Chia Musical Alarm Clocks, Stuffed Animals Available, Odd

Many aspects of the holidays are predictable, and not all are joyous, such as long lines, stale jokes about old fruitcakes, and the annual swarm of reporters to the malls on Christmas eve to ask shoppers, "Why did ya wait so long?"

Fortunately, the "pro" column is very long, and it includes the excitement surrounding the winter arrival of Chia products.

As I wavered on whether to begin a series on songs of the seven deadly sins, the discovery of intriguing new products in this year's Chia line made the decision easy.

Don't even pretend you don't love Chia pets. While for all of us, this year brings the usual disappointment at the lack of a Chia monkey, the latest crop includes some intriguing surprises.

New stuffed Chia Pet Cuddlies feature "soft huggable fur, and a spunky singing voice", which you hear when you press on the lil' guy's paw. There's a bear and a cub. *edited to note a kind (and funny) reader's correction: there's a puppy and a bear cub.* Fortunately, the Chia folks seem to have gone with a simulated Chia look instead of real Chia plants for the Cuddlies.

This year, every original Chia Pet includes a Limited Edition Musical Alarm Clock. Can you imagine being woken up by a Musical Chia Pet every morning? Yeah, me too, but the bear is kind of cute. And that Chia crocodile is very... interesting-looking. It was apparently introduced in 2004, but I don't recall seeing it before, so it's "new to me", as those NBC ads used to (annoyingly) say.

The Chia Heads have always struck me as a bit freaky. Now I think they're even more so in the winter of their lives. A fellow filmed the life and death of a Chia Homer, and his video is kind of sad:



A Chia-free gift guide is to come...

There is a slight connection between this post and the song, and it's also one of those good Heaven song covers I mentioned yesterday.

Lorraine - Heaven (Psychedelic Furs cover, from Q Covered - The Eighties)