TBP Gift Guide
Okay, I’ll admit it: I am a bit of a shopper.
I enjoy finding items, gadgets, books, etc. Not just high end items, but products that are fun, well designed, interesting or unusual.
If you have people on your list who are tough to shop for, here are some suggestions from me to you. (We did a few of these last year and they were well received. I can continue to post my favorite eclectic oddities if the crowd likes.)
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• Great Summit: The Master Takes: Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong: (1961) One of the all time great jazz recordings.
An overlooked gem, even by fans of Duke and Satchmo. This is one of my favorite jazz recordings.
($8.99)
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• Capresso 465.05 10-Cup Coffeemaker with Conical Burr Grinder and Thermal Carafe: The first thing I did after we renovated our kitchen (plaster dust was still in the air) was order this coffee maker.
This is the upgrade to the Capresso 455, which longtime readers might recall as the antidote to our infamous “Your coffee sucks!” post.
($212.36 )
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• Californication: The Third Season: Californication has become my favorite premium cable series, and the first 2 seasons were brilliantly written, slyly acted, and surprisingly funny.
If you don’t anyone who you can give this to as a gift, you can stream it for free on Netflix. (You’ll thank me)
$28
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• Billy Jealousy White Knight Gentle Daily Facial Cleanser: On a trip to Dallas, I stayed at the hotel Zaza. In the bath room, I found these samples of various Billy Jealousy men’s products — shave cream, shampoo, etc., but the stand out was the Gentle Daily Facial Cleanser.
For the metrosexual on your gift list
($20).
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• Bee: Melding art and science, photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher puts the electron microscope images to use to reveal the microscopic majesty of these natural wonders.
BEE presents sixty astonishing photographs of honeybee anatomy in magnifications ranging from 10x to 5000x.
Fisher’s photographs uncover the strange beauty of the honeybee’s pattern, form, and structure
Discover Magazine: “The bee is ready for its close-up. Remarkable”
($19.77)
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• Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World: This may be my favorite book of the financial crisis — of 1929. It tells the history of the great depression through the tale of 4 central bankers in the US, UK, Germany and France. Pulitzer prize winner.
(paperback is $12.24)
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• Gnome Be Gone! My wife loves these whimsical sculptures, (it was a a birthday present this year). They are simple yet charming, and come performing in a variety of mischievous activities
Prices range from $29 -139.
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• Etón SCORPION NSP100OR: This Solar or hand cranked LED flashlight has a digital weather radio has AM/FM/NOAA Weather Band, can play music from your iPod, and recharge virtually any cellphone via its USB phone charger. (Bigger version with siren: ARCFR600R)
The perfect gift for your favorite survivalist! ($50)
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Previously:
Snowbound Shopping (December 20th, 2009)
Last Minute Shopping Ideas (December 22nd, 2009)
Yes Virginia, Gift Cards Do Suck . . . (December 17th, 2009)
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December 6th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
I love Californication!
The wife cancelled Showtime, and I was jonesing for a fix. I heard the 3rd season was very strong.
December 6th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
That better be damned good coffee maker for $212.
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BR: It is . . .
December 6th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
The perfect gift for your favorite survivalist!
Or ZH reader.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
But, the best gift for those in BR’s tax bracket is Obama’s sellout of the middle class once again. Uncle Warren can keep paying taxes at a lower rate than his secretary. Or most all of us for that matter. Maybe some Congressional Dems will grow some balls and revolt.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Quote from UK impressionist Rory Bremner of Bill Clinton:
“Hialry and I don’t really have the same tastes in TV programmes. She likes “Desperate Houswives”, whereas I prefer “Californication”.
Was that the show you mean Barry?
December 6th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
My girlfriend has the Capresso 465 — its a kickass machine !
December 6th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
If you’re feeling generous:
this is a nice gadget.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Oooh, me likey !
December 6th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Great tip on the coffeemaker. I think that will make it under my wife’s tree.
We have an older model Capresso that’s served us well over the years (quite possibly back to the Clinton administration…). It’s got the traditional heater/glass pot, and it cooks the crap out the coffee in a half hour or so. So SOP is to dump the coffee into a separate thermal carafe as soon as it’s done brewing.
I’m sure she’ll appreciate the elimination of that step, plus it will save some counter space.
I have to admit that she’s the early riser, so the thermal carafe is almost entirely for my benefit. But if I can spin it as a time saver for her, I’m hoping she’ll feel grateful!
December 6th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
“The perfect gift for your favorite survivalist!”
I read yesterday that Ted Kaczynski’s cabin is for sale…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_unabomber_property
December 6th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
I am a huge Louis Armstrong fan — this is a tremendiously under-appreciated album. Thank you for mentioning it !
Check out “Satch Plays Fats” — another great disc
December 6th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
For your Ipad BR
http://www.twittens.ca/
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BR: Mrs. Big Picture gave me a pair of similar lined leather texting gloves last year — the thumbs and index fingers fold back and are held in place by magnets.
I wore em’ yesterday!
December 6th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
For Coffee, I would recommend a real machine. It costs a lot but is a great investment, mine has been in daily use for over 5 years with a bit of TLC and very little trouble.
http://www.capresso.com/automatic-coffee-centers.shtml
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BR: I saw a refurbished Capresso Jura ENA 4 Super Automatic Espresso & Coffee Center in the J&R sale advert for about $499 ($200 off)
December 6th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Aw c’mon BR…think outside the box, uhhhh CUBE!
http://www.yankodesign.com/2007/01/17/rubik-cube-mp3-player-by-hee-yong/
December 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am
I can only buy coffee. I’d never make it.
http://www.philstockworld.com
December 7th, 2010 at 1:37 am
You want gifts?? You got it!
—————
The outlines of the tax-cut negotiations have finally come into focus: basically, it’s a kitchen-sink approach where Republicans and Democrats all get the tax cuts they want. The Bush tax cuts get extended for people earning more than $250,000 a year — and unemployment insurance gets extended, along with various tax credits. On top of that, there’s a 2% cut in payroll taxes, and the reintroduction of the estate tax at the Republicans’ preferred level: 35% of estates over $5 million. There’s even a nice new tax deduction for businesses making new investments. This is tax cutting, Oprah-style: you get a tax cut! And you get a tax cut! And you! And you! You all get a tax cut!
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/12/06/tax-cuts-oprah-style
December 7th, 2010 at 2:15 am
Enjoyed Californication, highly recommend “Breaking Bad.”
December 7th, 2010 at 3:36 am
I use the Billy Jealousy shave cream . . . Didn’t even know they had a cleanser
December 7th, 2010 at 4:52 am
Let me second both the Duke/Satchmo CD, as well as Californication.
Do you watch Mad Men? My favorite tv show!
December 7th, 2010 at 7:56 am
If you are an old school audiophile with a nice turntable setup, I highly recommend that Duke/Satchmo double album in vinyl if you can find it. Luscious sound. But, even in MP3, it’s one of the greats.
December 7th, 2010 at 7:59 am
BR,
speaking of ‘survivalists’, or, just ‘travelers’ (who like to stay away from Montezuma’s Revenge)
http://www.survivalequipment.net/katadyn_pocket.html
while the Light is cool if you need some add’l lumens to find Water, it’s helpful to be sure you can drink it..
http://www.ehow.com/how_4453647_survive-montezumas-revenge.html
~~
on a different note, remember it’s http://www.flcitrusmutual.com/citrus-101/citrusseasons.aspx
December 7th, 2010 at 11:23 am
ok br: gotta ask… which room were you in at the zaza
each room if i remember that hotel right has its own name and is unique… and some of the decorations are uhh… interesting.
and i remember the lounge there being quite the scene… too weird from me even and i am 8-10 years your junior i think…
and why not stay at the rosewood crescent? same price and you can walk to your office there?
December 7th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Any comment on the new ipod Touch?
December 8th, 2010 at 3:38 am
Speaking of shopping, I gotta recommend this:
http://www.sonos.com/Default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=1033
In the near future, I hope to be able to buy the ZP90.
The Sonos ZonePlayer 90 lets you play all the music you want, all over your house, on all the audio equipment you already own — your home theater receiver, stereo system, powered speakers, and more. Just connect the ZP90 to any amplified audio device in any room and it’s instantly part of the wireless Sonos system
http://www.sonos.com/products/zoneplayers/zp90/default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=1033
This type of a list that you’ve put up here is very interesting Barry. I’d love to read stuff like this every now and then. Keep them comin’. Thanks.
December 8th, 2010 at 10:38 am
My old Capressa 3500 (now Jura S-9 I believe), was over two grand but it has faithfully produced over 19,000 cups of the best coffee, cappucino, latte, mocha, expresso etc etc one could ever enjoy. If you are really a coffee lover, these are awesome.
December 8th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Looking for something big, red, and fuzzy? Try an Irish setter. Best in show at ’10 National Dog show (check their video). Tend to be outgoing, energetic, and fun-loving. All that and red hair.
December 8th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Btw, wunsacon, the tax cut is no real gift for all of us in between jobs.
Can I also suggest:
There’s a lot of pain in the US right now – more than anytime recent – 8 M initial jobs lost, 17% of population is food challenged, etc.
This holiday season, here’s a suggestion for Christians that can give hope and cost nothing. Try a prayer to St. Jude (Thaddeus) – patron saint of impossible causes. All that’s asked is that you give him credit.
http://shrineofstjude.claretians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ssjms_alpha_copy_of_reusable_media_template&s_src=google_search_keyword_st_jude&gclid=CMbSq4ex3aUCFcbc4Aod5SU61g
December 15th, 2010 at 6:22 am
[...] Oh, well, I guess I’ll just have to break out the laptop, and go shopping instead. I still have plenty of people left on my list, after last week’s shopping. [...]
December 16th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
[...] feedback on our past two holiday lists (here and here) have been great, and some of the emails have been very heart [...]