ANARCHY IN THE KITCHEN
Self-government and non-hierarchical power
structures are great, but those dishes aren’t
going to dry themselves, are they? Thank
goodness, then, for the Anarchism Tea Towel,
AKA the most ironicfusion of pragmatism
and ideology we’ve everseen. It’s a simple
Panama cotton towel daubed with an A and O
for “anarchism” and “order”. The symbol gained
traction during the British punk movement
of the 1970s, when radical individualism was
seen as a good way to impress people you
wanted to sleep with. It’s hard to imagine Sid
Vicious using something as prosaic as this,
but maybe he saw this whole thing coming.
Remember ‘Anarchy in the U.K.’? “Your future
dream is a shopping scheme.” Incidentally, this
free-thinking dishcloth will set you back £10.
Wash up. Or don’t.radicalteatowel.co.ukJSA MODEL CHILD
Building blocks seem redundant in a world where preschool children have direct
access to the combined wisdom of mankind, but perhaps this can bring them back.
Blockitecture is a new toy for irritatingly precocious children and adults, ages six and up.
Brooklyn designer James Paulius modelled this particular set on Habitat 67 – the famous
interlinking housing complex designed by Moshe Safdie for the 1967 World’s Fair. You
take the blocks, you stack the blocks, you rearrange the blocks. Batteries are not included,
or even necessary. The combinations are endless, as long as you or your child appreciate
cubism, wholesome analogue entertainment, and the colours red, white, blue and teal (and
really, who doesn’t?). There’s no news yet on any Blockitecture expansion packs, but we’ve
already got our own idea in mind: the Communist Bloc. It’ll be a series of grey, featureless
cubes, owned equally by all the children in the neighbourhood. Once built, each structure
will crumble slowly from the inside. areaware.com JS
SMELL LIKE A STILL
Fragrances are generally employed to mask vices, not
accentuate them, so this Bourbon Cedar cologne
by Olivina Men won’t strike everyone as an excellent
idea. Scenarios in which it could pay o to smell
bourbon-soaked include: when you don’t want to
babysit; when you don’t want to fl y a plane; when you
wish to emanate fun; or when you just want to smell
like a fi ne, barrel-aged spirit. Olivina Men has cited
its scent’s “subtle cedar and smoky vanilla notes” as
selling points, but clearly it’s all about the bourbon.
(A vodka-inspired fragrance, by comparison, would
hardly be worth snii ng.) While wearing this scent may
leave you jobless, it should at least ensure you’ll be fondly
remembered as that loveable boozehound who smelled
just too fun for the working world. olivinamen.com TLDULY NOTED
One of life’s great satisfactions is putting a
line through some accursed task the mores of
existence have called on you to perform. So why
scrawl your various quests on something so
humdrum as a notepad? Whether documenting
the groceries you need to buy or the names of
those who’ve crossed you, your lists deserve a
grander platform upon which to be composed.
Add this fancy, purpose-built note roller to
your wish list. georgeandwilly.com TL