Tea-zer Tumbler

I don't drink coffee very often, but I take down a lot of tea. It's not entirely my fault, my mother is British. Lately though, I've really enjoyed the proliferation of green teas that has occurred in fancy coffee houses and elsewhere.

Aside from the various health benefits of green tea, I really enjoy the taste. Though I used to be limited to plain old Chinese green tea, you can now get a bunch of different varieties thanks to the yuppieness of the whole scene. I really enjoy the loose leaf which is available in tons of different flavours and is certainly less processed then the bagged stuff. If you're in Toronto, there is a store called The Tea Emporium that carries hundreds of teas, including some really good flavoured green teas.

Now the problem with loose leaf tea is that it's not very practical. In fact, it can be a real pain in the ass - which is why bag tea is so prevalent. In my travels around the internet I came across an invention called the Tea-zer Tumbler. Basically, it's like the portable percolators or coffee presses that the coffee snobs carry around so that they can consume coffee from freshly ground beans. Us tea people can now look just as pretentious for $14. Since these were originally invented for campers and other people who don't have access to modern amenities, you can find the Tea-zer sold at a lot of camping stores like REI in the States. Or you can just order it from L.L. Bean.

Enjoy your tea.

But does your cell phone make breakfast?

My father recently asked me to find him a new cell phone after the old batteries on his ever reliable Ericsson T39m started to fail him. My quest was to find a tough, reliable phone with as little fancy crap as possible. He also wanted really good battery life and a quadband GSM model so that he could use it if he were travelling in Europe.

First of all, it is not an easy task to find such a phone. Most of the quad-band GSMs are loaded with extras like MP3 player and a camera or two. All of those detract from the devices' primary function as a phone, and they also drain the battery life. So for all you people out there who are shopping for parents or just don't want a bunch of crap on your phone (some workplaces don't allow camera phones), I think I found what you're looking for.


Motorola makes two models that meet the above criteria. One has Bluetooth and one does not, but apart from that they're identical. The two models are the Motorola v191 and the v195. I had a tough time finding an unlocked v195, which is the model with Bluetooth, so I got my dad the v191, which is available from PureMobile for $125 CDN (~$100 US). Looking around now, it would appear that the 195 is easily unlocked. Motorola annoyingly makes you buy software called Motorola PhoneTools (MPT) to put a custom background and MP3 ringtone on the phone. With any luck, that will be the end of my involvement. The battery on this thing is a horse so he shouldn't even have to worry about charging it very often; maybe once a week.

The more buttons there are on a gadget, the more phone calls I'm going to get from my fahter asking me to explain their function. This one is a phone. Full stop.

Rocky Mountain Fresh

When you're travelling, working out and skiing, then there will come a point where you start to smell as bad as my sister. It's important that a) you recognize when you start to turn, and b) that you know what to do when that moment arrives.

When I lived out in Calgary, Alberta I frequently went skiing at one of the resorts around Banff. On my way back into Calgary I would stop in the town of Banff looking for places to spend my money. Fortunately, it didn't take long for me to discover the Rocky Mountain Soap Company.

As their web page states they make bar soap by hand using all natural ingredients. I love the smell of a lot of their soaps (Alpine and Mountain Man and others not listed) and there is something extremely satisfying about washing your skin with manly chunks of cedar. It's a visceral sensation.

If you find yourself in Banff, Canmore or the West Edmonton Mall, then you owe it to yourself to walk into the store. I personally can't stand the smell of chocolate stores, but I imagine if I liked chocolate, then the experience would be something like walking into Purdy's.

I'm off to an interview this afternoon. If I am successful, then I may start posting some higher ticket items. If not, then my next post may be about a particular brand of gum I enjoy.

How do you carry your gear?

Yesterday we went shopping for a new wheeled duffel bag. We had unfortunately lost the wheel to one of our older bags and not only was the wheel replacement cost prohibitive at $40, the parts were also unavailable. So the decision to buy a new bag was made for us.

I think the wheeled duffel bag has only been around for about five years. Before that the only bags that had wheels were hard suitcases and the wheels they had were narrow and flimsy. Anyway, I would have never purchased one 'cause I thought people looked like total asses wheeling around their luggage.

When the new wheeled bags came out, they managed to make them look like the traditional duffels, which was awesome for me since it enabled me to relieve my shoulder while maintaining my manliness. I bought an Everest bag in Sweden and it has served me very well.

Yesterday we bought a model similar to my Everest bag with some nice improvements. For me, compartmentalization is important in a bag, and we found a large capacity High Sierra that opens into two compartments. It also has shoe pockets and has an expansion zipper in the middle which gives the thing a ton of room. Of course, it has wheels. Skateboard wheels.

One of the neat added features is the ability to turn the duffel into a knapsack (backpack for those who aren't down with the "knap."). I don't know how often we'll use the feature, but when most of your travelling is done in ski towns, you frequently find yourself on snow where the wheels are less effective. Even if it's only for a few blocks, it may prove helpful.

We were able to get the bag for $130 CDN before tax at Evex in Toronto. The store is stalked with tons of different luggage and the people there seemed to know their sacs. Also, we were able to bargain fairly easily.

Drink more smoothies

This should have been posted on Friday, but I was ski coaching. The good news is that very few people know about this blog yet, so I haven't let many down.

My last post was about compression shirts so I figure it makes sense to follow up with another gym inspired/new years resolution type post.

Smoothies are good. They taste good, they're refreshing/hydrating, they help build muscle and flush away crap from your body. I try to make one right when I come home from the gym so that I can give my body what it needs. Typically, I use the following ingredients:

• Mango
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tbsp blueberries
• 1/3 large container of skim yoghurt
• Whey protein (60 grams)
• Flax seed
• Wheat germ
• 3 oz skim milk

You can really put any frozen fruit you want in the thing and I find it usually tastes pretty good. Some find that two scoops of protein is too much, so they use less. Use whatever, just include fruit, yoghurt, protein powder and a bit of milk.

Now to the consumerist part. You need to blend the ingredients. I currently use a hand blender, which is not ideal. I had a Hamilton Beach counter top blender but it broke. A lot of the less expensive blenders have cheap plastic gear teeth that break and render the blender useless. If you have more money than you should, the Vita-Mix 5000 is unanimously considered to be the best blender available. It will run you around $400 US but it will blend more efficiently than you can stalk on Facebook. Those of us on a more reasonable budget should consider an Oster or Kitchen Aid (still looking at two bills) product. I find Sears is a good place to look for these kind of small appliances but Walmart is carrying the Oster 12 speed for $47.48 CDN

If you're buying any blender under $70 CDN, make sure it has a glass container rather than a plastic one and a metal drive system, such as that in the Oster 12 speed. Plastic parts will break fast.

Compression shirts

Three years ago, there is no way I would have been caught wearing specialized gym clothing. I was sure that it was much cooler and just as effective to wear and old cotton t-shirt and some basketball shorts to the gym. Well every once in a while, I make a complete 180 degree turn. My stance on workout clothing was such an occasion.

When I started boxing I realized that I was working harder in the gym than I had ever worked before. One of the consequences was that I was sweating a profuse amount. It was distracting, and probably smelly, having a heavy, wet cotton t-shirt on. I decided to bite and I purchased a sleeveless Nike Pro compression shirt. It took some getting used to but it's to the point now where I consider not going to the gym without one (of course that could just be me looking for excuses to avoid the gym).

There are several benefits to wearing a compression shirt during a workout. The main purpose of these revealing garments is not aesthetic, but to reduce muscle vibration so that you're workout is more effective. They also keep moisture away from your body and reduce chafing. Since they're so tight, they keep your body warm as well. I have quite a few friends that play rugby and they say that the shirts are really beneficial if you're playing contact sports.

The whole fad was started by Under Armour and has since been copied by Nike, Adidas and others. Any of the brands will do since Under Armour had no patent on the material they first used to manufacture these things and there is little distinction between brands. Two things that I should mention:

1) Under no circumstances is it okay for any man wear a compression shirt without another, looser shirt, over top of it.
2) They're not inexpensive. They usually run around $40 in Canada and rarely go on sale. I find the best place to buy them is at Winners (in the States, that would be TJ Maxx). You can usually find them on the athletic racks for about $15-20. If they don't have any in stock, try Sportcheck or eBay.

Now get your fat ass back into the gym. You know you put on weight over the holidays.

The Down Parka

In my opinion, there are few items of clothing that will do as much for you as a down jacket. I know that women aren't as fond of the genre 'cause they have no desire to look "puffy" but its utility cannot be questioned. For men, women will want to hug you when you're wearing one because they look so appealing. A good down jacket is warm, breathes well and easily doubles as a pillow in the car.

In the last five years we have seen a proliferation of high end outdoor gear. It used to be that you were either wearing Patagonia, or buying something made by Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC). Now we have The North Face, Arc'Teryx (subsequently bought out by Salomon), Marmot, Cloudveil and others. Among them, Cloudveil is my personal favourite for a combination of reasons including performance, comfort, style and value.

As my good friends know too well, I have absolutely no need for a new jacket, but if I were in the market for a down or synthetic parka, I would probably bite on the Down Patrol Jacket at $299 US. I have a two year old version of Cloudveil's Enclosure Parka, which is a similar jacket with an artificial fill, and I can't wear it enough.

Cloudveil does a great job of designing their jackets with purpose in mind. As an example, the arms have extra give so that when I lift my arms, the waist of the jacket doesn't rise up.

I really like their down jacket, but the honest truth is that I like almost everything that Cloudveil makes (except their beanies). If you don't have a down jacket, I would seriously consider buying one and I would look at Cloudveil and The North Face as my first two options. Update: If you're in Canada, the Down Patrol jacket is available at MEC for $305 CDN. Your best bet in the US is to buy it through Cloudveil's site directly. I have used them before without incident.

I cannot really comment on Cloudveil's women's clothing but I do know that my sister just purchased a The North Face down jacket that she has yet to take off. She purchased the thing six days ago. Frankly, she's starting to smell rather putrid but she claims she is more comfortable than she has been in a long time. Down jackets are that good.

Squeezebox

A while ago my sister introduced me to an internet radio service called Pandora. It is unlike any other radio service I've experienced on the internet, because it is extremely customizable and it adjusts to suit your listening tastes.

It was great for me because I have broad musical interests, from Bob Dylan and John Prine to Mos Def and The Strokes. Behind the scenes at Pandora, they've categorized all the music by features that I don't really understand, but that apparently underlie my taste in music. A track by The White Stripes was recently played for me because it has "acoustic rock instrumentation, mild rhythmic syncopation, acoustic rhythm piano, major key tonality and a dynamic male vocalist." Huh? As you can see, it's not a simple case of "Max likes Dylan so he'll like The Band."

Though you can buy a subscription service from Pandora, it is free through any webpage, so it would not make a very good first post in a blog that is meant to be a source of products on which to spend cash. And indeed, it is not the subject of this post. But Pandora directed me to a product called the Squeezebox 3 by Slim Devices, a small company recently acquired by Logitech.

I purchased a Squeezebox last summer for $299 USD and installed it really quickly on my home stereo through RCA jacks. The Squeezebox then wirelessly streams music stored on my computer three floors up through the speakers in my room. Though RCA jacks are not the best quality, I have an older receiver that does not have digital audio inputs. Still, the Squeezebox does a great job delivering great sound using it's superlative digital to analogue converter.

The reason for the Pandora-Squeezebox alliance is that you can also stream your Pandora account (as well as hundreds of other internet radio stations) through your Squeezebox. It is free for the first 90 days, after which it costs $36 US for a 1 year subscription. Well worth the cash since you become addicted after the 90 day "taste."

Another bonus of the Squeezebox is that their software is open source, so there are tons of small useful add ons for the device including weather updates, alarm clocks, nature sounds, satellite radio and even a Netflix ordering screen.

Six months later, I'm really happy with the product and I recommend that anyone looking for a music streaming device heavily consider the Squeezebox.

Additional Links:
NY Times Review (registration required unless you use bugmenot.com)
T3 Review

Welcome aboard

I've been thinking about posting my thoughts on a website for quite some time. The delay in launch lay in narrowing my focus to something that would have appeal to an audience. Let's face it, people write these stupid blogs so that other people will read them.

One thing I talk to all my friends about is purchases. Usually these are more expensive items, since people don't feel the need to discuss a $5 purchase with their friends. I am frequently asked my opinion for three reasons - 1) I have great taste, 2) I'm a very competent and thorough researcher, and 3) I smell fantastic (and people want to talk to me so they can be close).

This is not a bargain shopping website. I'm going to try and limit the number "cheap crap" posts. It is also not a luxury item index, since most of those are for insecure, superficial people. I buy the best stuff by trying to weed out any status associated with a product for no tangible reason. This is just a journal of things that I would purchase if I had the money and the need. Computers, stereo equipment, fashion, food, entertainment and even personal finance products. It will consist of posts that point to items that distinguish themselves in their field.

I hope you enjoy reading this page. I think it's going to be a lot of fun for me to write and I would like to hear your feedback in the comments section. I know that there will be opposition to almost everything I post, since everyone has an opinion. I promise that what I do post will be well researched and I will be able to back my decision for having designated it "post-worthy."