Welcome to our third annual gift guide series, where the BYT staff makes guides/hints to satisfy any taste or lack of taste thereof of anyone you ever need to get a present for. Get to ordering slacker! Also-check out Svetlana's guide from yesterday and keep your eyes peeled for other ones later this week.
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What: Bucky Balls Why: Magnets are super sweet! Especially these magnets cause they’re ridiculously strong but really tiny. They were a lot of fun to play with when I first got them, and I thought that they might get old, but a year later I’m still finding ways to waste time with them. Anyone that you give them to will be like “eh?” but just say “play with them for 5 min” and then 5 min later they’re gonna be all like “I love you” and then you'll have sex or something. Price: $29.95 Where: getbuckyballs.com |
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What: String Thing Why: Another toy you really gotta play with to fully appreciate. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone came up with the idea for it during those legal LSD testing trials in the 60s. Pop in some batteries and press the button and this rainbow string starts defying gravity in all sorts of bizarre ways. Best part – built in blacklight. Man, I wish everything had a built in blacklight. Price: $21.40 Where: sillyasstoys.com |
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What: microKorg Synthesizer Why: Cause you can live out all your Tangerine Dreams with a push of a button. Includes a built in vocoder and detachable mic, fake wood paneling, and a staggering array of retro effects. Actual music talent helps, but definitely not needed. Price: $359.00 Where: Lot's of shady places like DJdeals.com or just go to Guitar Center and play with it. |
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What: Samsung BD-P3600 Why: Now is the time for Blu-Ray, the players have come down in price and they sorta actually work and stuff now. This Samsung gives you plenty of great features like Netflix streaming, built in wifi, internal decoding of all the blu-ray soundtracks, Pandora internet radio, fast operating speeds, great image quality, plus stupid shit you don’t need like youtube and BD-live. The remote sort of sucks, and it doesn’t play PlayStation games, but as a standalone player it’s pretty much the best and can be purchased on sale at Best Buy. Which is the route you want to go cause apparently they’ve had a batch of bad ones so it will be easy to take back. But mine works like a champ. And yes, even your mom can tell the difference between Blu-Ray and regular DVDs. Price: $229.99 Where: Best Buy (you can even order it online and pickup at the store) |
Now that you have the Blu-Ray player…
What: Baraka Blu-Ray
Why: It's the only movie ever transferred with an 8K HD Scan and the soundtrack was restored and remixed in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 @ 96k/24bits. What does that mean? It means it is simply the best looking and sounding Blu-Ray disc out there. And well, it's my favorite film of all time too. Double whammy.
Price: $18.99
Where: Amazon
What: 2001: A Space Odyssey Blu-Ray
Why: The psychedelic journey through the stars has never looked so epic, and it's a bargain at Amazon. Added bonus, will get you in the mood for BYT’s 2010: A Space Fantasy party.
Price: $9.49
Where: Amazon
What: Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series Blu-Ray
Why: Them animals looks so good in high def you can taste em.
Price: $39.99
Where: Amazon
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What: Molecular Gastronomy Starter Kit Why: I haven’t actually tried this myself because a) I can only cook cereal and b) my girlfriend banned all cooking related gifts this year as she caught on to my strategy. But regardless it’s obvi a clever idea for your Top Chef fanatic friend. Help them get their sodium alginate on. Price: $69.99 Where: ThinkGeek |
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What: Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life graphic novel Why: This is hipster comic book essential reading. And just when you think you've had enough of the slackerdom it takes a hilariously surprising turn at the end that will guarantee they'll want Vol 2. before next Christmas. Price: $8.60 Where: Amazon |
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What: Juxtapoz Illustration book Why: Because there are like a million hardcover books out there collecting urban contemporary art and I've done the work for you to determine this is one of the best. Page after page of gorgeous psychedelic cutting edge art from the long running culture mag. Price: $29.95 Where: juxtapoz.com |
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What: Zuma’s Revenge video game (PC, Mac) Why: Zuma was the most addicting game since Tetris, and the sequel is even better. No matter if they've played the first one, it's fine to start here. It’s a simple to learn, but challenging to master. One of those universal games that people that don’t like video games will still love. Price: $20.00 Where: Popcap.com or if you want a box, check out Best Buy |
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What: World of Goo video game (Wii, PC, Mac) Why: It takes a little more problem solving to work your way through this one, so it’s best for people that have a little more patience than the Zuma masses. Easily downloaded for $15 on the Wii shop channel so you can sneak onto your boyfriends Wii and download it on Christmas Eve or pre-order a code from Amazon and email it over. And it’s as good as any $50 store-bought Wii game. Price: $15-20 Where: Wii Shop Channel, worldofgoo.com, Amazon |
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What: Wii Sports Resort Why: So the whole motion control aspect of the Wii was cool and worked great for some games, but just wasn't perfect enough to truly satisfy all your hopes and desires for living in the year 2000. So they created this little add-on gyroscope that snaps into the bottom of the Wiimote and allows for truly 1:1 motion control. Wii Sports Resort is the sequel to the original Wii Sports with all new games that utilize the new hardware. What this means is that you can now sword fight with perfect accuracy and it detects the most subtle of wrist snaps while playing frisbee golf or ping pong. Includes one Wii MotionPlus, but you'll def want a second for 2-player action. Price: $46.99 Where: Amazon |
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What: Eggnog Soap Why: Because eggnog is quite possibly the best drink ever and if the world smelled like it there would be less crime. Price: $5.95 Where: Archie McPhee |
Previously in Misc/Awesome:
- 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
- 12/1: The John Waters Advent Calendar-it starts today
- 11/28: It Chooses You: All I Want for Christmas is Everything from Miranda July's Pop-Up Shop
- 11/3: Things I'd Move to Minnesota For
- 9/6: PHOTOS: Maloof $$ Money Cup
- 9/2: PHOTOS: Chantilly Model Train Show
- 9/1: Libby's List: 5 Things I Want Right Now...
- 8/22: PHOTOS: Best Friends Day
- 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
- 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)
God loves a cheerful giver.
Cale,
A movie adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is coming out next year, starring Michael Cera and directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). I haven't read the comic, but do you think the movie has potential?
The manga style probably lends itself better to animated fare, and Michael Cera would not make a great Scott Pilgrim, but with Edgar Wright involved it def has potential for greatness.
i spoke with brian lee o'malley at a con last year and they're giving him a surprising amount of creative control, and from what edgar wright's teased us with so far, it looks very, very promising.
I know I won't be getting what I want for Christmas, so the only other thing I could think of was for someone to invent Fruit Stripe gum and have the flavor last for at least an hour.
ever since I got my pornbox (laptop), I havent had much need to ask for anything, ever.
but these are good ideas for other ppl.
The production photos of the Scott Pilgrim movie look pretty good. and O'Malley always seems positive when he talks about it.
I keep meaning to do a mega post review of the books thus far but it's kind of a daunting task.
I think this movie has more potential for suckiness than greatness, Cale.
scott pilgram is lame male wish fulfillment.
If it has Michael Cera in it it's going to be one of those movies that dudes who don't know what a box wrench is like, isn't it?
They should make a movie for dudes - like maybe a guy drives a delivery truck and can repair stuff using tools and rebuilds old cars and doesn't mind getting dirty and wears practical clothes and listens to music by people who don't wear too much makeup and don't really shimmy and doesn't take shit from anyone and maybe he has a cool hobby like fighting for money and maybe has a sidekick friend and they get into different kinds of funny scenarios and maybe he falls for a girl and follows her everywhere trying to find her again because he loves her and she gets irritated and annoyed with him and screams at him and makes him feel badly because she feels badly that she's such a bad person and she cries and all that and he has to leave at the end.
And he has a pet orangutan.
Either that or the Fruit Stripe thing.
can we talk about some of my other gift ideas please?
Yeah I got Baraka (BR) already on my Christmas list, thank you for telling me about it. It made me weak in the knees.
The magnets are pretty cool. I've got a few rare-earth magnets and they're super strong. I made the mistake of dropping them in my toolbox so now all my tools stick together.
Oh Cale - someone who must know me very well got me this for Christmas yesterday:
It's a wind up tin motorcycle. I went home and made a racecourse out of books and played with it for hours.
I love the eggnog soap, Cale. Makes me wish my Christmas shopping was not already completed.
Is Hot Fuzz any good?
Yes, Hot Fuzz is brilliant. Almost as good as Sean of the Dead.