AltWeeklies Wire
You May Think the Idea of Box Sets is Passé... Until You See These Releasesnew
Given file-sharing and the growing number of digital-download Web sites, both legal and otherwise, owning a bunch of music by one artist on several CDs in a cardboard box (no matter how cool the graphics and extras) is so old-school.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
Books for Cooks: Have Yourself a Tasty Little Christmasnew
It's a perfect moment to give cookbooks for the holidays: They're relatively inexpensive and they'll keep home cooks safely cocooned, exploring the boundaries of the pantry rather than the limits of their bank accounts. So, don we now our vintage aprons (also a nice cook's gift, by the way) to recommend a few.
Orlando Weekly |
Jessica Bryce Young |
12-08-2009 |
Food+Drink
The Best Gift: A Bottle of Winenew
While there are a multitude of things to consider when choosing the perfect wine, there are essentially two types of gifts: bottles meant to be drunk now and bottles meant to be drunk later. The trick is to find those that will appeal to both the cork dork and the wine novice.
The Memphis Flyer |
Michael Hughes |
12-19-2008 |
Food+Drink
Gift Books for Every (Perverse) Tastenew

Who knew? We asked for holiday gift books and got Japanese bondage photos, a photo-documentary about phone-sex workers, The Best of Sexology, The Annotated Dracula, a collection of Patricia Highsmith's macabre Ripley novels, and a book about "the best restaurant in the world" that is, let's face it, food porn.
Boston Phoenix |
Staff & Contributors |
12-12-2008 |
Books
Geeky Xmas Gifts 101new
A beginners' guide to buying things you don't completely understand.
Boston Phoenix |
Georgiana Cohen |
12-12-2008 |
Shopping
High-tech High Jinx Under the Treenew
Anybody can give electronics that do something useful, it takes imagination to air-condition a dog.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
12-12-2008 |
Shopping
CDs for Christmas -- One Last Timenew
The major record labels are pulling out all the stops to release a plethora of new and reissue albums in the hopes that they can pump some blood back into what is increasingly looking like a moribund business model.
Boston Phoenix |
Daniel Brockman |
12-12-2008 |
Music
The 2008 Heroic Holiday DVD and Blu-ray Gift Guidenew
At the end of this year, when you're deciding between making December's mortgage payment or spending just a little bit more for little (or big) Billy's holiday gift, keep in mind that dear, cute Billy will always fondly remember 2008 as the year that his beloved superheroes whammed!
Boston Phoenix |
Brett Michel |
12-12-2008 |
Movies
Fantasy, Firepower and Fretwork for Xmas: A Gift Guide for Gamersnew

It's a great year to be a gamer. I've already written about some of the big games of the fall, including Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band 2, Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2. Here are some other great titles to consider gifting to the gamer on your list.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Blaine Kyllo |
12-11-2008 |
Video Games
Gift Guide: Box Sets for Music Loversnew
One can't help but direct a hearty "bah humbug" at cynical record companies which are trying to sell us music we already have, albeit in deluxe repackaged formats, with all sorts of bells and whistles such as retrospective booklets full of essays and photos, and nifty fetish-quality boxes. But some of these boxed sets also happen to be really cool.
Tucson Weekly |
Gene Armstrong |
12-11-2008 |
Music
Tags: box sets, gift guides
Gift Guide: Oodles of Splendid DVD Ideasnew
The following is a list of DVD favorites from the last year -- choices that would make great presents for somebody just like me.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
12-11-2008 |
Movies
Tags: DVDs, gift guides
Gift Guide: Coffee Table Books Galorenew
Here is a selection of books we found particularly creative or interesting, most of them new this year. While choosing, we kept one particular criterion in mind: The books couldn't just be beautiful dust collectors -- they had to be actually worth reading.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
John Grooms |
12-10-2008 |
Shopping
Gift Guide: Books for Cooksnew
For the people in your life who love food, here are some picks for what to leave them under the Christmas tree.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Tricia Childress |
12-10-2008 |
Food+Drink
Post-Election Competition Heats Up the Video Game Worldnew
In the gaming world, the election very much continues, as the annual holiday onslaught of games competing for your hearts, votes and dollars is heating up to a level that might make even a CNN hologram -- and Wolf Blitzer, too -- burst into flames.
Orlando Weekly |
Aaron R. Conklin |
12-04-2008 |
Video Games
The Insensitive Man's Holiday Gift Guidenew

Alas, the holidays are a time when you're supposed to be thankful and thoughtful, reaching out to loved ones with tenderness and affection. In other words, you can't behave like a man. Which presents a rather daunting challenge when it comes to gift buying.
Nashville Scene |
Pete Kotz |
11-21-2008 |
Shopping