Perhaps you are a baseball fan - or possibly you live with someone who is, obsessed with stats and RBIs and the like.

Right now, you (or they) are oh, so happy because the playoffs are here. Want to talk ball? Here, start with this: It’s going to be one of the best Fall Classics ever.

If you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, you’re so happy you could cry. The Cubs have not been in the World Series for 100 years — that’s right, a whole  century. But now, they have the best record in the majors and this could be the year! (Disclaimer: My whole family are Cubs fans, and we were singing, “Go Cubs Go!” the day they clinched the division.)

Aside from the Cubs, the upstart Tampa Bay Devil Rays are putting on a show, and the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies are in the thick of it. Oh, there’s also a possible Los Angeles series between the Dodgers and the Angels. All that, and there’s still the Tuesday tiebreaker between the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins to see which team gets the last slot.

(more…)

The football games are coming, and it’s time to start thinking about beer. Not just the beer you’re going to drink, but what you’re going to serve it in. Toss the plastic cups. It’s time to upgrade. You could go with some basic but classy glasses, like the assortment at PubGlasses.com, where you can pick from a variety that can be personalized for $15 a glass (or get the special football game glass for $10 each). CocktailVibe has the Oslo beer glass ($32 for a set of 4); Pottery Barn has a solid-looking set of six British pint glasses for $28; and at Williams-Sonoma you can find a set of four glasses and have them monogrammed with your initials for $59. If you want to have a bit more fun, consider a pilsner glass with a color-changing LED base or a set with a witty saying (”Half Empty? Half Full?”) in Italian from Sur la Table for $39.50 (pictured, set of four). Uncommon Goods always has amusing and interesting items, like their artful set of glasses that make the beer look suspended in mid-air, or the set of four glasses with your “house rules” for football game parties. Or go all-out for your team with a crystal freezer mug complete with team logo (3 for $12.99). Want to really get fancy? A pair of Lalique Louvre beer glasses will cost you $142, or a handsome set of four Waterford crystal beer glasses will run $250. But aren’t your friends worth it? Now that we’ve got you thinking about beer glasses, why don’t you just go all the way and buy real German beer steins? At BeerSodaSports.com, there are all kinds of steins such as a Bavarian beer ceramic stein with a metal lid, for $38. Or go straight to BeerGlasshopper, where the selection is as wide as your new HDTV: from a real ox-horn with a pewter lid and base ($285), a 3/4-yard glass (with stand) that holds 68 oz. for $80, a 40-oz. Hofbrauhaus Octoberfest dimpled glass mug (pictured), a Swiss hand-carved colorful stein complete with fancy lid for $130 or - and yes, they really do drink from these glasses - an 80-oz. Hofbrauhaus glass drinking boot for $70. And, when your friends have had a boot or two, and shatter your precious purchase on the floor, just remember: That’s what friends are for.

When is a book a head scarf? When is a dish towel a souvenir? Not often, granted — but these cute textiles fit all the descriptions above and more. They’re humble but lovely cloths made in Japan, where you might find them worn in street festivals or hanging on the wall. In case their multi-functionality confuses Western shoppers, importers have folded them up and stitched them so the make a kind of book of fabric, each “page” highlighting a different part of the larger illustration. (To use them as originally intended, just snip the two threads that keep the sheet folded up.) While the fabric’s maker, Hamamonyo, offers a huge selection of patterns in Japan (see them at this foreign-language site), the American company Compact Impact is testing the market with only three styles, which it sells in this bundle for $15.50. More varieties featuring illustrations of pets are on their way in October, the retailer says.

We’ll be thinking a lot about politics in the next few weeks: Obama and Biden, McCain and . . . whoever his running mate will be. But plenty of Americans’ are going to get worked up over something much more intense and competitive: political buttons. Collecting them is a passion of thousands that has given birth to publications, books, auctions and The American Political Items Collector, the largest group of button groupies. There’s no way to begin to dissect the complexities (and lucrative nature) of this hobby, so we’ll give you some fun facts and sites to check out. The buttons (known as cellos) were first issued for the 1886 presedential campaign. Among the most popular are Harry Truman and John Kennedy buttons, according to collector Jeff Figler.  Mark Warda, the author of 100 Years of Political Campaign Collectibles, told MSNBC  that hard-to-find buttons can be very valuable. Ron Wade, another major collector, says that a 1920 James Cox/Franklin D. Roosevelt button recently sold for more than $100,000. (more…)

For every Olympic games, there are Olympic pins. For collectors, the buying, trading and selling of them is  as competitive a sport as any beach volleyball game, and it’s been going on since 1896. The pin trade, an obsession for some, is labeled the “unofficial Olympic sport.” In Beijing, pin sellers have set up shop at the Olympic Expo in the Beijing Exposition Center and in the Coca-Cola sponsored pin-sales center. There are new pins and old ones from previous games, common pins that are handed out by sponsors to anyone and more valuable pins, such as those given to athletes and officials. Most pins are inexpensive - $4 to $10. Now you can join the frenzy by getting some Beijing pins. A page on the Beijing site gives the history of the pin frenzy and describes the “pindemonium” going on there now. The official U.S. Olympic Shop has an assortment of pins for sale, such as a ceramic Beijing logo pin or a YingYing mascot pin, each for $7. NBC’s Olympic online shop has pins, like a gymnastics mascot pin for $8 (pictured) and a rickshaw pin for $6. The Olympin Collector’s Club site has lots of advice and pin facts: there’s even a club member blogging from Beijing. After the official sites, you’ll have to turn to pin-selling retailers, such as Greekshops.com, Collectpins.com (where a USA/China flag Beijing pin is running $8.95), Discountpinstore (they’ve got a set of opening and closing ceremony pins for a pricey $24.89) and Athenspincollection, where you can find individual sports pins, such as a soccer pin for $8.95. When the games end, start looking on Craig’s List and eBay for the special pin you covet.

You can’t buy love. But you sure can surround yourself with beauty that is good for the heart and soul. That notion would seem to be the organizing principle behind the eclectic offerings at Rian Rae Interiors & Gifts, which specializes in unique but comfy home décor pieces that make use of elements found in nature and are, quite simply, beautiful to behold. They’re also so sensually and texturally alluring that you might just long to reach out and touch them, like these geometrically shaped hand-crocheted pendant lamps ($224; pictured) or this French crinkle pendant made of white glass ($379). The Bamboo Cloud chandelier was designed by a Thai artist using traditional bamboo-weaving techniques in a nontraditional way ($690). The roof of this handcrafted lantern ($1,898) is covered with oyster shells. Cuddle up on the couch with this crocheted wool throw ($148), and put a cup of hot tea on this coffee table made from an antique Fench pigeon basket ($1,385). (more…)

Did you make it to Lollapalooza last weekend in Chicago’s Grant Park? Were you in the crowd for Wilco, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails or Kanye West? No? Sigh. Neither were we. But that’s fixable. Read the Blogapalooza, take crib notes from the 2008 set lists, buy the shirt and say you went. The Lolla Coat of Arms women’s T (pictured) would do the job nicely, with its black and gold eagle stretched above a Lollapalooza banner ($20). You can get that same coat of arms on a Lollapalooza onesie ($15). A little more cash will get you extreme eye candy with the limited-edition custom-made Lollapalooza skateboard by Element ($95). If you’d rather be the center of attention for having not attended the CMA Festival, you can accomplish that with the 2008 official event shirt, which splashes the logo across your chest and lists the musicians down your back ($20), or even the official 2008 CMA shooter glass (and yes, that is its actual name) for $10. Wishing you’d gone to Bonnaroo? The 2008 limited-edition silk-screened event poster will help with that, since it’s got cool funky art and lists all the musicians who performed ($30). You say you’re more of a Coachella kind of girl? Then it’s the “Sound Waves and Heat Waves Unite” Hula Hula T that is calling your name ($35.) And if you’re really holding out for the music itself, you can still get single-day passes to the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival Sept. 26-28 ($80 per day) or grounds tickets to the 2008 Monterey Jazz Fest Sept. 19-21 ($35 Friday, $45 Saturday or Sunday). The longest-running jazz festival in the world already has its own official black, electric blue and gold 2008 event shirt online as well ($25), so regardless of whether you go, check it out. It’s as cool as Coltrane. — by Diane Porter

Multicolored anodized aluminum is back and as sleek as ever for the home. First popularized by the Art Deco movement, the process of making the metal’s surface harder and less reactive with acidic substances resulted in beautiful objects for the home like these rare English Art Deco anodized pink ($375) and green ($175) aluminum vases from Decollect. For the noncollector, we found a set of six tumblers at Sur la Table ($30) just right for outdoor entertaining. And for keeping the ice cream cold, Betty’s Attic has a retro aluminum ice cream bowl set ($18). For cocktails, Target offers sets of colorful martini and margarita (pictured) glasses ($30 for a set of six), and for nondrinkers there are juice tumblers ($20 for a set of six). Each one features a different color on the outside (like turquoise, eggplant and olive), and a mirror finish on the inside. Pour the beverages from a huge 98-ounce retro pitcher ($20). And if you’re in the market for a bud vase, TVA has a charming example of anodized aluminum that comes in your choice of red, purple or silver. Hand washing is recommended for all items.