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RainyDayGarage's content can now be licensed for your print magazine or web site. Please contact us directly here. If you want to see something reviewed, then drop us a note with a link and we'll be happy to take a look.
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| Previews for 2006 |
Since all of the interns at RainyDayMagazine started their vacations today, there won't be anyone in the office to do any actual work until the start of the new year. However, before they left for the holidays, they were nice enough to compile a preview of some of the upcoming reviews they have been working on for 2006! From the looks of things...they have been busy and it looks like it will be a great start to the year!!! RainyDaySports is a brand-new section of the magazine for 2006. There are already alot of great reviews in it, and there is a LOT more cool stuff in the pipeline.
There will be alot more reviews for our female readers from companies such as Yogitoes, Hugger Mugger, and NuMetrex. There will also be professional training gear from Suunto, outdoor gear from Miox, Nalgene, 180s, Dunham, Adidas, and SeaScooter.
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| December 20, 2005 |
We received these Tavo gloves this morning and they have already got the office all a buzzing :-) Maybe it is because we keep the heat at a crisp 58 degrees during the day in the office. Why? We have found it makes the RainyDayMagazine worker bees (interns) more productive. The prevailing theory is that either they keep moving or they will freeze to death.
Anyway...back to the Tavo gloves. These gloves were designed with textured fingertips and palms. In our quick little test, they worked great for manipulating the clickwheel on devices such as the iPod. We usually don't post comments until we've done a FirstUse review, but these were so cool that we decided you shouldn't have to wait until January to read about them! Do come back for the full FirstLook review in a few days:-) It will be in our new RainyDaySports section!
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| December 11, 2005 |
We got whacked with a huge snowstorm in Boston on Friday so the weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to take out the new Tubbs snowshoes for their FirstUse. We had done cross-country skiing around the city, but not snowshoeing. We were eager to see what it would be like to hike around the Arnold Arboretum with snowshoes.
Even though the main goal for this outing was to take a FirstLook at the Tubbs Adventure snowshoes, it was also a good chance for us to give a quick check on some of the other gear (Magellan eXplorist GPS, UnderArmour, Columbia Skier Cross jacket) that we'll be taking with us on our January outing. Take a FirstUse look here.
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| December 10, 2005 |
Some of us at RainyDayMagazine study Aikido at Shobu Aikido of Boston. There wasn't a Beginner's program when we started. It was challenging to jump right in with folks who have been training for a long time. After 3 years, we now feel more at home :-)
For those curious about this amazing martial art, starting Tuesday January 31st, 2006, Shobu Aikido of Boston will be holding an 8 Weeks Beginner's Program! The goal of the course is to introduce beginners to Aikido basics, focusing on building fundamentals.
At the completion of the program, students will be fully prepared to enter regular Aikido classes. Everything learned in the introductory program will apply directly to further training and life in general... which is the real beauty of Aikido. Go here to check it out!
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| December 6, 2005 |
We took advantage of the first snow storm of the year to test the YakTrax. We decided to put the YakTrax on a pair of new boots and on a pair of very worn Nike ACG boots to see how they would compare.
Both the toe an heel section of the Nike ACG boots were well worn past being safe to use on snow. Some sections were almost totally smooth! We thought it would be a good test for the YakTrax's grip. Go read all about our YakTrax FirstUse outting here.
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| November 3, 2005 |
Winterwear is something we take very seriously here in the Northeast. The weather here can turn on us very quickly.
Anyone who spends any time outdoors in the winter knows that layering is the key to proper temperature management. Columbia understands this as well as anyone in the outdoor activewear industry, and they apply this knowledgr to all the clothing they design.
Go check out our FirstLook at Columbia's Skier Cross Parka here. You may want to get one before the snow season really kicks into gear :-)
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| November 2, 2005 |
Performance undergarments have been a pretty quiet clothing category until UnderArmour entered the market.
In retrospect, the underlayer is probably the most important layer for temperature regulation, comfort, and performance of an athlete...weekend or otherwise. Go take a FirstLook at UnderArmour's new Metal AllSeasonGear here.
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| September 9, 2005 |
Swimming...many of us do it for fun, or to cool off during the summer months. Some of us train everyday and swim competitively. Few of us, however, think of swimming for the exercise. This is unfortunate because swimming is probably one of the most beneficial form of exercise for the body at any age.
The folks at Aqua Sphere are out to change how folks think about swimming and exercise. They have put together a line of swimming gear specifically targeted at helping folks get more out of their pool time. Go check out the RainyDayMagazine FirstLook here.
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| August 5, 2005 |
Watercolors seemed like the perfect medium for capturing the delicate colors of fish... and that is exactly what Jay Falstad does. A fisherman and a self-taught artist, Jay will turn your trophy catch into a work of art.
His work is starting to catch on with the "catch and release" angler crowd. It is a lot better than having a dead shellacked trophy in the den :-) Go check out his work here.
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| July 18, 2005 |
We spent the entire weekend in a seminar at Shobu Aikido of Boston. It was the 25th anniversary of Gleason Sensei as a teacher. Many of his former students (some with their own dojos now) came back and taught classes thoughout the weekend. It was a HOT weekend and the mat was full. The training was energizing and exhausting at the same time. Even after a full day of training, we all had plenty left for the celebration that night! Go check out the celebration pics here. If you live near Boston and are even remotely curious about Aikido, you owe it to yourself to watch a class. It is not often one has the opportunity to study with a wonderful teacher such as Gleason Sensei! Go check out their schedule for up coming events!
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| June 28, 2005 |
Summer is for outdoor activities. For outdoor activities, one need the right shoes, boots, or sandals. Sometimes you need more than one type of footwear on the same outting, especially if water activities were involved.
Keen has supposedly designed a shoe called the Taos to meet just that need. The Taos is suppose to work like a trail shoe, feel like a sandal, and be comfortable on dry land and in the water. Can this be true? Go read all about it here.
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| June 7, 2005 |
To breath like a fish...and explore underwater unencumbered by oxygen tanks and gear? If the prototype created by Alan Bodner turns out to be what he claims, in a few years that is exactly what we could be doing. Mr. Bodner's idea was to develop a device to mimic the same mechanism used by fish: to take the dissolved air in the water and separated it, in this case by spinning the sea water to force separate the air. It's a pretty cool idea and it is not some crackpot scheme. It is based on Henry's Law... formulated by William Henry in 1801. If you don't remember you college chemistry or physics... go check out Henry's Law here. The problem is not that it can't be done ...but getting it all to fit into something that would work underwater :-)
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| May 18 , 2005 |
If you can get past PumpABike's incredibly annoying Flash interface, you will see one of the most interesting human-powered watercraft on the market!
This is a hydrofoil that you move by pumping up and down. The craft will float a rider even when it's not moving. It will also dissassemble and fit into a carrying bag! How cool is that???
I can't wait to find a place with one and give it a try...definitely way more fun that a paddle boat :-)
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| April 18 , 2005 |
There are many categories of participants and many "official" times. The fastest official time of all the categories is 2:10:37 by Timothy Cherigat of Kenya. That works out to be a 5 minutes/mile for 26 miles! I'm not sure if I can run a mile in under 6 minutes, let alone keeping a pace like that up for 26 miles! We'll be doing our part to cheer the runner's on and to celebrate the event by going to our friends Andrew and Sara's in Lexington for a Marathon Day BBQ ... I just hope we can find a way around the Marathon's route :-)
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| April 7, 2005 |
I remember almost 30 years ago sitting in an Astronomy 101 class taught by Carl Sagan thinking..."This is amazing! Here is a world class professor teaching Introduction to Astronomy to a group of freshman! How lucky ARE we???"
I had that SAME feeling when I started Aikido 3 years ago at Shobu Aikido of Boston! If you are interested in learning Aikido and you are in Boston... starting on April 19th, you can sign up for a Beginner's Program taught by Gleason Sensei at the Shobu Aikido of Boston. Gleason Sensei teaches these programs every once in a while. He starts from the absolute beginning... how to stand, how to sit, and how to roll. This is a very different program than if you just join the dojo and start training. If you miss this opportunity, who knows how long it will be until the next one?
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| March 26, 2005 |
Shobu Aikido of Boston had their annual fundraiser last night. Word got around town about the event and the turnout was tremendous.
For a $5 donation at the door, those who came out for the event were treated to great food, fine beer, live music, and a wonderful and spirited demonstration of Aikido by members of the dojo and by Gleason Sensei (6th Dan) himself!
If you missed this event, you can still go check out the dojo and some of their upcoming beginner's programs!
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| Feb 13, 2005 |
This weekend was the annual Winter Gashuku (Winter Seminar) at Shobu Aikido of Boston.
Pete Trimmer Sensei and Gleason Sensei taught classes from Friday morning 'til Sunday afternoon.
If you live near Boston and are even remotely interested in Aikido, you owe it to yourself to watch a class. It is not often one has the opportunity to study with a wonderful teacher such as Gleason Sensei! |
| January 31, 2005 |
We got some gear (ExoLite ear warmer, convertible running gloves) from a company called 180S at the start of winter. Boston weather being what it is, we didn't really have a need for them when the temperature was 60 degrees out. So they sat around for a few weeks. When the temperature dropped down to a more seasonal level, we took them out and gave 'em a try.
First thing we noticed about the ExoLite earwarmer was it looked GREAT! After a few outings, we concluded it worked as well as it looked. The gloves were also quite amazing, not only did they convert into mittens in a flash, but they were obviously designed by folks who used this stuff! [More...]
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| January 10, 2005 |
We took advantage of the clear skies yesterday and took a walk around the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. We, of course, brought along some gadgets that we've been meaning to test. While it's pretty hard to get lost in the arboretum, it was still fun to put the HighGear stuff (AdventurePlus, TerraTech, AltiTech2) through their paces :-)
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| January 5, 2005 |
Speaking of cool gear...we just got some very cool stuff from a company called HighGear. They make "Smart Outdoor Products" like digital compass, digital combo devices (altimeter + barometer + flashlight), and other related gear.
We'll have a feature review for you on the gear (AltiTech2, TerraTech, AdventurePlus) by the end of this month in Gear&Gadgets. We'll also have a full "In The Wild" review for you after a few months of using these gadgets!
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