Lately I’ve been getting into bead jewelry. I don’t mean the plastic or glass beads that most people think of. The ones I’m talking about look more like charms, and come in a huge variety of different styles and designs. For example, the item pictured here is called Morning Dew and is made by Chamilia, which produces lots of great beads. I think this one in particular is cute, and I’m looking forward to adding it to my bracelet! Beads are perfect for me because they’re fun, inexpensive, and go well with the casual outfits I tend to wear all the time. I should have started collecting these a long time ago!
My son really loves to go camping, but he only has a one-season sleeping bag. It’s very lightweight which means we can really only go in the summer. We want to be able to go more often than that, which is why we’re thinking of buying one of these Sierra Designs Sleeping Bags. It’s rated to 35 degrees, which would allow us to get out there in the spring and fall, too. I like that this particular sleeping bag has a hood and a tricot toe box for extra warmth and insulation. We don’t need this right now, as summer is just around the corner, but I’d like to have it by September.
My taste in video games usually runs to kids titles, such as anything featuring “Mario” or “LEGO.” I’m just not a hardcore gamer to begin with, and often find other games to be too complicated to play on today’s systems. But I recently made an exception for Mortal Kombat 2011 — or MK9 as it is more colloquially known.
The last time I played a Mortal Kombat title was whenever MK3 was released. I loved that game, and spent many a long Saturday or Sunday afternoon playing with my friends. I was always Sub-Zero, and was unbeatable in our group because I mastered all the character’s special moves and combos. It was awesome! But then I heard that subsequent versions of the game sucked, so I just quit playing.
Anyway, MK9 reminds me of MK3 in a lot of ways. I haven’t played newer titles enough to say with authority that the game has gone back to its roots, but I get the feeling that’s what a lot of players think. This version features so many of the great characters I remember, including Sub, Scorpion, Jax, Sonya, Johnny Cage, Sektor, Smoke, and more. They all have the same special moves, and from what I remember, the controller combos for those moves are very similar to the old game, if not exactly the same.
There are a bunch of different gameplay modes to choose from, including Story Mode, Challenge Tower, Ladder (basically you fighting against CPU-controlled characters that get progressively tougher), and Tag Team. You can play against the computer, head-to-head with up to three other people, or online.
Replayability is a huge factor in this game. There are so many characters and combos to learn that you could easily busy yourself with MK9 for a year or more (I’m basing that figure on the fact that it took me several weeks to master Scorpion by playing about an hour or two a day). Plus, I like that the CPU characters are sufficiently tough (from Medium on up), yet not impossible to beat. It’s a great balance.
The graphics in this game are fantastic, and the fatalities are just as bloody and gory as ever. There are lots of unlockables, too, which keeps things interesting. Or, you can just get the MK9 cheat codes from the web and bypass all that.
Overall, I am very impressed with MK 9. It’s highly addictive game that even non-gamers will be able to pick up quickly. Tons of fun for the 17+ crowd!
This isn’t really shopping news per se, but I think the deal is big enough to be worth mentioning. Microsoft has agreed to buy Skype for around $8.5 billion — pending regulatory approval, of course. Experts feel this could greatly expand Skype’s reach VoIP video calls as common as instant messaging is today, which would be good for everyone — as long as prices remain reasonable (ahem, that means “free”). Microsoft has been declining in recent years, so let’s see if this purchase makes them relevant again.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
With summer coming up, I decided to buy a couple new t-shirts for my “wardrobe” (I use that term very loosely) and to get rid of a couple of old ones with fraying collars or faded logos. One of the new ones I bought was this black Missouri Tigers tee by a company called CI Sport (which I’d never heard of).
This is an officially licensed NCAA product that features a small tiger head logo above the words “University if Missouri.” Then the word “Tigers” appears below that in kind of a stylized font that looks pretty cool.
I bought a medium, and think the shirt fits well — though perhaps a bit smaller than I expected. It inevitably shrunk a bit after washing and drying too, so if you’re planning on buying this product, I’d go a size higher than usual. Overall, though, I’m fairly satisfied with the purchase. Even with the shrinkage, the shirt fits and still looks good. I’ll be wearing it a lot this summer!
I just read that Nintendo is planning to slash prices on their current Wii console — perhaps to make way for an all-new model coming soon. According to the article, the console will sell for around $150, down from the original $200 price, and will now come bundled with Mario Kart, one of its best-selling game titles. Considering that Mario Kart itself retails for around $40 or $50 (I can’t remember, as it’s been a while since I bought it), I think that’s a pretty awesome deal!
If you’ve been thinking about buying a Wii for your kids, now would be a great time!
My family is just starting to get into camping, which means we have to buy some basic equipment. We don’t know if we actually like camping yet, so we’re not going to go on an all-out spending spree for expensive items that we may never use again. So for starters, we bought this Coleman 4-in-1 Micro Quad LED Mini Lantern to use as the main light source in our tiny tent.
The Coleman 4-in-1 Micro Quad is a very bright lantern that provides 360-degree lighting for the user. It comes with four detachable “pods”, which can be used as individual light sources for four different people. Each pod comes with a magnet, belt clip, and strap handle for easy carrying. This capability also makes the lantern great for emergency use inside the house too, like when the power goes out or something. That’s one more reason we decided this particular lantern would be a smart purchase.
The lantern requires 4 AA batteries, and can deliver up to 30 hours of light. That’s plenty for both camping and other emergencies. We like this lantern so much that we’re thinking of buying a couple more for our cars, too. At $35, this lantern was a bit on the expensive side, but so far I think it was worth the price!
When I jog outside in the spring and summer, the sun can sometimes be an issue. I usually wear some kind of cap, but that causes me to break out on my forehead where the sweat accumulates around the hat band. A simple solution to this problem was to buy a pair of sunglasses, which I finally did last weekend.
I could have gone with an expensive pair from Oakley or Spy, but I didn’t want to spend $200 or more on this purchase. Instead, I went with a totally generic brand (I can’t even find a name on the sunglasses; just a model number) that cost around $30. I guess I could have gone for a $10 pair from the gas station, but those things probably would have been way too flimsy and cheesy.
Anyway, the glasses I got are great! They look good, they’re very lightweight, and they fit extremely well. The real test, of course, would be how they held up under running conditions. I’ve worn them several times already, both for interval training (sprints) and long-distance jogging (light, steady pace) and am happy to report that they do exactly what I expected them to do. They stay in place without bouncing around, and they protect my eyes from the sunlight. I no longer have to squint or duck my head as I run in the daytime.
Overall, I’m very happy with my purchase. I wish I could find a brand name to recommend to you guys! I guess all I can say is don’t dismiss sunglasses just because they don’t have a cool logo on them. Sometimes generic brands work just as well for a fraction of the cost!