Glass-blowing class yields precious holiday memento

My husband and I began building a collection of handmade glass Christmas ornaments the year we were married. Last year we got to make our own, with a lot of help from the folks at Island Glassworks in Kailua. Because of the intense heat involved, Geoff Lee’s ornament-blowing event is more of a thorough demonstration than a hands-on class. But you do get a step-by-step lesson in the process and can pick the color scheme for your ornament and provide the breath to fill its shape. Classes start next month. Cost: $30. Visit islandglassworks.com.

— Stephanie Kendrick

Contigo thermos provides super-duper insulation

Contigo insulated thermoses keep drinks hot or cold for hours.

I put ice in it with my beverage and six hours later when I open it, the ice is still there. It keeps coffee so hot that I usually have to add cold water to keep from scalding myself. Buy them at Costco in a two-pack for $20 (coincidentally, the current Costco coupon book is offering $4 off through Nov. 6).

— Bryant Fukutomi

Hendrix’s brilliance shines through

The music of Jimi Hendrix transcends the “classic rock” tag, and proof of that is the recent reissue of “Hendrix in the West” (Columbia/Legacy, $13.98). This collection of select concert recordings from 1969-70 shows the guitarist starting to push the boundaries of his music. The album is basically a do-over from the original 1972 release, and is arguably the better for it, as it’s an expanded version which includes five previously unavailable performances.

Among tracks retained from the original are one of Hendrix’s best renditions of “Red House” (prime psychedelic blues) and an off-the-cuff rendition of “Johnny B. Goode” that absolutely destroys (in a good way) Chuck Berry’s seminal rock ’n’ roller. Those back-to-back performances are preceded by a previously unavailable

10-minute take on “Spanish Castle Magic” that adds a bit of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” The other noteworthy addition is “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” which, while lacking a bit of focus, is engrossing to hear as Hendrix and company reinvent the popular jam number.

— Gary Chun

Sweet scent flavors sunscreen

Putting sunscreen on my son is always an ordeal filled with bribes and threats. I decided to try out Sunbow’s new line of SpongeBob SquarePants sunscreens to see if the cartoon character would provide enough appeal to distract my squirmy boy while I applied the pastel yellow lotion. But it was the sweet “bubble gum fragrance” that he loved. Instead of complaining, he turned his face toward me, waiting for more sunscreen to be applied. The line comes in a thick lotion ($12.99), a thin lotion spray ($9.99) and a stick ($7.99). The spray worked best for us since it was so easy to spread. It also comes in pink and blue Dora the Explorer versions at drugstore.com or amazon.com.

— Donica Kaneshiro

Zombie nursery rhymes all ‘covered in goo’

Zombies are the new vampires. Witness the success of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” the Jane Austen parody novel “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and countless other pop culture products devoted to this branch of the undead. Joining the ghastly genre is the newly released “Jack and Jill Went Up to Kill: A Book of Zombie Nursery Rhymes” (Harper, $9.99), by Michael P. Spradlin, who is also responsible for the New York Times best-seller “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies!” Spradlin’s latest book, complete with gruesome illustrations by Jeff Weigel, includes more than 20 zombie-infused nursery rhymes, such as “Peter, Peter, Fresh Brain Eater” and this twisted take on a classic:

There was an old Zombie woman who lived in a shoe.
She ate so many children, she was covered in goo;
She gave them a chomp and tore open their heads;
Then they all turned and became the Undead.
It’s wicked PG-rated fun for this Halloween weekend and beyond.

— Christie Wilson