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Do you like stuff? So do we! Stuff for the mind, for passing time, for sharing, for yourself, for fun. Mariva's Guide brings you interesting, innovative, beautiful, entertaining and useful products, web sites, articles and images -- in other words, this, that and the other thing.
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1980 nostalgia
VH1 used to be the second-rate music video channel, targeting an audience about a decade older than MTV’s. But now VH1’s programming generally comprises time-wasting, guilty-pleasure filler shows, like I Love Toys. The show’s pointless exercise in conjuring nostalgia inspired me to dredge up my own memories of the not-too-distant past.
Posted April 3, 2006 by Mariva in fashion, fun, gadgets, games, innovations
Vectorpark “Levers”
This is driving me nuts. What do you do with the hat once the snowman melts and his face mysteriously appears on the spinning thingamabob at the top that used to be the timer? (You have to play the game for that to make sense.) Or, without realizing it, did I actually win?
Gee, if I can’t even tear myself away from this thing, can you imagine me with Katamari?
Posted February 24, 2006 by Mariva in fun, games, innovations
vintage products, brand-new
Ever feel nostalgic for products or supplies that you remember from childhood, but haven’t been able to find in years? Your search may be over. The Vermont Country Store offers a wide variety of products that your parents or grandparents used — all brand-new and recently manufactured. How is this possible? The proprietors get permission to re-create vintage products as close to the originals as possible — including design and packaging — and bring them to market for another generation of consumers. If you’re not in the neighborhood of one of the stores in Weston or Rockingham, Vermont, you can order vintage games, classic New England apparel (warning: not for the fashion-conscious), long-lost fragrances and even food and beverages online. If you can’t find what you want, let them know, and they’ll consider re-creating it for you.
Posted February 15, 2006 by Mariva in bath & spa, business, decor, edibles, fun, games, gifts, home, innovations, kitchen, resources
Super Bowl commercials |
What’s the best part of the Super Bowl? The parties? Making food or ordering in? The risque halftime entertainment? The fact that for some, it marks the end of seventeen weeks of misery?
While you’re thinking it over, ponder your favorite Super Bowl commercials. |
Posted February 6, 2006 by Mariva in business, entertainment, finance, fun, games, news, social
Katamari
Knowing that I have an addictive personality — at least with regard to the "soft addictions" — I do my best to stay away from treacherous time traps like Freecell Solitaire. And if I owned a game console that could play Super Mario, I’d probably never see the light of day. 
Posted January 18, 2006 by Mariva in entertaining, entertainment, fun, gadgets, games, gifts, home, innovations, news
fun sites
Googlism: Find out what Google "thinks" of you — or of anyone or anything else.
The Dialectizer: Turn the verbal content of a web page into any of a variety of funny dialects, including "Jive," "Cockney," "Elmer Fudd," "Swedish Chef," "Moron," "Pig Latin" or "Hacker." I sound quite cornpone when Mariva’s Guide has been Redneck Dialectized.
5ives: Lists of five things within a random topic, such as "five ways to get on the del.icio.us home page" or "five terrible fake ideas for a retro TV comeback."
Posted January 11, 2006 by Mariva in business, education, entertainment, fun, games, innovations, resources
Mind-Reading Electronic Question GameDoes it fly? Can it cry? Can you eat it? Is it blue? Can you throw it? The Mind-Reading Electronic Question Game is a cool-looking device that can guess an object that you’re thinking of (although I can’t imagine that it could come up with obscure band names and scientific terms). Good for long trips, waiting rooms, bored kids and party ice-breakers.
Or you could just play 20 Questions online for free.
Posted December 19, 2005 by Mariva in entertaining, entertainment, fun, gadgets, games, gifts, home, innovations, social, travel
Scattergories
When I was in the eighth grade, my English teacher assigned the class a unique exercise in vocabulary building: an empty table with general categories (cities, vegetables, animals, etc.) across the top, and single letters down the left-hand side. Our task was to complete the table with category-specific words that began with each of the letters. I was under the impression that I had to fill in every cell of the table — or fail the assignment.
Posted December 15, 2005 by Mariva in education, entertaining, fun, games, gifts, resources, social
IDEO Method Cards
Feeling creatively blocked? Try a pack of IDEO Method Cards, a tool that helps designers, innovators, entrepreneurs and others come up with new ideas, approaches and strategies for business and creative endeavors. Each card features a photograph, diagram, drawing or other image on the front and a suggested approach on the back. You don’t have to be a professional designer to appreciate how these cards can help you think about things differently or conduct thought experiments in the everyday world. IDEO provides four examples online; if you’re intrigued by these, you’ll hunger for the whole deck.
Posted December 9, 2005 by Mariva in business, career, education, fun, games, gifts, innovations, resources
Kikkerland
Kikkerland offers a variety of cute-but-sleek accessories for home and office: the Fly Wall Clock, which features a picture of a fly on a screen door imprinted onto a fly swatter; an assortment of mechanical wind-up creatures; games, including decks of semi-translucent cards; and a Foldable Bottle Holder Rack, useful for wine aficionados.
You can find my favorite Kikkerland products — the Silver Ocean Globe and the Business Card Size Tool Set — at Ship the Web.
Posted December 7, 2005 by Mariva in decor, fun, gadgets, games, gifts
