Love is the recurring theme of Three Times. It tells three tales over three time periods – 1911, 1966 and 2005. In the first story, a man leaves his true love to serve in the army. When he returns, he finds that his girlfriend has disappeared, so he sets out to find her. A man develops an unlikely bond with two women in the second story; and four Taipei teens relieve their angst with technology and sex in the last story. The film is an emotional experience. Simultaneously minimalist and extravagant in its execution – Three Times isn’t simply about love as a constant, but how the expression of love is constantly changing. Click Read More for additional information and photos.

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Joel Micah Miller snaps pics of monuments and the people who observe them. On paper it reads like material used for a tourism brochure, but it’s more. Through his work he captures the stand-alone beauty of the structure plus the dynamic culture of people viewing them. The Eiffel Tower, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Reichstag are among the various monuments shot by Miller. We’ve posted a few examples.

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City living grooms a deep appreciation for compact cars. Enduring traffic, parallel parking, narrow streets and overall congestion will make anyone trade in their sedan or SUV for a micro – especially in these financial times. That’s why projects like the following are exciting. Aston Martin and Toyota are collaborating on a concept vehicle entitled Cygnet. It has all the appeal of your typical compact, like Smart or Mini, but it’s matched with the style components of your favorite luxury vehicle.

As Aston Martin’s Chief Executive stated, “Now is the right time for [the brand] to take this first bold step to embark on this special project – made possible with the support of an organization of Toyota’s stature and capability, and the intelligent design and perfect city car package of the iQ.” Although there is still lots of work to complete before the concept goes live, Aston Martin is confident that it’ll eventually become a reality.

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These are fun. Sometimes when you’re parachuting into a city, the last thing you’re thinking about is sleeping or staying in your hotel room. If you’re the kind of traveler that’s inclined to spend most of the time out on the town, then this overnight accommodation is perfect for you.

The folks at Atelier Van Lieshout featured an interesting installation at Design Miami/Basel last month. The mini pods are similar to the Paco Cube, the Jane, and Ablimo. By maximizing on space and shaving away everything but the bed, these future pods give you a place to rest your head with quick convenience. Hopefully the concept will be established in cities around the world. Click Read More for additional information and photos.

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Trip planning is an art. But it’s also very personal. While some travelers plan every second in hopes of seeing & experiencing it all, others don’t plan at all and parachute in with their passion for spontaneous exploration. The travel industry, knowing this, has developed every kind of travel guide possible for every kind of potential traveler. But if Google plays their cards right, few travel guides will be able to meet the customization and accessibility of their latest project – City Tours.

As Google describes it, City Tours helps the user “identify points of interest and plan multi-day trips to most major cities throughout the world.” Currently it’s still in beta and fairly limited, but we’re excited to see where this goes. With Google’s suggested sights, the ability to manually enter your own points of interest and view refinements like distance & time, this is a very functional tool for users planning a trip – no matter what your trip planning disposition may be, packed days or leisurely finds.

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The Weekly Outlook is an editorial briefing for wejetset’s online magazine. Each week we scan international news and aggregate the stories that will likely impact their respective region and possibly the world. From economic issues to politics, we strive to deliver news that will be useful to our readers as they navigate their local and global spaces.

Weekly Outlook for June 29: This week we present news about Honduras’ Heavy Military Presence after the Coup, Japan’s Climbing Production, Ahmadinejad’s Confirmed Victory, the Exiling of Casinos & Jobs in Russia, and the Tragedy Surrounding Zimbabwe’s Diamonds. Click Read More for the entire report.

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There’s no getting around it, skyscrapers consume a ton of energy. But at the same time, with a little innovation, they’re well positioned to offset their environmental footprint. For instance, the owners of the Empire State Building announced a $20 million investment in improving the energy efficiency of the skyscraper. And right on the heals of that announcement, the owners of Chicago’s Sears Tower announced a $350 Million investment in not only improving energy efficiency, but also generating green energy.

Fast Company reports: “Sears Tower, now on track to become the tallest building to receive LEED certification, will receive a laundry list of upgrades designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture over the next five years: solar panels and wind turbines on the roof, up to 35,000 square feet of roof gardens, an energy-efficient lighting control system, insulation improvements, new plumbing systems, and a green learning center on the ground floor. The renovation is expected to create 3,600 jobs. Much of the cost of the retrofit, financed through grants, private investments, government cash, and debt financing, will be offset by energy savings.”

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