Katee Sackhoff's Classified Moto KT600 Custom

Katee Sackhoff's KT600 from Classified Moto

This bike is yet another sterling example of why I love the work of John Ryland and his crew at Classified Moto in Richmond, Virginia. This Honda XL600-based bruiser was commissioned by actress and motorcycle enthusiast, Katee Sackhoff. Katee first came to wide public attention, of course, in the role of Starbuck in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica SyFy Channel show in 2004.

Indulging in a bit of wordplay, Classified Moto has dubbed this bike the "KT600."

Once again Ryland has displayed his talent for transforming a plain vanilla bike into a unique and awesome work of two-wheeled art... with performance, to boot.

Starbuck and Bike

Portland Mini Maker Faire, Pt. 3: Steampunk Creations of Chuck Dolence

Chuck Dolence at his Portland Mini Maker Faire Booth

Chuck Dolence displayed his a collection of his "Musanical" artworks at the Portland Mini Maker Faire. Chuck builds these intricately detailed metal sculptures from found mechanical objects and discarded musical instruments.

The "Cymbolic Explorer" 

Chuck is a devout Christian who sees his work as a "redemptive" activity that he likens to God's redemptive work on behalf of abused and discarded individuals. By analogy, Chuck takes these discarded things and makes something new and beautiful with them just as God can do with a broken human being.

See Chuck's website for his other works that he calls Cosmicanicals and Floranicals.

Arrinera Automotive's Hussarya, Polish Supercar

The Hussarya, a Polish Supercar

A team of visionary Polish automotive designers is making history in the former Communist country: For four years Poland has been home to a supercar company, Arrinera Automotive. Their first car, the Hussarya, is scheduled for production next year in Poland.

The Hussarya will be powered by a 6.2liter 8-cylinder engine pumping out a claimed 650HP. The steel chassis has been designed by legendary British car designer, Lee Noble. The body is carbon fiber. The high-power mill and lightweight chassis and body make for one quick machine:  60mph in 3.2seconds, with a claimed top speed of 210mph.

In an interesting safety twist, the Hussarya can be equipped with thermal imagers from Oregon's premiere IR imaging company, FLIR.

Autoblog has a nice post on the Hussarya. Check it out.

Looper, the Movie

Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Bruce Willis in Looper

I posted about the coming sci-fi flick Looper when the first teaser-trailer was released back in April. It opened last Friday, so I went to see it over the weekend and really liked it. The basic plot concept is that a man is sent back thirty years to the past in order to be executed by his younger self (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), but that goes awry when he recognizes his future self (played by Bruce Willis) and hesitates before pulling the trigger... his future self makes a run for it then, and havoc subsequently ensues.

The use of time travel in film and television plots usually rubs me the wrong way because I feel it tends to be a gimmick or deus ex machina sort-of copout that papers over the screenplay writer's lack of imagination. It seems that you inevitably end up with a plot that makes no sense. But in the case of Looper, writer-director Rian Johnson handled the time travel aspects beautifully. Indeed, they are central to the plot's premise.

If you are a sci-fi fan, definitely go see it. However, be forewarned that it is pretty violent, has some female nudity, and some truly horrifying moments.

I thought Gordon-Levitt was excellent in the lead role... I think this is really his movie, not Bruce Willis's. Watching the play of expressions over Gordon-Levitt's face, and his mannerisms, I got the impression that he went into the archives of the Eighties hit TV show, Moonlighting, to study the young Bruce Willis.

And by the way, if you are a film noir fan and have never seen the 2006 Rian Johnson film, Brick, definitely do rectify that. It's a very classic kind of noir story set in a SoCal high school, and also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a type of teen-aged Philip Marlowe trying to solve the mystery of his former girlfriend's murder.