Merry Xmas and very Welcome 2010!

Merry Xmas to all.
That was a great year.



See you in 2010!

The Good Life team.

Filme: Os ícones "Good Life" de Vanilla Sky.

Todo mundo conhece o remake "Vanilla Sky" (2001). Nao? O filme reúne ficção, romance e thriller filosófico. Questões tipo: Quer sabe se o mundo é real ou quando um sonho começa a virar pesadelo? e citações como "Forget everything you know about life, and just open your eyes…" e "No matter who you are, No matter how you live, No matter how much you have, you dream of something more." estão por todo lado.
A versão americana traz algumas curiosidades, como a aparição rápida de Steven Spielberg na festa de aniversário de David (Tom Cruise) no Dakota, o diretor Cameron Crowe também trabalhou com Cruise em Jerry Maguire (1996), é um remake do espanhol Abre Los Ojos (1997) também com Penélope Cruz no mesmo papel (ninguem aguenta aquele sotaque...), o orçamento foi de U$75 milhões e arrecadou pouco mais de U$200 milhões.
Mas a idéia não é falar do filme... muito menos do romance... a idéia é falar dos ícones do filme. Portanto, ai vão quatro top Good Life ícones:

1) Apartamento do David no Dakota, estilo francês, construído em 1884! na 72nd St em frente ao Central Park West, diversos moradores famosos (Boris Karloff, Judy Garland, John Lennon, Rudolf Nureiev), projetado pela mesma empresa do Plaza, tinha elevadores para levar as carruagens para andares altos... depois claro, os estábulos foram transformados em garagem para os Ferraris e etc. Originalmente o prédio tinha 65 apartamentos de 4 a 20 quartos, todos de tamanhos diferentes e a eletricidade era gerada pelo próprio condomínio. Atualmente foi dividido, um dois dormitórios recente vale a partir de U$5M, além do condomínio ter que aprovar o novo inquilino.

2) Relógio do David, IWC Pilots Classic, Mark XV, caixa 38mm, movimento automático IWC Cal. 30110, 21 Jewels, 42 reserva de horas, 28,800 VPH, a prova d'água 60M, proteção contra campos magnéticos, considerado a melhor máquina automática do mundo. O Mark XV é um modelo clássico, no filme com dial preto e fecho deployent, valor de U$7k.

3) Carro do David, Ferrari 250 GTO Azul (não é preta), 1962, V12, 3.0L, 296HP, 36 unidades fabricadas entre 1962 e 1964. Se o carro do filme fosse verdadeiro, segundo informações do mercado, poderia ultrapassar o valor de U$30M, existe registro de uma delas leiloada a £24.7M. Porém a Ferrari do filme era uma réplica, contruída com base num chassi do Datsun 1976, de qualquer forma fez uma ótima participação, como também o Mustang 1967.

4) Quadro do David, o "La Seine à Argenteuil" de Claude Oscar Monet, 1873, óleo sobre tela, 50.5x61cm. Valor de mercado aproximado de U$3M.

Vou começar pelo IWC.

Mark

BMW Performance series 1 and 3.

Choice 1 or 3, and have fun! Mark.

30th Rolex Middle Sea Race hosted by Royal Malta Yacht Club

Dating from 1574, the venue for the prize giving of the 30th Rolex Middle Sea Race was built by the Knights of St John as a hospital to care for its sick and injured brethren. The Royal Malta Yacht Club hosted its deserved guests in this medieval vault and divided up the spoils from a truly tremendous race.


The prize giving ceremony at the end of this 606 nautical mile adventure is always emotional. One last chance for the sailors to recount tales from the race track before returning home, a last chance for the Royal Yacht Club members to say thank you to the international contingent that help set this race apart from others of its kind. 


Top prize of the event is the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy and Rolex Yacht-master Chronometer for finishing first overall under IRC Handicap.

Malta is an island that for centuries has enjoyed a significance out of proportion to its size. Each year, the Royal Malta Yacht Club organises a race that punches well above the club's apparent weight. This year no less than others. Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, perhaps encapsulated Malta and its spirit best when describing it as “that tiny rock of history and romance.” Such a sentiment could equally apply to the Rolex Middle Sea Race, which has plenty of both. 


The Rolex Middle Sea Race will start from Grand Harbour on Saturday, 23 October 2010.

See you in Sydney for Rolex 2010 Yacth Race!

Mark

IWC Pilot's Chronograph Saint Exupéri limited edition.

Two legends together: the bestseller french author Antoine de Saint Exupéri and the best automatic watch manufacturer. A limited, stunningly beautiful special edition of the IWC Pilot’s Chronograph commemorates the French author and aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint Exupéry. On July 31, 1944, the Major took off in a Lockheed P38 Lightning from a US airbase on Corsica on a reconnaissance flight over his occupied homeland of France. 
He would never return.

Legend have since become woven around the author and aviation pioneer, who is revered as a national hero in France. More than 75 years after the publication of his novel „Night Flight“ IWC has chosen the publication date, 1931, as the occasion for a special edition of its new mechanical Pilot’s Chronograph.

Limited to exactly 1,931 watches of the Special Edition Antoine de Saint Exupéry will be produced. With a tobacco-colored dial, special protection against magnetic fields, an automatic winding system, aggregate time recording up to twelve hours, and a case-back engraving that portrays the flying hero. The special edition will be produced in stainless steel 18 ct. rose gold and in 18 ct. white gold (50 ex.). IWC have a shop in Beverly Hills, near Rodeo Drive shops, 9490C Brighton Way, located near Cartier Watches. Mark

Rolex Explorer New Edition, Sports and Culture theme.

The best wacth or the best marketing for a Swiss watch? No question that Rolex is the most popular luxury swiss watch. The marketing campaign related to achievements and linked with worldwide famous sport players are so strong that give to this brand a special charm. 
That's a good Rolex advertising of the classic model Explorer I, with a piano song theme. by Lang Lang, in fact "A Crown for Every Achievement."




The classic design of the Rolex Explorer I have more than 6 decades and still atractive. Some improvement was made by Rolex in the shapyre glass and bracelet only. But recently, Rolex Bamford Watch department and fragment design has worked to create a new Oyster Perpetual Explorer watch. This new custom Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer watch has been colored in all Black with the exception of the 3, 6, and 9 markers, the second hand, and the fragment logo on the face of the watch which are colored in an Aqua Blue color, no big changes in the original design, but now a black and blue "fashion".

What hour is it? 


 Mark

The best car sound system ever?

A passionate and committed interest in music is the foundation stone of Naim Audio that has enabled us to design and manufacture what we believe to be the finest sounding range of audio equipment available in the world today. While all theyr products must meet and exceed many measurable parameters I believe that they should, above all, be capable of delivering the kind of musical performance that we ourselves would want to live with. This requires a special and unique approach to component selection and system design along with a highly specialized production environment.


From the remarkable NAIT integrated amplifier to reference products such as the NAC552 preamplifier, NAP500 power amplifier, and the CD555 compact disc player, the same skills and design expertise have been applied. The result is the acceptance of these products by music lovers world-wide as having no equals in their respective classes.


Consistent top quality musical performance, safety and unsurpassed reliability are highly prized in Salisbury. Naim users across the globe, including numerous musicians, are our most discerning critics. They demand the very best and we have enjoyed responding to the challenge of bringing them closer to the music. From experience they know that Naim does not release a product unless it has something genuinely new to offer and integrates perfectly into the product range.

Naim audio systems is also used by Bentley Motors, almost all recent car models, with specific configurations.


If you want to see more about Naim go to http://www.naimaudio.com
Have ready you MP3 files.


Mark

Courchevel, une station de ski des plus prestigieuses en Savoie, France.

Courchevel est une station de sports d'hiver située dans la Tarentaise en Savoie. C'est une station de ski des plus prestigieuses de la planète, avec Gstaad, en Suisse et Aspen, dans le Colorado. Chaque hiver, elle attire familles royales et stars de cinéma. C'est un des hauts-lieux de villégiature de la jet-set planétaire.

Courchevel est répartie en cinq villages séparés : Saint-Bon-Tarentaise, Le Praz ou Courchevel 1300, Courchevel 1550, Moriond ou Courchevel 1650 et enfin Courchevel 1850 (située en réalité entre 1750 et 1900 m). Courchevel fait partie du domaine des 3 Vallées (avec Méribel, Val Thorens et Les Ménuires), le plus grand domaine skiable totalement relié du monde.

En pleine saison, Courchevel accueille 32 000 habitants, contre 1 800 à l'année. Son point culminant est au sommet de La Saulire (2 738 m). Courchevel possède un altiport, l'Aérodrome de Courchevel.

Un service de navettes gratuites relie les différents niveaux (1850, 1650, 1550, Le Praz, Saint-Bon) ainsi que Bozel, La Tania, et les quartiers excentrés (Chenus, Jardin Alpin, Altiport pour 1850; Belvédère pour 1650; Brigues pour 1550).

Courchevel est multiple. D’abord parce qu’elle se répartit sur 5 altitudes, ensuite parce que ses différents niveaux sont autant de visages, de panoramas et de façons d’aborder la montagne. La richesse en terme de propositions d’activités hors-ski est un autre point fort de la station qui fait des efforts constants pour satisfaire et étonner sa clientèle. L’expression “service à la carte” prend ici tout son sens et l’exigence de qualité est commune à tous les niveaux de la station.




La station de ski a été créée en 1946 par l'architecte urbaniste Laurent Chappis.

Le Conseil général de la Savoie de l'époque avait comme ambition de rendre la montagne accessible à tous. Pierre Cot (progressiste, apparenté PCF) et Pierre de la Gontrie (radical-socialiste) imposèrent la construction de cette station, dotée de nombreux logements, pour à la fois lancer le développement touristique de la Savoie (en reprenant un projet du régime de Vichy) et pour offrir des loisirs à prix accessibles.

Sa vocation initiale de la station pour le tourisme social et ouvert au plus grand nombre a largement disparu depuis. De fait, la station, jusqu'à ce jour, attire des personnalités du show-biz et de l'élite nationale, voire internationale, Courchevel 1850 devenant un haut lieu de la Jet set (alors que les trois autres urbanisations sont nettement moins prestigieuses).

Depuis le milieu des années 1990, Courchevel est devenue un lieu de villégiature des oligarques russes à fort pouvoir d'achat et au style de vie fastueux. Certains s'inquiètent de cette fuite en avant, rendant la station très vulnérable par ses choix extrêmes de clientèles au lieu de mieux diversifier ses types de clientèle.

La station de Courchevel est propriété d'une société indépendante qui s'occupe du services des pistes et des remontées mécaniques de la station, ainsi que celle de Méribel-Mottaret, la Société des 3 Vallées ou S3V, dont le Conseil général de la Savoie est actionnaire.



Pistes a Courchevel:

Courchevel possède l'un des plus grands domaines skiables du monde, avec des pistes particulièrement connues, dont :

La Combe de la Saulire : peut-être bien la piste la plus connue de la station. Une piste rouge bien large qui convient à des skieurs expérimentés. (Piste homologuée FFS/FIS Descente et Super Géant Hommes et Dames)
Le Grand Couloir : Pour les amateurs de freeride : un couloir entretenu à descendre en toute sécurité.
Piste Jean Blanc : Une ancienne piste de descente de coupe du monde. Du ski à grande vitesse entre les sapins.
Bellecôte : Bordée d'hôtels et de chalets de luxe, Bellecôte délimite les quartiers du Jardin Alpin et de Bellecôte. Dans le même style, on retrouve Cospillot.
Cospillot : Une piste bordée de chalet de luxe, dans la forêt, cette piste est toujours assez calme.
Les Creux Noirs : Cette piste est la 2ème plus haute de Courchevel, on peut y voir les sommets de Courchevel. Au sommet des Creux Noirs il y a un chemin pour accéder à Meribel.

http://www.courchevel.com/


Saison d'hiver 2009/2010 : 05 Décembre 2009 - 25 Avril 2010

Bon voyage!

Mark