Back from the Blast!

Wanted to follow up on the Vespa... Got the parts back from the sandblaster and they're looking much better! (Don't worry, I didn't forget the gas tank... we decided not to blast it). Started priming last night in a mock spray booth I put up in the basement. Hoping to have the paint done sometime next week - I'll post more pics.

(Also note our freshly sealed deck ;)

Before:

Huber Birthdays

The Huber's both had birthdays this month and Amanda surprised me with a trip to the Vinoklet Winery on the westside. After a wine tasting you pick your entree that you then grill yourself. The winery was a beautiful place - the rolling hills reminded us both of Virginia.

We went to Marion last weekend for our 10-year high school reunion -- which was much better than my extremely low expections imagined -- so Amanda got to celebrate her birthday in stand-still traffic on the interstate! (A close second to the winery).

Vespa Update

While parts for the engine slowly trickle in, I've had some time to focus on the body work. The 20+ year-old paint was completely dead and the bike obviously needed to be refinished. I wanted to do all of the work myself, so my nights of late have been spent on the back porch removing old paint and rust with a wire brush drill attachment. After way too many hours of work and nearly down to bare metal, I've decided the body really needs to be sandblasted to ensure a good finish that will last. So today the parts were off to the sandblaster! Should have them back next week - I'll post the 'after' pics.




In other news, Amanda picked a 1963 VW color, L87 Pearl White, for the body with a brown seat to top it off - classy! Same color as Herby the Love Bug...

New River Gorge - Memorial Day

Wanted to share some pics of our Memorial Day trip to the New River Gorge (courtesy of Anne [Voglewede] Walker). We stayed in Babcock State Park which had some nice hikes and is home to the frequently photographed water wheel/grist mill pictured at the bottom. We also got to do some rock climbing which was really fun, though Toby wimped out on the ladders at our climbing spot, Junkyard Wall -- Amanda is the best belayer! The group included Anne and Steve Walker, Catherine Kelly, and Clay and Rachel Lyons (Catherine's friends from Richmond).

Mandy's B-day Vespa

Amanda has a new Vespa and I have a new project! (Not sure who's more excited about it). It's a 1985 PX150E that needs a complete engine rebuild and body refinish. Hoping to get it running before I go back to school in the Fall.

Our first job was to clean 20 years of gunk off the engine. Fun stuff!




Hopefully it'll look like this in August, though Amanda's thinking baby blue:

Avett Brothers - Newport, KY - 5/16/08

Katie came up for the weekend and we saw the Avett Brothers on Friday night. I can't get enough of these guys. What an awesome show! Fortunately we'll get to see them again at the All Good festival in July.



For those who have seen them before, you'll know that their shows are something like this:



We had a great weekend Katie... looking forward to hosting more family at the end of the month.

I.D. Mag - Annual Design Review

LPK has won the Design Distinction award under the Concepts category in the I.D. mag Annual Design Review with my design, A Light in the Dark. Look for it in the July/Aug issue of I.D. Magazine!

Concepts
Best of Category
• The Datum Line / JWT New York
Design Distinction
• A Light in the Dark / LPK
• (PRESERVE) / IDEO
Honorable Mention
• Getting Personal with Global Warming / IDEO
• NYC Helmet / fuseproject
• Mauget “Forest Saver” Tree-Injection System / RKS Design

A Light in the Dark

ID Magazine Design Brief - Design an object that raises awareness of or helps mitigate the problem of global warming.

Imagine how different the world might be if we could capture sunlight and release it on demand to light the dark. As an alpha source of energy, the sun sustains nearly everything on our planet, including plants, animals and the natural resources that feed our energy needs. To avoid the byproducts of traditional energy production, we should tap into the sun’s energy much earlier in this transformation process.

A Light in the Dark is an active Venetian blind system that collects energy from the sun by day and releases it as needed at night. In the typical home, windows account for nearly 50 percent of the heat gain or loss depending on the season, relaying that workload to the HVAC system. Use of blinds is known to save energy—they keep buildings cool in the summer and provide insulation during the winter.

With A Light in the Dark system, homes become more energy-efficient and the need for electric lighting at night is minimized. Photovoltaic cells on the outer surface of the blinds absorb the sun’s energy by day, storing it in a Lithium Ion battery pack. The inner surface is composed of illumination cells, each housing an LED, reflector panel and lens. When activated, the blinds emanate light—replicating the sunlight by which it was enabled.

The blinds feature a zero-clearance design—when closed the “cells” lock together with minimal gaps, as opposed to the overlap of traditional Venetian blinds, to give added insulation during the colder months. The opaque photovoltaic cells also yield a higher shading coefficient, keeping buildings cooler during the summer.

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Since 1954, the Annual Design Review has recognized the best in product, furniture, graphic and environment design, from the iconic to the obscure. Throughout the years, this annual showcase has chronicled the evolution of design, and highlighted its impact on our material and visual culture.

Each year, the featured work is chosen by a jury of leading practitioners, who, along with I.D.'s editorial team, focus the abundance of submissions into a clear survey of the state of design. The resulting overview is published in the August issue of I.D. magazine — the Annual Design Review issue.

Snowin!

We got a quick 10 inches of freshy pow-pow two weeks ago. Along with sledding on trash bags Amanda had the most fun in the snow building the 'Huber Hut'! A marvel of human tenacity and ingenuity, Amanda was able to fit her lengthy stems inside keeping her toasty warm! Unfortunately, all of the snow melted in the next 24 hours.

Back in Touch

Well, i know that everyone keeps up with Amanda and I this way. So I thought I would add a new post to keep everyone in the loop! We got back from a week's vacation in the Pacific NW and have struggled through a week back at work. Wish we were back out west - we loved it. This past weekend we went to Anne Voglewede's wedding in Southbend, IN and got to spend Saturday at Catherine Kelly's friend Erin's lake house in Michigan. We had a blast. Back to 93 degree Cincinnati now with many more weddings on the way. I will post again soon as usual!

The Honeymoon is Over :(

Well, we have reluctently returned from our 7-day honeymoon in beautiful Riviera Maya, Mexico. We had such a great time -- snorkeling was the highlight for both of us. What an amazing underwater world right off of the beach! Click here to view the entire album!

Red River Gorge

This pic is from a recent trip to Red River Gorge, Kentucky. We had just summited Courthouse Rock -- the highest point in the park. A nice view from the top!

First Post

Hey everybody -- welcome to the Huber Report!