Katie G. at AOL let me know that AOL Pets is teaming up with LIFE magazine for a Halloween Pet Photo Contest. Nothing says “I’m a weirdo” more than dressing up your pets, taking pictures of them and posting them online for the world to see! I know, I know, it’s “an expression of affection” … yeah, sure.

Look at that. A dog. Made to look like sushi. Check out the grin on that kid. It just exudes, “When you’re done taking the picture, I’m going to pick up this here knife and stab you in the eye for making me do this.” I see years of therapy in this kid’s future …

If dogs could talk, this one would probably say something like, “Not only do I look like Dumbo, but I feel really Dumbo.” I hope you doubled up on this dog’s treat ration that night, else I wouldn’t be surprised if he peed on your head while you were sleeping that night.

Look, maybe it’s just me. Maybe it really isn’t as weird as I think it is to dress up your pets. Perhaps they even like it–they are pets, after all. So, if dressing your pets and posting pictures is something you enjoy and your pet doesn’t seem to mind too much, then go and enter the contest. Ten lucky winners will have their photos featured on LIFE.com and one will appear in an upcoming issue of LIFE magazine. To get you started, here’s a link to CostumeSuperCenter.com, where they even have costumes for your pets! (See the “Pet Costumes & Mascots” link.)

Tags:
AOL,
LIFE,
pets,
Halloween,
costume,
contest

September is almost over and October is just around the corner, which means it will be Halloween soon! This also means you probably want to get yourself a Halloween costume. Here’s a great site online that offers a nice variety of costumes for all ages, CostumeSuperCenter.com.

Go check them out. Apparently, Steven Mandell (founder of Party City) is involved in Costume SuperCenter to some degree, too. Their corporate headquarters are right here in Northern New Jersey, over in West Caldwell.

Tags:
October,
Halloween,
costumes,
CostumeSuperCenter.com

(I’m posting this for friends who are trying to sell their house. If
you have any questions, please call them directly at the number listed.
Thanks!)

40 High St.

Butler, NJ 07405

Professionally restored with inlaid hardwood floors, cypress trim,
living room with gas fireplace, kitchen with granite counter tops, new
bathrooms, plumbing and electrical systems. Walk to downtown and NYC
bus.

$569,000

(973) 492-5706

This fine home has been professionally restored to 1898 character and
charm. The inlaid hardwood floors and the extensive cypress trim has all
been stripped and refinished. The plaster walls have been completely
stripped of excess paint, refinished, and color-matched to the original
1898 colors. The entire interior of this home, from the gleaming floors
to the second floor foyer, exudes a charm and warmth not found in newer
homes. The living room features a custom gas fireplace with three-part
Basque relief, built-in bookcases and gold leaf border. The kitchen is
a cook’s delight, featuring granite counter tops, stainless steel
appliances and a Viking professional stove. Other updates include new
bathrooms with the finest fixtures, as well as plumbing and electrical
systems. The three-car garage is large enough for virtually any vehicle
and features a walk-up storage loft. Walk to downtown and NYC bus.
This is a home for the most discerning buyer, and must be seen to be
appreciated.

First floor:

Ante Room: 4′x6′ — Provides an additional level of protection
from the weather, coat closet, features original door with beveled
glass.

Foyer: 10′x13′ — Trimmed ceilings with gold plated
chandelier, matching mirror, gold leaf mid-wall trim, cypress crown
molding with bordrer, cypress wood trim, oak floors.

Living Room: 15′x15′ — Trimmed ceiling, brass Victorian
chandelier, cypress crown molding, five original rebuilt double hung
windows, brick vented gas fireplace with oak mantle and three part
Basque relief, built-in bookcase, gold leaf floor border, custom period
furniture negotiable.

Dining Room: 12′x14′ — Nine foot wood trimmed ceiling with
crown molding, built-in cypress dish shelving, Cyprus trim with 8″ base
molding, inlaid oak flooring, walk-in storage closet, walls have been
stripped and color matched to original 1898 colors, furniture is
original 1800′s to early 1900 vintage and is negotiable.

Kitchen: 20′x11′ — Acoustic ceiling tiles with built-in fluorescent
lighting, ceiling fan, tiled walls, oak cabinets with granite counter
tops, stainless steel sink with Hansa faucets, Culligan reverse osmosis
water system, stainless steel Viking professional stove with griddle,
stainless steel exhaust hood, stainless steel refrigerator and
dishwasher, Andersen bay window and separate heat zone.

Breakfast Nook: Lighted walk-in pantry, adjustable shelving,
granite counter top.

Bathroom: Tile shower with stainless steel enclosure, tiled
walls, stainless steel fixtures, electric heat, vinyl floor.

Second floor:

Foyer: 8′x9′ — Trimmed ceiling with ceiling fan, crown
molding, gold leaf mid-wall trim, cypress wood trim and banister,
commercial grade carpet, solid hardwood doors.

Master Bedroom: 12′x11′ — Corner room with two windows,
attached nursery, single closet, pine flooring.

Bathroom: 5′x11′ — Tiled shower over tub, tile walls,
pedestal sink, ceramic tile floor, two linen closets, new fixtures and
plumbing.

Nursery: 8′x9′ — Off master bedroom for use as nursery,
sitting room or walk-in closet.

Bedroom #2: 10′x12′ — Pine flooring, corner room with two
windows, single closet.

Bedroom #3: 9′x11′ — Pine flooring, corner room with two
windows, single closet.

Third floor:

Bedroom #4/Office: 14′x12′ — Pine flooring, one single and
one double window, trimmed in oak, single closet.

Outside:

Garage: Three car garage with walk up storage loft.

Deck: 23′x10′ — Off kitchen, opens to yard, sealed with
sikkens.

Special features:

• Professionally restored to 1898 character
• 3 car garage with storage loft
• New kitchen with granite and Viking stove
• Modern gourmet kitchen
• Trimmed ceilings
• Cypress trim throughout
• Inlaid hardwood floors
• Original stained glass windows
• Ante room, foyer and second floor foyer
• Turn of the century furnishings available
• Quaint neighborhood
• Restored front porch
• Completely updated electric
• Deep yard with privacy fence
• Full partially finished basement
• City water and sewer
• New roof, gutters and electric de-icing system
• Walk to NYC bus
• 5,000 sq. ft. back yard
• Lot size: 50′x180′
• Taxes: $7,068 (2005)

In a previous blog entry about Bravo Smokes, the faux cigarettes made of lettuce, I compared the price of Bravo to traditional tobacco cigarettes. One of my blog readers, Marti, emailed me about this:

Hi Dossy.. just read your article on the Bravo Smokes and I agree with
you over 100%. Why should I pay more to quit when I enjoy smoking.
[...]

John Chappell, the President of Safer Smokes, Inc., makers of Bravo
Smokes, actually took the time to write me an email about this very
issue. Here is the relevant excerpt of what he wrote:

cigarette,
smoking,
Bravo Smokes,
economics,
tobacco,
cessation

We’ve had a PlayStation 2 for a while, and last year we got an Eye Toy camera for it. The game titles that use it are actually pretty cool: Antigrav, the hoverboard game; Play, the amusing little set of fun mini-games; Groove, the rhythmic hand-movement game just like Dance Dance Revolution is for the feet. The kids especially like Play, either playing Wishi Washi (or however it’s spelled) where you wipe soap suds off windows, or the Playroom where you can dance around with special effects being applied or be chased by bees — great fun to watch the kids run and hide behind the couch. So, as far as gaming console accessories go, I think this one’s got lots of potential. Great family fun, for sure.

Now, any full-body interactive game will cause you to physically exert yourself and tire you out and possibly even make you sweat. Sure beats sitting on the couch mashing buttons with your thumbs, right? But, if someone said, “Hey, you can actually get a real work-out, with the right software …” and you’re a skeptic like me, you’d laugh incredulously and think, “Yeah. Suuuuuuure.” Boy, was I wrong.

Well, this past Christmas, we got the EyeToy: Kinetic for PS2. It’s essentially a virtual personal trainer in a box, or so the marketing fluff claims. Well, it’s not as fluff as I thought. Into my third week of workouts, which it schedules and keeps track for you three times a week, I have to say, this is the real deal. If you take it seriously, you can get a real aerobic workout and perform toning and strenghtening exercises that will leave you sore the next day or two. The workouts last close to 30 minutes and include a warm up, a good mix of workout routines, and a cool-down stretch. The background music is even pretty tolerable, as far as modern electronic-beat pop goes. When you create your profile, it even records your height, weight and age, and will tell you how many calories you’re burning while you’re working out. As you progress, it adjusts and adapts the difficulty of your routine throughout the 12-week program it creates for you.

Kinetic comes bundled with what seems to be the next generation Eye Toy camera — this one’s silver, with a heavier base and a special wide-angle lens adapter, while the older camera we have is black and much lighter which makes it harder to position in a stable fashion. The one challenge with the camera is lighting: even on the “dim room” setting, it has a hard time with our cheap pair of lamps and the amount of light (and shadows!) they provide. But, overall, it’s more than adequate to get a decent work-out and play some games, as long as you don’t get frustrated when the camera mis-reads your motions now and again. We need to figure out a better lighting solution — we’re thinking about installing some track lighting. Maybe that’ll help.

The folks at Nike Motionworks have done a superb job for a first attempt at a “game” like this (if you can really call it a game). I’m definitely not the kind of person to go out to a gym regularly, and being able to do my routine in the evening, in my own home, makes it so easy I don’t find myself trying to make excuses not to do it! I think if more folks see real results with Kinetic and spread the word, this could be a real disruptive technology — in the near future, I can imagine some gyms setting up private rooms with a PS2 set up with an Eye Toy and Kinetic for people to come in and use. Could be a great business to start, once word gets out that it really works.

So, feel free to leave me questions you have, or if you’ve got a Kinetic, share your own story about it in the comments below!

Tags:
Sony,
PlayStation,
Eye Toy,
Kinetic

Yes, yes, YES! GEICO is finally available in New Jersey! Just go to their site and enter in your zip code!

I’ll be saving just over $800 a year in car insurance by switching to GEICO. w00t!

OK, you can thank me now.

If you’re like me, you probably have a large music collection and more and more of it in CD format, but you still have some vintage vinyl records for nostalgic reasons. Wouldn’t it be great if you could keep that vintage look and feel but have high-fidelity CD audio quality sound? Well, you can! Check out these nifty CD-R’s at Cyberguys.com:

These are 80 minute (700 MB) CD-R’s that look like the old “45″ style vinyl records! You can get them as a 10-pack for $6.95 ($0.70 a CD), 25-pack for $14.49 ($0.58 a CD) for the colored disks. They offer a plain white version in a 50-pack for $31.95 ($0.64 a CD) as well.

If you’re not interested in these novelty CD-R’s and just want a source for cheap CD-R’s, Cyberguys.com also offers Ziotek 80 min (700 MB) CD-R’s, 50-pack for $14.49 ($0.29 a CD).

Check them out — they’re a great place for a geek to shop when you’re tired of surfing ThinkGeek.

Halloween is only a month away, which means it’s time to find some overly cute costumes for your kids if you haven’t already. The folks at babystyle.com have got some absolutely adorable costumes.

Check them out: