:: gia’s blog ::

Last year I did a couple posts with some Christmas geek gift ideas based on things that I had already bought or was buying for Christmas last year. I thought I’d do the same again, though perhaps slightly less geeky this year (note: OK, I’ve looked it over again. It’s still pretty geeky.).

1. The Number One FAVOURITE gift from last year was:

PicoZ Battle ‘Copters £39.95

I bought the Battle pack for Brian and my son and almost a year on and they are STILL using it. Mini remote controlled helicopters - about the size of a hummingbird. They have ‘laser’ weapons which will disable your opponent’s ‘copter if you hit it. It’s kind of like a real world computer game. Our cats are pretty entertained by them as well.

If you don’t think you can shell out that much for the battle pack or if you just want to get one for yourself, there’s always the single, non-battling Pico Z Micro Helicopter. £19.95.

2. I’ve already bought Brian the original Star Wars poster on canvas, but it may actually be time for some more Star Wars art. From £49.99.

I mean… the Death Star…

3. I ordered this the other day and expect the price will change soon so order yours NOW, the Alien Quadrilogy boxset only £12.98!!!

I know what Brian and my son will be doing over the holidays.

4. Another one I’ve ordered already.
Death From The Skies by Phil Plait £14.57

Actually, Phil gave me an early copy of it when he came to visit earlier in the year, so have read it already, I ordered a proper copy for my son who will love it. It’s all about all the ways the world could end - asteroid impact, black holes, gamma ray bursts. Brilliant!

5. OK, this is actually something that I want. Even though my house is filled with rechargeable batteries, I can never seem to find a spare set when I need them. I think these are the best idea, USB Cell Batteries. £12.95

6. I’m still debating whether or not I should get this for my son, the R2D2 remote control watch. £14.95 Pre-order, due in 18th November.

I suspect all it will do is get him into endless trouble at school… so I’m not quite sure if I’ll get it or not.

7. OK another one I covet, though I’m thinking of getting it for my son, the “Lego” brick memory stick. 2GB £24.95 4GB £34.95

He’s already lost one memory stick at school. He’s on his second. The fact that he could connect this to his mobile is what’s attracting me to it. Oh and that it’s a totally wicked idea.

8. I’ve given up using normal sized mugs, yet neither Brian nor I have enough huge mugs to avoid having to constantly wash up. I’m getting some Periodic Table mugs. Small £5.95 Large £9.95

9. What is Christmas without chocolate? Brian and I are freakin’ chocolate PIGS at Christmastime. We eat so much chocolate, it’s ridiculous. Instead of eating loads of mediocre stuff, I’m stocking up on luxury chocolates. £17.95

Yum.

10. Though, for me, it’s doesn’t really feel like Christmas unless my stocking is filled with American candy £14.95

You get:

1x Baby Ruth Bar
1x Butterfinger Bar
1x 3 Musketeers Bar
1x Hershey Cookie & Cream bar
1x Lifesavers Tropical Fruit
1x M&M Peanut Butter
1x Reeces Minature peanut butter cups
1x Tootsie Roll Big Bar
1x Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar

Anyway, I hope I’ve given you some ideas for Christmas presents. I may well do another post again when I’ve finished my shopping.

NOTE: Before you buy anything, you can claim a £5 gift voucher for Firebox here!

I’ve put together another list of Christmas gift suggestions for your favourite geek. As I mentioned in my last post, I signed up for an affiliate account with my favourite online shop Firebox in the hope of earning enough commission to buy one of these.

These are things I’ve bought as gifts before:

1. I bought some Jazz Ice Stirrers for Christmas this year for a friend who’s really into his guitar and drinking.

2. If you don’t already have the Key Bottle Opener by Suck, then this is the very first thing you should buy yourself for Christmas this year. It is probably one of the single most useful inventions of the past 50 years.

3. I’ve bought loads of Hot Packs over the years for friends, family and myself. They are ideal for anyone who skis or snowboards, or anyone who, like me, constantly has cold hands in the winter.

4. Another gift for my hard-to-buy-for-father, Weasel Coffee. Yes, Vietnamese weasels eat the coffee beans and then throw them up. They are then packaged up and sold to people in the UK under the impression that this somehow makes the coffee taste better.

These gifts are by UK-based bloggers/geeks:

5. TV Cream Toys book by my fellow blogger, former Channel 4 colleague and Facebook friend, Steve Berry.

6. Even if you’re not a b3tan/b3tard, you more than likely have seen Joel Veitch’s insane animations. If you’ve ever seen some kind of monkey-kitten hybrid with a human mouth and eyes singing about wanking or something, you’ve seen one. He’s come out with some Rathergood Plush Toys based on some of his animations. I just might get Ninja Kitten instead of a Fraggle…

Amazing things which you can pre-order and get in time for Christmas:

7. HOLY SHIT!!! It’s a Death Star Transformer!! It’s due in on the 22nd of November so you’ll have time to get it for Christmas.

8. Well, as this is a geek Christmas gift list, I figure we can’t have enough Star Wars. Check these puppies out. Star Wars Mimbots - Star Wars-themed USB memory sticks. Dorky as all hell. In December 4th.

9. Periodic Table shower curtain! Oh. My. God. I wish I wasn’t so modern and didn’t have a shower room and instead had a normal shower which needed a curtain. In the 27th November.

Finally, for those of you who liked the look of the Pico Z Battle Copters I linked to last time, but cant justify spending £50 on them:

10. One, non-battling Pico Z Micro Helicopter. £19.95.

NOTE: Before you buy anything, you can claim a £5 gift voucher for Firebox here!

I’ve been ill, busy and otherwise unable to write lately. One thing my ‘resting’ has allowed me to do is get a lot of Christmas shopping done. For the past several years I’ve got pretty much every Christmas present online, 90% of them from Firebox. This year is no exception.

Because I’ve literally spent hundreds (upon hundreds) of pounds there over the years on presents for others, I decided to sign up for an affiliate account to see if I can earn some money to buy myself a gift (I’m hoping for one of these). I’ve never really been an ‘earn money from my site’ kind of person, but I thought I’d do a little experiment. So, I’ve gone through Firebox’s site and chosen some of the things that I have bought as gifts already (not necessarily this year) to maybe give you some gift ideas.

1. The Postcode Puzzle is great for your kids to your grandparents. You give the postcode of, say, your parents’ house, choose Ordnance Survey, Aerial Photograph, London Street Map or Victorian map and you get a personalised puzzle with your place of choice right in the centre in a house shaped piece. Sweet.

2. Dr. Who Phone Flashers. A phone charm which lights up and spins when your phone is ringing. My son thinks he’s pretty cool with his. I’ve been secretly hoping that he thought it sucked so that I could have it instead.

3. Mathmos Aduki Light is a lovely re-chargable light which is closer to a lava lamp than a bright light source. Consequently it makes a good ’shagging light’. I got this for Brian a couple years ago.

4. My dad is really difficult to buy for. Well, before I discovered some of the weirder things at Firebox. The first one which caught my eye was Monkey Picked Tea. Little monkeys in China climb up cliffs which are inaccessible to humans and pick tea leaves which are then packaged and sold to people who have to buy gifts for their fathers who are normally really difficult to buy for.

5. Brian’s number one favourite gift last year? A limited edition Star Wars Print. Yes, Star Wars images on canvas. How very grown-up and not at all dorky.

6. Remember Simon? I got it for my son this year (*ahem*actuallyitwasforme*ahem*) . I’m totally excited for Christmas Day. :)

7. Another one for my son, the 20Q. It’s an electronic version of 20 Questions and is remarkably accurate. Except when you try and get it to guess the word ‘penis’.

8. Another weird gift for someone who has everything, except clean air -Oxygen. Just Oxygen. The other week I had a lung infection and wasn’t able to get enough oxygen so spent a week really light-headed and almost passing out every time I walked up some stairs. I could have used this then.

9. A very, very useful gift for your favourite Londoner - a Credit Card Tube Map. I gave one to Brian who said it looked like it was made for chopping up cocaine. As probably the only person in the British media who has never done cocaine, the thought never occurred to me. So, perhaps it’s useful not only to your favourite Tube-riding Londoners, but your favourite druggies as well.

10. I may or may not have got this present for Brian and my son this year. They are so going to love it. If I actually bought it for them, that is.