Oh! Gizmo

[Image removed by request of the copyright owner]

By Andrew Liszewski

While cooking gadgets are fair game, we usually don’t cover a lot of actual food items here on OhGizmo! But I feel it’s my duty to spread the word about this truly amazing innovation. You see in previous years, the only time you could get your hands on the Cadbury Creme Egg was the few months leading up to Easter. After that they were removed from store shelves (after a week of heavy discounts) and presumably locked away in some vault until next Easter rolled around.

But the marketing gurus at Cadbury have finally realized that they don’t have to limit their Creme Egg sales to just Easter. Of course just selling chocolate ‘eggs’ makes no sense around the holidays, so the company is disguising them as ornaments instead. The disguise really only consists of a different colored foil wrapper, and the word ‘ornament’ added to the name, but that’s all that’s needed to satisfy those people who usually stock their freezers in order to enjoy the creme egg all year round.

Sadly, it seems my part of the world is not yet ready to accept this Easter treat at Christmas time, so I’ve been unable to find them anywhere. But I know this is just one step towards the ultimate dream of having Creme Eggs available all year round.

[ X-Entertainment - Cadbury Ornament Creme Eggs ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re trying to hunt down a Christmas ornament suitable for the geek in your family, I’d actually suggest skipping the local Hallmark. While there’s nothing wrong with Darth Vader or R2-D2 hanging on your tree, I think this Season’s Readings ornament is a much better choice. Around its center you’ll find a strip of LEDs that light up and scroll a series of holiday messages.

Now unfortunately the ornament is not user programmable, but the 8 different preset messages cover the holiday basics like Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Peace on Earth, Seasons Greetings, Home for Xmas, Joy to the World and Feliz Navidad.

Baron Bob’s got it for just $14.95.

[ Season's Readings ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I know it seems kind of odd to post another time waster since I doubt ‘reading OhGizmo!’ is part of anyone’s job description. But once you get through our witty quips, sarcastic digs and other humorous observations this should keep you distracted for several more hours.

The good people at Fanpop have put together a list of 101 classic Christmas videos you can actually watch online. The list is broken down into several sections including The Essentials, Cartoons, Stop-Motion Animation, Versions of A Christmas Carol, Sitcoms, Music Videos, Commercials, Parodies and Abominations. While some of the videos have already been taken offline, the site is trying hard to stay on top of things by removing links that don’t work anymore.

Certain classics like A Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street are missing because there are no online versions, but other than that the list looks pretty comprehensive. MST3K fans will be particularly happy to see the original version of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, which is so bad it seems like it was only shot so it could be made fun of later.

So head on over to Fanpop if you want to say goodbye to your workload and hello to Christmas memories.

[ Watch 101 Classic Christmas Videos Online ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I really don’t understand why people will spend loads of money for a slim, compact cellphone, only to hang clunky trinkets and charms off of it. Case in point these Mopods, which thankfully haven’t caught on as much in North America as they have in other parts of the world. Besides being cute enough to bring up your Figgy Pudding, they will also spin and light up when you have an incoming call which is great because ringtones alone just aren’t annoying enough.

The festive versions of the Mopods include a snowman, an angel, a reindeer and of course Santa Claus, aka Father Christmas, aka Pere Noel, aka Saint Nicholas, aka Annual Gift Man.

For some reason these particular Mopods appear to only be available from the UK version of Amazon for about $10 each. Just keep in mind you can only use them during the holiday season, unless you want to look even more foolish the rest of the year.

[ Mopods ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I originally wrote about these unique Havaleena lights earlier in the year, but it’s nice to see the company has created a holiday edition just in time for the OGCC. To refresh your memory, the Havaleena lights are kind of an LED-based artificial torch that can be used indoors or out as a source of soft, ambient light. The battery powered lights also make for a great hi-tech centerpiece if you’re looking for an alternative to a bouquet of flowers, or that dancing Santa Claus.

The Holiday 07 Edition includes a set of special white vellum gel filters with the words “Good Tidings of Comfort and Joy” printed around the top, as well as an additional unlabeled red and 2 frosted white filters if you’re not into the whole ‘comfort and joy’ thing.

The Havaleena lights are available individually for $59, or in a bouquet of 3 for $149. And since I don’t see the Holiday 07 Edition listed at their suggested retailer, you might want to contact them directly if you’re interested.

[ Havaleena Holiday 07 Edition ]

By Andrew Liszewski

For those of us who enjoy a tastefully decorated tree this time of year, as long as we’re not the ones doing the decorating comes this Christmas Tree In-A-Box kit. Now I’m sure there are plenty of people who insist you must have a live tree for the holidays, but while you’re busy picking up pine needles and cleaning up sap, the rest of us can enjoy a far easier solution to holiday decorating.

When assembled the paper Christmas tree stands a respectable 2 feet tall, and the box it comes in even has a green flocked finish allowing you to use it as a tree stand until it’s time to take it down and pack it back up again. But that’s not al! The kit also includes a collection of foil ornaments and boughs for decorating the tree, origami paper and instructions for folding your own Christmas-themed ornaments and an 80-page Christmasmania! book complete with songs and recipes.

It’s an entire afternoon of Christmas entertainment for just $14.95 from Barnes & Noble.

[ Christmas Tree In-A-Box ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There’s nothing like the feeling of cozying up to a warm fire on a cold Winter (or Autumn) night. But believe it or not you can actually improve that feeling with the satisfaction of knowing the fire is also being used to recycle old newspapers. All you have to do is fill this ‘brick maker’ with dampened sheets of newsprint, press out as much water as you can and then let them dry. What you’re left with is a tightly-formed paper briquette that’s easy to light and will burn a lot longer than just crumpled up paper.

Let’s face it, the Winter’s not the best time of the year if you’re worried about your carbon footprint. Besides heating bills, you probably also have quite a collection of festive lighting all over the house, not to mention the non-stop parade of Christmas specials on TV you have to watch. So being able to re-use those old newspapers as a source of heat (and atmosphere) is a win-win situation.

The Brick Maker is available from Taylor Gifts for $29.98.

[ Newspaper Brick Maker ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Now honestly, who doesn’t secretly wish they could turn off all the lights on their Christmas tree simply by blowing on it?… Fortunately, I couldn’t think of anyone either, but if you know someone who does, there’s now a unique ornament to make that wish come true.

Once Santa is wired into your tree’s lighting system, all you have to do is blow on the ornament to turn off all the lights. While it seems kind of lame, I guess it could make for a neat party trick in a room full of inebriated guests, or an easier way to shut them off at night. And turning them back on again is as easy as pushing a button on the front of the chimney.

I just wished the thing wasn’t so full of innuendo and double entendres. For example, take this line from the website where it’s available for sale.“Watch with amazement as friends and family turn off the Christmas tree lights by just blowing on Santa’s magic candle.” Something tells me if I was watching friends and family interacting with Santa’s ‘magic candle’ it wouldn’t be a look of amazement on my face. More horror, and possibly disgust.

But if you’re far more mature than I am, the Magic Blowout Ornament is available from MerlinsBox for $24.99.

[ Santa's Magic Blowout Christmas Ornament ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s not that uncommon to see pop-culture icons like Mickey Mouse or Homer Simpson replacing Santa Claus when it comes to Christmas decorations. But something just doesn’t feel right about these light-up Pokemon ones.

I know they’ve somehow managed to stay popular for many years now, but I’m afraid I just don’t associate them with the holiday season. In fact I’m pretty sure you have to do at least a couple of Christmas-themed holiday specials to even be considered for decoration fodder, and to the best of my knowledge, Pokemon has not.

And while I know enough about the games and cartoon to recognize Pikachu on the far left, I’m afraid I have no idea who the other three are, nor do I have any desire to look through thousand of photos online to find their names. So instead, based on the Pokemon naming conventions I’m just going to call them Birdblue, Twigthing and Charles.

But if you live anywhere except Japan, don’t bother looking for these since that photo was taken at the Shibuya 109 shopping complex in Tokyo.

[ Have a holly jolly pokemas ] VIA [ Kotaku ]