1979 Benelli Sei

The Benelli Sei is a series of motorcycles that were produced by Italian manufacturer Benelli, and masterminded by automotive designer Alejandro de Tomaso, from 1973 to 1989.Two models were made, with 750 and 900 cc displacement. The 750 was the first production motorcycle with a six-cylinder engine.The engine was a direct copy of the four-cylinder Honda CB500, but with two extra cylinders.The 905cc engine produced 80 horsepower, good enough to push the 484 pound bike up to a top speed of approximately 120 miles per hour. In 1979, by which time Benellli had sold 3,200 vehicles, Benelli developed the 750 Sei into a 900 cc motorcycle by increasing bore and stroke,with six-into-two exhausts and a small bikini fairing used on the Moto Guzzi Le Mans. This bike were sold at BH Auction - Suzuka 8 Hours Auction

Suzuka, Japan in July 2019

A very nice Benelli Sein in Biarritz a few years ago

Less than 2,000 were made over four model releases.Described at the time as “outrageous” or a “flashbike”.With rounded bodywork, 6-into-2 exhausts and a bikini fairing, the 900 Sei was a superbikeDespite the extra cylinders, the Sei’s width was kept to a minimum by siting the alternator which, on the Honda, is at the left-hand end of the crankshaft behind the cylinders.

Via : siamagazin.com

French submarine Perle

Sister ship Diamant, date unknown

Perle was a Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in 1931, she was launched in July 1935 and commissioned in March 1937. In November 1942, after Operation Torch, Perle joined the Allied fleet. While returning from refitting in the United States, Perle was mistaken for a U-boat by an aircraft from the British ship Empire MacCallum and sunk. 

German U-Boat U-168

Laid down in 1931, Perle was launched in July 1935 and commissioned in March 1937. In November 1942, after Operation Torch, Perle joined the Allied fleet and was assigned to Dakar. After taking part in several operations, Perle sailed to the United States for refitting. On 26 June 1944, it left port and, after stopping in Newfoundland, Perle set sail for the port of Dundee in Scotland to participate in operations off Norway. On 8 July, Perle was mistaken for a U-boat by an Allied Fairey Swordfish and sunk in position 55°27′N 30°50′WCoordinates: 55°27′N 30°50′W. Approximately 17 of the crew of 42 survived the sinking but only one was rescued. The crew killed aboard Perle were the last casualties among French submariners in World War II. 

Angel Boots by Oodoo

oodoo-boots.com

Definitely my next boots, Angel is a work boot made by my friends Valérie and Billy at Oodoo and is timeless and designed to last. They've made this all-terrain basic a good shoe with handcrafted features that are clear at first glance. With its tyre sole, weathered leathers and Goodyear construction, the Angel certainly exudes authenticity. For the cow suede version, they also selected an italian tannery, which is certified by LGW and recognised for the quality of this type of product. It is a waterproof cow suede leather, flexible and sturdy, with a marbled appearance, it’s also the best choice of boots for a more casual style. The lining is made of natural calfskin for a perfect fit. Durable over time and extremely comfortable, it’s the crème de la crème of linings. 

BSA Catalina Scrambler

The BSA Catalina Scrambler was the perfect machine for a rider like AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Chuck "Feets" Minert. Chuck Minert raced for the BSA factory team, with the biggest win of his career coming at the 1956 Catalina Grand Prix. The win was so prestigious that after Minert's win, BSA named the 1959 Gold Star DBD 34 the "Catalina Scrambler." It was a little tricky because the machine Feets rode to victory was a 1956 BSA Gold Star Scrambler. “I switched to a five-gallon tank so I could run the 100-mile race non-stop. I used a front brake backing plate with a scoop for extra cooling and ran a 19-inch front wheel instead of the standard 21-inch wheel favored by English riders,” Feets said.

Chuck Minert, at 83 years old, standing behind a 1962 BSA Catalina Scrambler. 

Hap Alzina, the West Coast BSA dealer, asked the factory to build a replica of Minert's Gold Star bike. BSA responded with the Catalina Scrambler in 1959. The machine would not change until BSA stopped production in 1963.

Hap Alzina

Chuck and his wife Gloria

The aluminum-barreled Gold Star was arguably the most successful race bike ever built. It won races for over a decade in all disciplines, but ultimately the venerable Gold Star model was replaced by the smaller (and lighter) B44 that was developed by 500 World Champion Jeff Smith. This machine, based on the BSA 250cc model, would win its final 500cc Motocross World Championship in 1965, marking the end of four-stroke dominance in the premier series for the next 30 years.

Modernism in Palma

Palma, the capital of Majorca is an enchanting thousand-year-old city which conceals a multitude of surprising treasures: vestiges of distant civilizations (Roman, Arab) to the medieval Palaces of the Majorcan nobility or even the imprint of Modernist Architecture from the beginning of the Twentieth century.

Modernism arrives in Majorca through renowned architects, figures of Catalan Modernism, such as Antonio Gaudi, Lluís Domenech i Montaner or Joán Rubio, who came to the island to meet the demands of the early 20th century Majorcan bourgeoisie.

Vintage Palma de Mallorca postcard

Majorcan architects such as Gaspar Bennássar, Jaume Alenyar, Francesc Roca or Guillem Reynés were influenced by this modern style and by international trends, both historicist at the end of the 19th century (neo-Gothic and neo-Mudéjar) and by French Art Nouveau and Belgian (undulating and floral shapes) or Austrian (geometric shapes). These passionate and creative architects have left their unique mark on a set of buildings intended for social life, the private domain or the commercial world. Nothing better than a walk in the historic center of Palma to discover these buildings with remarkable charm.

Guillem Reynés, drawing Can March (currently a museum)

Can March (currently a museum) on Sant Miquel street.

One of the most dazzling modernist buildings is the Gran Hotel built by Lluis Domenech in 1903 on Place Weyler opposite Place du Marché. The most famous hotel in the city, until it closed at the start of the civil war (1936), benefited from unique innovations for the time as electricity, lift and central heating. It now houses the headquarters of La Caixa Foundation, a Cultural Center which has a permanent collection of the Catalan painter Anglada Camarassa and hosts temporary exhibitions of international scope.

La Caixa Foundation

Adjoining the Market Square are the Las Casasayas and Pensión Menorquina buildings, commissioned from the architect Francesc Roca in 1908 by Josep Casasayas Casajuana, owner of the famous Can Frasquet pastry shop. These perfectly symmetrical constructions are separated by the small street of Santacilia, the initial project to bring them together was never carried out. With their magnificent balconies and undulating shutters inspired by Art Nouveau, they are classified by the Consell de Mallorca as an Asset of Cultural Interest.

Las Casasayas and Pensión Menorquina

Not far from Plaza de Cort where the splendid Palma Town Hall is located, stands Can Corbella, a superb building with 3 floors and 3 facades designed by Nicolás Lliteras and intended to accommodate housing and shops. The Corbella drugstore installed on the ground floor until 1985 gave it its name.

Can Corbella

Crowned by a small octagonal tower, it belongs to the pre-modernist trend in the neo-Mudejar style which introduced the main lines of oriental art: a polychrome wooden facade, arches and colored windows.

A few steps down Calle Colom, the goldsmith Lluis Forteza Rey imagined and directed the construction of the Casa de les Mitges in 1906. This 5 floors building has a unique facade, rough, decorated with stones, of 2 triangular balconies and a mosaic of colored ceramics.

In the same street, near the Plaza Mayor, Lluis Forteza Rey also designed the interior decoration and the facade of Casa Forteza Rey, one of the most admired buildings in the city. Dating from 1910, this building owes its originality to the multicolored ceramics of the Mallorcan factory "La Roqueta".

Casa Forteza Rey

The great influence of Gaudi's work is omnipresent in the use of wrought iron, ceramics and in the wall decorations with floral and animal themes. The neighboring building known as the Águila Shops was built in 1908 by Jaume Alenyar, in the trend of Viennese Modernism, as shown by the arch in the center of the facade, reminiscent of that of the KarlsPlatz metro station in Vienna.

 Águila Shops

The medieval cathedral of Palma, La Seu, also bears the modernist imprint of Gaudí and his assistant Rubió i Bellver, because in 1899, the Bishop of Majorca, Pere Campins, seduced by their surprising proposals, entrusted them with the restoration of the interior of the building.

Near the cathedral, descending towards the sea, we discover Can Mulet and Can Salas, whose facades correspond to a more austere modernist style. Further on, on Paseo Sagrera, is “Can Coll” whose entrance door frame is particularly remarkable.

Can Coll

The Bedaux Canadian Subarctic Expedition

Everyone said it couldn't be done, but Charles Bedaux tried anyway, and the result was the legendary Bedaux Subarctic Expedition of 1934.

The Bedaux expedition of 1934, also named the Bedaux Canadian Subarctic Expedition, was an attempt by eccentric French millionaire, Charles Eugène Bedaux, to cross the wilderness of the northern parts of Alberta and northern British Columbia in Canada, while making a film, testing Citroën half-track vehicles and generating publicity for himself. Bedaux set off on this unusual excursion accompanied by more than a hundred people, including his wife, his mistress (an Italian Countess), and an Academy Award-winning film director from Hollywood, Floyd Crosby, who would later be praised for his work on High Noon. Also along for the trip were several dozen Alberta cowboys and a large film crew. To map the route of the expedition, the Canadian government sent along two geographers, Frank Swannell and Ernest Lemarque. The expedition started off at Edmonton, Alberta on July 6, 1934 and their goal was to travel 1,500 miles (2,400 km) to Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. Much of the trip would have to be made through regions that were relatively uncharted and had no trails, not to mention proper roads that would have made the going smoother for the expedition's vehicles.

Bedaux was acquainted with car manufacturer, Andre Citroën, who designed the Citroën-Kégresse equipped half-track trucks that were used on the expedition. Of the five Citroëns that the party used, two slid off of cliffs and a third was used in a shot where it was put on a raft where it was supposed to meet a stick of dynamite and explode. However, the shot was ruined when the dynamite failed to explode and the truck floated down river and was stuck in a sandbar. The last two Citroëns were abandoned near Halfway River. When the Alaska Highway was built in the 1940s, a Fort St. John man discovered the remains of these last two half-tracks and one was donated to the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The expedition began at Edmonton, moved to Athabasca and Grande Prairie and then into British Columbia to Dawson Creek, and Fort St. John. From there the expedition headed north to Montney and then northwest to Halfway River on to Whitewater Post over the Northern Rocky Mountains. From there, Bedaux had planned for the expedition to cross over the Sifton Pass, to Dease Lake and the Stikine River to Telegraph Creek, and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. However, this final leg of the trip was never completed.

The House on the Lake

Photos by José Campos

The House on the Lake transforms what was once an old forgotten park cafe into a modern family home. The lakefront site is occupied by mature oak and chestnut trees and an existing emperor terrace. The home is situated on 40 diagonal iron stilts that lightly rest on the historic stones in order to preserve its historic character and landscape. Its L-shape navigates around the ancient trees, even integrating one into a small atrium, while its larch facade gives the exterior a treehouse aesthetic. Suspended 10 feet off the ground, the flat new building’s interior appears to float over the water giving living spaces unobstructed views over Lake Jungfernsee.  This stunning lake house is located between Berlin and Potsdam, Germany and is the work of Berlin’s Carlos Zwick Architects. 

Via : yotlot.com