Reason #1000 Why the Roku 3 is Amazing.

I’ve done several posts about the Roku box product. I’ve really had nothing terrible to say about the little black box, and last night I discovered another awesome feature!
My biggest problem with all of these media devices is that, in the end, I still find myself hooking my laptop up to my TV to watch movies that I have on my laptop’s hard drive. What I found out, is that the USB port on the side is totally functional for pulling and playing files from an external device. What this means is that I can hook up a huge hard drive, right up to the Roku thus attaching it to an entire library of movies! The “downside” is that it only plays mkv or mp4 video files, so you may need to convert some of your videos depending on what files they currently are.
All you need to do is hook your hard drive up to the Roku, and then go to the app store. There is a free app in the music section called, USB Media Player (or something along those lines), the logo looks like this:

Once you do this, you can open up the app, and the Roku should be able to read all the contents on the drive and play them. It is awesome.

November 19, 2013 0

Its About that Time! NO L.E.D.s!

Its getting to be that time of year. Actually its my favorite time, and today is one of those days where its mid-November and we have a freak day here in Buffalo, where it will be in the 60’s and sunny out! That can only mean one thing…….

Yes indeed, the lighting of our house….well, not exactly turning them on, but the installation. There is nothing like grabbing a ladder, a shit load of tangled lights, and a pint of beer to have AFTER the lights involving the ladder are put up.

I noticed that when I was in my local Home Depot, that there seems to be a steady decrease year to year, in real lights…everything seems to be converting to LED’s which to me, is horrible. Yeah, I get it….they last a long time, they use less electricity..whatever. They are ugly…..straight up ugly. There is no warmth to their glow, no tradition in their appearance; just nothing. I will hold out on buying these lights as long as I can. Call me old fashioned…

This morning while drinking some coffee and taking advantage of every second our baby sleeps, I decided to look at the internet for xmas decoration ideas, unique stuff, cool ideas, etc. Some of what I saw was pretty awesome, some sort of odd….you decide.

Like this…..

Nothing like turning your toilet into a cute xmas character with what appears to be eyes, and antlers and a nose….and a toilet seat mouth…that you will eventually put your fanny on and relieve yourself into……weird.

I’m not a fan of this display per say, but I like the idea of putting something around the door. My mom always has some sort of pine display around the frame of the door…this may be the newest addition to the house….not sure yet. Every year I like to add one more thing.

I have already added this to my Amazon wish list so that I don’t forget. These lights are solor powered! This is perfect for the tree we have out by the road. This is definitely something I’m doing this year!

I’ll have pictures of the final display posted here the day after thanksgiving (which is the day I’m allowed to turn on the lights). Stay Tuned!

November 16, 2013 0

Netflix Alert: "Messenger of Death"

There are some beauties on Netflix this month. Here is one from one of my favorite actors of all time, Charles Bronson. I have seen most of his films but somehow missed this one. “Messenger of Death” is the story of this family in a private Mormon community that was was slaughtered by two evil and mysterious visitors wielding shotguns. They destroy 3 women and 6 little children. Like most Bronson movies, there isn’t much left for the imagination in this brutal scene (although they spare you the imagery of the kids actually getting hit with bullets). Bronson plays a station wagon driving (with wood paneling) reporter who covers the story, and (big shocker) decides to take matters into his own hands.

Like most Bronson movies, the police fail to handle the case correctly due to the laws holding them back. In this case, they have to release the prime suspect from custody unless they planned on charging him with something, plus they say that the crime was outside their jurisdiction (which is kind of hilarious because they worked the crime scene.) Of course Bronson thinks all of this is bullshit. Even though Bronson knows the prime suspect they let go isn’t the killer, he is convinced that its one of two Mormon brothers, both blaming each other for the crime. Bronson eventually gets wrapped up in trying to prevent a group of angry Mormons from hunting down who they believe committed this crime. Things heat up when an elaborate scheme starts to unfold revealing the real motive behind all that has taken place.

Not my favorite Bronson movie by no stretch, but definitely not a stinker. I think my problem with the movie was just that Bronson was way to laid back in this. He lacked the bad ass element and horrible dialog that he was known for, especially for being a Cannon release which was known for being his worst (best) work.

Perhaps the icing on the cake in this movie, is when a character during a fairly climatic scene puts a gun up to his temple and pulls the trigger which results in a bang, s teeny puff of smoke, and perhaps the weakest bullet on earth as it doesn’t exit his head. One of the more ridiculous scenes I’ve encountered in a movie. You still get to see a few classic Bronson hand to hand combat scenes so the movie doesn’t totally disappoint. This is one to watch on a lazy Sunday. Not a classic, but enjoyable.

One of two Bronson Shirts on our website

Our Bronson shirts are available on our website, eBay store, and Etsy stores.

November 12, 2013 0

Beer Watch: Bronx Brewery Pale Ale

Over the summer, my parents gave me an old fridge that was in their garage. I also had a wife that (rightly so) complained about me hogging the fridge space with all my beer. So it only made sense to put a second fridge in my basement dedicated to the housing of delicious beers. I am an I.P.A. drinker, but the problem with that is, you really cant keep a large amount of I.P.As in there because they really should be consumed as fresh as possible. You don’t want to let them age. I have started broadening my horizons when choosing beers to bring home, branching out to stouts and other things. While at the beer store, there was a rep from Bronx Brewery handing out some samples of their Pale Ale and the Scotch Ale. I sampled both beers which were poured from a growler they brought. The Pale Ale was full and delicious. A nice balance of malts and hops, and for an American Pal Ale (which I normally hate), it was very good. The Scotch Ale was also impressive, but like the Pale Ale, it didn’t taste like your traditional Scotch Ale. It resembled more of a malt heavy I.P.A.
Both beers out of the growler tasted pretty good, but when I got home and cracked open a can, the taste was dramatically different. It wasn’t awful by no means, but was not something that I’d probably revisit. The Pale Ale that I purchased was overly malty, and resembled my first home brew batch that I had done last year. After the first can, I was on the fence, and hoped that my second can would be a little better. It was actually worse. This could have been my palate at the time, and I have two cans left (4 pack) to decide, but my overall impression of this beer currently, is that it falls short of being decent. A valiant effort.

November 11, 2013 0

Netflix Alert: "Miami Connection" – Possibly the best "worst" film ever.

Sometimes the new kid sleeps on my chest, one of the things I love to do with the new spawn. Every time she falls asleep on my chest, I fire up the Netflix and watch something totally sweet. Normally I’d feel somewhat guilty wasting time doing this, but in these cases, “I have to”, right?
This time, I watched a film I had read a ton about, “Miami Connection.” The story behind this film (correct me if I’m wrong) is that it was made in the 80’s and but then wasn’t really seen for decades until Drafthouse Films took the film and restored it for blue ray release in 2012. Here is the plot description from IMDB:

“A martial arts rock band goes up against a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade.”

I was hooked on this movie after the first few minutes. It was so terrible, that I loved every second of it. The music, the costumes, the terrible acting-this movie had everything.

One of my favorite lines in the movie came after a scene where this guy and his goons were trying to get the martial arts rock band, “Dragon Sound”, to stop playing the club. They of course got their asses kicked so they went to this other guys clubhouse (which appeared to be just a gym/dojo) to ask for their assistance and to strike a deal with him and his gang. After they make a deal, the guy tells him:

“One more thing I should warn you about. These guys are black belts at Tae Kwon Do and are pretty bad.”

I nearly pissed myself

This movie is a riot, and when the Black Belt Band plays their music, you get full performances. Normally I’d be annoyed with something like this, but in this case, you can’t wait until you get to hear the next song! The band plays full performances shirtless with Karate pants and black belts. It’s unreal and I suggest you watch it now!

First the trailer:

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/VpZu69OB2KM&source=uds

A few clips from this masterpiece:

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/pGjaKjXiAGw&source=uds

November 10, 2013 0

One Month!?

Time flies when you have an infant! It may seem like your nights last an eternity, but a month has gone by and it doesn’t even feel like it. What have I learned after a month? Nothing stays the same. You may think you figured out your baby, but you are probably wrong (unless you’re one of the lucky folks and have one of those babies that the literature says “sleeps a majority of the day”).

Some things we have picked up after a month:

1) The Swaddle: You read so much stuff online: “Swaddling is good,” “Swaddling is bad,” “Only swaddle for 3 months.” All I know is, the swaddle is a life saver. Our baby hates it, but there is no way she will sleep without it! She doesn’t even come close. Once those arms are free, she goes insane and her arms start flapping like shes trying to take flight, accept failing at it…..and then screaming because she can’t fly (that must be why shes screaming right?). Then we go in and swaddle her, and shes out in 10-15 minutes.

Doesn’t get much easier then that right? Wrong. The swaddle is amazing because she oddly is able to sleep, however her split personality kicks in every few minutes and you get bursts of rage as she tries to burst out of it. It then becomes a battle of the sleepy baby vs the angry raging baby. Even more annoying, if the sleepy baby wins, she may pass out, but then as soon as shes in anything less then a “deep” sleep, she will try and burst out even in a half sleep, which can sometimes result in a wide awake fit! This can usually be tapered with a pacifier..that is….only if she allows you to try that…sometimes she just spits it.

“Come on sweet little angel, lets go to bed…”

All kidding aside, she is getting easier to figure out and anything she may do to frustrate us is usually forgotten instantly when she smiles (except for when she is making you really mad, and then smiles at you while you are pulling your hair out).

2) So many baby products, so many promises: Its so easy to get wrapped up in the world of baby products that promise specific results. For instance, our baby likes to be rocked, so we bought this:

We figured, “Well, she calms down usually when shes rocked, maybe she will like this!?” This item ended up being great, if you need to kill ten minutes and get yourself a cup of coffee. Its not a very soothing item. The swing rocks sort of unnaturally which I think just makes the baby panic and get confused. We seem to have the same results every time (although its getting better). You sit her down, she looks confused, then starts to wave her arms in hopes of flying out of the seat and escaping us, which is then followed by hiccups and a full fledged panic.

3) Bottles for fussy babies: So after doing some reading, we thought that maybe the baby was so angry all the time because of the way she was being fed. We were just using some regular bottles, some given to us by the hospital (they sent us home with tons of stuff). My wife discovered these bottles online:

These things claim to reduce colic by 80%. That sounded pretty swell in our eyes. They have this odd venting system that sometimes makes a squeaky sound when shes eating. When we first used this, our dog (who is getting used to being second in our house now) looked really confused as if we awarded the baby with a squeaky toy.

The results from the bottle were pretty awesome. We went from a baby that screamed and cried 90% of the time she was awake (the other 10% she was eating), to only crying when its time to sleep. We now get to feed our baby and then enjoy her smile with a little play time! This product has delivered.

November 9, 2013 2

Huge Holiday Sale!

I have cut out the bullshit this year. Black Friday is nonsense. Cyber Monday is a waste of time. I’m breaking out the killer deals for the entire month of November. Don’t wait! Our Ebay and Etsy stores have been rigged up with onesies starting at $10.00 and T-Shirts starting at just $15.00! Even our American Apparel line is on sale!

November 6, 2013 0

Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Shirt

Another new shirt out this week as I strive to get a few new items out before the holiday rush. This Mystery Science Theatre 3000 inspired shirt would be an awesome gift for any fan of the show. We have made this available in both American Apparel Creme and Standard Gildan off-white/creme. This has been posted in our Etsy, eBay, and website at supersweetshirts.com . Remember, the lowest prices are always on our website!

November 5, 2013 0

For all Adult fans of "Road House"…

Like I said in the previous post for the “Road House” onesie, my goal for a while was to design a pretty sweet T-Shirt for this movie. I started with the onesie because I had an idea what I wanted to do for that, but the shirt was still up in the air. Browsing the google images for Swayze, I found a picture that I liked and figured I could do something to. The end result…totally sweet:

This is available in our Etsy, eBay, and website! Remember, prices are the lowest on our website because we don’t get slapped with fees!

November 2, 2013 0

New Roadhouse Onesie!

Oh man, its been a while since I’ve had enough time to put out a new design. I still don’t really have “time” but I forced this in. One of my favorite films ever growing up is, “Roadhouse”. I watched this movie at an age where it was probably totally unacceptable, but hey I turned out fine. Needless to say, this became one of my all time favorites and can basically recite the dialog throughout the entire film. A “Roadhouse” inspired garment has always been on my list of things to make, but could never think of what exactly I wanted to do. So after some thought, I figured a bouncer shirt for an infant would be awesome.