ALL CRAPPY GIFTS

Al Dente Singing Floating Pasta Timer

Somewhere, a German engineer got so personally offended by a soggy noodle that he built a floating plastic buoy to serenade you about it. Drop Al Dente into your pot of boiling water and it will bob there ominously until it decides your pasta is done, at which point it erupts into a tinny, barely-audible rendition of 'That's Amore' (3 minutes), 'The Godfather Theme' (7 minutes), 'Tarantella Napoletana' (9 minutes), or a prison chorus (11 minutes, presumably for anyone who let it get this far). Reviewers report the volume is so quiet you'll miss the concert entirely over the sound of your own stovetop, and the timing is more 'suggestion' than 'science', but it floats, it sings, and it judges your fusilli. A kitchen gadget that replaced a $0.50 egg timer with a waterproof music box. Magnificent.