Full Tilt Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahh the end of the semester. The time when you realise "oh, @#4$! there's only a few days left." The time when all your classes are wringing you dry to be "more creative." Teachers defend giving you crummy grades on things they said "looked great!" before turning it in with "well there's still so many points left in the class! It's not THAT big of a deal!" The time you feel MOST lazy. The time you want to bang your head into the wall and just go to sleep all day long. But then you work nearly full time, on top of going to school full time. Your garbage service sucks ass and won't answer their telephones, or respond to your messages. They don't pick up your garbage. You tear your garage apart to make "art" for a stupid class you don't want to take but it's GE and required! Missing a field trip because work held you back a little longer. Yup. That about sums up the "ends of semesters" in general for me.

Maybe an article titled "FULL TILT FUN!!" will cheer me up. Ooh pinball! I used to be into pinball quite a bit; actually I have an old 1960's pinball machine (Gottlieb "SWING ALONG") sitting out in my garage that I'm pretty sure I'm destined to never get around to, but it is SO DAMN COOL looking. And it runs on dimes. Gotta love that 60's artwork; very classy! This Marvel machine looks like a pretty cool device; much more complex and "arcade like" it seems than most "home junk" pinball machines they made in the days of old. Doesn't look like it's all that big though; I saw something that looked somewhat similar at Best Buy, and I think I could've picked it up and hucked it across the room. By the way, did anyone else cry at the end of the movie Tommy? If not for the ending, anyone else cry because the entire movie was a real steamer?

Anyway, I'm not into alcohol or wine at all, but I've had roomates that would kill for the "WinePod." In fact, I wouldn't be too entirely surprised if at least one of them would buy this thing. Someone who can finish off one and a half bottles of wine a day needs this. I suppose I'd be more inclined to make some tasty fruity drinks with this contraption rather than use it for its intended purpose..but that's half the fun right? Like putting that 1/4" guitar cable into a pencil sharpener..

I don't really understand the details of the FinePix S6000fd..so I decided to look it up...and it doesn't seem all that fascinating. Looks like it just recognizes faces (even on TV!) and adjusts the lighting, etc. from there. Meh.

The antibacterial Nalgene bladder and heated drinking tube in the backpack idea sounds pretty cool. Unfortunately I don't hike or climb mountains. I probably would if I had that kind of time/money. Hmm. Ever tried to break a Nalgene bottle?

Ooh, now the SlimDevices Wi-Fi/Ethernet music player looks pretty boss. I would probably use that if I had that kind of scratch, or even a decent stereo. That'd be much easier than fumbling with cables, different iPods, records, CDs, or (yuck) cassettes. But I think I'd rather spend the money on a nice amplifier and a new turntable.

The Harmony 1000 unit also looks like something I'd use if I owned my own home. It'd be cool to control something that's somewhat obnoxious to control (say a row of arcade games..turn only one on instead of makin' that power meter in your backyard spin till it flies off the spindle) individually. But closing shades? Turning off appliances? That's just damn laziness.

These tiny tiny gizmos that do a bazillion things like these mp3 players I just don't understand. I find it fascinating that the technology can fit..but good lord, what use is it if you need a magnifying glass to see it?

YES! Rice cookers! I could use one. Just the other day I tried to make rice but ended up being nasty. These are pretty pricey though for the amount of times I'd actually cook rice...but judging from these reviews these aren't even that great. Huh.

Telescopes are pretty nifty. You can use them to star-gaze, or to look at that sinister looking kid with the other telescope. Seriously though, these things are pretty cool, but not something I could really use that often. Plus, if it's cloudy or smoggy, it might be kinda hard to see. Also I have a lot of trees in my area...guess I could "stand with you on a mountain" and use one of these.

Overall, after reviewing the reviews, I'd say that the SlimDevices Wi-Fi/Ethernet music player would be my choice of product to buy if I had to (and had the money!). What did you all think? Best wishes on your way to the end of the semester!