STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[MaxG]

I think it was the movie that made people sick, not the trailer.

- MG

 

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The Eventual Highlander Remake Will Combine Stories From Across The Franchise

Nowhere is it more obvious that Highlander is immortal than in Hollywood. The town has been trying to remake the film for the better part of a decade and the thing just won't die.
In that time, multiple directors have worked on the property and the fact nothing has come of it suggests it isn't the easiest nut to crack. The latest director is John Wick helmer Chad Stahelski and, in a new interview, he explained a bit of why the remake is taking so long.

It comes down to this: There's just a lot of material. Highlander isn't just the cult-beloved 1986 film. There were four sequels, a live-action TV show and an animated show. Most of it isn't that memorable but Stahelski has become obsessed with the mythology and is trying to make his film an amalgamation of all the best stuff from everything in the franchise.

Speaking to Collider, Stahelski explained:

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I think the TV series hit on a lot of great stuff wasn't in the feature, between the watchers and all the different types of immortals. How do we get this into a feature mode before we dribble it into the TV world? Well, let's restructure it in parts, let's look at it like it was a TV show, let's look at it like it was a high-end trilogy. How to we tell the story of The Gathering, The Quickenings, The Immortals and how do we really build this world out even more so than the original project? That's what we're restructuring right now. It's taking all the good stuff that we had before I was involved in the project from the script; redeveloping the script to give us really good chapters one, two and three; and expanding the world.

Yes, you read that right, they're planning it as more than one film. That isn't always a good thing but, the model they're using worked.

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The vision we're trying to get across and what we're trying to develop, I equate very close to Star Wars. The first one us a very satisfying ending but it does leave the door open and that's kind of how I see this. I would really like to expand it over three. I see The Gathering happening over three. It's tricky, don't get me wrong, that's why we're still developing it. We want to be able to tell three complete stories that all kind of fit. I think the Star Wars trilogy, at least up to The Empire Strikes Back, is a good example of how we want to process it.

Let's ignore that Return of the Jedi dig and move along.

If you're looking for a reason to be optimistic about the delay, this is it. The fact that Stahelski and his team are using all the resources available to them and trying to tell a new version of this story, doused with mythology, is a noble thought. Hypothetically, it could reinvigorate the franchise in a way that's familiar to fans, but also new and exciting to general audiences. Whether or not they will be successful and come up with a single script to do that is a whole other thing. Hence the delay.

What we do know, though, is if Stahelski gets to make his version of Highlander, it will have at least one crucial thing in common with the original.

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The tone of the first one just hit at that weird music video edge in the 80s that had Queen and for some reason, Queen just fits. I don't think you can do Highlander and bring about that kind of tone again with the mythological world and take it too seriously. Just as we did with Wick, you can't kill 80 people over a puppy and take yourself seriously. We got to let the audience know that we're having fun and that there is a world here.

Point being I can't see Highlander without Queen, without the queen center, without having Freddy Mercury, "Prince of the Universe," and all this stuff. I can't picture the movie in my head without it.

 

The director is certainly saying all the right things.

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Your Rogue One Faves Are Getting More Backstory In Two New Star Wars YA Novels

Want to learn more about the cast of Rogue One before they became the fearless thieves of the Death Star plans? Well, good news: Disney is publishing two new novels for young audiences that will give insight into the lives of Jyn, Chirrut and Baze before they became heroes of the Rebellion.

Announced through StarWars.com today, two new books out in March will uncover the lives of three members of the main Rogue One cast — Jyn in a solo adventure, and another with Chirrut and Baze — before the events of the movie. Written by Beth Nevis, the YA-focused Rebel Rising will cover Jyn's life between the prologue of the film, where she's left alone following the death of her mother and capture of her father at the hands of Orson Krennic, as she works her way into the Rebel cell operated by Saw Gerrera:

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When Jyn Erso was five years old, her mother was murdered and her father taken from her to serve the Empire. But despite the loss of her parents she is not completely alone — Saw Gerrera, a man willing to go to any extremes necessary in order to resist Imperial tyranny, takes her in as his own, and gives her not only a home but all the abilities and resources she needs to become a rebel herself.

Jyn dedicates herself to the cause — and the man. But fighting alongside Saw and his people brings with it danger and the question of just how far Jyn is willing to go as one of Saw's soldiers. When she faces an unthinkable betrayal that shatters her world, Jyn will have to pull the pieces of herself back together and figure out what she truly believes in… and who she can really trust.

 

Meanwhile, the primary school targeted Guardians of the Whills, written by Greg Rucka, will follow Chirrut and Baze's lives as members of the titular order, having witnessed the arrival of the Empire on Jedha — but as Saw's rebels make their presence on the planet known, they find themselves given a new opportunity to defend Jedha City from the Empire's grasp.

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Baze and Chirrut used to be Guardians of the Whills, who looked after the Kyber Temple on Jedha and all those who worshipped there. Then the Empire came and took over the planet. The temple was destroyed and the people scattered. Now Baze and Chirrut do what they can to resist the Empire and protect the people of Jedha, but it never seems to be enough. When a man named Saw Gerrera arrives with grand plans to take down the Empire, it seems like the perfect way for Baze and Chirrut to make a real difference and help the people of Jedha. But will it come at too great a cost?

While some might pass them off as not "full" novels as they're aimed at younger readers, it's cool to see the world of Rogue One explored in books aimed at audiences that aren't the usual Star Wars novel market — plus, it's always nice to see more of these characters beyond their roles in the movie. Guardians of the Whills and Rebel Rising will be out May 2.

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New Zealand Could Have Been Part Of The United States

 

This week as an article in the New Yorker detailed how New Zealand has become the hottest spot on the planet for rich Americans to buy property. The New Zealand Herald even discovered that billionaire Peter Thiel, a member of Donald Trump's transition team, acquired citizenship and owns hundreds of acres there. "Buying a house in New Zealand" is now so common for the wealthy that the phrase has become code for having a backup plan for when the world turns to shit, as one mega rich investor told the New Yorker.

But amazingly, there was a brief period in the 19th century when it looked like New Zealand might join the United States. And there were a lot of perfectly logical reasons for it.

New Zealand became a British colony in 1841, but white emigration to the island nation, which was inhabited by the native Maori people, didn't really surge until gold was discovered in 1861. The gold rush saw New Zealand's population explode in the 1860s from roughly 99,000 at the start of the decade to 256,000 by 1871. The gold rush brought plenty of Californians, and the colony became inundated with a relatively small but rowdy bunch of Americans who didn't acknowledge any allegiance to the United Kingdom.

As historian Gerald Horne explains in the 2007 book The White Pacific, "When gold was discovered in Otago in 1861, it was the New Zealanders who attracted attention from California to the point where there was very temporary talk of New Zealand becoming a part of the United States. In both England and New Zealand it was widely believed that an independent New Zealand would gravitate toward the U.S. sphere."

If the small colony of New Zealand had sought independence from Britain in the 1860s or 70s, Americans could well be calling it a territory, or even a state. After all, there were just 33 American states in 1860.

The New Zealand gold rush also happened to coincide with the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, there was a Confederate diaspora to the South Pacific — former slave owners in the Southern United States who kept up the slave trade in places like Fiji and Australia. Former American Confederates fled to places like New Zealand, which itself had outlawed slavery, but was just a short hop away from where the trade of human beings was still tacitly accepted.

Anywhere from 60,000 to 120,000 slaves were brought to Australia to work in sugar and cotton fields there between the 1860s and 1900, despite the fact that Australia officially forbade slavery. Trade skyrocketed between the United States and New Zealand in the second half of the 19th century as a result of this increased activity by Californians and Confederates in the South Pacific — traders trafficking in both the gold rush of human beings, driven by British and American demand for cheap cotton, and the literal gold rush.

From Gerald Horne's The White Pacific:

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This mighty ocean was a transmission belt transporting men and women from one distant site to another. Thus, G.N. Parkinson, vice-consul of New Zealand in San Francisco in 1959, recalled that his great-grandfather and his father came to the Golden State in 1848 and earlier had migrated from the United Kingdom to New Orleans and Texas, before moving to Melbourne in 1853 and then later to New Zealand, where his family became engaged in violent conflicts with the indigenes.

Modern citizens of the United States may not think of New Zealand as something that could ever have been "naturally" part of America, but one only need look at the country's imperial ambitions of the 19th and early 20th century to see that distance was no hurdle.

When you remember that the US controls lands well outside the continental United States, making New Zealand a part of it doesn't seem too crazy. Take the tiny South Pacific territory of American Samoa, an island 9,674km from the US mainland. It became part of the US in 1900, and by geographic contrast, American Samoa is much closer to New Zealand, with just 3,262km in between them. Hawaii is another geographically distant example.

Talk of New Zealand becoming part of the United States may have been brief, but it wasn't so weird when you consider America's expansion west in the second half of the 19th century. Many people headed to California, but some simply continued even further west to find their futures — all the way to New Zealand. And to those Americans at the time it made perfect sense that New Zealand could well become part of the United States.

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Watch The Ring Girl Crawl Out Of An Electronics Store TV To Terrify Shoppers

For some, shopping for a new TV is already a hassle. Trying to decide what size to get, and what features you need, all while dealing with a pushy shop assistant is bad enough. So the last thing you want exasperating the ordeal is a mild heart attack when a store's demo model becomes a portal to a nightmarish otherworld.

The pranksters who tricked a coffee shop full of terrified people (Which I posted back in 2013) into thinking a girl with telekinetic powers was losing control are back with an equally wonderful prank where that creepy little girl from The Ring, and its upcoming sequel, Rings, suddenly crawls out of a TV in an electronics store. Watch how that all plays out below, and be thankful you buy everything online from the comfort of your couch.

The setup for the prank involved building a fake wall inside a real electronics store in upstate New York that was covered in TVs showing demo videos of, you guessed it, the trailer for Rings.

One of those TVs featured a special lifting mechanism revealing a hidden compartment inside the wall, where the same actress who played that creepy little girl in Rings would come crawling out, in character, terrifying unsuspecting shoppers. The results are predictably entertaining for those of us viewing the prank from afar. But the next time you're strolling through a JB Hi-Fi you'll probably think twice about checking out the TV department.

MIKA: Here is the bonus prank coffee shop video I posted way back

 

 

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THE STORY BEHIND THE MCLAREN F1’S 240.1 MPH RUN

Racing driver Andy Wallace climbed into a McLaren F1 in 1998 wearing a helmet, a button-down shirt, and a calculator watch. He then drove the British supercar to a top speed of 391 km/h (242.9 mph) on the famous banked testing track at Ehra-Lessien in Germany.

Speed records typically require that runs be made in both directions and then averaged to account for any advantages in wind direction – and his final average speed was 240.1 mph. This news spread like wildfire around the world. The McLaren F1, a 3-seat road car built by a company in southern England better known for their Formula 1 exploits, had shattered the previous speed record by a production car – and set a new benchmark that many thought impossible just a few short years before.

This film includes footage of the record run, unseen by the general public for 25 years. Total film running time is just over 7 minutes, and it’s absolutely essential viewing. If you’d like to read more about McLaren you can click here to visit their official website.

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Hoard of Buried Treasure Discovered in Iron Age German Tomb

When it comes to archaeological expeditions or even adventure stories like the Indiana Jones series, the crème de la crème is the discovery of buried treasure. Vast hoards of lost gold and priceless artifacts are rumored to be hidden under the sea or buried away in secretive caches around the world, and many wide-eyed adventurers spend their lives (and fortunes) hunting them down. While most of these searches come to naught, some surprising archaeological news out of Germany shows that sometimes, stores of buried treasures really are found just under our feet.

The treasure was found among the ruins of Heuneburg, a prehistoric fort situated on a hill beside the Danube River. Heuneburg was a Celtic city-state believed to have been founded in the sixth century B.C., and was even written about by the legendary Greek historian Herodotus. Interest in excavating this site was kindled in 2005 after a farmer’s accidental discovery of a child’s gold brooch while plowing. Twelve years later, the largest discovery at this site has revealed much, much more gold – and a host of mysteries.

The treasure surrounded the tomb of a woman believed to have died in her 30s or 40s who was likely a member of the ancient Celtic equivalent of an aristocrat. The construction of her tomb has been dated to approximately 583 B.C. Another grave was discovered at the foot of the seemingly wealthy woman, but this grave was much more sparsely adorned. This fact could indicate that the second grave belongs to a servant, buried along with her mistress. Hope that was in the job description.

Surrounding the primary grave was a vast stash of loot including gold, bronze, and amber jewelry, furs, ornaments, and leather goods. The tomb contained petrified sea creatures, a find which researchers believe might indicate the woman was some sort of priestess or magic woman.

Archaeologists also uncovered a set of mysterious boxwood objects, the nature of which is still unknown.

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FRET ZEPPELIN GUITAR TRAINER

Just about all of us have had a fantasy of being a rockstar at one time or another. But so few of us actually took the time to learn guitar. The truth is, it takes a lot of time and dedication to get it right. And lessons can be pretty pricey. But if there had been something like the Fret Zeppelin guitar trainer around when we had those lofty goals, we might actually be touring around the world right now.

The premise is simple: attach this trainer to the neck of your guitar, sync it to the app on your smartphone, pick a song, and let the Fret Zeppelin do the rest. The device’s full color spectrum LEDs – which can illuminate 4.6 million color combinations – will light up the fretboard and show you both where to and where not to place your fingers in order to play. The database, which can be accessed through the app, will have everything from scales, to chords, to musical styles, to songs, and more. And, once you become experienced enough, you can set up the Fret Zeppelin to display a light show while you perform. In all honesty, this might be the most intuitive guitar-learning device ever manufactured. You can preorder one for as low as $199 right now, but the price will likely jump once it goes to market. [Purchase]

 

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ROCKIT LOGS PORTABLE SPEAKER

One of our favorite things about how audio technology has progressed is that it has given us the ability to take our music with us just about anywhere. While we used to be relegated to hauling around unwieldy ghetto-blasters, we now have our pick of portable speakers that are stylish and effective. Some, however, stand out much more than others for their uniqueness and overall quality. And from the looks of it, these Rockit Logs appear as though they fall into that very category.

Invented by Jay DeMerit – a world class athlete who played on the U.S. national soccer team from 2007 to 2011 and studied Industrial Product Design at UIC – each of these speakers is made using reclaimed tone woods. After having been retrieved from abandoned logging sites, the unique bits of wood are fitted with a powerful high-quality 60-watt speaker, a Bluetooth receiver, a rechargeable battery that supplies up to 10 hours of playtime, and a USB charge port. At about 12-inches in diameter, these speakers are as portable as they are functional and stylish. When they hit the shelves, they will retail starting at $399, but you can contribute to their Kickstarter now and get one for much less. [Purchase]

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EXPLORA PATAGONIA HOTEL

Location, location, location. The long repeated phrase used by real estate agents just as easily applies to homes as it does to hotels and resorts. For that reason, we think that Explora’s Patagonia Hotel is just about as close to perfect as one can get.

The rooms in this relatively new resort (it was founded in the early 1990s) are modern and comfortable. Guests have the luxury of being able to sleep in and wake up to the incredible, almost dreamlike vistas of the Patagonia mountain range in Torres Del Paine National Park. Our guess, however, is that anyone interested enough to get all the way down to the southern tip of the Americas is not going to spend too much time laying around in bed. The resort offers up to 50 different guided hikes and tours that guests can take to explore the land surrounding the mountains. Whether on horseback or by foot, adventurers will have the opportunity to see ancient and fast disappearing glaciers up close, as well as beautiful planes and the surrounding lakes and rivers. Minimum 3 nights stay with prices starting just north of $5,000. 

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MONTBLANC TIMEWALKER RALLY TIMER WATCH

Looking back in time for their inspiration, Montblanc wanted to design a magnificent timepiece after the classic Minerva Rally Timer stopwatch. And by the looks of what came out the other end, we think it’s safe to say the luxury German manufacturer knocked it out of the park with this rendition.

As a part of their TimeWalker collection, the piece – dubbed the TimeWalker Chronograph Rally Timer Counter Watch – offers users a variety of wearable options thanks to its adjustable strap attachments. Wear it on your wrist, use it as a pocket watch, or clip it onto a metal plate and attach it to your dashboard in true rally fashion. Each watch hosts Montblanc’s MB M16.29 manually wound movement that also offers a power reserve of 50 hours and it’s all held within a sturdy and water-resistant 50mm satin titanium case and features a handsome black, gray, and red dial face. Only 100 editions will be made available in this lot, making it not only an heirloom piece but one that’s highly collectible as well. Priced at $39,345.

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HUUS GSTAAD HOTEL

For a lot of folks, a trip is more about the area you are going to – the city, the surrounding area, the monuments – than it is the place you end up staying at when you decide to turn in for the day. That isn’t the case with the Huus Gstaad Hotel.

Just looking at photos of this place is enough to make us want to hop on a plane and set our course for the Swiss Alps and never leave. Despite its 136 rooms, the hotel has an incredibly welcoming feel to it. This, according to lead designer Erik Nissen Johansen, was part of the plan. Everything from the 500 book library to the fireplace, multiple bars, and four restaurants headed by an award winning chef are intended to give visitors the sense that they’re staying over at a close friend’s (or, you know, a friend who had a mansion in the mountains). In addition to all of the great amenities within the hotel, the resort also boasts well over 100 miles of hiking trails, skii slopes, and ample opportunity for cycling and rafting during the warmer months. Should visitors ever want to leave and go make the most of these amenities, the hotel equips them with hiking gear and top notch Zeiss Binoculars. You know. Standard practice. Prices are set at $200 a night. 

 

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THE DALMORE 50 YEAR SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

Few things in the world universally say “celebration” like a quality single malt, even for those who’ve dedicated their lives day in and day out to blending and aging this unique spirit in different ways for our enjoyment. You’d think after, say 50 years, you’d have had enough of the stuff right? Wrong. At least that’s how Master Distiller Richard Paterson feels in releasing this Dalmore 50-year vintage single malt.

Over the course of its lifetime, this special blend has matured across Western Europe beginning its journey in American white oak exBourbon casks in 1966, moving onto Matulalem oloroso sherry casks in 2003, transferred to Port Colheita pipes in 2012 and back to bourbon barrels in the beginning of 2016. Finally, to toast the celebration, the whisky made its final appearance for 50 days in Domaine Henri Giraud Champagne casks before getting bottled in 50 separate Baccarat crystal decanters enhanced with a solid silver stag. That’s right, only 50 are available. They aren’t cheap either. Prices start at $60,800 a bottle. [Purchase]

 

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A Mercedes-AMG Super Bowl Commercial, Courtesy of the Coen Brothers

Along with making the jump to TV series, film directors have started lending their talents to commercials. Latest in that trend are the Coen Brothers, with their 60 second (or 30 second, depending on which version) tribute to Easy Rider. The ad is part of Mercedes’ effort to differentiate its AMG brand from the more familiar Mercedes-Benz name. It’s a similar move to what Hyundai did with its Genesis. But you clicked because of the Coen brothers.

The ad itself is quick, but the Coen brothers’ trademark quick edits and physicality are all over it. It opens in a biker bar and Steppenwolf’s iconic “Born to Be Wild” is the only song on the jukebox and is the soundtrack for the standard activities of a Route 66 biker bar. Fighting, arm wrestling, pool, those sorts of things. We get a nice shot of Peter Fonda, star of Easy Rider, getting into his roadster at the end and tying the whole ad together. Like a rug.

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How to Make the Apple Strudel from ‘Inglourious Basterds’

There are a few things we want to eat and/or drink after watching Inglourious Basterds: a glass of milk, a boot of beer, and, perhaps more than anything else, an apple strudel. The milk and beer aren’t hard to come by, but a good strudel is. Luckily, Binging with Babish is helping you out, with this instructional video. We can’t say it’s as easy as one of these recipes, but it’s not the toughest thing to create. Verdict? Not so terrible.

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‘Colossal’ Official Teaser Trailer

With a plot that rivals the recent Swiss Army Man in terms of sheer originality and ridiculousness, Colossal is an upcoming movie that blends aspects of modern film, comedy and the best of the kaiju genre. After one heck of an evening, Anne Hathaway discovers she has the power to spawn a giant monster on the other side of the world that she can make dance, raise its hands and level whole city blocks. Colossal comes out April 7.

 

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Meet the Snow Guardian, a Hermit Who Has Tracked Snowfall for 40 Years

billy barr (that’s how he writes it) lives in a small house he helped build in one of the coldest places in the US—Gothic, Colorado. According to billy, “the main thing I interacted with was the weather and the animals, so I started recording things just cause it was something to do.” The data he collected became essential for scientists studying climate change, and this short film tells his story.

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Minus-8 Diver Watch

San Francisco-based watch brand Minus-8 have introduced the Diver Watch, a sleek automatic titanium dive watch. Not your average dive watch, DIVER is a bold take on the future of performance watch piece, it is powered by a fully automatic Seiko movement, it’s waterproof up to 300 meters, and has a helium-release valve for smooth surfacing under extreme conditions. The 44 millimeter case is crafted from ultralight, ultra-strong titanium and features a screw down crown for maximum durability. The dial is designed for maximum visibility in all light conditions and is protected by scratch-resistant sapphire crystal that’s second only to diamond in its hardness. The DIVER is completed with a lightweight, corrosion-resistant titanium bracelet in two finishes: Matte Black and Matte Silver.    

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Guy Crashes Bike, Flips Over Guard Rail, Grabs Ledge at Last Second

Today in terrifying-but-good news: A bicycle road race in Santa Barbara went all wrong this past weekend when the field of bikers went over a bridge. One racer wiped out, causing a chain reaction that looked bad enough on the first glance. But slow down the footage a bit, and you can see it actually sent one of the riders flying off the side of the bridge—until he grabbed the wall, Jason Bourne-style, and saved himself from a world of hurt:

It feels like the vicious faceplant by the guy in red isn't getting enough attention here, but let's be honest: He wasn't hanging onto the bridge by an arm.

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This Is Allegedly the Fastest Badminton Shot in History

Apparently, badminton is f**king awesome. Two pieces of evidence in that regard came to our attention over the last few days, but let's start with the most recent.

This video, which comes to us today via Digg, features what is allegedly the fastest badminton shot in history. Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark smashed the birdie 265 miles per hour for the winner. This is not a game, folks.

That death-defying laser-shot was only surpassed by this unreal rally from Tuesday, via Deadspin. Once again, Mads Pieler Kolding was involved. He teamed up with another Mads (Conrad-Petersen) and their two Japanese opponents, Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda, to showcase what this sport is all about: freakish reflexes, daunting hand-eye coordination, and a taste for blood:

 

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One of the Most Iconic Ali Images Ever Taken May Have Been Based on a Lie

Muhammad Ali gave the world more iconic images than perhaps any other sportsman in history—but a fresh claim suggests one of the most famous could have been a lie all along.

On May 25, 1965, the Greatest took on Sonny Liston for the second of what would prove their only two matches. The previous year their first meeting had been clouded in controversy after Liston threw in the towel during round seven, leading to rumors of a fix that has been debated ever since.

Ali won the much-anticipated follow up again, this time by a knock out in the first round—the first of Liston's career—when he landed the famous 'anchor punch,' leading to the image of Ali apparently at the peak of his powers that has adorned the walls of teenagers and boxing fanatics ever since.

At the time, no one—not even the FBI—could find a shred of evidence that Sonny took a dive in either fight. Until now.

A book last year by ESPN writer Shaun Assael called The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights argued that the troubled heavyweight not only took a dive but did so in exchange for a piece of Ali's future earnings.

The quote reads:

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It is based on the never-before-heard recollections of a former NAACP president in Las Vegas, who told me that he was a young man when he heard Liston drunkenly boast that he was going to get a piece of Ali's purse with Joe Frazier in 1971 as a result of the 1965 fight.

If it's true, it means one of the most exhilarating images of Ali ever taken loses some of its power, to say the least. But don't worry—he has plenty of others.

 

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GREAT ESCAPE: THE BEST TRAVEL INSTAGRAMS OF THE WEEK

Nusa Ceningan, Bali, Indonesia

 

Oregon, USA

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Baffin Island, Canada

Turks and Caicos

Terraced River Valley, Bhutan

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Brooklyn, New York, USA

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Koh Sok National Park, Thailand

Volcán Acatenango, Guatemala

San Francisco, California, USA

Sydney, Australia

London, England, United Kingdom

Coober Pedy, Australia

Villa Eloísa, Santa Fe, Argentina

Li River, Yangshuo, China

Jaipur, India

Great Blue Hole, Belize

South Pacific Ocean

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TAG HEUER REVAMPS THE CARRERA CALIBRE 16 IN BLACK TITANIUM

One of TAG Heuer‘s most popular timepieces of their modern portfolio will be receiving a lightweight makeover for 2017.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Chronograph Carrera Calibre 16, the latest revised model will see the watch re-cased in sleek matte black titanium case.

The new model is a definite nod to the modern man with a sportier edge heralded in with its striking choice of materials – a 43mm Grade 2 micro-blasted black PVD titanium case framed with a black ceramic bezel and beige tachymeter scale.

Those who are familiar with the Carrera name will recognise some design cues borrowed from the 60s style Carrera watches with the wide dial opening and fine bezel paired with twin chronograph counters located at the 6 and 12 o’clock mark. A fine addition to another historically inspired design element in the faceted lugs as found in the original Carrera models.

The movement (Reference CV2A84.FC6394) retains the proven TAG Heuer Calibre 16 which boasts an automatic chronograph with Day and Date functions at the 3 o’clock mark and a small seconds counter at the 9 o’clock mark. Visibility is aided with the addition of black gold and beige SuperLuminova Arabic numerals.

Flipping the watch around will reveal a sapphire case back which proudly showcases the intricate mechanics of the automatic Calibre 16 movement alongside a decorated weight with a Côtes de Genève pattern. 

The Carrera Calibre 16 is water resistant up to 100 metres and comes with a distressed calfskin strap that’s designed to age with grace.

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BRUX COFFEE BREWER

For such a simple drink, coffee sure does create a lot of mess. First you need your grinder, then you have your brewing system, and then some method or container for heating up the water. Oh, and a mug to drink it in. This doesn’t pose much of a problem throughout the week, but in the woods? It can get cumbersome. For those looking to skip the strain, there is the BRuX Coffee Brewer.

This simple brewer serves as a kind of ‘all in one’ simple tool for whipping up a great cup of coffee. All users have to do is to open up the bottle, pull up the cone brewer, throw in a filter and some ground coffee and boom – you have yourself a pour-over setup. Once you’re done brewing, the container serves as a vacuum insulated mug so you can continue to enjoy your black gold all day. Of course, once you are done, you can simply pack it all back in the can. To get a better idea of how this works check out the video below (Fair warning, it is beyond ridiculous. And not in a good way.) Prices are set at $70. [Purchase]

 

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VICTORINOX I.N.O.X. CARBON

Perhaps most well known for their long history of making Swiss Army Knives, Victorinox is a brand that we’re not sure gets the respect that they deserve. Sure, they make a wide range of folding knife-based tools, but people forget that they make some really stellar products outside of that. Take, for example, their I.N.O.X. carbon composite watch.

At first glance, this might look like a run-of-the-mill outdoorsman’s watch. Maybe even less than, as it doesn’t have things like GPS capabilities or a built-in compass. But what it doesn’t have in tech, it more than makes up for in toughness. This watch is strong enough to survive being run over by a 64-ton tank and still function. It can also survive an impact of up to a 10-meter drop or be taken on a dive of up to 200 meters. And best of all, it has a handy paracord band. You know, just in case you find yourself stranded in the wilds and you need to fashion a snare, a shelter, stone weapons and/or tools, etc. It also helps that this superb watch looks as good as it functions. Grab one for yourself at a price of $950. [Purchase]