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Gift Ideas

  
 
Smoothly
13:17 / 31.08.06
A friend is having a naming ceremony for her baby boy in a couple of weeks and, instead of traditional presents, she has asked guests to bring something for a time capsule that the nipper will receive on his 18th birthday.
For example, one person has bought a good bottle of wine which will be just right for drinking in 2024; someone else got the baby featured in football programme for the team he will duly be indoctrinated into supporting…

So, help! Has anyone got any gift ideas for a baby’s 18th birthday? Ideally, it would be both kinda historical and coming-of-agey, but I’m struggling to think of anything.
 
 
Mistoffelees
13:30 / 31.08.06
Maybe a comic ("for mature readers only"), that might be very nostalgical or expensive in 2024.

Or a tshirt or a pair of jeans, which are hip right now.

Or a blue ray DVD ("What are these supposed to be?").
 
 
Whisky Priestess
13:37 / 31.08.06
Get him the top ten singles in the charts for the week he was born (if you still can) - or even better, download them onto a cheapo MP3 player!

A friend did this and it was hailed as a great idea, except that that week's charts included not only the Crazy Frog, but a Crazy frog rip-off single.
 
 
■
13:42 / 31.08.06
Download the whole of Time Trumpet so they can see if the predictions were accurate.
 
 
Smoothly
13:46 / 31.08.06
I thought about something like that, WP, but had the same concern Mist mentions – "What am I supposed to do with this? What’s an ‘mp3’??" It’s also a little bit obvious and I fear he might get a few variations on that.

I quite like the idea of an item of clothing that would be vintage in 2024. Not sure what though. Fashionistas?

Cube, that’s genius.
 
 
Cat Chant
14:04 / 31.08.06
"What am I supposed to do with this? What’s an ‘mp3’??"

You could make that very drawback into an opportunity - get him something really cutting-edge and futuristic* which in 2024 will be either hilarious (cf 1980s huge mobile phones) or the subject of goatee-stroking revival/fannish love (cf music on vinyl, Commodore 64 games/console simulators, etc).

*yet not too expensive. Hmm, I see the flaw in this plan.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
16:12 / 31.08.06
Get him some oil. Christ knows how much that'll be worth in 18 years' time.
 
 
Olulabelle
16:18 / 31.08.06
You could buy him an Anime cel. I am sure they would not go down in price so it would be an investment but also a thing of beauty to have anyway. You could chose something very of the moment or something that you think is beautiful and that represents you. Personally I would chose something by Miyasaki because I can't imagine anything by him ever becoming something unwanted.

Also, you never know, in 18 years time Anime cels may no longer be being created.
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
16:20 / 31.08.06
What's the legal drinking age where you are?
 
 
Ex
16:24 / 31.08.06
Give him a tiiiiiny baaaaby. Then, when older, he will have a friend. A friend who has lived in a box with some oil, some booze and an mp3 player for eighteen years, but still: a friend.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
16:32 / 31.08.06
Okay, Ex is officially The Voice Of Reason. That's the best baby-gift idea EVER.
 
 
Triplets
16:36 / 31.08.06
18? Condoms and booze.
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
17:06 / 31.08.06
When I turned 18, the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the world was incontrovertible proof that these were not my real parents. Know any decent forgers?
 
 
Smoothly
08:54 / 01.09.06
Unless I can think of an item of clothing that will be a mint classic in 2024, the booze option is looking most tempting. Not very original, but hey. Given that someone has already given a bottle of wine, can anyone suggest something? Is 2006 a vintage year for anything? What should I consider – port, whiskey, Champagne?

I don't think I can source a baby at short notice, but I wonder how big Sea Monkeys would get after 18 years.

I still like Deva’s idea of getting something cutting edge that will look amusingly quaint in 18 years’ time, but again, I can’t think of anything.
 
 
Whisky Priestess
08:57 / 01.09.06
get him a cheese
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
11:41 / 01.09.06
Okay, having advanced a couple of half-assed "funny" ideas, here's a serious one: some works by a local artist that looks like he or she might be an up-and-comer. Good art but also a sort of fun "lottery ticket."
 
 
Triplets
12:25 / 01.09.06
Ooh, I like that one.

You could do the same with some local bands and demo tapes. On one hand it's a snap shot of local colour and also a slim chance it might be worth something later.

At the least he can brag to his mates he has a copy of the Screaming Fudge's 1st mixtape.

Again, though, could fall into the "wazzan mp3, granddad?" trap.
 
 
Axolotl
16:44 / 01.09.06
If you go the booze route a decent single malt might be a good idea.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
17:03 / 01.09.06
A photo of yourself, drunk, naked and laughing?
 
 
Smoothly
19:01 / 01.09.06
I assume people will bring cameras to the party, so that'll probably be taken care of.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
22:22 / 03.09.06
Buy him some shares in a company you think will do well. Then if he's lucky he can buy loads of alcohol for himself.
 
 
Smoothly
10:31 / 04.09.06
That's a good idea.
Anybody got any tips? Any 2006 start-ups destined for great things?
 
 
pointless & uncalled for
10:50 / 04.09.06
I would have thought that the point of this being a time capsule would instantly negate any "wazzan mp3 grandad?" or similar issues.

Personally I would aim for a collection of media articles on poignant issues of this year along with music and other stuff being burnt onto a DVD or similar for future viewing. Don't worry about obsalescence of the media, there will always be a means availble out there somewhere and it could prove an interesting adventure to unlock the secrets of the shiny disk.

Give the prospective ex-nipper the chance to delve into the past as the past saw it. Any attempts to deliver things that will survive the onslaught of redundancy could easily be wiped out by a craze in eighteen years of exploding time capsules without even opening them.
 
 
Smoothly
12:21 / 04.09.06
Yes yes, I’m not worried about the thing seeming quaint or old-fashioned (I like that idea), I just don’t want it to be unusable. Which is one of the concerns I’d have about the DVD thing – they tend to degrade don’t they? What’s the chance of a DVD perishing to the point of being unreadable after 18 years in a tin box?

Nice to see you back, by the way, SK.
 
 
pointless & uncalled for
12:51 / 04.09.06
Independent sources suggest anywhere between 10s to 100 years and no objection is made to use of CD/DVD technology as a viable means of archiving information.

Or you could go really old fashioned and write out play lists and put together a scrapbook of cuttings and so on.

Don't forget to include a link to some forum board or other, if you know of any.
 
  
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