Crap for Sale! Cheap!

Boston.com ran a feature today with 20 gift ideas for under $30. Now some of the gifts, like this "discreet, less nerdy fanny-pack" come in above our $20 limit, but the majority cost less than one Andrew Jackson (I just had to look in my wallet to see who was on the $20 bill).

You could be the hit of the party with this Guitar Hero Carabiner (pictured at left) or a fruit-powered clock! You could show your friends how progressive and pretentious you are with this self watering pot or iPhone cover from Urban Outfitters! You could get into the holiday spirit with this gingerbread house kit! You could get the "hilarious" LOLcats in book form! You could be super cheap and buy this cute note pad!

Maybe we could get one of these to bury Turbo in!

All of these gifts and more are at Boston.com. Happy shopping!

In The Red Zone

Don't be caught off guard by how early Yankee Swap falls this year (caused by the Coriolis Effect). There's only 13 days until the swap, probably less by the time you read this, so it's time to get your gift-giving juices flowing.

Let's all take a stroll down memory lane as we revisit some of the best gifts from Yankee Swaps past. Feel free to steal ideas or regift whatever you got last year.

At Yankee Swap 2006, one lucky swapper ended up with four Miller High Life 40s and a matching clock. That's quite a haul for under $20! Sure beats a hatchet. The moral of the story is that someone got drunk and the clock is still in our kitchen, although it's very difficult to read, so it was a happy ending.

R.I.P. Turbo

It looks like we'll be one housemate short for the Yankee Swap this year.  We've decided to officially declare Turbo the cat dead.  It's been a long time since we've seen him and, based on his condition the last time anyone saw him, we figure it's a pretty good bet he's riding the Hale-Bopp Comet out to the distant reaches of reality.  So raise your glass, whatever ya got, to health and happiness, to the Yankee Swap, and to Turbo.  Goodnight sweet prince.

(full disclosure: that's not Turbo, but who gives a shit?)