Daily gear deals – $6 Targus power inverter, $70 HD Flip Camera and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Friday November 5, 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is for a Lexar 4GB SDHC memory card. This card is rated class 2 – which means it may not be fast enough for some of the newer generation HD camcorders, but it’ll do nicely in digital cameras. Be sure to check whether your camera support SDHC cards before buying. On sale for $6.05. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a new low on the Targus power inverter – at just a penny shy of six bucks, this is an absolute steal. Plug this inverter into your car or airplane power outlet (12 volts) and it’ll deliver 110 volts of AC. Click here for this deal.

Today’s third deal is for a 2-hour Flip HD camcorder. The camera is refurbished, but that saves you almost $100 on the price. On sale over at Woot.com for $69.99.

And finally in today’s lineup is a great deal on the Callpod Chargepod charger. This compact device can charge six gadgets at the same time. Included in the deal is the Chargepod itself, an AC and car charger, a carrying pouch and an assortment of charger plugs. On sale for $17.99, which is about $40 off the regular price. Click here for this deal.

Michael Jackson’s THE IMMORTAL comes to Cirque du Soleil

by McLean Robbins on

Michael Jackson fans, rejoice. His legacy is coming to a Cirque du Soleil show near you and tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday.

Written and directed by Jamie King, the Emmy-nominated director behind icons like Madonna, the production will combine Michael Jackson music and choreography with Cirque du Soleil creativity to give fans worldwide a unique view into the star’s art. The story? It’s a bit hokey, centering around Jackson’s “Giving Tree” and shows how his inner world is unlocked through music and dance, fairy tale and the beauty of nature.

Naturally, music lovers will come to the show for a dose of Jackson’s powerful music.

Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour will begin in Montreal in October 2011 and travel to select North American cities in the first leg, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Additional cities and dates will be announced.

Seattle’s Sunday suppers: top restaurants host family-style meals

by Laurel Miller on

Remember the good old days, when families used to sit down for dinner together? No? Well, no worries, because a handful of Seattle’s most beloved restaurants are resurrecting the tradition of Sunday supper with a series of monthly or weekly dinners. In a city known for its commitment to green living and locavorism, it just makes sense

Each meal is served at a communal table, and dishes are family-style, passed from one diner to the next. Communal dining is exploding in popularity nationally, for a variety of reasons. The poor economy makes family-style meals a smart choice–for chefs and restaurateurs, as well as diners–and comfort food, even if it’s gussied up, is popular in trying times. These dinners also foster a sense of community, and provide a respite from the shackles of ringing cell phones and pinging in-boxes. Bonus: they’re a great way to make new friends (it’s amazing what wine can do).

The public’s growing interest and concern over our food supply is also a likely factor for the popularity of family dinners, since they usually have a strong emphasis on regional product. Diners get a chance to learn about family farms and seasonal eating, sometimes with the growers in attendance. Some chefs choose a theme for each meal, and plan their menus ahead, while others prefer to wing it, looking to the farmers market for inspiration. Either way, a Sunday supper is a way to engage with the local scene…even if you’re just visiting. Don’t forget to make a reservation.

Palace Kitchen
Sunday dinners debut November 7th at pioneering PacNW chef Tom Douglas’ iconic, downtown restaurant. Chef de cuisine Brian Walcyzk will prepare three courses for $30, including Prosser Farms acorn squash salad with maple-pancetta vinaigrette, Beacon Hill arugula, and ricotta salata, and applewood spit-roasted turkey breast. Dinners will run weekly throughout the month, and into December.

Tavolata
The new, monthly “Sunday Feast” theme dinners featuring chef Brandon Kirksey’s rustic Italian fare start November 7th, with “Lamb.” Future dinners served at the 30-foot-long farm table will feature “Suckling Pig,” and Whole Roasted Goat” at this elegantly casual Belltown favorite. $45-$60.

Volunteer Park Cafe
A cozy spot located in a leafy residential part of Capitol Hill, VPC’s monthly “Sunday Supper” menus are at the whim of chef/co-owner Ericka Burke. Think Moroccan chicken legs with couscous, corona bean panzanella, or wild boar Bolognese. Even if you can’t make dinner, hit up breakfast for co-owner/pastry chef Heather Earnhardt’s sweet or savory baked goods (crack has nothing on her Brown Butter Bars). The brand-new, adorable back patio, with its garden beds and chicken coop, put a little bit of urban farm into this local institution. $30.

The Corson Building
2007 Food & Wine Best New Chef Matt Dillon hosts two Sunday Suppers a month ($60, including wine) at this restored, former stonemason’s home in the artsy-industrial Georgetown ‘hood. Despite the locale against the train tracks and under the Boeing Field flight path, there’s a chicken coop, beehives, and abundant gardens where guests can stroll, wine in hand. Expect to see Corson’s own, and other local, impeccably fresh ingredients prepared simply (hearth-roasting is big), allowing flavors to shine.

Spring Hill
Okay, it’s not technically a communal meal, or a Sunday, but the a la carte, generously-portioned, “Monday Night Suppers” at this sleek West Seattle mom-and-pop spot are upscale comfort food at its best, for $11 to $20 a pop. New: fried chicken dinners for four (by reservation only, $98), with sides that include herb spaetzle, caramelized Brussels sprouts, and jalapeno corn bread with honey. 2009 Food & Wine Best New Chef and co-owner Mark Fuller does down-home right.

Galley Gossip: Flight attendants, turbulence & scary flights

by Heather Poole on

One of the scariest flights I ever worked also happens to be one of the first flights I ever worked for an airline called Sun Jet International Airlines. I lasted three months before moving on. Sun Jet is no longer in business. I’m going to guess this had a lot to do with gimmicky $69 flights to cities like Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Newark, and Long Beach. While cheap tickets attract a lot of passengers interested in saving a buck, they don’t always cover the cost of maintenance and upkeep of aircraft for smaller airlines. At least that’s what I assumed based on the fact that I quickly became accustomed to the FAA meeting our flight in Long Beach, California every Tuesday afternoon and taking the equipment out of service. And this had nothing to do with all those duct taped armrests or the black plastic garbage bags some passengers had to sit on after they discovered their seat cushions were soaked with urine. Because that’s what happens when you mix cheap tickets, a quick aircraft turn-around on the ground, and seventeen unaccompanied minors on a previous flight! Hey, better a damp seat than no seat. Unfortunately that was the only alternative most of the time, because our flights were always full.

I should have known when I boarded it was going to be a strange flight based on the aircraft lighting alone. Throughout the all-economy class cabin the side wall lights were on the blink and flickering in the dark. This made the airplane feel less like a disco and more like a haunted house. But it wasn’t until we hit severe turbulence half an hour before landing in Dallas that the creepy mood lighting actually became a problem. It started to freak the passengers out. At one point even I began to feel like I was starring in my very own Stephen King horror movie at 30,000 feet.

“Flight attendants take your seats!” boomed the Captains voice over the PA.Strapped into my jump seat, I noticed passengers clutching the armrests while others held hands across the aisle. I didn’t see any praying, but I’m sure there was plenty of that going on because with each dip there were moans and groans and even a few full on screams, making a bad situation sound even worse.

Keep in mind most of our flights were filled with first time fliers with little-to-no interest in racking up frequent flier miles, so a lot of these people had never before experienced turbulence in their lives and here they were experiencing it at its worst for the very first time! While it was my job to keep the cabin calm, there was very little I could do from my jump seat except reassure those sitting nearby that everything was going to be okay. It’s a fact that most injuries occur only when passengers don’t have their seat belts on. But with each bump, the screams got louder and louder until someone yelled out the unthinkable:

“I don’t want to die!”

For a split second all was quiet. That’s when I got scared.

Unpredictable behavior makes me nervous. I tell you this because the flight was a non-smoking one, but from my jump seat I could see a few passengers were lighting up. Great, I thought, because here we were on a flight so bumpy there was no way I could possibly get up and run to the back in order to grab a bottle of halon to fight a fire if I had to. Fire in the cabin, by the way, is about the only thing that scares me in flight.

“You need to put that out!” I yelled from my jump seat, but as soon as the words had left my mouth I regretted saying them as I imagined a cigarette being squashed into the fabric of the seat back in front of them.

Instead of doing as they were told, they continued to puff harder and faster as the airplane jolted side to side and the lights blinked rapidly on and off. This is when others began to join in. Someone seated close to me said something about smoking one last cigarette before the airplane crashed. That’s when I heard a familiar voice scream out again.

“I don’t want to die!”

Of course, no one died that night. But later on I learned there was a Delta flight in front of us that aborted landing. That, however, didn’t deter our Captain from attempting his approach. When he did finally manage to get the airplane on the ground, we landed so hard I thought the aircraft might split in two. There was thunder and lightening all around as we taxied to the gate. Passengers began jumping up out of their seats and rushing toward the aircraft door.

“Sit down!” I cried. “We’re not at the gate yet!”

“Hold the passengers back when I open my door!” a coworker barked at me. But my colleague never did get that door open because half a second later the Captain announced over the PA that the airport was closed due to thunderstorms in the area. Because of this there weren’t any open gates available. Airport traffic had come to a halt. That meant we were going to have to sit on the tarmac until the weather cleared with an airplane full of passengers on the edge of revolt.

“Let us off!” passengers demanded. We would have, if we could have, but there was no where to go! We were stuck. All of us together in a flickering flying tube.

After the flight I spotted the Captain standing outside of the terminal leaning against a brick wall. An older guy, the quiet type, he stood there with his pilot hat in one hand, a cigarette in the other, while waiting for the employee bus. Immediately I noticed his face looked ashen. Quickly he inhaled and exhaled, eyes on the ground, shirt drenched with sweat under the arms. I couldn’t help but think he looked a lot like those crazy passengers smoking on the airplane, the very ones who thought they were going to die. That’s when it hit me. Right then and there I realized just how scary our flight had truly been.

Photos courtesy of Satanslaundromat and Caribb

Seven ways to escape the Black Friday shopping experience

by Scott Carmichael on

Ahhh, Black Friday. Those that love it are die-hard shoppers, those that hate it would rather stick their arm in a blender than experience being crushed while trying to grab a discounted laptop out of the hands of killer bargain hunters.

Me? I’m firmly in the group that loves the idea of staying up all night to grab discounts that really make it barely worth the hassles. Still, there is something oddly comforting about waiting in line for two hours to save three Dollars off a board game. Black Friday is when the Holiday season officially kicks off – and is when 140 million Americans grab their credit cards and spend whatever they can on whatever they don’t really need.

Here are seven ways you can escape (parts of) the Black Friday experience.Escape the cold

If you live in a cold state and want to shop in the warmth on Black Friday, then you’ll either need to dress warmly or fly somewhere warmer. Standing in line in the freezing cold starts off quite nicely when everyone is in a good mood, but once things dip into the 20’s, people get cranky really fast. Hot cocoa only goes so far when the wind is brutally cold.

Alternatively, find the largest indoor mall in the area, park your car outside while you watch the crowds shiver in the arctic temperatures. Then, when the mall opens its doors, wait for everyone to walk inside and slowly join the end of the line. Chances are most of the deals will still be around, and you’ll stay toasty warm and comfortable.

Escape sales tax

Planning to do a lot of shopping for big ticket items? Consider making the trek to one of the five remaining states in the country with no sales tax. Those states are:

  • Alaska
  • Delaware
  • Montana
  • New Hampshire
  • Oregon

Of course, this plan doesn’t really work if you live in Indiana and plan to drive to Delaware to buy that new 65″ LCD TV – but if you are shopping for smaller items and are within driving distance of a sales-tax-free state, the savings could be quite considerable.

Escape being sane

Lets make a checklist for this one – one lawn chair per person, one portable toilet, soft drinks, snacks, phone backup charger cord, music, spare batteries and a total lack of respect for yourself.

This is of course the checklist for the 5AM shopper. And no – not 5AM on Friday – 5AM on Thursday. You’ll be the person I see waiting outside Best Buy when I’m driving to relatives for Thanksgiving Dinner. To you, saving money on a new laptop or TV is more important than turkey and stuffing. And to be honest, given how some family dinners can be, who’s to blame you.

Doorbuster deals can indeed really be worth it. The only thing that can spoil a 19 hour wait in line is snow, rain and people who try and jump the line when the store doors open. Before Black Friday, always ask the store in question what their line policy is, when staff will be present to control lines, and whether they hand out tickets hours before opening. Also be sure to check store inventory, because showing up as number 150 at a store with just 40 laptop is a colossal waste of time.

Escape jail time

There are many ways you can get in trouble on Black Friday – spending too much and maxing out your credit card is just one of them. If you really want to avoid finding yourself facing some real trouble, don’t jump the lines, don’t push store staff members and don’t yell at checkout clerks.

Remember, if you think Black Friday is a hassle for you, consider what a hell it is for people that have to work this time of year. My motto is that Black Friday needs to be fun – yes, waiting in line can be a bit of a bore, and once store doors open, everyone is fighting for themselves, but that doesn’t mean you need to behave like a jerk.

Introduce yourself to your fellow shoppers in line, chat about what they think the good deals are, and make sure you have a good time. Because quite frankly, if it turns nasty – the fun is gone, and I’m going to head home for some sleep.

Escape the crowds

You really think there is anywhere with no crowds? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but even the smallest places in the nation with one Wal-Mart for the entire community will have its fair share of crowds.

The best kept secret about Black Friday deals is that most of the same deals will pop up again between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Granted, the real doorbusters may not be as cheap – but if you are like me, you probably don’t mind spending $25 more if it means saving a trip to the hospital, or watching someone get crushed by an angry mob.

Escape it all

If you are one of the members of the “I hate Black Friday” crowd, then you can stay inside all day and watch TV news reports of injured shoppers, or you can get away from it all and check into a hotel. While everyone is busy finding Zhu Zhu pets (or whatever is in this year), you can enjoy the hotel pool, order room service and get yourself pampered.

If your budget is a bit more flexible, picture yourself on a Hawaiian beach on Black Friday, or sipping cocktails on a cruise ship.

Escape the heat

I can’t really see anyone actually in a warm climate wanting to do their Black Friday shopping in the cold, but if you want to get in the Holiday spirit with a nice case of the flu, then you can leave your warm climate and head to one of these fine cold climate malls:

Gurnee Mills, Gurnee, IL

This massive mall is located about 30 minutes up the highway from O’Hare international airport. The mall is surrounded by several cheap hotels, and is home to over 200 stores. The mail itself is indoors, so warm climate visitors won’t feel too chilly. The doors open at 5AM on Black Friday and stay open till 10PM. About 20 minutes from Gurnee Mills are the Pleasant Prairie Prime Outlets – stores here open at midnight on Black Friday!

The Mall of America, Bloomington, MN

This is the king of all megamalls – with over 500 stores and a huge amount of food outlets, a theme park, a theater, an aquarium and more – this is where you can shop, and those deal haters you’ve dragged along can entertain themselves on their own. Stores here open at 6AM on Black Friday, but be prepared to encounter an absolute zoo when it comes to parking.

Tysons Corner Mall, McLean, VA

Tysons Corner mall may ring a bell if you are an Apple fan – this is where the first Apple Store in the world opened its doors. If you are not a fan of gadgets, you’ll be happy to know that the mall is also home to your usual lineup of luxury department stores. Doors open at midnight and stores stay open till 10PM.

[Photos from: Getty Images, Mall of America photo: Flickr/puroticorico]