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11.30.2005

ButterWizard butter climate control

Posted by Mia    Category: home
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11.30.2005

Let the festivities begin!

You can be the only house on the block with perfect, picturesque snow 24/7 with the amazing Light Flurries Projector. Just plant the device 10-25 feet away from your target wall, set the size and speed...and voila! Instant winter wonderland. It doesn't matter if it's 60 degrees outside where you live - just set your lawn chair on your yard and experience some yule log-like winter magic. If you're not sold, watch the video. Do you think the Dyker Heights Christmas homeowners are on to these things?

If the Light Flurries Projector overwhelms you (or maybe you live in an apartment), the Recycling Snow Machine can recreate that fresh falling snow experience indoors. Why just have a regular Christmas tree when you can have one that snows! The blower tube can be hidden inside an artificial tree to gather and redistribute the faux snow. Don't forget to watch the demo video. Here's another entertaining video (complete with the Peanuts gang Christmas song) from wonderfullywacky.com, where apparently, the Snowing Machine is already sold out!

But they are still available at SmartHome

(sponsored link)
Buy from Santa's Helpers at Smarthome.com

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11.30.2005

BodyBridge spine stretch

The BodyBridge was designed by an inventor desperate to undo the effects of years of abuse on his back from physical labor on the job, but I need it for my kid who's suffering premature damage from carrying incredibly heavy loads in her school book bag. It's a simple device that enables you to stretch your back in the reverse direction of the usual positions assumed for working in a sedentary job or a physical job that stresses the back muscles. It reminds me of the bridge position in yoga, which is sometimes difficult to do if you have any kind of neck injury or other issues that prevent you from holding that position from the floor. The standard model sells for $425 on the BodyBridge website, and comes with a 12-minute instructional video on how to use the Bodybridge for workouts.

And if that price is too steep, or you lack space, there's also a Mini BodyBridge that sells for just $55, and can be used on the floor, in a chair, and while driving.

(sponsored link)
Shop for Yoga and Fitness products at Gaiam.com!

Posted by Hoyun    Category: body
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11.29.2005

Homemade "hot pockets"

Having just spent Thanksgiving making a meal that took about ten hours to prepare, ten minutes to wolfishly devour, and then two hours to clean up after, all I want is something easy and lazy. Enter toastabags, bags made of woven fiberglass, that let you put messy, drippy fillings right into your toaster for an instant grilled panini. I don't know if they're still being made, but some years ago I picked up some frozen toaster pizza- flat cardboard-like dough around some fake cheese and sauce. I remember thinking it was a genius idea, other than the fact that the resulting "pizza toast" was virtually inedible. If this works, then making things like tuna melts would be far easier and quicker than oven grilling or using a sandwich press. You'd need a wide-slot toaster, one that can accomodate gigantic bagel halves, but then sky's the limit- my next holiday meal is going to be toaster croque monsieur followed by pumpkin pie pop-tarts.

Toastabags are $5.99 for a set of two, and can be re-used up to 300 times.

From Conspicuous Consumption.

Posted by Mia    Category: home
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11.29.2005

Holiday desktops

Generally, I like to think that I know the difference between something good and something cheesy, but I have a serious Achilles heel: Christmas. Glitter-monogrammed stockings, candy cane-shaped cookies, light-up reindeer- I think it's all good. Last year, I even considered buying a book by "the painter of light", Thomas Kincade, who makes those Hallmark-y paintings of snowy villages with a diffused pastel glow. Alright, I actually did buy it, but as furtively as if I were buying hard-core porn (not that I ever do that). Starting this year, though, I vow to be more open, no longer ashamed about the holiday love.

To that end, I have installed the "3D Snowy Cottage" screensaver. It's a Kincade-esque scene of a little cottage in a woodsy lot with snow blowing, a smoking chimney, and little forest animals running around the bridge-covered pond: a perfect pastoral winter night. It makes me completely nostalgic, although having moved from the suburbs into New York City- it certainly isn't for anything I've ever actually seen or experienced. But I can imagine that I spent idyllic childhood Christmases in a setting like that. Freeze also has screensavers of a giant Christmas tree; a roaring fireplace; a firelit, present-strewn Christmas morning; and classic non-holiday themes like aquariums and waterfalls.

These screensavers are well-done and free, but be very careful when you're installing them. They come loaded with adware and spyware, and email registration is required so it might be one of those times when it'd be a good idea to get creative with your email address. During the install process, don't check any of the boxes that accept any of the ad-spewing software and it'll be fine. It's also not necessary to register for one of the offers that gives you a full version; the free version is fully functional.

It's also now time to bring out the Twinkle Bulbs, software that puts holiday lights across your desktop, even while you work, if you wish. There's a 15-day free trial (will take you almost to Christmas) but costs $20 for the full version.

Posted by Mia    Category: home
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11.29.2005

Tomy Flip Flap Plant

Just what you need, a plastic plant. That's what my travel companion muttered when he saw me duck into a toy store to check out a Tomy Flip Flap as he was trying to find Fisherman, a famed homemade fishball restaurant on Sai Yee St. at the corner of Fife St. in Hong Kong.

As I've previously mentioned, I've got a cubicle mate with black thumbs and a solar powered plant is just the remedy. Besides, U.S. Customs agents would toss any non-native plant seeds I tried to bring into the country. The Flip Flap has three gentle movements activated by both sound and light. I got this one for $7.10 USD but I've seen them at the HK airport marked up to $25 USD and on third-party sites for up to $50 USD. Shop around.

Bonus! Fisherman's alluring fishball boat outside the restaurant:

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11.29.2005

Tiny Baby Racing Seat for Cellphone

This is how hot mamas roll.

I suppose if you're already wheeling around in a minivan, tricked out with a DVD player and screens in the headrest, you might as well stick your cellphone in a miniature babyseat racing seat. (Another Hong Kong find, priced around $1.90 USD.)

UPDATE: Oh how I laughed when two commenters kindly advised me that this little baby blue mousefur seat is a racing seat, a movie premium associated with Tau man Chi D. It's about a guy who "focuses his attention on drift racing, a sport he has unknowingly perfected while delivering tofu in his father's Toyota AE86." Sweet!

(Mind you, I'm still claiming this one for the hot mamas, especially those hauling infants around hairpin mountain passes in Toyota AE86s.)

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11.29.2005

SNL Parodies iPod's Planned Obsolescence

Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update anchors Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host special guest *Steve Jobs* who unveils a whole new line of iPods. The parody of Apple's planned obsolescence program for the iPod includes the debut of the iNvisa media player. video link.

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11.28.2005

Sun Mini DVD Player

I got a Sun mini DVD player in Hong Kong for $45 USD. I just tested it with a PAL region 2 DVD and it easily converted to NTSC. It also plays DVD-R, CD-R, CD-RW, SVCD (MPEG2), VCD (MPEG1), CD, HD-CD (we shall see), DTS-CD, MP3/JPEG and WMA. I tried to override a macrovision feed but, alas, no can do. I'm able to fast-forward thru interminable anti-piracy warnings. With the remote I can zoom in and out of scenes that are either running or in freeze frame.

It's got a small footprint (6.5" x 9" x 2") and an array of video out jacks. The remote is in English and menus are easily switched to the same. I only wish I'd picked up a couple more as gifts but I was skeptical it would work at all given the price and the "any DVD to any TV" claim. In Hong Kong you can find it in Kowloon's Mong Kok District, on Sai Yeung Choi St. South (btw. Soy Street and Dundas), across from Mongkok Broadway Cinespot. There are many types of reasonably priced players on this strip but the Sun mini model was the cheapest (I actually didn't haggle with the salesguy), most compact, easily transportable and the most format agnostic I was able to find. I also had to buy an outlet converter that cost about $4 USD.

The HMVs in HK have prodigious and cheap DVD and VCD selections. I got super-discounted versions of the Shaw Bros.' "Disco Bumpkins," "The Empress Dowager," "Lady General," "Temptress of a Thousand Faces," Tony Silver & Henry Chalfant's "Style Wars," Ninjatune's "Zen TV DVD," and Carl Dryer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc."

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11.28.2005

Creative baking

This male torso shaped baking form is sold together with a baking mix and will allow anyone to easily transform the provided ingredients into a delicious piece of Adonis. Even if definitely far more useful than the iDuck, – at least you get to eat a cake - I would still “tag” this item as funny-but-useless.

And of course there is also a female version of the baking form, just to please everyone’s taste.

Available for €19.95 at design-3000, a German online store.

Posted by Camilla    Category: home
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