Sync Weekly

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Cold hands, warm heart. Warm hands, warm lungs.

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Suck UK Smoking Mittens designed by Tobias Wong, $24.95. One size fits all.

It’s cold outside.  Moreover, it’s snowing outside. You’re not at White Water or Pizza D’s and you need to smoke, which means you have to venture outdoors.  Buzzkill.  The sweet relief of a cigarette in the cold is rendered near useless once the warmth in the digits of your drag hand quickly get overtaken by the sting of frigidity.  Well, sting no more you chain-smoking fiend,  for you can prevent this uncomfortable situation by purchasing a snazzy pair of Smoking Mittens.

Don’t Be Left Out In The Cold Suck UK Smoking Mittens are nylon mittons with a metal eyelet that is conveniently the same circumfrence as a cigarette.  One size fits all for both men and women.  Also, the gloves are interchangeable so the cigarette eyelet glove can go on either hand.

iPhone, uPhone, weallPhone.

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Handmade handstitched felt iPhone case that looks like an iPhone by latelierdeluluu on Etsy.com, $39.

Handmade, handstitched felt iPhone case that looks like an iPhone, $39. latelierdeluluu.etsy.com

This blog post was inspired by my friend Melissa who just recently purchased an iPhone.  Monday night Melissa and I met for a beer at the Fountain.  At that point she had only owned her iPhone for mere hours.  She was so excited and pulled it out of her purse for me to see.  Only I didn’t see a sleek, black iPhone with a vivid, bright screen but instead a dingy (sorry M) white ankle sock with a pink stripe across the toe.

The girl was storing her fancy new iPhone in a sock that is the exact brand and style of the socks I was wearing for my run thirty minutes prior.  The AT&T barracudas couldn’t convince her to buy the “tank” cell phone cover that ends the very thought and worry of destruction.  $60 is a bit steep…and in her I’m-going-to-break-and-scratch-my-new-phone paranoia she stored her phone in a sock and headed my way for a drink.  Did I mention that I love Melissa?  I’m so happy she put her iPhone in a sock.

Here are some iPhone sleeve alternatives to a sock that may catch her eye.

help! I lost my page.

Monday, January 11th, 2010

help! bookmark, $19 for 5 clips.  Available at designboom.com

help! bookmark, $19 for 5 clips. Available at designboom.com Photo courtesy of designboom.com

fairytale05

Click on the photo to get yourself the most desparately adorable bookmark out there. Photo courtesy of designboom.com

I remember in elementary school when the Scholastic Book Fair would come to town.  The library would be abuzz with eager students, wadded up dollar bills in hand.  Buying books is just so much more fun than borrowing them I guess.

I’d get ultra excited looking through the preview brochure until it was our class’s turn to visit the pop-up store. Sometimes I would buy a book because of the cover like No Flying in the House by Betty Brock or I’d buy a cute puppy poster because I was an 8 year old girl.  But every time, without fail, I’d be sure to get a bookmark.  Even though most of my reading was comprised of R.L. Stine Fear Street books where teenagers were murdered one by one mostly by friends, I purchased Garfield bookmarks with silly sayings and brightly colored tassels.  Now, had this help! bookmark been available, I’m sure my sick childhood brain would have been all over it.

Each stainless steel paper clip measures 45×12mm and features little arms and hands on one end that make your book appear to have flat silvery people drowning in its pages.

book fairbanner

East Carolina’s gift to Arkansas. Thanks for blowing it, Hartman.

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

 	East Carolina defensive tackle Jay Ross (90) lies on the field after East Carolina lost to Arkansas 20-17 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

East Carolina defensive tackle Jay Ross (90) lies on the field after East Carolina lost to Arkansas 20-17 in overtime at the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Some things are free.  Like, say, the Arkansas’s victory over East Carolina at the Liberty Bowl.  I attended this rather cold and frustrating event January 2 in Memphis.  My watching companion and I hovered at one of the stadium’s exit as East Carolina’s kicker, Ben Hartman, attempted a field goal at the Arkansas 22 yard line with 3 seconds remaining.  The score was tied 17-17 and it seemed inevitable that ECU would take the win leaving Arkansas with yet another bowl game loss.  After watching a disappointing, messy game, I truly expected to make my solemn way towards the car, head down, hands jammed in pockets after this kick.  Hartman had just missed a 40-ish yard field goal that shanked off the left goalpost only minutes before.  This was his second chance to clench the lead and ultimately the win for East Carolina.  He missed before; he’ll make it this time.  But to the joy of every camo-clad Hog fan in the stands, the dude totally blew it!  Instead of exiting, we trickled our way to the tenth row to watch the overtime battle.

East Carolina had possesion first which led to another missed field goal by Hartman.  After a few plays, Arkansas’s Alex Tejada kicked from East Carolina’s 20 to score the winning field goal.  Arkansas victory, 20-17.  I was more relieved than excited for the win but I’m happy Tejada pulled through.  To see the final kick and my reaction to it watch this home-video: Arkansas Victory

 	Arkansas kicker Alex Tejada waves to the fans as he leaves the field after his 37-yard field goal gave the Razorbacks a 20-17 overtime win over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Arkansas kicker Alex Tejada waves to the fans as he leaves the field after his 37-yard field goal gave the Razorbacks a 20-17 overtime win over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Below you’ll find a video spoof about poor Ben Hartman.

Howdy 2010. Since it’s not 2012/the end of the world, I guess I’ll need to buy a calendar to represent you.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Marking X-es on my Twilight wall calendar last year was so blasé.  I’m sure you feel the same way about your 2009 Puppies of the World calendar.  In order to spice up the year that is to be 2010, I* present you with the Bubble Calendar which is essentially a sheet of bubble wrap mounted over a calendar.  In other words, the greatest scientific breakthrough of this century.

Popping bubble wrap every single day for an entire year... heaven needs to install one of these.

Popping bubble wrap every single day for an entire year... heaven needs to install one of these.

Foreseeable problems with the Bubble Calendar:

  • You won’t be able to contain yourself and all the bubbles will be popped by Presidents Day.
  • Marking your friends’ and family members’ birthdays might prove difficult.
  • Disclaimer on the website, “Due to manufacturing processes out of our control, some bubbles may fail to inflate.” **

Why foreseeable problems don’t matter:

  • It’s a bubble wrap. CALENDAR.

Interesting addition:

  • When you click “add to cart” the website automatically adds two calendars to your cart, not one.  Tricky tricky, Bubble Calendar.
bubble_calendar_2010e_m

2010 Bubble Calendar, $20.10. Comes in both vertical and horizontal 47" x 18" Available at bubblecalendar.com. They're sold out of all languages save French which I'm led to believe doesn't have different holidays than the English version. It's hard to tell since neither have Groundhog Day bolded. Nor New Year's Day. Nor Christmas Day for that matter... Oops. Okay, I see, this is actually just bubble wrap. I'm buying it anyway.

* A special thanks to Kathryn Heller for bringing Bubble Calendar to my attention.

** Bubble Calendar, LLC will replace any tainted calendar if returned within two weeks.

The hearth of Hoth, a Tauntaun carcass

Monday, December 7th, 2009

This model looks remarkably like my neighbor, Josh.  Image from ThinkGeek.com.

Here you see "Luke" warming himself inside a Tauntaun sleeping bag. This model looks remarkably like my neighbor, Josh. ThinkGeek.com, $99.99. On Backorder.

If you’re like me the first thing you think when looking at this sleeping bag is, “Why is that guy dressed like a pilot in a dinosaur sleeping bag?”  But, if you’re more like my brother Kell, then you immediately think, “Oh my god, a Tauntaun sleeping bag!! Why didn’t this exist when I was a kid?”  I suppose the rest of this post more so applies to the second kind of folk but for you others, the attention to detail of this invention is pretty awesome so stick around.

A Tauntaun is a creature that lives on planet Hoth which plays a vital role in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In order to keep Luke Skywalker from freezing to death, Han Solo cuts open a dead Tauntaun and shoves Luke inside for warmth.  And thus the inspiration for this sleeping bag which includes a saddle feature, plush head that doubles as a pillow, a Tauntaun-guts-print on the inside of the bag and a light saber zipper pull to simulate cutting the creature open when you climb inside.

Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Tauntaun.

The inspiration: Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and a Tauntaun on Hoth.

This product is currently on backorder but ThinkGeek.com states that if you order now, your bag will ship by December 7.  Also, only two Tauntauns allowed per customer.  Sorry cub scout leader Joe.

Full-body view of the Tauntaun sleeping bag available from ThinkGeek.com.

Full-body view of the Tauntaun sleeping bag available from ThinkGeek.com.

My favorite part of this video featuring the sleeping bag is when Han Solo looks from Luke to the Tauntaun and you can see the electrical outlet in the background.

Little Rock Paper Scissors; Sync’s design contest t-shirts are in

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

T-shirt design winner

The office is buzzing with the arrival of our new t-shirts we just got in the mail (which explains the wrinkles). This is the winning design by Sam Eifling from our t-shirt contest this past summer.  He was chosen because his design received the most text votes out of the top six entries.

These shirts will be available free of charge at Sync’s promotional events.  When is the next Sync event you ask?  I’ve no idea, but I’ll keep you updated.  I know you want this shirt.

T-shirt design winner

You’ve seen the sign.

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

What you'll see from 3rd Street as you pass Cross and approach Ringo.

The mysterious neon poster as seen from 3rd Street as you pass Cross and approach Ringo.

You’re driving down 3rd Street from Hillcrest to Downtown and you see a neon posterboard outside of a no-name building proclaiming that there’s a sale inside.  Occasionally there’ll be a 40% or 70% off sign slapped onto it and sometimes the posterboard won’t be there at all.  Luckily, I’m here to tell you what this is all about.

Every month, there is a flea market open for 8 days.  It’s not clear which 8 days but they’ll be consecutive and you’ll know when it starts by the neon poster that’s sure to appear 2 or 3 days in advance.  Parking is behind the building off of Ringo Street.  Inside you’ll find an array of just about everything.  Black and white photographs, boxes of nails, paintings, photo enlargers, posters from the 80s, Hogs trivia game sets, almanacs, novels ranging from science fiction to 1950s erotica.  The list goes on.  And on.

Photographs of "new" hairstyles, a plastic bear, glasses frames, Gallagher poster, paper dolls and whatever a Ukulele Lady is.

Photographs of "new" hairstyles, a plastic bear, eyeglasses frames, Gallagher poster, paper dolls and sheet music.

This month’s sale is going on now and ends Saturday, November 21.  On the way to work this morning the 50% off sign was up so get on in there and browse for yourself.  Even if you don’t plan on buying anything, it’s fun to rummage.  Hours are 10 a.m.- 4p.m. every day.  The building is located on 3rd Street between Ringo and Cross.

The couple who runs the flea market also own the building in which it is held.  The building is on the market and the couple plan to have these monthly 8-day sales until the building is sold.

da place

The inside is large and open with tables semi-categorized by item type.

Amelia Earhart. My Halloween Costume Inspiration. Could I be wearing more leather?

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

On Halloween night, I switched from John Hughes 80s film high-school sweetheart to the mysterious, tomboy aviator, Amelia Earhart.  I chose to be her as she would look today.  So… deceased.  It is Halloween after all.

AMELIA for web

Amelia Earhart. Cuter than you remembered, yeah?

The catalyst for this costume came while perusing the array of booths at Midtowne Antique Mall.  I unearthed some thick, gray suede pants labeled, “lederhose” in a booth that had only a few clothing items for sale amongst an assortment of antiques.  They were so ridiculous and interesting looking that I had to try them on.  Miraculously, they fit.  Well, they fit well enough.  If you were wondering if the enclosure of these pants  required an initial button, two zippers and then a belt as well as a tie in the back and buttons at the knees and if they robbed me of my ability to sit down or walk up stairs properly….  Then yes, all of those things.

If you found random leather pants for $16 that fit you for some reason, wouldn't you buy them too?

If you found random leather pants for $16 that fit you for some reason, wouldn't you buy them too?

To make it obvious I was the aerial darling, I wore the following:

• Leather bomber-like jacket

• Form-fitting pants

• Cap with ear flaps and goggles

• Leather gloves

• Tall leather boots

• Silk (or a Savers special polyester) blouse with built-in scarf

• Dead makeup

Excuse the crop, but my picture partner's costume is much too distracting to include.

Excuse the crop, but my picture partner's costume is much too distracting to include.

Costume Perk: People, young and old, recognized who I was.   This rarely happens to me because I pick slightly obscure Halloween costumes.  This was my secondary costume and one much more appreciated by onlookers.  Yes, I finally did it.

Costume Drawback: Limited mobility and ironically, limited airflow.

You birth what you eat.

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Because you do what you can while they’re young and powerless.

On a trip to Spirit Halloween store in North Little Rock (next to Michael’s), I noticed this ridiculous costume for a wee baby.  There are more at the Spirit website that are very much worth looking through, I mean if you want to see more things like this.

Tootsie Roll costume available at Spirit Halloween store in North Little Rock.

Tootsie Roll infant costume available at Spirit Halloween store in North Little Rock.