Yep, it’s the last Meconium post of 2008 - I’m getting psyched up to do some real actual reviews in ‘09, with items like the Kindle on deck. Plus there’s that ever-approaching book thing.
For now, a far nicer cardboard box than the one I’ve been living under lately. This Little Piggy’s House is made from recycled cardboard, harvested from the tony recycling bins of the SF Bay Area. Oh wait, I read that wrong. It’s made from “recyclable materials.” So you can recycle it later.
For $40, you get a house (22″x24″x28″) in brown or white, complete with mailbox and chimney, and 5% of their profits go es to charities dedicated to feeding hungry children. And if you act now you’ll get a set of the Dalai Lama’s used sweatbands (limited-time only).
Filed under Toys In the attic.
There’s never been a better time to introduce a luxury wagon. Kid’s wagon that is. The Cloud 9 is a concept for now, and since it’s suggested price will be over a grand, or worth more than your 401k, I’m sure it’ll supplant the Wii in next year’s holiday crush. The full feature list includes “digital controls, speakers and a dock for an MP3 player. The luxury toy wagon is outfitted with 5-point safety harnesses, padded seats, cup holders, foot brakes and fold-out storage containers. Cup Holders!
The “Radio Flyer survived the Great Depression, and this year has been a difficult year for a lot of companies,” says Tom Schlegel, vice president of product development.
Of course, the classic little red wagon probably survived the Depression because it was useful for hauling junk and much, much cheaper than a car. I like the idea of the 5-point harness, though, in case any kid ever dared to take their wagon outside the home.
Filed under Hotwheelz.
I’m not a big fan of wrapping presents. Or gift-giving in general, but what I usually do when I have to disguise a gift I put it in the gift bag I received from the Open Source Conference. This year, though, I’m not sure I want to part with the “I Heart Ubuntu” bag I’ve been saving, but there’s another way to get your gear wrapped by a true unprofessional.
Firebox.com has launched CrapWrap, a professional service that allows you to outsource low quality present-wrapping. Just purchase any super geeky item from Firebox, and you have the option to get it “crapwrapped.” This involves torn tape, ripped paper, and uneven folding, all of which is checked and rechecked by the quality assurance officer, a ” tipsy bloke wearing boxing gloves and a sack on his head.” Firebox uses off-duty forklift operators who are given no instruction to make a hash of it. And somehow I’m sure they’d do a better job than I.
Filed under Crib Notes, Toys In the attic, Utility Belt, Webslinger.
We’ve been searching around the old intertubes, looking for gifts for the family with some charitable angle. For the budding cryptozoologist* in your family: San Francisco Zoo has a Zoo Parent program, where you can sign up your little ones to adopt their own zoo animals.
- A Basic Animal Adoption Package is only $50 and includes:
- Personalized certificate of adoption and gold star seal
- Framed, color photo of the animal species you select
- “Nature Notes,” an educational fact sheet about the animal species you select
- Complimentary issue of Zoo Views, our quarterly Members’ magazine AND
- Invitation for two to ZooParent Day
There are dozens of animals to choose from, and what kid wouldn’t be happy to get an autographed photo of the Scimitar-Horned Oryx? Hopefully part of the adoption fee will go to improving the SF Zoo’s bandwidth - you might have more luck flying there in person on the back of a condor to make your purchase.
*there are currently no cryptids available for adoption, though the bearded dragon might be weird enough for consideration.
Filed under Edumacation, Toys In the attic.
This morning reminded me of the dangers of learning to walk, as Rudy pulled down a now thankfully tepid cup of hot chocolate over himself and the rug. Somehow, for once, the dog wasn’t in the immediate area. Rudy didn’t even cry, he just sat there, wondering why his body was stuck with this sweet sticky goodness. Atari, owner of now dumped cocoa, was less sanguine.
This still doesn’t convince me that my child is in need of the baby bumper turban, $13 from One Step Ahead. Or should it be called One Step from Disaster? The padded bonnet is available in a variety of colors and will fit a child up to 36 months. It might be a better investment for the dog, who tends to whack her skull into things when she sneezes.
Hat Tip (the giant padded awkward kind) to my reader HBD.
Filed under Utility Belt.
Aside from the fact that you can jump the customer service line if you can’t “press one,” here’s another reason for a rotary phone: this hack will transform it into an iPhone docking station. There’s a speaker behind the dialer, and two in the headset.
Filed under Crib Notes, Webslinger.
Maybe in your house you need the bedtime alarm clock. Love.Time.Disco has an old school alarm clock that counts off the last hour before bedtime - the clock begins at 7:05, and ends at 8.
I don’t find bedtime to be all that bad - for me, it’s the hour and a half from when I pick up the boys til Punky comes home, that mystical, magical time of 4:30 til 6, when you know the little angels aren’t hungry or tired or cranky and on their best behavior. A time we call “cocktail hour.”
What’s the worst hour of your day?
Filed under Crib Notes.
Just kidding. In honor of the most dreaded, over-hyped, retail day ever, we here at Meconium suggest that you participate in the mild repudiation of the overly consumptive modern market by Buying Nothing. Buy Nothing Day rolls around every year, the day after Thanksgiving. It’s free, it’s easy and given the current state of the global economy it’s what you’re probably doing anyway. If we were Focus on the Family we’d boycott those retailers who refused to acknowledge Buy Nothing Day, but that would be just one long list.
Let’s all celebrate the ever shrinking resources of our overheated globe by buying nothing on Friday, November 28th… you can always purchase that ugly sweater on Saturday.
Tomorrow, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving and enjoy your tryptophan overdose. To cope with the stresses of relatives, Meconium suggests the following drinking game:
- Watch cable news (any channel will do)
- Take a shot every time you see a warm human interest story
- Take a shot every time you see a story involving turkeys (bonus shot if it’s tied to human interest)
- Take a shot every time there’s a story about Barack Obama’s bipartisan burgeoning cabinet AND an extra shot for mention of the book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Pass out under the Christmas decorations you decided to drunkenly retrieve from the garage because this year you aren’t waiting til the last minute, dammit.
Filed under Edumacation.
Tuttuki Bako is the Touch Box, and I’ll refrain from making obvious jokes, because that’s what the comments are for. This tiny game system (and clock!) has a form of motion detection, so that your actual finger will maneuver the virtual finger so you can, you know, virtually touch stuff. The games include Poke the Panda, Poke the Stick Figure and other fun ideas.
If they could bundle this with Facebook’s Superpoke it would become the ultimate expression of nudging, but that’s probably a way’s off. There are some videos of the poke box in action, which you should watch because it’s Friday and you deserve a helping of idiotic Youtube goodness.
You might think this is utterly pointless, but you know, some folks just have to put their fingers somewhere. 30 bucks(ish), Japan only.
Filed under Toys In the attic, Uncategorized.
I recently wrote about how the Obama White House had to negotiate its way out of getting an incredibly ugly Peruvian hairless dog, but the good folks at i09 have gone a step further with their top ten robotic pets for the White House. At left is BJ, the heir, or I guess hair to Sony’s Aibo. It’s fully programmable and runs on Linux, so it’ll be more secure and reliable than your Windows-based pets and you could probably write source code to make it think it’s actually a penguin.
BJ goes for 600,000 yen (not taking obvious joke), but really I think that the White House isn’t ready for another BJ (taking the obvious joke).
Filed under Crib Notes, Toys In the attic.
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