Lucias latest car design: The GPS

I think surprisingly Lucia has drawn some cool cars lately, and I will post them as I find time to scan them. But today she was very proud to show Mimi and Big Papa her latest Lego car. She calls it the "GPS":

  

I guess it knows where it is going..

Art Center Car Classics 2011

Finally a weekend all to myself. I can't remember exactly last time I had a weekend without company of any sort and it was a nice break. I stayed with David out in Venice and I am super grateful for his hospitality. He lent me the sofa and the keys to the Jetta. I was also struck by how nice that part of LA is, just a great neighborhood.
I came down to LA to go to the annual car show at Art Center where I went to school a few years ago. This car show is not like any other, its quite unique. Most car shows are either centered around new and coming cars, or vintage classics, or race cars, or hot rods, which are all exciting on their own, but the show at Art Center tends to bring the best and most significant and unique cars from all these genres together in one show. Usually there are other vehicles as well such as aircrafts and motor cycles, but I have also seen u-boats and spacecrafts there. This year was no exception with a very cool amphibious plane on display and although Jay Leno and Chip Foose was not there I met up with old friends and caught up on the latest.
I now have several hundred photos and videos to go through but in the mean time here are a few pictures from the show:

The impressive new concept car from Cadillac: "Ciel"

Very rare Ferrari #1 

Very rare Ferrari #2

Sketching

I have been using a program on the Mac called Sketch Book Pro for years. It is a pretty awesome sketching program when used with Wacom tablet. I downloaded the free version for the iPad to check it out but was disappointed to see that the iPad screen is way too coarse and doesn't register pressure or pen angle like the Wacom does. Lucia loves it though and has figured out how to change the colors, and she handles the little pen with a lot of enthusiasm without any risk of putting additional color on furniture, clothes etc.

Win a free case!

I have over the last few months been part of a startup and designed cases for the iPhone and iPad. These cases are high-end machined aluminum cases not the run-of-the-mill plastic crap you see everywhere. They will sell for $100, but here is your chance to win a free case:

Over the next couple of weeks we are going to run a number of drawings for free products on our EDGE Facebook fan page. Early participants will have a significantly greater chance to win since they will participate in every drawing. Only thing you have to do is: 

1) Like the EDGE Facebook page www.facebook.com/DesignByEDGE 

2) Go to the Wall, click on the Kickstarter link and like the video.  

Good luck!

Sketchtime

Learning the concept of watching the screen while sketching, not your pen.

Hey Thats Me!

Cannot stop laughing because I'm positive Pete is messing with me. Unless I drew it and just forgot? I can't remember. I vaguely recall drawing with her last week. The fact that we are trying to determine if the art skills belong to me vs. Lucia is also hilarious. -- Heather 

I found this little drawing this morning. She drew it a couple of days ago. I think its me wearing glasses.

Mus!

This is Lucia's drawing of a mouse! I can't believe she drew this; maybe she'll have Pete's art talent.

The Eco Jet

It started as a quiet whistle, we have all heard it before sitting in an airplane, but now I heard it coming from a car sitting 50ft away. This I had to see for myself, and heres the video I took:

Jay Leno's Eco Jet from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

More info on the EcoJet can be found on Jay Leno's website.

A weekend in Pasadena

I went to Pasadena last weekend to be at the yearly car show at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. This is not a normal car show or concourse, but an event focused on designs that push the limit for what is bold, beautiful or innovative, and this year they not only focused on cars, but boats, airplanes and more.
There were cars of all ages, one-off prototypes, experimental airplanes and space crafts, a u-boat, a bat mobile, boats, motorcycles.
This year Burt Rutan received a lifetime achievement award and held a keynote about his planes and hobbies which included figuring out how the pyramids were built, efficiency (home and automotive), the JFKs assassination, and global warming.
He spoke mostly about his hobbies and it was incredibly interesting to hear how he tried to solve each problem like a flight data engineer using the raw data and drawing his own conclusions. Very cool.
I drove down with Christian Morsing and we had a great time. We got stuck in traffic more than a few times and didn't get to do all the things we intended, we also had 43C (110F) driving through San Joaquin Valley. Definitely not a top-down environment. Thank you A/C!
I took a lot of pictures this time and I will make them available soon. I even have a video!

Chillin

It's Sunday a.m., Pete's in Pasadena for a car show and I'm handling things just fine, thankyouverymuch. We got a new high chair yesterday, courtesy of Craigslist (whoo-hoo!). Here's are the full specs on it, in case you care (three reclining positions??).

Little Miss has decided that puffs trump everything, and bananas are no longer interesting. Or avocados. She ate puffs for a good hour this morning, and I was so impressed with how many she was eating and figured, hey at least she's eating. Then I removed the tray and realized where at least one-third the puffs had gone, all over her lap.

I have had some challenges putting her down for naps; she wants me to pick her up and in the past I have; I've created a monster! I'm getting better at it, and though she cries everytime, it's getting easier each time.

We're headed up to the city to see my girlfriends, and I've packed banana and oats with me for her. She'll be eating it, for sure.

I hope Pete is having fun -- it was his birthday yesterday!

Last day before deadline

I have been working long hours on this design project with my friend Ty, and we are looking forward to take a break and resume our fatherly duties.
I cant really discuss the project or show any pictures of the car but I think this teaser can give you an impression of the top surface of the current 3D model rendered on the computer.