Alex's 2008 Birthday/Xmas/etc Wish List

Last Updated: December 14, 2008

Special Note: This list is something of a tradition and a formality, but I know that this year in particular lots of folks are a little tight on finances, so I want to reiterate that I'm really not expecting anything from anybody for Xmas. It's also going to be a pretty hard winter for a lot more people than usual, so if you're looking to give me an Xmas gift, please consider making a donation to a local food bank or shelter instead. They really could use the help more than I need new music or gadgets this year..

As always, this list is provided for the convenience of those people who have decided they want to get me a gift but don't know what to get me (and so they'll stop pestering me to make a list). If you've found your way here, it's probably because you're somebody who knows me and might conceivably want to give me a gift. This should in no way be interpreted as an expectation of anything, and please feel free to completely ignore this page's existence if you are so inclined. I certainly don't expect gifts from anyone. This list comes with no warranty of any kind. Not for use in medical applications or nuclear reactors. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

As per tradition, those contemplating getting me something from this list may wish to coordinate their efforts to avoid duplication. In this vein, the designated coordinator for this list is (click for info)

Music

General Policy: These are things I'd like to have, but some of them might be rather hard to come by, and I don't want anybody spending huge amounts of money on them. If reasonably priced, new CDs are preferable, but if not, used CDs are fine, or if those aren't available, downloaded/copied/burned/mp3/ogg is ok too. Use your best judgement. I know some people have philosophical objections against buying new CDs, and that's fine too.

New Stuff

Susumu Hirasawa — Kenja no Propeller (Philosopher's Propeller) (www.s-hirasawa.com)
(or really anything except the Paranoia Agent soundtrack and "Blue Limbo", which I already have)
The Beatles — Revolver
The Beatles — The White Album
The Beatles — Abbey Road
The Beatles — Help!
New Order — (any except Substance or Technique)
Pet Shop Boys — (any except Please, Actually, or Very)
(though Actually and Very are also on my list of needing replacements (see below))
KMFDM — (any except Money)
Madness — Madness
(or other albums of theirs of that era (80s))
—

The Susumu Hirasawa stuff would almost certainly need to be ordered (I have had good experiences ordering from the linked website before, however).

Replacement Stuff

I have discovered that there are now quite a few albums of various sorts that I know I owned copies of in the past, but for some reason can no longer find in my collection. Some of these are rather annoying, and I would like to get replacement CDs for. While I do have MP3/OGG versions of all of these in my digital collection already (which I ripped off the CDs I had before they went missing) the main reason for wanting the original CDs is because I've decided I want to rip/encode all of my music into FLAC form, but I need uncompressed originals to really get the best results from that. Also, since I've already paid for all of these once, I have no problems at all if people just want to give me burned copies or used stuff (so long as it's actually in good shape, since really the whole point is to get a good quality audio rip)... Alternately, you could just give me FLAC files of these if you have the ability and are so inclined.

New Order — Technique
Pet Shop Boys — Actually
Pet Shop Boys — Very
They Might Be Giants — They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants — Lincoln
They Might Be Giants — Flood
(Soundtrack) — The Matrix: Music From The Motion Picture
Yoko Kanno — Macross Plus OST

Books

Shakugan no Shana (manga)
Vol 3 (the latest one)
Loveless (manga)
Vol 8 (the latest one)

Gadgets

DVD remote for PS3
A heart-rate monitor
One I can wear while running (preferably Polar Telemetry compatible, as that means I could use it with the gym machines too, but not strictly required)
A digital camera
(the small, compact type) This would probably be a bit pricey, though, so I don't really expect anybody to get me one. If anybody has good suggestions, though, that would be welcome too..
Minty Boost
(I'm getting an awful lot of things that charge off USB ports in my life now.. having one or two of these around might be handy..)

There's gotta be some other nifty gadgets out there I'd like, but I can't think of any of them.. sigh.

Games

a MMORPG to try
...that isn't EQ/EQ2/WoW. Been there, done those.
Assassin's Creed (PS3)
It looks interesting, and might give me something to do with my PS3..
Resistance 2 (PS3)
I did really enjoy the first one

DVDs, Etc

Reminder: These are in no particular order

Some Kind of Wonderful
Real Genius
Neverwhere
Benny Hill
Robot Carnival (anime)
I've been debating whether to get this for some time, but I think I probably do have to sooner or later just because of the opening/closing bits..

I'm probably forgetting some stuff that should go here..

Mundane/Miscellany

DVD Storage
I need something bigger than the drawer I'm currently using, and more organized than the bag I'm currently keeping the overflow in :)
CD Storage
I need something to keep CD discs in (note, not jewelboxes, as I'm not sure where most of my jewelboxes have gotten to by this time, just the CDs themselves, so a binder or something), but it needs to be able to store the discs without the printing on the discs sticking to the sleeves (as happens with my current binder). It doesn't have to be a binder (a desk-top thingy would be fine too), but it does need to hold a decent number (I think my current collection is somewhere between 50 and 100 discs)..
Bathrobe
I need another one. This traditionally comes from family, so if you want to do this one, be sure to check with the wishlist coordinator (above) first!
Gift certificates to Fry's or other geeky places
(I'm sure I'll find a use for them) Note: I'm no longer asking for Best Buy gift cards, because it seems like these days every time I go in there looking for something, they never ever have what I'm looking for anyway, so the gift cads rarely get used..
Clothes
...if somebody happens to find some that would look nice, I'm always trying to find things to fill out my wardrobe. Sizes: shirts=M (sometimes L though, depending on the shirt, so returnable is probably a good idea) (neck=18, sleeve=35), pants=36/31, socks=(Penny's Gold Toe Metropolitan black) Yes, I'm officially an old man now, I'm actually asking for socks for Xmas
..and of course penguins and dragons and fluffy anime things are always cool.