Shopping tips and ideas.
If you're low on inspiration, 4gifts.com does a worldwide and Irish delivery service of impressive hampers such as wine in beautiful handmade wooden trunks, a chocoholic fantasy hamper, as well as some more unusual things such as a karaoke machine, the ultimate relaxation kit and a mulled wine bouquet. www.4giftsdirect.com, or call 1850-210021 to order or for catalogue.
The new Purty Kitchen shop is an eclectic mix of food and wine. The food starts with the top sellers from the menu in The Purty Kitchen and there is also a wide range of artisan gourmet products from Italian pesto to a selection of the exclusive Ronnefeldt herbal teas and fresh breads and scones made at their in-house bakery. The Purty Kitchen Food and Wine Emporium, 3-5 Old Dun Leary Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, (01-2300991), www.purtykitchen.com
Dublin's Bridge Gallery is a place to pick up unusual quality presents from people such as New Zealand designer and artist Gabi Malpas. All her pieces are one-offs and are made using gemstone beads, found items and sterling silver. The Bridge Gallery, 6 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7 (01-8729702), mail@thebridgegallery.com, www.thebridgegallery.com Mon-Sat, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 2-5 p.m.
The Cow's Lane Fashion Market will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today, tomorrow and next Thursday, with the last day on Friday, Christmas Eve. After that the market will go on its winter holidays until St Patrick's Weekend. Pictured below are clothes from the Tailor, Bright and Young label.
FOR THE TECHIE IN YOUR LIFE
If you have a digital camera with a lower mega pixel spec, it might be worth investing in a plug-in programme called "Genuine Fractals". Use it with programmes such as Photoshop and it will make enlargements beyond that which your pixels allow. About €150. www.lizardtech.com/products/gf/
Irish Broadband's new residential Ripwave service doesn't need a phone line to connect to the Internet, but uses a small antenna on the roof. Fixed monthly charge of just €29.99 (incl. VAT) with no annual contract. For more information, see www.irishbroadband.ie or phone 1890-564456.
On the digital music front, Apple still has a grip on the market with its iPod. But check out the iRiver (from €299) and Creative (from €279) ranges because, unlike the iPod, you can listen to the radio as well as to music you have stored.
As for the brand new Creative Zen portable media centre, there's not much you can't do - it stores movies, music and photos. You'll never be bored on a bus again. (01-8066909) www.creative.com
Nikon D70 and Canon Eos 300D are part of the new generation of digital SLR cameras on the market. These kinds of cameras have recently almost halved in price and are about €1,000.
GAMES ON
Americans' insatiable thirst for self-esteem is mirrored in the new generation of board games such as Cranium, "where everyone can shine". The idea is that it challenges multiple facets of intelligence - word play, spatial manipulation and musical and physical dexterity - so if you only have half a brain, you can still win. Or so the theory goes. Makes a change from Monopoly, when the most frequently-asked question is "Whose turn is it?" See www.cranium.com or amazon.com. Eight million copies sold, so it looks like a classic.
Apples to Apples is another relatively new word game involving verbs and adjectives on flash cards for four to 10 players. This does allow for argument, which is right and fitting. It's made by Out of the Box and is also available from amazon.com.