Classic British Aircraft

I've been keenly watching the tv documentary series on Discovery "Classic British Aircraft" narrated by none other than Harry Enfield. He's actually a good narrater but I'm always expecting him to slip into the Mr Cholmondeley-Warner characters but he somehow manages to restrain himself quite well.

Its a nostalgic history of ,as the title suggests, romantic old aircraft designed and built in Britain dating back to mostly the 30's/40's and 50's.  The coolest sections are seeing the now mostly elderly gentlemen who would have maintained and flew these aircraft restoring them and getting them flying again. It seems a mammoth task getting old bits and pieces from all over the place and manging to rebuild them ready to fly...very impressive and makes me all misty eyed for some reason. There are some of my all time favourite aircraft on show, the first British Jet Fighter, the Gloster Meteor and the elegant De Havilland Dragon Rapide...jolly good.

AT-AT Foot

This model was a movie prop for the very cool AT-AT walker in The Empire Strikes Back (the best Star Wars in my opinion). Constructed by the ILM model shop in 1980 to generate footprints for the scene where Luke dives away from his crashed Snowspeeder, the scene needed to be dressed with footprints leading up to the stomping of the Snowspeeder. Constructed of resin with a sturdy handle, it measures 9 in. in diameter. One of the “toes” is broken and held with gaffer tape, another is missing but could easily be refabricated to round out the display.  It was sold for 2360 dollars in 2009 in a hollywood auction. A very nice paperweight indeed.

Remote Controlled Kites

Ok this is new to me and actually a great idea when you see them. They are basically kites that you can fly like a remote controlled plane or helicopter. They are from a Singapore based company, Go Fly Kite, and are designed to be easier to fly, crash resistant and cheaper than your standard remote controlled plane. They also have a full set of coloured LED's so you can fly at night...nice. They do cost a good few hundred dollars but parts are cheap to replace when you do crash and burn or the dog chews it up. Check out the clip here of a group of them flying at night, very close encounters of the third kind (except for the soundtrack...turn it down)

http://vimeo.com/21581241

http://www.goflykite.com

My Very First EV Charging Point

I'm always tickled pink to see the predicted future from the near past coming to reality. One of my favourite movies 2010 based on Arthur C. Clarkes novel had a scene in it when the main character Heywood Floyd is jogging along when what looks like an electric car goes whirring by him. That image always stuck with me for some reason. With the introduction of EV's (Electric Vehicle's) coming along nicely it seems like in relation to land based transport 2010 was actually fairly accurate, (The whole Spaceship-Saturn-Europa thing less so). So what got me excited a few weeks ago was my first look at an ESB charging point for EV's up close. I was getting my usual chicken  sandwich and cappacino at a local Topaz service station and there it was in all its glory,  a very slick hi-tech looking charging point around the back of the station. It looked a little neglected at this stage but i'm hoping we'll all be plugging-in in the near future. Pumping in expensive dirty liquid is soooo 20th century anyway. We all know EV's are a little slow to charge, range anxiety ensues, blah blah and I'm sure it'll be seen as very quaint in the future but for now its all very exciting (for the science fiction geek in me).

http://www.esb.ie/electric-cars/electric-car-charging/electric-car-charge-point-types.jsp

The Laces Issue

This nifty little device caught my attention a couple of years ago. It basically pulls laces together by a ratchet action using just a finger which tightens and locks them in place. Personally, having a weakness in my right hand from a spinal injury, this little gadget would solve my lacing issues. My problem is that the only laces I have trouble with are my shiny shoes, i.e. short and skinny laces. This is fine for runners but would look too bulky on a shoe and worst of all like a disability aid. I normally stick with my Vans, Velcro or slip-on ankle boots to avoid the laces issue completly. Anyway tis a good idea that works. 

http://www.lace-amatic.com/

Star Wars, Kenner and Regrets

Being a Star Wars obsessed (and spoilt) boy I had the vast majority of figures from Kenner (around 70) and a good amount of vehicles and ships. I spent many an hour playing with them and completly loved every minute of it. Then one day in 1987 I decided to sell all of my Star Wars stuff to the local kids. It all went for something like 30 quid, and I've had to live with this moment of madness for the rest of my life. Now I NEED to get it all back (early midlife crisis). So instead of a Porsche I can see me scouring ebay for the next few years righting that wrong and finding that elusive Jawa with the vinyl cape (2000 dollars) or Yak Face, the final Kenner figure in 1985 (1000 dollars) or the ultimate "Telescoping Lightsaber" Darth Vader, 1978 (6000 dollars).  Nothing beats the smell of a 1983 Stormtrooper Kenner Star Wars figure fresh out of its packet.

Anti IPhone...em phone

I love this basic anti-iphone phone, John's Phone (i do own an iphone myself and love it also). This Dutch produced piece of kit is bought unlocked so you can throw in your own sim card and of you go. It only makes and receives calls, no text messages, definetly no apps and comes in 5 colours. The best feature has to be a little address book and pen in the rear to save your numbers, reassuringly basic. Perfect for your granny, 5 year olds and hipsters.

https://www.johnsphones.com/

Wacom have brought out the Inkling. Basically a pen that you can sketch with as normal but at the same time it saves the sketch digitally where you can upload and tweak vector lines away to your hearts content using the likes of Photoshop and Illustrator. Goodbye scanner and digital camera when trying to transfer drawings to screen. It'll save a lot of time for many designers with a nice clean transfer of lines and no tidying up of shadows etc. There is a limitation of just being able to read an A4 size sheet. Not good for those that like to sketch big scale. But all the same fantastic device that I'm sure will delight...I will be investing in one I'm sure.

The Ultimate Machine

When I was eight my Granny bought me this machine, a 1983 Raleigh Super Burner and I literally lived on it until I was too lanky at 16 years of age. I still have the CrMo frame (with all the gold plastic coating peeled off bit by bit)...some day I'll restore it to its former glory. The solid cranks are still spinning freely in those big old bearings in the bottom bracket. It kept me happy for 8 years performing bunny hops over the local kids on the street and being chased out of sandpits with my pals BMX Bandit style....happy days indeed.

This is one of those products where i go "why didnt i think of that before" This BMX seat from Eclat very cleverly combines a one piece plastic core which forms the seat and post. There is an alloy sleeve in the core to prevent it being crushed when tightening. Nice simple idea which saves a few grams for the weight junkies out there by removing all the bits and pieces to clamp the seat to the post....

http://www.eclatbmx.com/products/618-unify-combo-seat-unpadded