The neatest consumer good I've purchased all year.

[scrub]

I /images/graemlins/heart.gif the information age. (http://www.thenewyorkerstore.com/books_completenewyorker_middle.asp?mscssid=JSCBSTN 4XQKN9K7PA0PCAMDSU8500439&sitetype=1)

scrub

[Tron]

I'd be more apathetic if I weren't so lethargic.

[RunDownHouse]

"...and he's saying 'I wish I was taller.' Ha ha. See? That's his complaint."

[imported_anacardo]

I'd like to put in a good word here for my new teapot, which rules.

Yeah, whatever. Back up off a brother.

[jason_t]

Wow. That is really neat.

[Blarg]

Very cool. I find a huge portion of that magazine irredeemably tedious and pompous, but there's a lot of great stuff in the rest of it.

Here's my favorite item bought this year:


http://www.uskettlebells.com/productinfo.html

[pokerdirty]

[ QUOTE ]
"...and he's saying 'I wish I was taller.' Ha ha. See? That's his complaint."

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a Ziggy.

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
Very cool. I find a huge portion of that magazine irredeemably tedious and pompous, but there's a lot of great stuff in the rest of it.

Here's my favorite item bought this year:


http://www.uskettlebells.com/productinfo.html

[/ QUOTE ]

Those look really cool. I've been doing PT for a rotator cuff problem, but when it gets back up to full strength I might have to check those out.

scrub

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
Very cool. I find a huge portion of that magazine irredeemably tedious and pompous, but there's a lot of great stuff in the rest of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read it pretty selectively now, but what's exciting about the collection is all of the people who used to write for it.

E.B. White, for instance, is just about as far from tedious and pompous as one can get.

Also, I'd be hard pressed to think of a way to buy a more comprehensive anthology of 20th century short fiction.

scrub

[scrub]

I probably should have put a prompt in here, but, in addition to singing the praises of the New Yorker archive, I was trying to elicit more posts like Blarg's.

So, what's the coolest thing you've purchased this year?

scrub

[jokerthief]

While your purchase is extremely cool, I take exception to you using the word "neatest". I wish I could make using the word "neat" a felony.

[FatalError]

http://shop.grasscity.com/shop/grasscity/vapormed.html

[Sakuraba]

What specific results have you seen from the kettlebells? Has it translated into gains lifting in the gym, improvement in sports, or gains in muscle/loss of fat?

Wow, kettlebells are more expensive than I thought.

[Blarg]

They have a lot of good political articles and ones on things like psychology and the environment, too. They even had the best article on Mike Tyson I've read. And I love their cartoons.

Definitely a good place for short fiction, though I confess I don't always like their taste in short fiction. Not bad for poems, too.

My favorite magazine is The Atlantic. I think they sell collections of their old stuff too.

[Clarkmeister]

http://ai.pricegrabber.com/product_images/3752000-3752999/3752243_640.jpg

[wacki]

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/holstein/images/holstein-web-1.jpg

Yes, the whole thing. Except mine was in a box.

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/holstein/images/holstein-web-1.jpg

Yes, the whole thing. Except mine was in a box.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dairy?

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
Very cool. I find a huge portion of that magazine irredeemably tedious and pompous, but there's a lot of great stuff in the rest of it.

Here's my favorite item bought this year:


http://www.uskettlebells.com/productinfo.html

[/ QUOTE ]

Do these go in someone's pooper?

[Evan]

A Lost Season Two (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_%282004_television_series%29) recorder (http://www.tivo.com/2.1.asp).

[InchoateHand]

Very, very cool.

I'm envious, now I'll have to get this.

I suscribe to many periodicals, but only so I can claim something in this life of ours, I read the New Yorker cover to cover every week. That and Granta are the only things to which I make that claim.

It got weak for a while, but now that the Tina Brown years are over, I'm digging it again.


I definitely have to get this, and furthermore, even if I do, it will make a great gift to many other people as well.


My best consumer goods item this year?

http://www.animalplastics.com/Image-1-Black%20Large%20Web%20view.jpg


I have worked with pretty much all of the major enclosures in the industry, but I simply can't get enough of these AP cages. They trap humidity and heat with the best of them, while providing wonderful ventilation. Plus, they are affordable and their customer support cannot be beat. I recommend them to anyone else into larger boids. They have replaced Neodesha (the old Neos, not the aborted takeover effort) as my favorite cagebuilder for the boid community.

[Evan]

What is that?

[InchoateHand]

Its something no one cares about, besides the random few, but its still the thing I was most excited about purchasing. Actually, it was the thing I purchased that afterwards I became most excited about.

Its a cage, the specific model pictured, which I purchased, is 84" X 30" X 18".

Its made of controlled density PVC, which means its lightweight, really strong, hospital-sanitary and resisitant to all the wear and tear keeping reptiles comprises.

Again, nobody else cares, I know, but it made me happy inside.

Many people cater to this market, and larger cages run from the hundreds into the thousands, but this item doesn't warp, doesn't bend, doesn't break, etc. Its good stuff.

[Evan]

What do you put in it? Animals? What kind?

You can't post something this obscure and give no details.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
What specific results have you seen from the kettlebells? Has it translated into gains lifting in the gym, improvement in sports, or gains in muscle/loss of fat?

Wow, kettlebells are more expensive than I thought.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, this one is an adjustable one. You can get fixed weight ones for much cheaper, but then you'll have to get a few to cover the same range this does, from 16 to 32 kilos(35 to 70 pounds). If you add up the cost of multiple bells, depending where you get them, it may come out to more than this adjustable bell.

You can use kettlebells pretty much for whatever you want. Anything you could use a dumbbell for, and some specific things you'll get only with kettlebells, like swings. I'm working mostly on strength, and a little on mass, too. I'm not working on endurance at all right now. You can do KB lifting for endurance too, though; all you have to do is raise the reps and/or sets. There's a whole sport, called girevoy sport, that's built around doing kettlebells for reps. The standard weight for men is 53 pounds(24 kg) I believe. Everyone competes to see how many of certain KB exercises they can do with that specified weight. They're popular among women, too, at lighter weights.

Most of my routine hasn't been with a kettlebell. It's been bodyweight exercises and deadlifts, and gripper training. These exercises have been so good that I haven't needed to do many other exercises. But I am going to be working more kettlebells into my routine, as I change it up a bit.

I have used kettlebells to get stronger, doing mostly shoulder exercises(military presses and snatches), as well as bent-over rows. I feel they've helped me put on some mass and strength in my back fairly quickly,. I've done swings, which are really great, but they tend to stress the lower back a bit, and my deadlifting already trains that area plenty, so I haven't gotten into swings extensively. They are kind of fun though, and a really unusual movement. There are a lot of unusual movements you can do with kettlebells, and I've sampled a lot of them, but there are only so many exercises you can do at once, without burning out.

One of the things I like about kettelbells is that they have a fun factor that dumbbells and barbells really don't. It takes skill to handle them, and coordination. Some barbell stuff takes coordination, but nearly everything with a kettlebell takes some coordination. The skill aspect keeps me from being bored. I actually look forward to pushing the KB around. If you look at Steve Cotter's FullKOntactkettlebells.com site, you can see videos of some pretty cool exercises with them that take an incredible amount of strength and skill. Then again, you can do some grinds with them almost as simple as using a dumbbell. They're just pretty cool and versatile.

If you go to the Dragondoor.com site, they have good forums and a big article section on kettlebells, as well as other exercises. They're the main retailers of KB's in the U.S., and there are lots of expert trainers who post there regularly. Good place to go to find solid KB training info. Their KB's are about the most expensive ones out there, and non-adjustable, but they're supposedly the highest quality ones solid kettlebells made. I feel I got the highest quality adjustable one made, and will get another. Eventually, I'll get Dragondoor solid KB's for the weights I don't have, over 70 lbs. But that will be a while coming; 70 lbs. is a damn heavy kettlebell, and I won't outgrow it for a long time.

[Jdanz]

gripper training?

[InchoateHand]

I keep a variety of exotic reptiles.

At present I'm working with a number of different pythons. The prize of my collection is my breeding pair of apodora papuana---the papuan python. Its a beautiful animal, that can change its color from mustard yellow to a green bordering on black. For a snake (which isn't saying much), its highly intelligent---quick to learn where it can escape, and furthermore, quick to apprehend that you pose no threat. They can go from snappy to kitten-docile in weeks. They never reach a size that poses any threat to humans, but they are still a substantial animal, very responsive to their environment but hardy to boot. The only difficulty is breeding them, hence their paucity in captive care.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/holstein/images/holstein-web-1.jpg

Yes, the whole thing. Except mine was in a box.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dairy?

[/ QUOTE ]

No.

[Eurotrash]

well, I guess this doesn't necessarily qualify as neat, but I really like it


http://img306.imageshack.us/img306/1553/905t8ax.jpg

[Blarg]

With handgrippers, though it's kind of become a generic term for hand strength training. Kind of like those cheapo plastic handgrippers you probably saw growing up that were pretty easy -- they're like 30 pounds to close or something. They make them out of aluminum and steel now, with thick springs, and they make them in gradations of difficulty that go up to basically Herculean, like taking 400 pounds of pressure to close. You can even get certified in closing the ones that are 300 pounds, because they're so hard.

Most grown men can only close about 112 pounds. But gripper training is pretty cool because not only is grip so useful in sport after sport, but you can get MUCH stronger hands extremely quickly. Hands gain strength unbelievably fast. Good hand strength is helpful in doing other strength exercises, too, like deadlifts. Most people have a hard time holding the weight they're capable of deadlifting, but gripper training helps that.

There are people who train to bend horseshoes, bolts, and nails, too. Pretty spectacular stuff. Check out Grippermania.com and Gripboard.com for lots of training advice. The first one is nicer as far as tone of the owners and moderators go.

The standard grippers that all others are measured by are the ones sold at Ironmind.com. You can order some of their stuff through Amazon, too. These are the ones with the most famous certifications. I'll bump a thread here for ya that I got going on grippers a while back.

[Jdanz]

wow i'm gonna have to do this, i work out 3x a week but when i do shoulder shrugs/deadlifts it's my grip that stops me as opposed to my shoulders/lower back, thanks

[Blarg]

No prob. It's the Captains of Crush thread that I just bumped.

[tongni]

If you listen to music, you need these.

http://www.headphone.com/products/headphones/in-ear-monitor/etymotic-er-4p.php

Unbelivable. I've never been happier with any purchase I've made, ever. When you are playing p**** and all you can hear is the music and your heartbeat, it's beautiful.

[Evan]

I have a pair of Shures that I would have used as my answer here had I not bought them last year.

[sfer]

[ QUOTE ]
I /images/graemlins/heart.gif the information age. (http://www.thenewyorkerstore.com/books_completenewyorker_middle.asp?mscssid=JSCBSTN 4XQKN9K7PA0PCAMDSU8500439&sitetype=1)

scrub

[/ QUOTE ]

Megan bought this for me as a gift. I had a horrid day at work and when I got home it was waiting with the doorman, a surprise. I'm thrilled. It rules. Everything about it, right down to the sepia edges on the pages because they were physically scanned.

[Sakuraba]

Thanks Blarg. I might pick some up some day. They might be good for training at home without an elaborate setup.

[Blarg]

Takes up almost no room and there are all kinds of things you can do with it -- explosive ballistic movements like swings, and slow grinds, passing it around the body in hand to hand drills, etc. Strength, endurance, or what they're calling now "strength-endurance," whatever. I really enjoy mine and think it's a terrific value even though it's so expensive.

I got the set of Steve Kotter's FullKOntact Kettlebells DVD's in the package deal when I got mine. Those DVD's are excellent, especially the second one. Some very creative exercises.

Here's a link to a guy who did a few e-book type thingies with a bunch of kettlebell exercises. I bought the encyclopedia of KB exercises. Very cheap, but still pretty good, with lots of exercises:

http://www.girevoysport.ru/

The standard kettlebell reference people refer to is Pavel Tstatsouline's Russian Kettlebell Challenge book. It comes in DVD too, but the book has a lot more info than the DVD does.

I think all of these products are worth buying. Cotter's are my favorite, though, but they are more specialized toward martial arts.

[ChipWrecked]

Now you'll know every club Les Paul has played in for like, the last 30 years.