The Chronic Consumer

I found this DVD at Wal-Mart, and since I have a friend who likes Sarah Palin, I decided to buy it for her. I haven’t seen the movie myself, so this is a review of the product rather than the film.

The first thing I noticed as my friend opened it in front of me is how bare-bones the packaging is. It’s made of something called an “Eco-Box”, which basically means that it’s much flimsier than standard DVD cases. It’s recyclable, though, so I guess that’s the important point.

There were no liner notes included in the box.

Along with the documentary-style movie, there are three bonus features on the DVD: Palin’s 2011 speech in Madison, WI, footage of the 1982 high school girls’ Alaska state basketball championship game, and a “Special Thank You” from the director. The Thank You barely counts as a bonus because it’s basically just names scrolling down the screen end-credits style. The basketball footage was somewhat interesting because of its rarity, but Palin only has her name called a few times during the 23 minutes of game film. And the Madison speech can be found on YouTube, so that doesn’t really count, either.

Again, I’m not going to get into the film itself or politics or anything like that. Just strictly talking about the product, I felt that the $14.99 I paid was a bit on the high side considering the lack of nice packaging or good bonus features. Still, if there’s someone on your gift list who’s a Palin fan, they’ll probably like this.

When I got a new iPad 2, I had to reload all my apps into the device. I know, I know: I should have had a backup on iTunes, but I almost never plugged my iPad into my computer, so no backup was available.

At any rate, as I was trying to remember all the apps I had (this was before Apple revamped the iTunes store to make it easier to reinstall past purchases), I hit the Angry Birds HD game, thinking that I’d already bought it and that I would just get the standard “would you like to download this again?” message. But nope… I guess I had a different version of Angry Birds before, so I ended up having to pay $4.99 for the upgrade.

Frankly, I’m not sure if the HD version is worth that price. Sure, the graphics look much better than the 2x resolution for the iPhone app, but still… $4.99 is kinda expensive when talking about an app. Apparently there are some different levels too, but I haven’t gotten that far yet.

If you’re an Angry Birds addict or if you’ve never bought the game before, then I guess the HD version would be ok. But if you have the iPhone app already, there’s really no need to upgrade. Just play that one on your iPad and save your money.

For as much fan gear as I buy, I have never, ever purchased a pair of team socks before. Maybe it’s because I don’t consider socks to be a big enough part of my wardrobe to be noticed, or maybe it’s because I don’t feel like paying $10 a pair all that often. Whatever the reason, I broke down the last time I saw a specialty socks store near the Illinois/Missouri border and purchased these tricolor MU crew socks.

This actually turned out to be a bit of a mistake. I didn’t try the socks on in the store, and as a result, I didn’t realize how LOW they were until I got them home and tried them on. I guess I’m not up to speed on my sock terminology, and mistook “crew” for “ankle”. I was expecting the tops of these socks to be visible when wearing sneakers/athletic shoes, but that’s not the case. And because they’re so low, they feel uncomfortable to me — which is of course my personal preference.

Besides the fit, I don’t have anything else to complain about with this product. The socks are predominantly white, with black at the heel and toe and gold along the bottom sole. It also features the team name and team graphics near the toe and at the sides.

I have occasionally worn these around the house since I bought them, but will probably put them away until the summer. I don’t like how they look with jeans or sweatpants, so I’ll save them to wear with shorts.

The takeaway lesson here is to know your sock sizing terminology before you buy!

Last month I stocked up on some winter gear in anticipation of the cold weather. Among my purchases was this Tigers crew sweatshirt by Jansport. It is made from fleece and features a screenprinted design of the official MU seal right in the middle.

The fleece is very soft — particularly on the inside, which makes this sweatshirt comfortable. It fits relatively well, though I don’t really like how long the cuffs on the sleeves are. The waistband isn’t as tight as some sweatshirts, so it looks good pulled over jeans or a pair of sweatpants.

This piece has been through the washer and dryer a couple of times, and the color has held up better than expected. There’s no visible fading yet, nor any damage to the screenprinting. However, a few threads on the sleeve have come loose — but I can’t remember if it was like that when I bought it or of the damage is a result of washing/drying. I hope the whole thing doesn’t end up unraveling anytime soon!

Anyway, I’m glad to have this sweatshirt on hand for the colder days and know it will become a staple of my winter lounge wear!

I’ve long wanted to try a bowel cleanse program as a supplement to my diet and exercise regimen to see if that would be the product to finally put me over the edge and help me lose these last few pounds. After browsing through many online sites and the nearest Whole Foods store, I decided to try something called Organic Bowel Cleanse by Renew Life.

This product is a powder that does not contain psyllium, senna, or cascara, which are very common ingredients in cleansers. Instead it has some kind of “triple fiber blend” that is supposed to help eliminate wastes and toxins without bloating, cramping, etc.

The directions say to take the product with juice or water in the morning, and then repeat in the evening as necessary. I found that once a day was all that I really required. The product worked as advertised, and though I wouldn’t exactly say that I’ve lost weight due to this cleanse, I do feel better.

After a couple weeks of daily use, I’m not sure that I need to continue at this pace. Maybe I’ll just keep it in the pantry and use it as a constipation remedy when needed. To be honest, it tastes pretty nasty and I can’t imagine having to choke this stuff down day after day after day. Why can’t these things ever taste, if not good, then at least neutral???

Anyway, if you’re looking for a safe, effective bowel/colon cleanse, give the Renew Life brand a try.

I’ve been trying to find more educational toys for my son so he’s not always just playing video games when he’s at home. He seems to really enjoy science at school, so after browsing around, I decided to purchase this Snap Circuits Jr. kit by Elenco.

Snap Circuits Jr. is supposed to teach kids how electricity works. It comes with a variety of parts that snap onto a grid (and each other), as well as an experiment book that has blueprints for 100 “projects” that kids can make.

My son absolutely LOVES this toy! It took him a while to get the hang of reading the prints (they’re simple, but he’s never had experience with that type of thing), but once he did, he started enjoying the whole process. He often builds stuff by himself, and when something doesn’t work right, he studies the print until he finds his mistake. Plus, from the questions I’ve asked him regarding directionality and closed circuits, it seems that he IS actually starting to understand electricity a bit better.

His favorite projects are the ones that involve the mini fan blade (you can see it in the picture above). If the project gets the fan blade spinning fast enough, it will fly up in the air when the power is shut off. My son loves that!

Anyway, he hasn’t worked through all 100 projects yet, but when he does, we’ll probably check Elenco’s site for more projects or an upgrade kit. It was only $17 when I bought it, which is a bargain in my opinion. This toy is definitely recommended!

We always try to save money on our winter heating bills, so we keep a bunch of throw blankets on our couches and chairs in the living room. That way, when we’re just relaxing in front of the TV or with a book, we can warm up with a blanket instead of feeling the need to turn the thermostat up. This approach actually works pretty well!

Anyway, we periodically have to replace the blankets because of wear and tear (and because the dogs get to them), so this time around I decided to buy a Missouri plush blanket. It measures 48″ x 60″ (which is a great size for me, but might be small for other people) and is made from some kind of ultra-soft plush material. It is predominantly black, but has gold trim along two edges as well as two tigerhead logos, one in the middle and one in the corner.

This blanket is VERY warm and comfortable, and has quickly become my favorite. It’s the one I reach for immediately whenever I sit in the living room, and by now the rest of the family knows that I’ve got dibs on it! I LOVE this blanket!

I love flash drives and I love the Blackhawks, so it’s really no surprise that I walked into Best Buy one day and walked out with this 8GB laser-engraved Blackhawks flash drive by Tribeca.

This flash drive is only 2.5″ long and has a swivel cap to protect the USB connector from dirt, dust, and debris. The logo is laser-engraved so it won’t wear off, and the product came with a lanyard so I can wear it around my neck if I don’t feel like shoving it in my pocket or backpack.

I paid $15 for this product, which is admittedly a bit expensive for 8GB of storage. But as I’ve demonstrated repeatedly in the past, I’m more than willing to spend some extra bucks to support my teams and schools!