The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day XII: Charity

It's the final day of our Twelve Days Of Christmas gift guide and today we're featuring charities:

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association
Not many people are aware of how crippling an autoimmune disorder can be. Actually, a lot of people just don't know about autoimmune disorders in general but they affect 20% of the population. This organization aims to increase education, public awareness, and research for the over 100 autoimmune disorders affecting people every day. I bet you know someone with an autoimmune disorder, too.

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl


Dragon Productions Theatre Company
On a personal level, this is a lovely group of people that I work with in northern California. They're small but mighty, and right now they have a Secret Santa who's matching donations dollar for dollar until they hit $10,000. A few bucks goes a long, long way for them to produce thought-provoking, quality live theatre. Dragon is working to support emerging playwrights, directors, actors, and designers. Everyone in the arts needs help getting started, and most people in the industry don't do it for the money because theater people are rarely paid what they're worth. They do it for the sheer joy of telling stories that matter. In this economy, arts organizations are hurting for funds, why not lend a hand to something that feeds the soul this holiday season? Also, they have a purple dragon as their mascot, and that's pretty rad.

Recommended By: Archphoenix


Drawing Autism
The artist says about the piece: "This was inspired by all wars in the world and people's indifference for all bad things. And also it was inspired by the lyrics of the Project Pitchfork song 'Vietnam.'"

The work by Milda Bandazaite is one of many you'll see in the book Drawing Autism. The volume is stuffed full of heartbreakingly amazing works by over fifty international contributors, each of whom is autistic. Part of its proceeds go to fund programs that support art and autism.

Recommended By: Jett Superior

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day XI: Greed

Hey everyone! We're almost at the end. Today's the eleventh day of Christmas, and we're celebrating greed!

Flying Car
Dude, this is a flying car. I actually had a dream about this once where I was driving along and then all of a sudden I had a sudden need to escape pursuers and VOILA! My car had wings and I took flight. This is for people who need to make a quick getaway or who like their vehicles to perform more than one transportation service. In-flight peanuts are up to you.

Recommended By: Dufmanno


The Inspiration Archipod
This is for all the overworked, run down, just looking for one freaking moment of silence! type people in your life. Originally I thought this was some sort of space pod that transported you to another dimension but actually it's an onion house with shingles that sits in your backyard. Mine would be reinforced with corrugated steel and guard dogs to prevent wayward children from slipping inside to disturb my "peace."

Recommended By: Dufmanno

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day X: Apps

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love game to me... a bunch of apps:

Army Of Darkness Defense
Do you love Bruce Campbell, the Evil Dead series, and shooting things? Then this is the perfect game for you! Enjoy playing the role of Ash shooting down the Army of Darkness's minions all while he shouts out his trademark lines from the movie. But be warned, you will have to hustle in some of the later levels.

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl


Comics
A great way to buy and read comic books on your iPad. They have a pretty decent library and routinely offer sales and deals.

Recommended By: Archphoenix

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day IX: Gag Gifts

You know how some Christmas parties are about embarrassing each other, trying to get the stupidest gift possible? Today, we salute those parties!

Bob Ross Master Paint Set

Recommended By: Archphoenix


Emergency Underpants

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day VIII: Pop Culture Items

Today's Day 8! Here are some handpicked pop culture goodies:

Buster Bluth In Blue Painting
Tony Hale (hi, Tony! I love youuuu!) has ruined me. He's so good at playing Buster Bluth* that I can see his face and start laughing. If I woke up to this pop art panel featuring Busty's face every day it would definitely get a giggle from me. Imagine if it were hanging behind the toilet! I wonder if the fact that it's so... blue is a nod to Tobias Fünke? There's lots of other affordable pop art goodness at Peachy Apricot, too.

Recommended By: Jett Superior


Cassette Tape Night Lights
Old cassette tapes are upcycled into unique and surprisingly pretty night light lamps. Lighted by LED lights, these lamps look retro and coolly modern at the same time. Who knew?

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day VII: Fashion

Fashion time, kids!

Ariat Fatbaby Rodeobaby Envy
The Ariat Fatbaby, specifically the Rodeobaby Envy: I just blew your mind. You didn't know that cowboy boots could be modded to look so rock and roll and, well... like sex. Now you do. Use this knowledge responsibly. Maybe you should also buy a pair of Fatbaby Originals as backup, just in case you accidentally leave your Rodeobabys underneath someone's bed.

Recommended By: Jett Superior


AWOLNATION "Blame It On My A.D.D." Tee
It's no real secret that several of us Brats have a gigantic boner for AWOLNATION. It shouldn't shock you, then, when I suggest that you hit up their swag shop for the little 'BLAME IT ON MY A.D.D.' number. In blue. Size large. They discontinued the bright blue ones and the girly tees. I'll take what they have in a medium. E-mail me for my shipping address. Also you need to buy one for yourself and someone you want to look as rad as me'n'you.

Recommended By: Jett Superior

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day VI: DVDs

It's Day Six and we've got TV and movie DVDs:

Dinner With Schmucks
I cannot even begin to tell you the ways that I was charmed by Dinner For Schmucks. To me, it was the perfect balance of hilarity (Jemaine Clement as freaky-silly conceptual artist Kieran Vollard; Zach Galafianakis as Therman Murch) and tenderness (Steve Carell's goofy-lovable Barry Speck). The closing vignette where Barry does the evolution of man is worth the price of admission alone. You can find Dinner For Schmucks on Amazon for less than ten dollars.

Recommended By: Jett Superior


Dragon Tattoo Trilogy
See the Swedish book hit with the original Swedish cast before you watch the Fincher version. Noomi Rapace is stellar as Lisbeth Salander.

Recommended By: Archphoenix

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day V: Gadgets

It's go-go-gadget time, kids!

Dremel Saw-Max Tool Kit
A Hand. Rotary. Saw. What? Seriously, I want this! There are moments where I need to quickly cut through some pvc pipe, metal, or wood and I don't want to mess with finding the appropriate (or not so) hand saw (and *ahem* breaking it). And for those more delicate cuts I'm also lusting after this baby, the Rockwell Trans4mer.

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl


Garmin GTU
Keep track of your kids, pets, spouse, or elderly relatives when they wander off with this real-time GPS device. Just slap it on a backpack or collar (you know those older folks and their collars!) and get location updates from your smartphone.

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day IV: Food

Welcome to Day Four of our Twelve Days Of Christmas gift guide spectacular. Grab yourself a plate because today we're covering food items:

Chocolate-Covered Bacon From Marini's Candies
I was soooooo skeptical about this whole concept. Bacon and chocolate just did not sound good. But I was so fricking wrong! The trick to Marini's brand of this treat is that the bacon is extra crispy before they cover it in their chocolate. The resulting taste is an amazing sweet, salty, smoky blend you didn't expect you could be craving for hours after.

Recommended By: The Weirdgirl


Garrett Popcorn
When I think of Christmas I think fondly of the big tins of popcorn a distant cousin used to send. They were those three-in-one jobbies so you got some buttered, cheese, and caramel popcorn in one big old tin. A tin that later doubled as a drum when it was empty. Anyway, if you want the ultimate in popcorn, order some Garrett's, a Chicago tradition. Just don't look at the calorie counter. Seriously.

Recommended By: Archphoenix

The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Day III: Music

Welcome to Day Three of our Twelve Days Of Christmas gift guide spectacular. Today, we're covering music gifts:

AWOLNATION, Megalithic Symphony
You probably won't read this anywhere else, so I'm going to let you in on a little secret: Megalithic Symphony was the best album released in 2011. For real.

Perfect For: Awesome people

Recommended By: Chris


Brian Jonestown Massacre, Singles Collection (1992-2011)
This year Brian Jonestown Massacre released a singles retrospective stretching from 1992-2011 called (duh) Singles Collection (1992-2011). They're a brilliant band whose work I don't think enough people know, so this is a good place to start. All kind of excellence on there, from start to finish.

Recommended By: Jett Superior