No...Not the Pauly Shore Movie

Today wrapped up an annual tradition of last-minute Christmas shopping. We had a bit of a sad year, with a death in the family recently. So we decided that it would be cool and sort of symbolic to get everybody these cool little Ecosphere things. It's like a little gift of life.

The Ecosphere dome is a self-contained "biodome" sans the partying losers in the form of Pauly Shore and that younger Baldwin brother. It contains everything needed to sustain life: light, seawater, algae and microbes. But my favorite part has to be the 2 cute little red shrimp that I am hoping will reproduce shortly.

The ball comes on a rotating stand, so you can see your little world from every angle without having to pick it up and causing a massive biodome earthquake. Looking into it I can't help but feel like Lisa Simpson in that one episode where she creates an entire civilization from a tooth and a can of soda.