A Few of My Favorite Things

Well it very well could be a daily feature; like Current Spin, Last Screening, Latest Read etc. And indeed I promise that soon it will be. But for now in leiu of just how backed up I am with this particular Post idea, I figured that rather than working my way backwards editing each and every post from the last month just to add a line or two for this latest feature addition, instead I'll start off with a great big data dump here, now, and from this point forward I'll just remember to add the "favorite things" feature to the bottom of each post. Easier that way. For me that is. And for you it's going to be a nice little bag of goodies all in one shot. God knows I owe it to you. I read the texts, comments, wall posts, emails, Facebook messages etc. And yes I listen to my voicemails so ive heard all ur voicemails. I know I owe it to ya. So here goes.

[Disclaimer: these are suggestions. I'm three steps away from that fine line between crazy-cool and just plain crazy. So use good sense and discernment. Dont spend yourself into bankruptcy. Its easy to do in a global economy where we now have access to anything and everything we could ever possibly desire. Unlike magazines, entertainment tv gossip shows, daytime and latenight talk shows, and even radio stations who claim to play "hit songs", I am NOT getting paid to pitch or promote these products. To be honest, I don't much like tv shows or magazine articles that recommend or feature products only because "promotional consideration has been given to the following products." There actually is no such thing anymore as a true unpaid honest to goodness hit song or hit tv show or a real product recommendation. It's all pay to play now. They just don't want the public to know this. They'll even use the phrase "Here's your morning sleaze" as if they're going to fill you in on some really juicy gossip, when instead what they're actually doing is just telling us "pitched stories" that they've been paid to repeat live on the radio. It's fake gossip if you will. How the hell can we trust a product if the person recommending it is being paid to do so? We can't.

And therein lies yet another example of bad-capitalism versus good-capitalism. This alone could be an entire blog post. People are busy. They don't have time to anylize whether or not a product is honestly being promoted because it's good or if it's just another thinly disguised advertisement. But here you'll never have that problem. Unless i specifically announce that it's one of the product endorsement deals Im contracted to promote. And even then ul still be safe. Because I don't do endorsement deals for products that I don't totally adore. Cool? Cool. So let's get on with it.]

Recent Favorite things:
- Spybot Search and Destroy. Best damn spyware malware virus protection on the net and it's free. Download it today.

- Origins Peace of Mind cream. Like Tiger Balm it burns. But just a little. Nice way to perk up or relax. Rub a little on your temples.

- Phillip B Chai Latte shampoo and shower gel. LOVE IT! Smells just like a chai latte but you shower with it. The smell is in incredible. Yum!

- Tetris for the iPhone. Addictive! Download at your own risk. It can be a major time waster.

- Franz Salted Caramels. Handmade in Seattle using all natural ingredients. The most delicious caramels I've ever found anywhere. They make a milk chocolate one and a dark chocolate one. Best of both worlds - have a box of each and eat them one at a time switching each time. Don't blame me if you fall in love or get addicted. They're expensive. I'm warning you now. But worth every dollar.

- Modern Family. The tv show. You don't start laughing from the moment it starts till the very last line.

- Ciao Bella Blood Orange sorbet. In the last two years I've tried every brand and every flavor on the market. Blood Orange by Ciao Bella is so damn good that it's become a ritual for me to eat a full pint every night right before bed. Incredible!

- Viinyl.com. If you're a musician you can build your own promotional page online to stream any of your songs along with a full screen picture, as well as provide links to ur website and social network profiles. It's easy, free, and has a nice clean simple look to it.

- Sunday morning news shows: Face the Nation, Meet the Press, McGlaughlin Group, and Chris Matthews. Unlike CNN these shows aren't trying to turn their news anchors into celebrities. They're real journalists having real conversations. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC all have a partisan agendas, as well as a thirst for fame, and thus what you get is Anderson Cooper playing clips of himself giggling over and over again. Or even worse (cud it get worse than that?) very slanted and spun puff pieces disguised as news whose sole mission is to convince you to lean far left or far right. Neither side is one-hundred percent right one-hundred percent of the time. Big deception, and a big waste of time.

- CNN now has Piers Morgan. And I must say that compared to "Uncle Larry" King that is, Piers actually studies his guests before the show airs and asks real honest and sometimes tough questions. So far so good. Not bad Piers. Just please don't get lazy and stop. We respect you.

- X-Factor USA. Simon's new mutli-million dollar alternative to American Idol has more real talent in Season 1 than Idol had in ten Seasons. It's great to see Simon and Paula again. And LA Reid is a REAL music biz maven. Allegedly each show costs 3.3 million dollars to produce. And it looks that way. But most of all it doesn't come off like a high school talent show like Idol does. It's totally Pro. Music lovers or musicians will love it. Because you always learn something from it. From the importance of song choice to how essential it is to get a stylist and always look good if you're showcasing your talent in a public forum.

- Twitter. Yep it's old news. To some. To millions of others it's a new phenom and the reason to like it is because unlike Facebook where you're just bombarded by irrelevent updates and pix by the loudest friends with the least amount of self control, Twitter allows you to choose what you read and what you talk about. You may not get that aw-shucks homey vibe that Facebook offers, but the potential for intelligent conversation about subjects you actually care about is very high. My Twitter address is Ed_Hale@Twitter.com. Connect with me when u can.

- Bop it! The game. Just found one and boy is it fun! Talk about a time waster. The only good thing about it is that playing it regularly helps exercise the brain to keep you sharp.

- UGGs boots and slippers. My UGGs slippers are soooo confortable. And my fur lined boots I will literally wear every day until the very last day of Winter.

- L'Occitane Cade Anti-fatigue Gel. Frankly I like L'Occitane anything! Much like Fresh, they just know how to make very clean fresh all natural and best of all uniquely scented products. So here's the deal. L'Occitane makes a ton of products. But they have a very small line of signature fragrances with accompanying products such as moisturizers gels and shampoos. IMHO their very best signature scent is from the Cade tree. It's bold woodsy spicy and masculine smelling similar almost to the smell of pine. Try their Anti-fatigue gel. It's got that increible Cade smell but it's also great for refreshing and stimulating your face when you've been working all day. It works. It regenerates.

- Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Wipes. They're just like wet wipes -- in fact they are wet wipes, but the difference is that each wipe contains 7 different anti-aging ingredients. Think moisturizer, anti-oxidants, and skin toners. You can carry a few around with you in ur breifcase or purse and always have access to some. What I like best about always having some around is that it encourages you to wash ur face more often. Which is always a good thing. Even better? A smidgeon of anti-aging ingredients besides just cleansing.

- John Varvatos Artisan Black cologne. Owning over 180 bottles of different colognes makes me a conniseur of sorts I guess, and probably a wee bit insane; but regardless of all that, John's new Artisan Black is one incredible smelling and irresistable scent. The girls love it too.

- Tommy Hilfiger's entire 2011 line. Very very unique and different. See if you can still get your hands on some still. You'll probably get a big discount.

- The iPad2. Sleek slick thin lightweight slightly mysterious; a fascinating architecture combined with the intuitive and smooth I-OS makes it quite addictive. With that said it's not easy to type on yet. And it won't work with Adobe Flash, which means you can't upload photos to the Internet because most uploaders now use some form of Flash. What this means is that if you have a blog or two or just enjoy sharing photos on Facebook you will NOT be able to do so unless you download the ipad app for that website. No app, no uploading photos with ur ipad. Def time to make nice with Adobe guys. This is a major bummer and greatly diminishes how often you are able to use your ipad. Sir Richard put it perfectly: if you're a content creator the iPad is just not good enough for you. But if you're more of a content addict you'll enjoy using the ipad rather than your computer or phone or Kindle. Ipad just blows the competition away in terms of pure tactile enjoyment.

Want more? Well worry not. Because there are hundreds more. This is just a taste. Tune in daily and you'll find this new feature towards the bottom of every post here in the Transcendence Diaies.