Honea Express

Archive for the ‘products’ Category

People often ask me how I pick the items that I review. Easy, I don’t. Well, that’s not entirely true. Sometimes I’ll review an item based upon my own decision, but often I turn to the family and let them decide.  Why? Because this blog, while written by me, is usually about them, and I figure they ought to get a little something out of it.

That doesn’t change my policy regarding reviews (read more in “The Biz” tab above), it just means that there are likely to be items that find their way into these pages that seem like an odd choice for me, and now you know why.

Also, Wii game giveaways!

The Reviews

Toque Blanche was kind enough to send me a black clay La Chamba cooking pot because they believe that “the home chef who is serious about preparing food deserves the best.” I’m more of the home chef who is serious about eating food that someone else was serious about preparing. And drinking.  My wife, however, is a fantastic cook.  She picked the cookware.

And Toque Blanche only carries the best, so that’s why they were the company to send said La Chamba. Makes a lot of sense when you think about it. The clay cookware can be used in the oven, microwave or on the stove, and it is incredibly easy to clean.  As an added bonus it does not contain any toxins (unless I’m cooking). Plus, La Chamba is from Columbia, which means Columbia is now two for two in my book:

See? Columbia is alright.

Thanks, Toque Blanche! We love the La Chamba clay cookware. Also, Modern Family on ABC!

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You may recall Didi Pop from a previous review. My boys enjoy her music so much we made a video to one of her songs, which Didi Pop featured on her website FOREVER! Except it’s not there now, but still, pretty cool.

Her new disc is called Didi Pop Goes to Hawaii and is, as you may have guessed, heavy on the Hawaiian influence. Think Jack Johnson, but safer.

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Speaking of pop, have you tried popchips™ brand chips? They aren’t fried. They aren’t baked. They’re popped and they’re good (hurray)! And healthy (gasp)! I’m eating some right now. Pretty weird, right?

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Now for a mustache break: Read the rest of this entry »

As I mentioned before, I have a stack of things to review and frankly, I’m tired of looking at it. In fact, I think I’m done reviewing stuff unless someone sends me more stuff.

In the meantime, humor me as I keep my word while spreading it at the same time. I know, it’s awesome.

STUFF:

Hasbro was kind enough to send me a new spin on the classic game Mouse Trap. It’s part of their U-Build  series where the players actually build and customize the board. Yes, you read me.

The game has a bunch of U-Build bricks which are exactly like, but are not, another popular building brick that the kids love. It also has a Space Boot(!), some small parts and the trap.  Sadly, the mouse is not included and that actually turned out to be the most difficult, yet most rewarding, part of the game. Do you know how hard it is to catch a mouse with a plastic trap and a bunch of building bricks?  Pretty hard. The sense of accomplishment that my children achieved was worth all of the rabies shots in the world.

The U-Build spin on an already fun game pays off. It’s like two games in one: the building game where my kids fight and scream over how the board will look and the Mouse Trap game where my kids fight and scream over the first aid kit.  Of course, neither of those last two sentences are true. However, the part about it being two games in one is an actual fact based on my opinion as well as those of the people at Hasbro, and they’re right.

If U-Build it the fun will come. Also, rodents.

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The Idle Parent by  author Tom Hodgkinson looks like a nice book. It has a reddish-orange cover that I’m tempted to call a burnt sienna, but it could be the light in here — or the 4 months of dust that the book has accumulated. This is not the fault of the book or Mr. Hodgkinson, who also wrote How to Be Idle and The Freedom Manifesto.  No, it is the fault of time and my lack of it.

The book is subtitled, “Why Laid-back Parents Raise Happier and Healthier Kids,” which is a statement I’m inclined to agree with.  The kids on the cover look happy enough and their dad is totally napping on the couch. And he’s wearing Vans.  If that doesn’t scream laid-back then I don’t know what does.

I think the book weighs about a pound and a half. Give or take. It has 251 pages.

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I really dropped the ball on a review that I was supposed to write for All About Beer Magazine and my fellow DadCentricite, Greg, by losing a copy of a book they sent me called Beer Across Texas. Here’s the thing, Texas is huge and the book isn’t, which leads me to believe that the authors only discussed the good beers across Texas and not every crappy can of suds they came upon.  In the industry we call this attention to “quality” and we like it. My most sincere apologies to All About Beer, Greg and the authors of Beer Across Texas. Also, smaller books are apparently easier to lose.

Seriously, I can’t find it anywhere.

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Candlewick Press was kind enough to send a collection of summer reading over for my boys. The titles include:

It’s Vacation Time by Lerryn Korda, which is a really cute book that my 4-year-old loves. It’s about, wait for it, vacation time! The story is big on using your imagination and we’re big on that.

Maisy Goes to the Museum by Lucy Cousins is about Maisy the mouse and frankly, I can’t read it without hearing the narrators voice from the TV show. And what’s up with Charley?
But I digress. This book is for preschool kids and my preschool kid thinks it’s great and he doesn’t care how many times Charley has been dropped on his head.

Flanimals Pop-Up, which was written by Ricky Gervais, yes, that Ricky Gervais, and illustrated by Rob Steen. With a name like Flanimals Pop-Up, it’s exactly what you’d expect, but with a writer like Ricky Gervais it’s like nothing you could ever imagine. Within reason. It’s good fun.

Judy Moody’s Way Wacky Uber Awesome Book of More Fun Stuff to Do, The Oceanology Handbook – A Course For Underwater Explorers and Show Off – How to Do Absolutely Everything are big hits with my 7-year-old for all the reasons clearly stated in each book’s respective title. He likes wacky, uber, awesome, underwater exploring and doing absolutely everything. It’s like they were made for him.

Where’s Waldo? The Ultimate Travel Collection by Martin Handford is billed as the essential travel companion, and after it kept my kids quiet on an airplane for two hours I’m inclined to agree.

I still don’t know where Waldo is, but I think he stole my beer book.

All of the Candlewick Press books listed above have been big hits with my kids and for that I’m thankful. Thanks, Candlewick Press!

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And now for something completely different.

Scholastic sent me two new books, Max Spaniel: Funny Lunch and Firehouse! that my boys love.

They’re both about dogs and they are loads of fun. I’m supposed to write a review on them, but I don’t want to spoil the plot(s). Besides, this post is already longer than both books combined.

Here’s the fun part, I’m giving away 3 sets of the books! Yes, now you can own your very own copies of these entertaining books and all you have to do to win is leave a comment stating that you would like the books! I’ll send the books to three(3) random entries. The contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and P.O. boxes are not allowed. My apologies to other countries and anyone that rents a mailbox.

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And on that note, my pile of items to review is gone! Literally, I’ve been moving each item out of my office as I go and whoa, carpet!

Please note, I really do appreciate the items sent to me for review (which are all of the items listed in this post) and I wouldn’t include them here if I didn’t think people would enjoy them.  Stuff that sucks doesn’t make the page, man. Honea don’t play that.

Peace out.

When Birkenstock contacted me about trying a pair of their Boston Suede Clogs (Mocha) I figured one of the following had to be true: a) they’d seen the pictures of me and Tricia on the Ben & Jerry’s tour, b) they had read that I attended a Dave Matthews concert by choice, or c) they’ve seen my toes and felt that they should be covered. All of the above was also considered.

Turns out that none of those likely possibilities were the actual reason, rather they pegged me, and rightly so, as an international man about town who loves a good pair of kicks. This, the understanding of people, is why Birkenstock has been around since 1774 ( I bet George Washington had a pair just like mine. There’s a Boston tie-in there). Of course, their understanding of feet doesn’t hurt.

Here’s the info on the shoe: it’s not the prettiest thing in the world, although some of the other color/fabric options are pretty stylish, but it’s comfortable as all get out. George Washington knew this. The Indigo Girls know this. Now you know this. Birkenstock makes a damn comfy shoe.

The footbed consists of layered foam and cork, the latter implying that someone has to drink a lot of wine to make these shoes and that may very well be the BEST. JOB. EVER. There are also a few microscopic air bubbles that cushion and provide arch support. A few MILLION. Do the math and the sum is comfort wins.

Please note, although Birkenstock clogs are made in Germany, socks remain optional.

Compensation: No
Products Received: 1 pair of Birkenstock Boston Suede Clogs (size 12) for review.

Capes courtesy of the friendly folks at Bodemi who remind you that a “Z” is just an “N” turned sideways!

I was going to do a whole thing with the lyrics from Steely Dan’s song Black Friday, but frankly it came out a bit morbid. That being the case I decided to just do a straight review of some cool toys.

Some of these products were submitted to me for review and some I am just wishing for. In regard to the products I’ve received please note that if I write about it I like it. If I don’t like a product I either send it back and/or make it clear why I don’t like it (unless it’s for trivial reasons).

* Sizzle & Serve Kitchen – Once the boys mastered the faux hawk I knew that Top Chef couldn’t be far behind. We started letting them help in the kitchen, but their kind of help is more along the lines of making huge messes and putting our entire family in mortal danger rather than creating gourmet chow. What we needed was a middleman, and what we got is the Sizzle & Serve Kitchen.
The boys love it. They pretend to cook and we pretend to eat. You would think that all of this fake eating might mean we’d lose weight, but apparently the diet is fake, too. Go figure.

The kitchen has a “working” grill and ice machine and a “Contemporary Colonial Archway” which seems like an oxymoron to me, but what the hell do I know?

As an added bonus, while searching for a photo of the Sizzle & Serve I got to check out numerous photos of my girl Sizzle. Little Tikes might want to talk to her about page ranks.

BTW, the chance of finding porn while searching for “Sizzle & Serve” is 100%.

*Giddyup N’ Go Pony – I was a bit skeptical of this, namely because it isn’t this, but as soon as the race started it was mint juleps for everyone.

I’m getting Tricia a big, flowery hat for Christmas.

The best part about this pony is that it doesn’t eat and it doesn’t poop, two of the reasons I no longer own a horse. The downside is that it is the cause of much fighting and little sharing.

The porn to pony ratio is surprisingly low.

*Spike the Ultra Dinosaur is on the very top of Atticus’ Christmas list. His true loves in this world (besides Jack Skellington and SpongeBob) are robots and dinosaurs. I don’t know if we’re going to get this for him or not, manly because we’re broke and he’s spoiled, but you’ve got to admit that it’s pretty darn cool.

*My Real Digital Video Camera is waterproof to 3 feet which is really neat, but I’m afraid to submerge it. I like to think of it as more of a safety feature than an envelope to push.

The camera is real. It takes real video. Look at this list and tell me this is for children 3 and up:

• Editing features add graphics and sounds to videos and pictures.
• Easily plugs into TV or PC for video picture playback.
• 64 MB of built-in memory.
• 1.7″ LCD screen.
• Built-in microphone, speaker, light/flash.
• 1.3 mega pixel resolution.
• SD card expansion slot for additional memory storage capacity.
• 4X digital zoom.

It’s for children ages 3 and up.

When I was 3 and up our idea of making a movie involved a stick, some dirt and a big dose of imagination. This camera is way better.

This is what I want:
Dear Canon (or Nikon for that matter), if you want me to review one of your products I will gladly plaster your information all over all of my blogs for the entire month of January (that was a collective 50 million page views in November- really, 50 million!).

So I’m a sell-out. Did you think this was Neil Young’s blog?

Here’s the wife’s list: and maybe some new pajamas.

There you go, some hopefully helpful reviews, some blatant and distasteful pleading and some gratuitous nude photos of Hugh Jackman. If that doesn’t say Christmas I don’t know what does.