never happy.

He sent her the last paragraph in an email. Breaking up by email? Not really he thought. I'm just sending her something I wrote. What do you think of this? Does it ring true? Could you check the spelling?

Gruber Assist Electric Bicycle Motor

This is clever! Install the geared bottom bracket and then slide the electric motor down the seat tube. The batteries fit in the seat bag. Instant stealth electric bike!


Thanks DV!CE

Cottage Living and Beyond

I've never lived in a cottage before. With the smallness comes storage problems. My bed (but not the mattress) was delivered on Thursday and it takes up a lot of space. I see what I have to do. I have to find storage for all the odds and ends: work tools , gadgets, and supplies. My books take up a lot of space (I understand why someone would buy a Kindle, but I'm sticking with dead trees) and my books need a home. The First part of the solution is to buy a wardrobe for all the wearables now squeezed into the closet. The second part is to either put a door on my 'carport', which will then enclose a useful 100sqft, or put a locking storage box in there.

I've signed a contract to rent the cottage for 1 year. The commute to my job in Fremont is wearing on me. Our union contract is being renegotiated in August, and I'm tempted to accept even a modest buy-out offer. Then what? I'd like to work for the city of San Francisco. They pay well and the benefits are very good. If that doesn't happen then I'll consider moving to the UK. by then I'll have my US citizenship to fall back on, and I'm eligible for a British work permit. I don't know much about living/working conditions in the UK, but I have some idea that there are good paying manufacturing jobs in cities like Birmingham in the north of England. I could spend the rest of my life exploring the UK and holidaying in Europe!

Natali Del Conte Ruins 'Buzz Out Loud'

Buzz Out Load from CNET was my favourite daily consumer-technology podcast. Hosted by the smart and quick CNET staffers Tom Merritt, Rafe Needleman, Brian Cooley and Molly Wood. They had chemistry! Four quick thinkers in one room: What a treasure!

(Now here comes the hate)
But when you replace the marvelous Molly Wood with the sloth Natali Del Conte, then the chemistry becomes poisonous, and the show dissolves into limp conversation. It's like putting ketchup on sushi. It's like putting a speed governor on a Ferrari. NDC interjects at the wrong time. Her comments disrupt the flow of the programme. She is nervous and she has much to be nervous about. I don't mind her voice. I don't mind her putty face. It's her insistence on being treated as equal to the others that I object to. She's not up to snuff. She's no match for the others. She should just read the introduction to each discussion topic, then shutup until called upon again.
(End of hate)

Interpretation of the Wegner Wishbone Chair

From the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair.
This chair is clearly inspired by the Wishbone chair, but without the rope seat and without the complex bend rear legs/arm support. I like the result.


Thanks twentytwentyone
More 2009 Milan photos here
Categories:Furniture