Here's good fun for kids who are interested in robotics; the Sphero Mini Robot Ball! Some kids may think of the Sphero Mini Robot Ball as a toy; after all the golf ball-sized ball navigates its path with the aid of the app that can be installed on most phones and tablets. So they can make it zip around like crazy or go slower, and change the color of the light it emits (probably shouldn't torment the cat!) They can use it as a bowling game (set of six pins included) or have the Sphero Mini Robot Ball maneuver around tiny orange cones (a set of three also included.) Kids can also use their imagination and set up their own obstacle course. But the Sphero Mini Robot Ball is far more than a toy; it's a cool introduction to the world of robotics and a learning tool for students into STEAM: science, tech, engineering, art and math. No doubt kids will want to learn more about robotics after they've had so much fun with the Sphero Mini Robot Ball and Sphero has them covered with a wide variety of coding robots, design-and-build kits and the curriculum and lessons to go with it, all designed to encourage exploration and creativity. The Sphero Mini Robot Ball connects to a charge with a USB cord and Sphero also offers lots of accessories to customize the robot. Order the Sphero Mini Robot Ball here.
There's a pretty good chance that you don't know what soundies are. But you'll be amazed as you discover them on this Blu-ray box set from Kino Lorber's Kino Classics. Back in the day, way back in the 1940s, there were special juke boxes that had a video screen and patrons at bars and nightclubs could drop in some coins and select a short video clip, or soundie, to watch and in many cases, dance along to. This collection presents a whopping 200 of these shorts, mostly from the World War II era, and while some soundies are joyful and meant to make folks forget about the war, others are the lamentations you'd expect during hard times. There's plenty of sexual innuendo too (decades before MTV's most risque vids) and also some racial stereotyping, including the far-from-politically-correct soundies dealing with attitudes toward the Japanese during the war. It should be noted that the idea here is to show what people saw back in those days and Kino Lorber collaborated here with the vaunted Library of Congress to achieve that end, warts and all. Among what viewers will see are soundies depicting lots of jazz legends; Gene Krupa reels off a hot drum solo, Duke Ellington leads his big band though a swinging session that takes place in a diner, Liberace, billed here as Walter Liberace tears it up on piano on "Tiger Rag" and the four man vocal group the Charioteers show off their stunning voices. There are Latin, hillbilly and funny soundies ("Abercrombie Had a Zombie") and Harry Gibson performing as Harry the Hipster (yup, hipsters are nothing new!) The performer selection includes lots of familiar names as well as acts that are mostly unknown these days. Each segment of the presentation features an insightful introduction and an included illustrated 44-page booklet overflows with information. Order from Amazon or directly from Kino Lorber here.
Have a big music fan on your list that loves concerts? Give them a gift of a VEEPS All Access subscription and they'll have direct access to stream live shows every day! Coming up on VEEPS in 2024 are Monsta X: The Dreaming - Global Watch Party (Jan. 1), the iHeart Radio ALTer Ego Music Festival with Paramore, The 1975, Bush, Sum 41, Yellowcard and many others (Jan. 13) and the "Gilmore Girls"-centric "I Am All In Live" show with Scott Patterson, Keiko Agena, Sebastian Bach, Vanessa Marano and Sally Struthers (Jan. 25). Some shows can be viewed after the live event while others are a one-time only opportunity. VEEPS presents about 500 concerts and events this way each year. Tons of concerts are archived and can be accessed on demand; a sampling includes shows by Reba McIntyre, Kings of Leon, Dirty Honey, Jason Aldean, Billy Idol, The Smashing Pumpkins, Macklemore, Blair Socci, Muse, Metric, Evanescence, Morrisey, Def Leppard, Bruno Major, One Republic, Sheryl Crow and the list goes on and on. There are music documentaries, "classic" shows with the likes of The Who, Bob Marley, Yes, Tupac and Amy Winehouse and very special events like the Mumford & Sons show "Dust and Thunder: Live from South Africa." VEEPS All Access subscriptions can be purchased by the month or for the full year. Find out all about what VEEPS has to offer and subscribe here.
Ever wish there was a convenient way to grow veggies and herbs (and flowers) right inside your home or on your patio? There is, and it's with the Single Frame Metal Mobile Green Wall from Watex. The Mobile Green Wall comes unassembled but it is a quick and easy setup that doesn't require any tools (and there's a tutorial on YouTube should you need.) The Watex Mobile Green Wall features a metal frame that's corrosion resistant that stands 45 inches tall and that has casters on the bottom so it can be rolled to where the preferred light source is. The two lower areas each accommodate a planter while the upper three spaces hold a total of nine pots. That means there's plenty of room to indeed create a green wall! All the planters and pots are made of recycled plastic that's BPA free, ensuring that they are safe to grow edible plants in. And to top it all off, the Watex Mobile Green Wall includes a pre-assembled irrigation kit; just attach it to a spigot and you'll be able to keep plants watered with ease. Truly a fun accessory, the Watex Mobile Green Wall is a great DIY activity for the whole family. Watex also offer a double-frame version of the Mobile Green Wall as well as other items like Countertop Garden Kit and Urban Design Vertical Garden Kit. See them all and order Watex Green Living Mobile Green Wall here.
Is there someone on your list that has problems with weak, damaged, brittle or slow growing nails? They can change that into strong, healthy, resilient, long nails with Stimunail, the first beauty device specifically developed to support nail health. Stimunail uses proven tri-function technology to give nails a healthy boost; that is to say it uses gentle heat, massaging vibration and LED light therapy, all of which is targeted to the cuticle and nail matrix to help keratin-rich nail cells develop. And it's so simple to use that you'll nail it (sorry!) on your first try. Just place fingertips in the indentations on the Stimunail and keep your hands still for the three minutes per hand that a treatment takes. Do that four times a week for 12 weeks and you should see amazing results. Totally based on science, Stimunail supports beauty from within and is "ingredient free" using no chemicals or toxins (nails actually receive all the oxygen and nutrients they need to grow from the body's blood supply.) The folks at the women-owned company stand behind Stimunail too with a 60-day money back guarantee. They make it easy to, as they like to say, have "The science of beautiful nails at your fingertips." To order, point your fingertips to the Stimunail website here.
Here's something really tasty for the cookout enthusiast on your list, Meat Sweats! At Meat Sweats they only have one goal; to help defeat dry meat through the use of their BBQ Spritz. Meat Sweats BBQ Spritz is formulated to give a deeper smoke flavor to meats, to make it juicier, and to give it a better bark (you know, that delicious and crusty outer coating.) There are three varieties of Meat Sweats BBQ Spritz so the cook can have the proper spritz for whatever is being barbecued. For beef, Meat Sweats offers Bull Spritz (cute, right?) with ingredients that include molasses, brown sugar, garlic and tamarind in a base of distilled vinegar and apple cider vinegar. For pork there's the also cleverly-named Hog Wash with ingredients that include apple juice concentrate, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. And to round out the Meat Sweats trio of spritzes there's one just for chicken and turkey called (did you guess it?) Bird Bath, that'll give the poultry a crispy skin. Obviously the folks at Meat Sweats, a Veteran-owned company, have a great sense of humor to go along with their culinary wisdom. Each 16 ounce bottle of Meat Sweats comes with a spritzing nozzle and suggestions for using the BBQ-enhancing liquids. Why not get that BBQ enthusiast on your list the combo pack featuring one of each variety? Place an order for Meat Sweats BBQ Spritz here.
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