Musicians and music lovers are at double risk ending up in nighttime pedestrian crashes. 1. They are mostly dressed in black. 2. They often head homewards in the dark after evening concerts and rehearsals. Obviously, these things won’t change, so the easiest solution is to add some reflective gear that fits right in. A black treble clef safety reflector is stylish and blends in with any black outfits. It can hang on instrument cases, jackets, purses, backpacks and bags.
Treble clef safety reflector looks good on a violin case.Treble clef safety reflector on violin case increase visibility up to 500 feet (125m) at night.
Then in nighttime traffic, it puts its wearer in the spotlight with its reflective power. Thanks to a unique manufacturing technique, …
Without getting a chance to breath after the holidays, endless store shelves are already filled with red and pink Valentine Day’s gifts. It can easily be overwhelming and just a bit too sugary. If you are looking for a useful and thoughtful Valentine’s gift idea, this piece of rainbow striped eye candy might be just that. It is absolutely sugar-free and instead it brings safety and a piece of mind. It is super easy to send as a gift with a greeting card. Who would you not want to surprise with a loving heart any day of the year?
Looking for a thoughtful Valentine’s gift?
A heart shaped safety reflector is a perfect Valentine’s gift idea.
Funflector safety reflectors are thin, soft and lightweight and make great gifts and a-little-somehting to gift all seasons of the year. With the signature color matching ball chains, the funflector safety reflector can be hung in many places, zipper pulls on bags and jackets, on strollers and wheelchairs. Love your dog? Giv it a dangling safety reflector on its collar to help drivers see it. Love your kids? Give them a safety reflector (or two) for their backpacks and jackets so the early morning school bus driver can see them clearly. College students need reflectors too! Love your mom? Give her a safety reflector for her purse or jacket. Love your grandpa? Give him a safety reflector for his walker or jacket. Love coffee? Give yourself a coffee themed safety reflector! Because it is better to be seen than sorry… Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️
Meet and greet the Gravitational Wave safety reflector. Design by the Particle Zoo.
On February 11, 2016, scientists of the LIGO collaboration sent ripples through the scientific community with the announcement of the detection of a gravitational wave. Gravitational waves are released from collisions of black holes, supernovae and even the remnants of radiation created by the birth of the Universe. It’s a story of bright brains, the unimaginably huge, the extremely tiny, and human persistence. Einstein predicted them 100 years ago but never expected anyone to be able to measure the tiny effect.
Gravitational Wave Safety Reflector
The remarkable discovery inspired the Particle Zoo to design a Gravitational Wave for the Particle Zoo collection. We are very excited to introduce it and you can find it in the funflector webshop. It is actually the first in the collection to be released as a safety reflector before existing as a plushie 🙂
So, what’s the big deal with gravitational waves?
Imagine 1.3 billion years ago, two black holes, about 29 and 36 times the mass of the sun, dancing around each other several times per second before merging into one black hole. Within a couple seconds, they release the energy equivlant of 3 suns worth of mass. That energy is spread around the universe in a gravitational wave and ripped through the LIGO detectors in September 14, 2015 during an engineering run. With two 4 km (2.5 miles) arms with state of the art vacuum chambers and laser beams, a distortion the size of 1/1000 of the diameter of a proton was detected. The 1000 scientists and engineers could hardly believe how lucky they were and for several months turned every stone to make sure it was a real event and not just a fault in the equipment or software. In December last year, they detected a second event. Below is a nice 6-minute explanation by awesome Neil deGrasse Tyson of the physics behind and the magnitude of the discovery.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Einstein’s Gravitational Waves Theory
Like many new discoveries, the detectors are miracles of engineering and the team had to push technology to new hights to accomplish the new discoveries. If you want to dive deep into both physics and technology, this hour long lecture on Gravitational Waves from SLAC is a good start.
Dr. Brian Lantz taking about “Gravitational Waves – The Sound of Black Holes Colliding”, courtesy of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
I remember learning about the LIGO experiment while taking a class in relativity in college. At that time, it seemed like they aimed for a very lofty goal, so I was thrilled to read about the discovery back in February. Although I’m not pursuing physics research anymore, it’s fun to circle back and provide friends, former colleges, physicists and other scientists with some unique and very niched physics related safety reflectors for jackets, bags and backpacks. I know firsthand how easy it is to lose track of the time and not get out of the lab until way later (after sunset) than planned…
We often surprise people when we tell them they can significantly increase their nighttime visibility withoutclumsy vests and high-viz colors. If you choose a funflector® safety reflector, you can wear stylish designs ranging in colors from from subtle to bold and still increase visibility up to 500 feet. After hearing several independent stories from people whose friends have been hit by cars in Chicago at night, we decided to add the Chicago flag motif to our collection of funflector® slap wraps, our super reflective slap bracelets that can be worn on ankles and wrists by walkers, runners and bicyclists.
We are excited to announce a funflector® wrap with the popular Chicago flag design! It will be available in the webstore on May 9th.
funflector® reflecive wrap – The Chicago flag carries a lot of symbolism
We can’t imagine any Chicago visitors going back home without having noticed the symbolic two blue stripes and four red stars waiving on flagpoles on every block in the windy city. The top blue stripe symbolizes …
The stores are overflowing with red and rosy Valentine’s cards. Some funny, some cute and some sincere about your love for grandma, daughter, boyfriend, wife or friend. The sales of funflector® safety reflector hearts are picking up and we guess that many of them will be given away as a thoughtful little-something for Valentine’s day. Have you tried to send funflector reflectors as gifts with Valentine’s card to friends near and far? They fit perfectly in greeting cards, just double check the postage. Wether you choose a pink, red or striped heart (pst. on sale right now) – or a baseball, black car or green paw print – a reflector on a jacket or backpack will keep telling your loved ones every day that you are thinking about them and care for their safety. Isn’t that something?
We all enjoy celebrations, so of course we will go out for dinner with our loved one if we get the chance. Saturday next week is Valentine’s day, and you will find a lot of good deals at restaurants and get-away hotels. But why February 14th? Isn’t April or May more typical for affectionate love?
Curious about the origin of this romantic holiday, a couple of years ago, I set out with the Swedish “Nationalencyklopedin”, Wikipedia and some google searches to get a trustworthy basis for a blog post. But bah, what a mess! Just like the Swedish Lucia, Valentine’s day seems to be a coincidence between one or even several pagan traditions and the name in the (old) Roman Catholic Saint’s Calender on that day. Let’s recap what I found out back then:
One, and probably the most popular, legend is about the priest Valentine who was martyred about AD 270. He had befriended and fallen in love with his jailer’s daughter and left her a letter signed “from your Valentine.” However, there are several saints named Valentine connected with this day. And after all, in 1967, they were removed from the Roman Catholic saints calender since there was too little known about their deeds and lives.
Another theory is that the traditions of Valentine’s day come from the Roman celebration of Juno, Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, which was followed by the Festival of Lupercalia. By drawing names from a jar, girls and boys were randomly paired to be partners during the festival and or course some partnership turned into love affairs. Later on, the church tried to tone down the tradition by using saints’ instead of the girls’ names to be drawn.
Funflector safety reflectors make perfect gifts for those you love and is easy to send with a Valentines card.
“Nationalencyklopedin” states that today’s celebrations stem from a pagan belief that the birds started to mate on this day. However, reading in wikipedia make me think that the pagan belief might have originated from a poem written in 1382 by Geoffrey Chauser. Parlement of Foules was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia and not really about mating birds. In more modern English line 309-310 would be
“For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”
After quite some digging around, the only conclusions seems to be that no one really knows. Without big parades and serious speeches, this day is for you and your loved one to do something special—so just enjoy it your way but don’t forget: it’s better to be seen than sorry!
20 days until Halloween! It’s time to order reflectors for everyone whose safety you care about. Choose anything from a wicked witch hat or a scary skull and crossbones to a handsome ghost.
A black cat or wicked witch hat, a skull, a ghost or a flying bat?
Halloween
To be scared is fun when it’s just for a night, but returning to life is for the bright. Be bright enough for drivers to see what along the road could be a goblin, a witch or ghost on the run out Trick-or-Treating just for fun. Your alter ego is easy to protect with a few fun things that reflect. The choices are many, the price is low no reason funflectors to forgo. A black cat or wicked witch hat, a skull, a ghost or a flying bat? Pick one, pick two or even three, a cool reflector for safety is key! Reflect yourself and your style, wake up next day with a smile!
We will be at a couple of festivals and fairs this fall. If you are in the Chicagoland area, please stop by, get some safety reflectors, learn something new and say hello!
Celebrate your Scandinavian heritage or just enjoy good food, entertainment and Scandinavian gifts anyway. Get in touch with Scandinavian organizations in the Chicago area and shop unique goods and Scandinavian foods from over 50 vendors from across the U.S.A. The festival features Scandinavian entertainment from folk music and dance to ABBA, pony rides and face painting and hopefully as much sunshine as previous years.
Scandinavian Fest at Vasa Park drew visitors from near and far.
The Evanston Green Living Festival is an annual community event presented by the Evanston Environmental Association(EEA) and the City of Evanston. The festival is held at the Evanston Ecology Center and provides a venue where local organizations can present their green products, services and ideas to attendees who are looking for ways to lower their personal carbon footprint. This will be our first time exhibiting and we are excited to be part of it.
Warren High School Band Booster in Gurnee organizes a huge craft fair early November each year. Not only was it a good show last year, students also provided a phenomenal service and wheeled all our reflectors and displays to our booth. We are excited to be returning as the Band Booster celebrates its 20th fair!
Friendly student helpers at the Warren Booster Craft fair in Gurnee, 2013
The Julmarknad (Christmas Market) is our “holiday trip to Sweden” or as close as it gets. Swedish Lucia, music, food (meatball open face sandwiches!), baked goods (lussekatter & Princess Cake!) and Swedish related merchandize and hand made items. Don’t miss this weekend!
funflector® reflectors is one of many types of stocking stuffers you can find at the Julmarknad at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago.
Three middle school kids can result in a flurry of activities. Weekends are filled with soccer and little league baseball games. Week nights are busy with choir, band and orchestra rehearsals and performances. Last weekend, we had the pleasure to be blown away by the Highland Middle School musical “Hello Dolly” and “The Sound of Music” at the Chicago Lyric Opera. It’s also a season when it’s time to come up with fun, clever and personal gifts for dedicated teachers and hard working graduates.
Awesome Gifts for Music Teachers and Musicians
We’ve collected a few gifts for music teachers, music graduates and music directors. The treble clef safety reflector is something all music lovers need as concerts and rehearsals often end long after sunset. Pair that with the most perfect thank you note and you are all set.
Treble clef funflector® safety reflector – thoughtful gift for musicians, music teachers and music lovers!
Heavy Metal Rock Band
How fun isn’t this heavy metal rock band, and we love that it is made with reused pieces!
Heavy metal rock band – available at uncommon goods.com
A T-shirt every Cellist Needs
Silly questions require silly answers. Here is the T-shirt every cellist needs.
Do you play the cello? Nope… – T-shirt can be found at cafe press.com
Cosy Tea Mugs for Musicians
Big handmade mugs for coffee, tea or soup. There are even musical designs at the bottom of the mugs. Great for a slow breakfast after performance nights or to cuddle up with in the couch and your favorite music.
Colorful handmade mugs with musical notes from notonthehighstreet.com
Gift card
A gift card is not as personal, but sometimes a better option than filling peoples’ homes with “stuff”. Consider a a gift card from a local music venue to be used towards conserts, or one from you local music store to be used towards instrument repairs or sheet music. In addition to being a useful gift, it gives much needed support to organizations and small businesses in your community.
A gift certificate is always a welcomed gift for music teachers and musicians.
The Most Perfect Thank You Note!!!
The other day, we found the most perfect thank-you note! When shopping at our favorite gift store for musical gifts, the CSO gift store in Chicago (On East Adams, just around the corner from the Symphony Center on 220 S Michigan Ave), we also help support a phenomenal orchestra. The cute card is perfect as is or with a gift card and/or a funflector® treble-clef reflector!
Thank you note from the CSO gift shop with funflector treble clef reflector
Elisabeth # ps. almost forgot the footnote for those of you who want to look sharp… 😉 🎶
We are so excited that the 2014 funflector® wholesale catalog is off the press! We hope you are too! It has all our new (and old) designs and our first licensed line of reflectors from the Particle Zoo. New for this year is also an online flip book, (you just need a little bit of patience while it downloads) but we have stocked up with envelopes and stamps and will gladly mail a copy to your store! You can order it here or shoot us an email.
This cute but geeky Valentine’s poem is a good reason for us to introduce one of our new elementary particle reflectors with Particle Zoo design: DARK MATTER!
Scientists believe the universe is expanding due to Dark Energy, which makes up as much as 68% of the universe. Only 5% is matter that we know and the rest, 27% is dark matter. Dark matter cannot be seen, does not absorb or emit light. So how do we know it’s there? Astronomers have noticed that the behavior of large astronomical objects could not be explained with the gravitational forces between all known objects, so a mysterious dark matter with plenty of weight was added to explain the gravitational pull. Guesses to what dark matter is range from never seen elementary particles to heavier objects although as late as November 2013, it was ruled out that they were large primordial black holes. So maybe fun-sized primordial black holes? In the early universe, dark matter was evenly distributed but the passage of time has left its mark and gravity has pulled it into clumps and empty spaces. Our Dark Matter funflector thinks life is good! Happy Valentine’s day from Particle Zoo and funflector!
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This cute but geeky Valentine’s poem is a good reason for us to introduce one of our new elementary particle reflectors with Particle Zoo design: DARK MATTER!