LP art may be back : ITUNES COCKTAIL

ziggy quit smoking right after this album

and michael schenker went to jail right after this album!!! **

sonic youth, david bowie, glenn gould, scorpions. enter “cocktail”: thanks to apple, here is a new digital music format that the creators of itunes are developing with record labels. the new format will go beyond a simple PDF file of liner notes, and instead bundle photos, videos, lyrics and other assets with an album’s music. details remain slim, but label sources confirming the effort’s existence point to it as the digital version of the record sleeves of the old days. by dd

** scorpions shocking cover was released in 1976 stirring controversy in the UK, US, and elsewhere resulting in an alternative cover of the band in some countries and making this a collectors item. in 2008, the image again gave rise to controversy, when the british internet watch foundation placed pages from wikipedia containing the cover on its blacklist, causing significant public debate. the decision was reversed by the IWF after four days of blocking.

CATEGORIES: album covers, music

the latest Bosendorfer grand piano



certain things… you just don’t mess with. like the shape of a grand piano. they all bear the same shape for a good reason, because the shape was not meant as design but for its acoustic function. that said audi has “broken the rules”… (wow, so punk to do that?), with it’s design for the bosendorfer piano’s 100 year ear mark with this contraption which appears to simply drape an old shape.

the piano is available for an approximate $140,000 and we can somehow rest assured that bosendorfer will not make anything short of amazing sounding objects. that said we’ll have to wait to hear the real auditions… had he been alive, i would have loved to see glenn gould’s reaction to this one… by dd

CATEGORIES: design, objects, perfect gift

Ask: Waris Ahluwalia- man-about-town/the designer of house of waris

above: waris ahluwalia in red suit (and lou doillon in looong legs)
my favorite _____ is:
-book: the holy blood and the holy grail
-album: every leonard cohen album
-city: rome
-place: anywhere tropical
-film: badlands – terrence malick
-smell: jasmine
-artist: rene ricard
-hotel: the connaught in mayfair, london / the imperial in janpath, new delhi
-hobby: yachting
-indulgence: self pity
-moment in history: woodstock. wish i was there. what a pity
-prized possession: my time.
-drink: water
-way to go: i shall live forever

www.houseofwaris.com

CATEGORIES: ask, fashion

help! I’ve cut myself: the apple of pharmaceuticals


“help remedies” which is offered on virgin america, and local NYC rickeys, amongst other places, is the apple computers of all pharmaceuticals. the packaging containing a variety of remedies such as headache medicine, sleep issues, etc seems bio-degradable enough. it is made of molded paper pulp and a bio plastic made primarily of corn. unfortunately it still uses the same old blister packs inside (non bio-degradable). it gets a A for design and B for total earth friendlyness. bringing its GPA to a B+ … well its still better than the D- of Beyers and the rest. support them if you can find em. by dd

CATEGORIES: design, earth related, eye candy

The OPPO BDP-83 blue ray player

‘the seventh seal’ by ingmar bergman just one of the many new releases on the criterion collection blu-ray series

if you are looking to get a blu-ray player, or simply need to replace an old CD player to rediscover your discs and chuck that ipod, be sure to consider this. its no beauty, but for the value it’s a real steel.

 

the oppo BDP-83’s ordinary and unassuming front plate

the unit came highly recommended by a trusted friend and I am considering it to finally put to use my 1080 flat screen with a few criterion collection blu-rays. the oppo BDP-83’s $499 price tag is deceiving because it is a direct to consumer price, there is no retail distribution chain with oppo, so most of your dollars are going to the product and the people who designed it, not to distributors and retailer margins. the oppo is designed by the brainiac engineers in silicon valley and built in the people’s republic of china. if a player of this standard was built in UK or USA and the pricing had to account for distribution and dealer margins, it would have to sell for $1,500 or more.

outputs include: digi-audio: coaxial, optical, HDMI, composite and component, also note that the power supply is detachable and up-gradable (UK vs US or Europe)

the oppo BDP-83 rivals the PS3 in speed, and uses the same VRS™ by Anchor Bay (DVDO) de-interlacing and scaling technology that offers outstanding up-conversion of standard DVDs. the oppo also plays Super Audio CD (SACD), CDs, DVD, Bluray disc, DVD-Audio, MP3 and supports both stereo and multi-channel high resolution audio programs. you can select whether to output the DSD (direct stream digital) signal in its native format or convert it into PCM. the unit allows output resolutions, including 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and up to 1080p 50 or 60Hz. the BDP-83 also supports NTSC and PAL systems for both disc playback and video output. by uh

CATEGORIES: audio-electronics

1980 blue lagoon: Brooke Shields


so beautiful. and those eyebrows, to die for… i must have been 2 when I first saw ‘the blue lagoon’ and I can’t recall what was more emotional… how much i hated the curly, happy go lucky Mr. beige, or how much of a crush I had on brooke shields, but in either case it was a great love story in my head. I eventually met brooke at a cafe in soho over breakfast, many many years later. it was nothing like what i thought, but that’s life. and now look, my child hood crush is selling medical treatment that promotes eye lash growth for women with “incompetent lashes”. why my love? by uh

CATEGORIES: musings

Brooke shields does calvin klein

calvin was always a genius, as lame as it may seem this was far above other brands at the time. not to mention that, i do believe, they were the first to make the connection between jeans and ‘genes’ wooow! by dd

CATEGORIES: musings