One for the vault

Do you have one very special bottle of wine you'd like to take particularly good care of? Here's a new product that could help you out. It's the Angelshare wine vault that fits exactly one bottle. The wine vault will protect from UV rays, heat, nuclear winter, and other bad vibes that might affect your extremely special bottle. Oh, and it looks really nice.

Available from Compact-impact.com:

www.compact-impact.com

Start Wining....

Would you like to learn about wine in a fun way without leaving the saftey and comfort of your living room? Here's a link to a video blog with a ton of information in a short (ususally 12 to 15 minute) video format. If you don't have a lot of time - there's a list of favorite past broadcasts. Caution: the host has usually had a little too much sugar, so be ready for a fast paced discussion.

Link to the main page at winelibrary:

tv.winelibrary.com


Cheers!

In the money

If you've read anything about 'prosperity building' you know the near mythic importance of having a good money clip to organize your pockets. Here's an attractive choice being sold by 'Juicy Couture'. This modern, stylish money clip is available in silver, and currently on sale in the US at Nordstrom's for $49 USD.

www.nordstroms.com

Use these keywords in the search engine: Juicy couture money clip

No Shirt?

If you're in the Los Angeles area, and thinking you could you use a few new dress shirts - consider having a few custom made from the nice ladies at 'Thorne and Song'. They have an amazing variety of fabrics and some interesting choices of small details.

Check out their stylish website at:

www.songandthorne.com

Bright Idea

If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area, and you're looking for a moody and mysterious location for some clandestine plotting - consider 'The Edison'. A new bar located in the basement of the Higgins building, it's built incorproating many of the interesting architectural elements. Take a look at their groovy website:


www.edisondowntown.com

Helpful hint number 1: On the website, go to the tour page - on the map, click on the little icons that look like old cameras to get pictures of the interior.

Helpful hint number 2: If you go, dress up a bit. The door code can be unpredictable. Wear some dress shoes just to be safe. Yes, I know that sounds kind of crazy since we're talking about Los Angeles, but it's good advice.

Polyglot!!

So... you'd like to brush up on your Turkish. or French or Greek or... whatever.
Here's a really great resource you may not know about - and best of all, it's free.
The BBC has a very nice set of language courses - including videos and interactive games to help you along.
Take a look at the entry page to choose a language. Kudos to whoever is heading this up, they've done a whole lot of work on this!

BBC Languages:

www.bbc.co.uk

Let's go back to my pod..

If you're living a nomadic lifestyle, on temporary assignment, or have access to some really good roof space this could be a interesting living solution for you. This stylish living unit can be llfted or helicoptered into place and hooked up to the building's infrastructure. Check out the design group's groovy website - navigate by clicking the color blocks.

At:

www.loftcube.net

Shanghai Suprise

Everyone was quite suprised this week when BMW showed a new concept car at the Shanghai auto show. It seems they are considering bringing back the '8' series as a large 4 door sport coupe. And that's a fine idea. Check out the photos and story from the AutoBlog:




autoblog.com

Finding Nemo

Maybe it's time to ditch your regular utilitarian submarine, and upgrade to a new LUXURY submarine. No word on options for a bowling alley or giant pipe organ.

Specifications and warranty links after the jump:

www.bitsofnews.com

Looking Sharp!

The folks at Bladerunner in the UK have made a hooded kevlar sweatshirt that's knife resistant. And it will also look nice with a pair of jeans or khaki pants. Try pairing it with the kevlar lined gloves to complete the slash proof outfit.


www.bladerunner.tv

Mix it up

You can get one step closer to that black belt in bartending by picking up a copy of 'Hip Sips: Cocktails to Raise Your Spirits' by Lucy Brennan. The book is a collection of new twists on old favorites. This attractive small hardback comes with a plastic cover for easy clean up. Available from the usual suspects for about $16 USD.

As not seen on TV

The guys at Creative Home Engineering have been on TV a couple times showing off their wares. Their job is to make hidden rooms and passageways for residential homes. Fun, huh? Take a look at their website - especially the panel marked 'videos'. There's a bunch of short animations of work they've done.

www.hiddenpassageway.com

And fly like a...er...smartfish

The Smartfish is a new prototype aircraft being worked on in Germany and Switzerland. If it works out, it could be a very big breakthrough in small aircraft design. And it's just really freaking cool. Take a look at some of the specs via the following link:

www.smartfish.ch

How did he make that?

Chosing a snappy outfit for a field operation can be difficult. Here's a good pick - the 'Mcgyver' jacket, made by the vernerable Alpha Industries. Don't worry that it's spelled wrong. Available in black or olive with lots of pockets to put your dental floss, paperclips, and duct tape.

Available in the US through Nordstrom's for $125 USD.

The Intel on Intel

It's always fun to see what the marketing guys come up with after too many cocktails. Here's a video from the Intel folks showing future concept ideas for the UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC). Via YouTube:



www.youtube.com

First up

Do you ever watch those action movies, and somebody whips out a little power winch thing, and quickly scales a wall.
"Where can I get one of those ?", you say to yourself. The answer: atlas devices! A small company started as a spin off from a school project. Check out the video on their website at:

www.atlasdevices.com

Small Change

Often, people say they can't afford to do fun or interesting things. This is especially true of activities with a really low SAF (Spouse Acceptance Factor). Here's a simple idea. Take your daily pocket change, and drop it into a container. All of it. Every day. In a very short time, you'll be suprised how much accumulates from the 'leftovers'. When enough accumulates, you can either roll it yourself and take it to the bank, or take it to one of those automatic change sorting machines (which will charge you a toll of about 6 to 8 percent).

Now, you will most likely not accumulate enough to purchase a high end vacation or an Aston Martin.

However, in about 8 to 10 months, you should have enough to pay for those Krav Maga lessons you've been wanting to take, or a Walther PPK and some firing range time, or a rental of a really great sports car.

Who would have thought that annoying pocket change could be converted to fun?

Why yes, they are home made!

Well, back in my day, we didn't have your fancy, government issued gadgets! We had to make our own with our bare hands. In the snow. blindfolded.

Anyhow... if you are a 'do it yourself-er' or just like reading about making interesting gadgets, this is the book for you.
Chock full of interesting projects and techniques - you might find yourself rolling up your sleeves and giving 'Q' a little healthy competition.

'101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genius'
Written by Brad Graham and Kathy McGowan, available in paperback from those big giant online bookstores.

Not exactly a fembot

Ok, It's not a fembot, but it can have machine guns mounted in the fore section. Insert your own double entendre here. The 'Protector' is an USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) being tested by various military agencies to patrol harbors. It can be outfitted with all kinds of sensors and devices to protect itself.

More pics and video can be found at:

isreali-weapons.com

Shooting your friends and feeling good about it

Generally, shooting your friends is a bad idea. The usual, safer choice for that sort of horseplay, is paintball. Paintball has it’s pros and cons. It’s a bit messy, and can be expensive. Another great option is ‘Airsoft’. Already popular in Asia, Airsoft is catching on in the United States and the UK as well. Airsoft guns use a hard plastic pellet rather than an exploding paintball. The guns also come in cooler shapes and sizes – replicas of real hardware. Entry into Airsoft can be as low as 10 USD. Also, there are other interesting features like blowback, laser targeting, and silencers.

Since the pellets don’t explode paint, you can play in enclosed areas without causing a lot of damage to the playing field.

The downside, is you need to trust everyone to be honest as to if they’ve been ‘hit’.

Take a look at the insane variety available through Hobbytron:

hobbytron.com

And yes, Virginia, there is a Walther PPK.


And for a protracted discussion on the pros and cons of Airsoft vs Paintball,
The article on Wikipedia:
wikipedia.org


Now imagine getting a bunch of pals together for gunplay and cocktails. Sounds like a good night out.

Important safety tips:
1. Consider putting up a posting that you are gaming around your field of play.
The guns are pretty realistic, it wouldn’t do to have your friends shot (for real) by the authorities.

2. Always wear eye protection. As your mum once said, ‘you’ll put your eye out!’.

Waiter! There's a throwing star in my soup!

If you're in the Manhattan area, and would like to have sushi served to you in a ninja village, you are in luck!
'Ninja New York' is open for all your Ninja Sushi needs. An elaborate underground space populated by ninja waiters and waitresses awaits you.For your visit, just remember to pack a credit card with some extra space on it, and a sense of humor.


Website at:

www.ninjanewyork.com

Insightful customer review (via NY Magazine):

nymag.com

I'm not sure about the socks...

Have you ever noticed that most of the fashion advice pages give you great tips on things like 'which Brioni suit would go well with a specific pair of Bruno Magli shoes'? But what about the basics? Here's a great site with basic advice on how to not look like a goof.

Take a peek at:

www.fashion4nerds.com


Hey, even the best lumberjack needs his blade sharpened now and again.

Just park it anywhere..

Hooray! Rolls Royce has announced that an armoured version of the Phantom will be available.
No more worrying about shopping carts in the parking lot. Or small arms fire.


More info available via Coolbrit.net

coolbrit.net

There's nothing to see here...

Here's a spy store that denies it's own existence. Very clever. SO - The Boring Store is not located in Chicago. Nor does it carry a selection of spy gear and disguises.

If it did exist, it would be a front for an educational group.

There are no pictures or photo tours at the following link:

methodreporter.com

Instructions not included

So, you've bought that surplus WWII era bren gun at a garage sale and now you don't know what to do with it?
Not a problem. Take a look at this great collection of vintage cutaway instructions. You'll never be confused on how to set up a navel mine field again!

www.cyber-heritage.co.uk

Extra! New Belt Comes in White. And Flies.

The time has come for the 'man in the street' to have access to a decent rocket belt. Providing the 'man in the street' has an extra 250,000 USD to spend, and is less than 300 lbs. (sorry, wealthy sumo wrestlers)

Read all about it at:


www.tecaeromex.com

Pssst...care for a drink?

The next time you're in San Francisco and would like a good stiff drink, consider visiting the 'Bourbon and Branch' speakeasy.
Located inconveniently through an unmarked door - as it should be.



www.bourbonandbranch.com

But remember: No cellphones. And the password is: Books

The plot thickens

A famous director once claimed that all he needed was a bible and a phonebook and he could write an amazing screenplay.
The Ministry of Defense (UK) put out this brief last week, after checking their crystal ball.
I think it's all you would need to make the plot of the next big action movie. It's pretty interesting reading.

Here's the high level synopsis:

www.guardian.co.uk

Now with extra cupholders!

Here are some spy shots (how appropriate) of the new Aston Martin DBS.
It seems someone caught them taking a lap on the autobahn, and stopping for a pretzel.
The shipping date is October this year. Just in time for Christmas - hint hint.



www.pistonheads.com

Music to scheme to

Every adventure needs a good soundtrack. If you haven't heard this CD, you may want to take a listen.
It's 'You've Been Spiked!' by Chris Joss. Even though it was put out a year or two ago, it's got a great 70's adventure feel to it.
In fact, Chris credits Lalo Schifrin as being one his big influences (you know, the guy that wrote the music for 'Enter the Dragon' and the original 'Mission Impossible')

Available from the usual suspects. Take a pre-listen on ITunes.

But... how's the parking?

Buy, rent, build... The choices when putting together a base of operations are endless.
Here's an option you might not have thought of. Purchase and remodel an old missile base!
Yep. there's even a few where all the hard work has been done for you.


www.missilebases.com

Extra added bonus: most of the sites are nuke resistant - saving you tons of money on SPF lotions.

Amphibious Fun

The nice people at Gibbs have teamed up with Lockheed to work on a prototype amphibious craft for the military.
These haven't been in a James Bond flick yet, but...

Take a look at:

www.gibbstech.co.uk

and

Defense news


I hope there's an upgrade option for the stereo!!