Looking for Infinity Mirrors or Tunnel Lights?

 

This is an old blog post that I moved here from a website of mine that I recently deleted. The original date of this post was sometime during the year 2010. Yeah, that was several years ago. I'm not surprised that these mirrors are still a thing, albeit a lot of people now sell them under the name "tunnel lights" as opposed to infinity mirrors, but let's not get into silly semantics. Now, back to the subject at hand...

Are you looking for something that will add some flare & creativity to your living space, but aren’t sure exactly what it is that you need?  Well, if you’re yearning to add some uniqueness to your home or personal bedroom, Infinity Mirrors may be just the thing you’re looking for. Many people haven’t heard of them, so I’ll provide a few pics below:

Even though, when lit up, Infinity Mirrors (some folks call 'em "Tunnel Lights") appear to have a lot going on, it is really just a simple mirror trick. You are merely looking through a double-sided mirror that reflects back to a one-sided mirror that is seated a short distance behind it. The LED lights add to the infinity effect and it’s also what gives it that extra pizzazz. I took one apart, that I purchased a while back, to see how it was made and said, “oh, that’s it?”

If you’re feeling a little crafty and don’t mind tinkering around, you can also attempt to make your own. You’ll need: One regular mirror, a double-sided mirror, a frame with whatever design you can find, LED lights, and a 9v power source. You can always do a web search using the keywords “How to create an Infinity Mirror,” to find additional detail that hopefully comes with illustrations and step-by-step instructions.

Personally, I’d rather buy one online with a unique design as opposed to using some old frame that I found by chance, just to slap one together. Actually, if you’re going to make an Infinity Mirror (Tunnel Lights?) by hand, you should probably just go ahead and create/design your own framework, as well.

I have only owned one of these mirrors, at the time I'm writing this, and it has only shined in all its glory for a few brief minutes. Here’s what happened: I bought this antique-looking Egyptian Infinity Mirror, after spending a solid 100 bucks for it. Well, I decided to take it over to my mom’s house to show it off. I hooked it up and it was utterly spectacular. I loved the way it looked while it was illuminated, and so did everyone else that seen it. …Okay, so I go ahead and visit her for a while, since I hadn’t been over there in a couple weeks. I had no idea my stepdad was attempting to perform some electrical work in the attic, and, due to him not knowing what in the hell he was doing, something surged through the power lines and fried my damn LED Lights in my Ancient Egyptian Infinity Mirror! The only good thing was, it still looked fairly nifty, even when it wasn’t working; however, for future reference, if some moron happens to fry your Infinity Mirror’s light system, it isn’t much trouble to replace the LED lights or the power supply/source.

If you’re interested in buying Infinity Mirrors, you may have to search online from a variety of websites to find what you’re looking for. Amazon.com doesn't always have the unique tunnel lights, but they typically have a decent selection of the more affordable infinity mirrors and, well, even the cheap ones. The really cool ones (like the Ancient Egyptian one I own) are usually on the expensive side, but often worth the price tag – depending on the unique design. You can always start your search below, and go from there...

Shopping (Affiliate) Link:

"Search Amazon for Infinity Mirrors"

Image Credits: Product Images - Fair use

Related Post: Himalayan Salt Products, Lamps, Tea Light Candle Holders...

---End of Post "Looking for Infinity Mirrors or Tunnel Lights?"

Healthier Alternatives for Scented Candles – Aromatherapy...

This is an old post that I recently moved here from a deleted website of mine. The original date of this post was sometime during the year of 2010. Yeah, several years have passed since then. In fact, I don't even use candles of any type, anymore. Ha! But back to the retrospective subjects at hand...

I’ve known this for a while, as the initial realization disconcerted my candle-lighting self, that most candles (especially scented) are, unfortunately, not good for you.

I used to light these things all the time, especially the tea lights within Himalayan Salt rocks and candle holders. The ones containing Paraffin wax, as most store-bought candles do, are not your friend; they’re your foe. Paraffin is a petroleum product, so you already know from here, the resulting diagnosis from this petrochemical is not going to be complimentary to your well-being. The black smoke and soot that emits from these lovely candles, ends up in your lungs; toxic chemicals enter your body, and so on.

To cut right down to simple, candid talk: It is never good to breathe smoke albeit some is worse than others. The prior statement is personally semi-contradictory, coming from me, since I enjoy sporadic campfires and relish cigarettes with my endeared beer time. In my case, I was just trying to cut down on toxins, so I eliminated scented paraffin candles from my home. I still light them on rare occasions, but I try to have healthier alternatives available.

Oh wait, there’s more: Many of these candles and tea lights found at local retailers, have a metallic-based wick that usually contains lead. The next thing you know, we have petroleum by-products in addition to lead – getting set aloft in our homes, all due to those nice smelling, sexy, lighted candles. The scented ones have even more unhealthy additives and artificial dyes added to the Paraffin wax – which leads to additional toxins; if you burn them often, it is wise to seek healthier choices.

Recommendations:

Try aromatherapy candles that are made of natural oils and make sure they have a paper wick without metal or wires.

Beeswax candles are considered to be one of the safest alternatives.

It would probably be easier to simply shop online, when it comes to finding candles that contain natural wax. If you’re a spry, do-it-yourself type person, soy-based aromatherapy candles are not that difficult to make. Once you get your supplies together, the steps fall right into place. You can always search on the web for how-to advice, by typing “how to make your own aromatherapy soy candles” or similar search terms, etc.

Say good-bye to burning flames from artificial origins and say hello to a new, natural form of illuminating bliss.

Below, are the few comments this post garnered on the old website that I recently deleted:

Comment #1 - Amanda says:

This is so true. I’m a big candle lover and a couple years ago I started making my own aromatherapy soy candles. They are easy to make, and it is sooo worth it.

Comment #2 - Magnolia says:

Yes, I make my own soy candles, and every Christmas, I have a big list of people waiting for their candles. Just make sure you follow the directions to the letter. Read everything first, then make your candles. I know the other candles are bad for you, but really how often do people burn them? Usually during sex, so that is only 15 minutes a week…LOL! Maybe less!! Of course, I have a candle burning in the bathrooms when I have guests for obvious reasons.

The bottom line, most people really do not burn any candles all that much. The little bit of toxin in the air will not harm an adult, but it could affect children and small pets, so ... just use common sense and I think you will be okay. Another thing you can do…get an oil lamp, fill it with olive oil and essential oil for scent and then light it up! Olive oil burns pure. Another interesting and informative subject…thanks!

Comment #3 - Administrator says:

Thanks for the feedback!

Yeah, my girlfriend has made them before and claims that soy candles are easy to make. Personally, I take the easy/lazy way out and simply buy the aromatherapy candles with natural oils. I may break down eventually and try to make my own.

---End of Comments

Shopping (Affiliate) Link:

Search Amazon for Aromatherapy Soy Candles

Semi-related Post: "Is Aluminum really dangerous to our health?"

---End of Post "Healthier Alternatives for Scented Candles – Aromatherapy..."

Going from Wing Chun to Jeet Kune Do

 

This is an old blog post that I moved here from a deleted website of mine. The original post date is sometime toward the end of the year 2012.

For many years, I have been very interested in martial arts. I was first inspired by Bruce Lee at the early age of 7 years old. I first watched the film Enter the Dragon during that time frame and was mainly fascinated with nunchucks (nunchaku). Not long after watching that film, I made a pair out of two wooden sticks, a small chain and 2 nails used to hold the chain into each piece of wood. Yes, at age 7, I already thought I was a kung-fu master. I took my cheaply made nunchucks, invited a neighborhood kid to come over, and let him use them for a while … but after seeing that he was having great difficulty, I took them from him, did a few moves and busted him over the head. The kid fell to the ground, then got up holding his head and took off running to his parents while crying loudly. I was in trouble; the parents came over to talk to mine, but nothing came of it, other than he wasn’t allowed to come over and play anymore. My dad decided to go buy me some practice-style nunchucks that were made of foam. Who in the hell wants foam nunchucks?

Anyway, years later, I now not only have a huge collection of real nunchucks ranging from metal, wood, and glow-in-the-dark acrylic, mini-chucks, tele-chucks, studded, you name it, I also have a huge array of various Martial Arts weapons.

…None of that may have to do with my favorite style of Wing Chun and Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, but the point is, I showed an interest early on and went through various studies and different styles before realizing just what the core philosophies behind Bruce’s Jeet Kune Do really was. It was a combination of multiple styles, but unlike traditional martial arts, there was no particular style or traditions in Jeet Kune Do. If something worked you kept it, and if other aspects of a style was a waste or not as efficient, you trashed it. Jeet Kune Do doesn’t try to be showy and flashy either, as one of the main principles is the simplicity and the way of the intercepting fist.

One of Bruce Lee’s primary, original styles was Wing Chun. There for the longest he kept his kicks below the waist and mainly incorporated the direct movements, trapping, and blocking techniques of Wing Chun. Out of all the styles, it is by far my favorite. If one could take some extra grappling classes and perhaps learn some pressure point techniques in combination with this style, you would, in my opinion, be better equipped than most martial artists of today.

If anybody knows very much about this subject, they will also be very familiar with what is known as a Wing Chun Dummy. This particular wooden dummy is a thick wooden post with three arms and a leg mounted on a slightly springy frame representing a stationary human opponent. Although representative of a human opponent, the dummy is not a physical representation of a human, but an energetic one. Wooden dummy practice aims to refine a practitioner’s understanding of angles, positions, and footwork, and to develop full body power. It is here that the open hand forms are pieced together and understood as a whole. Personally, I find these things to be way too expensive.

When I was a teenager, a basic wooden Wing Chun Dummy cost around six or seven hundred plus. Now, after checking on the web, these things are up to over a thousand dollars! This is another reason why I used to build my own. Yes, it was a cheap imitation, but I’d go out in the woods and build with trees, to practice this style of martial arts. Another good thing about using these wooden targets, is that it toughens up your arms and blocking areas, such as your forearms.

[Update: 1-29-2022 - As time went on, they must have found a way to manufacture these Wing Chun Dummies at a cheaper price because I recently checked Amazon, and you can now find them in the 4-to-5-hundred-dollar range. Are they made cheaper? Most likely. Are they still fully functional? More than likely. Are they as good as the authentic ones of the past? I doubt it. ---End of Update]

Anyway, I’m not going to promote the idea of kicking and punching trees, albeit it is cheaper than the Wing Chun Dummy; ha! One thing that I never was pleased with, concerning Wing Chun, was their lack of weaponry. Advanced students got to use large Butterfly Knives (a little shorter than short swords), a.k.a. Double Knives, and what they called a Long Pole. At any rate, I suppose it doesn’t matter in my case, because I have enough weapons to perform my own training without the limitation of a style or a tradition (hey, that sounds like Jeet Kune Do).

The title of this post sort of represents Bruce’s transition from Wing Chun to his own form of martial arts, Jeet Kune Do. Now, I can’t type about every style and method he tried and tested throughout his short life, as it would take way too long. However, I will say that I have never heard of a guy training harder than he did. At age 13, Bruce Lee started lessons in the Wing Chun style of kung-fu for self-defense reasons. Well, over the next 19 years, he transformed his knowledge into a science, an art, a philosophy and a way of life. In fact, while reading over his main book, best seller, “Tao of Jeet Kune Do,” I was more interested in his philosophy than anything else. I bought my copy about 17 years ago and actually waited a couple years before reading it because at the time I was still studying some of the more ancient arts of kung-fu.

I’ve did most of my training via self, although I have taken traditional Karate classes that I found to be rather limiting. I detest being restricted to a certain style or limited to a certain way of thinking, etc. This applies to a lot of things in life, which Bruce Lee obviously integrated into his way of fighting. I remember when taking classes, I’d have a few minutes before class started to practice my own moves, etc. Then the sensei would come into the room, and here we go with boring, boring, basic stiff moves. That reminds me of another aspect of Wing Chun, as it thrives on relaxed muscles, as tension reduces punching speed and power. This also helps with the center-line punches & movements. Wing Chun techniques are generally “closed,” with the limbs drawn in to protect the central area and also to maintain balance. In most circumstances, the hands do not move beyond the vertical circle that is described by swinging the arms in front, with the hands crossed at the wrists. To reach outside this area, footwork is used. A large emphasis and time investment in training Chi Sao exercise emphasizes positioning to dominate this center-line. The stance and guard all point at or through the center to concentrate physical and mental intent of the entire body to the one target.

Well, I’ve rambled enough about this subject. I’ll leave it up to you to do your research on Wing Chun and Bruce Lee’s awesome Jeet Kune Do way of life…

Shopping (Affiliate) Links:

* ‘Click Here’ for a Fine Selection of Wing Chun Dummies

* 'Click Here' for the book: Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Image Credits: Product Images - Fair Use

—End of Post "Going from Wing Chun to Jeet Kune Do"

New Fetish: The 'Human Barbie Doll' Look

Depicted above is one of the many who have took part in this new crazed fetish. Valeria Lukyanova, also known as the "Human Barbie," went viral earlier this year after the images of this attractive 21-year-old blonde model entered the online kingdom. Many folks are wondering if she got plastic surgery or if most of these online photos are merely Photoshop, etc. If in doubt, go online and perform an image search for this type of stuff... Anyway, some people even say she isn't real, for example. Well, there is no doubt that she is a living, breathing human being. However, she does claim that she is all natural and possesses this type of Barbie Doll look by using an awesome make-up job and is more focused on her optimistic disposition and spiritual connection, going by what I've read.

This individual shown above is not the only one I have seen the last few years, that has really got into this new type of fetish. There was some guy on TV a while back, that was striving to look just like the Barbie Doll named Ken. Except this guy admitted to going through various types of expensive surgeries and whatnot. Even though I found that particular case to be totally ridiculous and a waste of money, it didn't cost me anything so whatever floats your boat, dude. Other popular models have somewhat tried to mock these childish figurines, but more times than not, the plastic surgery goes wrong somewhere down the line after trying to achieve this human Barbie Doll look. I must give Valerie some credit, though, as she did really well on this cosmetic aspect. Now, whether her boobs are real or if she had additional plastic surgery, is another story. Personally, I prefer the more all-terrain, big booty, sexy-but-tough look, sort of like the girls you often see in rap videos while "shaking what their momma gave 'em," as they say; ha!

Image Credit: www.mstarz.com/articles/6294/20121113/human-barbie-valeria-lukyanova-v-magazine-exclusive-interview-barbie-real-flattered-appear-unreal-critics-photos.htm (Link is no longer active)

---End of Post "New Fetish: The 'Human Barbie Doll' Look"

Seed Tape for Small Seeds

I was just looking at this semi-interesting gardening aid today, known as seed tape, and was thinking how it could be fairly useful for those pesky small seeds that almost seem invisible once they hit the dirt. You know, the really tiny seeds like beets, radishes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, turnips, etc. Most of the stuff I plant usually has medium to large seeds, but the seed tape could come in handy for the micro seeds, I suppose.

This is an extremely simple concept with environmentally friendly features. The paper and adhesive from this tape is biodegradable and compostable. It's an easy way to sow small seeds, no doubt. This gardening tape is pre-glued for your convenience. The printed increments on the tape makes the proper spacing of your seeds a cinch. You just dig out your spot/row, put the seeds on the biodegradable tape, place it in the trench/furrow and cover it up with the dirt and add some water.

Will I try this amazingly simple product this year? No, probably not. LOL! I'd rather spend my extra money on more plants and fertilizer, additional soil, and so on. However, I just thought I'd mention this in case some of y'all sow a lot of tiny seeds and have trouble getting your garden rows straight. Personally, I don't care if my plants come up in a zig-zag fashion, just as long as they come up, thrive, and produce; cheers!

Update: A few years after I posted this, I ended up trying this for some radishes and carrots.  These things work great! It is really convenient, for sure... The only thing, though, is I bought the kind that already has the seeds inside the tape. The product described on this post, you have to manually put your own seeds in there, but I doubt if that would be much more trouble. Plus, they sell both versions, etc.

The next part of this update doesn't really relate to the "seed tape for small seeds" title, but it does relate to growing food. Well, to make it short, I got tired of not being able to grow any type of food crops during the winter, so I got into Hydroponics for inside your home. I recently wrote a blog post about that, here: "Fastest Growing Plants for Indoor Mini Hydroponics."

---End of Update

Shopping (Affiliate) Link:  

"Click Here for 'Seed Tape' via Amazon"

Image Credit: Fair Use - Product Image - Amazon.com

---End of Post "Seed Tape for Small Seeds"

Long-Distance Wi-Fi Antenna

Yeah, when I say long distance, I mean like half a mile away! If this product does what it says it can, there will be a lot of people getting free Internet service with their laptops and computers. A while back, I wrote a post that was entitled "What can disrupt your Wi-Fi Network Adapter?" on another website.

Anyway, a lot of people seemed to think that other folks in the neighborhood were trying to tap off of my Internet connection, but since it was a secure connection between the house computers, I'm assuming that wasn't the case. It works better now, for whatever reason, and I think my network adapter may be the one to blame. You can flip the thing around or shake it some times, and it will start working fine for days. Then, you can barely bump it and the damn thing will go out.

Regardless of that other, I'm glad I have a secure connection or else everybody and their grandmother would be trying to tap off of me along with anybody else that pays for their Internet in this area that has unsecured home networks. If more and more people start buying these long-distance Wi-Fi antennas, like the one shown above, the air waves will be even busier than they already were (as if that really matters). However, this would be a good option for somebody that lives close to a hotspot in town that provides a public connection and whatnot. Now, if you are living way out in the sticks, this product won't serve any useful purpose.

The long-distance Wi-Fi antenna I looked at today, comes with a 25 foot USB cable and it's actually an indoor and outdoor antenna, which of course would mean that it is also water-resistant. The price range I've seen thus far is from 60 dollars all the way down to 40 bucks. Well, I thought I'd share this today since it seemed like a pretty good deal . . . that is, if it can really pick up strong signals from half a mile away; cheers!

Update: A few years after I originally posted this, I came back and checked the link below. Since the product line for this has changed so much over the years, I thought it would be best to just deactivate that particular shopping link. They still have similar products out there, but it would be better for the consumer to do their own searching, in this case. If anybody has found an excellent product under this genre and would like to share, feel free to drop a comment. ---End of Update

Shopping (Affiliate) Link: "Click Here for Long-Distance Wi-Fi Antenna via Amazon" (Link has been deactivated) 

Image Credit: Fair use - Product Image - Amazon.com

---End of Post "Long-Distance Wi-Fi Antenna"

Bionic Ear - Electronic Listening (Spy) Device

Now here is a childish spy gadget that many nosy adults would probably enjoy; ha! It is called the "Bionic Ear" and it's an electronic listening device that suppose to enhance your spying potential. What I find funny about this little contraption is that it's advertised as a kid's toy, but how many small children do you know of that would think about privately listening to conversations from 300 feet away? I don't know, maybe things are different now, but when I was in Elementary school I had better things to do outside as opposed to pointing some bionic ear at a distant neighbor so I could eavesdrop for my sick-twisted listening pleasure.

Anyway, the bionic ear consists of an extremely sensitive microphone that claims to be able to pick up soft whispers from a football field away! You just look through the targeting scope thingy and squeeze the trigger to amplify your desired target's sounds/chatter/conversation. Hell, if you combine this particular electronic device with the USB Hidden Spy Voice Recorder that I posted about earlier, you should be all set. LOL!

Update: I checked back on this device a couple years later and I see that it's still available. It looks like the price has dropped a little bit, so that's always nice.  I also noticed a new product for sale (after following the shopping link below) that's a 2-in-1 spying device described as the Spy X Micro Eyes & Ears - which not only functions as a bionic ear (although I doubt it has the same range as the previous product) by helping you hear from far away, but also helps you see in the dark via night vision or something like that. However, the product reviews looked much better for the original electronic listening I was talking about at the beginning of the post, so it's most likely an inferior model, etc. At any rate, I was just adding a few more words to this post regardless if it was just a bunch of senseless twaddle; ha! ---End of Update

Shopping (Affiliate) Link:

 "Click Here for the Bionic Ear - Electronic Listening (Spy) Device"

Image Credit: Fair Use - Product Image - Amazon.com

---End of Post "Bionic Ear - Electronic Listening (Spy) Device"

Related Post: http://mundane-blog.blogspot.com/2015/02/usb-hidden-spy-voice-recorder.html


Random Blog Post: "Lost Technology from German Scientists"

Book full of Crazy Inventions that Never Hit the Market

Now here is a fun book that is bound to be highly entertaining to the masses. It is called "The Klutz Book of Inventions," and it features over 160 crazy ideas for inventions that never hit the market. Some of these ideas are so insane, they might actually work in a world that isn't quite so mundane and confined to our common practicalities; ha! This book demonstrates what it looks like when creative geniuses meet insanity and utter lunacy. Hell, the guy pictured on the book looks like he is showing a product that functions as a helmet-based juicer that funnels the end-product directly to your mouth, for example. LOL!

I haven't read this book yet, but just by reading a few of the examples, it makes me curious and somewhat interested. Some of the ones on the book review mentioned a coin-return couch, a flip-up car sign so you'd never lose your car in the parking lot, a type of pants that redirects your farts (WTF?), a tricycle-lawnmower combo, and so much more. It is a hardcover-spiral book with 198 pages of entertaining material. Although none of these products are currently being sold on the market, some of them may trigger a cool idea for a practical invention. Who knows? Either way, I thought I'd share this today in case some of y'all are looking for a different type of medium that is full of crazy ideas that obviously went astray.

Shopping Link: "Click Here for The Klutz Book of Inventions" (Link has been deactivated)

I decided to disable that particular link. I figure it would be better for you to do you own book search since some may prefer paperback, hardcover, a different variation, etc. Plus, I have enough damn Amazon links on this blog right now, so I don't want to get labelled as a Spam site or something; ha!

Image Credit: Fair Use - Book Cover - Amazon.com - This image can be found on various websites & catalogs.

---End of Post "Book full of Crazy Inventions that Never Hit the Market"

USB Hidden Spy Voice Recorder

This is a nifty little device that could have many valuable uses. Whether you are using it to record lectures, random thoughts, etc., or to use as a hidden spy tactic, this USB voice recorder has a very low profile and is extremely easy to use. The one shown here holds up to 8GB of memory, which they claim that it equates to about 150 hours of recordings. It easily plugs into your computer's USB drive (while simultaneously charging it) so you can playback your recordings via .WAV files. I've seen a price range of just under 20 bucks all the way up to nearly 40 dollars, depending on the brand, size of the memory, etc.

The sound quality, going by one of the customer reviews, suppose to be about as good as the ancient portable cassette recorders of the past. Without the bulk of the old-style recorders, one could easily have this in a shirt pocket without anybody knowing about it. Personally, I've never needed a hidden spy voice recorder, but if I did, this is the type I would buy. Even if you dropped it in front of someone, most people wouldn't know what it was because it looks like a typical USB charging device. Anyway, I just thought I'd share this product today, in case any of y'all were needing to go undercover; ha-ha!


Update: I went back after a couple of years since I originally posted this to check on updated prices, products, etc. It seems that the cost for these little recorders haven't changed much.  After clicking on the link below, I did notice a lot more spy related gadgets on the market.  I must say, if I didn't go with this particular style, I would probably buy the ones that look like little pens, instead. I mean, a writing pen that performs similar sneaky tasks such as this one would be fairly stealthy, wouldn't you say? Plus, this product sort of looks like a flash drive, so if you had it laying around, some nosey person may go and try to stick it into their computer or laptop only to find out it's a recording device; ha!

Shopping (Affiliate) Link:

 "Click Here for the USB Hidden Spy Voice Recorder via Amazon"

Image Credit: Fair Use - Product Image - Amazon.com - This image is found on various websites & catalogs.

---End of Post "USB Hidden Spy Voice Recorder"

Star Trek: The Animated Series - DVDs

I know there are a lot of Trekkers out there, and Star Trek is one of the most popular science fiction shows around. Personally, I always liked the original series the best, but to each their own. The Next Generation seemed pretty good, too, but I only watched the first few seasons of that one and I have no idea about all the new ones out there now.

Anyway, for the ones that liked the original series, a lot of you may not realize that they made an animated series a few years after they quit making the regular episodes. The box says 1973 - 1974. Well, I received mine as a gift several years ago. At first, I was reluctant to watch them right away, because I thought that since they were animated, the quality must have been compensated and that the plots most likely sucked. Well, after watching a few of them, I was surprised. They were pretty good and it is a must-have for any original Star Trek collector.

The DVD set comes with all 22 episodes of the animated adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. I don't know how much it costs now, but mainly because I got mine free - since it was a gift; ha! At any sci-fi rate, I just thought I'd share that today; cheers!

Image Credit: My own photo of the product.

Shopping (Affiliate) Link: 

"Click Here for Star Trek: The Animated Series - DVDs"

---End of Post