Limes with Orange

I've realized that I do an extraordinary amount of shopping online. It started innocently enough with a few books and CDs from Amazon.com. Then some DVDs. And then I bought a poster here, an auction item there and so on and so forth. I've even started ordering my groceries or takeout food online sometimes (which always makes me feel like I'm starring in "The Net" with Sandra Bullock, but I digress). So I decided that if I'm going to be an online shopper, I should be a savvy online shopper and find online discounts and coupons... which is where these handy dandy promo codes come in. They've got them for over a thousand different stores, but of course I'm most interested in the Amazon coupon codes. It's still where the majority of my online shopping happens. Some things never really change.

Labels: cool sites, cool stuff

BURN NOTICE (bûrn nō'tĭs) n.

1. An official statement by one intelligence agency to other agencies, domestic or foreign, that an individual or group is unreliable.

I was just reading about USA Network's Burn Notice, a new TV series about a CIA operative who gets a burn notice. He doesn't know why, but he's determined to find out. Obviously, he won't be able to use his normal contacts so he'll have to get very creative. I decided to tap into my inner MacGyver and thought of an easy to make spy tool: a Hollow Book. Watch my "instructional" video:


And for better spy gadget ideas, watch Burn Notice!

Labels: cool stuff, tv, videos

Having just entered a contest to win an iPhone (see my previous post), I think it's an interesting coincidence that I've just now landed on a website that talks about cool iPod software. Namely the iPod Video Converter software, which is a great tool to convert all kinds videos and DVDs into iPod video with a few mouse clicks. Following a few links, I discovered that there's also a DVD to iPhone Converter available. So if I happen to win that iPhone, I'm good to go!

Labels: cool stuff, film, videos

I love tattoos. I have three so far and plan on getting more. But I know that permanent tattoos are not for everybody. Whether it's the thought of the pain or worries that they'll regret it when they're older, I know plenty of people who toy with the idea of getting a tattoo but never do. Which is where these Temporary Airbrush Tattoos (TATs) come in.

TAT International supplies everything that anyone might need to create an airbrush tattoo. They've got a whole tattoo system for folks who actually want to set up a business. But they've also got hobby kits for the average folks who want to dabble in it for themselves. Personally, I think that would be a really cool party game… forget the traditional bridal shower, let's do airbrush tattoos instead!

Labels: cool stuff, tattoos

Several years ago, when I was visiting Chicago and getting to know the city on my own, I would have loved to have something like an audio travel guide. What I did have was a booklet with information on historical buildings and maps and so forth... but you try looking at a piece of architecture and reading about it at the same time. I don't know about you, but I find that rather tricky as I can only ever get both eyes to look in the same direction at any given time.

At this time, Variant Guide only offers audio guides for Moscow and Paris, but they promise that Barcelona is coming and more cities will follow. So far these are all cities that I would love to visit, so I think they've certainly started well. Now I just need to get myself across that big pond and put these audio guides to use!

Labels: cool stuff, fun, travel

Actually, they're called Low Bid Auctions, but I like my title because it reminds me of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, which is neither here nor there. (Wow, digression in the first sentence… I think that's a first for me.)

Okay, what the heck am I talking about? It's a new site called Bid4Prizes. It's definitely a new take on auction sites because the LOWEST UNIQUE bid wins. Yep, I said LOWEST. But I also said UNIQUE. So, if you bid 2 cents on a plasma TV and a whole bunch of people bid 1 cent and a whole bunch of people bid 3 cents but nobody else bid 2 cents, you could actually win a plasma TV for only 2 cents. Granted, that particular scenario is unlikely… but you never know.

Unfortunately, right now it looks as though they're in between auctions. I admit that I'm curious what will go up on the block next (they actually had an SUV for auction before). Whatever it is, I'd be tempted to bid $1.08. Why? Well, some of you may already be aware that I'm a math geek (and proud of it). Back in grade five, my math teacher had each of his students pick a favourite number from the times tables… anything from the 1's to the 12's. I picked 9 x 12 = 108. Partly because the 9 times tables are the coolest (1 + 0 + 8 = 9… and so on and so forth), partly because of all the exponents involved (3 ³ x 2 ² = 108… sheer mathematical elegance). Like I said… math geek. *points at self*

My only reservation about this site is having to provide them with my cell phone number. I'm not particularly keen on that. Mind you, I got over my concern about using my credit card on the internet ages ago, so I could probably get over this, too. But the point is moot for me anyway, since it's only open to U.S. residents. (Oh well, I don't get to play in the auction, but I also don't have to have Bush as a president… you lose some, you win some… right now, I think I'm still coming out ahead.)

Labels: cool sites, cool stuff, fun

Here's an idea I can get behind… an opportunity to win a free DVD burner, shoes, champagne flutes or any number of other prizes, without having to pay to sign up, without being obligated to buy anything, without getting spammed to death. I know, it sounds too good to be true. But WhoGets.com is for real. No scam site here, they simply get their profits from advertising. And this is a pretty clever advertising method, dontcha think?

Me… I think I'll try for the DVD burner.

Labels: cool stuff, fun

While browsing online to try and get ideas for what to wear to these weddings I mentioned previously, I came across this very cool clothing site called Electric Ladyland (makes me think of song by Jimi the Piper called "Electric Lassieland"... but I digress). Love the clothes but they're not exactly wedding appropriate... unless I was going to a rock & roll wedding!

Maybe I'll just stick to looking at their jeans and accessories for now. Because this site has loads of very cool accessories to help funk up an outfit. Unfortunately the product page for their Rock & Republic jeans is empty at the moment, so I guess I'll have to check back later for those. But there's more than enough to look at for now. So, excuse me while I go shopping!

Labels: cool stuff, fashion

Here's the thing. I've got two weddings to go to this year, one in June and one in September. They're both for cousins of mine, but on different sides of the family, so my sister will be the only person at both weddings... which is why I'm planning on wearing the same outfit to both. But what outfit?

My stumbling block: my pasty white legs. This is not just lack-of-sun white, this is scary-white-no-matter-how-much-sun-they're-exposed-to kind of white. And I bruise really easily, so those scary white legs are always covered in bruises. This is why I usually wear knee-high boots when I wear a skirt. But I don't think I want to wear boots in June. But I'm also not a pantyhose kind of grrl. So do I just give up and wear pants?

That's kind of where I'd landed until I found these Self Tan Kits. Now I've tried self tanners before and not had huge amounts of luck, but I like the look of the Salon Bronze Tanning System. I realize there are no guarantees that this will be any better than other products I've tried, even if the application method is different, so I would definitely give it a test run before the wedding just to make sure. If I do, I'll be sure to let you know whether I end up with orange legs!

Labels: cool stuff, fashion, odds and ends

Apparently mailboxes across the US are being dressed up as R2-D2 to celebrate 30 years since the release of the first release of Star Wars. Um... sure, why not. But couldn't they at least have made them round?

Anyway, I found this tidbit thanks to a new blog I discovered: CastleNottingham.com presents High Strangeness Altoona. It's "a chronicle of strange happenings, news, opinion, original fiction and true tales of the supernatural." Very cool!

(I was so tempted to copy the original post title: A Long Time Ago, In A Mailbox Near You. Now that's my kind of title! But since I didn't think of it myself, I didn't feel right using it... *sigh*)

Labels: cool stuff, film, odds and ends

I realize that I won't be able to afford a new TV for a while, but when my friend loaned me "Road to Perdition" and my cousin made me promise not to watch it on my 14" TV with its crappy sound system… well, I started thinking a new TV should probably go on my wishlist. But I don't really know what I want.

When my mother gave me her 15" free-TV-with-purchase last summer, I was excited. Not for the whole extra inch but because it was an LCD TV. I quickly discovered, however, that LCD screens (at least this particular LCD screen) can be limited in their viewing angle… the picture looks very dark if I'm not positioned just so. Now what?

Once again, the internet to the rescue. This site called TestFreaks has reviews of a large selection of different TVs; I'm kind of leaning towards a Plasma TV now. The site would be even better if you could sort by specific features and/or do a side-by-side comparison of selected makes and models. I'd also like to see photos of the TVs in question because aesthetics are important too. But there's a whole lot of information in one place, so that's a pretty decent start.

Labels: cool stuff, tv

...I wonder where the checkout is.

Okay, so in Calgary spring hasn't really sprung, just a chinook. But it felt like spring yesterday... until it snowed. *sigh*

But it does start one thinking about springtime things. Like the other night, I started thinking about sitting out on my fire escape to read (and how to enclose it so that I can keep the door open and not have the cats escape). And that started me thinking about the wind chimes that I want to hang in front of the door to my fire escape (when I first moved into this apartment and did the Feng Shui thing, that was one of the recommendations to improve the flow of chi, etc).

I was initially thinking of a tuned wind chime, but then I noticed some other metal chimes on the same site that looked pretty cool. I'll have to mull that over. A little more browsing on that site led me to their sun catchers. Some of them are quite beautiful. I'm particularly drawn to the peacock one. And I think the dragonfly one would be perfect for my sister. Why does spring make me want to shop?

Labels: cool stuff, decorating

I just read this article called "Get Tuned In: TV Programming on Cell Phones." It's kind of interesting to see what's coming down the pipe in terms of TV on cell phones; the article gives a sneak preview of what the various cell phone carriers will be offering. Verizon really looks like it's got the best package as far as television programming goes, with plans to offer network shows after they've been aired on regular TV plus their intention to expand their FiOS TV service to wireless handsets, which would let users control their DVRs from their phones without having to be at home. Both very cool features. (They don't mention Bell Mobility... is that only a Canadian service? Because their commercials make their package look pretty good, with their movie service and everything. It would be interesting to see how Bell stacks up to the carriers mentioned in the article.)

The article goes on to discuss the downside of mobile TV features in terms of bandwidth, but I have to ask this… do people really want to watch an entire TV show (or movie, for that matter) on a screen that can fit in the palm of their hand? I mean, people complain about my 14" TV being too small, but they'll watch it on their cell phone instead? As the Scots say (okay, it's actually a Yorkshire expression, but I first heard it from a Scotsman so I still hear it with a Scottish accent in my head): there's none so queer as folk.

Labels: cool stuff, film, pop culture, tv

I just bought my first Super 8 camera off of eBay!!! It's a Sankyo LXL-250 which is very similar to the camera I borrowed to shoot "Coda in G Minor"... that one was a Sankyo LXL-255 Macro. From what I can tell, the main difference between the two is the ability of the Macro to film ultra close-up. 'Twould be a nice feature to have but I can live without it for the time being (especially when I paid less than $25 for both the camera and the shipping). I'm so excited. I can't wait to try it out!

Labels: cool stuff, film

At the open mike night a couple of weeks ago, one of the artists that caught my attention was Marsha Meidow, director of the Vagina Monologues. She read one of the monologues from the show and, having never seen the show and not really knowing what to expect, it blew me away. So beautiful and yet so disturbing at the same time. Delivered in Marsha's breathy girlish voice... it was haunting.

Marsha also works with Safe Haven, a program for young girls at risk of prostitution and exploitation. So Marsha and Monologues producer, Shone Abet, decided to put on this carnival to raise money for the program. I think it's a great idea. And I wish like anything that I could be there, but I start my IN:Camera Film Production Workshop the following day, so I think I need to take care of myself and take a quiet night at home. Otherwise I would be at the Femme Fatale Carnivale in a heartbeat. There are going to be burlesque acts, fire eaters, belly dancers and all things strange and sexy (strange meant in the best possible way, of course)! Oh what crazy adult fun!

For those of you who want to go (please, please go!), it's this Valentine's Day (as in tomorrow) at The Twisted Element Nightclub, 1006 11th Ave SW. Tickets are $25 at the door and $20 in advance at Blame Betty, 829 17th Ave SW. Have fun! And don't do anything I wouldn't do...

Labels: cool stuff, fun, politics, pop culture, weird stuff

My recent decorating dilemma prompted me to check out some online furniture sites. So much of what I saw is just what you see everywhere. And I do not want furniture that looks like everyone else's. Which would be fine if money was no object and I could just have everything custom designed, but alas, that is not the world I inhabit.

I looked at a lot of furniture and didn't find any other couches that I liked but I did find some cool beds. (Of course, I never find what I'm looking for when I'm looking for it; and then I find the perfect thing when I'm not looking for it at all… much like men. But I digress…) Unfortunately, I think you need a much larger, much grander room to put this bed into than my cramped and cosy apartment bedroom.


Maybe someday I'll be able to afford to buy a house that would suit a bed such as this, after I've miraculously made my fortune from low budget filmmaking... ajp4i &urq3 md/gz ... sorry... laughing... too hard... to type. Ahem, okay, better now.

So, why this bed and not some grand and gothic four-poster? Damned if I know. I just think it's cool.

Labels: cool stuff, decorating

I decided that I should finally act on my plan to reupholster my couch. I initially bought it for a mere $75 with that intention in mind… 10 years ago! So I went and looked at fabrics and found one that I liked in a reasonable price range. Next, I need to arrange an appointment to have one of the reupholsterers come and measure my couch and estimate labour. Knowing that labour will vary greatly from one couch to another, I still asked if the designer could give me a ballpark figure. She said that she doubted that it would be less than $1000 and probably somewhere in between $1200-1500. And that's just labour! Yikes!

So I thought I should take a look at couches that I could get for less than that and see if there were any I might fall in love with. Because I do love my old couch and think it would be such a waste if it never saw its full potential again and I can't imagine just throwing it out.

But then I went to this very cool furniture store in town and found this couch.



Regularly $3500, on clearance for $1200. Holy crap!
So now I have to decide if I should spend close to $2000 to recover my old couch so that I can keep the more classical piece. Or whether I should dump the old couch and get this new funky couch, that is definitely whimsical and contemporary and would go with my other furniture even though I would lose a little bit of the eclectic/gothic feel that I think my old couch brings. Decisions, decisions.

Labels: cool stuff, decorating

I have to start off by mentioning an incident that happened many years ago when I was still living in Toronto. I don't remember a lot of the circumstances, but I think my sister had just written the MCAT (she had briefly thought she wanted to be a doctor, before she found her true calling as a teacher). I don't remember if she thought she hadn't done very well or what was going on, but for some reason I got it in my head that she simply had to watch "Gross Anatomy" and that would cheer her up. So we went to the local video store but they didn't carry it. There was another video store a couple of blocks away, but their copy had been rented. We might have given up at that point, if someone hadn't mentioned that the nearest subway station had a video kiosk. Huh?

Neither my sister nor I thought we'd understood this guy correctly, but we went over to the subway station and, sure enough, there was this vending machine where you could rent movies just as easily as buying a pop. Unfortunately, that particular kiosk didn't have our movie, but there was a 1-800 number you could call to find out the closest kiosk that had that movie in stock. And there was one just a subway stop away. Success!

Since that time, I have told that story to many people but found no one who had ever even heard of these kiosks. I began to think that I'd made it up (I have a very active imagination and dream up all sorts of things that I manage to convince myself really happened, because of which I am quick to believe that I might have made something up even if it's actually true... making me quite a target for people who take pleasure in teasing me).

Anyway, this is a very long winded way of saying that I now feel vindicated. Check out these DVD video rental kiosks! Granted, this isn't what I rented from all those years ago (back in ancient times, before DVDs) but it's the same premise. Which is a pretty good case to support my hazy memory. Or, if I did dream it up, I was obviously way ahead of my time!

Labels: cool stuff, film, pop culture

So there I was last night, walking from the drug store to the laundromat—waiting for the light to change so that I could cross 14th Street—when this lunatic in a white BMW SUV drove up onto the island in the middle of the street with the "No Left Turn" sign and the arrow indicating that traffic should flow to the right of the islands. Obviously, the driver saw neither the signs nor the island and he actually snapped both signs right off at their base. How fast must this guy have been going to do that? So then he simply backs up off the island, pulls back into the lane and proceeds to attempt to turn the wrong way onto 12th Avenue. Fortunately, he realized there was nowhere for him to turn before he crashed head on into somebody, at which point he drove blithely away.

I was a little freaked out watching this maniac... oh, did I mention that it was rush hour? So I decided to call the cops. I got a good look at the front of the vehicle as I was crossing the street but, since this silly province doesn't require vehicles to display license plates in the front, I only caught a glimpse of the rear plate... from a distance, in the dark. And I got the plate wrong. I so wanted to be a better witness than that. The sensible part of me is feeling like maybe I should start wearing my glasses all the time, even if it does make me queasy to wear them while I'm moving. But the quirky part of me thinks I just need some night vision binoculars instead! I even went so far as to check out these scope reviews online at Optics Planet.

Granted, I doubt I'll go and buy night vision binoculars just in case I have another chance to be a witness in the future. And I doubt I'll buy the night vision goggles just because they remind me of "Silence of the Lambs," but it's kinda fun to think about.

Labels: cool stuff, odds and ends

My dad gave me this old 16mm projector that he came across while he was going through a bunch of stuff that he has stored in my uncle's basement. It's a Motio-Scope projector made by Peko in the 1930's that he bought second-hand before I was even born. Unfortunately, it's missing a motor, the belt needs to be replaced and there's no instruction manual with it. Not that it isn't cool just as a vintage accessory, but it would be so much cooler if it actually worked. So I guess I'll be scanning eBay for replacement parts. It would probably end up being cheaper to just buy an intact one (a Google search came up with an old eBay auction for a Motio-Scope projector that sold for $9.99), but I like the idea of having the one that my dad bought all those years ago. If anyone reading this has any other suggestions for locating the missing bits, I would love to hear your ideas. In the meantime, I guess I'll just find somewhere to put it where I can just look at it and say, "Isn't that cool?"


P.S. This is a photo of an intact Motio-Scope... mine doesn't look quite this good at the moment.

P.P.S. Merry Christmas!

Labels: cool stuff, film

My whole family (well, on my Dad's side) loves to sing... except maybe my cousin Chris (but I'll bet he sings when no one else is around). There have been parties in the past when my aunt would rent a Karaoke machine and everyone would have their chance to belt out their favourite tunes in the privacy her living room... no noisy bar, no drunken louts, no cigarette smoke. Unfortunately, I was always away at university when those parties happened.

So I've been trying to nudge the family towards buying a Karaoke machine so that we can sing at a moment's notice (well, sing with musical accompaniment; we sing at a moments notice anyway... and who says musicals are unrealistic?). Anyway, I came across this online Home Karaoke Machine Guide that looks like it could be very helpful. Now if I can just figure out a way to casually get my family to look at it...

Labels: cool stuff, music

I came across this website that sells fingerprint door locks... and yes, that's just like the futuristic sci-fi movie item that it sounds like. Forget the archaic notion of keys and stick out your finger to be scanned instead.

I was trying to decide what this reminded me of. James Bond? Maybe. Star Trek? Meh, I don't think so. Total Recall? Unfortunately, my "recollection" of that movie is iffy (sorry, I couldn't resist the bad pun). Gattaca? Oh, hey... I think that might be it. Just be glad that the lock only scans your fingerprint and doesn't take a sample of your blood.

To be honest, I'm not sure what I think about this type of security. I mean, it sounds cool but it also sends off little alarm bells in my head. Now maybe those little alarm bells belong to my inner Luddite, or maybe they have the ring of common sense or maybe I've just watched too many movies like Enemy of the State, turning me into a closet conspiracy theorist.

On the other hand, you would never have to worry about losing your keys... unless both your hands got cut off (don't worry; people have already informed me that I can be a little morbid at times).

So I'm curious, what do other people think about this product?

Labels: cool sites, cool stuff, film

You know you’re a geek when...

You see a picture of a digital microscope and consider adding it to your Christmas wish list because it’s just so cool, even though you’re no longer studying veterinary medicine or doing anything that actually requires the use of microscopes any more.

Is it just me, or do other people experience pangs of jealousy when those C.S.I. guys talk about the science kits they received as Christmas gifts when they were kids? Don’t get me wrong, I loved all my horse stuff, but there’s a part of me that still wants that cool chemistry kit or this awesome Observe the World Science Gift Package for kids: a telescope, binoculars and a microscope just for kids. How cool is that? (Or there's the rather less pricey Learn and Grow Kids Gift Package which offers the same basic stuff but without the fancy schmancy fogproof, waterproof type options.)

And if you do follow those links to OpticsPlanet.com, be sure to check out their sister site Microsopes.com (that’s where I came across the really cool digital microscope). The pages are a little crammed full of information making them look too busy, in my opinion, but at least you can’t claim that they don’t provide enough information. Oh and they’ve got various gift idea pages: Holiday Gifts, Gift Certificates, Gifts for Children...

And so on, and so on...

Hint, hint, hint...

Labels: cool stuff, math and science