Tretakoff Musings
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Dining by candlelight...er, LED-light
I normally leave the blogging about design and furniture to Pete, but this one caught my fancy. As Gizmodo says,
"When an object—usually transparent—interrupts the path of the light through the table, the light gets transferred into the object and lights it up all pretty-like. We're not sure what practical use this table has, but who can say no to LEDs?"
Labels: furniture
Apologies for the long absence...
It's been a crazy time. First, the move to the new house. Then, the arrival of the in-law family: first my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law, then the arrival of my brother-in-law, followed by the departure of my sister-in-law. Essentially, for the better part of a month, we've had houseguests. On top of that, work went crazy this week: growing pains from scale, along with the surge of the Mother's Day holiday, and several new clients (and a new team member!)...man, what a ride.
The good news is that I survived. Now, to get back to this blogging thing. :-)
I decided to finally listen to Charles and chuck the mountain bike for my daily commute: I'm now 8 miles, each way, to the Ferry. So, last Saturday, we headed to the bike stores for the test rides. First, I was amazed they let you test ride these things on the street: hand over an ID and a credit card, and away you go. With bikes that were, on average, well over $1000, and some stretching up to $5k, this seemed crazy to me. However, instantly I noticed a difference: hills, which I have come to loathe, were now a minor inconvenience. Straightaways were like going downhill. And downhills? For the first time, cycling was not just enforced exercise, but fun!
After 5 test rides, I settled on the Fuji Robaix, from Performance Bicycle. It's light as hell, has carbon fiber for strength and comfort, and let me fly. Plus, it was the least expensive of all of the bikes I rode. I was not thrilled about the shifters or the racing handlebars, but the position of both makes it much more comfortable to ride and take on hills. I added toe clips, but, thanks to Performance's loyalty program, I earned enough with my purchase to spring for those uber-cycle shoes/pedals; I'll be picking those up ASAP for the increased power.
Last week had some unseasonably warm days here, and I was delighted to finish off my ride home a couple of days with a dip in the pool for the first time. That is the ultimate in luxury: a hot, fun, fast ride home (11 minutes less than the mountain bike), followed by a cool swim. Man, now that's living. Not to mention my brother-in-law Brian cleaned up the whole kitchen after dinner every night. Almost made me forget about the insanity of work. Almost.
On the great deal front, only one major new one to report: Ikea has a pretty sexy glass display cabinet for only $60. Finally, Amy can get the various art pieces out and displayed in style. Add a halogen display for only a few bucks more, and it's stylin'. Off to pick up a third one tomorrow.
Finally, a "only in Marin" moment tonight. Yu Shang, a local sushi/Chinese food place, is a regular favorite. Cheap, high quality food, and you can't beat the service, especially with a mother-in-law in a wheelchair. We hit it every week or two for a quick bite. Tonight, busier than usual with the other folks who've found it. Imagine my surprise as we dined in the main dining room (we usually can be found at the sushi bar, but hard to do with the wheelchair), and sitting down across from our table was George Lucas and family! I don't know why I was surprised: he was raised in Marin, and probably knew about Yu Shang long before I ever did, but still, nice to have the validation. The man can eat anywhere, but that's his choice for a Saturday night out with the family. Try it, you will.
Ok, back to a more normal post schedule soon!
The good news is that I survived. Now, to get back to this blogging thing. :-)
I decided to finally listen to Charles and chuck the mountain bike for my daily commute: I'm now 8 miles, each way, to the Ferry. So, last Saturday, we headed to the bike stores for the test rides. First, I was amazed they let you test ride these things on the street: hand over an ID and a credit card, and away you go. With bikes that were, on average, well over $1000, and some stretching up to $5k, this seemed crazy to me. However, instantly I noticed a difference: hills, which I have come to loathe, were now a minor inconvenience. Straightaways were like going downhill. And downhills? For the first time, cycling was not just enforced exercise, but fun!
After 5 test rides, I settled on the Fuji Robaix, from Performance Bicycle. It's light as hell, has carbon fiber for strength and comfort, and let me fly. Plus, it was the least expensive of all of the bikes I rode. I was not thrilled about the shifters or the racing handlebars, but the position of both makes it much more comfortable to ride and take on hills. I added toe clips, but, thanks to Performance's loyalty program, I earned enough with my purchase to spring for those uber-cycle shoes/pedals; I'll be picking those up ASAP for the increased power.Last week had some unseasonably warm days here, and I was delighted to finish off my ride home a couple of days with a dip in the pool for the first time. That is the ultimate in luxury: a hot, fun, fast ride home (11 minutes less than the mountain bike), followed by a cool swim. Man, now that's living. Not to mention my brother-in-law Brian cleaned up the whole kitchen after dinner every night. Almost made me forget about the insanity of work. Almost.
On the great deal front, only one major new one to report: Ikea has a pretty sexy glass display cabinet for only $60. Finally, Amy can get the various art pieces out and displayed in style. Add a halogen display for only a few bucks more, and it's stylin'. Off to pick up a third one tomorrow.Finally, a "only in Marin" moment tonight. Yu Shang, a local sushi/Chinese food place, is a regular favorite. Cheap, high quality food, and you can't beat the service, especially with a mother-in-law in a wheelchair. We hit it every week or two for a quick bite. Tonight, busier than usual with the other folks who've found it. Imagine my surprise as we dined in the main dining room (we usually can be found at the sushi bar, but hard to do with the wheelchair), and sitting down across from our table was George Lucas and family! I don't know why I was surprised: he was raised in Marin, and probably knew about Yu Shang long before I ever did, but still, nice to have the validation. The man can eat anywhere, but that's his choice for a Saturday night out with the family. Try it, you will.
Ok, back to a more normal post schedule soon!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Hot Water, by Color
I've seen concepts of this on various tech blogs before, but never something real...and cheap! You want to know when the water gets hot, to wash your hands...why make your digits suffer hypothermia while you wait? Instead, let this LED faucet head give you a visual clue: cold water, blue; water above 89 degrees? Red. Simple, and even useful for those middle of the night sink runs! Plus the cool/geek factor cannot be beat.
Oh, the price for this cutting edge gadget? Hang on to that Jackson: $19.99. Now we're talking!
I've seen concepts of this on various tech blogs before, but never something real...and cheap! You want to know when the water gets hot, to wash your hands...why make your digits suffer hypothermia while you wait? Instead, let this LED faucet head give you a visual clue: cold water, blue; water above 89 degrees? Red. Simple, and even useful for those middle of the night sink runs! Plus the cool/geek factor cannot be beat.Oh, the price for this cutting edge gadget? Hang on to that Jackson: $19.99. Now we're talking!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
A table Pete AND Lani would love
Over on Pete's blog, you'll see some amazing examples of design, especially around furniture and housewares. On Lani's blog, you'll get great insight into setting up a new home, as well as work and movies. What you may not know is the two of them live together as a happy couple. Read their blogs, and you can see their tastes can be both overlapping and extremely divergent.
Looks like there's a company out there that decided to make something both of them can truly appreciate. Lani's been recently posting about her search for a dining room table, while Pete's been giving some good examples of innovative furniture designs. DB Fletcher decided both should have some satisfaction, with this radially expanding table. Not radically; radially. Want a larger table? Turn it:
Better yet, watch the short video of the table in action.
Looks like there's a company out there that decided to make something both of them can truly appreciate. Lani's been recently posting about her search for a dining room table, while Pete's been giving some good examples of innovative furniture designs. DB Fletcher decided both should have some satisfaction, with this radially expanding table. Not radically; radially. Want a larger table? Turn it:
It is a circular table which, when rotated at its outer perimeter, doubles its seating capacity, yet astonishingly remains truly circular.
The expansion leaves are stored within the table and, in just four seconds, smoothly and quickly emerge upon rotation, rising and radially expanding outwards as the entire top is turned through 30˚.
Better yet, watch the short video of the table in action.
