The Specialized McLaren Venge, Fastest Complete Performance Bike In The World.

The new S-Works + McLaren Venge is the result of a partnership between Specialized and McLaren that brings the advanced materials and carbon layup design that McLaren has employed in their F1-winning race cars into the world of racing bikes.




The first carbon road race bike from Specialized with an aerodynamic design, the S-Works Venge was the brainchild of Chris D'Aluisio and the Specialized engineering team. This design was then refined further through the McLaren partnership.



In working with McLaren engineers, the S-Works+McLaren Venge maintained identical aerodynamics and stiffness, yet achieved an even lighter weight through its extremely advanced carbon layup design. After over four years of development, testing and over twenty trips to various wind tunnels, the S-Works Venge is the first Specialized bike to achieve the winning formula of weight, stiffness and aerodynamics.


details:







Available Venge Models:

S-Works Venge DA, $9200
With its no-compromise formula of ultralight weight, exceptional stiffness, and stealthy aerodynamics, the Venge created an entirely new road category: Complete Performance. Throw in Pro Tour-proven Shimano Dura-Ace components, and this bike will elevate you—and Team HTC-Highroad—to a whole new level:



S-Works Venge SRAM RED, $8800
With its no-compromise formula of ultralight weight, exceptional stiffness, and stealthy aerodynamics, the Venge created an entirely new road category: Complete Performance. Throw in Pro Tour-proven SRAM RED components, and this bike will elevate you—and teams Astana and Saxo Bank—to a whole new level:

images courtesy of Specialized, McLaren and VeloDramatic

Learn more here

The Beauty of Table Tennis. Literally and Figuratively. Meet Sooyeon Lee.

Filmmaker and photographer Matthew Donaldson filmed model/actress and professional Korean Table Tennis champ Sooyeon Lee in a slow motion homage to both sport and fashion. The skilled and sexy Sooyeon is wearing fashions by Versace, Jil Sander, Christopher Kane, Mark Fast, and Christian Louboutin as she skillfully demonstrates her Ping Pong prowess in the one minute and 48 second film created for Nowness.



Designer Geraldine Chevrolet was commissioned by stylist Katie Shillingford to create the bespoke fringed tights, gloves and hat that are paired with the couture.



Tennis Table champ Sooyeon Lee serves as an Ambassador for actress Susan Sarandon's SPiN, a chain of ping-pong clubs which counts Lee as its ambassador and has locations in New York, Toronto and Hollywood. "It's become very trendy," Lee observes. "It's sociable, you don't need to be super athletic and it's good for the brain."




A clip of Sooyeon Lee from the Killerspin championships:


And a few of her modeling photos:




Nowness
Sooyeon Lee

Segways Are For Sissies. Check Out The DTV Shredder.

My Segway can beat up your Segway. Especially the Military edition which includes grenade launchers.




BPG Werks, the company started by the talented Ben Gulak, about whose zero-emissions Uno I blogged long ago, has designed a radical all terrain vehicle which combines skateboard decks, a powerful engine and tank-like treads... the DTV Shredder.



The Segway-pummeling vehicle is a combination of a skateboard deck with traditional skateboard trucks, a powerful engine and two tank-threads capable of tearing up any terrain at high speeds; snow, sand, trails, and mountains. Acceleration and braking are controlled by a small handheld remote control and a 4-stroke racing engine powers two tank-style tracks up to a wicked 30 mph.




The consumer-friendly Sport version (which is available for $2500) has a brawnier brother in the works. BPG Werks is currently developing a militarized version of the DTV Shredder with the United States Air Force Academy.



Single soldiers operating the DTV Shredder can cover more ground at an unprecedented efficiency. The DTV Shredder, which can handle any terrain at high speeds, was built as a first response, modular platform to better equip the soldier – especially in crisis situations. It’s low center of gravity and rugged design make it ideal for a wide variety of applications including: reconnaissance, rescue and recovery, mobile surveillance, offensive platform, medical evacuation and rapid response.

Check out the Military version in action:


Buy the Consumer DTV Shredder here

And for those stylish sissies who prefer a segway, there's always the Chanel Segway:

A Photographer's Homage To The Cult Classic Comedy Movie Caddyshack.

For most comic movie buffs, all one has to say is "golf" and "gopher" and there's no doubt you're talking about Caddyshack. The cult flick, first released 30 years ago now, is still remembered fondly by many.



So much so that advertising, commercial and editorial photographer Ted Sabarese has recreated many of the classic scenes as an homage to the movie.


above: original movie scenes on top, recreated images by Sabarese on bottom

From the snickers bar in the pool incident to the relentless pursuit of the gopher by the groundskeeper, the scenes have been immortalized as the following still images and trading cards:















Care to see how they compare?
Below are the movie posters and a bunch of stills from the original movie:











about Caddyshack:
At an exclusive country club for WASPish snobs, an ambitious young caddy (Michael O'Keefe) from an overpopulated home eagerly pursues a caddy scholarship in hopes of attending college and, in turn, avoiding a job at the lumber yard. In order to succeed, he must first win the favor of the elitist Judge Smails (Ted Knight), then the caddy golf tournament which the good judge sponsors. The story also involves an obnoxious nouveau riche land developer (Rodney Dangerfield) who wants to turn the site into a condominium community; an oddball, Zen-quoting, millionaire slacker/golf ace (Chevy Chase); and a psychotic groundskeeper (Bill Murray) with a gopher-fixation.

about the Photographer:
Ted Sabarese is an advertising and editorial photographer whose clients have included Verizon, Bertolli, Microsoft, Kleenex and Blue Shield of California.