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Have a super-techie on your gift list that you still have NO IDEA what to give? No worries, our tech team* has scoured the internet and their very own wish list for gifts that will be sure to please even your most die-hard technophile.
[1] Makerbot replicator 2
Join the maker movement and print out your own things. Flex your creative muscles and make your own designs come to life. Or, take the easy way out and print other peoples' ideas from Thingverse.
[ 2] Arduino Uno Ethernet
Super popular Arduino Uno microcontroller board with networking built-in. Compact size, plethora of I/Os, and easy to use development environment make it a great choice for any physical computing project.
[3] Parrot AR.Drone 2.0
Remote controlled quadricopter with a 720p video camera. Control it with your smartphone and stream live video directly to your device. Sounds like fun to me.
[4] Raspberry Pi
Full Linux computer for $35. When the power of Arduino just isn't enough, or if you want an ultra-low-power media player.
Most importantly, supporting The Raspberry Pi Foundation's cause: help kids all over the world learn about programming and generally get them interested in computing.
[5] Beats by Dre, Beats Executive
Noise cancelling headphones that travel well and look good.
But wait...there's more! Perhaps your friend already has everything listed above (seriously though, if that's the case they don't need any more things) or the concept of pre-ordered goods really trips their gaming trigger. These are the things I love that you can't quite get your hands on yet. They are either on Kickstarter (or similar) currently, or have recently completed their fundraising campaign and are headed for market soon.
[bonus 1] Ouya
$99 Android based gaming console where all games are free-to-play
[bonus 2 ] Leap Motion
Control your computer in three dimensions with this motion controlling device. It can distinguish you individual fingers and track them with very high precision, making it far more sensitive and more flexible than a touchscreen.
[bonus 3] sticknfind
Bluetooth sticker that you can track with your smartphone. Stick them on things you often lose. Track up to 20 items at a time. Track things with the radar screen, or let the virtual leash notify you when something has gotten out of range. 'Find-it' can tell you when something that was out of range has come back in range.
* Our guestblogger today isn't afraid to try out the latest and greatest tech products or newest hacks out there. Please welcome Chad H.!
The good news is Pinterest is free, so all that time your favorite addict spends racking up crafty ideas and inspiration doesn't cost a (monetary) thing. The bad news is you can't go out and buy a Pinterest app or Pinterest gift card and call it a day. But, guest blogger Alyse has boiled all of Pinterest down to a few key ingredients. Here is what to buy your Pinterest addicted best friend/sister-in-law/coworker:
[1] Slow cooker
[2] mason jars
[3] mod podge
Lots and lots of Mod Podge
[4] baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and Blue Dawn soap
Giving this to a die-hard Pinterester is like giving MacGyver a stick of gum and a bobby pin.
[5] Box of crayons and a hair dryer
crayon image via bookgrl
You can't go wrong if you give your die-hard handyman (or woman) something off this gift guide composed by a professional carpenter. Bonus: almost all of this list can be picked up at your local Home Depot - they won't even have to know you waited until the last minute!
[1] Blue Framing Square
Blue squares are easy to read and find on the job site.
[2] Black Resin Tool Tote
A tool box that holds 2 drills, drill bits and anchors in the top removable section. And room on the bottom for a hammer, tape measure, knife and other tools.
[three] Steel Countersink set
3 sizes for detail trim work.
[four] 90 Piece Drill and Drive Set
Everything you need for a drill
[five] Heavy Duty Radio Charger
A radio that charges your batteries, will run on a battery and is iPod compatible.
[six] Cantilever Plastic Organizer
A bin with removable cups to hold all your screws, nails and anchors. Perfect size because it holds enough, but won't get too heavy to carry.
[7] 2.5 Amp Oscillating multitool kit
The newest tool in the "how did we ever manage without it" category. Many different brands available, but Bosch always makes a good tool.
This gift guide brought to you by our favorite carpenter, Mr. Kuhlrock. Just pray you don't meet him in a dark Home Depot aisle when he's got some gift card to spend.
I sometimes lose myself looking at Japanese toys and gadgets on the interwebs. There are some truly absurd and amazing trinkets out there, making for a wellspring of gifts, from quirky to astonishing. Here are some favorites.
[ichi] finger tentacles . thinkgeek
Go ahead, freak people out with these things.
[ni] Poking Box . gizmine
You can fight a little karate stick figure guy with your digital digit, c'mon!
[san] Lumindot . Japan Gadget Shop
Like the old school Lite-Bright but waaaay better. Seriously, watch the video.
[shi] Electric Butterfly . Japan Gadget Shop
[go] Solar pet bottle car . japan trend shop
Got to get a cool shaped bottle, I suggest Ito En.
This gift guide brought to you by our friend, plasticblog. He can probably count to ten in Japanese.
If you're dreaming of a gourmet holiday season, the following wishlist is for your home chef extraordinaire...
[one] Global chef knife . Amazon
A good knife is a necessity.
[2] Cutting board . korin
THE cutting board.
[three] the smoking gun. williams sonoma
I want to smoke my own salmon like Marcus Samuelsson.
[4] Profession immersion blender . williams sonoma
Soups in a snap.
[five] Silicone spatulas . amazon
All silicone and sturdy.
[6] herb keepers . prepara
I'm obsessed with them, as you can see.
[seven] larousse gastronomique . amazon
A classic.
This gift guide brought to you by DomesticEsq
, an attorney/culinary school graduate who is spending this holiday drooling over kitchen gadgets.
A collection of items every card carrying member of STL* would be proud to own or at least totally understand why it belongs in their closet/fridge/wall.
[one] I Love St. louis Block print . Lucius art on etsy
Forgive me this is a Chicago artist. But it's too cool!
[2] bird feeder . joepapendick on etsy
Modern birdfeeder by local artist Joe Papendick.
[three] STL flag. desertjuan on etsy
Okay, so maybe not the most high class artwork ever, but: St. Louis flag done in Mardi Gras beads. Be still my heart.
[four] STL microbrew selection . list by stl hops
For the ultimate St. Louis microbrew champion, why don't you pick up a bottle from each brewpub in this list?
[five] David freese jersey . mlb
He's the hometown boy for the hometown team. Thats like STLove x2!
[6] I (fleur-de-lis) STL . STL STYLE
I <3 STL, only redesigned.
This gift guide brought to you by Mrs. Kuhlrock, the proudest St. Louisan outside of St. Louis proper.
*For those not familiar, STL is the common abbreviation for St. Louis, MO. There, now you are an honorary, STLien.
Ahh, the great outdoors. There is nothing quite like it. Here is a list inspired by those who find solace under the canopy of a hickory-oak forest.
[one] travel vest . national geographic store
While you wear the most legit trekking vest ever...it is offered by NatGeo, after all.
[2] field guide to urban wildlife . amazon
Go collect all 135 species!
[3] birch pillar candles . world market
Bring the indoors in with fake wood.
[four] seed bombs . visualingual on etsy
Bring the animals to you with wildlife habitat seed bombs.
[five] burl wood light switch plates . timbergreenwoods on etsy
One way to bring the outdoors inside is with flowers. Another way is to cover your light switches with interesting wood
[6] missouri botanical garden membership . mobot or your local garden
The best trekking is done in your local botanical garden. Get a membership and support local and worldwide efforts to sustain the flora you so admire.
This gift guide brought to you by Mrs. Kuhlrock, an ethnobotanist that hikes for extended periods in the jungles of Madagascar and the mountains of Peru.
Dear new mom - Ah, the joys of being a new mom. Is anything the same as before?
[one] softened edges robe . anthropologie
A beautiful silky robe to feel pretty when you are up way too early and not getting a nap anytime soon.
[two] gold loop hoops . kateszabone on etsy
Hoop earrings that easily slide out when a little one grabs at them.
[three] transatlantic bag . anthropologie
A beautiful bag that can hold all of baby's stuff without letting anyone know its a diaper bag.
[four] organic cocoa facial mask . dress green
And while you are not sleeping as much, a little TLC for your tired face. Why not use one made out of chocolate?
[five] flower of the month club
Fresh flower of the month club!
[six] organic argan oil . josie maran
Argan oil. Mix it in to your conditioner or use it as a serum, apply to your face, hands, everywhere! So helpful for drying out of skin that comes with washing your hands every 10 minutes.
This gift guide brought to you by Mrs. Kuhlrock, a new momma who is gearing up to spend her first Christmas with her little one and husband.
Today we have a guest list from Tonka Bean - our fellow foodie and good friend from Los Angeles. Tonka Bean has powered through more that one tasting menu with us and our first tasting menu was together at Bistro K in South Pasadena. The chef at Bistro K seemed to disappear for a while, but Tonka and wife were able to hunt the chef down recently at his new digs, Bistro LQ. I am pleased to present the review of Bistro LQ by our newest guest, who managed to get 3 lists into one entry, not too shabby...
We successfully located the original chef from South Pasadena’s former Bistro K and found out he’s (finally) opened up a new restaurant in West LA on Beverly Blvd. called Bistro LQ . We had the 6-course tasting menu dinner there on Saturday. Here’s the verdict: Without a doubt, this was THE RICHEST MEAL I'VE EVER EATEN, trumping anything else in memory, even meals with twice or three times the courses. I feel like I increased my chance of heart failure over the next 30 days by at least 50%. Everything was incredibly decadent, with each course serving something increasingly dense, buttery, salty, saucy, savory, spicy, and so on. I have to say that the meal was the MOST ADVENTUROUS I’ve ever had as well, which is a significant statement considering I’ve eaten at some pretty interesting places in various parts of the world. Each course had at least one ingredient or part that I had never had before, with some courses offering an entirely un-experienced collection. A few of the notables: - Veal sweetbreads, which actually tasted good and didn’t gross me out, despite being slightly spongy for meat.
- Sea urchin and tapioca pudding.
- Live mussel and seaweed gelatin shot.
- Pigeon (dark meat, similar to duck, apparently not “squab”, which I learned is a baby pigeon, sort of like mutton vs. lamb).
- Gizzards (not sure where from).
- Butternut squash mousse (among so many other really interesting “fall vegetable” inspired desert petits fours.
- And, the ultimate for me: sautéed duck hearts.
All in all, I think the meal ranked up there with one of the MOST MEMORABLE, but I also think it could have USED SOME IMPROVEMENTS. It was “only” 6 courses, but by course 2 or 3, we were feeling really fatigued, and almost guiltily wishing we didn’t have so many more to go. It took quite some time for each course to come out, and that allowed the food to settle, which usually diminishes your appetite. For example, at Saam, we had something like 22 courses and I didn’t feel anywhere nearly as exhausted as I did 2/3 of the way into the LQ tasting. The other thing I really missed was one or two fresh, crisp, or light courses that would have provided a nice rest from the ultra-richness of everything else. Saam did this really well also, where several of the courses were actually vegetarian, or very light fish. WILL I GO BACK? Yes, probably, but most likely with guests who are in to adventurous food and looking for the “craziest” meal they’ve ever had on novelty alone. I may also try to track the chef’s choices for the tasting menus and go when a lighter selection is in rotation. Or, I may go just to order one of the plates instead of the entire tasting battery. There was some really cool and unique single-plate stuff on the menu that I think would have been great on its own with a nice bottle of wine, and maybe the cheese course as a finisher. I have to say it wouldn’t be a place we go to on a whim again though – we’d need a good reason (such as those I mention above) to go back. ONE FINAL NOTE is that the pricing, like at Bistro K, was ridiculously reasonable for what you were getting. I think this chef’s approach is to never alienate people from the food based on cost, but rather separate the rock stars from the groupies via hyper-eclectic cuisine that not everyone can handle. SCORES:
Ambiance: 4.5 stars Food Technique: 5 stars Food Appeal: 4 stars Wait Staff: 5 stars Wine Service: 5 stars Cheese Service: 3.5 stars Unique Experience: 5 stars Repeatability: 3 stars *Names have been altered to protect the identity of those involved.
Zorro strikes again! Listen to him wax poetic on helmet design and philosophy.To commemorate the Football Championship Bowl Season I offer the best college football helmets:
Inherent to most males in my life is an amazing amount of football knowledge (American football, in case that makes a difference). How you know about stats for pro, college and local football teams is beyond me, but not for these guys. Today's guest blogger is a life-long football fan, player and coach - my dad. For the first time in lickity list history, we present a sports list...and feel free to laugh aloud as I did.Worst Team Nicknames
10. Stetson University Hatters 9. Arkansas Tech Wonderboys8. Webster University Gorlocks7. St. Louis University Billikins6. UC Irvine Anteaters 5. Arkansas- Monticello Boll Weevils 4. Washburn University Ichabods3. Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes 2. UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 1. Rhode Island School of Design Nads* Oh, in case the whole Zorro Garcia pseudonym doesn't make sense: My grandparents allowed their first 2 sons to name their 3rd and 4th sons. The eldest son, Guy, named the 3rd son James Dodd (apparently after the adult Mickey Mousekeeter and my grandparents weren't keen to the fact that it was a TV celebrity name). My dad, being of great imagination and little wit, choose to name the 4th born Zorro Garcia - after Zorro and Agent Garcia off the ever popular Zorro fame. Of course my grandparents picked up on inspiration for this name quite quickly and vetoed immediately. Poor Bernie (my dad) is still not over the snub and has since resurrected the name...Viva Zorro!
True story.
Our residential music coordinator regales us with a list of his Top 10 Albums of 2008. Not one to let us down with a mere Top 10, he goes on to list specialty categories and let-down albums released over the last year. But don't take my word for it...Top 10 of 2008:
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago Department of Eagles – In Ear Park Dodos – Visiter Fleet Foxes M83 – Saturdays = Youth Portishead – Third Sigur Ros – Med Sud Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalust TV on the Radio – Dear Science Vampire Weekend The War on Drugs – Wagonwheel Blues  Best albums for a party:Girl Talk – Feed the Animals Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping Vampire Weekend Best albums to put on before bed:
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Brightblack Morning Light – Motion to Rejoin
Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
Fleet Foxes
Underwhelming albums from artists that I like:
CSS – Donkey
Destroyer – Trouble in Dreams
Hot Chip – Made in the Dark
Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
Biggest disappointment of 2008:
Annuals – Such Fun 2007 Revisited:
I still like most of my Top 10 from last year. If I could make one correction, I would replace Mirrored by Battles with All Hour Cymbals by Yeasayer.
Dear reader, I'm just going to say if you do see my sister on the street, please refrain from throwing raw meat on her. It is mean and probably won't be that funny.-------------------------------I can deal with most "scary" things. For example, I love zombies and all things dead or undead. However, confront me with any of the following things, and I completely freeze up or freak out.
Raw meat  Years of vegetarianism (granted it was off and on) probably aided in my disgust of raw meat. I don't trust my cooking skills enough to think I have cooked out anything dangerous to make raw meat safe for consumption. I am trying though, and one day I won't give boneless, skinless chicken breasts the eyebrow raise. Just even typing that out gave me the chills.
ScorpionsThese things have way too much armor to make me feel okay about them creeping and crawling around in the dark corners. One of the scariest moments of my life is when I was taking a bucket shower in Nicaragua and realized a giant scorpion was on my shower wall. I couldn't leave the shower until I was totally rinsed off because I had tumeric, onion peels and neem leaves all over me from an herbal treatment I made for scabies. Yeah, I thought I had scabies. So it was a terrifying combination of not wanting to take my eyes off the scorpion but not wanting to remember it was there in the first place. Scabiesgahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhross.
Ferns Seriously, have you ever really looked at these things!? I have because it is part of my job, and let me tell you, they creep me out. Seriously. They are some of the oldest plants evolutionarily speaking, and I am so glad plants evolved to more sophisticated (and visually appeasing) means of pollination/sex.
People in masksI just realized this is one of my biggest bone chilling situations. I don't know why exactly, but if I can't see your eyebrows or mouth, I get really uncomfortable. It seems to be better if I am also in a mask, but at the same time, I don't like to wear masks. So there you go.
I bring back-to-back guest blogging. But when someone gives you an intelligent and well-written list, you can't keep it to yourself. So I am going to let this little light shine - and be sure to tune in to the bottom for appended bonus lists by Daniel.
 Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha Beautiful album. I love the "remake" of Martin Dosh's Simple Exercises.
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam The most rambunctious Animal Collective album yet, I would probably put Strawberry Jam between Sung Tongs (#1) and Feels (#3) if I had to rank my favorite AC albums. For Reverend Green, Fireworks , and Derek are standout tracks.
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
My friend Noah put it best – if you grade on a scale where 2004's Funeral is a 100, then Neon Bible is an 88. Sounds about right to me… The version of No Cars Go from the Arcade Fire EP is my second favorite Arcade Fire song ( Rebellion (Lies) is #1). The version on Neon Bible is a little tighter and a little less plodding. Still, I'm not sure it's better…
 Battles – Mirrored This was an album that I randomly picked up during a massive shopping day at Amoeba while visiting L.A. I had heard good things about it, but I wasn't sure what to expect. Needless to say, Battles became my soundtrack for the trip, and rarely left the CD player in my rental car – it is an awesome driving album!
Beirut - Lon Gisland/Flying Club Cup I was really worried how Beirut was going to follow up his spectacular 2006 release, The Gulag Orkestar . The Lon Gisland EP came first in 2007, but I saw it as a sort of companion piece to Gulag Orkestar – so I was still worried about "the next album." My fears were put to rest the first time I heard Flying Club Cup. The style is completely different from Gulag Orkestar, yet refreshingly familiar. Now my only fear with Beirut is that I'm going to find his album for sale in the Starbucks checkout line. He could definitely have "crossover appeal."
Broken Social Scene Presents…Kevin Drew - Spirit If I thought the whole "Broken Social Scene Presents…" labeling of this album was a bit ridiculous – until I actually listened to Spirit If. If it features most (if not all?) of the BSS members, and it sounds like BSS, then just call it Broken Social Scene! Whatever…
Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur This is a very pretty sounding album. I love the guest vocals by Patrick Watson (Canada's Jeff Buckley!). His album Close to Paradise (2006), is also fantastic – and it won the Polaris Music Prize (Canada's version of the Mercury Prize), beating out Arcade Fire, Besnard Lakes, and Feist among others.
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver/45:33 45:33 was originally created as an iTunes mix for Nike, "to reward and push at good intervals of a run." That sounds retarded to me, and sells the music short. It's available on CD now. Both albums are great for a social gathering.
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?/Icons, Abstract Thee Fun, crazy music that makes you want to sing along and dance. Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider from Hissing Fauna features my favorite lyric of 2007: "Eva, / I'm sorry, / but you will never have me. / To me you're just some faggy girl, / and I need a lover with Soul Power."
Radiohead - In Rainbows Judging by In Rainbows and Thom Yorke's 2006 solo album The Eraser , it seems like Radiohead is getting back to being a more traditional Rock Band (see: The Bends, OK Computer), and the hums and clicks will be reserved for solo projects. I am all for it.
Price paid: About $8 US (and I will probably buy it again on CD) 
Albums that did not live up to expectations Avey Tare and Kria Brekkan - Pullhair Rubeye Clap Your Hands - Some Loud Thunder Feist - The Reminder New Pornographers - Challengers Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Most overrated (but good) albums M.I.A. - Kala Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Dear reader - I have a real treat for both of you today. Our guest blogger waxes poetic on life goals of almost 20 years ago. Without further ado, I present to you "My Life Goals Before I Was 10 Years Old."
6.) Own every Garbage Pail Kids card Garbage Pail Kids were trading cards that satirized the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls that were wildly popular during the mid-80's. Each card featured a different character themed after some sort of gross-out humor. I remember one card with a girl who was jumping rope with a long string of snot coming out of her nose. This was absolutely hilarious when I was 7 years old. The company responsible for creating the cards was brilliant, because each character had two versions, with different names. So, "Adam Bomb" was also available as "Billy Blast." This meant that you had to collect two of every card. Bastards! This is the only goal on my list that I came even remotely close to accomplishing. I used to drive my Dad crazy, begging him to stop at a pharmacy near our house so I could get a pack of Garbage Pail Kids. I can't wait to see what sort of worthless crap my kids are going to torture me into buying them some day.
5.) Own a house with its own "lazy river" I remember visiting a water park in Florida one summer, and they had this ride called the "Lazy River." It was a stream that wound around the entire park, and had a mild current. The idea was that you could just float in the river and have it whisk you through the park all day. I thought it would be awesome to have a lazy river going not only around the perimeter of my house, but also THROUGH the house! This would be an amazingly effective way to get from one room to the other.
4.) Design my own Nintendo game I played a lot of video games when I was a kid, and I loved coming up with ideas for my own games. The first step in designing your own Nintendo game was drawing all of the weapons that your character could collect in the game. If you got past that part, you could work on the enemies. I used to collaborate with the other nerdy kids at recess, and we took the task very seriously. Somehow we all thought that there was a legitimate chance that our game would be playable some day. In hindsight, I think if you actually let a group of 9 year olds design their own video game it would end up being terrible.
3.) Build and operate a putt-putt golf course in my back yard
Like designing my own Nintendo game, I actually thought this one was feasible. The course I had in mind was very similar to the "Wonders of the World" putt-putt course Kurt Russell built in the movie Overboard. The yard at my Dad's house was over 2 acres, so we had plenty of space, and we lived on a busy road, so there would be plenty of drive-by traffic. The best part of the plan was that there was also going to be concession stand where I would sell snacks to all of our hungry customers. Hot dogs, snow cones, popcorn – you name it. I actually created an entire concessions menu with prices and everything. No lie.
2.) Be a contestant on Fun House, Finders Keepers, or Double Dare
This one doesn't need a lot of explanation. I think this was the dream of EVERY child of the '80's. I would buy Double Dare on DVD if it were available.
1.) Win the Nickelodeon Super Toy Run
Nickelodeon used to have this contest every year where some lucky kid would get 5 minutes to run through a Toys 'R' Us and grab everything they wanted. They played commercials for it non-stop, and I was mesmerized every time it came on. After the contest had ended each year, they would actually broadcast the winner making their run through the store. This only intensified my mania for the Super Toy Run. I would get furious watching the winning kid. Not necessarily because I was jealous, but because THEY WERE DOING IT ALL WRONG! I had devised my own Super Toy Run strategy so I could get the maximum benefit from my 5 minutes. No wasting time with big bulky items that filled up the shopping kart. I would spend all of my time focusing on smaller, more expensive items. I also thought I would be very good at Supermarket Sweep.
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