Pink Blog

I hadn’t been playing Guitar Hero very long when I slapped some Hello Kitty stickers on my guitar. But for those who’d like a more finished look, there’s the Guitar Hero “Pink Heart” Skin from Amazon.com! It never occurred to me to skin the guitar, even though my Sidekick and laptop are both skinned. But this one looks like a really cool version, because it comes with a piece for the top, too – it looks like some of the other ones don’t come with that top bit. And it makes your GH2 guitar way cooler than even the world-famous Hello Kitty Fender guitar. Rock on!

I absolutely do not get the ad copy on this one. Apparently this leash is named for “Jackie O” – you know, Jacqueline Kennedy, she of the most famous pink outfit ever. But why the reference to the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito? What’s that all about? Anyway, for those of you who have puppies for children, check out this $40 leash from Blueblood: Luxury Goods for Dogs. (Yes, that’s what they sell.) It doesn’t look like much up close, but if you check it out on a real dog you can see that it turns into a very nice pink shade with a little mottling and shading in it. You can buy the matching collar for an extra $32, so to get your dog decked out like the one in the picture will run you $72 plus s/h. Then again, outfits always look great in catalogs, and you only get the sticker shock once you add up the components…so why should doggie gear be any different?

This camera, by Fuji, is called the FinePix Z5. And yes, it has Miss Kitty White on it. But I’m not sure I like it. For one thing, I am of the opinion that a gemstone rendering of HK should be done in silver-tone metal. White gold, platinum, sterling silver, whatever you like. This allows the viewer to perceive an all-white cat, which is what HK is. But when you set her in yellow gold, she comes out looking vaguely jaundiced. Who wants a jaundiced, mouthless feline? The camera is also a little disappointing because only the front is pink; the back is silver. Interestingly, while trying to find information on this camera from somewhere other than where I originally heard about it, I discovered that Cnet’s “Crave” site has been tracking HK gadgets too. And like Hello Kitty Hell, ShinyShiny, and all the others, they love to hate on Kitty. With comments like “Are we really seeing the beginnings of an organized underground movement to combat the Hello Kitty Empire?” and “the evil Hello Kitty Empire” it is readily apparent that gearheads don’t like Kitty. (Except me, of course, I am both a techie and an HK fan.) So if that’s the case, why are so many electronics products made in HK versions? Laptops, cameras, cell phones, headsets, Xboxes, computer mice, cars…HK adorns every geek toy you can think of.

Oh wait, what was I writing about? This camera? Well, I can’t tell you much, except that it’s only sold in Japan for the moment. And apparently it’s not even available there, because the Sanrio JP shop says it’s sold out! I guess many Japanese people are happy to pay over $500 for a camera with The Kitty on it.

First, allow me to apologize for going without posting for so long – I was making it through finals and then recovering from finals! I got A’s in four out of five classes, and that’s after 9 years of not being in school at all, so I’m pretty pleased with the results.

Anyway, I wanted to draw your attention back to the Vertu Pink Diamond phone I wrote about in June. At the time, pricing was not available, nor could anybody tell me where to begin to look to get one. I found a rumor about a $20,000+ price tag, and just assumed it was one of those products that you have to Know People to actually get.

Please forgive me, because I was off by quite a bit. You can now buy this little gadget from Neiman Marcus for only $73,000. Of course, if you don’t want to spend that much, you can always keep your phone budget to $3,000 and donate the other 70k to charity. What’s that you say? You want to blow even more money than what this phone will cost you? Well step right this way…here is a list of the top 10 most expensive mobile phones out there.

For those of you who have little ones who are afraid of the water, consider the Swimsafe Floatsuit. It’s only for ages 2-5, so if you have trouble swimming, I suggest lessons. But for kids, this provides an excellent way for them to get comfortable in the water. There are buoyancy panels in the front and back which act like a life vest, helping keep your child afloat, and there’s also extra buoyancy at the neck, which helps keep kids right-side-up and keeps their face out of the water. It might actually be difficult to learn to swim in something as buoyant as this, but for kids who refuse to go near the water at all, this is a good way to introduce them to it. Once they’re comfortable, then they can learn how to swim. Meanwhile, the suit has a zipper in back so kids can’t wriggle out of it, and it also provides SPF 50 protection for all body parts that it covers!

I just started a new diet and as a result I need to add exercise into the equation. I’m not sure how good yoga is as a form of weight loss exercise, but it is certainly popular for people who are concerned about health and wellness in general. So if you’re into yoga, you can pick up the Hello Kitty yoga mat from Japanese Character Heaven. They also have a Hello Kitty gym ball – unfortunately I don’t think it can be used with any of the exercise ball chairs currently on the market, most of which take 52-55cm balls, because this is a 58cm ball…but if you must have a gym ball that fits in one of those chairs, go for the Reebok ball, which is 55cm. Anyway, for more HK exercise, there’s the gym stepper, which wisely does not place HK underfoot – who wants to walk on Hello Kitty?! There’s also the Hello Kitty walking stick, which I think might actually just be a cane, several HK items for your golf caddy, and a couple of soft dumbbells for doing workouts with hand weights!

This little radio is so cute! The Sony ICF-M55 is currently only available in Japan, and who knows if it will ever make it into the U.S. market. It seems like it’s old technology – it’s just a radio – but Sony has put it into a cute little package, so I automatically want it. (It’s cute in silver too.) It comes with 25 presets, which to my mind makes it great for regular travelers. You can set up a couple of presets that you like at home, and then toss it in your suitcase when you go on the road. Add more presets there, and…you get the picture! The price seems a little high at $36, though.

As cute as the DOC speaker dock is, I see some problems. First of all, it’s only for the Nano. Not even the new Nano – only 1st and 2nd Generation Nanos, the longer ones. Second, as you can see from this picture, it fits in your hand…but it would be a little awkward in your pocket. The colors are designed to perfectly match the 2nd generation Nano (unless you got a blue one, in which case you’re out of luck), so if you like this magenta shade of pink, you can get this one to match your Nano. I guess the price isn’t bad though – I thought $39 was high, but the pink iMainGo portable speaker is $50! Then again, this little pink speaker is only $6! But you get what you pay for, eh?

The All I want for Christmas Giveaway is back at Overstock.com! The way it works is, you sign up, and then you pick an item worth up to $1000 that you would like to win. You do this by using the “e-mail to a friend” feature but you don’t have to bother friends with it – you e-mail THEM and it adds the item to your list. The contest runs for multiple days, but you can only pick one item per day. There is a cute video explaining how to use the system. It also works kind of like Blingo, in that you can invite 5 friends per day, and if you win, one of them wins too! They can even pick their own gift up to $1000 through the same registration method.

I was a little surprised that none of their Worldstock items even approach $1000 – I love that stuff! For today’s entry, I ended up picking this all-pink watch by Concord La Scala. It was $998.99 – I would NEVER EVER conceive of buying something like that, I can’t afford it, but hey, if I can win it, cool! I’m just not sure who to invite to participate!

Because no two people have the same shape ears, earbud manufacturers are forced to make very minimalist shapes that end up fitting nobody’s ear. To counteract this problem, there is a tiny industry specifically focused on keeping your earbuds in your ears. There’s the PodFitKit (which I’ve tried, it’s great), there’s Earjams, there’s expensive custom fit earbuds…and then there are Lobies. They’re designed to go behind your ear like glasses or a hearing aid, and you insert the earbud into the hole in the Lobie. They claim all kinds of earbuds fit, but I’m skeptical…how will this help keep the earbuds in your ear? The pictures on the website aren’t very encouraging. At only $12 though, they might be worth a try – who knows, maybe they will be the perfect solution!