Magnetic Eggs

by Ami Kealoha

Learning by osmosis is always a pleasant fantasy. These Magnetic Eggs make it a little more of a reality by featuring 63 different eggs per sheet. Each 1" by 1" square magnet includes a photo and the names of the birds they will hatch—a boon for Ornithology students and an ironic comment on possible contents of the refrigerator. Available (among a slew of other designs, including the birds themselves, braille, and composers) for $12.50 from Gregggo Magnets.

Le Cool: Winners

by SummerSeventySix

We received loads of emails from readers in our contest with great reasons why we should send them Le Cool's essential Barcelona guide. Some of you are plain desperate, making out it will be the only way to keep your boyfriend/girlfriend/job/sanity. I wish we had more to hand out.

Our two winners, each of whom will be sent a copy, are Ivana in Zagreb, Croatia who places her destiny in our hands in a do-or-die effort to impress her boss, and Ann in Cincinnati, OH who just says "Hey Babe, send me that guide to Barcelona so I'll know which sex club to find you at." It's in the mail, Ann...

For everyone else, they're easily available at Le Cool's website. Thanks for entering.

Cosmic Wonder

by Ami Kealoha

The opening of the group show Cosmic Wonder this coming Friday, 14 July 2006, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco signals the death (or latest high watermark depending on how you look at it) of second-wave psychedelia that's flooded contemporary art in recent years. Including pieces by king and queen of the movement, fellow RISD and Fort Thunder alums Jim Drain and Ara Peterson, as well as other luminaries, like Terence Koh, Paperrad, and Banks Violette, the exhibit also will host the works of OGs such as James Turrell and Richard Misrach. (Images by Hisham Bharoocha and Doug Aitken Soft Circle (ex-Black Dice/Lightning Bolt) and Feathers, who were recently signed to Gnomonsong, Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic’s new label.

Cosmic Wonder
15 July–5 November 2006
Opening Night Party: Friday, 14 July 2006, 8-11pm
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street at Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 map
tel + 01 415 978 2787

Also on Cool Hunting: Gore, United Bamboo's Ever After Tees

The Next Best Thing

by Josh Rubin

By now Slick Rick's "Children's Story" is a frat party standard and KRS-One's elementary style is a page in hip-hop history. With The Next Best Thing, a Jeremy Fish-illustrated picture book and read-along 7-inch by Aesop Rock, the duo are reinventing hip-hop storytelling for a new generation. A monologue on creative frustrations ("To my heart of gold medics with aesthetics on a string you will forever by employed by the next best thing."), Fish represents the main character as a skull-headed everyman who travels through a surreal world populated with symbolic bunnies, turtles and lightbulbs. Like the '70s-era kids books it takes its inspiration from, "you will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes." Buy it for $25 from Upper Playground.

Highway Bags

by Ami Kealoha

Highway, add a modern touch to its retro-ski jacket looks. At 15" wide, it has room enough for most laptops and a magazine or two, making it handy for urban commuters or as a carry-on. Available in blue, black, red, silver, and green (pictured) for $154 from Highway (tel. + 01 212 966 4388).

Ice Rocks

by Evan Orensten

Ice Rocks are prepackaged, ready-to-freeze individual ice cubes made from French spring water. Geared primarily toward the (upscale) tourism market, they assure worried travelers that the ice is safe to use. Scotch Rocks, a version marketed to bars and whisky drinkers, and Kid Rocks, cubes made from fruit juice, are also in the works.