One of my big things is discovering new things that I think are cool and getting my friends to experience them too. I think it’s probably a quirky part of human nature, like watching a movie you’ve already seen with friends who haven’t seen it yet, and getting that irresistable urge to say “oh, you gotta watch this part!”. Naturally they were gonna watch it anyway, but you feel like saying something, as if your having seen it already somehow gives you a little bit of credit for how cool it is. In any event, I tend to do this all the time, no not talking during movies (which I really never do), but finding neat new products, restaurants, shows etc. I just love being the one to spread all that is nifty and worthy of praise. To that end, I think it’d be a good idea to write about some of my favorite products from time to time. It’ll probably be interesting to see how my opinions of them change over time, or just to go back and review my remarks and see if maybe there are products I thought were life-changing, only to be abandoned a few months down the road. Anyway, on to today’s products, in no particular order-

There’s a thing used in car detailing called a California Duster. It’s basically a tool used for dusting the exterior of cars, e.g. when a car is covered with pollen. It consists of a wooden handle with a mass of yarn-like fibers at the business end. The gimmick is that the fibers are treated with an undetectable wax-like substance. The wax apparently makes dust stick to the yarn, rather than just get pushed around the surface of whatever you’re dusting. I bought two of these California Dusters, and I actually have yet to use them on my car because I have them doing double duty within my apartment. They totally kick ass over conventional feather dusters or wipe cloths. I have a folding mat I use in my living room when I do my Brazilian jiu-jitsu training drills, shadowboxing, pilates, etc. and it gets dusty from time to time. Being a vinyl covered mat, dust sticks to it due to the static charge it has acquired over time. I used to wipe it down with Clorox wipes every few weeks, but now I just break out the California Duster before each workout and it picks up all the dust and I don’t have to wait for the mat to dry like I would if I were using wipes. It’s a terrific product.

Speaking of working out, another killer product is Bas Rutten’s Mixed Martial Arts Workout. It consists of a series of CD’s and an instructional video. The idea is that each of the audio CD’s has Bas calling out instructions like punch/kick/knee combinations just like a fight coach would. They are broken down into rounds of varying lengths with short breaks between rounds. The video is just meant to give you a basic idea of how to perform each basic action, whether its punching, kicking, sprawling, or any of the particular exercises he uses. Bas is a funny guy, a former UFC champion and he’s also motivating as hell. If you do the workout at full power, you will develop incredible cardio. It is grueling like you wouldn’t believe and it’s a terrific measure of how fit you are or how much you’ve slipped if you haven’t trained in a while because you’ll see how many rounds you can go versus how many rounds you used to be able to do. This may be the one product that all fighters agree is exceptional, and that’s really saying something considering all the stubborn and contrary personalities you find in this sport.

Back to cleaning supplies for a moment, I think I should mention that Windex wipes are a brilliant invention. No more need to spray and wipe, the convenient moist wipes clean windows (especially the inside of windshields) and mirrors streak free. The size of the package is perfect for keeping in your car too. Although I imagine they would probably freeze and be no good if you left them in your car during the winter.

That’s it for now. Next time maybe I’ll write up a bit on kitchen equipment since I’ve got a lot of opinions on those products. Hrmmm…