Shopping for Santa

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A few doors down, Crown House of Gifts has a raft of great gift ideas. Kids will love the Sweet Machine, a miniature version of those arcade cranes where you manipulate a steel claw to try and pick up prizes. It’s $40, but unlike the arcade version it doesn’t take money to operate—so when the claw comes up empty you won’t feel ripped off. Impatient beer drinkers will wonder how they ever got along without a twenty-ounce beer mug that has a kid’s bicycle bell mounted to the rim. Just don’t be surprised if the person who fetches your beer hurls the mug at your head when bringing it. It’s $16.

If you know any skateboarders who risk their necks on rickety homebuilt ramps, the Red Belly Boardshop in the Courtyard Shops sells collapsible ramps starting at $200. (Note: they collapse when you’re ready to put them away, not when you’re actually using them.) Starter skateboard sets start at $120. How-to-skateboard DVDs start at $17.

In addition to books on everything from Aristotelianism to Zen, Crazy Wisdom on Main Street has a selection of hand-held massage and muscle-relaxing implements starting at $5, none of which require batteries. The most fun? Bonger tapping balls. They look like something you’d use to play the xylophone, but instead you play someone’s back—the tapping motion breaks down muscle tension and stimulates circulation. They’re $19.