paper wars: whatever happened to them?

the original Ak47 in paper

the modified Ak-47 by hiroko shiratori

the mills bomb (“pineapple” grenade), initially conceptualized in 1915 by golf club designer william mills, and here in paper.


these are still cool and relevant. the whole idea of “paper” and “war” is already great to start with, but the immaculate, detailed pieces delivered on the words. “paper wars” was an exhibition of paper reproductions of classic weapons, that was shown at the craze gallery in london in 2008. the group show represented a selection of international artists/ designers, like designer ben wilson, product dsigner el ultimo grito, designer pixelgarten, object guru hiroko shiratori and the like who took the idea of cut n’ paste to a new level. since then the group has disbanded and no news has been heard short of their ongoing individual works. a shame as this would be a relevant show today! although not to worry, more wars are sure to come, and unfortunately unrelated to paper! by dd

CATEGORIES: art, design

human audio: bamboo cd player

im sure most people have abandoned their cd’s and cd players, but until there is an affordable digital player that can store the billions of tracks we have afford-ably and in full resolution there will be cd players. human audio transport and player are not not cheap but not only they are beautiful they are amazing sounding alternatives. this model: human audio libretto cd player in bamboo available for approx 7,000 euros, roughly $10,000. click here to contact distributors in your area. by dd

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

are you game: La Petanque


i know summer is almost over, but this weekend will be a good chance for a game of  petanque, with the weather sunny and cool and the sand radiant in the sun. have a good weekend. by xy

CATEGORIES: musings

The Daimler double six


daimler is not so much mercedes benz as it is jaguar. the double six (a V12) is one of my favorites not to mention the later models that resembled the XJ6. daimler is one of britain’s oldest marques and has a history stretching back to the dawn of the automobile.

“their very first cars were built under license from gottlieb daimler and quickly became official transportation for british royalty. fit for kings, daimlers were well appointed, and this reputation was enhanced in 1909 with the adoption of sleeve valves. the double six is named after a taxable RAC rating of 50 hp, but the modern rating is somewhere between 130-150 bhp. less then 10 cars were ordered with the Double Six 50 engine. Despite offering numerous models and having royal support, daimler wanted to take an extra step after rolls-royce released their feature-rich phantom in 1925. to stay competitive, chief engineer laurence pomeroy decided to make the most of daimler’s engineering and adopt sleeve valves in a new seven liter ‘double six’ V12. to do so, he mated two existing 6-cylinder, 25/85 hp engines to a common aluminum crankcase and refined the sleeves to reduce oil consumption. the few cars released became collectors. for decades one of the few remaining models was retained by a single family which clung onto their prize possession. for a purchase price upwards up $5,000,000, RM restorations secured the car and finished an immaculate restoration for its next owner robert lee. lucky man he is”. by dd

CATEGORIES: cars