Architectural Delight- Or, the not-your-average Crib

Those of you who have followed my scribbles for awhile, know that I like to engage in a bit of architectural dreaming every once in a full moon. And I´m not thinking just any old architecture with an IKEA simulacrum, but something with a twist. Those people who live in an old lighthouse turned family dwelling? Marvelous. Castle-living? Expensive, but impressive. An apartment turned into Star Trek -ship by the very detail? Neurotic, but still admirable. People have their passions. Mine is, plain and simple, architectural daydreaming.

So here we go: first of, the hotel in drain pipes. Yes, it is called " Das Park Hotel" in Essen, Germany, and you can actually book a room between May and October. Before it gets too darned cold, that is. Here some images of the wonderful little pad. Romantic getaway?

Obviously, showers, toilet or the much needed minibar do not come with the tube, but apparently the public facilities of the park are available. Which gives an interesting add to the term "romantic getaway". Paging George Michael? The bed looks somewhat comfy, but I hate to think of waking up in the middle of the night, alarmed by the small tube-cube, and mistaking it all for a bunker in the Second World War. Smaller things can give you nightmares, you see? Anyways, I´m sure there is a market for this. If they arrange sold-out tourist trips to Chernobyl, there must be eager beavers for this experience, as well.

Next stop takes us to the skies. Airline companies are struggling. Even with taking our last pennies from every carry all, glass of water and legroom, they are still after blood. The green kind, of course. Korean Air has decided the take our primal need to get wasted on-air to the next level. In order to get us really wasted and spend every dime on needless fancy cologne, plastic airplane and other lavish trinkets they hustle for us poor passengers tied to the chair for various hours. At least, that is my theory.So, why not actually stick a bar there? Or three? All for the duration of the trip. The boozing class is aimed, unfortunately, just for the first class PAX. Which is where they get it completely wrong. Don´t they have free drinks anyways? Why do they need the bar for socialization purposes? Isin´t part of the first class allure to get more privacy and space in the small confines of an airplane? They should have aimed for the meager pockets of the common folks over at the coach class.
That´s all I´m saying.

Architectural Delight- Or, the not-your-average Crib

Bitesize Pops : "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"

After my latest grim posting, I figured it is time to lift up the mood. For now.
I have lately been getting into Hunter S. Thompson´s collected writings. My oh my, the man was a serious loose cannon. Constantly in trouble, intoxicated and high whenever and wherever. Kind of like the character of "Hank Moody" in the Showtime series "Californication". The new season? Not convinced, not yet.
It takes a lot to please my taste. So here we go.

Japanese scientists have a party, get drunk, spill the drinks -and by accident find out that the partymix-booze also induces superconductivity. Cheers!

Contrary to popular gossip, Facebook is not shutting down on March 15. Although it would be interesting to see how people would react -yes,  I am looking at you, Face-a-holics. Still eagerly waiting to see what happens with the "alternative" facebooks, such as Diaspora.

Music influences our brain the same way as cocaine. But it has to be our favorite tunes. I knew this. Try as I may, German schlagers won´t do it for me. Even in the dark. Apparently the dopamine level increases (while listening to music) varied from 6-21 % depending on the test subject. Which proves that some of us can get more high than others. Wonderful.

Google co-founder Larry Page buys a $45  million dollar super-yacht, to join his fighter jet. "The adventure boat" can carry a helicopter, but fits only 10 guests. So now you know where to go if he invites your over.

In need of a new hangout? Gaius Baltar´s former  crib is free for taking. Beautiful scenery, ocean front views, 4000 sq.ft., large wrap-around balconies with hot tub. Yes people, that tub. Near Whistler in British Columbia. The rent is only $4350 CAD, which is reduced from the original 4800. Hmm, no takers for this amazing opportunity to live like the man himself? I am suspecting that the beautiful blonde robot does not come with the house, though. Don´t know who Gaius is/was? Then this post is not for you.

In case you have not heard yet, The History Channel killed the highly anticipated eight-part miniseries "The Kennedys". It has been shopped around, but nobody touches it. Why? Because it is the Kennedys, and here is the story on how the family persuaded the network to bury the already filmed product. Great eyeopener for those in the dark on how power works. Even though the family does not have a member in the elective office anymore, after Patrick J. Kennedy, they still have influence. Interestingly it was the women of the family behind the pulling of the plug, as it is the men of that clan who make up all the dirty laundry. Need not go into detail, I think we all know.

PJ Harvey is releasing new stuff on February 25th. I know a lot people still regard her early recording, "Rid of Me" from 1993 the best . I still prefer "Stories from the city, stories from the sea" (2000).

Courtney Love´s erratic, strange, absurd yet entertaining Twitter feed is no more. As I commented on earlier, her bizarre pictures in states of various undress and levels of intoxication have charmed us for quite some time now, but it appears an unfortunate case of a lawsuit stopped this train from moving. Rest in peace, CourtneyLoveuk.

Trent Reznor is responsible for the score of the upcoming American remake on "The Girl with the dragon tattoo". My interest level for this unholy cooking shot up immediately; I suppose I have shared my opinions on that earlier. I do hope it is better that what he did with "The Social Network". Well, there is always The Downward Spiral, which I love.

For last, let´s see some images from that up-for-grabs house over at Vancouver:

Bitesize Pops : "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"

Traveling Hotel in Norway

Breathtaking or what? Norway is beautiful and the fjords are full of poetry. But how to market this nature´s grand design for the ignorant masses? The small town of Andalsness has come up with a novel idea -a hotel on wheels. These pictures depict the whole plan. "Hotel" rolls on train tracks across the scenery, showing the absolute best of what nature can be. Portable box rooms are minimalistic and tiny, and the whole idea is to move people in an environmentally-safe fashion from place to place.
If this were April fool´s day, I would list this as one attempt at passing wild imagination for the gullible.
But no, it is very real. I´m not sure how this would succeed in the middle of cold, snowy winters.
Stranded in a cold box in the middle of nowhere? Paging Bear Grylls, please.

Traveling Hotel in Norway