Packit Freeze + Go is a cool option to haul your food
Why pack a freezer pack in your lunchbag when your whole lunch bag could be a freezer pack? The Packit Freeze + Go bag collapses into a compact 5 1/2-inch-by-8 1/2-inch-by-2-inch block — about the size of two standard freezer packs — that sits in your freezer until it’s time to pack up your food. The bags are available at Thinker Things (Ala Moana Center 946-3378, Kahala Mall 735-5442) for $24.95. — Donica Kaneshiro
Ted and Ani create sweet dreams
I love Ted’s Chocolate Haupia Pie, available at Times Markets for $12.99. And I love Ani’s Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia Pie (it is to die for in a delicious shade of purple!) available at the family-run Ani’s Bake Shop, 99-840 Iwaiwa St. in Halawa, for $19.98. Call Ani’s at 488-2193. — Nancy J. Usui, Kaneohe
Hackett makes magic out of ‘obtanium’
I’m a DIY kind of guy, and TV programs that show people making things or fixing things or creating things are just soup to nuts. Or, blowing stuff up. That’s always good. I’m talking "Mythbusters," "JUNKies," "Holmes on Homes," "DesignStar," "American Renovation," "Tank Overhaul," even "Project Runway." But my solid favorite at the moment is "Stuck With Hackett," airing at 4:30 p.m. Thursdays on the Science Channel and repeating through the week.
It’s loglined as "MacGyver meets Survivorman," and that’s a fair description. Each episode features survivalist engineer and mechanical artist Chris Hackett of New York’s notorious Madagascar Institute dropped into a different scene of urban desolation in which he attempts to construct some sort of suburban comfort out of discarded materials, stuff he calls "obtanium," meaning, survivalist treasure you think of as trash.
He makes arc lights in an abandoned hospital out of calcium tablets and intense heat generated by a torch that is gassed by an electrolytic jar separating oxygen and hydrogen. He makes a washing machine out of the drive mechanism of a car. And did you know that all you need to do welding is three car batteries and some jumper cables?
Hackett is a shuffling, dreadlocked guy in baggy, dark clothes and he’s a surprisingly soft touch for the comforts of civilization. He wants air conditioning and clean clothes and TV, as do we all, so it’s easy to relate.
His blog site is totally fun, too: stuckwithhackett.wordpress.com. — Burl Burlingame
Sun power lights up night table
While looking for an outdoor light for our gazebo, I stumbled upon the Gemmy Table Top Solar Lantern that charges directly from sunlight (with a rechargeable battery). A light sensor turns the lantern on or off automatically. Instead of having to constantly replace the batteries on our portable outdoor light, we can now dine outdoors with a solar-powered light — how cool is that? It also throws beautiful curlicue patterns on the table. It retails for just under $15 at Lowe’s. — Nina Wu
‘All My Children’ finale leaves many empty nests
Two pregnant girls go into labor while stranded in the wilderness. Rescue helicopter arrives; babies are successfully delivered. Moms pass out. Rescue pilot steals one baby and tells moms said baby fell out of the helicopter, then gives the remaining baby to the wrong mom.
Stuff likes this happens all the time in the world of "All My Children." Grief and deception have been its meat and potatoes, broken up by the occasional gravy of a wedding (Erica Kane by herself has had about a dozen of those).
But, alas, "All My Children" signs off on ABC today. An inconsistent viewer, I have been more devoted in these last weeks, especially since the writers decided to provide happy endings for most everyone, which meant bringing back many characters from the show’s past (some had died, but in soaps the return of the dead is also meat and potatoes).
P.S. Both of the babies got back to their real moms and are now around 6 years old. Eventually one of the moms died. Or did she?
If you miss today’s final episode at noon on KITV, catch up at abc.go.com. — Betty Shimabukuro
5 Things We Love is a shortlist of newly discovered stuff you have got to see, hear, wear, use or eat. What are you loving this week? Send a brief description of your latest favorite thing, where to find it and how much it costs, along with your name and contact info to features@staradvertiser.com.
