If Banksy breaks the bank, read on. To any long term readers of the blog, they’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’m a big fan of street art, especially artists like Invader. But I’d thought I’d highlight one of my favorite lesser known artists among the slew of urban/street/graffiti artists that are starting to make big names from themselves in the art world. He’s possibly already known amongst the New Yorkers reading, or at least they’ve probably passed his work on the street at some point, but New York artist Bast doesn’t currently seem to get the same credit as some of his contemporaries working in a similar field.

With Banksy pieces being bought by the likes of Brad Bitt, and established mega-star artists like Damien Hirst buying up the entire show by Paul Insect before the show even opened, the urban/street art genre is now commanding high prices and establishing ground as a credible artistic movement. So I thought I’d tell you guys about Bast, as you can still pick up fantastic screenprints by the artist from Pictures On Walls for as little as £20. But, be quick about it – Bast, is an early pioneer of the movement, and in my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before he’s given the same respect he deserves, and his work gets out of your price-league.

See more work by Bast.

Ahoy there, matey! I went to a great gig last night on a boat. I drove to Bristol to watch Sia play live at Thekla. The Thekla venue is an old Baltic coaster ship which was bought by an eccentric musician and converted into a fantastically intimate music venue.

Sia, who is probably better know for her vocal work with Zero 7, has an effortlessly soulful voice on record, and in a live setting she doesn’t disappoint either. The intimate setting onboard the Thekla was the perfect place for Sia to perform, and created one of the most emotive atmospheres I’ve experienced at a live music event. If you ever get the chance to catch her live, make sure you do.

You can find more Sia tour dates on her MySpace page.

Cccheck Ooout Ttthe Cccrazy Ccchairs. The design of the Ssstoell chair (no, I don’t have a stutter – that’s what it’s called!) by Voortman & Girod is like looking at a cubist painters interpretation of a chair. I doubt it’ll ever be the most comfortable chair to sit on, but as an object in it’s own right, I think it’s cool.

See more work by Studio Voortman & Girod Interior Architects.

Roll up, roll up, for 48 hours only, free money and art! Last month, during the Frieze Art Fair, the British artists Jake & Dinos Chapman took money from visitors and “defaced and improved” the money before handing it back to them.

Visitors queued in large numbers for the opportunity to have their hard-earned money scribbled on by brothers Chapman, but if you missed out, don’t worry because Jake and Dinos Chapman would like to offer everyone who visits both the BBC’s Imagine website a free and exclusive piece of art in the form of imaginary banknotes created by the artists. The images will be available until 22.35pm on Thursday 22nd November 2007 – so if you want your free money and art, you better be quick!

Get your free money and art here.

Black is the new..err…black. I absolutely love the New York City The Black Apartment created by The Apartment for Cindy Gallop, chairwoman of advertising giant BBH. Gallop gave The Apartment a simple brief stating: “at night, i want to feel like i’m in a shanghai nightclub…”

I’m always impressed when people are clever enough to pull off the black look in interior design, it’s one of those things that can look either luxurious and seductive (as The Apartment have managed to achieve), or claustraphobic and gloomy. It’s a risk to take, but the rewards, as in the case of The Black Apartment, are worth it.

See more work by The Apartment.

Ghostly apparitions in furniture. There’s something really ephemeral and intangible about the Ghost Chair by Drift (as it’s a flash site, I can’t link to the chair directly – sorry!). It’s a strange ghostly figure encased in a plexiglass material, and marks the first time this manufacturing technique has been used in this way.

See more images of the Ghost Chair and more work by Drift.

Don’t take your caravan to the country, let the caravan bring the country to you. Caravan by Kevin Van Braak is customised caravan that opens out to provide a grassy area of calm to wherever it’s situated. With our environment becoming increasingly more concrete and green spaces disappearing rapidly, Caravan can bring a touch of country living to anywhere it’s needed.

See more work by Kevin Van Braak.

Great stuff by &Made. I’ve long been a fan of &Made’s quirky design aesthetic, and I really love the understated (for them, anyway) design of the Greta sideboard they’ve created for Isos Collection. The clean lines of the wooden sideboard are interrupted by the more ostentatious gloss lacquered legs. It’s an almost classic modern look with a cheeky post-modern addition.

See more work by &Made.

Designer housing for the modern bird. Rob from UglyBogus informed us about The Modern Bird Exhibition after the recent post on religious bird houses. ‘The Modern Bird’ is “an exhibition of designer birdhouses created by more than 20 of the top artists and design studios worldwide”, which “will show how far contemporary visionaries have taken the traditional wooden birdhouse.”

See more photos at Flickr.

I tried to avoid mentioning the iPhone, but now I’ve failed. It seems like every blog on the internet has mentioned Apple’s iPhone, even if the blog has seemingly nothing to do with technology based subjects – so, even though I’m a complete Apple fanboy, I’ve avoided talking about it. But I can’t hold it in any longer.

I’m undeniably excited about today’s UK launch of the iPhone on the O2 network. Available from Apple, O2 and CarphoneWarehouse stores from 6:02pm (geddit? 6:02pm on the 02 network?!!), there are bound to be load of freaky Apple nerds queuing up down the streets to get their hands on one the moment they’re released. But if you’re too cool for crowds, then hop over to the CarphoneWarehouse website which promises to be taking orders online from the 6:02pm launch time, as does O2.

I’m looking forward to updating Things of Random Coolness via my iPhone. Hopefully, it’ll increase my post frequency, which has been unbeleivably dire lately (sorry!)