objects

I WANT THEM ALL.

from conway electric, this white extension cord featuring a flexible cotton-covered wire cord connected to a die-cast aluminum stainless steel housing. the exto2 12ft in white is sold for $65.

i think i like this only for the odd shape.. a chef quality cutting board in maple, featuring a circular handle, smooth beveled edges and a minimal engraved branding. the amoeba cutting board comes in 2 different sizes and can be purchased for $145.

i bought this a few months ago, and let me tell you… i get at least one compliment a day. areaware produced 4 different shaped brass key rings with a minimal screw clasp. designed by karl zahn, if you have tiny wrists like mine, you can slip it on or clip it to a belt. this contour key ring can be purchased for $16.

simple and rustic bottle opener from areaware, designed by brendan ravenhill. this is not just a regular bottle opener.. this one features 2 magnets, 1 allowing the bottle opener to be kept on the fridge and one to catch a bottle cap!! this opener can be purchased for $14.

from hasami porcelain, an unglazed porcelain bottle with a cork stopper in natural. not sure what the point of this is, but it looks pretty and i wouldn’t mind pouring my wine out of this rather than an ordinary bottle. you can purchase this for $36.

these are a few of my favorite things… all of which can be purchased on needsupply.com. they have a lot of amazing things and would recommend all to check it out – if not for yourself then as a special gift for someone special. by lb

CATEGORIES: objects, perfect gift

BE MY MIRROR

cubes

a perfect expression of minimalism, symmetry and tidiness. i love these twin cubic cable holders by kebei li. they feel like a distant second cousin of felix gonzalez-torres’s “perfect lovers”… except you can have your own. check out more of kebei’s work @kebeiiiiiiiiiiii by kl

CATEGORIES: objects, perfect gift

furniture as art: fredrikson stallard

love this amorphous chair called “species II” by fredrikson stallard. the chair is made out of polyurethane foam and fiber glass and was presented at the london design festival 2015, find out more at david gill gallery. by kt

CATEGORIES: art, design, objects

kodaks vintage, classic, retro, super-8 camera: we must’ve done something right that we ‘aint doing no more

nice styling from the modern japanese bellami-HD1 camera with a modern chinon lens – but a total throw-away as a digital camera disguised in “super model” 8mm camera… lame!

real-real… kodak’s latest backtrack on corp stupid decision making – super 8 film and a modernized super 8 camera are back, a pleasant surprise.

camera designed by our friend yves behar at fuse project for kodak

nice stealth detailing on the side

sporting a real super-8 cartridge

and now for some of the old giants… above the dieter rams designed braun super-8 camera for vitsœ

the french beaulieu 4008 super-8, standard issue for all you nouvelle vague enthusiasts

my personal camera which i have owned and cherished for many years, the notorious canon XL-1014 super 8

and my best friends camera which i often use as a b-roll the nikon R-10 with nikkor lens sister to the R-8 (below)

NikonR8

and finally below one of the many renditions of the infamous pistol-grip from the berrics skate mafia

ok so we owe this yet-to-be-issued kodak camera a blind review. note that we have not tested the camera as its still in production and we will post another once we get our hands on one. but top-line we are uber excited to see this amazing tool make a come back, and more importantly to see kodak supporting, and hopefully supplying, the super-8 cartridge films on a regularly available basis.

the good: its a super 8. it takes real film, and hopefully the film will not cost you your entire weekly allowance. its new and using the latest technology. keeping what worked and adding what wasn’t available. like a proper rechargeable battery that will last you the entire shoot. the design is simple and clean. we especially love the kodak revised minimal logo on the side. kodak can now process, scan, and deliver your film in one shot. love the yellow and off-white colors reminiscent of dieter rams iconic choice with braun, bringing back some of that 70’s nostalgia. usb plugs in the back. simple usability making it easy for newbie millennials… don’t forget, like em or hate em, we need those ding dongs if we are to bring some cost efficiency to the film cartridges.

the bad: it looks like a toy. the camera in its design is a reference to more of the 70’s or late 60’s units rather than the early 60’s which we personally prefer. 70’s was the era of plastics but also the era of textures which this camera has chosen to dodge at least. but the casing does not appear to be metal (again this is not factual)… if plastic, knowing mister behar, it is the finest plastic available.

the ugly: wholly shit, where is my pistol grip? how can we shoot super 8 without the pistol grip, so beloved by film fans. we even rigged one on our old hi 8 camera at some point. that said, unlike the old narrow cameras of the 60’s, this little cute baby can be held like a basket-ball for those long smooth hand-held shots, like the ones in “i am cuba” directed by mikhail kalatozov and his genius DP sergey urusevskiy.

in the end we cant wait to get our hands on one and put it to the test. thank you kodak for bringing this art back and mister behar for making it famous. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics, objects, perfect gift, photography

TOP 10+ GIFTS of 2015: our gift to you, great gift ideas for the holidays

B&O A9 speaker in white $2,699.00 – by ars

mink and cashmere socks from william abraham $160.00 each – by ac

lelabo collaboration with ceft and company candle made in small edition and hand numbered $300.00 – by uh

tom dixon elements scent air diffuser $115.00 – by cm

joey roth’s latest bluetooth speaker design (pre-order) available in black but we’ll take the white $450.00 – by xy

1:10 scale exoto die-cast model of the 1967 lemans winner, the ford gt40 MKIV was $5,500.00 on sale now for $2,747.00 one left – by dd

monocle travel walnut studiolo dominos $75.00 – by lb

sugar cube wireless speakers, skip songs by tilting the speaker and tap to play/pause… simple and stylish portable speaker $229.00 – by nwa

the ultimate modernist cuisine cookbook set $539.00 – by kt

kristian stahl fossilized mammoth dice from crest & co. $1,000.00 – by kc

pro-ject audio debut carbon record player $550.00 – by pr

happy holidays from everyone

at ts

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics, design, objects, perfect gift

nemo special ops power drill

in these james bond times what is better than to plan for an early christmas gift, super villain style. if you or your better half is planing an underwater heist or just a random pool repair, nemo power tools got what your looking for. the nemo special ops power drill is salt water resistant down to 100m and comes with a 6ah battery. get yours now at nemopowertools.com by kt

CATEGORIES: objects

clothes rack by arash eskafi

nice aesthetics, bad function. by lb

CATEGORIES: art, objects

cool, cool, cool: howdy mr. and mrs. moncler

“i’m gonna ride into omoha on a horse, out to the country club and the golf course,

carrying a new york times, shoot a few holes, blow their minds…”

an “A” for effort, but NEVER carry a long-board around here…

you can call him muffin… oh, and shes just bluffin’

me and muffin! i’m a poet, and i know it…

love these little guys from moncler… but don’t bother lookin’ to buy em like i did yet, they are not available for sale. i had a few pieces of moncler when i was a kid. a blue and red sweater, a doudoune jacket, etc… my parents brought em back from a trip to france and my sister and i skied in em. had no idea what they were, but i remembered those colors and the logo and that stayed in my head until i started seeing every kid on the corner sporting one. i suppose moncler’s are still special if you can navigate your way through a million fake sites, or cough up $1,500 for a polyamide and feather (not all down) jacket at the store, but that’s a steep price when you can get an all down 800fill serious outdoor jacket for $400 or even under $300… i suppose i’m poorer than my parents now, but that’s the new american way that we all voted for! jive credit: bob dylan, ofcourse. by xy

CATEGORIES: fashion mens, musings, objects

Maison Martin Margiela: open that damn door and take some notes

maison martin margiela designer door stop in the shape of an egg, set of 2 approx $110

maison martin margiela notepad approx $35

i love these guys… not unlike droog design you almost want to make this stuff yourself at home, but then on the other-hand you want to support their genius. wish we thought of these. by uh

CATEGORIES: design, objects

colony

we are always looking out for the next best shops and products, especially furniture that is handmade, thoughtfully designed, and impeccably crafted.

these products and their designer’s are showcased at colony ‘the designers co-op’ in none other than our city, new york city. “founded and curated by jean lin, colony is a community of independent furniture, lighting, textiles and objects designers coming together on a new york city stage to celebrate American design with an international audience.”

to our loyal ts followers- buy local, buy individually produced, buy thoughtfully. by kc

CATEGORIES: design, objects

geek out: and now a few words about pencils and pencil sharpeners

how to sharpen pencils: the el casco pencil sharpener approximate price $400-$600 pending finish

x-acto 1700 series pencil sharpener $30-$50

blackwing dual blade pencil sharpener: this one requires you to 1- sharpen the wood, 2-switch blades to sharpen the lead tip… and now how cool is that? approx $10

the results of the 3 sharpeners on the worlds finest pencil, the blackwing 602 cedar wood pencils, are displayed below

from left to right:

1- using blackwing dual blade pencil sharpener

2- using el casco pencil sharpener

3- using x-acto 1700 series pencil sharpener

there is no question that the middle pencil using the el casco pencil sharpener wins

above the legendary blackwing 602 pencils about $2 a pencil sold in cases of 12

first a little about the pencil: the palomino blackwing 602 are considered the best pencils in the world and have developed a following amongst pencil geeks like us. they are made of cedar wood (easy to sharpen with out causing “chips”) and feature a firm and smooth graphite core that combines lead with wax that helps it deliver on its promise of “half the pressure, twice the speed”. its unique and iconic ferrule allows you to extend and replace its eraser after extensive use or for super nerds to even “hack” their pencil to give it a custom look. erasers come in black, white, red. the pencil was used mainly by artists, writers and musicians and when the pencil was discontinued years ago, known writers such as joseph finder and stephen sondheim tried to convince eberhard faber to continue production or at least said some warm words about the tool they were so used to. while the company says that other pencils with similar leads are available, the devotees are convinced that there is no adequate substitution for the 602s, and we must agree with those devotees.

now a little about the sharpeners used: while the el casco pencil sharpener does an amazing job it takes some getting used to and in my opinion its not worth the cost of $400-600. that said once you get the hang of it it does do an amazing job sharpening the lead to a steady point that makes the nib stronger than any sharpener you’ve seen…. not to mention that it also looks wicked on any desk. but for nearly $600 its disappointing that when you sharpen a pencil some of the dust falls out of the casing in the front area and that the pencil grip in the sharpener damages and marks your pencils stem. it is the best sharpener resulting in the best nib but not $600 better…

the xacto sharpener is in word a piece of “garbage”. very disappointing for a company that is known for making blades. the motor is a DC motor using AC current (meaning its equivelant to a battery powered one) and can barely shave a rod of butter. the weak motor combined with, let’s assume a layman’s pencil, using inferior wood, results in a saw dust hell of a point with chips and dust all around it. not worth the postage we paid.

this brings us to the $10 blackwing sharpener which has 2 blades and openings. one is used to sharpen the wood alone and does not touch the lead point. you then insert it into the 2nd opening and sharpen the lead. i love this sharpener for its detailed attention and simple production cost that makes it cheaper than any other sharpener on the market and resulting in a very acceptable nib. while we purchased all three because we hate pens here we recommend the $10 socialist version over any other. ok so now you know… you can go around and say what complete geeks we are… by uh+kt