SenseList » Shopping

Seven Fresh Delicacies You Can Order Online

Morgen Jahnke — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:38:56 +0000

It seems like you can order pretty much anything online these days, and fresh food is no exception. With the ongoing improvement in modern shipping methods it is possible to order bagels from New York and receive them in San Francisco before they get stale. I don’t know if this is necessarily a good thing (Slow Food proponents and locavores would have a field day), but for those very special occasions when nothing else will do, here are some of your online gourmet options.

Bagels: H & H Bagels in New York is justly famous for their chewy, fresh creations.
Cheesecake: It’s possible to have cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory sent directly to your home. Or join the Cheesecake of the Month Club and get one delivered every month.
Lobster: It may be hard to believe, but this company will send live lobsters to your home.
Oysters: Love fresh oysters but can’t get them where you live? This company will sell you two dozen live oysters to satisfy your craving.
Filet Mignon: Liven up your next dinner party with these tasty filet mignons.
Turkey: Don’t feel like roasting a turkey for Thanksgiving? If you order this whole basted turkey, you don’t even have to leave the house.
Truffles: It’s now fresh truffle season, so if you’re looking for this culinary treat, you’ll have to act fast.

29 Incongruent Christmas Ornaments

Morgen Jahnke — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:42:44 +0000

There are three main things you need to properly trim a Christmas tree: lights, garland, and ornaments. There’s only so much you can do with the first two, but there are literally thousands of options when it comes to choosing ornaments. Every year it seems ornament makers get more creative with their products; now you can make a statement about your favorite sports team, TV show character, or Hogwarts quidditch team. But do they go too far?

Anti-Santas When I think of Santa, usually considered a jolly sort of fellow, these characters aren’t the first to come to mind.

Armament Ornaments Nothing says “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All” quite like these ornaments.

Fabulous Foods Who needs eggnog and turkey?

Great Moments in Sci-Fi Ornaments “Khan” you feel the Christmas spirit?

Ornaments for the Holidays (other than Christmas) Why not multitask and celebrate as many holidays as possible at one time?

Santa in the Off-Season Making and delivering toys to all the children of the world can be a tough job. That’s why Santa needs his me-time.

26 Unusual Gummy Candies You Can Buy Online

Morgen Jahnke — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:15:18 +0000

When I was a kid you could only get gummy (or gummi) candies in a few forms (like gummi bears), but now you can buy them in many different shapes and flavors. From the grotesque to the simply strange, here are just a few of your options:

Bodily Parts and Fluids:

Barf Bags (Orange-flavored)
Bones (Strawberry-flavored)
Boogers (Snottermelon, Sour Green Boogy and Lemon Loogy flavors)
Brains (Fruit-flavored)
Eyeballs
(Anatomical) Hearts (Strawberry-flavored)
Mustaches (Sarsaparilla-flavored)
Teeth

Fast Food & Beer:

Burgers
Hot Dogs
Lager Tops (Lemon and lager-flavored)
Pint Pots (Beer-flavored)
Pizza
Spaghetti (Sour apple, strawberry, and blueberry flavors)

Cuts of Meat:

Bacon (Strawberry-flavored)
Chicken Legs (Orange ‘n Cream flavor)
Frog Legs
T-Bone Steak (Strawberry-flavored)

Creepy Crawling Critters:

Banana Slugs (Banana-flavored)
Centipedes (Orange, apple, raspberry, pineapple, lemon, blueberry flavors)
Cockroaches (Cola-flavored)
Lobsters

Miscellaneous:

Band-aids (Fruit-flavored)
Dice
Paint Brushes
Poker Chips

Five Products Sold by Monasteries

Morgen Jahnke — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:00:00 +0000

There is a long tradition in monasteries of manufacturing products that are sold locally, or more widely, in order to support the life of the community. Since they are usually self-contained, this type of business can ensure their financial independence. In addition, many religious orders see great value in pursuing hands-on work that complements the more contemplative aspects of their vocation. Here are five examples of this dynamic in action.

Bourbon Fruitcake/Bourbon Fudge/Cheese: The Abbey of Gethsemani, in Trappist, Kentucky, was home to the well-known spiritual writer Thomas Merton for most of his life. This community now supports itself through the sale of bourbon fruitcake, bourbon fudge, and various kinds of cheese, through its business, Gethsemani Farms.
Chartreuse: This classic herbal liqueur, produced for centuries by monks of the Carthusian order is now bottled in Voiron, France, near the site of the order’s first and most prominent monastery, La Grande Chartreuse.
Hams/Bacon/Canadian Bacon/Smoked Turkey: The monks and nuns of New Skete, an Eastern Orthodox monastic community in upstate New York, specialize in smoked meat products, as well as cheesecake and cheese.
Toner and Ink Cartridges: The monks of Our Lady of Spring Bank Cistercian Abbey in Sparta, Wisconsin, have an online business, LaserMonks.com, selling toner, ink cartridges and other office supplies.
Wooden Coffins: Handcrafted by the monks of the New Melleray Abbey in Peosta, Iowa, the sale of these wooden caskets provides income for the community.

Six Wacky Stores That Support Children’s Writing Centers

Joe Kissell — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:00:38 +0000

A group of nonprofit organizations called 826 National, which currently has six chapters around the country, teaches writing skills to children. As a way of raising money to support their work, each chapter runs a specially themed storefront operation selling supplies for everyone from superheroes to pirates. (Read more about 826 National at Interesting Thing of the Day.)

The stores (and their associated chapters) are:

the pirate supply store at 826 Valencia, San Francisco, CA
Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, Brooklyn, NY (part of 826NYC)
Echo Park Time Travel Mart (sorry, no Web page), Venice Beach, CA (part of 826LA)
The Boring Store, Chicago, IL (part of 826CHI)
Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company, Seattle, WA (part of 826 Seattle)
Monsters Union Local 826, Ann Arbor, MI (part of 826 Michigan

15 Absurdly Expensive Things You Can Buy on Amazon.com

Joe Kissell — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:00:25 +0000

I’ve bought all kinds of stuff from Amazon.com: books, DVDs, electronics, kitchen gadgets, and so on. It’s great for those quick, easy purchases, but what if you’ve got money to burn? You’ll be delighted to know that you can put your American Express Centurion Card to good use with any number of extravagant purchases from everyone’s favorite online store.

Even ignoring obvious typos, of which I found quite a few, there are an awful lot of things that are so expensive that I can’t imagine buying them online, no matter how wealthy I were. I found hundreds of items costing $20,000 or more; here is a small sampling. (By the way, each year Amazon.com posts a list of the most expensive items people actually purchased. In 2006, the most expensive item they sold was a $24,795.00 Cartier watch. Cheapskates.)

HP StorageWorks ESL9595S2 – tape library – SDLT – SCSI (293411-B28): $351,816.00 (refurbished). Shipping is a mere $1,154. Look, nobody has to tell me how important backups are, but if you have that much data to deal with, are you really going to trust it to a refurbished machine?

Ladies Diamond Earrings with Two Fancy Yellow Radiant Cut Diamonds and Two Princess Cut Diamonds, Accented with Pave Diamonds, Set in Platinum and 18KT Yellow Gold: $227,906.00—You Save $129,594.00 (36%)! At that price, you can’t afford not to buy them.

Cartier Ladies Tank Francaise WL4081KF Watch: $225,000.00—You Save $15,000.00 (6%)! Yes, it has lots of diamonds. However, the case itself is made of stainless steel. Are you kidding me? What a rip-off.

IWC Watch: $204,000.00—You Save $36,000.00 (15%)! Features lots of dials and buttons. Plus: it’s extra shiny, with actual gold in the case (unlike the Cartier)! Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait 1–2 weeks for shipping.

Antique Russian Floral Bouquet Plaque Paperweight, circa 1840–1860: $85,000.00—Gift wrap available!

Super Bowl XL Opus MVP Edition: $40,000.00 (free shipping!)—an 80-pound, 800-page, leather-bound book featuring autographs of every living Super Bowl MVP.

24-Station Silhouette Fitness Center: $39,999.99. That’s right: an entire fitness center in a box (well, probably lots of boxes). Building not included.

Relaxman Relaxation Capsule: $39,995.00. Your very own sensory deprivation chamber, in which you can lie on a warm waterbed mattress in complete darkness and silence, meditating on how much frackin’ money you spent on the thing.

Michael Jordan Signed Bulls Red Game Worn 1997–98 Championship Season Jersey: $38,461.54—includes certificate of authenticity and tamper-proof hologram.

Russian Sable Fur Coat, Size 12: $37,500.00. Or, if that’s too expensive, a nice bottle of vodka can also keep you toasty on those cold winter nights.

Taylor Mobile Generator Set – 175 kW: $35,499.99. Expedited shipping “may not be available” to post office boxes.

Gulbransen Bottle Organ: $33,150.00—You Save $5,850.00 (15%)! Features real beer bottles—don’t be fooled by those cut-rate bottle organs with fake beer bottles. MIDI-compatible, too!

Gorham Chantilly-Grand (Sterling Hollowware) Tea Set: $24,999.00—This 14-piece set won’t actually keep your tea very hot or anything, but it’ll look really impressive perched on your butler’s hand.

Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition 2005 32 Bit CD/DVD 1 Processor License: $22,374.11—You Save $2,624.89 (10%)! Gift wrap available! (Or, just say no to the Evil Empire and go with MySQL instead.)

Molecular Brain Research (Journal Subscription): $21,340.00 ($323.33/issue). No kidding! But hey, you get a full year—66 issues—for one low price, with free shipping!

Honorable Mention
I’d also like to give a special nod to the Ace Hardware Outlet, whose Amazon.com store lists so many commonplace items with astronomical prices that I can only assume their computer system likes to put the decimal point in the wrong place. Since these are obviously not real prices, I didn’t want to include them in the main list. However, if you hurry, you might be able to buy, among other things:

An Old Timer Junior 3 Blade Pocket Knife for $895,200.00
A solid brass House Number for $254,623.00 (but only if your house number is 9)
A 10 Edger Blade for $250,014.00 (that’ll show those pesky weeds!)
A pair of Pile Lined Suede Cowhide Gloves for $96,320.00
One Bussmann #S30BC 30A Type S Plug Fuse for $89,560.00
A Solid Brass City Mailbox for $25,487.00