The Modern Materialist

Week in Review: May 9

Wendy Atterberry — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:00:00 GMT

This weekend Modern Materialist turns three months old! We can't believe our baby is growing up so quickly. I guess that's what happens when you feed it plenty of Melona bars and chocolate covered bacon. Thank you to all of you who make MM part of your daily internet perusing and have helped it grow so quickly, and an even heartier thanks to those who leave comments, who Stumble and Digg us or pass along links to your friends, and especially to those who email with suggestions. It's hard work finding nearly 20 things each and every day to blog about, so the more you can share your awesome finds with us, the more time we have for what we like best: happy hour. So keep those emails coming (ModernMaterialist@nerve.com).

And now, why you're really here — this week at Modern Materialist, we:

Prices Dropping On Warhol Prints...

Steph Auteri — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Just the other day, Alex posted about Warhol pieces...for a mere $100!

After the jump, check out what the Warhol Art Maker let me do for free!

Yup, that's fellow Nervesters John and Peter, in the opening shot for their brand new video game blog, 61 Frames Per Second. Handsome, aren't they? Here's the original pic:

Neato! I forsee myself spending lots of time with this program...

Happy Hour: Mother's Day Cocktails

Wendy Atterberry — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:00:00 GMT

This Sunday is Mother's Day and if you're lucky enough to spend some time with your mother, do something really special for her this year and skip the crowded, over-priced brunch and have her over to your place — or head on over to her's — and whip up some Mother's Day cocktails for her, like the Strawberry Martini, which is so good it may even get you a little boost in the will. Recipe and link to other fantastic mom drinks after the jump:

Strawberry Martini:

trawberry Martini

Ingredients

2-1/2 shots gin
1/2 shot strawberry liqueur (look for Volare Wild Strawberry Liqueur)
Fresh strawberry and lemon twist for garnish

Directions

Add ingredients to a mixing glass full of ice, stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist and a strawberry.

[This recipe, plus the Rose Petal martini, andthe Rizzo via The Nibble]

Ooch Armchair Brings Multiple Pillows

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Sanniadesign has created a fun and practical chair concept: take one frame; add four pillows; that’s it. So you have the option of having a princess and the pea style chair, or take the pillows out for up to three friends (I assume you wouldn’t want to sit on the frame by itself, though I guess you could).

The chair will be shown at an upcoming furniture show, though there’s not a lot of info on which one, or when. Sanniadesign also has a number of other concepts on their website, but the one that jumped out at me was this:

It’s a fork, specifically made for spaghetti! What can I say, we like silverware here.

[Sanniadesign]

[Via Freshome]

Express Yourself

Wendy Atterberry — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:30:00 GMT

"Can you hear me now?" has never been a less important question than it is with this:

[via Trendhunter]

Chocolate Covered Bacon + Video!

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

For a blog obsessed with gadgets and doo-dads, it sure took us a long time to figure out how to use our webcam, didn’t it? In any case, the all-text portion of Modern Materialist’s life-span is over, as we have signed up for a YouTube account (that took us a while, too). So now, we’ll be bringing you videos of some of the latest gadgets and products we pick up, with our impressions and pretty mugs, now in muddled, unfocused, moving format. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel over here, and be sure to leave us a nice comment! Or two!

To kick things off, Luca Chocolates from Ramseur, NC was nice to make me a special batch of chocolate covered bacon, fulfilling a life-long dream of mine. Check out the video below, and then hit back for more info, and pricing:

Still here? Cool. What’d you think, huh? I’m pretty shiny, right? And I don’t know how to look into the webcam yet? Anyway, here’s the background info, for those of you non-video watchers: I posted a contest to win some chocolate covered bacon, as long as you could find out for me where it came from. One intrepid reader, Leslie Cooper, let me know that if I couldn’t find some, she'd make it for me.

So I ended up getting sent an assortment that included:

- Bacon Topped Caramel
- Bacon Covered Caramel
- Salted, Chocolate Covered Bacon
- A Tiramisu Cream
- Bourbon and Black Pepper Truffle

Hands down, the Bourbon and Black Pepper Truffle was the best thing in the assortment… A smooth, creamy truffle with hints of liquor, and a sharp, peppery aftertaste. Completely surprising, and completely delicious.

As for the bacony treats, the Bacon Covered Caramel was the most delicious. It was salted caramel, which I’m a big fan of, covered in dark chocolate, with a crunchy stick of bacon on top. Salty, sweet, and perfectly balanced.

I will say that for the actual chocolate covered bacon itself (i.e., a slice of bacon covered in chocolate), I could use more bacon, and less chocolate; but at the same time, I would bet that’s exactly what most consumers don’t want.

If more people end up buying the bacon covered chocolate, Luca Chocolates says that they’ll start marketing ‘em, and selling on the website. So head on over, and let them know if you’d like to try some yourself. It’ll be $16.95 for the half pound, $32.95 for the full pound.

[Luca Chocolates]

Who Would You Rather?

Steph Auteri — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:30:00 GMT

5 Heroes I Would So Get Down and Dirty With:

Indiana Jones
Luke Skywalker
Nail Patrick Harris (What would NPH Do?)
Legolas
Robin. That's right, not Batman. Robin. I used to have such the crush on Burt Ward. If we had ever gotten together back then, in the days of his sidekicky youth, I might have asked him to snag these from Batman and meet me in the bedroom:

[$136.99, Entertainment Earth]

Anyone up for a bit of role playing?

[Via Geek Alerts]

Tiny Art Packs a Big Punch

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT

I’ve completely fallen in love with Brooklyn based artist Thomas Doyles’ pieces, which use model train miniatures and scenery to create, incredible, evocative scenes, like the one pictured above.

They’re not all murder and terror, though let’s be fair, a good amount of them are. The pieces are all going to be available for viewing at several upcoming exhibits, and I’ll have all the info below. But first, Doyle himself was nice enough to give me a call and let me know that all of his pieces are available for purchase, either at the galleries on display, or by contacting him personally. Prices range from $5000 for the larger pieces, to $850/$900 for the smaller pieces.

A few more pics, and then info on where you can check ‘em out for yourself.

My Little / Membrane | NURTUREart | 910 Grand St., Brooklyn, New York  May 9 to June15 | Opening reception: Friday, May 9, 7 to 9 p.m. |www.nurtureart.org

Synthetic Supernova | Mixed Greens Gallery | 531 W. 26th St., New York, New York  May 30 to July 3 | Opening reception: Friday, May 30, 6 to 8 p.m. |www.mixedgreens.com

[ThomasDoyle.net]

[Via Make]

Get Your Hands On Some Knickers

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Oh yes, my friends: hyper-color is back. For those of you who don’t remember, hyper-color fabric was super popular about twenty years ago, for about twenty minutes. You would have a colored shirt, and when someone pressed against your shirt, the heat would make it change color, at least where the hand-print was.

GreenKnickers has taken this to the next logical step (albeit, two decades later), with their Heat Sensitive Knickers. As the undies warm against your skin, the daisy design turns from pink to white. And here’s the best part: the hyper-color is made with organic vegetable based inks, so you can wear something fun, while still protecting the planet.

There’s also a yellow pair of undies, which have a tree design, instead of a daisy. As they warm, the tree sheds its leaves! Cool!

[£15, Ethical Superstore]

[Via Hippyshopper]

Pop-up Dinner Party

Wendy Atterberry — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Question: How can these pop-ups make your dinner party more festive and fun?

Answer after the jump:

Pop-up placemats -- made entirely fromrecyled paper!

[$24.75, Delight]

How Exxxxtreme Are You?

Steph Auteri — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

The Five Most Extreme Things I've Ever Done:

White water rafting (except that it wasn't white water season, and there was barely a ripple on the river, and all my screaming was precipitated by the misconception that the seaweed was "attacking" me)
Parasailing (which is not incredibly extreme — more like sitting on air — except for the time we thought our boat driver was going to drop us on a house)
Horseback riding (I became terrified when the horse sped up into a canter)
Zip line (oh crap, that's right; I was the only one out of my entire group too afraid to do the zip line!!!)
Riding on a jet ski in Mexico, which really was the biggest rush for me. In fact, it leads me to believe that I should get one of these babies for myself:

[$12,800, Yamaha]

How hot is that!? This 2008 Yamaha FX Cruiser SHO has an all new 1.8-liter supercharged engine, the world's first hull and deck manufactured using nanotechnology, reducing weight by 25%, and the industry's first cruise control system.

Plus, it's pretty.

[Via Uncrate]

Inflatable Iceberg Keeps Things Cool

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

So most of us don’t have a swimming pool. I mean, maybe some of you do, but I live in an apartment in NYC, so if I got a pool installed, I think my downstairs neighbors would kill me. However, if we did all have pools, I bet we’d also like to have this 14’ tall inflatable iceberg/climbing wall.

You can climb up one of the three climbable sides, slide down the slidable side, and the whole thing is made from durable PVC. Which is really fun and cool (pun intended), until you find out how much it costs:

[$6475, Amazon]

[Via Uncrate]

Ten Under Ten: May 9

Wendy Atterberry — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT

[$9.95, Gorey Store]

I went through a tarot card phase in my early 20's — who hasn't? — and I only wish I had these cards back then. Somehow, a bad fortune just seems less daunting when delivered in darkly humorous Edward Gorey fashion.

More great finds for under ten bucks after the jump:

[$8, Fred Flare]

Geeky mints!

[$9.95, Scentiments]

These candles smell SO GOOD! Great for summer travels when you stay in stuffy hotel rooms.

[$6.95, Wrapables]

Don't forget your kitties! Mine love these things!

[$9.95, CB2]

[$7.95, Anthropologie]

[$6.49, Perpetual Kid]

These floating goldfish candles would look so cool floating in a fishbowl. Put it on your patio table during an evening BBQ this summer for a fun, festive look.

[$5.95, Patina]

[$9.99, UrbanOutfitters]

[$7.50, Old Navy]

This shape and color are universally flattering.

Bird-Electron iPod Recycling Speaker

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:00:00 GMT

I think you can be forgiven if you have no idea what this thingy is, based on the title. Is it for birds? How does it recycle? And what’s the deal with the electron thing?

Good questions, everybody, and now, here’s the explanation:

- It’s called Bird-Electron, because that’s the name of the company that makes it.
- It’s for your iPod. This part was pretty obvious.
- The recycling part is that the speaker fits right into your iPod Nano or Shuffle Box. Yup, the box your iPod came in is recycled into being the base for your speaker.
- I think by now you figured out the speaker part.

The other totally neat thing about this is that the speaker runs on no additional power. There’s a lot of iPod speakers out there like this, so it’s not a huge shocker, but no batteries, no power source, just plug and play.

[$40, AudioCubes]

[Via BookofJoe]

Laptop Bag Saves Users From Speeding Bullets

Steph Auteri — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:30:00 GMT

[$80, Built]

CORRECTION: This laptop back is water-resistant, but not buller-resistant. After the jump, the pack in action:

CORRECTION: This is an actual bulletproof vest in action.

Foodie Fight Trivia Game

Wendy Atterberry — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Hey all you foodies out there, here's a trivia question for you:

Why was the animal crackers box designed with a string handle? Answer after the jump.

A: The animal shaped cookie treats were introduced in 1902 as a Christmas novelty, and packaged so they would be hung from the Christmas trees.

I don't know if that question will be included in the Foodie Fight Trivia Game, but "with over 1,000 questions on topics ranging from culinary science and celebrity chefs to food history and exotic cuisine, each player is bound to get a full serving of food knowledge." Sounds like a great addition to Game Night.

[$18.50, Delight]

[trivia question via]

Quick Tip of the Day: Reupholster your MacBook

Alex Zalben — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:30:00 GMT

Heading over my S.O.’s sister’s place for her b-day, I was flabbergasted to see something that looked like a MacBook, but was clearly not a MacBook, because it was made out of wood!

I eyed it suspiciously, until it turned out that what she had done was take some cheap, $2 self-adhesive shelf lining paper, and layer it carefully onto her laptop. Then, also carefully, cut a hole in the shape of the Apple on the back of the book.

Quick, easy, and you have a whole new (old) computer!

Some more pics, and then a link to paper of your own:

The link below is for some $3 contact paper from Amazon, but you can almost definitely grab some from the local dollar store.

[$3, Amazon]

Thanks to Jodi for the tip!

Festival Survival Kit

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:00:00 GMT

For those of you who read this blog regularly, it won’t come as too much a shock to find out that I love clubbing. I like going dancing in clubs, and partying, and hanging out with all the cool… Okay, fine, I’m a NARC.

But, as a NARC, I still have to do some serious partying so I can get in with the perps who sell whizzbangers and hoo-ha juice on the mean streets. That’s why I like the Festival Weekend Survival Kit, which comes packed with everything I need to keep jamming with kids about half my age, including: glow stick; energy slabs; condom; sun cream; mints; ear plugs; toothbrush; toothpaste; deodorant wipe; refreshing wipe; mosquito wipe; plasters; emergency tissues; and drugs.

Ha! I saw you perk up about the drugs! You’re under arrest, you stoner. Turns out... I was a NARC. The whole time.

[£10, Drink Stuff]

Designer Perez Hilton

Wendy Atterberry — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Oh, good — Perez Hilton's coming out with a fashion line (to be sold at the always classy Hot Topic). I've totally been wondering where I could find turqoise shirts with pistols and clouds and rocker-kittens and heart-shaped sunglasses.

From OK! Magazine:

Notorious blogger and "Queen of All Media," Perez Hilton, can now also call himself a 'designer.'

On Wednesday, Perez announced plans to introduce a clothing and accessories line, to be sold exclusively at Hottopic.com and in all Hot Topic stores nationwide.

Perez Hilton for Hot Topic will feature women's t-shirts, hoodies, accessories and footwear. Hilton, who's real name is Mario Lavandeira, said the decision to put his name behind a line of clothing and accessories seemed like a natural next step.

"2008 is all about expanding the Perez Brand," the blogger explained. "I talk about clothes all the time on my website. I have a good eye for what's hot and what's not."

Perez, who says his celebrity website, Perezhilton.com, is more popular than MySpace among women aged 18-25, said he can't wait to share his new line with fans.

Hilton's site has reached remarkable heights as a "go-to" for celebrity gossip, despite a consistency of snarky comments and crude drawings he is famous for inserting over photos of prominent and some not-so-prominent celebrities.

Hilton says the success of his website encouraged him to look beyond the boundaries of cyberspace.

"It seems natural to make products that my readers will love and hopefully some guys will rock it too," he said. "Some people might even call me a perfectionist, well that person would be me! I'm very passionate about my brand. I have extremely high standards and I like to get my hands dirty!"

The line, which debuts on June 6, will range in price from $1.75 to $46, and will include products like Gossip Gangster Flip Flops, Perezcious Pink and Purple Lip Gloss and P-Nasty Shades–just to name a few.

The celebrity blogger also plans to sell tote bags, socks and earrings, and says fans will even be able to buy their own Perez Hilton journal, so they can be as nasty as P-Nasty himself.

"I'm most excited to finally see on the shelves products that are good and affordable for my readers," Hilton said. "I actively sought out Hot Topic for that þreason."

And if you think Perez is following in the footsteps of other Hollywood starlets who seem to be attaching their names to anything and everything, think again!

"I keep seeing these lines from the likes of Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag that give me nightmares," he says. "My brand will be very conscious of my audience."

Well, it wouldn't be true Perez style without a little dig at the end, now would it?

[via Perez Hilton]

[photo via WENN]

Happy Hour: Ravi Wine Chiller

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Here’s a pretty cool little item, pun entirely intended. The Ravi Wine Chiller is a wine (or other liquor) bottle attachment you store in your freezer. When it comes to time to have a nice glass of wine, all you do is snap the frozen part into the included bottle plug, and then pour.

The wine in the bottle instantly chills as it passes through the Ravi. Not only that, but you can adjust both the intensity of the pour, and the temperature of the liquid. That first thing makes it worth it on it’s on, if you’re a sloppy sommelier, like I am.

Now, the only thing I take issue with is… Why are they demoing it with red wine? Not just in this picture, but if you head over to the site, there’s a (non-embeddable) video of the Ravi in action where, again, they demo the unit with red wine. Nice, freezing cold red wine. Weird.

[$50, Wine Enthusiast]

[Via GreenHead]

Love It or Leave It? BBQ Sword

Steph Auteri — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:30:00 GMT

[£14.95, Luckies]

I have trouble understanding myself...ah, well. Vote after the jump.

[Via GearFuse]

iAlternative

Wendy Atterberry — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Things I hate about iPhone Users:

Their taste in music
Their sensibilities
The way they tie their shoes
The way they button their belts,
and comb their hair
I hate the sound of their voices
and how their hair frizzes in humidity
I hate their fucking dogs
and their cars!
Oh fine, it's not all that other stuff that bothers me. You know what really annoys me about iPhone users?
THE WAY THEY THINK EVERYONE CARES ABOUT THEIR FUCKING iPHONE

At least now there's an alternative to the ubiquitous iPhone — the HTC Touch Diamond. Egotism and Sense of Entitlement not included — you know where to go for that.

[$TBA, HTC]

Geek Out: One Terabyte of Matryoshkus

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Trust Art Lebedev Studios to make the geekiest Russian Nesting Dolls of all time. The awesome studio has built these “dolls” out of Russian linden tree wood, and each has a steadily decreasing amount of memory, from terabyte, to gigabyte, megabyte, kilobyte, byte, and bit.

A totally awesome pic of the dolls in “motion,” followed by pricing:

[$36, Art Lebedev Studios]

[Via Craziest Gadgets]

Father's Day Will Sneak Up On You, Too...

Steph Auteri — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT

...and then you'll end up rushing to the AMC the morning off and getting a movie theater gift card, or something equally lame and not-well-thought-out.

Instead, overwhelm him with your generosity:

[$8,600, Sears via]

If you're still hung up on Mother's Day, just send her this:

[someecards]

Round Up: Outdoor Accessories

Wendy Atterberry — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:30:00 GMT

[$24.95-$47.95, Home Infatuation]

Now that the weather has gotten nice, I've been spending a lot more time on our rooftop. I do a little yoga and various exercises up there in the morning and in the evening, Drew and I enjoy a cocktail as the day winds down. It's really peaceful and relaxing to be so highand away above the busy city street below, but so far, I'm ashamed to say, aside from moving a dinette set up to the roof, we haven't really done anything to make it as much as an oasis as it could be. So, this post is dedicated to those of us who could use a little push in sprucing up our outdoor spaces for the summer. These beautiful rugs pictured above are not only water-proof, they're resistant to color fading and soft enough to walk on barefoot. At less than $50, they're really reasonably prices, too, leaving enough cash for these other great outdoor accessories:

[$19.95, Crate and Barrel]

[$24.95, Wrapables]

[$24, West Elm]

[$47.99, Best Nest]

[$39 - $59, West Elm]

Smart Shoe Kinda Dumb

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Well, at least the website is kind of dumb. If you’re willing to slog through confusing navigation, and multiple shots of a cityscape, eventually, you might be able to find out what you’re watching an ad for.

And that ad is for a $700 Smart-Shoe, which automatically syncs with a computer to adjust the comfort and thickness of the shoe, based on how you walk. In addition, it communicates contact and other info with other people wearing $700 sneakers.

Now, here’s another wrinkle on that, and it’s a little bit of a surprise given that the very, very long splash animations throughout the webpage indicate that this is an extremely sexy shoe that will get you sex with sexy women: the shoe only comes in men’s sizes 7-13.

Which, you know, is cool, but slightly false advertising, as you’ll only be able to communicate your info to other dudes who dropped seven Benjamins on sneakers.

That also being said, maybe I’m totally off base: is $700 a lot to pay for shoes anymore? I just wear paper bags I get from the deli, so I dunknow.

[$700, Verbforshoe.com]

[Via Engadget]

This Umbrella Sale Will Save You From Drowning (In Debt)

Steph Auteri — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Okay, it's really only one umbrella, but I think it might be worth it. After all, if you're caught unprepared, you'll be soakced for the duration of the day, and your nips will be showing, as in the photo above.

[$69.99, ThinkGeek]

This umbrella was selling for $139.95, over at Hammacher Schlemmer, but is now available at ThinkGeek for half the cost.

The Ambient Forecasting Umbrella was one of those obnoxiously large ones I love, with that dual-canopy design that is supposed to better withstand strong winds (it totally works; I have the same thing going with my Nike Golf umbrella).

What really sets it apart from other massive umbrellas, however, is the built-in radio receiver, that receives weather data for 150 U.S. locations from Accuweather.com. An LED located at the bottom of the umbrella's handle flashes in proportion to the likelihood of precipitation in your area; if there's a 100% chance, it will flash rapidly, while a 10% chance will cause it to flicker slowly.

Sometimes a Cigar is a Big Fat Dong

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

I’d like to formally thank our Big Sis Scanner Blog for, essentially, doing our job for us, by posting purchasable penises. Now, granted, we delivered dick diatribes just yesterday, but who wouldn’t want wangs out the wazoo?

So without further alliteration, here’s a bunch of trouser snake stuff:

Penis Camouflage is a fun game for your next party… Your next sexy party, that is. All you have to do is use the enclosed penis stamps, place one a piece of blank paper, and using a pen and your imagination, make it look like there’s no penis. Look, there’s even a free web version!

[$10, Penis Camouflage]

Next up, in a tangentially related post, the lovely and talented Miss Katie Halper discovered these horrifying looking penis Swizzle Sticks. Now, let’s get this out of the way: I am not gay, nor am I homo-phobic. But the human penis is totally gross looking. There’s nothing I can think I’d like to do less than look down at a tasty beverage, only to find a knotty, tiny penis looking back at me. This may explain why I don’t get invited to bachlorette parties.

[$7, 101Bacheloretteparties.com]

And finally just to tie in the title of this post, as well as trump our Scanner Siblings, check out this butane lighter w/pop-out penis, which, I kid you not is described as an, “unbelievable value,” with “many uses!” Okay, name two.

[$5, Vendio.com]

Floating Nightstand

Wendy Atterberry — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Steph may have found the perfect nightstand for some people, but what about people like me who don't actually have any room on either side of the bed for a nightstand? As you can see from the picture above, our bed is wedged between a closet and a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, with not an inch to spare. I've tucked a few things into a about half a foot of space on the shelf closest to the bed, but that's so makeshift and I'd love for something a little less cluttered. So, what do you guys think about these:

I actually think they're really cool, but not sure they're right for what I'm looking for. They'd be perfect for someone who lacks floor space, but still has plenty of wall space (and money — they cost over $435 each). Unfortunately, we lack floor and wall space, and I think they'd just look a little odd right above the bed. What do you guys think? And have any of you faced a similar design and space challenge? If so, how did you solve it?

Also, doesn't Miles the cat look handsome in the top photo? I told him he had to look at the camera because I was taking a picture for the photo, so he looked right at me and gave me his best camera-ready pose.

[$435.15, Scandinavian Design Center]

[via Apartment Therapy]

Pet Tanning Bed

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

This is how the world ends; not with a bang, but with a tanning bed for pets. Yes, you heard me… A company called Sunspa has decided that your cats and dogs aren’t orange and leathery enough, so they’ve decided to create a tanning bed specifically designed for pets.

Okay, perhaps I’m not being entirely fair. The website, as it is, has very little information on it. But what info it does is that the bed, “simulates sunlight shining through a window, soothing any indoor pet, anytime, anywhere.” Which, sure, cats in particular like sunshine. And sure, I guess they would like to curl up in said sunshine. But you can’t get around the fact that it’s a bed, for pets, that shoots out sun rays. That’s a tanning bed in my book.

There’s no info on price right now, but in terms of availability, you can check it out at the H.H. Backer 20th Annual Pet Industry Spring Trade Show in Baltimore, from May 16th-18th. If you order a SunSpa at the show, you’ll even have a chance to unlock a treasure chest and win $500! Which seems unrelated somehow.

[Paradise Image]

[Via UberGizmo]