1TO10REVIEWS

My Review: 10

I’m at the airport in Dallas, Texas.  Ordinarily I would find that depressing, but I have two reasons to celebrate.  1.) I am on my way to Cozumel, Mexico for a scuba vacation.  And 2.) they have the coolest x-ray machine of all time:

According to the security lady, this is one of only two such machines in the country.  What’s so special about thiese?  You can leave your laptop in your bag.  You don’t need three different little plastic bins.  You don’t need to juggle your backpack, carry-on, laptop and other junk with tired, sweaty people glaring at you for wasting their time.  You still have to take off your shoes, but let’s not be greedy.  This is a good start.

It was shocking to see the sign say: “Please Read >>  keep these items in your bag…”  And there’s a picture of a computer.  Holy mackerel.  That is rad. 

I like having my computer with me, and this process makes it even more pleasent.  I hate flying, so anything that makes the process simpler is something I cherish and appreciate.  For this reason alone, I am now a fan of Dallas International Airport.  And this killer new x-ray machine gets a 10 out of 10.  El yay.

My Review: 7

I’m keeping this post short and silly.  I think that’ s my strong suit anyway.  I was recently thinking about Chris Penn, and how much I miss him.  Not like we were friends or anything, but I think he was great.  I was watching an episode of Entourage recently (I think from season 2) and Chris had a cameo, boxing with Johnny Drama.   I think it was some of the last work he did. 

In my opinion, he was a phenomenally strong actor, woefully underrated, and especially excellent in character roles.  He was known best for his roles in 80’s classic Footloose, and for his role as an under-boss, Nice Guy Eddie, in Reservoir Dogs. But my favorite role for Chris was in Best of the Best, the cheese-filled 90’s karate movie with Eric Roberts and James Earl Jones. 

Chris was the younger brother of the much more famous Sean Penn, though I always liked Chris a lot more, not least because Sean Penn is kind of a douche.  There’s lots more information about Chris Penn available on IMDB, and on Wikipedia.

My Review: 1

I froze. How totally, terribly, embarrassing.  Don’t let this happen to you.

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Think about what you’re going to say before the camera starts rolling.  For this, I get a 1 out of 10.

My Review: 8

It looks like the Humvee of iPhone cases:

This thing is a brick.  A giant, yellow brick.  As I was testing it out for the day, a number of people made fun of me.  But I told them what I’m about to tell you.

This case is not intended for everyday carry.  It’s bulky, heavy, and clunky because it’s meant to withstand a hailstorm while being driven over by a tank.  (If the ground underneath it were sufficiently squishy, I think it just might survive the aforementioned tank rollover.)

The purpose of this case is to be waterproof, shockproof, dropproof, and ass-kicking proof. It is not elegant or sophisticated.  But it will withstand a nuclear bomb blast.

The o-ring seals well and tightly.  Water spilled onto it from a faucet tap at full blast never penetrated the interior, and no condensation or moisture built up inside the case.  I might not want to go SCUBA diving with it, but in rain or brief submersion, I would be totally comfortable.   All major functions except for one are accessible in this case, that one being the silent/vibrate toggle.  It is not too difficult to hear or be heard when talking through the case, and the touch-screen is very responsive.  I’d put it at 90% of normal sensitivity, even though your using it through the plastic, waterproof membrane.

I have only two major complaints, and the second one is unreasonable.

Complaint #1: The steep edges of the case where it borders the touch screen can make it difficult to type.  I often mis-hit keys when typing an email, SMS, or website address as a result.  No bueno.

Complaint #2: This is the unreasonable one.  I’ve just found out that this case will not be compatible with the new iPhone.  Of course, there’s no way that OB could have built this for the 3G iPhone, the specs did not exist.  But it’s a bummer.

I did not let complaint #2 affect my review score.  For what this case is, for what it’s meant to be, it does a a great job, and is fully worth an 8 out of 10.  If you are looking for a svelte, stylish case, look elsewhere.  If you are looking for a case that will let you bring your iPhone into a wet week in the jungles of Madagascar, this is your case.

You can purchase them here, directly from Otterbox.  At $70, if you want a waterprrof case that lets you retain almost all the functionality, this is a great purchase.  And I’ve been assure that they will have an Armor-series case for the 3G iPhone when it becomes available.

My Review: 10

I love Bruce Springsteen.  And this song, I think, is nothing short of brilliant.  Please listen to it in my Box.net widget in the side bar.

First of all, let me say one thing.  Douche is not part of this song.

Bruce wrote this song in the early seventies, and it was first recorded on his album Greetings From Asbury Park N.J. in 1973.  It did not achieve broad commercial success.

Manfred Mann recorded the song in 1977, and that reached #1 on the pop charts (according to Wikipedia, “…Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recording of “Blinded by the Light” is still Springsteen’s only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100.”

I think the writing and poetry in this song is tremendous.  The lyrics are outlandish and silly in a nearly Shel Silverstein-esque manner (Shel didn’t just write “Where the Sidewalk Ends” you know, he also penned “Boy Named Sue” [Johnny Cash] and “Cover of a Rolling Stone” [Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show.] among others.) Bruce’s lyrics are fanciful, fun and fantastic (in the “way out there” sense.)  They are evocative and as close to poetry as anything Bruce has written.  To me, this kind of writing puts him in the same class as Dylan and Simon.

I also love Bruce’s rendition of the song.  His vocals are at their scratchy best, and the musicianship is raw.  Powerful, and raw.

I can (and have) listened to this song on repeat, over and over again.  It leaves me happy, sad, curious, mystified, and sometimes a little maudlin.  Not really sure why.  But it’s evocative, and strong.  For me, this song is a solid 10 out of 10.  Not just because I love Bruce (which, as I said, I do) and not just becasue the lyrics are poetic and zany (which they are.)  This song is a 10 because it symbolizes freedom for me, every  single  time I listen to it.  It’s about the open road, about America, about living your life and be damned to the consequences.  This song kicks ass.

Afterthought:

Oh, and in case I wasn’t clear before, let me be abundantly so now.  I think Bruce’s version is infinitely superior to Manfre Mann’s.  Manfred Mann IS a douche.

My Review: 7

Steepandcheap.com is a website dedicated to offering super rad discounts on cool outdoor gear.  My expert internet sleuth Allison found this one.  The copyright on their “About” page says 2003-2004, but I am only seeing the site now.  They are “powered by” Backcountry.com.  I suspect they had a different format previously.  The guys at Chainlove (another BC.com site) posted something about this a couple months back.

Their tagline says: “One killer gear deal, one item at a time until it’s gone.”  I can’t argue, the deals so far have been killer.  Everything I’ve seen advertised is far below MSRP.  I picked up a Timbuk2 backpack yesterday that looked pretty nifty, at what seemed like a screaming price.  The signup and checkout process took me all of 35 seconds, which was great.  I was definitely impressed with the purchase and account UI.

They are also doing some pretty cool viral marketing, surprisingly nifty web apps that most traditional retailers don’t really get yet.  They offer a RSS alert system, and they allow you to share deals with friends not only via email, but on Facebookas well.  They show ads on the page, but they may as well squeeze every nickel that they can, especially since their margins can’t be high with discounts this steep.

The whole “one item till it’s gone” thing adds a definite sense of pressure and urgency to the system, and doubtless that’s why they do it.  It has an auction feel (a la Ebay) and also reminds me of Jellyfish’s Smack Deal of the day.  The difference here is that Steepandcheap doesn’t indicate how much time you have left, or how many items are available.  You are guessing until it’s gone.  But, the price doesn’t change either.  It is what it is.  It’s a GREAT deal on gear that sells until they’re sold out.  Artificially creating scarcity-based urgency is just good business.  My guess is that the items being sold are remaindered, unsold stock from Backcountry.

So why did I only give them a 7 out of 10 review?  Couple of reasons. For one, there’s no Paypal payment option.  I would like it better if there were.  And the RSS feeds, though really cool, seem to update slowly.  At the moment the most recent item in their feed (on my google reader) is the 4FRNT snow skis, and it says that it’s from 58 minutes ago.  That’s not the item currently on the site (A Merrell women’s jacket.)  In fact, it’s more than two items ago, because there was a watch on the site before the jacket came up.  RSS should be nearly real-time, and that’s important with a time-limited “buy till we sell out” mentality.

Also, and this is big deal, their pricing is inconsistent.  The backpack I bought was the Timbuk2 Track, and the listed MSRP on their site is $90.  SteepandCheap’s price was $44.38.  Any way you slice it that’s a great deal.  But the MSRP they listed during the sale was $150.00.  1/3 of the retail price sounds a LOT better than 1/2 of the retail price.  Truthfully, I did make an impulse buy based on the perception of scarcity without doing my research in advance.  I’m ok with that.  But I want them to play fair, and show the right prices.  I sent a question into customer service, see their answer down below.

The site is “powered by” Backcountry.com, a longtime online outdoor gear retailer, and winner of numerous online-shopping accolades.  Their internal blog, The Goat, has numerous references to the site starting as far back as December 2006.  I think they’re offering a potentially great service with Steepandcheap, and it is now on my regular stop-by list of shopping sites.  But I’d feel a lot better about doing business with them if I knew the prices were going to always be correct and consistent - I now feel suspicious about their offers.  Time will tell I suppose.   And no matter what, that RSS issue has got to get fixed.  For now, they get a 7 out of 10, even with killer prices.

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Here’s my question and their answer from their customer service rep:

Question:

Hi There,

I bought a Timbuk2 Track bag from you yesterday.  The suggested MSRP on your site

was $150, and you were selling it for $44.38. It sounded like a great deal, and I wasn’t

sure how long it would last, so I bought one on the spot.

Afterward, checking out the Timbuk2 site, I noticed that the packs are listed at $90 MSRP.

I still think I got a great deal, but it seems dishonest to post a higher MSRP than the

manufacturer really suggests.  If that was intentional, it artificially inflates the

discount you’re offering, and that seems wrong.  I’m not accusing, I’d just like some

clarification.  Why was the MSRP listed so much higher than what’s shown on the

manufacturers site?

Thanks,

David

Response:

Hi David,

Thanks for contacting us at Steepandcheap.com.

I do see the confusion, there has been many different versions of this pack, with very little physical differences and through the waves of shipments from Timbuk2 prices have changed.  The Black/ Black/ Black posted on SAC was purchased at a higher wholesale price than the packs posted on backcountry.com now.  MSRP had not been skewed to pump our number, but was actually $149.95.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know. Have a great day— we can’t wait to serve you up another killer deal at Steepandcheap.com.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXX

Steepandcheap Gearhead

My Review: 10

Friends are at Under the Radar, presenting their companies and connecting with VC’s. Special mention to LOUD3R and Lowell Goss, who is poised to kick ass.

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