Holiday Post 2010: Stuff and things

Another popular thing to see this time of year are shopping guides and gift suggestions. Now, anyone can point to some big corporate site to get the usual. I am thinking a few more interesting things. By the way, if you have not done all your shopping, what are you waiting for? You should be done by now. You should definitely be done by now if you bought stuff online. However, if you need some real last minute ideas, or you just want some holiday amusement, stay a while and check some of these out.

Spirits: Mostly alcoholic

• Liquor Snob has put together their "Holiday Shopping Guide 2010."
• So does Drinkhacker over here.
• Intoxicated Zodiac points to some interesting items you could have put on the grown-ups stockings: whisky dram samples. You can get them some from Master of Malt. If I had a wish list, I would not mind getting those on my stocking. 

Stuff for the geek in your life

• Blag Hag points to these nice Plush Microbe Holiday Ornaments.
• Topless Robot has "20 Delightfully Offbeat Nerd Gifts Under $20."
• Mashable listed "10 Customizable Holiday Gifts for Your Tech Savvy Office." 
• Now do you have a geek in your life? Are they very particular, say Star Wars fan or Doctor Who? Not to worry for here is a list of "Gift Ideas for Ten Major Species of Science Fiction Fan."  Via Io9.

A few naughty things (some may be a bit NSFW).

• The only reason I am putting this under the naughty column is because of the Boink guided journal. As the company describes it, "Commit to having sex for 30 days in a row? And write about each experience in its glorious detail? That’s what Boink is about." I thought it was a nice and unique item. The company is Flytrap. Hat tip to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.
• Em & Lo have some suggestions for "Sensual Holiday Gifts for That Special Someone." The sex manual parody on the list sounds amusing, just the type of thing I would like to read.
• If you have an H.P. Lovecraft fan in your life, and they like walking on the wild side, these toys by Necronomicox may be for them.
• COED Magazine has put together an "XXX-Mas Gift Guide: For Adults Only."

Now if none of the above catch your fancy, you can always go with something a bit more basic like a calendar. You can't really go wrong with a new calendar. However, if you do not want to go with the same old cute kittens, or hot babes, or hot guys, or some other cuddly calendar, here are "Ten Odd and Awesome 2011 Calendars" and "Ten More Odd 2011 Calendars." Hey, you can't go wrong with outhouses, roadkill, or coffins, can you? Via Mental Floss blog.


Now next, we have a series of lists for gifts or about gifts. These are not so much things to buy, but more things to help you remember times past or just wonder what were some people thinking when they gave this or that gift.

• Now we all know that every year has a "must have gift," the one thing people are willing to be trampled for at the crack of dawn if need be. Esquire has a "A Timeline of Top Christmas Gifts. . . Ever." It starts with this year's iPad and then goes back in memory lane to things like the Furby and Cabbage Patch Kids. How many do you remember? 
• Food Network Humor has a list of "10 Awful Gifts for Food Lovers and Food Network Fans." Food Network has pretty much fallen in quality over the years, and FNH does its best to document the decay in a fun way. Honestly, I do NOT want Paula Deen's Butt Massage; I do not know anyone who does either. 
• Reader's Digest has "21 of the Worst Holiday Presents You've Ever Gotten." A toilet seat? But some of these are just thoughtless, like getting a fifth of whiskey to an alcoholic. 
• And does anyone remember the good old days, you know when you could give a child a firearm, and no one made a fuss? Well, let us remember with "5 Old Christmas ads in which guns are great." Via AdFreak. Because nothing said Merry Christmas sonny like a fully loaded shotgun or rifle.
• But maybe guns are not your thing. Ok, that is cool. Maybe instead you want a cute puppy. I mean, how can you not like a puppy, especially a toy puppy? How about a toy puppy that poops? Via AdFreak. 
• Then again, there is always the gift of music. Christmas music is a very important tradition, so it could make a good gift to give a holiday album as a present. Unless it was one of these "10 Totally WTF Christmas Albums." Because nothing expresses the musical spirit of the holidays quite like A Rubber Band Christmas.Via Topless Robot.
• And for kids of all ages, here we have "The 12 Greatest Holiday Action Figures." Some of these look pretty cool actually. Also via Topless Robot.
• Now, in the interest of generosity and for our atheist friends, some may be interested not in gifts but in giving a little to charity. Here is a list of atheist/secular charities. After I heard about what the Salvation Army was doing with certain toy donations they did not like (and apparently since the media exposure they backpedaled a bit), I do feel my money could go someplace else. Via Effort Sisyphus. 
• And finally, you can't have Christmas without a nativity set. The Rude Pundit shares his favorite sets and some additional comments on the season.