Saturday, August 30, 2008

#5 Wall Stencils - $10



Does your friend or significant other think he or she is Banksy? Stencil art is a lot of fun but, if you don't know what you are doing to create stencils, it often comes out wrong. That is where professionally-made stencils come in. For example, I am interested in turntables. I particularly like the Technics 1200 in terms of aesthetics. Stencil1 happens to have that covered. They have a number of options and sizes available. Not only turntables, but cassettes, Obama's face, guitars, trees, and more.



Related Links:

Stencils at Stencil 1

Info on Banksy - Banksy.co.uk

Friday, August 29, 2008

#4 Klean Kanteen - $16


With so much being made of eco-friendly products, the Klean Kanteen is both hip and functional. Made of stainless steel instead of plastic, the bottle is both indestructible and BPA free (look it up, it is not pretty). $16 sounds like a lot of money, but this is the last bottle you will buy. I know that I used to spend $6 for a case of individually bottled water. Now I am able to reuse gallon jugs for $0.30 outside the supermarket. If you are smarter than I am, you could also drink tap which is better for you but, to me, tastes heavier.

I have a friend named Mary who always said that anything that used the letter K instead of C was racist and attempting to harken back to KKK, but I find no evidence that this company is in any way racist - despite its use of Ks instead of Cs. No, she was not joking. I, however, am.





Related Links:

Klean Kanteen at Amazon

Klean Kanteen at Reusable Bags

Thursday, August 28, 2008

#3 Grado iGrado Headphones - $49


Admittedly, the iGrados are as ugly as sin, but they sing sweeter than the angels. Based on the critically-acclaimed SR-60 - in fact, they both have the same headphone driver - the iGrado allows even those with modest funds to reach audiophile bliss. They are pictured in black, but are also available in white - a great color to match a person's iPod.

In a world where audiophile headphones can cost over $1000, at $49, the iGrado represents amazing value for such sweet sound.


Splurge: Grado SR-60 - Same headphone driver, but with a better housing and classic industrial design. The Grado SR-60 can for many people be the last set of headphones they ever buy. At $69 retail, the SR-60 may seem a bit out of touch. But please find a store near you that carries them and test them - you will buy them!






Wednesday, August 27, 2008

#2 Moleskine Notebook - $10


A Moleskine notebook may seem like an extremely small gift, but they are lovely. I once bought a pack of Moleskine Small Cahiers for my mother-in-law for her shopping lists, memory lists, etc. and she absolutely loved them. These cahiers are the same as Hemmingway used to write his novels. He talks about these notebooks in The Garden of Eden.

I bought my Moleskine Pocket Journal a couple of years ago to write essays and just the thought of it makes me smile. It is so well-crafted and at the same time so commonplace it just fits. It used to be trendy for self-proclaimed world-travelers to take a fresh pocket journal for every trip in order to paste in keepsakes, produce sketches, and write about the culture. Currently, Moleskine has a line of Journals tailored to this with pre-printed info on the city of your choice.

All said, for a gift, the Moleskine Pocket Journal is the best, but for everyday use, I use the Moleskine Small Cahiers. I keep all my notes for work and from meetings in these. I can't say enough about them.


Photo: RippleMDK

#1 Holga 120 CFN Camera - $46

I was a photo major for five minutes of college - it only took two weddings to talk me out of it. But photography has remained important in my life, but my medium-format camera went kaputt and I find myself drawn to the Holga.


Photo: Fensterbme

The Holga 120 CFN is a cheap, plastic camera made in China. It costs only $46 from B&H, but can be had from other places on the net for a bit less.

It's images are ghostly and amazingly beautiful. Its pictures of modern-day things look anachronistic - the photos look too old to have a picture of a modern car in them.

Here are a few examples:


Photo: BravusMan


Photo: Black Custard

There is even a 35mm attachment for those who just want to go to the photomat and have their pictures developed.


Photo: Slim Jim

$45 for that kind of beauty is an amazing value!

Got a little extra coin? Here is a splurge: Holga Starter Kit for $70. It comes with a couple extra accessories and a very nice manual.

Why $50?

I am a total cheapskate. My friends always talk about how I am cheap to the nth power and all that. $50 might sound like a lot in that case, but I also like giving and receiving gifts. $50 sounds about right on how much my wife should spend on me on my birthday - hint, hint, hint - but not so much to break the bank. Some of the best gifts I can think of would be less. $50 is simply an upper guideline. I hope I can give you all some good ideas.

Matt