Digital Journal — Welcome to shopping season, where elbows will spear your ribs and credit card bills empty your savings account. To ease you through the holiday shopping frenzy — and to give you an edge over the catalogue-scouring hordes — Digital Journal presents the ultimate gift guide you will definitely want to bookmark. Below are suggestions for all types of friends and family, from the picky father to the party-animal roommate to the cute eight-year-old niece.
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The Picky Father
He has high standards and scoffs at the lazy gift certificate option. Tough to please, the Picky Father deserves a unique present that will make his furrowed eyebrows arch in surprise. If he’s a classy dresser, opt for Paul Smith cufflinks, a stylish addition without being too garish. Britphile Smith prefers a nautical feel with his collection, so pairing the links with a striped shirt could be a swanky combo.
People dismiss electric toothbrushes as unnecessary but the Oral-B Triumph has been winning favourable reviews. Loaded with a CPU, the brush notifies the user after 30 seconds to shift gears and clean another mouth area. The Picky Father will appreciate three cleaning modes — massage, soft (for sensitive teeth) and polish — and the specs will pique his interest: 40,000 in-and-out pulsations per minute. His smiling bright teeth will be all the appreciation you need.
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The Suunto N6HR sports watch is a great gift idea for the sporty one in your family. |
The Sporty Brother
It’s might be winter, but those athletic kids are out on the pavement, jogging as if spring is just around the corner. The Sporty Brother will treasure the Suunto N6HR sports watch, which includes a heart monitor, training software and water-resistant body. Simply telling time is so last year.
The snow-loving bro should be excited by the Atlas 725 snowshoes, allowing him to save his funky hiking boots for better weather. These hardcore snowshoes have a lightweight frame and easy snap-in bindings that should make any winter jaunt a chilled out stroll.
The Party Animal Roommate
So this dude likes to chug beer and thinks he’s a rock star. When his friends come over, he blares old Sabbath tunes and air-guitars like a man possessed by the ghost of metal gods. Why not let him vent his musical energy with the PlayStation 2 game, Guitar Hero? Wearing a controller shaped as a real guitar, he can follow on-screen prompts to play more than 30 rock anthems, eventually boosting his skills from basement-worthy to stadium-star.
If you want to buy this frat boy some class, stuff his stocking with funky whiskey glasses, the most artistic belonging to Terry Craig’s hand-blown Crayola-coloured glasses. Scotch has never tasted so hip.
WOMEN
The Martha Stewart Mother
You can’t remember ever hating your Mom’s homemade goodies, even if Meatloaf Tuesdays did wear thin by your 16th birthday. It’s only appropriate to give her a new cookbook so she can flex her epicurean muscles on your retired dad. The Da Silvano Cookbook collects recipes from the famed New York restaurant complete with hand-written testimonials from its celebrity clientele. Paul McCartney and Gwyneth Paltrow can’t be wrong.
Perhaps your Mom likes to surf for food info on the Web. Only her favourite child would sympathize with her aching wrists after a day of
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The SonyEricsson W800i is a stylish gift for tech fashionistas everywhere. |
The Tech-Obsessed Girlfriend
Yes, techie girlfriends do exist, and they’re the women who love cool covers for their iPods and only the funkiest cellphones. But never underestimate those who appreciate smart design, exemplified in Boynq’s Stylo USB Desk Organizer, perfect for the loved one who loves to save space. This beaut combines a USB speaker with a pen tray and tape dispenser — you’ll get boyfriend points for sheer inventiveness.
Music phones are gearing up to be the Next Big Thing, even though some early releases disappointed industry critics. But the Girlfriend will be amazed by the SonyEricsson W800i , designed with a pretty cream-and-copper colour scheme and sporting a large display ideal for harsh sunlight. The W800i holds up to 150 songs, can create playlists on the fly and interrupts music when that boyfriend calls to make sure she’s appreciating her special holiday gift.
The Cool Aunt
This relative was the first to introduce you to Pink Floyd, fuzzy navels and Metafilter.com but now it’s your turn to impress her. Go for chic apparel, such as the Alena Hennesy Scarf in bright white-on-blue flora pattern — perfect for the Cool Aunt who
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Boynq’s Stylo USB Desk Organizer is the perfect gift for the loved one who loves to save space. |
If The Cool Aunt secretly harbours an inner geek, release that trapped dork with The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset. Containing every single episode of the British troupe’s groundbreaking sketch show, this massive DVD compilation also features live skits, exclusive interviews and a glossary. Since the box set runs at 30 hours long, don’t expect this Aunt to leave the house to visit you.
The Loveable Niece
She’s cute when she doesn’t mean to be, even when she asks, “Does Santa Claus have real claws?” Reward her precocious innocence with a tech gift all her friends are talking about: The Fly by LeapFrog. This pimped pen includes a tiny computer chip and a camera at the tip, enabling it offer feedback on what being written. A calculator, clock and scheduler separate this pen from the boring Bic regulars.
If she doesn’t dig tech, think one thing: hobbits dancing. It might hurt the wallet, but buying her tickets to see Lord of the Rings: The Musical could give you “best family member” status until she’s old enough to avoid you. Playing in Toronto from February 2 to June 26, the $27-million stage adaptation of Tolkien’s trilogy is generating buzz for its stellar cast and elaborate props (producers promise special effects comparable to Peter Jackson’s wizardry). Best thing about this present is you can come along with her, cheering Frodo on as he battles Black Riders and orcs.
Let’s admit it, shopping isn’t fun. In fact, it can be downright painful. Hopefully, though, the above suggestions should give you a heads-up on what to buy for whom. Remember, it’s not the present that counts, but how much thought you put into it.
