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I always wanted one of these bikes - the Schwinn Grey Ghost - when I was a kid in the seventies. I always thought the bikes the American kids had were way cooler than the bikes we had over here in the UK. Raleigh’s chopper didn’t really cut it in the style stakes and lacked the superior detailing of this Schwinn classic. Anyhow, it turns out they have been reissued by Schwinn and are available in the UK at Chopperdome UK.

A great flickr set featuring the Rothkoesque polaroids of Grant Hamilton

Glad to see I am not the only one to note the resemblance between Apple’s recent products and those of Braun in it’s heyday.

Pictured above are a Braun T1000 receiver from 1962 and an Apple G5 from over 40 years later - with signature perforated aluminium detailing also shared by Apple’s Powerbook and MacBook Pro.

Check out the links below for further examples of Braun’s influence amongst Apple’s product range.

+ Oyayubizoku
+ SpiekerBlog
+ Flankenlauf

Thanks to Beinghunted and to IDE Virtual Design Museum for the Braun T1000 images.

I am a big fan of Beat Generation author and poet Jack Kerouac, so was happy to find a new edition of my favourite Kerouac book, The Dharma Bums whilst mooching around my local bookshop. This special edition from Penguin Classics features special cover art from Norwegian cartoonist Jason.

First published just one year after On The Road, The Dharma Bums relates the adventures of a jolly band of Beatniks in a freewheeling exploration of Buddhism and the search for Truth. Main characters Ray Smith (based on Kerouac himself) and Japhy Ryder (based on American poet Gary Snyder - pictured above), search for Truth the Zen way: from marathon wine-drinking bouts, poetry jam sessions, and “yabyum” in San Francisco’s Bohemia to solitude in the high Sierras and a vigil atop Desolation Peak in Washington State.

Furoshiki is a Japanese traditional wrapping cloth that can be folded in a variety of ways to satisfy all manner of carrying requirements.

So ditch those carrier bags - become a Furoshiki ninja…!

Ex Soundgarden and Audioslave maestro, Chris Cornell, talks to Eddie Trunk about going it alone, his brush with 007, and the new album Carry On.