Box Fresh
 Spec Savers
I gave up trying to find a decent pair of eyeglasses a while ago and decided to go with contacts, but that doesn’t mean cool (affordable!) frames aren’t out there, and I’ve spotted a lovely collection by Australian company Indie Nation. The brand has put together a stellar collection of subtle, classically designed wooden frames. They come in a range of wood/colour options and they are reasonably priced too, starting from around $100. You can buy them online at their site, www.indienation.com, but hopefully somewhere local will stock them soon! Just gorgeous.
 Rugrat Roadster
With a number of my friends/relatives tying the knot, I’ve no doubt that before too long I’m going to have to start buying ‘children’s things’. Luckily for the little guys by that stage I’ll be the well off childless aunt, and can buy heaps of cool junk off the internet. Like this, the Playsam Saab Ride-On Roadster, by Ulf Hanses. Inspired by Siten Sason, the prolific designer behind the Saab 92 and the Hasselblad camera, the fully functional push car has a super high gloss finish and a steering wheel made of wood and metal, just like the old sports cars. At €295.00 it’s a covetable item sure to be the talk of the playground. Visit www.northernicon.com to have a look at the little car, and a huge range of goodies.
MoMA Phona
iPhone owners be sure to check out the free app from New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The recently launched app gives access to 32,000 works of art in the museum’s collection as well as audio tours, a guide to art terms and visual descriptions. There’s also a comprehensive calendar guide. Even if you’re not in New York City, there’s a lot to learn and discover from the app. Also, it’s free!
 Scott Penguin Vs The World
Penguin will release a lovely set of six new editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald novels later this year. The covers will coincide with the 70th anniversary of Fitzgerald’s death on December 21, 1940. Designed by Penguin’s senior cover designer, Coralie Bickford Smith, the editions are to reflect “the elegance and glamour of the Art Deco period [and a] sense of ornate detail fused with the modernist aesthetic of mechanical repetition.” Head over to www.penguin.co.uk to see all the covers and preorder a copy.
 iThink, Therefore iAm
By now iPad sales have topped two million worldwide, so there’s a lot of people who have the tablet to keep their iPhone, iPod and iTouch company – but do you wish your iPad was a little more, well, iMac-ey? Never fear, the iHolder iPad stand has you covered, with a device to sit your iFriend on when stationary. The holder, which retails for US$49.99 makes the iPad look like a mini iMac, and boasts an adjustable stand for vertical viewing and an aircraft-grade anodized aluminium base stand. Interested? You can check it out at www.pyramiddistribution.com.
Hey Kids! Comics!
 BOOSTER GOLD #35 – Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, Chris Batista, Rich Pertotta
(DC)
“Born in the 25th century, fatherless, to a poor family...”
Eddie Argos from Art Brut has a new-ish side project called Spoiler Alert!, who do songs about superheroes. One of them’s about Booster Gold, who is a favourite character of Eddie’s. “He’s the greatest hero and you don't even know who he is,” it goes, and it’s probably right. Booster Gold is one of those B-list superheroes usually used for comic relief, but there’s more to him than that. The Spoiler Alert song does a good job of explaining his typically baroque and convoluted comic-book background, but to sum up: he’s a footballer from the future who stole a bunch of high-tech gear from a superhero museum, including a time machine, and travelled back to an era when his sport enhancements and fancy gizmos make him god-like. Imagine a footballer from today travelling back in time hundreds of years to pass off his steroid physique and iPhone as superpowers. That’s basically Booster Gold and that’s why he’s hilarious. Nowadays he travels through time and space with a crew of other B-listers, righting wrongs and protecting the timestream like Doctor Who with a bigger ego, the ability to fly and more of a tendency to solve problems by hitting them. Or getting his teammates to hit them at least, particularly Big Barda. One of Jack Kirby’s old characters, she’s drawn in a style reminiscent of his – especially the simple angular lines of her face – which is a nice touch. Another nice touch are the sound effects whenever she bashes things, which is frequently, like SPLAKT and KAPOWNGA. What it doesn’t feature is a fight with big green tentacles like those on the cover – sorry to disappoint the fetishists.
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JODY MACGREGOR
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