Vermont Ice Wine

During my first trip to the Northeast U.S. in December (braving 9 degree weather in Boston, NH and Vermont), I had a chance to try some Vermont ice wine. An interesting choice if you're looking for a different dessert wine. I'd describe it as having Riesling characteristics with hints of apricot or pear and green apples. Ice wine is made from hybrid vidal blanc (or La Crescent) grapes that are frozen, ideally harvested around 15F. These hearty grapes can supposedly withstand temperatures of -36F.

The Ice Wine Harvest
Learn more about grape varieties.

Try Vermont Ice Wine:
http://www.boydenvalley.com

2009 Niagara Ice Wine Festival - Ontario

Karsh 100 Exhibit at Boston MFA

In Boston? Check out the Karsh 100 exhibit before it leaves on Monday (1/19/09)! An interesting and captivating collection of his most popular and lesser known photography... from celebrities to shipyard workers and welders. Among them are the contemplative and striking portraits of Picasso, Hemingway, Einstein, Churchill, Jacques Cousteau and Audrey Hepburn.



If you can catch this exhibit at a museum near you, I highly recommend it! The Boston MFA is wonderful as well.

View a slideshow of some of the portraits:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1842875,00.html

http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/sub.asp?key=15&subkey=5726

Tay Zonday: Leading to More Sales for Dr Pepper?

Have you heard of social phenom Tay Zonday? He went from a grad student in Minneapolis to an overnight celebrity with national guest show appearances to discuss his YouTube hit, Chocolate Rain, with over 32 million views at the time of this post. Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) caught wind of this Internet star, and snatched him up to produce a version of his song, Cherry Chocolate Rain, for Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper. With more than 6.1 million views of that version, DPSG's expectations were blown away. But did it increase sales or just help with brand awareness?

It seems that DPSG discontinued Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper and replaced it with Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper. Will there be a Cherry Vanilla Chocolate Rain in the future, or will DPSG find the next big Internet phenom to promote that one? If someone out there knows of a direct correlation between Internet phenoms and product sales, please comment with a link to your story.
Tay Wiki / Tay Blog

Safe Fish To Eat - Seafood Watch & Marine Stewardship Council

Ever wonder what seafood is saf"er" to eat without destroying the ecosystem? Shark fin soup is one of many dishes to avoid if you care about the way that your food is harvested. The harvesting of Bluefin tuna is increasingly causing extensive damage to the ocean as well. The Marine Stewardship Council provides you with a better glimpse of which seafood is less detrimental to the surrounding ecosystem. Also check out the very cool Seafood Watch Sushi Guide. Look for your Seafood Watch Regional Pocket Guide.

If you're in Portland, check out Bamboo Sushi, the first independent US restaurant to be certified by the MSC. It would be great if more restaurants followed suit. www.bamboosushipdx.com

The Facebook / MySpace International Race

Just about a year ago, there was a 400% difference in international traffic between MySpace and Facebook, with MySpace in the page view lead. MySpace now has only an 8% lead. Facebook will likely surpass MySpace with international traffic if the trend continues. Read more about the global battle for social network dominance. It remains to be seen whether the increased traffic will create a membership jump for Facebook. MySpace still remains the social networking king for bands and Gen Y. Facebook is growing at a much faster pace though, and quickly pulling in more Gen X members everyday. If you've noticed 5-10 "new" old friends from high school or college joining you on Facebook every week, you probably are Gen X and don't need stats to confirm what you're seeing.

Want more stats on the fastest growing social networking sites? Check out Jeremiah Owyang's blog!

Feed Winter Architecture & Design Cravings

Looking for some new inspiration in the architectural or interior design realm? Here are some delights to feed your inner winter hunger!

CoolHunter.net
Fresh Home
Farmboy Fine Arts
Murals Your Way

(Photo in this post is from FreshHome.com)

Jonas Brothers on Carnival Cutouts

RaZz'em launched a new Carnival Cutout this week for the Jonas Brothers. If you're not familiar with these guys, you don't know what's hot in teen land. This is the hottest band around, with googly eyed teens following them everywhere. For those of you in your 30s, this is the Duran Duran of today. (Update: Sorry, the RaZz'em app has been discontinued for now.)

Carnival Cutouts on Facebook

Have some fun on Facebook by putting your friends into hilarious scenes or "Carnival Cutouts by RaZz'em". You can also caption the scene and send it to everyone you know. A great way to spend a few minutes and poke a little lighthearted fun at people. (Sorry, the app and RaZz'em sites have been disabled for now.)

Babysitting with Britney

Have some fun with your friends by making them Britney Spears' kid for the day. It's a wild celebrity ride and you won't want to miss a beat. (Update, the app has been disabled for now, but you can view the video starring Simon Cowell on YouTube - Babysitting with Britney

Love to cook? Need help? SuperCook to the rescue!

This is one of my favorite cooking discoveries, and the functionality is slick. Have some left over dill or almonds? Want to know what you can whip up? Super Cook to the rescue! Definitely a site to check out: www.supercook.com