Not to be outdone by the Dubai fund that last month partnered with U.S. investors to acquire the GM Building, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council has ponied up an estimated $800 million to buy a majority stake in the iconic and shiny Chrysler Building, Bloomberg reports.

Designed by William Van Alen, the pointy-topped skyscraper was completed in 1930, beginning a thrilling 11-month reign as the world’s tallest building before the ribbon was cut on the taller Empire State Building the following year. Bloomberg had no luck in eliciting a comment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, where an official said that the Council is prohibited by law from discussing its investments. Tishman Speyer Properties retains a minority (25%) stake in the Chrysler Building.

.. they have already won.

Posted on July 10, 2008

relaxing // work

special occasion // emergency

holiday // going out // exercise

Posted on July 7, 2008

The ad campaign was shot in Los Angeles last month with fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.

These pictures are enough to turn me GAY!

Who knew thanksgiving would come twice this year - I got dibs on the Turkey Stuffing!

Posted on: June 30, 2008

Her current exhibition, titled Après la Pluie (”After the Rain”), can be seen at NYC’s Joshua Liner Gallery.

In Après la Pluie, Koralie lets loose a torrent of colorful geishas, depicted in rainbow wall paintings, hanging scrolls, silkscreen works, and large paintings on canvas hung amid collage and other decoration. While inspired by Japanese visual culture, from thirteenth-century prints to contemporary Manga, the artist also incorporates an eclectic global menu of references, including African and English hairstyles, Russian dolls, Indian folklore, and wallpaper design.

Koralie lives and works in Montpellier, France. Learn more about Koralie at kogaylou.free.fr.

Posted on: June 30, 2008

Dear David Beckham - You are so frickin’ hot. Just when I thought you can’t get any hotter, you go and donn a Lakers shirt. You’re just on fire. K everyone quit starin’ and get back to work, that includes me.

Posted on June 11, 2008

Affordable lightweight, portable cardboard table (1500 x 1200 x 930 mm) comes with three collapsible drawers, a jute strap moving/storing box, laminated white surface and all parts are replaceable. Will be available for purchase online and in store. Contact librorius@liborius.is.

[ via: Inhabitat ]

These are way better than the cabin in which my mom and I cruised when I was six. I got seasick and almost threw up on her.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Norwegian Cruise Line

ResidenSea

Holland America

Celebrity Cruises

Crystal Cruises

[ via: concierge ]

Posted on June 11, 2008

Brilliant slideshow from US Weekly online today: celebrities in mid-trippage.
Some of these are pretty fugly.

Kathy Griffin

Meredith Vieira

Tony Danza

Posted on: June 1, 2008

Cybertecture Egg
James Law Cybertecture International
commissioned by Vijay Associate (Wadhwa Developers) for Mumbai, India

The 32,000 sq m egg-shaped building will combine “iconic architecture, environmental design, intelligent systems, and new engineering to create an awe-inspiring landmark in the city.”

[ via: Inhabitat ]

/ sigh of relief

It gives the rest of us not-so-smart ones great comfort to know that, even people as smart as Google can stumble on their own intelligence sometimes. In your face, geeks!

Attendees of the Google I/O conference were given t-shirts that, presumably, were supposed to spell GOOGLEIO on the front in binary. Just one problem, the actual message printed spells GOOGLEKO:

G: 01000111
O: 01001111
O: 01001111
G: 01000111
L: 01001100
E: 01000101
K: 01001011
O: 01001111

BTW did you know that upper and lower case letters have different binary spellings?

[ via: TechCrunch ]

Posted on May 29, 2008