The Modern Materialist

March 2008 - Posts

• Love it or Leave it? Flashlight Candle

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  [$19, Park Life]  + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 06:00 PM with no comments Filed under: home goods, Love it or Leave it, Fun Stuff

• Cupcake Week! (The Best Week Ever?)

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  [$4.25, Etsy]  According to Martha Stewart, this week is Cupcake Week. Okay. I'm willing to go along with that. In honor of the occasion, here are some cupcake-related products: Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 05:30 PM with no comments Filed under: kitchen

• Happy Hour: Optical Illusion

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  If one drink leaves you seeing this, don't worry, that doesn't necessarily make you a lightweight. Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 05:00 PM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: home goods, Happy Hour, Glasses

• Hands Free Double Trash Can

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  My kitchen is disgusting. And not just because of all the meat I keep throwing everywhere, though that’s a large part of it. It’s mainly because I have a regular sized trashcan, and then a much, much smaller can for my recycling. So right now, if you went into my kitchen, you’d find a gigantic stack of recycling material that looks about ready to pour everywhere. The iTouchless - 2 Compartment Recycle Touchless Trashcan® NX 16 Gallon might help push me in the right direction… It has two full sized bins inside, one for trash, one for recycling. And it’s hands free, meaning the lid will open whenever you come within 6 inches of the unit. Battery life lasts up to twelve months, and the trashcan has wheels on it, so you can give people rides in it (or move it around easily, I GUESS). [$139, Trashcan Central] + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 04:30 PM with no comments Filed under: gadgets, kitchen, Trashcan

• Trend Watch: Eyelet

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  [$14.99, Target]  How many sit-ups do you think I'd have to do every day to get a stomach as flat as this model's? Nevermind. Let's focus on the bathing suit, shall we? It's eyelet, just like a whole lot of other items you'll be seeing in stores and on streets this spring and summer. It's not just for curtains, tablecloths, and baby's bonnets anymore. This year, eyelet is popping up all over the place:   Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 04:05 PM with no comments Filed under: Trend Watch, Eyelet

• 5 Alternative Uses For the Exmocare BT2

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  This emotion-monitoring watch from Exmocare is scary-cool (though erring on the side of scary). Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 03:00 PM with no comments

• Dress Up Your Fake Cat For The Holidays

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  There is a certain type of person who own cats. A subsection of that is people who like to dress up their cats. There is a subsection of THOSE people who also like to own a lot of cat stuff, like figurines, paintings, books, etc. This is for an even smaller subsection of those people: Cat owners who like to dress up their cat figurines in holiday costumes. Pricing, and then more pictures of the seasonally “appropriate” costumes, after the jump. [$25, The Lighter Side Co.]   Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 02:00 PM with no comments Filed under: Ridiculous, Pet Products

• Ten Things I'd Rather Do Than Sit Through an Entire Baseball Game

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  Today is opening day for the New York Yankees, which, for my baseball-loving boyfriend is more exciting than Christmas (especially since he's Jewish). I'm not opposed to the sport — or the team — and may even tag along to a couple of games with him this season (oh please let them be fast ones!), but there are certainly a few other things I'd rather do with my time than watch a bunch of over-paid guys in tights and jockstraps play tag with each other for four hours straight. After the jump, ten things I'd rather do than sit through an entire 9-inning baseball game: Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 01:30 PM with no comments Filed under: Baseball

• Taters of the Lost Ark

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  [$14.99, Hasbro]  I've been wanting to replace my long-gone Mr. Potato Head for years now, but every time I see one and consider it, I tell myself I'm being silly. After all, what would I — a 27-year-old — do with a toy meant for tots? But dude. This Taters of the Lost Ark Potato Head is irresistible. After the jump, vote on your favorite Indiana Jones movie, and watch a trailer for the forthcoming (!) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 12:30 PM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: toys

• Big Buck Safari!

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  I’ve previously written about the joys of Big Buck Hunter, the game where you get to destroy animals without actually killing anything, while drinking beer. You know, the perfect game? Anyway, there was a little tease at the end of that post about Big Buck Safari, the latest incarnation of the game series, hitting at the end of March. Lo and behold, it’s the end of March, and here it is. Deets, after the jump...    Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 12:00 PM with no comments Filed under: video games

• HP’s New, 3 Megapixel Webcam

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  I don’t own a webcam. I don’t own a computer equipped with one. I’m not interested in video chatting with people on the internet. This is mainly because, for the most part, the quality is pretty poor. Even Apple’s included webcam isn’t that great, and I LOVE Apple stuff, so clearly I’m on the up and up here. Specs, and more, after the jump... Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 11:30 AM with no comments Filed under: gadgets, tech, USB, webcams

• Brooklyn Flea

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  This Sunday, April 6, marks the first day of Brooklyn Flea, New York City's biggest flea market. Every Sunday, "top sellers of new and vintage furniture, lighting, records, clothes, jewelry, crafts, and more" will gather on a 40,000 square foot lot in Fort Greene. I don't know about you, but for me, a flea market combines some of my all-time favorite things: bargain-shopping, cool-hunting, people-watching, picture-taking, and sweet-toothing (made up phrase!). For those of you not in NYC, don't worry, you won't completely miss out on all the fun. Many of the vendors at Brooklyn Flea have online stores, including: Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 11:00 AM with no comments Filed under: Brooklyn Flea

• Love It or Leave It? Death-Watch

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  [$145, Watchismo]  Just in case you needed a reminder, or perhaps even a sense of perspective. Cerpe diem and all that?   [Via Oh Gizmo!]  + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 10:30 AM with no comments

• Top Two Needs for a Sick Day

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  I have a ginormous cold today, which comes from the rapid changes back and forth in the weather. I can deal with consistent cold, consistent hot, or consistent… Medium? I dunknow. But for some reason, you rapidly fluctuate the temperature, and my body breaks faster than stone in a similar circumstance. With the recent, terrifying revelation that AirBorne does absolutely nothing to help prevent colds, I’ve had to go back to my old ways of healing a cold. Tissues, chicken soup, a warm blanket, blah, blah, blah... What about the really important stuff? Check out my two top picks, after the jump. Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 10:00 AM with no comments Filed under: Movies, Mugs

• Retro Arcade: Tetris Shelves

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  Now, I don’t personally need any more shelves. I currently have the entire wall of my living room covered in books, two walls of my bedroom, and an entire closet, all packed to the brim with reading material. I’ve actually stopped buying books, because there’s no place for me to put them. So I certainly don’t need any more shelves. However, these are pretty kewl. This shelving unit consists of 10 separate sections that can be locked together, or left separately. Pictured above, they’re together, of course. But you can make ‘em float, have the bottom linked together, and the top still “falling,” or whatever combo you want. You can even link ‘em together in a 3-D design to use it as a temporary wall. The shelves come in a number of colors and designs, with several different backing colors, so there’s pretty much something here for everyone. [$1500, Brave Space Design] A few more pictures after the jump:   Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 09:30 AM with no comments Filed under: Retro Arcade, books, shelves

• Cheap Trick: Metal Owl Necklace

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  Check it out — I won this awesome vintage owl necklace on eBay yesterday. It's 3 inches long, with beedy little rhinestone eyes, hangs on a 24 inch chain, and looks, yeah, I'll say it: fierce. It was a one-of-a-kind, so I can't point you to a store where y ou can get your very own, but I did find one that's pretty cool in its own right and at less than 9 bucks, it makes a great cheap trick. Check it: Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 09:00 AM with no comments Filed under: Jewelry, eBay, Cheap Trick

• Quick Tip of the Day: Desktop Decision Maker

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  [$16, Room Service Home]  I lead a life with too many yeses. Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 31 2008, 08:30 AM with no comments Filed under: Quick tip

• Week in Review: March 28

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  This week at Modern Materialist, we: Got Dark and Stormy Discovered some simple pleasures Got clayed with the Sculpta Sutra Started slow cookin' Found ten more things white people like Geeked out with awesome Battlestar Galactic Propaganda posters Asked for help in decorating a wall Fantasized of creating a ukuleles orchestra Reminisced about Calvin & Hobbes and voted headphone style Have a great weekend. See you Monday. + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 06:00 PM with no comments Filed under: Week in Review

• Love It or Leave It: Voodoo Knife Block

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  [$70, Perpetual Kid] + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 05:30 PM with no comments Filed under: Love it or Leave it, kitchen, Knives

• Happy Hour: Wine To Go. Lots of It

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  [$37.95, Wrapables]  I'm partial to wine. You may have noticed. Sometimes, people don't have wine to offer when I come over. And sometimes they do, but it's all just a huge tease, because they don't even have a corkscrew. Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 05:00 PM with no comments Filed under: Booze, Happy Hour, alcohol

• Most Useless Beautiful

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  Practically-speaking, this is about the most useless kitchen product I've ever seen. Aesthetically-speaking, it's one of the most lovely. Forget storing salt and pepper, I want to hang it the cellars on the empty wall space above my stove immediately! [$32, Rare Device]  + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 04:35 PM with no comments Filed under: home decor, kitchen

• Free For You And Me: Photoshop Express

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  Why waste money on a full version of Photoshop, like a sucker, when you can now grab it online for free? Adobe has released a very basic version of their industry standard image editing software for free, online, for anyone. There’s even 2GB of image storage available, which is more than enough for all of your LOLCat creation needs. [Free, Photoshop.com] + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 04:00 PM with no comments Filed under: computers, Free, software

• Robot Wars

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  vs. That's Gizmo (on the left). He's adorable. But sometimes, in the dark of the night, I think it might be cool to have a robot friend too. Because, well, I'm still of the mind that if I actually own a robot...then obviously, hover cars are right around the corner. A look at some of the robots I've considered:   Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 03:30 PM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: gadgets, tech, Robots

• Good Uses for the Good Book

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  I knew a guy in college who swore that the pages of the Bible made the best rolling papers. My mother will be relieved to know I never tested his theory. I have, however, found an even better use for the Bible: Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 03:03 PM with no comments Filed under: Accessories, handbags

• The Cushions That Zip Together, Stay Together

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  All right, hippies. Or rather, grown up hippies… Those beanbag chairs are getting old and stinky, so why not throw them out and get something new for your living room? No, no, I’m not going to make you get off the floor. You can stay down there as long you pick up Pling’s ZipZip Pillows, a series of interlocking pillows that, yup, zip together to make a couch, or bed, or… Line of zipped together pillows, I dunknow. Pricing is available upon request, and you can check out another pic after the jump...   Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 02:30 PM with no comments Filed under: living room, pillows

• The Sweet and the Low: Tepees

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  [$2,200, Design Within Reach]  That's right. Tepees. And yes, I tried to make one when I was little (last year). I mean, who doesn't want a tepee!?* Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 02:04 PM with no comments Filed under: Sweet and Low

• Cheap Trick: Lick and Fold

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  It's cheap, easy, and likes to be licked. It's also a throwback to a age when people took a little more time expressing sentiments to one another. Most of all, it's just pretty cool. Find out what it is after the jump. Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 01:34 PM with no comments Filed under: Paper Goods, Cheap Trick

• Star Wars Golf Bags

  Posted by Alex Zalben

  I can’t imagine this golf bag will make you the hit of the course, but then… I don’t play golf. [$500, StarWars.com] [Via Dvice] + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 01:00 PM with no comments Filed under: geeky, Sports

• Flower Power

  Posted by Wendy Atterberry

  It's a bird! It's a plane! Well, okay, obviously it's not either of those, but I think you're going to like it... Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 12:30 PM with no comments Filed under: tech

• What's Your Headphone Style?

  Posted by Steph Auteri

  I personally prefer to wear my massive headphones, because I think they make me look bad-ass. And they double as earmuffs. But if I were actually a girly girl...   Read More... + DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT Posted Mar 28 2008, 12:05 PM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: gadgets, tech, Music