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KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME, the NPR News quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. We're playing this week with Alonzo Bodden, Peter Grosz and Roxanne Roberts. And here again is your host at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.
PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Thank you, Bill.
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SAGAL: In just a minute, Bill reminisces about deputy chief of staff Josh Rhyman in our Listener Limerick Challenge.
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SAGAL: If you'd like to play, give us a call 1-888-WAITWAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. Right now, panel, if you haven't done your holiday shopping, you're out of luck because there is no time left, and we cannot help you.
PETER GROSZ: (Laughter).
SAGAL: But it is not too late to start your gift planning for next year. So we dug up some incredible holiday gifts that are in development right now for the future shopper. And these are all real products that, if it goes well, will be coming to you next holiday season. It's a gift guide game we're calling...
KURTIS: Better Luck Next Year.
SAGAL: So your job, simply, is to guess which of these gifts is the real one to hit the shelves. Do that - you get a point. First one's for you, Alonzo. For the Chatty Cathy in your life, which of these is a real product in development?
KURTIS: The Hushme, the mouth silencer that allows you to talk on your phone without anybody nearby hearing you.
SAGAL: Or...
KURTIS: The Edit Taser, a wristband which gives you tiny electrical shocks until you get to the point.
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ALONZO BODDEN: As much as I'd like B, I'm going to go with A.
SAGAL: You're right.
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SAGAL: It's called the Hushme mouth muffler. It's a Bluetooth enabled device that covers up your whole mouth like a gag, so nobody can hear what you're saying as you talk into the phone. It's for people who want to look like Hannibal Lecter but find hockey masks to be insufficiently pretentious.
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GROSZ: But then does the person that you're talking to hear, like, (in muffled voice) hi, honey?
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GROSZ: (In muffled voice) I'll be home in, like, five minutes.
SAGAL: No. No. Apparently, they hear your voice, but - and this is even cooler - it broadcasts masking sounds outwards. So if somebody was standing next to you...
GROSZ: (Imitating bird).
SAGAL: ...They'd hear a bird chirping.
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SAGAL: All right. Roxanne, this is for you. If you have a really lazy friend, next year you can give her...
KURTIS: A hands-free mouthpiece that brushes your teeth for you, called the Amabrush.
SAGAL: Or...
KURTIS: An automated treadmill that walks your dog for you, called the Puppy Mill.
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ROXANNE ROBERTS: Well, you can just leash your puppy on to your current treadmill. So I'm going to go with the brush your teeth one.
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SAGAL: You're right. The Amabrush - it looks - it's an amazing thing. It looks like a hockey mouthguard. You put it in your mouth. You press the button. And you stand there for 10 seconds, motionless, while it brushes your teeth. The AMA stands for, am I seriously this lazy?
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SAGAL: Very good. All right, Peter. You can give the shoe lover in your life which of these new kicks that will be, hopefully, available soon?
KURTIS: Denso vacuum cleaner shoes - platform shoes with tiny vacuums installed at the heels.
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KURTIS: So they clean as you stroll around the house.
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SAGAL: Or...
KURTIS: Vibram Footprinters. They leave two sets of footprints so it always looks like Jesus is walking beside you.
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GROSZ: I mean, the first one sounded ridiculous until you said the second one.
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GROSZ: But I'm going to say A.
SAGAL: You are right.
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SAGAL: The vacuum shoes.
GROSZ: Yeah, the vacuum shoes.
SAGAL: The energy - this is great. The energy you create from walking around powers little vacuums in each shoe. They really suck.
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GROSZ: And are you, like, crushing the vacuums, then, as you're walking?
SAGAL: No. Apparently, the way, I mean, they're, like, these weird Oxford shoes with enormous soles.
GROSZ: Oh, they're weird.
SAGAL: And you walk along. And they've got some sort of spring in them, so when you put your weight on it, it powers the little vacuum or charges the battery that runs the vacuum. And the vacuum goes (imitating vacuum) as you walk around.
BODDEN: Weren't pimps wearing those in like '73?
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SAGAL: They didn't have any cleaning utility. They just looked cool. Alonzo, we've got one more, and it's for you. For the person who already has a Roomba, you might want to get which of these home robots?
KURTIS: The Laundroid, a robot which folds your laundry for you.
SAGAL: Or...
KURTIS: The Womba (ph), which alerts you when you're at peak fertility and either escorts you into the bedroom or reminds you to use protection.
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BODDEN: Wow.
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BODDEN: I've completely forgotten the first one.
SAGAL: Yeah, I know.
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GROSZ: You mean the right one?
BODDEN: OK. So it's either one that folds the laundry or one that lets you know - now, on the fertility one, you said it escorts you into the bedroom?
SAGAL: Yeah, depending on your needs.
BODDEN: Just because it's got to be fun, I'm going to go with B.
SAGAL: Yeah. You're not right, but that would be fun.
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BODDEN: I don't even care about not being right.
SAGAL: I know.
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BODDEN: Well, somebody make it right.
SAGAL: Yeah.
BODDEN: What are the inventors doing?
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SAGAL: We do have some more questions for you about this week's news. Peter, marine biologists are warning us that dolphins could be deafened by the sound of what in the ocean?
GROSZ: People farting in the ocean.
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SAGAL: No. The dolphins listen to this, and they go oh, I'll have what she's having.
GROSZ: People shooting "When Harry Met Sally" in the ocean?
SAGAL: No.
GROSZ: People having sex in the ocean?
SAGAL: Not people having sex in the ocean but...
GROSZ: Oh, dolphins.
SAGAL: Well, I'll give it to you. Fish having - even though dolphin are not fish, don't write in.
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SAGAL: According to scientists, the so-called fish orgies of the Gulf corvina fish are as loud as a crowd cheering at a stadium, meaning it is bad news that that Gulf corvina couple just moved into the apartment above you.
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SAGAL: You may...
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SAGAL: You may like your fish deboned, but the fish has other ideas.
(LAUGHTER) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.