I am the ghost of groovymother.com. Woooooo!
This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.
It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.
Filed under 'consume'
➠ May 6, 2012
Pairings Box | Turntable Kitchen
“A curated food and music discovery experience”. Subscribe to get monthly deliveries of a) 7” vinyl, and b) recipes and ingredients. <3
➠ April 30, 2012
➠ September 29, 2010
Two more Rickshaw bags
The bespoke bags Joy and I got from Rickshaw Bagworks as part of their Living Social special. Joy got the small white-and-black-with-purple-trim Zero messenger bag, mine is a medium "Piccadilly Tweed"-with-chocolate trim.
Also slightly visible: My custom Rickshaw "Commuter 2.0" laptop bag that I bought in July and love to pieces. The new one is for lighter-weight "just my iPad and keyboard when I go to the coffee shop" duties!
➠ September 15, 2010
Informed Consumers
Engineers deciding how to raid Google's tech supplies. [From the SPP dev chatroom]
➠ July 17, 2010
Picking out my Rickshaw bag
Going with the Commuter bag, spirally flap fabric, and aqua piping. Now they build it, and hopefully I should have it by the middle of the week.
➠ July 6, 2010
BMFWallets.com
“Now I want you to go into that bag and find my wallet.”
“Which one is it?”
“It’s the one that says, “Bad Mother Fucker.”“
➠ July 5, 2010
➠ February 1, 2010
➠ January 3, 2010
Atlantic Records Time Capsule
Killer box set — 165 tracks (11.5 hours!) spanning Atlantic Records’s 60+ years. Stones, Zeppelin, Archie Bell & the Drells… all the greats are here. I *ahem* downloaded this a few days ago, and have been enjoying it thoroughly. Well worth seeking out.
➠ November 26, 2009
Portable Rotary Phone - Red
I want one of these for on my desk at work, since I don’t have a real phone.
➠ June 16, 2009
➠ January 28, 2009
The Fountain Jet Home Soda Maker From Soda-Club
Soda Streams are back. Back. BACK! Sold with an ecological twist (less recycling and less vehicular transport than cans or bottle of soda), it’s actually pretty tempting.
➠ November 4, 2008
On The Hour
The iconic BBC radio series (which gave way to The Day Today) finally gets a full CD release (including bonus material, such as Chris Morris’s fantastic flexidisc for Select Magazine). Subscribe to the podcast for snippets of genius.
➠ October 27, 2008
I got me a whatnot
Spent some birthday cash creating my own custom Muppet Whatnot on the FAO Schwartz website. I'm thoroughly excited at the prospect of having a Muppet of my very own.
Unrelated: I am 32.
➠ October 12, 2008
➠ August 29, 2008
Mio™ Knight Rider™ GPS Portable Navigation Device
Only surprising that it took this long to appear: “Features the voice of K.I.T.T. (William Daniels) providing turn-by-turn voice guidance”
➠ July 20, 2008
Amazon.com - Universal Wish List Button
Bookmarklet that lets you add items from any online store to your Amazon.com wishlist.
➠ April 15, 2008
MILF Island T-Shirt
I think the NBC marketing department are onto a winner here.
➠ March 18, 2008
VPSLink Promotion: 10% Lifetime Discount Coupon
Unsolicited testimonial: VPSLink, the virtual machine hosting service that I use to host this here very blog, has a 10% off the lifetime of your service if you sign up this month (I’m guessing their fiscal year begins April 1st!). I’ve had no problems with my service from them over the last six months, and have just purchased a second “server” to host my email and suchlike. If you want root on a remote box, this is a pretty good deal.
➠ March 13, 2008
➠ February 18, 2008
Newegg.com - Western Digital 250GB Notebook Hard Drive
Reportedly, the perfect thing to supersize the diskspace of your MacBookPro. Wicked tempted to get one, cause iTunes is bastard-slow when your 116Gb MP3 collection is on a network drive.
➠ January 16, 2008
➠ November 2, 2007
Kettle Foods :: People's Choice IV - Fire and Spice
Hooray! The limited-run trial flavours of Kettle Chips are on sale, and this year, they’re SPICY!
➠ August 28, 2007
Amazon.com: Microsoft Ladies Laptop Tote - Madison
Joy just got one of these, and it’s pretty impressive. A feminine-looking tote bag, which gives no indication that inside is plenty of padding and pockets for your laptop, powerpack, and assorted other gadgetry.
➠ July 22, 2007
shirt.woot.com
Oh lordy — Woot launch a Different-T-Shirt-Every-Day shop. My credit card quakes in fear.
➠ July 3, 2007
Gawd Bless ‘er
Apparently in the eyes of the colonies, Her Maj? Is perfectly suited towards promoting the sale of loo rolls.
➠ June 20, 2007
PowerCost Monitor - Save up to 20% on your electricity bill
Device that allows you to see in realtime how fast the little wheel is spinning on your electricity meter, wherever you are in the house. Our local leccy company, NStar, is subsidising them, so they’re only $30.
➠ May 24, 2007
➠ May 14, 2007
ThinkGeek :: Will Return Clock
Heh. The idea of this made me chuckle. I’m sure there are days I’d fall for it.
➠ May 4, 2007
Ruckus Laptop Backpack review: Simply Awesome
I just got one of these on the recommendation of Yoz, and it is top-notch. A dedicated laptop section, plus an excellent array of pockets and pouches. I got mine from NewEgg for $40 + shipping.
➠ April 13, 2007
Nigel's Green Skeleton Shirt - This Is Spinal Tap - founditemclothing.com
Gonna have to get myself one of these. “Exactly medically accurate”.
➠ April 4, 2007
Product listing - Geekz Shop
T-shirts and stickers emblazoned with the likes of Richard Stallman, Donald Knuth and Bruce Schneier. I ordered a couple of the Schneier stickers for my laptops.
➠ March 4, 2007
➠ February 16, 2007
Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac
Guide showing the time periods between Apple product line refreshes. Trying to decide if I want to pull the trigger on buying a MacBook now, or wait out a month and see if something faster and shinier comes along.
➠ January 29, 2007
Apple (UK and Ireland) - Get a Mac - Watch The New Ads
The Mac & PC on British TV are played by ace comedy double-act Mitchell & Webb. Genius!
➠ January 7, 2007
PC World - Just Cancel the @#%$* Account!
Documenting just how nightmarish it can be to cancel a free trial.
➠ December 29, 2006
35 most outrageous fees (and how to avoid them) | Money Magazine
Good tips on avoiding being caught out by unexpected “fees”.
➠ December 19, 2006
nanda: Clocky
Clocky — the alarm clock that runs away from you after you hit Snooze, so you have to get out of bed — is now available for purchase.
➠ December 7, 2006
Fritalian (Dunkin' Donuts commercial)
Another series of Dunkin Donuts commercials featuring music by They Might Be Giants has started hitting the air. This is my current favourite.
➠ December 4, 2006
➠ December 1, 2006
The first smart rabbit - Nabaztag
I’ve decided that the thing missing most from my life is a wi-fi enabled smart rabbit. Gonna get a Nabaztag/tag when it gets released later this month.
➠ November 25, 2006
Go Faster Stripe
Small start-up producing reasonably-priced stand-up comedy DVDs from comedians who aren’t mainstream enough for high-street stores. Starting off with a set the splendid Stewart Lee. Ordered!
➠ November 22, 2006
The Onion Store: Gotchabox
New from The Onion: Elaborate boxes for really crappy-sounding gifts (“Salt of the Month Club”, anyone?), which you hide your real present inside. Genius!
➠ November 1, 2006
First Grope: DS-Xtreme Nintendo DS Media Enhancer - Gizmodo
Rilly rilly simple DS flash cart. Plug into USB, copy over roms + MP3s, then plug into your DS. “Only” $125.
➠ October 28, 2006
➠ October 19, 2006
The Device Patented Process Indicating Apparatus ::Home::
Gorgeously olde-looking “device”. Use the gauges, glowing test-tube and red LED to display whatever values take your fancy.
➠ October 2, 2006
➠ September 22, 2006
➠ September 8, 2006
Amazon.com Unbox Video
There’s an instant discount of $1.99 on your first purchase, so you can kick the tyres and download a TV show episode for free. And yes, the DRM they use is strippable using FairPlay4WM.
➠ August 4, 2006
➠ July 20, 2006
ThinkGeek :: Solar LED Address Numbers
It drives me nuts when I’m trying to find an address, but the house numbers are barely visible. I’ve just ordered one of these for our house.
➠ June 18, 2006
Luggage Tags - with Attitude
“I’m Pretty Sure This Isn’t Your Bag”, “Nothing Worth Stealing In Here”, and more.
➠ June 16, 2006
Swansea North Residents Association - NEWS
Tango do a nice spoof of that Sony bouncing-balls-in-SanFran advert. The rest of the astroturf site is pretty decent too.
➠ June 14, 2006
➠ June 8, 2006
➠ June 5, 2006
➠ May 3, 2006
➠ April 28, 2006
➠ April 20, 2006
➠ April 19, 2006
Language Log: Harry Potter and the Madding Gerund: Secrets of the Language Log Code
The always-splendid Language Log is getting dead-tree-ified.
➠ April 17, 2006
Dunkin' Donuts: Things I Like To Do
I’m loving the new Dunkin Donuts jingle by They Might Be Giants. “I’m slightly more efficient than I previously was” is possibly the most honest advertising slogan for coffee ever.
➠ March 21, 2006
Pleasure Cards
Personal non-business business cards in cool designs. Just ordered myself a box.
➠ February 8, 2006
➠ February 5, 2006
Disappearing Civil Liberties Mug
“Simply pour in your coffee or any hot beverage and watch the painstaking work of the founding fathers vanish before your eyes.” Genius!
➠ January 22, 2006
➠ December 23, 2005
Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious - T-Shirt
Rawk! Fantastic t-shirt commemorating my favourite line from “Lazy Sunday”. Ordered!
➠ December 7, 2005
➠ November 26, 2005
Toothpaste for Dinner: The Marketing Department
Currently making me chuckle muchly is the dead-tree version of ‘Toothpaste for Dinner’ — Only ten bucks at Amazon. Here’s my favourite cartoon from the book.
➠ November 18, 2005
Bill Hicks: Salvation
I happened upon this last week, and it’s bloody fantastic. A complete unedited 100-minute Bill Hicks act from 1992. Due to his early death, Hicks gets a lot of messianic hyperbole, but listening to this act, it’s a reminder that a) he was a very smart guy getting angry at the same stuff that’s still going on today in America, and b) he is an incredibly talented stand-up, whose skill at reading the audience and winning them back round with dick jokes after losing them to rants on US politics is nothing short of masterful.
➠ November 4, 2005
10 Ways to Please Us, the Customers
Excellent list from David Pogue. “We may be the bane of your existence, but we’re also the reason for it; you’re stuck with us. We’ve got our credit cards ready - now show us some love.”
➠ October 13, 2005
Bank of America | Keep the Change
BoA campaign which rounds up your debit card purchase to the nearest dollar, and deposits the “change” in your savings account. Smart plan for them, since it’ll encourage people to use their debit cards for “small” purchases (see the example of “cup of coffee”). Pain in the arse for me, if it means that I’m stuck in the queue behind said person paying for a sodding cup of coffee with a debit card.
➠ October 2, 2005
The Duct Tape Band Aid
It’s the Elmo sticking plaster for tough-guys. Genius bit of targetted marketing, right down to the “designed to fit easily in a toolbox” packaging.
About This Site
This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.
I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.