The great John Hegley will be reading from his new collection Peace, Love and Potatoes this evening at the Scottish Poetry Library in Crichton's Close Edinburgh. Tickets are £7. Hegley has long been a favourite with us at Avocado Sweet and this latest collection has all the whip smart-yet-vulnerable, simple-but-meaningful charm of his previous work: An Alien Address Do you have bendy buses or are you jet pr ...

The people behind Basecamp Hotel in Lake Takoe California have grasped the idea that great style doesn't cost much. Inspired use of design, colour and concept has resulted in a witty yet highly functional hotel which prefectly suits its lakeside, outdoorsy environment. Of course it has impeccable green credentials but it also offers deluxe bedding, high speed wi fi, flat screen tvs and XBoxes. There is orgi ...

We met under a shower of bird notes. Fifty years passed, love's moment in a world in servitude to time. She was young; I kissed with my eyes closed and opened them on her wrinkles. 'Come,' said death, choosing her as his partner for the last dance. And she, Who in life had done everything with a bird's grace, opened her bill now for the shedding of one sigh no heavier than a feather.   RS Thomas ...

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The cover to Joy Division's 1979 album Unknown Pleasures is as bleak and enigmatic as the music itself: a series of jagged white lines against a black background that's been recreated in tattoos, clothing, and animation. In a clip for New York's Visualized Conference, former Factory Records graphic designer Peter Saville explains the origin behind the cover, which represents the frequency of the signal from ...

Today Glasgow Women's Library opens a preview of an exhibition to celebrate its 21st anniversary. It's come a long way since the damp freezing shop front in Garnet Hill staffed by volunteers. The Library has commissioned 21 Scottish artists and 21 writers to produce work for the exhibition which opens today, 21 September. Artists include Ashley Cooke, Kate Davis and Ruth Barker - who has produced the silk s ...

Head over to a Facebook page called Dirty Old 1970s New York City  for a shot - possibly from a dirty needle - of grimy, pre gentrification New York. The page is styled for 'those who loved NYC before the 1980s took its balls away'. It's easy to forget that before Woody Allen got us thinking the city was a book-lined psychiatrist's study with a movie theatre on every corner, Nora Ephron brought out its roma ...

Most people love sharing what their favourite things are - holiday destinations, restaurants, pubs, books, films, albums - the list goes on. Scottish Book Trust has indulged us and asked the question - where is your favourite place in Scotland? The public were invited to send photos of their number one location as part of a photography competition. Here are some of the entries competing for the prize of a t ...

The 'Facekini'are a relatively a new (fashion?) trend, having first been noticed on the beaches of Qingdao a few weeks ago. For those of you who are fans of the look, you’ll be please to know that the 'Facekini' comes in a wide selection of colours. Some sellers have made the bold claim that orange coloured 'Facekini’s' in particular keep Jellyfish Stingers and Sharks at bay because 'orange is the colour th ...

Recognise this cover of Bananarama's Cruel Summer? Bill Wells and Falkirk's own Aidan Moffat couldn't sound or look more different. The video is by Paul Fegan. Wells and Moffat recently won the first award for Scottish Album of the Year for 'Everything's Getting Older'. Here's what Moffat had to say about the need for Scottish awards - very persuasive but cleverly avoiding all the usual parochial arguments. ...