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Wanderlush Diary http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary A drinking-centric travel blog. Fri, 14 Aug 2015 19:42:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.3 4 Days of Gifts: Give a Little Holiday Spirits http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/22/4-days-gifts-give-little-holiday-spirits/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/22/4-days-gifts-give-little-holiday-spirits/#respond Mon, 22 Dec 2014 08:10:29 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3896 With only three more days until Christmas, it’s a good thing that you’ve already crossed friends, family, and coworkers off your list, thanks to Wanderlush’s gift guides for the home bartender and teetotaler alike, and you’ve also stuffed their stockings full of fun, flavorful surprises. But now comes the most difficult part: what to bring to that special holiday party to which you’ve been invited. From Christmas through New Year’s, the next few weeks will be brimming with festive gatherings. And to me, nothing says “celebrate” more than a bottle of boutique spirits. So run, don’t walk to your favorite neighborhood liquor store and pick up one of these scrumptious selections.

Christmas Spirit

Christmas SpiritWhen you said you’d be there with Christmas Spirit, you meant more than just a festive attitude. This limited edition 90-proof white spirit is double distilled from Anchor Distilling’s 2012 Christmas Ale. Capturing the essence of the holiday, it features such seasonal scents as spices, clove, orange peel, and poached apple, and its warmth lingers on the palate with notes of spiced apple, baking spices, and dried fruit. Distribution is restricted to California only.

Feisty Spirits American Roots Whiskey

Feisty Spirits WhiskeyWhat’s the best liquor to drink on a cold winter’s night? Whiskey, of course. And the whiskeys from Feisty Spirits, the first craft distillery in Fort Collins, Colorado, not only tastes great, but it helps warm the soul. American Roots gets it name and flavor from a root tea that is infused into a whiskey made from locally sourced milled. Featuring a strong nutmeg and allspice aroma, with wildflower notes, American Spirits starts out smooth, transitions into notes of saffron, and ends with a hint of anise. Available for in-store and online purchase at liquor stores throughout Colorado.

Equality Vodka

Equality VodkaGive the gift of good taste and social awareness with this 80-proof ultra-premium vodka. A portion of sales from every bottle goes to Lambda Legal, a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Distribution is limited to Dallas, Texas.

G’Vine Gin

G'Vine GinThe French are known around the world for their wine, but this new gin just might change people’s perception. Produced in the region of Cognac, G’Vine is distilled from the Ugni Blanc grape—the first ever gin to use grapes as its base spirit–as well as macerated grape vine flower blossoms. G’Vine FLoraison (40% ABV) features vibrant floral notes but finished with a zesty mix of juniper and ginger. G’Vine Nouaison (43.9% ABV) is notably spicier, with notes of juniper and citrus.

J.R. Ewing Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

J.R. Ewing Bourbon ReserveYour host will like an oil baron when you give him the gift of this four-year-old, 80-proof premium private-reserve bourbon. Bottled in the heart of Kentucky’s bourbon country, J.R. Ewing bourbon is well-balanced with a light amber color. The nose is classic and slightly fruity with notes of vanilla, oak, and orange, while the taste is surprisingly mild, yet crisp, with a light spicy/honey taste that lingers. Available in select states. See website for more information.

Howdy Stranger Vodka

Howdy Stranger VodkaHouston, Texas-based Yellow Rose Distilling is known for its award-winning bourbons and whiskeys. Now it’s making its first foray into white spirits with Howdy Stranger vodka. Made from 100% local corn, Howdy Stranger is distilled 12 times and charcoal filtered for maximum flavor, clarity, and enjoyment. Perfect for cold-weather sipping or mixing in crowd-pleasing cocktails. howdystrangervodka.com

Selvarey Rum

Selvarey RumRum is experiencing a renaissance as of late, and Selvarey is bringing an elegance and refinement to the spirit with its award-winning boutique Panamanian White and Cacao rums. Co-founded by singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, Selvarey was born out of a desire to create a refined sipping rum. The company collaborated with legendary master blender and former Cuban Minister of Rum Francisco “Don Pacho” Fernandez to formulate the perfect recipe. Selvarey White (40% ABV) features notes of citrus, oak, and honey; while Selvarey Cacao opens with notes of toffee, cardamom, and toasted oak, and finishes on the palate with a charming but not overly sweet chocolate aroma. Available nationwide through Hi-Times Wine Cellars.

American Born Moonshine

American Born MoonshineNothing is more American than distilled spirits, except perhaps football and the Marines. So it was only natural that in 2012 former Notre Dame quarterback Patrick Dillingham and former U.S. Marine Corps captain and Iraq War veteran Sean Koffel founded American Born Moonshine. This family of moonshine products honors the tradition of authentic mountain moonshine and the patriotic Amercan rebel spirit. It is available in three flavors: Original, a 103-proof, un-aged corn whiskey that offers a smooth finish and remarkable mixability; Apple Pie (83 proof) with its natural apple and cinnamon flavors and a hint of caramel; and Dixie (83 proof), the first-ever sweet tea-flavored moonshine. Available mainly in the Southeast and in the West.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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4 Days of Gifts: The Non-Drinker http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/20/4-days-gifts-non-drinker/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/20/4-days-gifts-non-drinker/#respond Sat, 20 Dec 2014 11:04:28 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3876 Buying gifts for the home bartender is fun and easy, but what if the recipient of your generosity doesn’t drink alcohol? Day 3 of Wanderlush’s four-day holiday gift guide features some delicious booze-free beverage gifts that are sure to please everyone from Grandma to your boss to your best friend (and holiday party designated driver). Enjoy!

Big T NYC Couture Collection

Big T NYC tea setNothing warms you up more on a cold winter day than a hot cup of tea. And with Big T NYC, you aren’t getting just any old tea. Big T NYC combines the highest quality, 100 percent organic, single-origin whole-leaf teas into deliciously sophisticated one-of-a-kind blends. Give the gift of flavor and luxury with this exclusive Couture Collection tea gift pack. It includes three loose-leaf teas—Tell-Tale Glow white tea, Unexpected Fling green tea, and Baby It’s Cold Outside black tea—an infuser, and a guide for making the perfect cup of tea.

Mocktails Non-Alcoholic Cocktails

Mocktailsby Mocktail Beverages, Inc.
With Mocktails Brand’s line of non-alcoholic cocktails, you don’t have to sacrifice taste by sacrificing the alcohol. Made with the health-conscious consumer in mind, Mocktails contain no high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives or artificial flavors or colors, and they’re allergen-, gluten-, and BPA-free. Best of all, they come in a variety of fun flavors, including Karma Sucra Cosmopolitan, The Vida Loca Margarita, Sevilla Red Sangria, and Scottish Lemonade Whiskey Sour. Serve them chilled straight from their own shaker bottles or add your favorite spirit for a more traditional boozy drink.
$39.95/4 pack (serves 16 drinks)

Slingshot Cold Brew Coffee

Slingshot Coffeesby Slingshot Coffee Co.
Mr. Wanderlush is a huge fan of cold-brewed coffee, and Slingshot offers one of the best. Hand-brewed and bottled in small batches using only two ingredients—quality, in-season, single-origin, organic coffee beans roasted by North Carolina roasters Counter Culture Coffee, and filtered tap water—Slingshot’s cold-brewed coffee is available in a 16-ounce concentrate (four servings) and a 16-ounce ready-to-drink version (two servings). Savor alone or add whiskey, vodka, or chocolate liqueur for a festive coffee tipple.
$17/1 ready-to-drink + 1 concentrate

V/NoDoes someone on your gift list love wine but not the alcohol? Give them V/No premium alcohol-removed wines. These aren’t just wine-flavored beverages. Made like traditional wines, with pressed and fermented fruit, V/No removes the alcohol prior to bottling through a process known as cold filtration. Less than 0.5 percent alcohol remains. Individually packaged in single-serve bottles (that open to create a serving flute), V/No de-alcoholized wines are available in Red, White, and Rose.
$299/bottle; $29.99/12 pack

Thé N°25 Cannelle & Orange Tea

Palais des Thes No25by Palais des Thes
Parisian tea company, Palais des Thes, known for its premium all-natural teas, offers its 2014 holiday limited edition flavor: Thé N°25 Cannelle & Orange. This delicious brew, which combines green tea with cinnamon, orange peel, almond, ginger, lemon zest and vanilla pods, is the perfect pairing for those scrumptious holiday desserts. The N°25 Cannelle & Orange, along with the other N°25 holiday teas (black, green, white, and rooibos blend), is packaged in a gift-ready metal canister (3.5 ounces of whole-leaf loose tea).

Ritual Juice

Ritual Juiceby Ritual Wellness
Enhance your diet with the pure goodness of nature’s best fruits and vegetables. Each 16-ounce bottle of raw organic Ritual Juice is bursting with flavor and vitamins. Meant to be enjoyed on their own, Ritual Juices can also be paired with alcohol for unique, premium organic cocktails (special “mixer labels” are attached to the bottles). Try such bold flavors as Spicy Cucumber (with cucumber, lime, raw agave, and jalapeno), Pineapple Mint (with pineapple, young coconut, mint, and apple), Spicy Lemonade (with raw agave, lemon, and cayenne), or Almond Mylk (with almond, cinnamon, vanilla, and raw agave). Then there’s the Greens: Green Lemon, Sweet Green, and Green Ginger, featuring such healthy ingredients as kale, spinach, romaine, celery, cucumber, and parsley. Greens pack the equivalent of up to four pounds of veggies in each bottle.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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4 Days of Gifts: Home and Travel http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/19/4-days-gifts-home-travel/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/19/4-days-gifts-home-travel/#respond Fri, 19 Dec 2014 10:59:14 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3852 Yesterday, Wanderlush Diary offered you a selection of stocking stuffers perfect for drink-lover in your life. Part 2 of our four-day holiday gift guide features some suggestions for gifts for under the tree, as well as some great accessories for those who are heading home for the holidays or who are simply heading across town for that fabulous party. These gifts will bring a smile to even the most grouchy of Grinches.

The Homemade Gin Kit

Homemade Gin KitStep away from the bathtub! Now you can make gin safely and legally at home in just 36 hours with The Homemade Gin Kit. The kit provides you with just about everything you need to make a fresh, delicious gin. All you need to add is the vodka. Each kit comes with two 375-ml glass bottles, “gin-gredients” (juniper berries and a special botanical blend), stainless steel funnel, strainer, and instructions.

Upcycled Spirit Decanters

Upcycled Decantersby Reclamation Etchworks
Once destined for a landfill or recycling center, these upcycled decanters add a touch of old-time sophistication to any home bar. Salvaged from restaurants in San Francisco, each bottle is cleaned and sanitized before being permanently etched with Deco/Nouveau-inspired artwork. Beautiful and eco-friendly! The Variance Set with its uniquely shaped bottles features Bourbon, Genievre (Gin), Agave, and Rhum, while the Constance Decanter offers a consistent shape and includes such spirit titles as Rye, Scotch, Whiskey, Cognac, Absinthe, and Vodka.
Variance Set: $199; Constance Decanter: $39/single bottle, $99/set of 4

Shake, Stir, Pour

Shake, Stir, Pourby Katie Loeb
Do you love creative, flavorful cocktails but hate using all of the overly sweet, artificially flavored spirits and mixers available in your local store? Well then, this book is for you (or any home bartender on your list). Created by one of Philadelphia’s top mixologists, you’ll learn how make farm-fresh versions of your favorite drinks. You’ll also learn how to make your own syrups, infusions, and bar basics. Once you’ve tasted fresh, you’ll never go back.

Bloody Mary Crate

Bloody Mary crateby Olive & Cocoa
Everything you need to make this classic cocktail: two eight ounce bottles of sour pickle brine Bloody Mary concentrate, plus ghost pepper hot sauce, key lime juice, and sweet corn rimming salts. Simply add your own tomato juice and spirits, and stir! Fixings for about eight drinks plus recipe cards all come gift wrapped together in a hand-crafted wood crate with ribbon.

Wine Caddy

Wine Caddyby Ame & Lulu
For the discerning wine drinker, accessories brand Ame & Lulu now offers the stylish Wine Caddy. This sturdy canvas tote features a top zip closure, padded liner, and interior zip pocket. It comfortably fits two wine or spirit bottles with room for personal items or even cheese or fruit. Carrying beverages has never been this chic.
$56.00; embroidery available for an additional $30

Cocktail Bitters Traveler’s Set

Bitter Truth travelers setby The Bitter Truth
Travel, especially air travel, can challenge even the most dedicated professional or at-home bartender, especially when it comes to transporting key ingredients. The Bitter Truth Traveler’s Set fits perfectly in carry-on luggage, ensuring that you’ll never again miss creating your favorite drink in-flight or at your destination. The set includes five 20-ml bottles in five flavors: Celery, Old Time Aromatic, Orange, Creole, and Jerry Thomas bitters
Available in fine liquor stores nationwide

Hammered Copper Moscow Mule Mugs

Moscow Mule Mugsby Olive & Cocoa
Moscow Mules are the in drink this season, and there’s no better way to enjoy the refreshing cocktail classic than with these chic copper mugs. Made from beautiful tarnish-free copper with hammered detailing, the mugs feature brass handles and nickel linings to keep beverages perfectly chilled. Each mug holds 16 ounces and sets of two or four mugs plus unique recipe cards come beautifully gift wrapped in a hand-crafted wood crate with ribbon.
$118/set of 2; $188/set of 4

Jelly Shots

Jelly Shotsby Ludlow Cocktails
Remember how much fun jello shots were when you were younger? But then you grew up and developed a more sophisticated palate. Well now jello shots have grown up, too. Ludlow’s 30-proof, all-natural, prepackaged Jelly Shots are made with premium spirits—like 2-year barrel-aged straight Indiana bourbon whisky, 100 percent agave blanco tequila, and 2-year barrel-aged dark Trinidad rum—and real juices. Five flavors are available: Old Fashioned, Moscow Mule, Meyer Lemon Drop, Planter’s Punch, and Fresh Lime Margarita. Serve a selection at your next holiday gathering or give some as hostess gifts or stocking stuffers.
$12.95/5 pack

“Travel Around” Wine Gift Set

Millesima Bordeaux gift setby Millesima
A vacation to may be out of your gift-giving budget, but now you can send your loved one’s taste buds on a memorable journey with French wine merchant Millesima’s Wine Gift Sets. Send wine lovers on a liquid escape to such wine regions as Bordeaux, Burgandy, Champagne, and Italy. Each gift package is available in either three- or six-bottle sets and includes an informational leaflet and gift-wrapping. The six-packs also include a resuable grey linen wine travel tote.
Prices vary from $90/three-bottle Bordeaux Discovery set to $660/six-bottle Bordeaux Connoisseur set

Faces Bar Set

Funny Face Bar toolsby WMF
Bar tools are a must-have item for any home bar, but who says that they have to be boring. This cute set is not only functional, but the fun characters will bring a smile to all of your guests. Made out of polished Cromargan stainless steel and designed by Mattheo Thun, this unique seven-piece set includes a stirrer, bar knife, bottle stopper, strainer, ice tongs, and measure, as well as an attractive holder.

Stubby Strip Vino

Stubby StripThe hottest product in Australia has now made its way stateside. The Stubby Strip Vino offers an easy, comfortable way to carry up to four bottles of wine—or for the cocktail enthusiast, a shaker, two bottles of liquor, and a mixer—while the high-quality neoprene keeps bottles cool. Best of all, bottles won’t accidentally fall out. Perfect for parties, picnics, camping, travel, tailgating, the beach, boating, or just about any occasion you can think of. Stubby Strips are also available in 7-drink sizes (shown), perfect for beer, soft drinks, and water bottles.

LIQS Cocktail Shots

LIQSYou’ll be the life of the party when you bring along LIQS super-premium, ready-made cocktail shots. These individually packaged drinks are perfect for gatherings where there is no bartender, like beach parties, tailgating, camping, BBQs, and much more. Simply chill on ice and serve. Four signature flavors are available: Tequila-Cinnamon-Orange, Vodka-Cucumber-Lime, Vodka Kamikaze, Vodka-Lychee-Grapefruit.
Currently available in stores in Massachusetts, Florida, and Texas, or online.
$9.99/1 pack of three; $17.95/2 packs of three; $35.95/12 shots

Genesis Champagne & Wine Preserver

Genesis Wine preserverby Napa Technology
Have you ever opened a bottle of wine, had a glass, and then decided that you don’t want to finish the entire bottle? Now you don’t have to worry about letting any of that leftover wine go to waste. The Genesis wine preservation system will preserve opened bottles of wine for up to two months. Open bottles of champagne or sparkling wine will last for five to seven days. It’s the perfect gift for the oenophile who has everything.
$499; additional IntelliCorks and WineGas capsules sold separately

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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4 Days of Gifts: Stocking Stuffers http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/18/4-days-gifts-stocking-stuffers/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/18/4-days-gifts-stocking-stuffers/#respond Thu, 18 Dec 2014 10:48:46 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3817 There are only a few days left until Christmas, but if you haven’t yet gotten gifts for everyone on your list, there’s no need to panic. For the next four days, Wanderlush Diary will be offering a selection of gift ideas that are ideal for the home bartender, the professional mixologist, and the perfect party hostess. There will even be some great gifts for the non-drinker. So grab that credit card and get ready to make someone you love very happy.

First up: stocking stuffers that will add fun and flavor to any holiday gathering.

Caviarcube and Caviar Powder

Petrossian Caviarby Petrossian
Olives and rim salt are so last year. Spice up your cocktails with two new products from Petrossian, the world’s largest supplier of Caviar. First up, the Carviarcube. These delicate cubes of fresh caviar come in glass jars containing about 16-18 pieces, packed in oil for freshness. Use them on a cocktail pick to decorate your favorite martini or add them to your favorite hors d’oeuvre. The one-of-a-kind caviar powder is a dried caviar that comes in a special mill. Sprinkle full beads on top of your favorite drink, grind the pearls and use them to rim a glass, or use to season eggs, potatoes, seafood, and more.
$45/Caviarcube, $88/Caviar powder

GlassDharma Glass Straws

GlassDharma glass strawsSay “no thanks” to plastic straws with GlassDharma glass straws, the more sustainable choice for stylish sipping. Produced in Fort Bragg, California, GlassDharma straws are made of borosilicate glass, the safest and strongest commercially available glass, so they’re dishwasher- and microwave-safe. Sold individually or in sets, GlassDharma straws are available in three styles—Simple Elegance, Beautiful Bend, and Decorative Dots—and in various lengths and widths.

Incognito Flexible Flask

Flexible Flaskby Vapur
Plastic bottles can be wasteful, while metal flasks are bulky. Vapor’s “anti-bottle” Incognito Flexible Flask transports your adult beverages in an environmentally friendly, space-saving manner. With a capacity of 10 ounces, you can now make your own cocktails wherever you go. Proudly manufactured in the U.S., the Incognito flask is freezable, dishwasher-safe, and reusable. A 25-ounce flexible wine carrier is also available.

Personalized Bottle Koozies

Bottle insulatorsby Riverstone Gallery
Surprise your friends and loved ones with personalized bottle insulators featuring your own photos, business logos, children’s portraits, drawings, or just about any design you can imagine. Perfect for wedding receptions, corporate events, or promo products, these non-slip covers fit 12-ounce bottles. Custom wine-bottle sleeves, water-bottle koozies, and can koozies are also available.
$6/each, $33/6, or $125/25

Conversation Starting Napkins

Conversation napkinsby The Hostess
These ice-breaking napkins are the perfect gift for the home-entertainer in your crowd. Packaged in sets of 25, each napkin is individually stamped with a conversation-starting question, such as “Who is the most interesting person you’ve ever met?” and “When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?” Your guests will never be at a loss for words when serve drinks with these napkins. And for each set sold, The Hostess will donate 10 percent of the proceeds to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America.

Party Cup Koolers

Party Cup KoolersNothing’s worse than drinking warm beer or other beverages from plastic cups. Now you can keep those drinks insulated with the first beverage holders designed to fit tapered cups, including SOLO cups, stadium cups, and even pint glasses. Made from neoprene, Party Cup Koolers ensure that drinks stay at an optimum temperature for as long as possible. And just in time for the holidays and championship sport season, Wanderlush readers will receive 20 percent off their order using the promo code “wander.”

Wine Condoms

Wine CondomsPrevent “unplanned wine spillage” with these black rubber stoppers. Unlike traditional stoppers, the wine condom slips snuggly over any bottle, creating a seal so water-tight that open bottles can be stored on their sides. And because they’re packaged like traditional condoms, they fit easily into a pocket or wallet for “emergency” leftovers.
$10/box of 10

Maraschino Cherries

Luxardo Maraschino Cherriesby Luxardo
The same cherries used to produce Luxardo’s renowned Maraschino Liqueur are available on their own. They’re the perfect garnish in cocktails, or dip them in chocolate for an intense sweet treat. This bar cart must-have, available in liquor and gourmet stores nationwide, comes in both tins and glass jars in a variety of sizes, making them the ideal stocking stuffer for the home mixologist or chef.
Less than $20

Chocolate Chip Whiskey Bombs

Whiskey Bomb Cookiesby Yellow Rose Distilling
Don’t leave Santa just any old cookie this year. Leave him a Bomb. A Chocolate Chip Whiskey Bomb, that is. A joint creation by Yellow Rose, the first legal whiskey distillery in Houston, Texas, and Kingwood, Texas, cookie shop, Stacey’s Sweets, the taste-tempting treats take the signature goodness of Stacey’s homemade, melt-in-your-mouth cookies and add a little naughtiness with Yellow Rose’s award-winning Blended Whiskey.
$6.50/6; $13/dozen
yellowrosedistilling.com; staceyssweets.net

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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Mummers: A Philadelphia New Year’s Tradition http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/17/mummers-philadelphia-new-years-tradition/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/17/mummers-philadelphia-new-years-tradition/#respond Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:54:25 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3792 Philadelphia Mummer's Parade

For many Americans, New Year’s morning means one thing: the Tournament of Roses parade. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to Pasadena, California, to line the parade route, while millions more tune in to watch the spectacle on their TVs. But in Philadelphia, another New Year’s Day parade holds sway, one filled with sequins and plumes instead of petals: the MUMMERS PARADE. This annual celebration, one of the longest-running traditions in the country, is a true Philadelphia institution, one full of costumes, ragtime music, and flamboyant pageantry as only the City of Brotherly Love can provide.

Mummers parade costumes

So what is a Mummer? Mummers are men and women of all ages who belong to one of the more than 40 social clubs that function mainly to stage colorful performances on New Year’s Day. While Mummery dates back to ancient Rome, locally, Swedish settlers to Philadelphia dressed up to honor Christmas and entertained their neighbors in exchange for ale and cake. The tradition eventually moved to New Year’s Day and evolved into a series of neighborhood parades. Over the years, immigrants from Ireland and Italy moved into the area, bringing with them their own form of Mummery. In 1901, the first recognized and judged Mummers Parade was organized by the City of Philadelphia. The term “Mummer” is German and means “to costume or masquerade.”

Born to be Wild

There are five divisions of Mummers.

Comics: These are the clowns who like to parody current events through political satire. They typically wear colorful costumes with multilevel umbrellas and strut up the street to “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,” which has become the theme for the parade.

Red Umbrellas

Wench Brigades: No, this division isn’t just women—it’s men in dresses. An offshoot of the Comic Division, the Wench Brigades combine live bands with traditional Mummery and can be as large as 100 members. Each Wench Brigade portrays a centralized theme.

Fancies: The Fancy divisions are often considered the beauty highlight of the parade. They’re known for their elaborate capes and framed suits that have to be pushed or pulled by another person.

Alice in Wonderland

String Bands: The musical highlight of the parade. Bands usually perform period-style music, reminiscent of ragtime, and no brass is allowed. The combination of reed, string, and percussion instruments has defined the Mummers’ sound for more than 100 years.

String Band

Fancy Brigades: The Fancy Brigades emerged in 1978. They’re known for their elaborate props, precision drilling, and Broadway-style choreography. The Fancy Brigades also perform competitively in the Convention Center each New Year’s Day.

Fancy Brigade Tigers

2015 marks the 115th annual Mummers Parade, and with this milestone comes some changes, including a new route that heads south on Broad Street instead of north.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. at City Hall, with judging taking place at 15th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Then, more than 10,000 men, women, and children will twirl, sashay, and strut down Broad Street to Washington Avenue, where parade-goers can view all of the action on Jumbo-trons. Finally, after the party winds down on Broad Street, it heads back to the South Philly neighborhoods, especially along 2nd Street (affectionately known as Two Street), where many of the Mummers clubhouses are located.

And this year (or, technically, next year), the Fancy Brigades will strut along the entire parade route before heading to the Philadelphia Convention Center for their spell-binding theatrical performance competitions. There are two ticketed competitions, one at noon and the finale at 5 p.m.

For more information on the Mummers Parade, including how to get tickets for the Fancy Brigade competitions, and general information on where to stay and what to do while in town, visit visitphilly.com and PhillyMummers.com.

Mummers Captain

Looking for a place to keep warm during the parade? Most of the bars and restaurants along Broad Street will be open before, during, and after the parade. And at the end of the day, 2nd Street comes alive as the festivities take to the street and its bars with impromptu performances, drinking, and…well…more drinking until the early morning hours. It’s like Mardi Gras meets South Philly. Here are just a few ideas of where to go for the ultimate Mummers experience.

KIMMEL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: Located directly along the parade route at Broad and Spruce Streets, the Kimmel Center will open its doors from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for parade viewers to warm up and grab a bite to eat. Its Peco Café will feature a tasty menu of Philly fare including cheesesteaks, hot dogs, soft pretzels, and an assortment of Philly-brewed beer.
300 South Broad Street, kimmelcenter.org

PERCH PUB: With floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Broad Street at Locust, Perch Pub is the perfect spot for parade-viewing. And with 14 craft beers on tap, a bottle list of 104 selections, and a bar full of bourbons, whiskeys, and Scotches (included house-infusions), the festivities don’t stop at the door.
1345 Locust Street, perchpub.com

DIRTY FRANKS: This South Philly institution opens its doors at 10 a.m. for its annual Mummers Parade Celebration, or as its website calls it, an “all-day hurdle event, which involves leaping over walls of parade-goers, Mummers, Fancies, and clowns in various states of revelry and disrepair.”
347 South 13th Street, dirtyfranksbar.com

SUGARHOUSE CASINO: The parade’s sponsor offers revelers both an escape from and easy access to the action. It all starts at 10 a.m. with the Mummers Brunch, featuring live music and Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., parade-goers can park for free in the casino’s parking lot and take its free Mummers party bus to and from the parade.
1001 North Delaware Avenue, sugarhousecasino.com

Born to be Wild

Fancy Brigade Batman

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

 All photos by R. Kennedy for Visit Philadelphia.

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A Wanderlush Chat With Zane Lamprey, host of TV’s Chug http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/15/wanderlush-chat-zane-lamprey-host-tvs-chug/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/15/wanderlush-chat-zane-lamprey-host-tvs-chug/#respond Mon, 15 Dec 2014 08:50:56 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3767 About five years ago, following a trip to Lithuania, I was at home relaxing on the couch and flipping through the TV channels when an image of a guy standing in the Town Hall Square of Lithuania’s capital city, Vilnius, flashed on my screen. Just who was this crazy man who went on to arm-wrestle a local strongman and down beers with the colorful owner of a popular drinking hole in the city’s Uzupis neighborhood? Of course, I had to watch! Turns out I had come across a travel show called Three Sheets, and unlike the wildly popular No Reservations and Bizarre Foods, this show dealt not with food but with its popular liquid complement: alcohol. The boozy subject matter, made even more interesting by its fun-loving, funny, and downright entertaining host Zane Lamprey, had me instantly hooked.

Zane Lamprey

Three Sheets ran for four seasons, after which from 2010 to 2012, Lamprey hosted Drinking Made Easy, which focused on U.S. and Canadian drinking destinations. Now he’s back as the host of a new drink-travel show, Chug, which premiered on the National Geographic Channel on November 24.

According to Chug’s press kit, the show “takes viewers on a bar crawl around the world. Motivated by his thirst to try local customs, food, and alcohol, Lamprey travels by train to an array of exotic and boozy locations and along the way interacts with the local culture and befriends new drinking buddies.” So far, Lamprey and Chug have visited Kuala Lumpur, Syndey, and Fiji, three amazing destinations.

What’s even more amazing is the fact that Chug was funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Wanderlush Diary recently had the chance to interview Lamprey about this unique form of fan financing, Chug, and traveling the world in search of the perfect potable, as well as his newest Kickstarter project. Keep reading.

Chug poster

Wanderlush Diary: After success with Three Sheets and Drinking Made Easy, what made you decide to develop Chug?
Zane Lamprey
: What else what I going to do? I have no other marketable skills! I filled out an application at Blockbuster, but they haven’t returned my calls. Actually, I think the number is disconnected.

WD: Why did you raise funds through Kickstarter?
I pitched Chug as a TV show around Hollywood, and [all of the networks] passed. All of them! So, at the suggestion of my mother, I launched the Kickstarter campaign. She convinced me that if it could work for Veronica Mars (a cancelled television show that was made into a movie), it could work for me. She was right. We didn’t have an easy campaign like Veronica Mars had, hitting its goal in the first day. We hit our goal on one of the last days. Just when others would have lost hope, we (the fans, my crew, and me) prevailed.

Zane Lamprey Rome Trains

WD: How did it feel when the National Geographic Channel picked up the series?
Lamprey: Fantastic! I love National Geographic. We had a choice of several networks when the series was ready to sell. NatGeo convinced us that they were the most excited about airing it.

Zane Lamprey and monkey

WD: What makes Chug different from your other series?
Lamprey: It’s the natural evolution from my other TV endeavors. So, it’s the same, but (hopefully) better! I’m not the wide-eyed neophyte that I was back then. As a rum company owner [Note: Lamprey is also the owner of Zane Lamprey’s Monkey Rum], author, and host of many shows about drinking, I’m a veritable expert. But, that doesn’t make it any less fun for the viewer.

WD: How did you become an expert?
: Prior to Three Sheets, all I knew about alcohol was what it did to me. I knew nothing of what went into making it. But, as with anything that I love doing, I embrace it and learn as much as I can about it.

Zane Lamprey in Rome

WD: Now that you’ve imbibed around the world, it is true that travelers can get a better feel for a destination by sampling the local libations?
: Having a drink, or drinks in moderation, is an amazing way to learn about local cultures and customs as you’re traveling. Alcohol is a social lubricant that warms people’s hearts and gets them to open up and be more quick to welcome in strangers. I’ve made so many great friends while shooting the show. To me, that’s what it’s all about.

Zane Lamprey Sydney winery

WD: Have you had any drinks or drink experiences that really amazed you?
: I’m constantly amazed… although I’m consistently amazed when people put dead things in alcohol—with the intention of drinking it—like snakes, geckos, bugs, and an armadillo. Yeah, I know. Gross!

WD: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in learning more about local beverages while traveling?
: Walk into a watering hole and start talking. It’ll all happen from there. It just needs a small spark to get it started. People are so eager to talk about their country/city/region. You just need to give them a gentle nudge, and they’ll tell you anything you want. And that gentle nudge, by the way, is a drink. Spend a few bucks to by someone a drink, and you’ll have made a friend for life!

Zane Lamprey Sydney beach

WD: In addition to Chug, you’re also promoting The Drinking Jacking, which you’re crowdfunding through Kickstarter. Tell me about that.
: A few years ago, I wanted to see if I could make a bottle-opener zipper to add to the hoodies I was selling. Then I figured that it wouldn’t be too much more effort to add a neoprene-lined beer koozie pocket. Then I added drinking mitts. Then a hidden flask pocket.  I then realized that it was no longer any ordinary hoodie—although I never wanted it to look like anything but a nice hoodie—so I needed to name it. It was no longer a hoodie for drinking. It became The Drinking Jacket.
Then a few months ago, I was wearing it while taking a tour of the Kickstarter headquarters in Brooklyn. The people there were admiring it and asked where they could buy one. I told them I didn’t have any more. So they asked if I would Kickstart it so they could get jackets for themselves. The rest is history.
For the version I have on Kickstarter, I made a bunch of enhancements, like deeper pockets, bigger sizes, and a sunglass holder. I’ve lost so many sunglasses when day drinking turned into night drinking, and outside drinking turned into inside drinking!

The Drinking Jacket

WD: So far, the campaign, which ends on December 22, been a great success. Are you surprised at the reaction of your fans?
: I’m never surprised with the generosity of the fans. I am incredibly pleased and touched, but not surprised. They’ve been there for me, and the shows, from day one. I am very lucky.

WD: Any last thoughts?
: You never asked the cliché “What’s your favorite drink question”! Well done! But, I actually have an answer for that. I’d love everyone to try my rum: Monkey Rum. It’s my favorite drink!

Zane Lamprey in Sydney

Are you thirsty for more? Well, if you haven’t yet seen Chug, there’s still time. Three more episodes remain. On December 15, Lamprey visits Vienna. On December 22, he takes on Rome, and on December 29, he drinks his way through Budapest. Don’t miss it!

Chug airs Monday nights at 7:30 p.m. EST on the National Geographic Channel.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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Rum Rules at Richard Sandoval’s Toro Latin Restaurant in Scottsdale http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/11/rum-rules-richard-sandovals-toro-latin-restaurant-scottsdale/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/11/rum-rules-richard-sandovals-toro-latin-restaurant-scottsdale/#respond Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:40:44 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3738 Rum Lockers

Travelers to Phoenix, Arizona, typically want one thing when it comes to dining: tacos and tequila. And the city doesn’t disappoint, with dozens of Mexican joints ranging from small holes in the wall to James Beard-nominated establishments. But according to acclaimed chef Richard Sandoval, “you can’t eat Mexican all the time” (although I might have to disagree with him).

That’s why Sandoval, when asked by the folks at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess to collaborate on a new restaurant, decided to go for a more international flavor. The end result: Toro Latin Restaurant & Rum Bar, located in the newly renovated clubhouse of the Princess’s championship golf course, TPC Scottsdale.

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Toro and meet with Chef Sandoval. It was a flavorful journey throughout Latin America, washed down with creative cocktails, a rum sampling, and a fiery tableside rum presentation.

Chef Richard Sandoval

For those who might not know, Sandoval is not just one of the world’s top Latin chefs, he’s one of its top chefs, period. Known as the “father of modern Mexican cuisine,” his restaurant groups owns and operates 35 establishments around the globe featuring such flavors as Mexican, Latin-Asian, Peruvian, and Pan-Latin. He’s been nominated for a James Beard award, and he’s been awarded Mexico’s National Toque d’Oro 2003, Bon Appetit Restaurateur of the Year 2006, and Cordon d’Or Restaurateur of the Year 2012.

Phoenix-area residents might best know Sandoval from his first collaboration with the Scottsdale Princess, La Hacienda. Voted the top Mexican restaurant in Arizona, La Hacienda’s Tequila Bar offers more than 200 varieties of the exalted Mexican spirit. Now, with his newest collaboration, he’s bringing flavors from rest of Latin America to Scottsdale.

“I think when you say ‘Latin,’ people immediately think Tex-Mex or Mexican, but there’s a huge world out there in Central and South American that people know nothing about,” says Sandoval in an exclusive interview with Wanderlush. “It’s amazing food, so it was important for us to showcase that. In this one restaurant, there are no borders. We have drinks from Brazil. We have flavors from Colombia, Venezuela, even Argentina with its chimichurris. For me it was important to showcase all of Central and South America, not just Mexico. And there’s nothing like this restaurant in Scottsdale.”

Chef Kai Torcuato

Suviche samplingsToro’s Pan-Latin menu focuses on small plates as well as Sandoval’s signature Suviche (sushi and ceviche) bar. Choose from a selection of ceviches, Peruvian tiraditos, and traditional sushi rolls, expertly prepared by Chef Tournant Kai Torcuato (seen above) and spiced with such local flavors as mango-papaya salsa, chipotle rouille, and habanero broth. The meant-to-be-shared Chifa-style Fried Rice and Lomo Sataldo were two of my favorites, freshly prepared and bursting with flavor. Tasting them brought me right back to Peru, where these dishes originated.

The Parmesan Crusted Sea Scallops, Spanish Ham Croquettes, and Short Rib Cocas-style Flatbread were also some of Toro’s many dishes that I tried, and while they’re designed to be shared, I wanted to keep them all to myself. Also, in keeping with the feel of a traditional Brazilian churrascaria, Toro also offers a selection of steaks, ranging from an 8 oz. filet mignon to a 30 oz. Tomahawk ribeye. From salads to seafood to empanadas, Toro’s full-range menu offers something for every diner, whether you just want to sample a tiny taste from below the border or you want to go on a full Latin culinary expedition.

“If people love Mexican, then they’ll love this flavor profile,” says Sandoval. “They’ll also get to experience something new. People are out here during the winter, they’re on vacation, and they eat out five or six days a week. So I think they’re looking for different things, to experience different things, and this gives them another option.”

Those other options also carry over to beverages. Toro’s Rum Bar offers 111 rums, the largest selection in Arizona.

“Rum is kind of the forgotten spirit,” says Sandoval. “It was huge, and then tequila kind of took over, then scotch and vodka. But I want to bring [rum] back.”

Presiding over the restaurant’s sweet spirits is Rum Princesa Sarah Spear (seen below pouring Torres Spanish orange liqueur).

Rum Princesa Sarah Spear

“I like that the rum is a staple here,” says Spear. “It’s not just about the food, but it’s about having some drinks on the side.”

The fact that Toro specializes in rum is evident immediately upon entering the restaurant. Twenty-four lockers, filled with various island tipples that are available at the bar, line a wall in the lounge. As business progresses, the lockers will be used to store clients’ personal bottles.

Toro’s selection includes numerous hard-to-find premium rums, such as Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum. Only 800 bottles of this limited-edition spirit were made.

“Not a lot of people have it,” says Spear. “I think only four restaurants have it. It’s a very expensive bottle. Right now we’re selling it for $250 a shot, and that’s still kind of low because we want people to try it.

Toro Toro“Some of our other premiums, like Goslings Family Reserve Old Rum, which is one of my favorites, you can’t really find in stores. And our Rhum Cléments are very good, too,” she adds. “I haven’t been able to find the Cuvée Homere in a store, either. That’s a sugar cane one, so it’s sweeter. I’ve had a lot of people try that one.”

Also on the bar’s list of “must try” potions are its signature cocktails. The Toro Toro (pictured right) is made with Smith & Cross, lime juice, simple syrup, cilantro, pineapple, and ginger puree, and is garnished with a sugar cane stick; while the Running with the Bull features Sammy Hagar’s Beach Rum, lime juice, and a float of Torres Spanish orange liqueur, which is available on draught.

“We have a really fun cocktail list,” says Spear. “We obviously have the caipirinha, which is from Brazil. We also have a Dark and Stormy, but we call it a Monsoon Season here.”

Finally, rum fans shouldn’t miss Spear’s Ti’Punch tableside presentation. This rhum agricole cocktail is popular in Barbados and Martinique, but at Toro, Spear adds some extra pizzazz: A fire ceremony cleanses the glass of evil spirits, after which the drink is muddled with a swizzle stick.

So the next time you’re in Phoenix and you’re looking for a great place to dine or to simply sit outside and enjoy some live music and delicious drinks, make sure to stop by Toro Latin Restaurant & Rum Bar. Salud!

For more information, visit scottsdaleprincess.com/dining/toro.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

All photos by Rebecca L. Rhoades

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Seasonal Beers Heat Up Cold Winter Months http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/04/seasonal-beers/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/12/04/seasonal-beers/#respond Thu, 04 Dec 2014 11:53:25 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3693 Whether you’re invited to a holiday party or you’re meeting up with friends to celebrate the season, a great way to add some fun to your gathering is to sample some delicious craft beers. And winter offers some of the best choices—at least it does for this stout- and porter-loving drinker. So be sure to check out some of these new winter releases from breweries around the country. They’ll help keep you warm on a cold, snowy night.

Seasonal Beers: Ales 1

4th Anniversary Belgian-style Abbey Quadrupel
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.
Buellton, California
Crafted in the traditional style of Trappist monastery breweries, this dark brew was aged in oak barrels with figs. The result is a heady ale with dark fruit aromas along with deep caramel notes and a deep malt backbone. The delicate spiciness of the traditional Belgian yeast adds character along with influence from the oak barrels.

Cottonwood Pumpkin
Foothills Brewing
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
This crisp, dry spiced ale sets itself apart from the plethora of pumpkin beers by featuring organic spices (nutmeg cinnamon, cloves, ginger) in the recipe and by incorporating fresh pureed pumpkin. The result is a seasonal that gives Mom’s pumpkin pie some serious competition.

Heidbanger Red Rye Scotch Ale
BarrelHouse Brewing Co.
Paso Robles, California
The second release in the oak-barrel-aged Reservado De Robles series, Heidbanger has quickly developed a cult following. Aged eight months in three-year-old rye whiskey barrels, this malt-focused ale imparts big caramel, oak and whiskey flavors while remaining dangerously smooth and complex.

High Camp Winter Warmer
Bale Breaker Brewing Company
Yakima, Washington
Named for the ski lodge atop White Pass Ski Resort, High Camp Winter Warmer takes Bale Breaker’s signature hop-forward style to a slightly darker side. Perfect for the season, this winter beer hits first with a malty backbone of spice and chocolate. Dry-hopped with Cascade, Centennial, and Mosaic, the hop character in High Camp bursts with pine and grapefruit. And at 7.3% ABV, this fireside sipper is sure to warm from the inside out.

Seasonal Beers: Ales 2

Mothman Pale Ale
Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company
Lewisburg, West Virginia
The very first release from GVBC is named for the winged, red-eyed creature believed to have appeared multiple times in West Virginia throughout the ’60s. This medium bodied black ale has touches of roasted toffee and chocolate, and at 6.7% ABV, it promises to satisfy any hophead.

Moustache Ride Red
Flat 12 Bierwerks
Indianapolis, Indiana
A rich American amber with hints of roasted malt and very moderate hop bitterness, Moustache Ride Red is aged in a bourbon barrel with real vanilla beans. Its aroma is dominated by vanilla and bourbon with hints of caramel, grain, and chocolate. The flavor is smooth and rich, like cream soda with a slight alcohol kick.

Puppy Dawg Tails
Parkway Brewing Company
Salem, Virginia
This luscious ruby brown Belgian-style Winter Ale is flavored with hazelnut, coriander, orange peel, and a hint of apricot resulting in a spiced brew perfect for cozy evenings by the hearth. Brewed in honor of Parkway’s Master Brewer’s firstborn son.

Sleigh’r Doüble Alt Ale
Ninkasi Brewing Company
Eugene, Oregon
This dark doüble alt ale was brewed with winter in mind. Malty and delicious, it features a more refined and crisp lager-like flavor than traditional ales, and its deep toasted-malt flavor finishes dry, with 7.2% ABV.

Seasonal Beers: Ales 3

Tarten Tent
Sunken City Brewing Company
Hardy, Virginia
This strong Scottish Ale is boiled long and fermented cool to give it a sweet and smooth caramel character. A winter seasonal, with 6.6% ABV, it is robust enough to keep you warm on any long winter night of camping or an evening closer to home.

Waterville Wheat
603 Brewery
Londonderry, New Hampshire
Brewed with an abundance of white wheat, Waterville Wheat is an unfiltered semi-dry American wheat ale. The nose shows a touch of fresh orange peel, while on the pallet you will experience subtle sweetness reminiscent of vanilla and orange, with an herbal profile from freshly crushed coriander.

Winter Warmer
Lancaster Brewing Company
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
This classic Olde Ale redefines the term full-bodied with its deliverance of complex and firm malt flavor. A blend of British and American hops provides an even bitterness as this beer, true to its name, finishes with a warming alcohol flavor.

Seasonal Beers: IPAs

Blizzard of Hops
Tröegs Brewing Company
Hershey, Pennsylvania
As winter slowly creeps in, Tröegs salutes hop growers who process and ship hops around the world. Enjoy the fruits of their labor and savor sticky notes of citrus and pine with this revitalizing Winter IPA. Pair it with strong flavors like garlic, onion, and ginger; bold fatty cuts of meat; or spicy Thai dishes that use curry, coconut milk, and lemon grass.

Ecliptic Brewing
Portland, Oregon
This Winter IPA celebrates the cosmic wonder known as a solar filament. Pale, Munich and Caramel malts create a rich malt character with a honey-like flavor; which Crystal, Chinook and Centennial hops combine to lend a spicy, citrus hop note.

Tunnel Vision
Mavericks Brewing
Half Moon Bay, California
This limited edition IPA is made from a combination of hops including Columbus, Centennial, Simcoe and Experimental Hop #5260. A strong, dry ale, it blurs the line between a single and a double IPA.

Seasonal Beers: Stouts

Breakfast Stout
Founders Brewing Co.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
This seasonal brew combines Nugget and Willamette hops, Gibraltar milk chocolate chunks, bittersweet Orinoco chocolate, and locally-roasted Kona and Sumatra beans. Flaked oats and malt complete the blend. The result is an intense fresh-roasted java aroma with a creamy, cinnamon-colored head and rich coffee and chocolate flavors.

Ninkasi Brewing Company
Eugene, Oregon
Rich, full bodied and surprisingly smooth, Imperiale Stout has a big roast hit up front, with a smooth and creamy body warming the mouth. Dark malt flavors are balanced with an ample hop bitterness to finish.

Soul Man
Big Lick Brewing Company
Roanoke, Virginia
This award-winning jet-black Oatmeal Stout is full of chocolate and coffee/cream. Toasted oats lend a silky mouthfeel, while molasses gives a nice richness of flavor. 6.3% ABV.

New Releases Lagers and more

California Common
Sin City Brewing Co.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sin City’s seasonal lager is brewed without the use of refrigeration. This warmer fermentation process dries out the beer to create a full malt flavor. The California Common features a bold profile, accentuated fruit and caramel flavors, solid hopping, and a crisp CO2 bite.

Dos Rios Vienna Lager
Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co.
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
This Vienna-style lager features a soft elegant maltiness created from a special blend of Munich malts and Cara Vienna malt. It is crafted from one of the original recipes of Todd Malloy, Glenwood’s director of brewing operations.

Nebula Chocolate Porter
Bang The Drum Brewery
San Luis Obispo, California
Aged in freshly emptied bourbon barrels for just over six months, Nebula has a deep brown color with garnet hues and an aroma reminiscent of sweet malt, dark chocolate, caramel, and vanilla. It is Bang The Drum’s first barrel-aged brew.

Shaved Black Truffle Pilsner
Moody Tongue Brewing Co.
Chicago, Illinois
The unique limited-edition craft beer uses prized truffles harvested in Manjimup, Western Australia. A single 22-ounce bottle of the 5% ABV pilsner costs $120.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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7 Pumpkin Cocktails Warm Up Your Thanksgiving http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/11/26/7-pumpkin-cocktails-warm-thanksgiving/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/11/26/7-pumpkin-cocktails-warm-thanksgiving/#respond Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:01:02 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3653 Turkeys may rule the roost on Thanksgiving, but we all know that the true treat of the holiday is the humble pumpkin. From pumpkin pie to pumpkin latte, pumpkin cheesecake to pumpkin tarts, even pumpkin bread for that day-after turkey sandwich, everyone loves pumpkins. So why not indulge all of your senses in the flavor of the holiday and enjoy some pumpkin spirits. We’ve compiled seven great pumpkin cocktails, all made with real pumpkin, to satisfy even the most hardcore squash-addict in your family. Perfect for an afternoon meal or while sitting beside an evening fire, they’re also great complements to Wanderfood’s delicious turkey recipes or her family’s traditional Ambrosia salad. So raise and glass and give thanks for all the good things in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Sushisamba

1½ oz. cachaça
1/2 oz. mezcal
1½ oz. pumpkin purée
½ lime cut into wedges

In a highball glass, muddle limes. Add remaining ingredients. Churn with ice. Garnish with a sliver of pumpkin rind.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Familia Camarena Tequila

2 oz. Camarena Reposado tequila

2 cans pumpkin purée
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
2 cups water
½ oz. orange liqueur
Juice of ½ lime

Combine pumpkin purée, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water in saucepan. Stir over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and strain for pumpkin simple syrup. In a cocktail shaker, combine 2 oz. of syrup with lime juice and tequila. Shake well. Serve on the rocks.

Recipe by Rob Floyd. Photo courtesy of 41 Ocean, Santa Monica, CA

1 Japanese pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Brown sugar
2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. maple syrup
¼ oz. Combier orange liqueur
2–3 dashes Angostura bitters

Microwave pumpkin for 5 minutes to soften. Thinly slice meat of the pumpkin, removing the thick skin. Place thin slices on cookie sheet and cover with cinnamon, butter, and brown sugar. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. In cocktail shaker, muddle two baked slices with bourgon, maple syrup, Combier, and bitters. Shake and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with peel from your favorite citrus and slice of baked pumpkin.

IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKINIts the Great Pumpkin
Recipe and photo courtesy of Sue Erickson, bar manager at Fireside, Portland, OR

1 oz. Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva rum
½ oz. Cruzan Black Strap rum
2 tablespoons spiced pumpkin butter
Fresh ground nutmeg

Combine rums and pumpkin butter in a mug. Fill mug with hot water and mix thoroughly. Garnish with nutmeg.

Recipe by Kevin Martin, former bar manager at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks, Boston

2 oz. Privateer Silver Reserve rum
1 oz. orange juice
1 oz. honey
1 spoon pumpkin purée
1 dash Angostura bitters
Grated cinnamon

Combine all ingredients except cinnamon in a cocktail shaker. Shake well. Strain over ice in rocks glass. Garnish with cinnamon.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Zachary Blair, lead mixologist at Whiteface Lodge, Lake Placid, NY

2 oz. spiced rum
1 oz. hickory syrup*
Splash of lemon
Bar spoon (generous teaspoon) of pumpkin purée
Club soda
Cinnamon stick

Combine rum, syrup, lemon, and pumpkin purée in cocktail shaker. Shake thoroughly. Pour mix into a high ball glass with club soda. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

*Birch syrup or real maple syrup (not imitation) can be substitute for hickory syrup.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Joshua Perlman, Avec, Chicago

1½ oz. Calvados Père Magloire V.S.O.P.
½ oz. pumpkin purée
¾ oz. housemade spices (clove, lemon peel, other)
½ oz. lemon juice
2 dashes bitters

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake until well-blended. Pour into a double Old-Fashioned glass on the rocks.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

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Celebrate the Dead With These Dia de los Muertos-inspired Cocktails http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/11/02/celebrate-dead-dia-de-los-muertos-cocktails/ http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/2014/11/02/celebrate-dead-dia-de-los-muertos-cocktails/#respond Sun, 02 Nov 2014 12:42:54 +0000 http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wanderlushdiary/?p=3614 Day of the Dead altarSure, in the United States, Halloween gets all of the attention. But south of the border, the big celebration occurs two days later, on November 2. El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is an important holiday in Mexican culture. It’s a day for honoring and remembering the dead. It’s also a time of celebration, filled with skulls, skeletons, altars, and lots of food and drink. Traditional Dia de los Muertos drinks include hot chocolate, atole (a hot beverage made of toasted masa, sugar, and cinnamon), and champurrado (chocolate atole).

Of course, perhaps your ancestors’ would prefer to drink something a little more creative. That’s why we’ve put together this list of Dia de Los Muertos-inspired cocktails that will please any spirits on this holiday—or just about any day. So break out the Pan de Muertos (Day of the of the Dead bread), sugar skulls, and tamales, and offer up a hearty ¡salud! to those who are gone but not forgotten.

La Muerte cocktailLA MUERTE
Recipe and photo courtesy of Mercadito at Red Rock Resort, Las Vegas.

2 oz. Sauza Hornitos tequila
½ oz. fresh lime
1 oz. prickly pear puree
2 dashes rose water
½ oz. agave nectar
Ancho salt*

Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake well. Rim chilled cocktail glass with ancho salt. Strain drink into glass.

*For ancho salt, combine 2 parts ancho chili powder, 1 part kosher salt, and ½ part granulated sugar.

CORPSE BRIDECorpse Bride cocktail
Recipe and photo courtesy of Camus Cognac.

1½ oz. Camus VSOP Elegance cognac
¾ oz. black raspberry liqueur
½ oz. Sobieski Raspberry vodka
½ oz. lemon juice
2 dashes of orange bitters
Lemon peel

Combine all ingredients except lemon peel in shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel into a rosette and place on skeleton pick for garnish.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Jenni Rivera La Gran Señora Tequila.

8 – 10 oz. coffee
1½ – 2 tbs. Nestle La Lechera sweetened condensed milk
1½ oz. La Gran Señora Tequila Blanco

Pour coffee of your choice into cup. Add condensed milk and tequila. If desired, add a pinch of cinnamon.

THE BLEEDING HEARTBleeding Heart cocktail
Recipe and photo courtesy of David Burke Fishtail, New York City.

2 oz. gin
1 oz. dry vermouth
1 slice pickled beet

Combine gin and vermouth in shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into cocktail glass. Cut beet into shape of heart. Using cocktail pick, add beet to drink; beet will bleed into the glass when it’s pierced.

Cacao Corpse Reviver cocktailCACAO CORPSE REVIVER NUMERO DOS
Created by April Wachtel; photo courtesy of Solbeso.

¾ part Solbeso cacao spirit
¾ part Cointreau
¾ part fresh lemon juice
Cocchi Americano and absinthe foam*

Combine all ingredients except foam in a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass. Top with Cocchi/absinthe foam.

*For foam, you will need an iSi cream whipper and a cream charger. Combine in whipper 1 gelatin sheet, 4 oz. Cocchi Americano, and ½ oz. absinthe.

BLOOD & SANDBlood & Sand cocktail
Recipe and photo courtesy of Volstead Bar, Sandusky, OH.

¾ oz. Johnnie Walker Red
¾ oz. Cherry Heering
¾ oz. sweet vermouth
¾ oz. freshly squeezed orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a pint glass with ice. Shake well. Strain into a coupe glass.

Haunted Hacienda cocktailHAUNTED HACIENDA
Created by John Henderson, photo courtesy of Pisco Portón.

1½ parts Pisco Portón
¾ part sweet vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 Campari ice cube*

Combine Pisco Portón, vermouth, and bitters in short rocks glass. Add Campari ice cube. If desired, sprinkle ice cube with small pinch of pink salt, which will spur the cube to melt.

*For Campari ice cube, freeze a 50/50 mixture of Campari and water overnight.

NOTE: For a special effect, use skull-shaped ice cubes. Williams-Sonoma offers a set of two here.

GUMMY GRAVEYARDGummy Graveyard cocktail
Recipe and photo courtesy of Sobieski.

1 oz. Sobieski Cytron vodka
1 oz. Sobieski Orange vodka
1½ oz. pink lemonade
½ oz. simple syrup
Splash grenadine
Gummy bears

Combine all ingredients except gummy bear into a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a freshly iced highball glass. As a garnish, send the gummy bears to their final resting place.

Bloody Aviator cocktailBLOODY AVIATOR
Recipe and photo courtesy of Atlantic Fish Co., Boston, MA.

¼ oz. crème de violet
2 oz. Hendricks gin
½ oz. rosemary-and-basil-infused simple syrup
2 lemon wedges
Luxardo cherry liqueur

Combine crème de violet, gin, and simple syrup in shaker. Drizzle Luxardo cherry around edge of coupe glass and add small amount to bottom of glass. Double strain drink into glass. Garnish with lemon wedges.

HOBNOB’S WICKED Wicked Red Punch
Recipe and photo courtesy of HobNob Wines.

1 750-ml bottle HobNob Wicked Red
1½ cups spiced rum
3 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
2 oranges, zested
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons simple syrup
1 lime, zested
Orange slices

Combine all ingredients except sugar and orange slices in a large bowl. Refrigerated for at least an hour before serving. If available, add one large block of ice to the bowl. When ready to serve, stir well. Coat glass rims with sugar, and garnish with an orange slice. Serves 15.

Veni, Vidi, Bibi!

Altar photo by Rebecca L. Rhoades.

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text:
Dominican republic company D' Emily Import was given a rating of 3 out of 5 (4 voters)
Company D' Emily Import was has a rating of 3 based on 4 votes
Status of the company in general:ACTIVE
Name of the company:D' EMILY IMPORT
Dominican republic company code:221331
Physical addresses:
  1. AV. 27 DE FEBRERO NO. 270, APTO. 3-2
Directors / owners:
Phone numbers:
Fax numbers:
Internet websites:
Date of registration:2006-12-30
Date of dissolution:2016-12-30
Type of the company:NO/NO
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Dominican republic company D' EMILY IMPORT was found on our site with thses phrases:

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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Editorial: The current stalemate In Somalia

The current situation in Somalia is murky and uncertain. Since the takeover of the Capital, Mogadishu, by the militia loyal to the Islamic Union Courts last June, the imminent confrontation between the embattled Transitional Federal Government based in Baidoa and the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu are increasing by the day.

June 15th, the government of Al-Bashir of Sudan invited both sides to attend the Khartoum Peace Conference. The agreement recognizes "the legality of the transitional government and the presence of the alliance of Islamic tribunals", Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa told reporters after heading talks between the two sides. Where Al-Beshir described the accord as "the beginning of the end of conflicts in Somalia".

Both sides agreed to resume talks aimed at resolving outstanding security disputes on July 15 in Khartoum. However, after the Khartoum Accord the Islamic Courts appointment of Sheikh Aweys has re-ignited fears concerning the potential radicalization of Somalia, especially his demand that "any government we agree on would be based on the holy Koran," a position at variance with the UN-backed transitional president, Abdullah Yusuf, who previously fought Aweys's Islamic radicals in his Puntland stronghold.

At the first round of the Arab League-mediated talks in Khartoum, Sudan, the government and the Islamic group agreed to stop all military action — though the Islamic group has been engaged in clashes and military deployments since signing the agreement not to violate the Khartoum Accord.

The government had boycotted the second round, accusing the Islamist of violating the Khartoum accord and the escalation for a possible confrontation is everyone's guess.

The U.S. says it won't deal with Sheikh Aweys because of his alleged ties to al-Qaeda, an accusation he denies. The U.S. has asked the Islamic courts to hand over Islamic extremists in Somalia allegedly involved in the 1998 bombing of American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

Interestingly, like the Taliban, Somali Islamists originally received backing from local merchants desirous of ending violence in their country; funds from Saudi and Gulf state sources reportedly are behind their military successes.

The parliament on June 14 approved deployment of foreign peacekeepers to the Somalia, a move opposed by newly powerful Islamist militias controlling Mogadishu. Which paved the way for the Ethiopian Troops to enter Somalia, which is a traditional enemy of Somalia.

Sheikh Hassan Aweys, in angry radio broadcast, said Ethiopia deployed troops to the government’s base in Baidoa, to support what he described a puppet regime. “I am calling on the Somali people wherever they are to prepare themselves for a holy war against the Ethiopia and their cohorts” said Aweys, who is among the American wanted list, currently being pursed by the CIA.

Recently the transitional government has requested the United Nations to lift its arms embargo to allow the weak government to arm its militia. The Secretary General Kofi Annan said lifting the embargo would allow more weapons into the nation. Which angered the powerful Islamist militia who vowed to wage a jihad against what they called a puppet government working for the interest of Ethiopia, which the Somalis consider their traditional enemy.

The situation on the ground is tense now, since Eritrea declared that they would send their troops to Mogadishu to protect the Islamic Courts from what they called an illegal incursion to a sovereign nation. The situation is tense now and the current rhetoric between the Government and the Islamist is increasing by the day, which has the potential of turning the whole region into a war zone, which will eventually drag the neighboring countries into the conflict if the International Community choose not intervene.

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© 2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.

11/19/09 8:50 PM ET

Nats take precaution with Strasburg

Knee injury not serious, but righty scratched from start

WASHINGTON -- Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been scratched from Saturday's start in the Arizona Fall League championship game because of a twisted left knee, suffered during a Phoenix Desert Dogs workout on Thursday afternoon.

The injury is not considered serious. An MRI showed inflammation in the knee.

As a precaution, Strasburg is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Friday to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum.

Strasburg, who was the first overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, made five starts, going 4-1 with a 4.26 ERA. He struck out 26 batters in 19 innings for the Desert Dogs.

It marks the second time Strasburg was injured during the AFL season. Previously, a neck injury forced him to miss a start.

Strasburg reportedly hurt his left knee while shagging fly balls.

Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the processing time for applications submitted to Citizenship and Immigration Canada?
    • Processing times can vary significantly depending on a number of factors, such as the type of application, the office to which the application is submitted and the current processing backlog. Citizenship and Immigration Canada does publish approximate processing times on its website but these times are estimates only and they change frequently. Processing times for some applications, such as labour market opinions and provincial nominee program nominations, are not published on the CIC website but we can provide you with an estimate if you contact our office.
  • Which office should I submit my application to when submitting an application from outside of Canada?
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Visit, Work or Study Temporarily

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  • What is a labour market opinion?
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Projet WAVE

ANR | ContInt 2013/2015

Visual Tools

Within the context of the WAVE project we have the need to represent and interact with different audio and musical data in the browser. For that reason during the past months we have been working on a small set of tools to help build simple time-based visualisations as well as fully fledged audio web applications.

For such collection of tools we can already point out the following requirements:

  • The tools should allow to represent and interact with several musical data-flows – self-hosted, streamed or hosted elsewhere – in an easy and reusable way.
  • The visualisations need to be easily incorporated in any web application and interact with other embedded multimedia content via event subscription or in some cases data bindings.
  • The visualisation should have the means to edit the data they represent

Thankfully many of the tools we are working on had been developed long before in-house for desktop environments, so in order to use their knowledge on audio-oriented graphical interfaces we discussed with the developers of audiosculpt and MuBu. On the web domain some sparse projects started tackling the same problematics, and while we follow and take all these in account, we believe our proposal is slightly different, in the way we designed a modular approach, emphasising on reusability, comparability and independence. We are building visual tools that anyone could use without having to load a monolithic framework or worse, be stuck with a particular application that tries to solve everything.

The technology

Because one of the key ideas of the WAVE project is to fully comply to web standards, the toolbox we will release will be written in ECMAScript 5 javascript and make use of all the modern browsers capabilities such as HTML5, CSS3 and other APIs.

After considering the options for web visualisations we found SVG to be the most convenient for most of our interfaces, since it integrates naturally with the browser’s event system and that just fits perfectly our interaction model. Down that path there are many SVG manipulation libraries we liked, however they just dealt with basic drawing and interaction at their core, and we knew we would face some classic data visualisation problematics such as data transformation, scales, axes, zoom et. al. For that reason we looked for specialised visualisation libraries. We chose to go with D3 since it offers an extensive toolbox for general purpose data visualisation, it’s well tested, it also has a very active community and every piece of functionality can be re-compiled by itself and included in a thinner component without having to include the entire library, which suites perfectly our packaging philosophy.

That said, we don’t discard using other graphical APIs like canvas/WebGL down the road for some of the components that won’t need heavy interaction/editing (this is something to take in consideration from today when working on the existing tools) and these APIs can offer better performance in some cases.

The Architecture

Since all of the components we envision so far happen in a time domain, the proposed structure relies on a main object that will keep the time axis consistent and will be responsible for common layout tasks such as zooming or the selection of components. Components will then be aded to this main object as layers via a plugin API. This API, once stable will allow developers to create their own components to extend the existing list.

In the case you will want to use all the libraries together you will then include the packaged wako.js. This will be the namespace containing all the parts ready to use.

The wako.timeLine, a layout object, can incorporate any number of layers. Layers can have an independent vertical offset. This among other things lets you create complex timelines combining and overlapping such layers keeping the time synchronicity.

// let's create a timeline manager
var layout = wako.createTimeLine()
  .margin({top:10, left:10})

The wako.timeLine object can at the same time be included in other generic D3 or SVG visualisations as well since it complies with the already established D3 reusability proposal.

Layers are components

On the other hand, layers (components) will be in charge of their own display, edit and interaction capabilities.

// wako segment plugin
var segments = wako.createSegments({
  name: 'sections',
  data: data['sections']
// later in your timeline
var layout = wako.createTimeLine()

Components are also responsible for notifying their state via events to the external application.

The components

Here’s the current list of the components we will release:

Simple waveform representation of (audio) data flows

Block-like segment editor/visualizer

Segmented audio

Combining behind the scenes segment and audio visualizers

Visualisation and edition of one or multiple break-point functions

Simple marker editor/visualiser

Simple midi notes visualizer/editor

Sonogram visualizer

User levels

Now when thinking on the potential users we could have besides ourselves we realised there are certain modules that could be useful in different scenarios outside our particular needs; even when we envisioned ready-to-use visualizers. So being able to export modules at different levels became very important. That brought us to target three different group of users:

Web Content editors

For the content editors we will package “finished” visualizers ready to use in multiple common formats such as wordpress plugins, substance nodes and other platforms. Our biggest bet however is on custom HTML elements “Custom Elements allow web developers to define new types of HTML elements”. We have already implemented some of our visualizers as custom elements using polymer and it’s undoubtedly the future, however some of the APIs are still unstable and we don’t want to fully rely on custom elements, plus it’s very easy to integrate any javascript code inside them. Anyways, by packaging plug-and-play components we will allow anyone to share and render their sound data very easily.

Application developers

For javascript developers we will be shipping the same javascript components with full javascript APIs so they can be included in your fully fledged application and easily scripted and hooked on to by simple javascript commands and DOM events.

Visualisation developers

Finally, on the lowest level, since our components are built on top of small bare bones D3 modules, visualisation developers wanting to tap into the lower level APIs will also have access to these small chunks of functionalities and use, compose and combine them as needed in their more complex visualisations.


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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Rethinking Printing

A recent piece about HP’s plan to assert the key role of its printer division in modern computing, and move it beyond the “cash cow” status it presently seems to have by redefining printers’ use cases, left me underwhelmed. As a printer/copier/scanner/fax machine user, I could not see major benefits to me (or for that matter, to the typical SMB) from the proposed “paper is still relevant, cut printing costs, use the printer as a mailbox” strategy.

Still, it made me think. If I Ruled the World, how would I like to redesign things? How could printing technology play a key role in the Web 3.0 of the future? What follows is, I realize, an exercise in fantasy – it will probably never happen. Still, I think it might form a useful framework with which to think about what printing will really do in the future – and what it won’t.

Printing a Hamburger

One of my favorite old ads was one for A-1 steak sauce that began by saying, “My friends, what is a hamburger?” The point being, of course, that it was chopped steak, and therefore people should consider A-1 instead of ketchup. I would suggest that the whole printer area would benefit from asking, “My friends, what is a printer?”

My answer would be a “virtual” one: printing/scanning/copying is about creating a computer representation of a physical image – call it a graphic – that can be displayed on a wide variety of form factors. Thus, a scanner can take these physical graphics from the outside world; a “snapshot” can take such a graphic from a video stored inside the computer; software can intercept physical representations being sent to output devices from applications, such as internal representations of photos, internal representations of Web pages, internal representations of reports, check images, signed legal documents. These standardized representations of graphics then can be customized for, and streamed to, a wide variety of form factors: computer screens, cell phone and laptop displays, printers, email messages (attachments), or fax machines (although I tend to think that these are fading away, replaced by email PDFs).

Is this Enterprise Content Management? No. The point of such a “gateway”, that represents many graphic formats in a few ways and then customizes for a wide variety of physical displays, is that it is aimed at physical display – not at managing multiple users’ workflow. Its unit is the pixel, and its strength is the ability to utterly simplify the task of, say, taking a smartphone photo and simultaneously printing, emailing, faxing, and displaying on another worker’s screen.

One of those output devices – and probably the most useful – is the printer/scanner/copier. However, the core of the solution is distributed broker software like the Web’s email servers that pass the common representations from physical store to physical store, and route them to “displays” on demand. Rather, today’s printer is simply the best starting point for creating such a solution, because it does the best at capturing the full richness of a graphic.

We are surprisingly close to being able to do such a thing. Documents or documents plus signatures can be converted into “PDF” graphics; photos into JPGs and the like; emails, instant messages, Twitter, and Facebook into printable form; screen and Web page printing is mature; check image scanning has finally become somewhat functional; and we are not far from a general ability to do a freeze-frame JPG from a video, just by pressing a button. But, somehow, nobody has put it all together in such a “gateway.”

Extreme Fantasy

As a side note, I’d like to ask if the following is at all feasible. Visualize in your mind your smartphone for a second. Suppose you had optional add-ons in back. They would contain 4-5 pieces of phone-sized “image paper” in one slim add-on, and a laser-type “print head” that would place the appropriate color on each pixel on the paper A button or screen icon on the front would allow printing of whatever was displaying on the screen – including, as I suggested, a “snapshot” of a video.
Can it be done? I don’t know. I know that I would love to have such a thing for my mobile devices, even crippled as it probably would be. Remember the old Polaroid OneShot? The joy of that was the immediacy, the ability to share with someone physically present what was not a really high-quality photo, but was still a great topic of conversation.

Why haven’t printer vendors moved more in this direction? Yes, I know that attempts to provide cut-down attachable printers for laptops haven’t sold. But I think that’s because the vendors have failed to distinguish two use cases. One is the highly mobile case, where you’re running around a local office or factory and need to print on whatever form factor: small laptop, tablet, or even cell phone. That’s the case where all you need is the ability to print out 4-5 pages worth of info, bad quality and all. For that, you need a very light printer and preferably one that attaches to the form factor so that you can carry both – like strapping two books together.

The second is the “mobile office” case, where you go somewhere and then sit and work. In that case, you need full power, including a multi-sheet scanner/copier feeder – why don’t printer vendors realize how useful that is? It should be light enough so it can be carried like a briefcase or laptop, but it doesn’t have to be attachable; and it should be wireless and work with a MiFi laptop. Above all, it should be foldable so that it’s compact and its parts don’t fall off when you carry it.

Sad Conclusions

I realize that some of the details of the above fantasy may be unrealistic. he real point of the fantasy is that paper and the printer are not dead, no matter what; because, as HP pointed out people keep using them more. And, I believe, that’s because it is just so useful to have a “static” representation of lots of information to carry around with you. Nothing on the horizon replaces that need, not the cell phone or laptop with its small display, nor the immobile PC or TV, nor even the tablet with its book support but inability to “detach” valued excerpts for file-cabinet storage and real-world sharing.

But not being dead doesn’t mean wild success. I believe that HP’s printer “vision” is still too parochial, because it fails to detach the core value proposition from a particular physical device. It may be safe to extrapolate present markets; but I believe that such a marketing approach falls far short of print technology’s potential.

Still, I don’t believe that printer vendors will do what I fantasize. The risks of failure are too great, and the present revenues too comforting. No, it seems likely to me that five years from now, the printer business will still be seen as a cash cow – because nobody asked what a hamburger is.

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Blogging For Business 4 Advantages

By | March 29, 2013

Why You Should Blog For Your Business

If you’re starting or already own a business then you should have an Internet presence, plain and simple. It is a proven fact that businesses who operate a website or blog have advantages that relate directly to more profits. A blog is an updated website that you can post articles about your products, services, business updates and anything you want. Use your creativity to increase sales. You have a chance to connect personally with your customers offering them deals, updates, products and services all from one place!

4 Advantages To Blogging For Your Business

1. Create a “relationship” and trust – Trust is everything when buying products and services online. Once you’re able to create a relationship with your readers, via through blogging, twitter, Facebook, etc. they will be more likely to purchase from you.

2. Online Store – You can start an online store for the products that you offer to add another source of income. The more streams of money you can attain, the better. Increase sales to potential markets that you could never reach locally with a business. Online, you have access to the entire world to view your store online.  Accepting all forms of payments can make it more convenient for the customer to buy. In current times people are looking for the easiest way to do things. Websites offer potential customers a much easier way to shop with your company and you can reach far more people for sales.

3. Targeted marketing – Blogging for your business will allow you to attract readers and potential customers to your site with targeted traffic. When you market your blog use search engine optimization and keywords relevant to your services and products.

4. Increase Sales – The potential for you to sell products and services online is amazing. Think of a small business or privately owned company that relies on people walking in to the shop. Marketing is difficult when there are many competitors in the same area and your maximum potential is completely reliant upon the local market. This is how you can capitalize by using the Internet.

You can have a full time job working right from your home. Ways To Make Money Working Online can show you different ways to increase your income.

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