My research concludes that (drumroll) the ionic breeze is a waste of money. I read two separate Consumer Reports articles that tested it. The first time C.R. tested it for short-term effectiveness and found it basically worthless. Sharper Image, who makes it, responded and said their testing wasn't suited to their product. So Consumer Reports did another test on it and concluded the same thing.. it doesn't actually improve breathing conditions or remove anything harmful from the air. All it does is emit ozone, which essentially tricks people into thinking the air is cleaner because it smells different (and not always better). They essentially say that the whole "ionic" thing is just a fad, and that in most cases ends up taking dust from the air, doubling it in size with ion particles, which makes it heavy and fall to surfaces like beds, couches, carpets, etc.

They gave the highest rating to The Whispure filters from Whirlpool. I ordered the strongest one today for $299... significantly cheaper than the $500 Ionic Breeze.

All said, I paid $200 less for a product that an impartial consumer publication says works very well and I don't have to have a big noisy phallic thinga-ma-doo-hicky in the corner of my bedroom... so all is well in the world. *

I had band practice last night. That's right, you heard me correctly, band practice. It's been about 5 years in the making (no joke) but myself and two other individuals whom I couldn't imagine not being in a band with got together and played some rock-n-roll last night. I had a blast and I'm pretty sure they had a good time, too. It went well enough that it seems as if practice will become a weekly event.. and hopefully things like recording and playing shows happening not too far down the road. Get ready to be (pop) rocked. 1,2,3,4! --