BuzzSugar

Buzz Gift Guide: Last-Minute Butt-Savers!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:30:02 -0800

Yikes! It's Christmas Eve! If there's someone on your list that you just plumb forgot, these suggestions for last-minute, easily obtained gifts in this last of my holiday gift guides just might save your butt.

Fandango Bucks are super easy to get ahold of - you just purchase them online and you can either print them out immediately to slip into a stocking, or send them via email. A lot of folks like to go to the movies during this last week of December, and Fandango Bucks make moviegoing extremely easy.

Netflix has a similar way to give a last-minute gift. You can buy a gift subscription online and then print out (or email) the confirmation to wrap up in a box (or a few boxes to make it look like a huge gift!) and give to your loved ones (who you forgot).

For the music lovers in your life, consider giving a gift certificate to iTunes. These can also be emailed or printed out, though you can also "gift" specific albums (or movies, or TV shows) to other iTunes members.

Magazine subscriptions (like one to Entertainment Weekly) are a nice way to quickly give a gift that keeps on giving. Plus, choosing a specific magazine you know your friend will enjoy proves that you put at least some thought into it. If you manage to get out to a newsstand today, grab one issue of the magazine and wrap it up with a note that says they'll receive the next one in 6-8 weeks.

For a more open-ended way to cover your hide, Amazon.com gift certificates pretty much guarantee that your forgotten friend or family member will be able to buy exactly the book/DVD/album he/she has been craving! These gift cards can be mailed, emailed or sent along with a festive e-card.

Finish Your Shopping! A Buzz Gift Guide Roundup

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:30:00 -0800

Surely you've been diligently keeping up with my holiday gift guides and picking up entertainment-related gifts for everyone on your list, right? But just in case you're the last-minute type, here's a roundup of all my suggestions:

For Your Family
Mommy Dearest
Daddy-O
Hip Grandma
Grandpa Knows Best
Favorite Aunts and Uncles
Sister, Sister
Brotherly Love
Female Cousins
Male Cousins
The Whole Family

To see gift guides for everyone else on your list, just read more.

For Everyone Else
Awesome Teen Girl
Rockin' Teen Guy
The Reality TV Junkie
The Bibliophile
'80s Babies
Smartypants!
The Sci-Fi Fanatic
For Nerds, With Love
The Audiophile
The Clown
Stocking Stuffers
Your Office

Still not enough? Stay tuned Monday for my guide to very last-minute gifts.

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Buzz Gift Guide: Your Office

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:30:28 -0800

Today's holiday gift guide is for your bosses and coworkers at your office - which, I hope, is not too much like The Office.

Speaking of The Office, I suppose it's no surprise that much of my inspiration for this guide comes from Dunder Mifflin. For all those coworkers who deserve special recognition, why not pick up an armload of Dunde Awards? They come with interchangeable faceplates, so you can always give someone the Whitest Sneakers Award first but change it to the Bushiest Beaver Award behind her back.

For the regional managers on your list, consider some Michael Scott-endorsed desk decor, like this expanding sphere toy. (If you want to send some subtle hints about stress relief, check out these Dunder Mifflin stress balls.)

No matter how crazy your office, just remember: You could be working at the dysfunctional tech company of Douglas Coupland's Microserfs. The book is especially apt for any of your techie friends who might get a kick out of prose punctuated by emoticons and ridiculous acronyms.

And if you know someone in need of some cubicle "flair," consider these Office Space bobbleheads. There's one for Peter, his obnoxious boss Bill Lumbergh, and of course, the stapler-wielding Milton. These just may cure your friends' "case of the Mondays" for good.

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Buzz Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers

BuzzSugar — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:30:47 -0800

Today's holiday gift guide is all about the stocking stuffers, those little presents that can make a gift exchange even merrier.

I love all the bright colors of these Gumy headphones, which come in orange, green, blue, purple, and pink. And they're just $10, the perfect price for a spare pair of earbuds for work or the gym.

The music lovers on your list might hope to find a book of music writing from the 33 1/3 series in their stockings. Each pocket-sized volume offers one critic's take on a particular album, from Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited to the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs.

Know any Family Guy fans? Slipping one of these Stewie Talking Pens into their stocking will ensure a jolly holiday.

There are any number of little gifts you can give to the film fanatics in your life, from movie tickets to their local cinema to a great movie soundtrack. Other ideas include some microwavable movie popcorn and their very own 3-D glasses.

Buzz Gift Guide: The Clown

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:31:53 -0800

For today's holiday gift guide, here are some ideas for your friends and family members who love a good prank and for whom gag gifts are like real gifts.

For a lot of my comedy-loving friends, watching and quoting The Simpsons is like a religion. This adorable mouse with a floating Homer (with a beer balancing on his belly, natch) is sure to make your pals go "woo-hoo!"

Who can forget the sexy leg lamp that the Old Man mail orders in A Christmas Story? Give your buddies the gift of the kitschiest lamp in film history.

What would MacGyver do, indeed? Seriously, that show made many of us feel like we could get out of any, um, difficult situation, and now your friends can ironically declare this notion on their chests with the "What would MacGyver do?" t-shirt.

Buzz Gift Guide: Gifts for an Audiophile

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:33:11 -0800

Today's holiday gift guide is for your audiophile friend - the one who never hears the phone ring because she's got her headphones on and plans her social schedule around her favorite bands' tour dates.

Your audiophile friend might already own all seven pre-In Rainbows Radiohead albums - but just in case, check out this bizarrely cute USB stick that contains the band's complete recordings from 1993 to 2003, including bonus content. Too techie? There's a normal boxed set, too.

Does your friend have years and years of mixtapes languishing on a shelf now that cassette players have gone out of style? Pick up a Griffin iMic, which converts cassette and vinyl recordings to mp3. I've got one, and it's helped me get my favorite music from junior high and high school back in the regular rotation.

Rolling Stone and Spin not your friend's style? A subscription to Mojo might be a good alternative. The British music bible will cost you a bit if you need to ship it to the US, but helping your friend be a well-informed music fanatic might be worth it.

And OK, this one's not so much "audio" as just "phile," but the Meg and Jack White Lomo cameras are pretty craveworthy. Maybe your friend could use them to keep a record of her encounters with her favorite rock stars.

Buzz Gift Guide: For Nerds, With Love

BuzzSugar — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:33:56 -0800

For today's holiday gift guide, here are some suggestions for some of your friends who are perhaps a little goofier than others. In this case, "nerd" is an affectionate term, not just a four-letter word.

Few other movies can provide such feelings of triumph as 1994's Revenge of the Nerds. With this gift, you can now go above and beyond the normal DVD version with The Atomic Wedgie Collection.

Judd Apatow's TV series Freaks and Geeks was such a comforting show because all the weird teens of the world could feel understood - whether they were "freaks" or "geeks." Freaks and Geeks - The Complete Series collects all 18 episodes of this show that ended far too soon.

I must admit, I can be a huge nerd sometimes, and I love me a good pun. Thus, I get a huge kick out of these punny aprons at WearableVegetables, like this one that reads "Lord of the Onion Rings." There are some other doozies there that just might crack up your nerdiest of buddies, like "Desperate Housechives," "Silence of the Yams," and "Who's Afraid of Ginger Root?" These can also be applied to tote bags, t-shirts, oven mitts and more.

Buzz Gift Guide: The Sci-Fi Fanatic

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:36:40 -0800

Today's installment of the Holiday gift guide is for all the people on your list who dream of having superpowers, rush to stores each Wednesday when the new comics come in, and believe "the truth is out there."

Heroes fans can put their favorite hero on their letters to Santa with these stamps from artist Tim Sale. They come in Hiro, Claire, Nathan, Peter, and Helix editions - but true collectors might want the complete set.

Your favorite X-phile might enjoy the new X-Files Ultimate Collection, which brings together every episode from the show's nine seasons plus bonus features galore - just in time for the new movie.

The new 25th anniversary edition of Blade Runner, Blade Runner: Ultimate Collector's Edition, comes packed with everything a fan of the movie might want: multiple versions of the film (including a new one from director Ridley Scott), a feature-length documentary, and one full disc of bonus features.

Where can your sci-fi fanatic friends go to feel like everyone in the room understands them? Why, Comic-Con, of course! From July 24-27, they can pose with their favorite characters (or dress up themselves) and learn all about upcoming sci-fi projects. A 4-day membership costs $75, and you can currently register online.

Buzz Gift Guide: Smartypants!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:36:39 -0800

Today's holiday gift guide is dedicated to your friends and family members who seem to know everything about pop culture . . . and everything else, for that matter!

I received these pop culture crossword puzzles for my birthday this year, and I absolutely love them. For any pop culture junkie, these are the perfect mix of fun and challenging.

Those with an encyclopedic knowledge of television might enjoy going toe-to-toe with the editors of Television Without Pity on TV minutiae. 752 Things We Love to Hate (and Hate to Love) about TV is a snarky, cross-referenced guide to all things tube.

Your smartypants friend probably already caught all of the Planet Earth segments on TV, but if she has the whole series on DVD (plus the official companion book!) it's easier for her to commit all the facts to memory and then sprinkle them into common conversation. You know, like a smartypants does.

Buzz Gift Guide: '80s Babies

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:38:32 -0800

You have one in your family. You work next to one. Or perhaps you are one: A defiantly proud child of the '80s. A girl who just wants to have fun. A Casbah rocker. One who wangs chung. If you're familiar with these things, today's holiday gift guide is for you and your '80s babies friends.

If you and your friends spent so much time with the Tanner family that DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle were practically your sisters, check out the Full House Complete Series. The set comes with every episode from the show's eight-season run, but the real selling point is the package: a replica of the Tanners' San Francisco-style town house.

Nothing brings me back to those golden years quite like the music of the '80s. Of course, I knew the gal to ask for '80s music compilation gift ideas was WhiplashGirlchild, who suggested this extremely cool and comprehensive set, Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally).

Some of the most iconic movies of my youth are John Hughes' teen films, like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. For awesome box set collections of these and other beloved flicks, check out the Too Cool for School set and the Brat Pack collection.