Archive for the ‘Products’ Category
Yes it has a strange name! Whoever coined the name Thundershirt for a product to help dogs cope with anxiety might have some anxiety themselves if you ask me!
But still, a Thundershirt exerts a gentle, constant pressure that seems to have a amazing and dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited. This pressure apparently has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited.
We know the Thundershirt DOES WORK. I guess that is why the company is able to offer a money-back guarantee. Based on surveys completed by over 1,000 Thundershirt users, over 85% of dogs show significant improvement in anxiety symptoms when using Thundershirt! That is pretty cool!
I can relate story after story of our 100 pound shepard jumping on the bed when a thunder storm was coming. And clearly I recall the issues after we left him with friends for a week while on vacation. What a mess!
As for WHY Thundershirt’s gentle pressure works to calm a dog, experts such as Dr. Temple Grandin believe that pressure has a calming effect on the nervous system. Using pressure to relieve anxiety has been a common practice for years. For example:
* TTouch dog trainers use pressure to address a wide variety of anxieties.
* Veterinarians use pressure to relax cattle when they are administering vaccinations.
* People with autism use pressure to relieve their persistent anxiety.
* Children with certain behavioral problems use pressure shirts and weighted vests to relax and focus.
* Parents use swaddling to calm an inconsolable newborn infant.
Until now, there just hasn’t been a well-designed, inexpensive pressure wrap commonly used for dog anxiety. Thundershirt is changing that! Thousands of veterinarians and dog trainers now recommend Thundershirts for their anxiety cases.
With a money back guarantee what have you got to lose? (Except the anxiety your dog is feeling…)
I’ve been a tool guy since I was about 9 years old. That was about the time that my step father got me interested in working on cars and motorcycles, about 45 years ago. One look at my garage will tell you that I never lost my appetite for tools.
Modern manufacturing techniques and cheap foreign labor has been a boon for tools just like it has for everything else. When I need a special tool of some sort, I am always amazed at the low price I can pay for a quality tool. That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot of cheap junk out there, for sure there is. But if you know what to look for, you can better better, cooler tools for less money now than ever before.
That brings me to the latest cool thing I came across. It’s called a Joby Gorillatorch. The is a recent adaptation of the basic Gorilla tripod that has been around for a little while now. I have one of the Grorilla tripod that came with a small video camera that I bought. It’s very cool, especilally for backpacking trips since it’s so small and light. You can wrap it around a tree branch, or easily adjust it to sit on a rock with your camera.
But the Joby Gorillatorch takes these little tripods to the next level. It sort of reminds me of the old Black and Decker snake lights. My son got me one of those (still hanging on the wall in the garage!) about 12 years ago or so. It worked pretty well, but the light was dim and frequently you couldn’t get it to stay where you wanted it, since it only had the one flexable attachment.
The Gorillatorch has three legs, a bright LED light system and the feet are magnetic! How cool is that? I don’t own this new gadget yet, but I am buying one today and I’ll let you know what I think of it as soon as I have had time to play with it some.
Avatar is an extravagant and finely detailed movie that has been termed as director James Cameron’s best visual treat up-to-date. Rightly so, the movie won 3 out of the 9 Oscars it was nominated for.
This mind blowing 3D movie is highly powered on graphics, with a lot of attention to detail on the visual impact. The 300 million dollar sci-fi movie that took almost 10 years to make is the finest made CG movie made so far. Like all other Cameron movies, it outlives its expectations by keeping its audience glued to their seats in terms of visual treats. Moreover, Cameron ensures that the viewer experiences a myriad of emotions during the movie. So you’ll find yourself satisfied after watching Avatar, since you will be so awed with the visual treat that you probably could not ask for more.
The actors gave versatile performances. They did live up to playing their roles well, and did not stick out like a sore thumb during any point of the movie.
There are, however, a few downsides. The storyline is not new and a bit weak. Avatar is Cameron’s idea of the Indian based caste system, being the case of old wine in a new bottle. The run-of-the-mill story of a human hero falling in love with a Na’avi woman and then saving her tribe from the villain (humans, in this case) is dramatically clichéd. So the two hour and forty two minute long Avatar heavily relies upon its visual graphics, and this could possibly leave the audience a little fidgety. However, any undue importance upon the story line is negated by the roller coaster ride that the movie’s CGI takes you through.
A perspective on the DVD and Blu Ray versions:
The basic Blu Ray and DVD version of this movie was released on Earth Day, ie on 22nd April 2010, a while after it hit the big screens. It achieved record breaking sales, hitting 1.5 million copies on the day of its release.
However the Blu Ray version could be disappointing for those looking for extra features, since they are completely missing. There are apparently technical issues with accommodating the entire length of the 3D movie that there is not much memory space left for extras. However there is a unique code that is present, allowing you to join the Avatar Program via your computer. It promises “exclusive first looks & sneak peeks, content & updates, money-saving offers.” The value added DVD and Blu Ray DVD with added features is set to be released sometime in November of 2010. An even higher-end 3D version is set to release sometime in 2011. So it is a matter of personal choice as to whether you would want to wait for the high end version, or get, as Fox Pictures put it, the “bare bones version” right away.
The Blu Ray version is crisp in clarity as expected from the Blu Ray DVD. There is a natural difference in clarity in the DVD version.
Avatar is definitely worth the average amount of $25 that you pay for the basic DVD and Blu Ray versions, and you would probably be too awed by the imagery to notice any minor dismal difference.
Verdict:
Avatar begins well, drags a little in between and speeds up towards the end. However, having said this, it is definitely a must-watch for its Computer Generated Imagery – Cameron style and does not fail to provide you with a delightful visual treat. Here’s a thumbs up for the effort and to the fact that it keeps audience glued to their seats during this exciting roller coaster ride of a movie.