The Salon Gift Guide

Gifts for the political junkie

Face time with Novak
Your conservative friends will know you care when you spend $595 to give them face time with the devil himself. Twice a year, political columnist Bob Novak, the legendary Prince of Darkness, holds an intimate gathering with 70 paying guests called the Evans-Novak Political Forum. The proceeds go to ... Bob Novak. ("Me," he once answered when asked whom the events were meant to benefit.) Special guests are promised; past cameos have included Harry Reid and Dick Cheney. Spring events are typically in April, the fall version in September. Check here or here for ticket information -- and in the meantime, you can use our handy Holiday Coupon to send an IOU.

LBJ's recordings
There are several famous photos of Lyndon Baines Johnson hovering over, crowding and otherwise violating the personal space of various senators, literally and figuratively bending them to his will. If you actually want to hear the erstwhile Master of the Senate browbeating his former congressional colleagues, it'll only cost you $127.75. LBJ started taping his presidential phone calls the day he became president. In Vol. 4 through 6 of "The Presidential Recordings: Lyndon B. Johnson," the political geek can pay rapt attention as LBJ launches the Great Society. Between Feb. 1, 1964, and May 31, 1964, he started pushing epochal civil rights legislation through Congress and declared a War on Poverty. You can also hear him beginning to express doubt about that other war, in Vietnam.

Sites of scandal
For gift-givers on a budget, consider a cut-rate peek at the dark underbelly of our nation's capital. Scandal Tours offers a guided excursion through the greatest hits of Washington scandals. (Tours run on Saturdays, April 1 through Labor Day; tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and $20 for students. Reservations are required.) Take a gander at '70s classics like the Watergate, or the Tidal Basin where stripper Fanne Foxe and Rep. Wilbur Mills once frolicked, but also check in on the sex scandals of the '80s and the new millennium, with stops at Gary Hart's townhouse and the Union Station restroom where Larry Craig allegedly liked to meet new friends. Washington locals may feel a rush of nostalgia, or something, on visiting the Vista Hotel, site of an infamous crack-smoking session by former Washington Mayor Marion Barry.

Stocking stuffers
Your loved ones will have to wait forever for the real things, but the sugar-coated versions of Impeachmints and Indictmints will arrive in plenty of time for Christmas. They also cost just $3, make your breath fresh and alleviate symptoms of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Impeachmint tins feature a picture of George, while Indictmints, already a golden oldie, sport the smiling mugs of Scooter Libby, Tom DeLay, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. Also available: National Embarrassmints. You get a dollar off on an order of any four tins.

Other stocking stuffers include Bush's Last Day keychains, available here for $12.95, along with Bush countdown clocks and calendars.

-- Mark Schone

Gifts for the sports fan

Jim Russell Racing School
I know this is obscenely expensive. Um, $4,000. But whomever you send to Infineon Raceway for this three-day Indy car racing school will be in your debt forever. It's so much fun! Their Mario Andretti fantasy will quickly fade when they find out how difficult it is to steer and brake like the pros. But then it becomes a fantasy again, once they feel themselves floating with confidence around the turns. Go for the Techniques of Racing class. They will need the full three days. By the way, the women who took the class when I did loved it as much as the men.

XM satellite radio
So you're driving across the country, or at least out of Cleveland, and you want to listen to the Indians, but as you drift west, all you get on the trusty AM is the Cubs. And that's just sad. That's why satellite radio is pretty damn great: You can tune in to your home team, like, wherever. You also get college football and basketball games up and down the national playing field. Hockey, anyone? You can even listen to PGA tournaments, hear if Rory Sabbatini finally clobbered Tiger Woods. More than 5,000 live sports broadcasts in all. Plus, for $13 a month (you also have to get a satellite radio; they start at around $20), you get all that other music and news stuff.

Vintage baseball caps
The best thing about shopping on the Cooperstown Ballcap Web site is not just sorting through the hundreds of old major league hats but through those from such defunct leagues as the Japanese-American (Watsonville Apple Giants, 1927), Native American (the Chippewa Redskins, 1928) and Nite-Club (New York Stork Club, 1932). Who knew? The hats are made from wool athletic flannel with horsehide sweatbands and cost a pretty hefty $44 apiece, plus about $6 to ship. Still, you can't put a price on how only a vintage baseball cap can grant you that classic Ty Cobb look of sheer orneriness.

-- Kevin Berger

Gifts for the aesthete

Hand-pulled prints
There is an almost bottomless trove (or so it seems) of art for sale on the Internet, all of which you can get to with a few quick keystrokes. The field of hand-pulled prints is a boon for the collector on a budget, and if you're diligent you can pick up signed pieces that run the gamut from fun goccos and letterpress prints by emerging artists, to well-publicized editions from more established names like Patricia Curtan. Curtan works almost meditatively in the medium of linoleum block printing, producing limited editions that are exquisitely drawn, with layer upon layer of color hand-printed on a 100-year-old 10-by-15 Chandler & Price letterpress. Curtan's work can be seen in the Chez Panisse fruit and vegetable books, published by HarperCollins. Her Web site is a little confusing, making it difficult to link directly to my personal favorite, melons (roll over the word "melons" on that page), a paean to naturally occurring patterns, priced at $250. To order prints, e-mail Patricia Curtan or call the studio at 510-652-3062.

Sleek shakers
In the category of useful, good-looking, timeless design that wears well and is affordable, consider the Humpty Dumpty salt and pepper shakers ($30), winner of the Design Plus award from the German company Philippi. These curve nicely into the palm of your hand, and have a pleasant yet surprising (given the cost) heft to them. Beautifully constructed of brushed stainless steel, the curved bottoms are weighted so they roll almost continuously with a little help, but, unlike their namesake, aren't prone to break after a great fall (mine have not flown apart yet). Misnomer aside, these shakers will engage a table of children and grown-ups alike with their attractive antics.

-- Mignon Khargie

Next page: For lovers of books and culture