I only ever bother buying a book instead of downloading it when I can find a cheap first edition, or there’s something sensual about the book that makes it worth holding.

Like Bill Amberg leather-covered Penguin Classics.

As much as I love jazz babies, The Great Gatsby is a waste, no matter how finely stylized its language and leather cover are. Oscar Wilde’s A Picture of Dorian Gray is choice. Dorian would have appreciated this Bill Amberg leather-bound book, as he was an ageless, beautiful hedonist crazy for collectibles.

Except for his murdering his friend, frequenting opium dens, and having homosexual tendencies (I’m not a gay man, only often confused with one), I like to imagine Dorian and I are very much alike…

With Sony Ericsson’s “Pureness” mobile phone, you can only talk, text, and tell the time. How refreshingly simple.

Only that means in place of my iPhone I’ll also have to stuff my Hermes bag with an Amazon Kindle, laptop, digicam, and small recording device that plays a “We’re sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected…” message like the “Disconnected” iPhone app. (Feel flattered if you’ve heard that after dialing my number–it means you’ve made an impression.)

Sony’s take on complicated minimalism is inspiring. I’ll also take my stereo, AC, and lights out of my Porsche, drive around with a boombox and battery-powered fan, and just lean out my window and shine a flashlight down the road at night…

I’m on a new diet. Every day I wake up to an hour at the gym, down matcha green tea and fresh fruit for breakfast, and eat VeginOut delivered meals for lunch and dinner — except Sunday.

On the lord’s day, while in Giuseppe blue satin slippers and Marlies Dekkers panties, I consume a bag of Uncle Eddies vegan cookies and flip through Helmut Newton’s Playboy photography.

The key is to eat the cookies until you feel sick, and to stare at Helmut Newton’s photos until those shots of long models’ legs begin to slice the “sur” out of “surreal.” Like Newton’s play of gleaming glam and subconscious camp, it’s all about balance.

And Oscar Wilde said moderation is fatal thing…

I used to suck down seven soy lattes a day and snort lines of espresso grinds around midnight — sleep was a waste of time.

Then I discovered matcha green tea. A premium powder of ground-up green tea leaves, matcha is higher in antioxidants than regular green tea, and whisking matcha and boiling water into a cup of jade froth makes for a better a.m. ceremony than whining in line at Starbucks.

Le Palais Gourmet matcha green tea is especially fine. When you open its canister, the bright green powder smells like an idealized version of a spring morning: sweet and alive.

Which is lovely. But the best part?

Matcha green tea gives you a higher, smoother buzz.

“Sleeping” is always better as a euphemism…

How nouveau douche is a brand new, historically accurate family crest signet ring, dahling…

I don’t smoke — or drink. Or dance — but I hate having hotel matches lying around for candle lighting (or, worse, one of those red BBQ “torches” from CVS).

Elegant in the economy of its lines, this Porsche Design PD5 lighter looks so lush on my nightstand, next an equally minimalist Jimmyjane massage candle…

With a predilection for petite Hermes “Kelly Danse” bags, matcha tea ceremony, and Porsche Design anything, the Japanese in me is coming out.

I’ve been toying with my 911 — a purring custom exhaust thanks to Magnaflow, a platinum hood emblem replacing the classic gold crest — and now I want to store this Porsche umbrella in my car.

Designed to tuck into the driver’s-side cubby of a Carrera, this Porsche Design umbrella is the closest I’ll come to having a driver hand me that custom Rolls Royce Phantom umbrella — for now…

Wanting: Gresso USB Flash Drive – Labyrinth

How’s this for a trip back to the future: Gresso is a Russian luxury company that pimps limited-edition gadgets that sell for twice your mortgage payment, before you hit the fine print. So it’s Dorian Gray of me to want a USB flash drive crafted out of 200 year-old African blackwood and diamonds — at least this Gresso “Labyrinth” USB flash drive has a memory of 192GB…

Using: Gresso USB Flash Drive – Pandora

Made of African red- or blackwood, 18K gold, and a ruby or diamond that pulses with LED light, the coolest part of this Gresso “Pandora” USB flash drive is that its 64GB memory is protected with a fingerprint-scanning detector…

Hating: Gresso USB Flash Drive – New Years Collection

There’s a balance between form and function, and this Gresso “New Years” USB flash drive is tipped. It’s as absurdly luxurious as the other Gresso USB flash drives, only its use of 200 year-old Royal Mahogany wood isn’t matched by equally exceptional technology… ]]> http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/29/gresso-usb-flash-drives-k-is/feed 0 http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/22/leica-digicams-k-is http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/22/leica-digicams-k-is#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:11:33 +0000 Kristopher http://www.kristopherdukes.com/?p=2645

Wanting: Leica M8.2 Rangefinder DigiCam

Camera-crafter Leica has history as an innovator, and still Leica digital cameras are built with weight, unlike most throwaway, plastic-brick digicams. And by “weight,” I mean price — this Leica digicam weighs in at $5,995. You were going to skip paying your mortgage anyway…

Using: Leica C-Lux 3 DigiCam

My little bro’s the photographer, but I can’t take a bad photo with this Leica digicam. Mostly because I’m in every photo — yep, I’m a middle child! — and I’m hot. Bah-dump chhhh…

Hating: Leica D Lux 3 DigiCam

Why the hate? Because this Leica digicam isn’t mine — yet… ]]> http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/22/leica-digicams-k-is/feed 0 http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/14/sexy-lacie-hard-drives-k-is http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/14/sexy-lacie-hard-drives-k-is#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:45:47 +0000 Kristopher http://www.kristopherdukes.com/?p=2647

Wanting: LaCie Monolithic Hard Drive

Backup, backup, backup. My whole life is in my Macbook, so I back up everything onsite and off. LaCie makes sexy hard drives that sit pretty on your desktop, and I love the matte black of this LaCie Monolithic hard drive…

Using: LaCie Porsche Hard Drive

I’m a sucker for Porsche design. I adore my Carrera’s classic clean lines, and this LaCie Porsche hard drive has the same elegance of economy…

Hating: LaCie Golden Disc Hard Drive

I like the unusual design of this LaCie Golden Disc hard drive, but the waves of mirror gold is a little Lady Gaga for me… ]]> http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2009/07/14/sexy-lacie-hard-drives-k-is/feed 0