AA’s Frivolous Wants: Special Edition Daft Punk Tron Headphones

In case you didn’t get everything you wanted this Christmas, here’s something to add to the list. As part of the promotion for the new Tron movie, the audio wizards over at Monster teamed up with Disney to release a set of special edition Tron headphones.

Officially dubbed the Monster Tron Legacy T1, these bad boys are loaded with features including:

• Monster’s advanced studio driver design for ultra-precision surround-sound clarity
• Extra-large over-ear drivers to deliver deep bass and thunderous low-end effects  
• LED Light Drive System used for the first time in Monster headphones to recreate TRON: LEGACY animated lighting effects
• Advanced noise isolation technology that blocks external sound so users can remain immersed in music, movies and games
• Removable boom microphone that can be placed on either side, giving gamers a useful edge while playing and conversing hands-free with opponents

While insanely sleek and futuristic, you may have to sell a few of your Christmas gifts to afford them at their $349.95 price tag.

In case that isn’t enough, check out the Tron Legacy iPod audio dock that looks like one of those sleek glow in the dark Frisbees that they throw around in the movie. At the affordable price of only $249.95 grab one for the whole family.

AA’s Frivolous Wants: Moleskin Kindle Case

While I don’t own a Kindle, this sleek new Moleskine Kindle case makes me want to buy one so I can justify getting this case.

With the simple elegance of the classic Moleskine notebooks, it comes as no surprise that by applying their beautiful aesthetic they’ve created a gorgeous blend of old and new technology.

Situated in an iconic Moleskine cover is a compartment for your sleek kindle where it is cradled by 4 elastic straps and smooth suede lining to prevent any scratches. On the other side is a sleek journalist style notepad which allows you to easily jot down any notes that you might have.

Each notebook comes with two pads of paper with blank unlined ivory paper.

On a side note, it seems that my love for Moleskine notebooks is mild compared to those of others. I stumbled across websites like this one dedicated purely to “hacking” Moleskine notebooks to create iPod cases, PDA’s, and other handy dandy tricks and tips.

Available on Amazon.
 

AA’s Frivolous Wants: Vinyl Clocks

Check out these amazing clocks made from old records.
Estonian designer Pavel Sidorenko, has cut old records into various shapes like people, penguins, pianos, or even city scapes, to inject a little life into your wall.

The only downside is that you’ll have to pay in euros and extra on shipping if you don’t live in Estonia, but I’d say that these are pretty damn worthwhile.

Check them out here.

AA’s Frivolous Wants: Aviator Bag

My lust for leather goods continues this week with handmade deBruir goods from Ireland. In particular, feast your eyes on this custom Aviator Carry-on Bag that was specifically designed with the frequent flyer in mind.

Not only is it made from saddle making leather, so that it can endure any beating, it’s got a top opening flap so that you can readily access your stuff while flying. Did I mention that it’s insanely cool and that I’ve got a huge consumer good boner for it.

Be sure to head over to the Etsy shop which has all sorts of other great leather goods like laptop bags, eye glass cases, and leather stationary sets.

These goods are the product of Garvan de Bruir who “carries out finely crafted furniture in both a classic style and his more individual sculptural style.” What I like most is that he’s an artisan in the classic sense working on traditional commissioning basis for custom pieces.

Consumer Goods to Die For – Little Horn Speakers

I’d be willing to do very bad things if someone were to give me these amazing speakers from Specimen in exchange for said services.

Unlike most things in life, these actually sound as good as they look.

For the audiophiles, these speakers are especially suited to low power single-ended triode (SET) tube amplifiers, so you can pair it with this bad boy stereo tube amplifier for some scary good sound. Or you can opt for a simple sub-woofer. Either way fantastic audio quality and sleek design are yours.

In their words, "A special inverted design enables the low frequencies to emerge at the top of the enclosure. An octagonally fluted horn carries them upward and lets them flourish into the room. The immense structural rigidity of the horns octagonal geometry minimizes resonances yet allows sound waves to expand freely the way nature intended. There is simply something beautiful here, not just bass frequency reproduction, but a spatial imaging that belies the speaker’s size."

For the low low price $1,500 you could be the owner of these bad boys. Unfortunately, if you’re poor like me it will be many months eating Cup O’ Noodles before you can save enough to even think about trying to buy these.

Also, check out this sweet portable speaker by IDEA. Compact electronics in sleek brushed metal casing. What’s not to like?

AA’s Frivolous Wants: Vintage Suitcases

I’ve been trying to find a vintage suitcase for a long time now, however every time I find the perfect one I always somehow dissuade myself at the last moment from purchasing it. I suppose the overwhelming impracticality of the whole thing is the primary reason. I mean wheels and extendable handles have become the norm for suitcases because they do make life so much easier. But there’s something about these beautifully crafted clunky boxes that I can’t get over. I just love the imagery of frantically throwing clothes in these old suitcases, slamming the lid shut with items dangling out, and making a run for the train because Tommy Two Tone and Johnny the Hammer are after you for the vig you owe. These vintage items just imbue travel with the sense of excitement and daring that it once had.

I might finally just suck it up and carry these burdensome travel accessories around. While others might have all the convenience of modern technology, I’ll be pretentiously lugging around an old trunk.

Although, this amazing tweed attaché case on Ebay right now looks far too good to pass up. While everyone is slinging their sleek canvas or leather messenger bags around to work, imagine showing up to work and flipping open this bad boy on the conference room table. Stylish or pretentious? I’ll let you decide.