The 2006 Chicagoist Holiday Gift Guide

By Sarah Dahnke in Miscellaneous on Nov 27, 2006 5:12PM

Black Friday may have come and gone, and the masochists already braved the lines for the early-bird sales to finish their holiday shopping early. But Chicagoist isn't that kind of shopper. We prefer to sleep in on Thanksgiving weekend and do most of our present shopping on the Web at our leisure. We're a lazy blog, but that doesn't mean the people on our holiday lists are going to receive Glade scented candles and power strips from the Walgreen's down the street. And to prove we're thoughtful shoppers, we've compiled a list of some of our favorite gifts available on the Web, catagorized according to some of our favorite topic-specific blogs.

Read the list after the jump.

For the Go Fug Yourselfs

The Jimi Wallet is a plastic, water-resistant wallet that holds just five cards, an ID and three bills. It forces you to carry only the essentials and keeps you from getting back pains from a Costanza wallet. Chicagoist uses it to carry our CTA card, driver's license, black American Express, Tiffany's charge, and a VIP card from the Admiral, and it never fails to elicit compliments whenever we pay for something. For the nerds, you can also buy a different money clip with memory card slots.
- Matt Wood

If, like us, you and your friends could use a little art to replace those decorations from the college days, Chuck Anderson of Tinley Park has you covered. Under the name NoPattern, Chuck produces limited edition beautiful prints at affordable prices. His newest print, "Good Parts of Bad Dreams", will be going to those that weren't naughty this year.
- Timmy Watson

Chicagoist bought a few of these handbang hangers for our fashionista friends this year, and they were really pleased with the gift. They're both functional and pretty, so that they don't have to hang on the back of a door in a closet but can become part of the decor of the room. There's a variety of patterns to choose from, and you can order gift wrapping right on the site. What could be easier?
- Rachelle Bowden

Call us old-fashioned, but Chicagoist thinks that the lost art of writing cards is a travesty. Despite the urge to constantly e-mail or call, we bust out the pens and stationary at least once a month to send a note to a friend or family. While our cards of choice may at first strike you as something possessed by a preppy Trixie, trust us when we say you'll be a believer after trying the personalized cards from iomoi. We're particularly fond of the Herman, Cupcake, and the Indonesian Earthquake Relief designs. P.S. — Also check out the tag sale for excellent prices and items, including longer flat cards, which are decorated on both sides and have become a favorite in our home. Their custom e-stationary for $15 a year is also a great buy for your stylish, but still web-inclined, friends, and we're rather in love with the idea of calling cards, perfect for passing out at all those Lincoln Park bars you frequent.
- Olivia Leigh

For the Deadspins

Chicagoist prides ourselves in having pretty good taste in home décor, so if we think that a stylish living room just isn’t complete without a life-size Brian Urlacher on the wall, then it must be so. We’re sure any real Bears fan will agree. Now if only they had the whole middle linebacker legends collection, complete with Mike Singletary and Dick Butkus… - Benjy Lipsman

For the Stereogums

Billboard Magazine's "Musician's Guide to Touring and Promotion" is perfect for that boyfriend/girlfriend who won't give up their dreams of being a rock star. This guide is inexpensive and will let them know the who, what, when, where, why, and how to make it work in the touring biz. It is updated every year and is only $15.95.
- Julene McCoy

When Chicagoist's sister had her first kid, we thought it'd be pretty hilarious to shower the tyke with noisy musical toys. But now that Chicagoist has kids of our own, that joke isn't nearly as funny. Luckily, we've learned that kiddie music doesn't have to drive you insane. Chicago's own Old Town School of Folk Music has cut two CDs that are sure to please children and parents alike. Songs for Wiggleworms and Wiggleworms Love You are recordings of classics from their Wiggleworms classes; most tracks feature only a singer (an adult, not a children's chorus singing in unison, thank you) and a six-string (no 1986 Casio keyboard backbeat, thank you very much). If you're shopping for parents of a little one, do them a favor, and buy them the Wiggleworms CDs at either of the Old Town School's two locations or online at Bloodshot Records, or you can download the music (and listen to 30-second previews) at the iTunes Store.
- James Koh

For the Chocolate and Zucchinis

We're suckers for unnecessary kitchen gizmos and gadgets (who doesn't need their own escargot tongs?), so we suggest giving the Hug salt-and-pepper shakers this holiday season. Your loved ones will not only promote peace on earth and goodwill toward men (and women), but they'll be able to season any dried-out turkey that might be hanging around. We picked up the racially harmonious shakers ($24) from the store at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and have been salting and peppering things ever since.
- Andrew Jenkins

We've had mixed feelings about fancy salt in the past. We originally thought it was unnecessary and somewhat elitist. But then we tried it, and holy crap, this stuff is really, really good. Sprinkling these finishing salts on plain cucumbers transforms them from ordinary to something entirely different. We know paying this kind of money for what can be purchased for a couple of bucks at Jewel seems absurd, but if you want to hook it up for the cook or food lover in your life, buy them some delicious salt. For a complete (and fascinating) history of NaCl you can also purchase Salt, a World History, by Mark Kurlansky — a fascinating read about what would seem to be the world's most boring food product.
- Laura Oppenheimer

Wine is always a popular gift during the holidays, so why not give that oenophile in your life something unique, like a winemaking class from the Wild Blossom Meadery? The only winemaker located inside Chicago's city limits, Wild Blossom bottles their own meads and fruit wines, and they sell wine grapes in bulk, as well as winemaking and brewmaking kits. The winemaking class gift certificate covers the course fee for two people, all equipment and ingredients, cellar space, bottles and corks for a yield of up to 30 bottles of wine. To order, call 773-233-7579, or visit the Web site.
- Chuck Sudo

With all due respect to vegetarians and PETA, bacon is a reason for living. Sure, it clogs your arteries, and we don't want to see how it's made, but it's, oh, so tasty. And when it's crisp, it makes a great appetizer for parties. So the Bacon of the Month Club makes a great gift for the carnivore in your life. You not only get 12 fancy bacon varieties, you also get a T-shirt and a toy pig. And a comic strip on bacon that's probably way better than "Hi and Lois" ever was. For those who watched Charlotte's Web one too many times, perhaps a copy of 1,001 Low-Fat vegetarian Recipes is a better option.
- Scott Smith

For the Slashdotters

When we recently looked at a 10-day outlook forecast from weather.com, we noticed there was not ONE day that featured the word "sunny" in it — not even with the word "partly" attached to it. We know there is no bullshit about S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) and how fucking SAD it makes us. And November comes out swinging with the heavy-hitting gray months. So a gift we'd like to throw out for all of you who might have friends who are a little run down right now is a S.A.D. lamp. They're supposed to work wonders, and without all the possible cancerous side effects of a tanning booth. They're a little spendy, but you can find them at different places online.
- Jocelyn Geboy

If you can get your hands on one, Chicagoist highly recommends the Nintendo Wii. Not only does the next-generation console have a spiffy new control design, it's five consoles in one. The Wii will play both new Wii and older GameCube titles. However, the killer feature is the new Virtual Console. If you've ever cursed the lack of imagination in current games and wistfully recall the days of stomping turtles while eating magic mushrooms, Virtual Console will make you its bitch. It works like an iTunes for old games — you go online, pay a small fee for an older game, and it's downloaded to your Wii and ready to play. (Say goodbye to the AV cable nests behind the TV.) And for those of you who took the wrong side in the SNES vs. Genesis debate, there's something here for you, too — Sega's releasing a number of Genesis titles on the Virtual Console, including "Sonic: The Hedgehog."
- Chris Karr

Crazies are everywhere. On the train, waiting in line at Subway, walking down the street ... always talking to themselves incessantly. Oh, wait, those are just Bluetooth users and their headsets. We figure, why not just go the extra mile and let everyone know how crazy clever you are? ThinkGeek's exclusive Bluetooth Retro Handset is sure to get some sidelong looks and hopefully some giggles. It's an old-fashioned take on our futuristic world, it's delightfully subversive, and it works!
- Shannon Saar

Chicagoist is sick of begging strangers to take a photo of us. We also often want to take photos on the go without having to carry around a bulky tripod to mount our camera. Enter the Joby Gorillapod. The perfect on-the-go, versatile tripod for your digital camera. Gorillapod offers versions for point-and-shoot and SLR cameras. The Gorrilapod securely holds your camera while attaching itself to almost anything. This is a must for your photo-holic friends.
- Todd McClamroch

Tokyoflash provides crazy watches with alternative types of displays. The products on this site redefine what watches are and how they should look. From binary numbers to Morse code to Japanese characters to totally made up systems of counting, nobody will be able to read what time it is except for you. With prices ranging from 6000 yen to 22000 yen ($50-200), you had better get your order in soon because they ship from Japan.
- Sean Corbett

Chicagoist's dad is a chemist, so it's fitting that organic molecule structures speak to us in an inexplicable way. YellowIbis must have known there was a market for people like us, who would proudly sport a T-shirt with the chemical structure for seratonin or try to find every excuse to drink coffee from our mug that proudly displays the structure for caffeine. And for the freaky lady chemists out there, YellowIbis carries boyshort girls' underwear with the chemical structure for estrogen on the back. Someone tell Joe Francis! We bet he'll be getting biochemistry grad students to go wild for these suckers in a matter of weeks. - Sarah Dahnke

For the Bookslut

Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide is the one film reference book that everyone should own. It's the most comprehensive guide out there, and its capsule reviews are intelligent without being eggheady, witty without being snarky. Endlessly browsable, it's packed with useful data, yet small enough to portable. Chicago's own Roger Ebert even recommends it!
- Rob Christopher

And it wouldn't be a Chicagoist gift guide without pimping out a couple of our own published writers. 100 Spinning Plates by our own Rob Christopher and What Would MacGyver Do?, which contains an essay by our own Matt Wood, will both easily make excellent gift selections for anyone on your Christmas list.