Lifestyle
Win Original Newcastle WTDD Artwork from Ron English
This past Saturday was the first annual Newcastle Walk the Dog Day in Los Angeles. Five different venues across LA participated in the celebration of the tasty Brown Ale. We had a good turnout at Finn McCool’s in Santa Monica. Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed a pint (or more) of free Newcastle!
As part of the event, Newcastle teamed up with renowned artist Ron English. English produced original artwork that was available on the t-shirts that were handed this weekend. An original canvas of the Ron English Newcastle WTDD design was also on hand, and we’re giving that canvas away to one lucky reader.
Here’s what the canvas looks like:
To enter the giveaway, just use the form below. Send us an email and tell us why you love Newcastle. We’ll pick a winner at random next Monday.
Good Luck!
Sep 26th
Blue Mic Snowball Microphone Review
Sometimes you want to record professional-quality sound without having to be a professional sound engineer. For people with plug-and-play sound recording needs, it doesn’t get much easier than the Snowball USB Microphone from Blue Mic.
We received a Snowball mic to review and the thing is pretty impressive. It comes in at just over two pounds, sits sturdy on any flat surface and gives you crisp, clean sound straight from your USB port. The mic uses a proprietary condenser capsule and as a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. The Snowball features three different recording settings: cardiod, cardioid with pad and omni-directional. The cardiod capsule is ideal for recording speech and vocals. The cardioid with a -10dB pad is best for capturing live music and louder sound sources. The omni capsule is best used for interviews, conferences or any recording that requires the capturing of larger, more environmental sound sources. It works for podcasters, musicians and anyone who needs quick, clean and easy-to-use voiceover recording.
The mic is available in white, chrome or solid black. It comes with a sturdy swivel mount that functions as a desktop tripod. You can’t use the thing with a traditional analog mixer, but digital setup is quick and easy. You can also connect the Snowball Mic to an iPad using the Apple Camera Connection Kit.
Whether you chat, play music, conduct interviews or if you just need to record your voice on something, you can’t go wrong with the quality and ease of use that the Snowball Blue Mic provides. The MSRP for the mic is $99.00, but you can get in online for a lot cheaper than that.
Sep 21st
Win Free Newcastle Stuff All Week
In anticipation of our Newcastle Walk the Dog Day event this weekend, we’re giving away tons free stuff all week. From now till Saturday, we’re giving away one Newcastle Cooler Bag and one Newcastle Bar Stool a day. How do you score this stuff? A few different ways. Here’s what you need to do:
- Post a Tweet to @MANjrcom and tell us about your favorite Walk the Dog story (sneaking out to grab a pint). Please use the hashtags #Newcastle and #WalkTheDog.
- Send us an email using the submission form below.
- Hit us up on Facebook and tell us why you love Newcastle!
And remember, if you want to attend the MANjr Newcastle Walk the Dog Day event in Santa Monica this Saturday, just email your Full Name and “Finn McCool’s” to WalkTheDogDay@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!
Sep 20th
Newcastle Walk the Dog Day Event
It’s no secret that we love Newcastle around here, so we’re all fired up about an event that we have planned with Newcastle on Saturday, September 24 at Finn McCool’s in Santa Monica. This weekend, Newcastle is celebrating Walk the Dog Day all across LA, and we’re proud to be a part of the festivities.
What does it mean to Walk the Dog? Glad you asked! Basically the phrase “Walk the Dog” is a classic excuse that British dudes give when they want to duck out and enjoy a pint with their mates. So instead of telling your lady that you’re heading down to the pub to put back a few rounds with your bros, you just say that you’re going to Walk the Dog (even if, you know, you don’t even have one).
So this Walk the Dog Day event is going to be pretty sweet. The Walk the Dog Day celebrations are taking place in five different spots around Los Angeles, but the MANjr event will be held on the Westside.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011
Time: 11AM – 3PM
Locations: Five Walk the Dog Day events will take place simultaneously at Finn McCool’s (Santa Monica), Villains Tavern (Downtown LA), Alex’s Bar (Long Beach), 2nd Floor (Orange County), The Echo (Silver Lake)
We’ll be posting up at Finn McCool’s, a “painstakingly dismantled” Irish pub that was brought over from the Old World in 2002. The owner, Geraldine Gilliland, packed up the entire contents of her late step-father’s pub in Ireland and reconstructed it on Main Street in Santa Monica. Finn McCool’s features 18 craft beers, over 200 whiskeys and some pretty decent grub.
But Saturday, September 24 will be a day for Newcastle lovers. Sure, there will be food served as well, but if you love Newkie Brown, you won’t want to miss this. The entry for the event is $1, a small price to pay for drinking a bunch of free Newcastles. That dollar is going to charity as well, so your low-low entry fee is actually going to support the Los Angeles Art Association).
The event will take place from 11am to 3pm and will feature live music by Hanni El Khatib, original art by Ron English, tons of t-shirts and giveaway opportunities and of course, delicious Newkie Brown Ale.
Guests will need to RSVP by sending their name and location preference (yea Finn McCool’s in Santa Monica) to WalktheDogDay@gmail.com. Make sure to get your name on the list cause they’re not letting just any old walk-in riffraff into the event. This is strictly for Newcastle lovers in the know.
We’re ramping things up this week in anticipation of the event, and that means tons of giveaway opportunities for you, loyal reader. Every day this week we’ll be giving away one Newcastle Cooler Bag and a Newcastle Barstool.
We’ll have more info on the giveaways and the original art that you can score from Ron English. Just remember to RSVP and stay tuned for more details!
Sep 19th
Tony Parker Shows Off the New Tissot T-Touch II
Tissot’s been making sick watches since 1853. The new Tissot T-Touch II is a luxury watch with some crazy touchscreen features. Here’s a video of Tony Parker showing off all the stuff you can do with the newest model from Tissot:
Sep 16th
Jim Beam Bold Choice
We’re partnering up with Jim Beam on a really cool initiative called the Jim Beam Bold Choice Campaign. Basically, MANjr was selected by Jim Beam to act as a Bold Choice blog partner. As part of the campaign, Jim Beam is providing me with the means to make my Bold Choice dreams a reality. I should disclose that the opinions expressed on this site are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Jim Beam is just hooking me up with the chance to make a Bold Choice and write about it.
Here’s a well-put take on the whole Bold Choice idea, courtesy of Willem Dafoe:
So what sort of Bold Choice am I going to make? Well, I narrowed it down to three options which I’ll outline below. It’s up to you, loyal readers, to decide which Bold Choice I end up going with. Here’s what’s on the table:
Diving in the Great Barrier Reef
I’ve always wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef up close. The world’s largest reef system is a World Heritage Site and it’s visible all the way in outer space, man. There are nearly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands that make up the 130,000-mile plus Great Barrier Reef system. It’s off the coast of Queensland and pretty much any photo you take can be licensed as a default desktop background. With coral bleaching, climate change, overfishing, pollution and such, this natural wonder of the world isn’t going to be around forever. I’d like to check it out before it’s gone.
Hiking a Volcano in Hawaii
I’ve never been to Hawaii, but I hear it’s awesome. Trekking up a volcano or checking out some massive craters created by Mother Nature’s fury sounds like a damn good time to me. Plus, a little bit of beach time and relaxation never hurt anybody.
Skydiving in Austria and Attending Oktoberfest
Austria’s a good-looking country. You got the old imperial center of Vienna and panoramic Alpine views all rolled up into a country that’s slightly smaller than the state of Maine. I think it’d be fun as hell to jump out of a plane and check out the view at 10,000 feet or so. If I survive that, it’s off to Oktoberfest to enjoy some celebratory brats and brews with red-faced folks in lederhosen.
These are the Bold Choice candidates that I have to work with, but the decision is up to you, MANjr fans. Drop us an email below and let me know which Bold Choice you’d like me to make. I promise to write all about it with photos and good stories.
Thanks again to Jim Beam for including us in this sweet campaign. I have a chance to try out some once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and I can’t wait to see which one I end up enjoying. I’ll keep the voting open for a couple of weeks and let you guys know which Bold Choice wins out on September 30.
Sep 16th
JT Holmes – Hotel Booked in Freefall
A few weeks ago, I had a fantastic time in Tahoe. Hotels.com sent me on a trip where I got to try skydiving and find out about the new mobile booking app that just launched. The app, which is available for iPhone and Android, lets you book reservations at nearly 140,000 hotels across the globe. The app also offers over 20,000 last minute deals. It’s available in more than 30 languages in over 70 countries, so no matter where you are, you can book hotel reservations on the go with ease.
To prove this point, Hotels.com enlisted the help of world-renowned stuntman and extreme athlete JT Holmes. They dropped him out of a plane at 15,000 feet and told him to use the app to book a reservation at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe while freefalling over 115 miles an hour in the air. Here’s the video:
Pretty impressive stuff. After the jump, we asked JT Holmes some follow up questions. Here’s the interview:
MJ: What’s the craziest place you’ve ever jumped from?
JT: Probably the Willis Tower in Chicago — particularly when we jumped from the corner of the building above Franklin Street. In this case, after 90 feet of freefall we’re engulfed in the architecture of the building, a 90 degree section of windows. Then, we were in a must-fly situation in order to reach the landing zone at the corner of Wacker Drive and Van Buren. The flight involved a couple of soft turns and was insanely visual.
MJ: My buddy, Richard Schneider, wants to know what wing suit do you use and why?
JT: I choose S Fly Expert because it has the fastest cutaway system for the wings, provides a ton of performance per square footage of wing, and allows me to run off of cliffs and run on landing without unzipping my legs. Further, I prefer to fly hands free and palms down, just for my own pleasure/fun. With the Expert you do not have to hold any wing extension batons.
MJ: What was it like working with Michael Bay?
JT: It was great. Michael is daring, bold, loyal, talented and commands a lot of respect. Not sure anyone else in the world could unlock the city of Chicago like him.
MJ: How did you feel right before you jumped off that first building in Chicago?
JT: Tired. I was unable to sleep the night before. I was really out of it. I knew that once I stepped off, instinct would take over and the flight would recharge my batteries.
MJ: I tried skydiving for the first time and found it to be a surprisingly calming experience. Do you feel peaceful and at ease when your skydiving?
JT: Absolutely.
Sep 2nd
AXE Hold+Touch Giveaway
We’re teaming up with our friends at AXE for another great giveaway. Summer’s almost over but there’s still time for one more summer season short haircut. If you’re rocking the trim look, you’re going to need to put some product on your dome to give it a bit of style. AXE just rolled out three new Hold+Touch products that’ll help you get the job done:
- AXE Hold+Touch Spiking Glue for normal hair
- AXE Hold+Touch Cream Wax for thick hair
- AXE Hold+Touch Paste for fine hair
The AXE Hold+Touch styling products give you that strong styled hold with no crunchy side effects. So you can still get the look you want without having to go all plastic cement style. Your summer fling can run her fingers through your hair and she won’t need to wash her hands afterwards.
Aug 31st
PowerSquid Surge Protector Review
Power cords suck. You need ‘em for everything and you have to put ‘em everywhere. Left your phone charger at work? Time to get another one for home. Need a laptop charger in the living room? Well you probably have another one for the home office, too. From Mp3 players to computers and laptops, tablets, phones and external hard drives, we all have way too much crap that needs charging. More often than not, this leads to super-messy piles of daisy-chained surge protector jungles.
Keeping your cords in check is annoying as hell, but the PowerSquid Surge Protector and Power Conditioner from Accell can help you get organized. We received a PowerSquid to review and it’s a pretty convenient solution to the crazy cord mess.
Now I’m no electrician, but I’m pretty sure that my current setup (outlet-extender to extension cord to surge protector 1 to surge protector 2) is less than ideal. It’s likely a fire waiting to happen. For people who know more about electrical currents than I do, the PowerSquid offers 1080 Joules of surge protection, a 15 Amp circuit breaker, five transformer friendly outlets and a built-in noise reduction filter.
The thing that I like the most about it is that I can plug in 5 monster-chargers without worrying about covering up spots on the surge protector. Bulky computer charges and other device power cables can take up way too much space when you’re dealing with a strip of vertically positioned outlets. The PowerSquid gives you all kinds of flexibility while also reducing the line noise and electrical static caused by radio frequency and electromagnetic interference.
Technical details aside, you can plug in more stuff without having to worry about power surges and fire hazards. That sure beats the inflexible, potentially-dangerous extension cord/surge protector setup I’m rolling with right now.
Aug 31st
iPad ePillow Review
iPad owners usually have a hard time putting down their beloved tablet-champion. They travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it, watch TV with it, take smoke breaks with the thing, you get the idea. If you have an iPad then you know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to disconnect yourself. Loved ones get bitter that you spend so much time with the damn thing. Well these loved ones aren’t going to be too fond of the iPad ePillow by Veyl.
The ePillow is an ergonomic, iPad holder that is available in chocolate brown or deep black. It’s basically a pillow that holds your iPad. The holding mechanism isn’t complex. You just slip the iPad in a vinyl ledge, place the pillow on your lap or on a table, and sit back and relax.
The ePillow costs $29.95. It doubles as an actual pillow, so if you fly a lot, this is a good thing to pack. The pillow rests comfortably on an airplane tray table so you can enjoy some hands-free iPadding when you fly.
The iPad ePillow isn’t for power users. This isn’t going to replace your current case or whatever default setup you have. The ePillow is for loungers who like to view things on their iPad with minimal device interaction.
If you need to type, play games or use the bottom button to cycle through programs, you’re probably better off just holding your iPad with two hands. If you like to stream videos or read with your iPad (especially in bed), the ePillow is pretty sweet.
Aug 31st
