Relive your wasted youth. Remember a time before X-Box, Playstations & Wii? A time when you would go to your local games arcade and pump a pocket’s worth of coins into your favorite games cabinet? Now you can remind yourself of those days every time you turn on your lights with the Arcade Light Switch, a light switch made using tradition arcade game cabinet push buttons.

Buy the Arcade Light Switch by AlephDesign on Etsy.

Serhan Gurkan has restored my faith in life, design & blogging! I haven’t been blogging much over the last few months. I’ve been feeling a bit disillusioned with the whole thing. Nothing much has turned me on, and the stuff I do like has usually gets posted by a zillion other bloggers in an endless circle-jerk of incestuous linking.

But something has fired me back up again, and it’s name is Serhan Gurkan. I don’t know anything about the designer or the products, and I don’t need to know, because the Fetish Gazelle & Fetish Madame Bovary products are so beautiful they make me dizzy. The fleeting glimpses offered by the website only add to capture my interest (other still photos available by behance are just as surreal and beautiful) and give me that feeling that I’m seeing something fresh in the world.

So thank you Serhan Gurkan! No doubt a million other bloggers will post much more informative posts on you than I, but this post, due to your products, has made me realise that there is still design out there that touches me & makes me want to tell the world about it; and that is what inspired me to start blogging in the first place.)

Graffiti: A Whodunnit Story. Last summer, whilst wandering around Italy, I took this photo. Some people take holiday snaps of the tourist attractions; I take photos of the cities’ graffiti.

I often wonder about the anonymous artists behind the work I photograph, so it was quite amusing to see the photo accompanying an article on Wooster Collective about the jerm IX tattoo project, which led me to this Flickr photo, which in turn led me to the artist, Microbo.

There’s no real point to this post. I was just amused by how the internet can help you make connections that you might never make without it. Ain’t the internet grand?

You bought a 50 year old blanket?!?!! I wanted a blanket. Not just any blanket. I wasn’t looking for an expensive & delicate cashmere throw; no, what I wanted was a vintage Swiss Army Blanket. A man’s blanket! But, you would be forgiven for thinking I was asking for the presidency of the moon, as it proved extremely difficult to get my hands on one in the UK. Then, I finally found the answer at Pedlars. They must have sent the teaboy to Switzerland to collect it, as it took that long to be delivered, but it got here in the end. Just in time for snow here in the UK.

So, if you’re cold, and you don’t mind buying a 50 year old blanket (they don’t make ‘em like they like they used to, you know!), you should get a vintage swiss army blanket.

Chill out in London. In these stressful financial times it’s good to hear that Buddha Bar, the famous chill-out Paris nightspot, has now opened a London branch. Located under Waterloo Bridge in a Grade 2 listed space, the place has been created by Raymond Visan, the creator behind the original Parisian Buddha Bar. So expect the oriental vibes, design, and food of the original, plus the signature hip chill-out music soundtrack (there are currently 14 best-selling Buddha Bar music compilations – if you like laid back chill-out tunes with an oriental flavouring, do yourself a favour and check them out.)

Find out more about Buddha Bar.

Water, water everywhere. Whilst wandering around Rome this summer I came across Aquastore, a shop entirely dedicated to nothing but water. Located in the Galleria Centrale of Rome’s Termini train station, the Aqua Store is a kind of high-end boutique offering a massive array of different types of water.

The water available is treated much like wine, in that there are many different types of water, and each has it’s time and place within certain situations. An in-store touch-screen computer acts as an electronic sommelier to help guide you in your water selection of choice, ensuring you make an informed choice. Unfortunately, a shallow design-whore like myself is just drawn to the pretty bottles, so the service would be wasted on me.

It seems the store have spread across Italy, and even branched out as far as Japan. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we’ll all be visiting the local water merchant to pick up a cheeky little vintage bottle for that hot date on the weekend. Until then, keep your eyes on Aqua Concept as they appear to be opening an online store soon!

…ding dong! the bells are gonna chime. This week is a bit special for Miss. Random Fashion Coolness and I – we’re getting married (to each other, just in case you hadn’t already guessed!) So…err…congratulations to us, or something.

Anyway, once the big day is over, the two of us are hitting the road for the rest of the summer. We’ll be prowling around Milan, Rome, Paris, Madrid, and Marrakech amongst other places – so if you’ve got any recommendations for cool and interesting places we need to check out in those cities, let us know!

Wish us luck!

Did you know that on average, two new Starbucks have opened every day since 1987? With Starbucks attacking on all fronts, it’s refreshing to see something as uniquely glorious as London Tea shop Teasmith fighting back against the growing coffee mono-culture.

Owner John Kennedy, a self-confessed ‘tea geek’, runs the contemporary teahouse offering customers the world’s best teas amidst a beautifully designed interior created by Jonathan Clark Architects. Accompanied by Miss Random Fashion Coolness, I visited the teahouse this weekend, and instantly fell in love with the place. As if the beautiful hanging bare bulbs of the interior design weren’t enough to turn me on, the teas, biscuits and chocolates (by master Chocolatie William Curley, no less) certainly finished the job. Although, the absolute jewel in the crown is reserved for the owner, John Kennedy. Never have I experienced such warmth and enthusiasm from the owner of any establishment. Even though we were just another couple of customers off the street for all he knew, he took the time to educate us in the culture of tea and the skills involved in making the perfect cuppa. Christ knows how he gets anything done if he’s as attentive to every customer as he was to us this weekend.

I’ve completely forgotten what teas we tried, as I was so engrossed in Kennedy’s tales of the tea world, but guided recommendation using his wealth of knowledge, resulted in experiencing some of the finest tea I’d ever tasted. However, I can definitely recommend accompanying your tea with the chocolate dipped fruit, and salty Miso flavoured biscuits (I know, right? Salty biscuits? Sounds so wrong, but incredibly it works so right!)

If you live in the capital, or you’re just passing through, make sure you take a pit-stop at Teasmith. Saturday is a great day to go, when the nearby Spitalfields market is closed, and it’s quiet. I can’t recommend it enough. Go and experience the best the world has to offer in tea, guided by one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

Teasmith is located at 6 Lamb Street, London.

eBay – the international flea market. Sometimes, you’ve gotta love eBay. Whilst it’s often full of scams and cut-price junk, if you’re lucky (and by ‘lucky’, I mean ‘obsessive’) you can occasionally find vintage gems. I’ve been an eBay convert ever since I bought an amazing vintage chesterfield sofa for 50p, but now my love for eBay is strengthened by another recent purchase. I managed to nab a vintage 60′s Semi light pendant.

These arc-shaped enamelled metal lights were designed by architects Claus Bonderup and Torsten Thorup in 1967 and produced by the innovative Danish lighting company Fog & Morup. The Semi was produced in a number of sizes, with each one being individually manufactured by hand by a skilled metalworker. The process involved spinning a 1.5mm thick aluminium plate onto a steel form and moulding it into shape with a thick leather-covered baton. I’ve seen several smaller versions of the Semi pop up on ebay, but never one of the huge large versions – so when I found someone in Denmark offering one, I had to have it! So eBay comes through for me again.

Find your unique vintage treasure on eBay (just don’t outbid me on all the cool stuff I want!)

Don’t call it a comeback. Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know it’s been a while since I last updated Things of Random Coolness, but I’ve been getting kind of side-tracked recently. I crippled myself due to a recurring back injury. I’d like to say that it was triggered by something manly like a motorbike accident, or a bar brawl, but it was more likely caused from being drunk and over-enthusiastic on a Nintendo Wii. Also, I then flew over to Spain to see in the New Year (fresh seafood and villas on the beach wins out over anti-climatic british pub celebrations everytime.) Then on my return I bandwagon-jumped on the new Norovirus craze sweeping the nation (suffering from winter vomiting disease is the new going out!)

Ultimately, these are all excuses for being lazy. However, It’s a new year, and although it’s a little stale to be making resolutions this far into it, I’m going to try and post more regularly this year. Starting tomorrow. Hopefully.

Gods get mail too! The wonderfully named design company Greece Is For Lovers, have made the mundane act of opening your daily mail into an event that’ll make you feel like a greek god. With your Zeus lightening bolt letter opener, you’ll be able to “rip through hatemail with the stealth and fury of Zeus! ”

See more work by Greece Is For Lovers.

The one year anniversary almost slipped by unnoticed! It looks like Things of Random Coolness has reached it’s first milestone – It’s now reached it’s first birthday! I’d just like to thank everyone who reads the blog, and an extra thanks to anyone who’s spread the word in some way through website links, email, etc. It’s very, very much appreciated!!!

I’ve got some special things planned for ‘Year Two’ of Things of Random Coolness, so hopefully it’ll keep going from strength to strength.

Thanks again to everyone for helping to make ‘Year One’ such a success!

Eroticism and sophistication for lovers. Barcelona based company, Bijoux Indiscrets have created a range of products designed to enhance the level of erotica in your love life. Deluxe product sets like ‘Poême’ include jasmine-scented aphrodisiac liquid chocolate, an Ostrich pen and satin mask and encourage you to “write the sweetest declaration of love over your lover’s skin.”

Find out more at Bijoux Indiscrets.

“Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!” I love Planet Of The Apes. I mean, really love it. Which is why I’ve spent most of the weekend holed up on the sofa. You see, I found an entire animated cartoon series of Escape From Planet Of The Apes hosted on Open FLV (you can download it if you want too!)

This 70′s cartoon version of the Planet Of The Apes franchise was made before I was even born, but it’s one of the most stylish cartoons I’ve ever seen. The retro style graphics are great, with a series of random trippy static drawings dumped in between the animated action to express the character’s emotions. Except it doesn’t; it just makes them look like they’re experiencing some horrific LSD flashbacks.

If you like Planet Of The Apes, or you’re just into retro style graphics, check out Escape From Planet Of The Apes on Open FLV.

Damn it, it’s not a bed! When I first saw the Plywood Chateau by James Westwater I thought it was a life-size bedroom concept. Unfortunately, it’s art or something. pffft!!!

I demand someone designs a bed cube thingymabob that has interchangable vinyl walls that make you feel like you’re sleeping in a variety of exotic, expensive and glamorous locations, when in reality you’re sleeping in a plywood box!

My travels have reached the end of the road. I’m gutted, my summer travels have ended early thanks to an unfortunate ability to spend money too quickly, and some boring things that required our attention back home. So I never made it to France afterall. I ended up in North Africa instead (which contributed to the lack increased lack on money).

Anyway, you’ll be glad to know I’ll be back to regular posting duties now. Some of you may have noticed that the website was down for a day or two, which was due to a server move that should make the site more stable from now on. Also, apologies to anyone waiting for a response to any emails – I’m terrible at responding quickly at the best of times – but at the moment I have a stack of emails to get through, so delays are to be expected!

Hola España! Bonjour France! With all the endless rain we’ve been getting so far this summer in the UK, Miss Random Fashion Coolness and I have decided to hit the south of Spain/France for the summer. So normal Things of Random Coolness transmissions will be momentarily interrupted until we reach the Mediterranean and set up base camp.

If any of the Spanish/French readers have any good recommendations on things to see/do/eat/etc, please let me know.

I’m on my deathbed. Well, not quite. Food poisoning has left me feeling rather sorry for myself. So posts might be few and far between for a few days, as I now prefer to spend my time exploring the delightful arts of sleeping and vomiting.

Back soon.

Sometime you need a table cloth that looks radioactive, don’t you? OK, maybe you don’t, but the Luminous Fiber Optic Tablecloth would look totally cool outside for somekind of midnight summer feast.

See more fiber optic goodies, including some horribly sci-fi clothing, at Lumigram.

The world’s first “green” vodka. The boutique vodka market welcomes a new player with the launch of Reyka vodka (pronounced Ray kuh). The vodka has just hit American shelves and is the world’s first “green” vodka- distilled using sustainable and clean energy from geothermal heat (the spirit is passed over lava rock twice during distillation.)

It’s hot because it’s bottle come in 1 of 8 limited edition bottle top designs and the Actress in the ads and the website is Icelandic Singer/ Songwriter Hafdis Huld, formerly of the group GusGus (you can watch the adverts on YouTube: Water into Vodka, Vodka Flavored Vodka and Humping Puffin.)

Find out more at reykavodka.com.

My apologies for the lack of posts recently. I’ve shirked my duties in favor of racing around the english countryside in a 50 year old sportscar. The sun has been shining, so me and “Miss. Random Fashion Coolness” have been pretending we’re from the 50′s by travelling around the english hills in an Austin Healy Bug Eyed Sprite.

It’s got no seat-bealts, no roof, no mirrors, no radio, the breaks are deadly and it’s got a top speed of about 65 mph (and thats downhill with the wind behind you!), but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in a car! If you’ve got a weekend free, give yourself a treat; hire a classic sportscar and get yourself lost in the countryside.

I’ll be back soon!

Sometimes you just need a strawberry jelly buddha, don’t you? Not to long ago, the Bibliochaise by Nobody & Co was all over the design blogosphere, but no one mentioned their incredibly cool Il Buddino mold. A perfect gift for your sweet-toothed buddhist friends.

Sorry about the complete lack of posts for a while. I somehow managed to damage my back over the Christmas period, leaving me temporarily unable to walk, or sit at a computer. Writing Things of Random Coolness whilst screaming in agony didn’t really appeal to me, so I decided to have an extended break until I recovered. Anyway, I seem to be on the mend now, so I’ll be back on Monday.

Have a good weekend!

Sorry, no posts for a few days! I’m popping over to Paris for a few days before Christmas, so I won’t be posting anything for the next few days. I’ll be staying in Christian Lacroix’s Hotel du Petit Moulin, which is a fantastic hotel for the design-concious traveller, but I’ll tell you more about that on my return.

See you all soon!

I found some vintage wallpaper. I bought an old house that I’m currently renovating, and whilst having a clean out I stubbled on a role of vintage wallpaper. Taking an educated address, it’s got to be 50 years old.

I’ve been looking around vinatge wallpaper sites like 5QM to see if I can identify it, but if anyone else knows anything about wallpapers that might be able to help me out, please contact me.

Reader Survey: Your Opinions Wanted! I’m interested in your opinions/thoughts/advice on Things of Random Coolness. Like the general advice for daily fruit & veg consumption, I try to post 5 items a day, but it’s harder than you might think. I’ve set myself this psychological quota, but I kind of feel that sometimes I might be posting things that I don’t really like that much just to hit that goal.

Some of you may have noticed I didn’t post anything at all yesterday (sorry, I couldn’t fit it in around other commitments), and I felt really guilty about it. So I’d like to make it up to you by making it better!

So, I guess what I’m asking for is some info on what appeals to you about this site? What would make it better? What time of day do you read the site (whould you prefer if posts were made at a certain time everyday)? Am I too obsessed with modern chair design? Would you prefer it if it was more or less personal? Does anyone even read what I write, or do you just look at the pictures and click on the links? Anything you have to say, good or bad, would be really, really appreciated!

Contact me and tell your opinions!

Nothing says Christmas like skulls. Looking for skull covered Christmas gifts? Maybe a nice Toaster which will burn skull & crossbones onto your breakfast toast can help you start the day? Eaten, of course, off a skull patterned plate. After breakfast, why not take a shower surrounded by a skull patterned shower curtain? Any wounds suffered during the day can be covered in some skull patterned plasters. Then at the end of the day, why not cuddle up in bed with a skull covered Hot Water Bottle.

My girlfriend also reliably informs me that Alexander Mcqueen Skull Scarves are also pretty hip at the moment.

Getting up early once in a while is no bad thing. I woke up early this morning to the coolest sunrise I’ve seen in a long time (I don’t see many – I’m not really a “morning” person). Anyway, I took some photos to show the sleeping what they missed (photo, photo, photo).

Tip of the Day: Set your alarm clock to go off early every once in a while!

The purpose of this post is two-fold… Firstly, check out the amusingly cool Greetings Cards by designer Olga Krigman of OPlusD.

Secondly, I just want to say a big thank you to people who’ve been kind enough to link to Things of Random Coolness like Flavorpill & Sensory impact among others (too many to list — but I appreciate every single link!) I’d also like to thank all the readers (especially those that took the time to email me and say hello). Many thank all round.

Ta very much.

I’m a hoarder. Like a Magpie, I’m drawn to shiny things. I feel the need to collect them, place them in a huge pile and then occassionally point at my shambolic mountain of random coolness . What I initially started as a thread called “Things of Random Coolness” over at DO, has now become a blog. So here we are. This is my blog. This is my shambolic mountain of random coolness. Feel free to point at it.