2 New Wild Watches From Storm London

About Storm (from their own site):
London fashion brand STORM is renowned for its exclusive, contemporary watches and other stylish fashion accessories. For the individual seeking a distinctive and unique expression, STORM offers a range of styles from funky edginess to sleek sophistication.

Today STORM is a global brand with a presence in more than 45 countries around the world and standalone STORM stores in numerous countries including Shanghai, Riga, Prague, Bratislava, Dubai, Melbourne and Delhi. More STORM stores are planned in India, China Nigeria and the Czech Republic during 2008.

Below are two of their newest watch releases. While not super easy to actually 'read' and 'tell time' they are stylish, unusual and already back-ordered.

The MK V:



A shutter mechanism shields the watch face and once opens reveals the time. The chunky case is made from brushed stainless steel and sits on a sleek rubber strap. Available in black, slate (below) and rose gold (above).



MK V, technical specs:
Movement Japanese Movement
Battery Standard Type
Case Material Stainless Steel
Case Diameter W : 42mm X H : 50mm
W/R ATM Not Water Resistant
Lens Mineral Glass
Caseback Stainless Steel
Crown Stainless Steel
Band Type Rubber Strap
Total Length N/A
Max Fitting Length 210mm Adjustable
Clasp Type Stainless Steel - S-Fold Clasp

The MK2 Circuit:



The futuristic design is complemented by an unusual LED time display. The band and case are made from high grade stainless steel.

Available colors:




MK 2 Circuit Technical specs:
Movement LED
Battery Standard Type
Case Material Stainless Steel
Case Finish Brush / Polish
Case Diameter 30.6mm X 50.8mm
W/R ATM 50m
Lens Mineral Glass

Order them here and browse their complete collection.

Pumpkin Carving Continues To Grow Even Geekier

Above, clockwise from upper left: nerd pumpkins include a nod to Mac OS, Mario of Mario Brothers video games, The Pi symbol, and a Space Invader from the video game of the same name.

All Hallow's Eve (aka Halloween) always brings out the geek in everyone, especially when it comes to carving pumpkins. Being a geek myself, I carve my pumpkins each year in the shape of my dog (without a stencil), and turn them into Halloween cards, two of which are shown below.



More and more carving pumpkins seem to be inspired by technology and sci-fi. Each year tons of pictures are uploaded to flickr, sent to Wired magazine and blogged about by tech nerds everywhere.

Below is an impressive collection 'Star Wars' inspired pumpkins from 2007 (you really should click on the image to enlarge it):



And , of course, the Death Star pumpkin:

Wanna carve your own death star pumpkin? here's a tutorial for you.

I was sent a round up of carved jack o' lanterns that would appeal to the tech set, sci-fans or just plain 'geeks' from reader Eran Abramson that are worth taking a peek at. It's clear he found several from last year's WIRED magazines "show us your geeky pumpkins" contest (which, by the way, received over 2000 entries).

Why people are carving internet browsers and feed reader icons into pumpkins, I'll never know, but they clearly are:


Above: RSS, internet explorer logo and firefox logo's carved into pumpkins

Wanna see more? Read the full post of Eran's 34 Geeky Pumpkins here.

Like carving pumpkins? check out these ongoing carving pumpkin contests:

Yanko Design and Lubix:


Serious Eats and Viking Knives.


Crunch Gear's Jack O'Lantern carving contest


Don't Miss These!:

Maniac Pumpkin Carvers Are Sick. And A Successful Business.

Scott Cummins Doesn't Carve Pumpkins, He Sculpts Them

Met Home Hooks Up With Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz For A New Accessories Collection

For the first time, Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz for the Metropolitan Home Collection has been working with Phillips Collection to create a home accessories line.



In developing a collection for Phillips, Benjamin expanded his vision of interiors as a still-life and created accessories as sculptural pieces. The collection, which varies from small candle holders to full scale "golden trees," reinforces Metropolitan Home's vision of contemporary modern living. Inspired by forms and colors found in nature, Benjamin expresses his taste for sensual imaginative shapes through many of his pieces, which seem almost animated.



The collection has recently been revealed at the showroom in Las Vegas Market. The new accessories line is gradually exposed to the public from showrooms to public retailers nationwide. More information will be available soon, but here's a sneak peek for you!


Flying tea light holder:


Anemone vases:


Dripping ceramic trays:


Tables and stools:



Phillips Collection is known for their well-made, luxury art and furniture pieces and is available to the trade only.


Update: Sadly, Metropolitan Home, ceased publishing in December 2009.

Joshua Hoffine Brings Your Nightmares To Life In His Beautiful Horror Photography

In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday, I wanted to share with you the ghoulish photography of 35 year old Joshua Hoffine of Missouri.




Don't let his boyish looks deceive you, he's definitely dark. Designing sets that emulate small movies, he artfully brings horror to the medium of photography.

By capturing every fear and phobia from monsters under your bed and lurking under the stairs to spiders, zombies, cockroaches and clowns. I get the heebie-jeebies just uploading the pics!

All the prints shown below are available for purchase in 2 sizes on his website.










Purchase the prints and see his portfolio here.
Joshua's myspace page


Read his horror blog here

Modern Mosaic Art For Interiors, Tubs, Lamps & Rugs: SICIS - The Art Factory

With showrooms in Milan and New York, SICIS The Art Factory does things with mosaics for both residential and commercial spaces that are contemporary, fun, elegant, functional and frankly, unmatched.

Poking Fun By Poking Around At Palin As President Site

This fun website invites you to click all over Sarah Palin as she sits in the oval office for some tongue in cheek poking at her and her policies. From "Drill Baby Drill" to "lipstick on a pit bull", Sarah's unforgettable comments are humorously immortalized in this flash site designed solely for fun.


Above: Be sure to click on the 'red phone' too.

This is the type of site that someone sends you via e-mail or IM and you immediately think to yourself "someone has too much time on their hands." Nevertheless, you find yourself drawn in and amused, if not absorbed, by the clever and sarcastic images and actions on this interactive page.


Above: Clever and hilarious narratives appear behind the side door each time you click on it; from the poisoning of Katie Couric, to book burning and bunny hunting.

Be sure to have your volume turned up and click on everything you can, multiple times as well, since some of the scenes change each time you poke on them.

Before clicking:


After some clicking:


Even more fun is that the site is updated daily until November 4th, incorporating all the latest 'news'. So you'll have to bookmark it and go back day after day.


Above: Joe the Plumber's Van is a recent addition

Close up (before):


Close-up (after):


Palinaspresident.com

Credits:
Sean Ohlenkamp, Art director and programmer/animator
Steve Yee, Art director
Forrest Boleyn, Writer
Rebekkah Voss, Voice