Apple iPod Nano Gen 6 with Tunewear Watch Case vs. Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap

While I was running errands today, someone complimented me on my orange watch and asked what kind of watch it was. I told her it was actually an Apple iPod Nano in a watch case! She was shocked! She was so excited and said her world just might have to change because she wanted one.

My hubby got me this cute Apple iPod Nano for my birthday this year, so I've been wearing it as a watch so my music is always with me. I love the battery life on this Nano--it lasts all day! I decided to do a review comparing two iPod Nano Gen 6 watch cases: Tunewear watch case vs. Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap. The orange watch case that I was wearing today was made by Tunewear. It's made out of somewhat flimsy, soft silicon and comes in a variety of colors: pink, blue, black, clear, orange, yellow, purple, red and green. I also have a pink watch case for the iPod Nano and it is made by Switcheasy. It's called the Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap and it is made out of a highly durable Elastomer material with stainless steel strap pin and polycarbonate push buttons (I couldn't remember the name in my video review, so please forgive my mistake!). The Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap comes in a lot of colors too: pink, black, white, red, blue, gray and orange. I don't mind bright colors, so I chose pink and orange (my top favorite colors). But, if you want your iPod Nano watch to blend in and look more like a regular watch, you could buy the black or white cases.

So far, I like the pink Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap better since it is waterproof and keeps the iPod away from my skin. The only negative thing I have to say about the Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap is that it is a bit of a pain to constantly take the iPod in and out to charge it every day. That's why I bought the Tunewear orange watch case: it had a cut-out for the 30 pin charger, so you don't have to take the iPod in and out to charge it. The Tunewear watch case is more flimsy and doesn't seem like it's as sturdy as the Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap, though. But if you don't mind the iPod touching your skin, then the Tunewear Watch Case might be more convenient, since you can keep the iPod in there while you charge it. Overall, I like the Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap better since it houses the entire body of the iPod snuggly and the stainless steel strap pin seems sturdier than the silicon notches on the Tunewear watch case. As you can see from the picture above, you cannot lay the Switcheasy Ticker Wrist Strap flat on a table if you want your iPod Nano to sit flush with a surface like you can with the Tunewear watch strap (if it's important to you to be able to lay the nano watch down flat, then the Switcheasy Ticker Watch Strap might not work for you).

Here's my video review of the iPod Nano Gen 6 with Tunewear Watch Case vs. Switcheasy Ticker Wrist strap. (Please forgive my mistakes. I didn't have time for a second take, so this video is "as is.")

Scanpan CTX Nonstick Cookware

Scanpan CTX nonstick cookware is the next revolution in cooking! I saw this demoed at Sur la Table  (can you tell I love that store?) and it was pretty incredible. This nice lady was making crepes on the smallest nonstick skillet without any butter or oil or cooking spray! Then, she was handing them out as samples--what a cool demo!!! What was even more interesting was that these pans are PFOA free so they are safe for the environment and you. It's really remarkable. I was getting swept away by this cookware's capacity to replace my cheap nonstick pan at home that is probably leaching chemicals out into everything I cook! YUCK!

These are strong pans, made in Denmark. The lady demoing this product said that they are made from ceramic and titanium, one of the strongest metals out there. They are finished with a beautiful brushed 18/10 stainless steel finish on the outside. Heat is evenly distributed throughout the pan because of it's 5-layer clad-aluminum construction. Now comes the best parts: you can use METAL utensils on this without scratching or harming the surface, you can put it in the oven up to 500 degrees, and you can throw it in the dishwasher!! How cool is that!? Bonus: you can also brown, sear and deglaze in this nonstick pan, too--which you can't do with traditional nonstick cookware. 

Sur la Table sells this cookware by the single piece or by the set. The day it was demoed, there was a 10% discount on a single pan or 15% off the entire set, which included two sauce pans, two fry pans, a saute pan and a stock pot. The entire set sells for $875, but if you bought each piece separately, it would be $1195. If you are looking to replace all your icky old school non-stick chemical leaching pans, then this is the set to consider. I really want this set, but I am hoping to just get at least one small 8" or 10" fry pan because I know I'd use it every day. The 8" pan sells for $99.95 (I know--GASP! But it sure makes a nice gift or treat, and it's worth having nice cookware if you're going to use it, especially if it's not going to leach chemicals into your food that you've worked so hard to prepare). 

Amazon.com sells the same set for $875.95. I know that's expensive, but you get free shipping and no tax (upfront). Plus, it's not that bad in the world of cookware sets if you compare this to All-Clad cookware, Le Creuset, or Viking.

Plus, the lady at Sur la Table said that if this cookware does scratch at all from using a metal utensil on it, they will replace it. It's high quality cookware that is backed with that strong of a warranty. Now, that's worry-free shopping! 

Is nonstick cookware safe? What is PFOA?

Cactus Hunters: Something Gone (review)

Here's my review from years ago from cdbaby.com of Cactus Hunters': Something Gone. You can read other Cactus Hunters Reviews at CDBaby, but here is mine:


Something Gone, with songs like "You and Me," "Last Tango in Paris" and "Beautiful Sadness," is definately more lyrical than the debut album, which allows the singer to explore more emotional experiences. What is so outstanding about this album is the poetic quality of the lyrics and unique musical texture of each individual song. While there is a tension between what the singer is singing about and what the sounds of the songs convey, Cactus Hunters succeed in being lyrical with the vivid imagery of each song without being self-indulgent or confessional. "Broken Down" echoes subtly with lyrics embraced by Bob Dylan, which makes the song distantly familiar at first, however Cactus Hunters still manages to bring something new to that phrase by singing about such a seemingly depressing or "down" topic and setting it to an upbeat and almost whimiscal-line-dancing-sort-of-musical-landscape. Juckas sings with intonations and inflections, holding on to certain sounds longer than others and varying his ennunciation of words as he sings, which adds even more emotion than the lyrics themselves can express. Always interested in capturing different layers of sounds, Cactus Hunters further experiments with the texture of music in the song, "Waiting on the Moon." By repeating the last lines of the chorus in the sound of a "radio call," it is as though the singer really is waiting on the moon. This album really is a journey on a "broken down road" through a musical scrapbook of experiences from Arizona to Paris to Mexico to even the moon! By taking familiar, everyday objects, such as a postcard, and adding a fresh twist, Cactus Hunters paints a clear picture of the song, "Beautiful Sadness," as the listener can just imagine the "postcards of your heart all over the place." With surprisingly pungent lyrics like, "the light is much too bright in here for how you look tonight," Cactus Hunters confronts the listener with bittersweet truths of disillusioning experiences of love lost. Although there is an immediate sense of loss or something gone in these songs, there is also something gained, something preserved from that loss: the beautiful sadnesss and transcendence of this scrapbook of songs.


Visit Cactus Hunters on MySpace and sample some more music!


You can also listen to their original music at www.greatindie.com or download their albums at iTunes.

Review: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD

A few months ago, I was browsing the videos at Costco and came across this workout DVD: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. It looked interesting, not because of the "promise" to shred up to 20 lbs in a month, but more so because it offered 20 minute workouts in timed intervals that focus on cardio, strength and abs. Now, I do not have time to go to the gym and work out for hours like I did in college, but I thought to myself that I could definitely try to commit to 20 minutes a day. That didn't seem too bad! In fact, it seemed very appealing. It's been very rainy outside this winter, so trying to workout outside has been more of an impossibility--not to mention non-motivating! This DVD seemed to be the solution.  This week I finally decided to dust it off and try it out. 

Here's my review of this DVD, so far:

1. Jillian Michaels is a tough trainer! I did not know about her before I bought this DVD (i.e., I did not know she was on the show "The Biggest Loser." In fact, I've never even seen that show). Anyway, the level one workout starts out easy, with some simple stretches. I thought it was very basic and possibly too easy, but then she got going with the workout and man alive, it was HARD! 

2. If you are just starting out, Jillian should warn users to start with lighter weights, like a 3 pound dumbbell instead of making my mistake and trying 5 pounders!!! I had a hard time with the 5 pound dumbbells because the workout is constantly going! There are no REST periods at all, so your arms start burning right away! With all the reps she works into each interval, there was no way I could keep up with her pace with 5 pound weights. So, the next time I tried the video, I switched to 3 pound weights and it was much better! I've never done cardio combined with strength training, so using lighter weights as a beginner has been very helpful for me.

3. Overall, I like this DVD except you cannot forward through the beginning talk session she has and that can eat up valuable minutes after you've heard it already. I mean, come on, I just want to get the 20 minutes over with! Solution: I made a copy of the DVD without the code restrictions, so now I can forward through the infomercial and jabber that she has at the beginning of the DVD. Now, the DVD is perfect since I can get right to the workout menu and forward through the undesirable parts! What a time saver! BUENO!!!!

4. I think mentally, the structured intervals make it much less daunting to workout and I like how she keeps motivating the user to keep working hard because "these results don't come for free" (her catch phrase). For me, knowing that the strength training goes for 3 minutes, followed by 2 minutes of cardio and then 1 minute of abs makes me stay focused because I can see the endpoint! All the movements that Jillian chooses provide the maximum results in the shortest amount of time (i.e., squats, lunges, push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks).

5. Even though there are no variable workouts to choose from within each level (1, 2, 3), I can deal with the repetition of the workout since I am still easing myself into it. Plus, this is a great supplemental video to use along with other cardio workouts like jogging or walking. I love to run, but it's very high impact and hard on my body and I usually develop shin splints if I run too much.

What I like about this DVD is that it's QUICK! It just saves me so much time because in the time it would take to drive to the gym, I am already done with the workout! It's a no brainer and it really works your entire body, more so than just running. I'm not trying to lose weight, per se, but I'd like to be more fit, leaner and healthier, overall. I don't really go by what the scale says anyway, because for me, it's more important that I can walk up 20 flights of stairs and not feel like crying or even more so, it's a matter of economics--it's more economical if I can stay in the same clothes I've had since college rather than buying new, eh hem, bigger sizes (which I refuse to do!). So, that's why I don't really obsess about the scale--it's just a number. I'd rather my clothes fit and be able to run 3 miles than be a certain weight. My long term goal is that I'd like to be able to do this DVD without feeling like I'm dying! 

Since I'm a beginner, I am modifying the workout a little bit. I am starting out with a level one workout every other day, instead of every day. So far, I've done three workouts and I can already see a slight improvement in my ability to keep up with Jillian. I must say that after the first workout, I felt my muscles were worked to the burning point, which is a good thing. That just means that it's working. I swear I can already notice a small difference in leg strength and arms already (which makes all those squats worthwhile!) I'm on day four, so keep your fingers crossed that I can keep it up!