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DIY: $200 Katana…sourcing the parts

The MFA in Boston has probably the largest collection of Japanese katanas in the world, including Japan. The work that goes into each sword component is, in and of itself, a [...]
Urban Safari: Bald Eagles on the Charles

The local Nature/Wildlife/Photography groups were abuzz with rumor/possibility that a pack of coyotes had brought down a deer on the Charles River (it has been cold enough [...]
Itomaki No Tachi

We made a fun, accidental find to start off the new year. Enjoy! Tachi Some 30 years ago, we acquired a replica tachi at an estate sale. The replica is of a of sword in the [...]
2025: a year of all things related to…carving!!!

We have been doing RainyDay since 2005 (that’s TWO THOUSAND AND FIVE, people!!). We have gone through a couple of evolutions since then, but we still adhere to our [...]
2024: A Year of Birding

At the start of 2024, we stated that our focus would be birding. Twelve months later, we take a look back at some of the highlights of the birds we saw, the outings we took, [...]
Meade ETX-90 : a rusty rescue with potential for restoration

An ETX-90 scope popped up on Facebook Marketplace at a price that was WAAY too good to be true. We figured it was one of three things: the scope’s mirror was damaged, [...]
Oriental Old Fashioned

We recently “met” Suntory TOKI whisky at the really terrific, third-generation, local business, Gary’s Liquors. An unexpected and HUUUGE bonus at [...]
Boxster Project: Hardtop Installation

It will be 25 years this Spring for our 2000 Porsche Boxster! We recently realized that we have never done a post on the installation of the Boxster hardtop. Even though we [...]
Graphene-X Everything Proof Series : FirstLook

Graphene-X has always been at the bleeding edge of clothing technologies. RainyDayMagazine has had some experience with their offerings, and has always been impressed [...]
Northern Lights, Comets, and Full Moons…Oh My!!!

The Northern Lights and other such sights are often visible only in locations in the Far North (also known as The Arctic). Because viewing opportunities outside The Arctic [...]
Dyson V8 Animal : Vacuum w/o cords

V8 Animal Someone in the local Buy Nothing group was giving away a Dyson V8 Animal vacuum stick with all the attachments, tools, and bits. Apparently, the vacuum had a [...]
Schaaf Wood Carving Tools: FirstLook

During our summer vacation we completed a project we began quite a while back: we decorated the post we made for our mat cutting practice by carving a dragon pattern into it. [...]
Oreck XL Vacuum: DIY repair

We have had an Oreck vacuum cleaner since 2005. The machine is light-weight, easy to maneuver, and has powerful suction. It is also quiet, works well on bare and carpeted [...]
DJI Neo : FirstLook

We looked at quadcopters—what we all call “drones”—back in 2005 and again in 2012. They were…interesting, but required too much user interaction to be [...]
The Galobart Books: Codex Madrid I

Leonardo di Vinci’s works, paintings, and inventions have fascinated the world, inspired generations of engineers, and had long ago captivated our imagination. We have [...]
COFB X-Pak EVO Sling Pack: FirstLook

A backpack is something everyone is familiar with, has used, and probably owns more than one. We certainly have reviewed many over the years, our favorites being from Tom [...]
Birding Gear : BlackRapid FirstLook/FirstUse

A few months ago, we took a look at the way we transported the Nikkor 200-500mm lens when we birded (yes, it’s a verb). In that post, we gave a quick mention to two [...]
Tameshigiri Series: FirstCuts

In recent posts to our Tameshigiri series, we showed the carving of the cutting post and the rolling of the tatami mats. With those tasks completed, the remaining two tasks [...]
Tameshigiri Series: Rolling the mats

In the previous installment of the Tameshigiri Series, we showed how we made the post for holding a rolled-up tatami mat for cutting. In this installment, we will detail [...]
Tameshigiri Series: Cutting Post

In 2012 Gleason Sensei briefly considered adding a “live blade” session to Shobu Aikido’s program. His intent was to give his students the opportunity to [...]
On Vacation :-)

We will be on vacation and doing Tai Chi on the beach for the month of August 🙂 Nobody is in charge and will stay that way until the grown ups return in September. Have a [...]
NOT Oakley X-Metal Collection: Mars Leather

We have a couple of pairs of Oakley sunglasses (Juliet, Madman) in our collection. Oakley glasses are instantly recognizable to those who know their X-Metal line. They are [...]
Cirque du Soleil OVO: Backstage

RainyDayMagazine saw Cirque du Soleil CRYSTAL at Boston University’s Agganis Arena a few years ago. Cirque du Soleil OVO premiered in New England at the same arena on [...]
Graphene-X All Rounder Shorts: InTheWild

We have been fans of the clothing from Graphene-X ever since we learned about them in 2021. Their utilization of high tech materials and emphasis on form-follows-function [...]
Birding Gear : Cotton Carrier FirstLook

A few months ago, we took a look at how we transported the Nikkor 200-500mm lens when we were out birding. In that post, we gave a quick mention of two slings which we [...]
Boxster Project: Windshield Maintenance

The only time we think about the wipers on the Boxster is when it rains, but that’s always too late to do anything about the streaking, squeaking, and stuttering. Of [...]

After The Rain

Some areas of the East Coast got hammered by the weather over the weekend, but the few inches of rain that fell in New England was much needed and very welcomed. In the [...]
Hummingbird Feeder Install
Urban Safari: Cone Flowers
Urban Safari : Arnold Arboretum Fall 2013
RDG 2012 Summer Update

Angle Pro Sharpener: FirstUse

The knife motto in the RainyDayKitchen is: Be sharp and be safe. Those who know knives know this to be true. Those who do not know this will learn it the hard way, likely [...]
Nespresso: Pixie FirstUse
How to refill a 1-lb propane canister
Surf N’ Shack LastTaste
Gaggia Vision: FirstUse/InTheWild

Boxster Winter Prep 2015: Cleaning the MAF

It started with an idle problem in the Boxster. It had been acting up for a while, and by “a while” we mean maybe since last Summer. We ignored it because it never threw a Check Engine Light (CEL) code, but the car was “breathing” heavily when in idle (between 800-500 rpm) and that wasn’t right. A month ago, though, [...]
BlackVue Dashcam : Signal And Go
Boxster Winter Prep 2014
Vespa battery installation: YUASA
Boxster Fall Prep 2015 : Gear Preview
BlackVue Dashcam FirstLook
Headlight Maintenance

Summer Reading List

Summer is a great time for relaxing on the beach and catching up on some reading, or in our case…some listening. To readers looking for amusing detective stories, we [...]
Casio EDIFICE EFR-516PB FirstLook
RainyDaySports: OOFOS FirstLook
Casio EDIFICE : EFR-516 FirstUse
Upstep: Giving Me Back My Feet

Grow Your Own Mushrooms Update

We received some oyster mushroom growing kits from Back To The Root at the beginning of the year. Initially, we ran into some issues getting the mushrooms to grow. The [...]
Backyard Biotech: Prepared Slides FirstLook
EXO Labs: Camera Stand
The Near Future Of Photography
Otterbox iPhone lens case

Fujifilm X100S : Streets of NYC

Now that we have had a few weeks of one-on-one time with our new Fujifilm X100S, we thought we would take it to NYC for some street photography. We did a similar [...]
SKB iSeries Waterproof Case
Birding lenses for the Nikon D850
DomeSkin FirstLook
NEAF 2011: Wrap up

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