Big Leauge Chew

This pink, shredded bubble gum tastes as you would expect it, but the novelty of it is that is comes in a chewing tobacco pouch. Now baseball loving kids can imitate their big league heros without to health issues associated with tobacoo products. I gave Kadence some on Friday and she seemed to like it too. I did notice that it lost it's flavour in about 15 minutes, but that is better than you get with the dried up sticks of gum that come with baseball trading cards.

What else is there to say about Big League Chew? If I knew, this review would be longer. 4/5 bases. I know, there are only 4 bases but 4/4 is too good for this product and 3/4 is underselling it. Maybe the umpire keeps an extra base in the trunk of his car in case of emergencies!

The Clapper Plus

You've probably seen the commercials for this one. "Clap on! Clap off! The clapper!" The clapper is advertised as a "sound-activated ON/OFF switch for appliances." When I brought this home, I pluged my lamp into it straight away and installed it in the wall receptical. I then clapped and was rewarded with the light from my lamp.

I see that there are now imitation clappers on the market. My parent pick up one that is activated by the sound of an include remote, which is essentially a dog toy in the shaped of a remote. Giving it a squeeze makes it go squee-eek!. They use it on their bedroom TV to turn it on and off. It works well for them, but for the me the real appeal of the genuine Clapper is that you don't have to locate a remote-- I am the remote.

When I walk into my living room and it's dark I can just clap twice and the lamp comes on. I don't need a search for a remote to do this. The only issue is when I have my hands full-- any I haven't figured out how to clap my feet yet. This is a simple device that does what it claims. A round of applause for the clapper!

The Episode of Andy Griffith That Was on Last Night

I know it's not exactly a new series, but last night I actually saw an episode of Andy that I don't think I've seen before. Opie joined a secret society and was made the keeper of the flame, which meant he had to buy new candles if their's burnt out. Anyway, they were meeting on some fellow's property and said fellow came in the sherrif's office to complain to Andy about the boys trespassing in his woods.

So you asuume that this fellow was a right prick, but it turns out that he is running a still out of his barn and he didn't want the kids catching him. Well, the fellow burns down his own barn on account of he is stupid and using a gas lantern in the still room, and the still room's floor is covered in hay. Dude needed a visit from the moonshiner's visit of OSHA.

It does turn that he is a right prick afterall because he decided to use Opie and his friends as an escape goat by saying that he caught them in the barn right before it went up in smoke. Andy and Barney go out to settle up with him, Andy being responsible with his boy and whatnot, and Barney drank from the bucket sitting by the well punch. Wouldn't you know it, the bucket was full of moonshine and Barney got gassed. Andy then put the peices togehter and arrested the prick for running and illegal still. Good episode, 1/1 bullets. out that he is a right prick

My Clock

My clock looks pretty, but it sucks. It is a cros-cut of a piece of wood with the bark still on it. It has a dark coffee-coloured heart wood with a lighter brown sap wood. The bark is very dark, the color of the heart wood. I think it might be walnut, but I am unsure. It looks like it was dipped in epoxy.

The numbers are about an inch high, bright brass in colour and gluded onto the heart wood. The fond has some fairly elegeant serifs. The 7 and the 11 both seem to be a little off. It kind of makes me want to get a slurpie. The hands are really ornate, but they are loose and I cannot get them to tighten down so the clock is pretty much useless as the hands catch on each other and the time is never accurate. Final verdeict: Don't rely on my clock.

Book:"The Computer Nut" by Betsy Byars (ISBN # 0670235482)

Kate is using her dad's office computer when a message comes on the screen to comment on the self-portrait she just drew on the computer. When Kate tells her mom about the message he mom is terrified of stanger danger. The mysterious messager claims to be an outerspace guy monitoring all the Earth's computers.

It is never directly answered if Kate was online or not on her father's computer (or what type of computer it is), but she later goes over to a boy's house and uses his Apple, which was explicitly stated to be offline. The talk to spaceboy using this isolated computer and say that means that it has to be an alien if he can connect to an offline computer. I am thinking that it must be a computer virus.

Kate's old sister is in college and holds a party for their dog. She is pretty weird but works really well as the comic relief. I won't spoil the ending, but I can confirm that it does. 9 out of 3 frisbees.

Tozai Video Tape Rewindeder (Item # 808366)
Someone gave me this thing--the box says it sells for $9.99. It also say it "saves wear and tear on VCR" and it boasts "fast, quiet operation." The device itself is black and pops open when you push the big button. Slip a video cassette in it and push it back shut and man does it make a lot of racket! After 2-3 minutes it pops up and if you haven't crapped yourself you can then put the video back in it's sleeve and put it back away. It seems like a good device even if it doesn't made good on it's "quiet operation" claim. This is maybe not for the high strung. 12/17 stars.

Realistic Universal Remote Control, Model 150, Cat# 15-1902
This sure is a nice remote, but for $49.95 it should be! This thing controls my Curtis Mathes console TV, my Zenith VCR, and probably any other IR device you throw at it! How does it work? There are no codes to enter because this is what they are calling a learning remote. I left it to read it's own manual while I made a turkey sandwich, but it didn't learn anything in that time. The remote has a little windows on the side you don't point at the TV that you can feed it codes from your existing remote. It learned all my remotes without much issue. I recomend if you have a bunch of remotes and would like to simplify your life.