Cars, a Convertible Sofa, and The CHALL3NG3

First, I would like to start off with a brief tribute to Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. In an accident, Monday September 4th, on the Great Barrier Reef, he was stung in the chest by a stingray, and not able to be saved . Irwin brought excitement and conservationism to many, many fans throughout the world. He was also a major component of launching the tv network Animal Planet with his 10 years of hosting his own show. There will be a new conservation fund set up in his honor, The Crikey Fund, although I cannot yet find a link to it. Thank you Steve Irwin, for enchanting us with your special brand of humor, learning, and delight; you'll be missed.

Last week, I had from an inside source that West Elm would be offering leather furniture. Well, I got me an e-mail today sayin' exactly that! Some nice simple pieces that offer as much comfort as style (I mean that in a good way here people), and prices are more within reach.

Yeah, well leather's been done, you say? You want to know new? How about this BonBon Convertible Sofa. It's my kind of triathalon: couch-to-climb-to nap.

If you want tech-ier toys, nothing beats a swank car, right? Except a faster one in the St. Petersburg to Amsterdam 2006 Challenge. GTspirit.com has a pretty full overview of the event, day-by-day. This event features the real deal exotics... The new and highly anticipated Audi R8 (edmunds.com profile) and the Spyker C8 Spyder (complete with factory photos).

Okay, what say you win the current $114 million Mega Millions Lottery? Then you'd need a swank place to park all your swervish cars (I think I just used a non-word here). Just look to the Germans for marvels of engineering and function. Example: the Volkswagen factory carpark is just the coolest. It should almost go without saying, that if it's cool, of course I found this on TheCoolHunter.net.

A 'lil fashion note, from The Cool Hunter, Paul & Joe have agreed to produce a fashion line for Target. More and more high end designers are moving into mass market. I like a lot of the looks from Paul & Joe for this season.

One thing I'm finding here in the city of fog, is that only visitors and tourists seem to take the walking tours. I've prolly helped direct people to the Alta Plaza steps for the Pacific Heights Mansions Walking Tour four times in the past week. So, here is the fruit of my research and a site link for FREE walking tours in San Francisco. I know they are full of amazing information, perhaps one day I'll get up and go.

Google has teamed up with other search partners to offer news searches extending back to the early 20th century. This article from TechCrunch explains. Cheers.

image credits: Crocodile Hunter banner from Animal Planet at Discovery.com, BonBon Sofa from Inhabitat.com, Audi R8 photo by Priddy/Priddy for Fourtitude.com, Volkwagen carpark from The Cool Hunter, Paul & Joe pic from paulandjoe.com