Ben Recommends

Rescue Me, One of the Best and Worst Shows on TV

2007-06-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

There is one problem with the copious amounts of channels that exist on cable TV today; great shows are often lost in the jungle of crap that is out there. Wednesday nights highlight this dilemma, as much of America watches crap TV like "Deal or No Deal" or "America's got Talent" Denis Learys, amazing show "Rescue Me" will mostly be watched by it's already established fans.

Perhaps this is because it's on FX, or perhaps because when most people think Denis Leary they think Quaker State, but this show is only now beginning to get the acclaim for which it is certainly due. I wont ruin too much of the story, as Season 4 starts tonight (Wed), but basically Denis Leary plays an alcoholic New York firefighter struggling with the after effects of September 11th, his alcoholism, his ability to see certain ghosts, and his general messed up life. Seasons 1-3 are on DVD and target often has them on sale. They are absolutely worth picking up. Seriously, what is this show doing on FX! (FX, yes I too have to look up what the hell channel FX is on, 10 PM wed, Encore at 11PM and othertimes)

Sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar....

2007-06-13T20:27:00.001-05:00

Ok I promise, that is the last Cigar joke I will make on this site. I am not a huge cigar smoker, but occasionally I enjoy having a stick or two to help unwind. The cigar culture is huge worldwide, and their are more cigars, and cigar experts than one could ever deal with. But occasionally on this blog, I will review a cigar I really enjoy, and you the reader are absolutely encouraged to disagree.

With this in mind, I can wholeheartedly recommend the CAO MX2 cigar. CAO is not a super high-end company and is available in almost any store. They sell solid, but on the whole not totally mind-blowing cigars at fair prices. The CAO MX2 is an especially good cigar with a blend of two Maduro wrappers. Maduro mean "ripe" in spanish and is used to describe the dark shade of the wrappers of certain tobacco plants. These usually are thought of as the traditional Cuban color and tend to be a little heavier. The MX2 is not too heavy or too overpowering, and is mostly just an enjoyable fun cigar with a slightly sweet taste on the lips. Unfortunately, the MX2 is no longer being made, as the wrappers proved to be too hard to produce. I also believe that the price to make these were not yielding the same profit as most typical CAO cigars, but this is simple speculation. Regardless, most cigar stores will have one or two sticks still available. However, unless you have a humidor up and running I would not recommend buying one unless you are ready to smoke it in the next few days. The MX2 comes in various sizes, and should be available in the $5-$10 range.

Track Your website, stalk your fans

2007-06-03T01:48:00.000-05:00

It's weird sometimes blog's get popular and the reader can feel stalked or violated when random users stumble upon their personal spot out in cyberspace. Luckily for me, I have yet to hit worldwide acclaim. So instead, I stalk the very few fans I may have.

Well I don't stalk them as much as I watch closely things like how long people are looking at the site when they visit, where they are checking the website from, and how often they come back. I do this all for free, and until now, in secret with Statcounter. Statcounter is free, it installs into any website as a piece of code and can track things like page hits, unique hits, keywords found, search engines used to find, city and states of individual visitors, and much much more. It really is a great free product.

Statcounter has also shown me that a lot of my users are not using firefox. This could not be a bigger mistake. Firefox is fast, free and way more secure. The plug-ins are also great.
It really is worth downloading and trying firefox. Tabbed viewing may take some time getting used to, is simply superior. Also through Google AdSense, I get paid if you click my link to firefox. Now wouldn't you like for me to get paid?

w00t w00t at Woot.com!

2007-05-31T23:47:00.000-05:00

I have never hacked into NASA, nor upload a virus to a major networking system. I doubt I will ever break into a backing backbone server and steal large amounts of E-money, or add trojan keystroke tracker to some important computer. But you and I can still live like "HaXors" with Woot!

Woot.com is a great site, but the excitement is more difficult to explain than to enjoy. My Woot review can better be understood by actually wooting, but I will try to define the way of Woot! Basically, woot brings you cool gadgets, electronics & toys at low prices. Unlike some regular store however, woot only has one item for sale on any one day (except for woot-offs, more on those later). So we have 24 hours of sale for one random item, simple enough right? Well kind of, but woot does not have infinite quantities, so items can sell out at any moment. That's right, you can check it at Midnight (CST) and by 1:00 AM everything be sold out, or by midnight the next day they still could have plenty of the items.

So now your getting it, woot! is great prices, random products (kind of like this blog) and random quantities. Cool, but it's is missing something right? Well every so often you will be able to catch a Woot-off. Including right this second! (As of posting) A woot off is Woot! on 12 Red Bulls. It is better deals, lower quantities, but also as soon as an item sells out, or time expires, a new item is instantly posted. So it could be 300 television remotes, which take 2-3 hours to sell out, followed by 20 bluetooth headsets (at a ridiculously low price) which sell out in less than a minute, etc etc etc.

But wait, Woot has even more! Perhaps my favorite thing about woot.com is the "Random Bag of Crap." So what is it? It is a bag, with three items in it. Each item costs $1 (plus $5 shipping) and each bag is a random selection of things. In the past big screen tv's, xbox 360's and other valuable items have been in the bags. A vast majority of bags get more random things, like books on origami or a camera bag. Still, the mystery is amazingly fun and intriguing. Bags of crap sell out within minutes, one must be diligent and not think but simply buy when one presents itself. A tip, Woot-offs usually have bags of crap as the penultimate item, so try to guess when that may happen.

Also, check out wine.woot.com for the same idea only with wine instead of gadgets!

Magazines, on the cheap

2007-05-29T18:18:00.000-05:00

It seems like there is a magazine out there for everything right now, whether it be Nascar Illustrated or Mental floss. And while some claim actual physical magazines are a thing of the past, I disagree. The tactile feeling and ability to hold onto a magazine is appealing. The one problem, they tend to be expensive. But fear not my magazine loving friends, for I have a solution to all your problems.

The answer my friends is Ebay. At first I had been purchasing subscriptions online at random websites, but Ebay has proven to be cheaper, and easier to judge the quality. As an example, one can get a four year subscription to Maxim, Blender and Stuff for the rock bottom price of $3.99 (Cover price would be about $800 or more). Ebay allows easy feedback, so you can watch out for scammers, plus super low prices.

I have had really good luck buying my magazines this way, all except for one. I have yet to find anyway to buy The Economist on the cheap, which is a shame since it is amazingly good and pretty expensive. If anyone knows of a resource please let me know, I will be more than happy to credit you. As always, please practice safe ebaying.

Luminox 700 Series Chronograph

2007-05-28T13:04:00.000-05:00

You are SCUBA diving, its dark, and your Navy SEAL operation requires a totally dark entry at a synchronized time. The only problem, in the pitch black depths, it can be really tough to see your watch. It is for just this reason the Luminox brand was created.

All men like nice watches, and for many men, having multiple watches is the equivalent of women and their purses. The Luminox 700 Series Chronograph, has become my day to day watch and certainly deserves a review. The Luminox 700 Series chronograph is a stainless steel cased watch with an attractive and sturdy silicone band. What makes this watch a Luminox, is the borosilicate glass capsules which allow the watch to glow at all times. These are micro gas capsules, that unlike most glow in the dark material, glows at all times for 25 years, not just for a few minutes after it is exposed to light. This watch is water resistant to 50 meters (165 feet).

What I like about this watch is that it is versatile, good looking, and not overly expensive (MSRP $525, Can be found in the mid-high $200s). It comes both in a chronograph and non-chronograph models as well as in white, black, red and blue dials. The watch comes in a very cool blue metal case. The Luminox line is very diverse, and I recommend taking a look at any of them if you have the opportunity. Unfortunately, finding a Luminox in store is difficult, and finding a retail location that sells the watches at a fair price is even more difficult. Your best bet is the internet.

Hanuta....It's German for yummy

2007-05-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I can hold a grudge. And for all the cool things Germany has provided the world (BMW, fine watches, good beer, Einstein etc) I have never really let them off the hook for that whole Hitler, genocide, WWII thing. That is before I tried a Hanuta chocolate wafer.

These things are simply amazing! They come wrapped in a foil package, and are two nearly square wafers stacked on top of each other. Each wafer is actually two pieces of wafer with a thick chocolate cream holding them together. The wafer is perfectly crispy while the chocolate is sweet with just a hint of bitterness as an end note, like a fine dark chocolate. I usually am not a fan of dark chocolates, but these chocolate wafers are just amazing.

The one tough part about these things is finding them. Luckily, my local convenience store happens to carry them, but you can find them online for a good price. Also for anyone reading this in my local area, I should be getting a box on Friday, so leave a comment, telling me something that Germany needs to apologize for, or should be proud of and I will give you a freebie. (Prices range, my local store sells them for $1.59, I have seen them online for as little as $.89 each)

Simply your life, simplify your wallet....

2007-05-19T20:21:00.000-05:00

For too long, I have been burdened by large bulges in my pants. These bulges are quite unsightly, and can even be socially awkward. But no more, for Ben recommends a simple solution to living life with a few less bulges by way of changing wallets.

TUMI, has an excellent wallet for just this purpose. The Modernist Accessories Card Case with Window is a very long name for a very small product. What is perfect about this item, unlike similar wallets with money clips attached, is the comfort of sitting on it all day.

I like to think back to the Seinfeld episode, in which George suffers back injuries from sitting on a wallet that is too thick. This wallet is very thin, and still has a top space to put the occasional business card or receipt that you may want to hang onto.

TUMI has a fair warranty, and if you go into a TUMI store, you can sometimes skirt the issue of paying for something to be fixed. Of course, this wallet will require you to slim down to two or three credit cards, an ID and a few business cards, but I have had no trouble with this. In the upcoming weeks, I will review a few money clips to complete the wallet ensemble. ($30 at Tumi store and many department stores)

Bamboo, its not just for Pandas anymore...

2007-05-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

It seems like all of a sudden, being eco-friendly is the new fashion statement. Are we destined to become tie-die and hemp wearing, granola eating, prius driving, smelly hippies? Well perhaps not. What if there were a set a bed sheets, so soft and yet durable that I could recommend them regardless of their enviromental footprint?

Bamboo, at least in theory, is an eco-friendly product because it grows extremely quickly, with less resources than cotton. Bamboo does not require pesticides and can even be more durable than cotton. Bamboo even has anti-bacterial properties.

With all this in mind, I highly recommend picking up a set of Bamboo Sheets from your local Target. These sheets are a 60-40 cotton-bamboo blend. They are incredibly soft, don't stain like jersey cotton and have the previously explained enviromental benefits.

The softness and durability really caught me off guard, and at an extremely reasonable price of $29.99-59.99 are a great deal. These sheets are available in 5 different colors.

Quick Veggies!

2007-05-14T22:17:00.000-05:00

If you know me, you know I keep a very disciplined diet. I totally avoid fatty foods, and am the epitome of good health.

In all honesty, eating healthy can be a challenge. Aggravating this is that quick food tends to be unhealthy or not tasty. The fine folks at Birds Eye, have come up with a solution.

The answer is the Steamfresh frozen vegetable bag. These bags come in 10 different varieties, require no thawing, pop into the microwave, cook vegetables excellently, in under 5 minutes. Two other lines, "Specialty Seasoned" and "Premium Selects" are also available in the Steamfresh packaging.

The bags cost slightly more than a regular bag of veggies and are available in the frozen vegetable section of your local market. ("Ben" prefers to undercook his Steamfresh veggies so as to keep the veggies crispy and not soggy, cooking time will depend on each individual microwave)

Under Garments?

2007-05-13T19:18:00.000-05:00

Wait I know what your thinking, it really is not cool, at least in the traditional sense, for guys to talk to other guys about what is currently cupping their sack or giving them a wedgie.

But I recommend that we do just that, for I have seen the holy land brothers, and it is slipping into a nice fresh set of Sandtrap Boxers from Handsome Smooths. ($24.00)

So what is the big deal? I was skeptical at first, but the fabric and cut really make all the difference. The material wicks away moisture without being overly tight. It gives a nice loose feeling, while still offering some support and regulating temperature. While the price is pretty high for boxers, the material seems to simply be made out of higher quality, perhaps longer lasting material.

The one thing I wish they would improve upon is the color choices, they should consider throwing in more fun colors and some patterns. Handsome Smooths also shipped incredibly quickly, so try on a pair, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Coast Digi-Tac II

2007-05-13T15:20:00.000-05:00

I really like flashlights, I have never been sure why. Perhaps it harkens back to a Neanderthalesqe hunter-scavenger need to create light.

Regardless, I will recommend more than a few lights on this website, and one of them that I love is my Coast Digi-Tac II. This light is phenomenal. It is exactly as long, and almost double the width of my middle finger. It sleek, sexy and very bright. Mine is a nice silver color, and it has a really nice checkered aluminum body. It uses one LED bulb which puts out an almost pure white color. What is nice about LED bulbs is that they are much sturdier to the point of being almost unbreakable, last hundreds of times longer than normal bulbs, and use up less energy. It has an O-Ring on both twist of connections (one for the head one for the tail cap).

Perhaps what I like best about the Coast Digi-Tac II is the functionality. It uses a simple click tail cap, once on once off. It requires no twisting or pulling. It also uses one AA battery, as opposed to the much more powerful, but also much more expensive and difficult to find, 123A battery which many high end companies are now using almost exclusively.

I compared the coast to my INOVA X1. The Coast Digi-Tac II blows it out of the water, they are not nearly comparable, the ergonomics, light output, and ease of use all go to Coast. The Inova, is smaller, but also more difficult to hold comfortably.

Unfortunately, while INOVA is becoming increasingly more mainstream and easy to find, it seems as though the Coast Digi-Tac II is almost exclusively available online. I purchased mine at BrightGuy.com for $35.50. It is certainly worth every penny!

My First Post!

2007-05-12T20:57:00.000-05:00

Hello out there in cyberspace, and welcome to your one stop shop for random products. In the consumer driven world, wouldn't it be great if you had one go to place to check out tried and proven fun products?

Not really? Well you should head on over to The Economist instead.

If you havent run on over to one of the best news magazines out there, welcome. In the upcoming weeks you will see interesting and fun product reviews. Mostly stuff I can just wholeheartedly recommend and think others should know about it. So tell a friend, bring a date and enjoy.