I just saw this interesting idea over at Metropolis Magazine. It’s called the Copenhagen Wheel and it’s a prototype electric powered wheel for your bike which not only pushes you along it also gathers data about your ride and the environments you ride through. The wheel sends the date to a special iphone app and then onto the web. Creating a layered map of date from all the Copenhagen wheels in your city. Pretty interesting. I think I would buy one. I didn’t find any information about the size of the electric motor or how you charge it or how fast it goes. I also didn’t see any wires, so maybe it’s just an electric assist and not a full electric bike.
The Copenhagen Wheel turns the bike you already own, quickly and easily into an electric bike with regeneration and real-time environmental sensing capabilities. The wheel harvests the energy you input while braking and cycling and stores it for when you need a bit of a boost. At the same time, sensors in the wheel are collecting information about air and noise pollution, congestion and road conditions.
Let me start this post with an UPSIDE DOWN smile :( Okay now that I have that out of my system, lets focus on the title of this post: I Bought The $10 Mast Brothers Chocolate Bar, So Why Am I Not in Chocolate Heaven. What the hell is that suppose to mean right? Well, this is what it means. I sooooo badly wanted to LOVE, I mean butterflies in my belly, love this Chocolate Bar. Why why chocolate fairy did you still my joy!
Let me start at the beginning. I was in the big NYC for a little work and a whole lot of Loving (wishful thinking I know) a few weeks ago. I started off the visit by seeing my friend Dan, who has an office just around the corner from the newish Ace Hotel in Manhattan. Yeah, that cool hip salvation army looking hotel chain. The one out of Portland Oregon. It’s an awesome place and they even have a Portland styled espresso bar just off the main lobby of the Hotel. Since we were so close, we decided to make the Ace our morning espresso destination. Wow, it did not disappoint. The entire lobby is a wifi free hang out zone, featuring a completely black 40 foot ceiling with massive roman style white columns holding up the place.
I think I must have passed out. When I woke, there was a large chunk of this dry bitter bar still stuck to my tongue.
We headed into the espresso bar and order up a few soy cappuccinos. As I am paying for our brews, what quirky little thing catches my eye on the counter? The one and only Mast Brothers Chocolate Bars. I couldn’t believe it. I just wrote a post on the Mast Brothers a week or so before heading to NYC. The post included a few amazing videos about the two brothers and their dedication to the old world craft of chocolate making. Their Brooklyn based store in the videos looked like a mini chocolate heaven to me. So, seeing these Willy Wonka type bars right there, on the counter was just too much to resist, I grabbed one and told the barista, add this to my bill. First words out of his mouth were, are you sure, they are $10. The number echoed in my head. $10 Doooollllaaarrrssssss. Time seemed to stop. Everything was in slow motion. I could hear the hiss of the steam escaping the espresso machines, the slurping sound from all the hipsters sucking down their espressos and my own breath rushing out of my lungs… and then these words leaving my lips, of course, no problem, let me have it. And oh did he! $20 or so dollars later Dan and I strolled out with two espresso’s and my new shiny heaven in a bar of Mast Brothers Espresso Dark Chocolate.
So, this is what happened. I am in Roma right now and, being that I am a foodie, I was taken to a hidden Italian slow food restaurant last night for a 9:30pm dinner. Which meant that we didn’t really eat until 10:30pm, much much later than I normally eat. But I was fine with it. I mean shit. I am in Roma for f-sake!
We started with a salted cod capriccio with black truffles and red onion dressed with lemon and amazing olive oil. Then we went on to have fried zucchini flowers and olives, then we split an order of anchovy, raisin, pine nut homemade tagliatelle pasta and then I ordered an onion flan and he had the rabbit.
Oh yes and washed it all down with a lovely crisp bottle of white wine. Oh and I forgot to mention the traditional Italian aperitivo we started off the evening with, at a bar overlooking the coliseum no less. I forgot what the aperitivio was called but it was a mix of campari, sweet vermouth and sparkling white wine. Bitter and very very strong. Definitely woke my jet-lagged ass right up! Anyway we ate and drank and all was delish and merry. Oh and very salty. A bit too salty but f-it I am in Roma remember.
What is my point at painting the picture of my eating and drinking…well first it’s fun and if you are anything like me I like to have a visual…but my main point is…I went to bed with a full belly and a warm fuzzy wine haze. Which, not only affected my not so sound sleep but I woke up feeling not rested and very salty. Puffy to be exact.
It’s my last night here in Roma before I take to the train. Time just seems to go by smoothly here. There is a flow that has effortlessly slipped into my Roma life. Well, in my life in general but I am here now so…
Tomorrow, I am off to the town of Lecce, to attend, hopefully an amazing week long authentic Italian cooking school. Which happens to be in the Region of Puglia, right along the Adriatic Sea. Damn. I can’t believe this is my life. I have always been envious of those brave people taking trips like this, alone. And then, boom, here I am, doing it. Wow, how quickly your life can change if you choose to change it. Magic starts to sprinkle in and you suddenly find yourself in Italy. In ROMA!
This is also my first night without plans and I am hungry. A familiar loneliness crept in to my mind but thankfully quickly left. Aria, I said to myself, you are in Roma, get over yourself. No time to get depressed. No need to wallow. Get your ass up and out and explore the streets. Stumble upon a cute little café for dinner and embrace life. This moment. As is it is. Cause, remember the last post? I am here now. And it is perfect. And if it wasn’t, well, then, it would be different, right?
So I go walking, feeling the gentle warm breeze guiding me along the cobblestone street and the fresh Roman blisters on the bottom of my feet growing with each stride. It’s already 8:30pm and I seem to be falling right into the late dinner schedule here perfectly too. What do I want…hmmmm…a nice big crisp salad. Greens. Dark. Bitter greens. Simply, that is all I want.
Fish farming – aquaculture – has taken hold as a major new industry in the world , and in this period of an ever-expanding global market, it promises to continue growing. But there are some important issues to consider when we buy farmed fish for consumption. The foremost question on my mind is “Is this a sustainable industry? Do the inputs (feed, habitat set aside for farms, etc.) equal the outputs (the amount of fish that eventually goes to market)? A second question is “Is farmed fish as healthy as wild-caught fish?” Finally, “What is the cost to the environment?”
Time magazine recently weighed in on some of these issues and uncovered the following facts:
Nearly 40% of all fish consumed worldwide comes from aquaculture.
The industry has grown 9% per year since 1975 and demand for species such as salmon, tuna and shrimp has doubled since then.
To produce 1 kilogram of high-protein fish food that is fed to ocean-bred, farmed fish, it takes 4.5 kilograms of smaller fish.
I am feeling it’s that time again. Yes, new music time. It’s been a while since I have highlighted a new group I am in love with and I thought, hmmm should I share a band I am semi in love with? Sure, go ahead, it’s a cool band. Two fellow North Americans (Canadians) Ethan Kath and Alice Glass, redefining electronic music with the almost seemingly exclusive use of game sounds for their first album.
The band is called Crystal Castles and they seem to on the rise and if you haven’t heard of them before, it’s about time you did. According to the Wiki in the sky, Crystal Castles musical style has been described as “ferocious, asphyxiating sheets of warped two-dimensional Gameboy glitches and bruising drum bombast that pierces your skull with their sheer shrill force, burrowing deep into the brain like a fever.
The reason I am featuring the band today is because of this free remix which has been released with the lead singer of The Cure, Robert Smith. Come on, everyone remembers The Cure right? Please say yes. Well, if you know who Robert is or not, I think you will enjoy this track.
Crystal Castles – ‘Not In Love’ (feat. Robert Smith)
It no longer cuts it just to have beautiful looking home bedding. Not since Montreal designer Janna Notkin set the bar at such dizzying ethical heights. Her exquisite range of cushions and blankets — the result of five years of research and development — are made from the finest sustainable fibers on the planet and — get this — will biodegrade in a composter in one year.
In a search effort that would put American Idol to shame, Notkin spent two years scouring the globe before deciding upon “Climatex Lifecycle yarns and felt from Switzerland (free of toxic chemicals and hazardous by-products), organic cotton and Kapok, a fibre from the Rainforest in Malaysia.” Development of the chemical-free dyes took another five, but it was well worth it for a designer who believes “good design must incorporate sustainability”. The truly beautifully and utterly unique knitted cushions come in an array of eye catching designs, while the waffle-weave blankets offer a great excuse to stay in bed all weekend.
It’s no wonder Looolo Textiles have been featured in “fashion-forward magazines like Lucky, Domino and Elle.”
And then there’s the name. Those of you skilled at cracking codes may have already deciphered that Looolo is a typographical representation of 100 percent — symbolizing their commitment to wholly organic design with a minimal environmental footprint. Although Looolo’s home wares boast biodegrade properties, you’d have to be 100 percent nuts to throw these cozy items away.
Perched atop the bluffs of LA’s exclusive Pacific Palisades, the Vicino House is more than just a home; it’s an experience. Designer Timothy McCarthy of the Forma Design Group and Owner / Developer Michael Gottlieb made it their mission to create a home that would evoke the feeling of being in a high-end spa. They succeeded. Visiting the Vicino House, I almost expected to be handed a white fluffy robe and some cucumber water.
The epitome of sustainable living and luxury design, the Vicino House was recently awarded LEED Platinum certification. A modern marvel of steel, glass and wood — one of the homes most striking features is the 180-degree view of the Pacific Ocean — which can be enjoyed from almost every room in the house and many of the sun soaked outdoor decks.
Yes, it’s that time again. Time to head out with your love ones and buy all that new Christmas stuff. New LED christmas lights, a fake or real Christmas tree, stockings, fake snow and so on. It is exhausting to even think about.
I was unlucky enough to be at Target, a place I never go to. If that wasn’t bad enough, I found myself in the middle of a Christmas explosion. Christmas everything, they had Chinese cheap o stringed lights for $4, fake trees, ornaments, stockings, fake snow, fake snowflake sparkly ornaments and on and on, you get the picture. As it happens, I wasn’t alone either, I was with my very beautiful and sophisticated girlfriend, who upon laying her eyes on this mega find of Christmas bonanza, transformed into a 5 year old girl, touching and wanting nearly everything. Lucky we made it out of there without buying one of those fake trees, because, this decal idea is looking pretty good. No need to have a decaying fire hazard sitting in the living room, when you can have something as stylish as a vinyl wall tree decal… right?
All the rage in… tiny apartments everywhere, Christmas Tree Wall Decals. The decals are made from self stick vinyl and they come in all kinds of cool modern design. Way cooler than the same old live tree thing everyone does. This is original, fun and yes can be peeled off and used again next year.
Golubka (“dove” from Russian) is a mother-daughter collaboration telling a story about a life revolving around fresh and delicious food. We started a blog to share our love for mindful cooking and eating, photography, and storytelling. The kitchen is the heart of our household, where all our days begin and end, with much laughing and experimenting.
A., the mom and mastermind behind many recipes on Golubka, found her way to raw foods through postpartum health problems that occurred after the birth of second daughter Paloma, now a two year old green smoothie fiend. After regaining her health, A. became fascinated with the idea of taking raw food preparation to an artistic level. With the help of M., the older daughter, Golubka was created.
We enjoy traveling and experiencing different cuisines. Our fondness for adventurous flavours is often reflected in our own cooking, with fearless combination of fresh ingredients.
Our day jobs have nothing to do with food preparation or styling, but we’d very much like that to change, and Golubka is a first step towards our dream.
I have been waiting and waiting for a real electric motor bike to hit the market. Now finally an Oregon based company called Brammo is coming out with a bike called the Empulse, that goes over 100 mph and can go 100+ miles before needing to recharge. Sounds perfect, now what will this thing cost right? Well, its up there but so are most super bikes. There will be three models coming out in 2011, ranging in price from $10k to $14k. Not bad, since you never need gas and maintenance will be next to nothing. Would you buy one?
Everyone knows space in Tokyo Japan is a rare thing and when you find a little, you don’t dare waste any of it. Space was obviously one of the inspirations for Architect Klein Dytham when he designed his Undercover Lab. A floating black box which seems to hover over the back alleys of Tokyo.
Undercover Lab is a building, which is undercover. Not only is it tucked away in the back streets of Harajuku but the site is also very deceiving. A 10m long narrow driveway leads to a 12m x 12m site at the rear.
The building houses a studio, press showroom, and office. A 20m long hanger rail to show the entire collection of one season was required. This is housed in a black tube running along the only 20m straight line on the site, which extends out over the entrance driveway. This cantilevered tube extends the building’s influence to the main street in a strong but stealth way.
The tube was made to look as anonymous as possible, almost like a shipping container where you have no idea of its contents. The tube also conjures up images of telescopes etc, which give the building a mysterious feel _ nobody knowing what quite is going on inside. So much so that some people may feel intimidated just walking under the tube if they are unannounced.
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