Zwei is one bag, with many possibilities. The German bag designer created a unique system allowing the user to swap from a shoulder/messenger bag style to a shopping-bag tore handle, and then back to a shoulder strap thanks to a magnetic buckle, which also can be disconnected and re-used as a waist strap where necessary (running, etc). You can also add what they call a Klick Fix system to secure any of the three bag designs to the front of a bicycle. Refreshing design and interesting innovation– I hope to get you all an in depth review of some of these bags soon!

Indexed is Jessica Hagy’s blog, and it is one of the most amusing and brilliant blogs I have seen to date (and I read a lot of them). To Jessica, Indexed is a place where she can “make fun of some things and sense of others … to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.” Each blog entry consists of a simple title and a graph or Venn diagram explaining the subject Jessica is pondering (see my favorite example after the jump). Jessica started Indexed last August, and lets just hope she continues bringing us the goods well into the future. Once you visit the blog, you’ll be addicted and spend the rest of the day perusing the archives and laughing out loud. Thanks to Beanstash for the heads up on this one– great find!
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On new year’s eve, I chose to drink Vodka 14 martinis instead of champagne– all thanks to our friends Mitch and Matt Baris, the father-son duo behind Vodka 14 (and my friend Jenna who was mixing the drinks). I actually felt pretty reasonable on new year’s day. That was probably due to a combination of things; among them: not mixing alcohols, not drinking too much, and Vodka 14’s purity– it’s made with the freshest of ingredients, including USDA Certified Organic grain and water from a 200 foot deep Rocky Mountain well that is filtered and de-ionized. The vodka then undergoes a four column continuous distillation process including an activated carbon and crystal filtration system to achieve its high purity, quality, and taste. I am proud of Mitch and Matt Baris for bringing an eco-friendly, independently owned vodka brand to an otherwise saturated and conglomerated industry. Despite the fact that Vodka 14 is currently available only in stores in Colorado, Wyoming, and Tennessee, you all can enjoy it and support it’s philosophy by buying it online. Also check out their infusion recipes– they have some great ones.

The new year is customarily ushered in with a big lit up ball dropping in New York City and a kiss with that special someone. For many of you, that customary kiss may have not gone as planned this year. Maybe your special someone was in a different location, maybe you don’t have a special someone, or maybe you drank too much and passed out before midnight. In any case, if you had been celebrating with Marlene Haring, your new year’s kiss (well, suck really) would have been contractually guaranteed. We found Marlene at the entrance of the Scope Miami art fair about a month ago, and we were impressed with her Sucking Marks exhibit for several reasons: it was, in every sense of the word, unconventional art; it was a cheap ($10) and sanitary thrill; and Marlene creatively redefined the relationship between the artist and the art collector. Aias Vargas put it best: “Like many of Harling’s works, Sucking Marks $10 engages directly not only her ‘audience’ but the rules society determines for the relationship between the artist and the collector, the producer and the consumer, the body and the commodity.” See some more photos we took of the ’sucking booth’ after the jump…
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Beloved JoshSpear.com readers… you may or may not have noticed that I ‘went dark like Jack Bauer‘ on the blogging front for the last week or so, but I am back and excited to kick off what promises to be an amazing 2007 for JoshSpear.com. I had a great holiday, splitting my time between Sun Valley and Crested Butte, enjoying some great snow in the former and enjoying the company of great friends and family in both. I’m a little perplexed with the Colorado weather patterns this winter (lots of snow in the flatlands, but little in the mountains), but maybe Al Gore can help me understand it. You’ve read our resolutions for 2007, and you can hopefully pick up on Josh’s excitement in his new year’s post. I want to echo Josh’s sentiment, and wish you all an exemplary 2007. We really are dedicated to raising the bar for JoshSpear.com in the coming year, and are honored to have you all as readers. Read after the jump for another excitement-inspiring tidbit…

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