28 October 2009

Back in Black Cocktails

Let the Goths suck blood this Halloween. There's a better way to get into the Holiday Spirit - with Black Vodka! You can pick up Blavod brand for $24 a bottle. It allows your Martinis to Masquerade for the day. Here are some ways to serve it to your guests along with some other Creepy Cocktails that should get you into the holiday mood.

SCREWED UP SCREWDRIVER
1/4 cup ice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 oz. Black Vodka
1 strip of Black Licorice to garnish
Place ice in a tall glass. Pour in orange juice. Pour vodka over the back of a spoon into the glass so that it rests on top of the juice. Slice off the tips of the licorice to use as a straw.


GHOST
1 1/4 oz. Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz. Godiva White Chocolate Liquer
1/4 oz. half & half
1 t. grated white chocolate
Wet the rim of a cocktail glass and dip into White Chocolate. Pour all other ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake. Pour into glass.

BLACK MARTINI

2.5 oz Black vodka
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
maraschino cherry to garnish

Place Vodka and Sweet Vermouth into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake.
Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry.




BLOOD SUCKER
1 1/2 oz. Bacardi "0"
1/2 oz. cointreau
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 Tbs. strawberry or raspberry puree

In a shaker with ice pour rum, cointreau and juice. Shake and pour into a rocks glass. Dip the end of a drinking straw into the puree, hold the tip of your finger over the other end and use the straw to squirt puree into the bottom half-inch of the drink, where it will sink in red blobs. Do not stir.

19 October 2009

Celebrate a day of Ghouls, Ghosts and Goslins

Ghosts, Ghouls and (Kate) Goslins will no doubt come out this October 31st, as a Gaelic superstition explains that all souls that are in Purgatory are released for 48 hours on All Hallows Eve.

Since you'll never be able to fight it, why not invite some specimens of the undead into your home this year?

If you are planning on staying home to dispense candy to the costumed kids in your neighborhood, you may want to kill time waiting for the zombies and mummies by playing Skeleton Jenga.
It's $18 from Uncommongoods. com and it's way more fun than the regular boring wood Jenga because it's a skeleton!!

When the doorbell does ring, let the kids grab your treats with their grubby little hands from this cookie jar from Target.

It's just $16.99. And the lid makes it easy to snap shut when those greedy goblins grab more than two like you told them!





This toaster will get you in the mood for all the tricks and treats that await you this day by stamping your morning toast with a skull and crossbones.

I am certain that the skull makes it taste better too. On the German Website that sells it, it costs 33 Euros.







Serve your hot apple cider on this melamine tray with a crowned skull. Amazon.com sells them 2 for $14.00

And make sure the mood is set by lighting tons of these candles from zgallerie. $24.95 each.

16 October 2009

Go Wild in the Cinema

Maurice Sendak, the writer of the children' classic, Where the Wild Things Are was asked by Newsweek what he would say if someone thought the movie version of his story was too scary for kids. He replied:
"I would tell them to go to hell. That's a question I will not tolerate.... if they can't handle it, go home. Or wet your pants."
The long-awaited film combines both the author's amazing imagination and the director Spike Jonze's intensely creative vision. This collaboration began more than ten years ago, when Sendak saw Jonze's video for "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys. He knew then that he had found someone who shared his creative genius.
Sendak approached Jonze to adapt the book "Harold and the Purple Crayon" (which he held rights to) but the studio's love/hate relationship with Jonze caused Tristar to reject his storyboard just two months before shooting began.
Maurice Sendak then planted the seed in Spike Jonze's ear for a film adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are".
“I would think about it, but I couldn't work out what I could bring to it, what I could add,” Jonze says. “But then I realized maybe what the Wild Things could be: wild emotions. Through the eyes of a kid, unpredictable emotions – in yourself or the people around you – are very confusing. As soon as I hit on that I thought, 'Well, that's infinite, what you can do with that.' With that I thought I could add to the film but not from the outside, just go deeper into what the book already is.
Sendak and Jonze's struggle to release this film is a gift to the wild thing in all of us.

09 October 2009

Global Warming Towards America

Copenhagen's slap in the face has morphed into Oslo's pat on the back for America. The Nobel committee in Norway has awarded its most esteemed tribute, the Nobel Peace Prize, to fledgling U.S. President Barack Obama. This, just days after Denmark scoffed at the President's appeal to host the Olympics in Chicago, demonstrates Europe's continuing bipolar actions in its relationship with the U.S.
Most people, including those that live in the White House, are stunned with this decision and its premature awarding for visions, rather than actions, done to facilitate the Peace Process.
This decision may say more about the rest of the world rather than the U.S. Europe appreciates how President Obama has opened up international communications and revived old-fashioned diplomacy with his views of tolerance, open discussion and compromise -all that needs to be done if the world would achieve peace.
In the U.S. that is not the way its been done, at least not for the past eight years. This was glaringly evident this morning as former Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton whined on NPR about how he was nominated but never won even though he did so much more under George W. Bush. His claim to the prize was that he gathered 26 allies to help the U.S.' invasion with Iraq to smoke out the WMDs that were never there.
So, if Americans see starting a war as a prerequisite for achieving a Peace Prize, perhaps we should heed Norway's decision.
Obama may not have done much, however, his first call as President was to Palestinian President Manmoud Abba and said he will pick up the phone if Iran shows up on his Caller ID. He addressed the Muslim community directly in Cairo, placating their anger toward the last leader who promised a 'crusade'. These are key communication procedures that are imperative to gather the people of those nations toward peace.
Obama has also stated that he wants to work toward a nuclear weapon-free world and concentrate on containing global warming, instead of denying its existence. This may sound small, but in contrast to the last guy, it means a lot to the Europeans (and 80% of Americans).
But whatever your views on whether he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, I believe President Obama does deserve some kind of award for his accomplishments so far.
Who else had the courage to proclaim publicly what we were all thinking?- Kanye West is a Jack-ass.
The president was also brave enough to share a beer with a racist cop and hysterical black man who forgot his keys and had the PR savvy to make it a headline on Fox News, who thought it was an actual summit.
And we should thank him for his biggest achievement to date: Not Being George W. Bush. For that, he deserves all awards in my book.
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