Wanna Get Away?
The answer is yes. Always yes. New to the neighborhood: Casa Madrona, a 5,000-square-foot manse in Sausalito with drones and a private chef, and the Nineteen Seventy, a palatial lakeside retreat in Tahoe. Looking to go farther afoot? Try The Four Hour Rule: Vancouver, the first in a series of weekending destinations that are “far away, but close to home.” Stay tuned for the next edition.
Walk in the Park
Let’s face it: the headache of parking a car is one reason this city swears by the two-wheeler. But two new apps arrived this year to help ease your pain: Fixed, a service that helps you defeat parking tickets, and Valet, an on-demand outfit that does exactly what you think it does.
Still, Two Wheels > Four
But that doesn’t just mean fixies and 12-speeds anymore. New to our fair city’s bike lanes: Motoped and the Vintage Electric E-Tracker: the former the sexiest moped you’ve ever seen, the latter an electric/manual hybrids the tackles hills with aplomb. Also of note: the Schiller X1 Waterbike, a bike that treads water.
Uber for Everything
“It’s Uber for ______”: the three most tiresome buzzwords of 2014. But don’t expect the trend to slow any time soon. Two that are actually worth a gander: AirPooler (ride-sharing for private planes) and Washio, who pick up your laundry then return it to your door by day’s end.
Shipping News
Amazon wants to drop off your packages via drone someday, but it won’t be happening anytime soon. For shipping solutions meantime, look to Doorman (which merged with the now-defunct Luna) and Shyp. The former receives your packages and delivers them after-hours. The latter carries your package from start to finish line. All you do is take a picture of the goods inside.
Mr. October
“Best postseason performance ever.” That’s what Curt Schilling had to say after Madison Bumgarner’s mesmerizing relief appearance in Game 7 of the World Series. “Mad Bum” threw five subliminal innings, leaving the Royals chasing ghosts en route to the Giants’ third title in five years — a record that stands them in good stead with some of the best teams in the history of baseball.
2014 was a banner year for the portable domicile. Our favorites:
- The Jero Yurt: a wood-and-canvas hut from the Himalayas
- The Lotus Belle Outback: the 200-sq-ft. “tent of the 1%”
- Treeline Outdoors: say hello to rooftop car camping
- The Scout Single Pole: a simple, elegant canvas set-up from Seattle
- Escape Collective: the tent of the .01%
Mind the Gap
As big tech continued to decamp from the Valley and into the Market, tensions between old residents and recent transplants became more pronounced than ever. Two must-reads on the subject: Vanity Fair‘s Kia Makarechi on an alarming trend in income inequality, and the New Yorker‘s Nathan Heller on the machines driving a class war that won’t go away anytime soon.
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