Holiday Drink-Of-The-Week: Hot Winter Cider

10 servings

* The compound butter
* 1 stick softened unsalted butter ( 1/2 cup)
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* -- Pinch of cinnamon
* -- Pinch of ground cloves
* -- Pinch of allspice
* The mulled cider
* 64 ounce jug of Bates & Schmitt biodynamic apple juice
* -- Peel of 1 orange
* 12 cloves
* 3 short cinnamon sticks
* 4 star anise
* For each drink
* 1 1/2 ounces Barbancourt 8-year rum
* -- Clove, orange peel and cinnamon stick for garnish (optional)

For the compound butter: Mix butter with the spices on a piece of wax paper. Wrap in wax paper and shape into a log.

For the mulled cider: Pour juice into a heavy pot, add orange peel and spices. Heat pot on low flame for at least 10 minutes, until juice is mulled.

To finish: Spoon 2 teaspoons of compound butter into a mug, then add rum and top with 6 ounces hot mulled cider. Stir until butter is melted and garnish with an quarter-sized disc of orange peel studded with a clove and a cinnamon stick.

Caroline Kennedy to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate?

Sentimental New York Democrats were rooting for Governor Paterson to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate seat his father once held. But Kennedy’s not interested.

His recommendation? Send his cousin Caroline.

Filmmaker Plans to Install Camera in His Eye Socket

Rob Spence looks you straight in the eye when he talks. So it's a little unnerving to imagine that soon one of his hazel-green eyes will have a tiny wireless video camera in it that records your every move.

The Walkmen add West Coast dates

San Diego, CA Belly Up (January 19)
Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theater (January 20)
San Francisc Fillmore Auditorium (January 21)
Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom (January 23)
Seattle, WA Neumos (January 24)

Pitchfork does not approve of the new Killers album

The Vegas rockers receive a 5.9. Ouch.

The Fusion Hybrid Is Ford's Escape Route

The Big Three were late to the hybrid party, but they're finally getting into the swing of things with cars like the 38 39-mpg Ford Fusion Hybrid, a car that should make Toyota nervous and might just help Ford escape the apocalypse in Detroit.

Hawaii Is a 'Better Place' for EVs

Hawaii is the latest place to fall in love with EV evangelist Shai Agassi's plan to bring electric cars to the masses, inviting his startup to build as many as 100,000 charging spots across the state by 2012 and bring EVs into the mainstream.

The deal with Better Place makes Hawaii the first state to commit itself to electric cars on a broad scale and comes two weeks after several Northern California cities joined Better Place to make the San Francisco Bay Area "the EV capital of the U.S." Considering that General Motors, BMW, Nissan and Mitsubishi are among those aggressively developing cars with cords, it looks like automakers and policymakers are finally getting serious about moving us beyond oil.

Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid revealed

The world of plug-in hybrids is about to get a whole lot sexier when the production Fisker Karma debuts at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

Fisker has released early photos of the production version of the Karma, which isn't that much different from the concept revealed earlier this year at the 2008 Detroit Show.

Under the Karma's swooping hood is a 22.6 kWh electric motor coupled with a GM-sourced turbocharged, direct-inject 2.0L four-cylinder Ecotec engine--the same fantastic mill that powers the Chevy Cobalt SS tested earlier. Together the two powerplants produce about 400 horsepower and a 5.8 second 0-60 time. Keep your foot planted and the Karma will eventually top out somewhere around 125 mph.

Pretty...pretty good.

Vice Squad

Matching couples used to be a DON’T no-brainer, but when you look this clean we forget about the rules and dream of eating shrimp off your genitalia.

Stuff White People Like - #29 80s Night

If you ever find yourself wanting to take your relationship with white people to the next level, one of the best places to meet a potential partner is at any 80s night event in your local city.

White people cannot get enough of 80s music, partially out of nostalgia, and partially since it was the last time that pop music wasn’t infused with hip-hop or R n’ B stylings. Artists like Joy Division, New Order and Elvis Costello were all pretty well respected and had solid runs at the charts. Also, less respected artists like Wham, Rick Astley and Cameo are still easy for white people to dance to.

If you are in a social situation and wish to turn into one more condusive for romance, you should always ask “does anyone know a club with a good 80s night?” at which point the entire group of white people are likely to invite you to an event.

Fail of the Day

Just In Time For Christmas...

Introducing the Manties and the Mirdle.

What every gentleman wants, even if he's too proud to ask.

Surprise your loved one this holiday season with the secret support he's just dying for.

Get that trim figure without breaking a sweat.

Riiiight.

Quincy Jones to deliver SXSW 2009 keynote address

In case you're planning to attend or playing at (ahem, come see Triple Cobra!!) SXSW this March, you may be interested to know that Quincy Jones has been announced as the keynote speaker at the 2009 South By Southwest Music Conference in March.

A legendary producer, composer and arranger, Jones was behind Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ (I'll say, more like off the planet), ‘Bad’ and ‘Thriller’ albums, the latter being the biggest-selling album of all time.

Jones was also responsible for producing and conducting ‘We Are The World’ for Ethiopian famine relief.

At the keynote speech on March 19, Jones is expected to discuss the power of music to influence and create positive change in the world.

As previously reported, a Quincy Jones tribute album is currently in the works, and Mark Ronson is working with Amy Winehouse on a cover of Lesley Gore's 1964 hit 'You Don't Own Me' for the project.

Quincy Jones is a 27-time Grammy Award winner and is the all-time most nominated Grammy artist with a total of 79 nominations.

The South By Southwest Music & Media Conference takes place March 18 - 22, 2009.

Appeal launched for missing Bob Marley, Peter Tosh songs

Members of the Public Broadcasting Corporation Of Jamaica (PBC-J) are appealing for the return of thousands of original records and musical artefacts that have been stolen.

The music was taken from the PBC-J's old headquarters in Kingston last January, after the corporation's former incarnation - Jamaica's Public Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) - was sold and rebranded in 1997.

The thousands of original records, along with reels of music and historic film footage, were intended to be used as part of the national archive library. Since the break-in, BBC News reports that not one record has been returned.

Around 80 per cent of the collection is thought to have been stolen.

"It's a national disgrace," said Gladstone Wilson, the former programme manager at JBC. "We've really thrown away or let people take what was not their own, but somehow they had access to it and all that history is lost."

Dub producer and artist Lee 'Scratch' Perry has argued that he is pleased parts of the archive were stolen, as he is owed royalties by Jamaican record companies and radio stations.

"I'm glad they did that - what you give you get, who robbed me deserve to get what they've got," he said.

Ancient Supernova Explosion Glimpsed Anew

A supernova explosion first seen from Earth 436 years ago has come back to life for astronomers in a time-travel-like astronomical twist.

By observing light from supernova SN 1572 that was slowed on its trip to Earth by dust particles, scientists can watch the outburst now as it would have looked originally.

When the explosion first appeared in the sky in 1572, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe named it “Stella Nova” or “New Star” because it looked like an extremely bright star that hadn’t been there before. Astronomers today call it Tycho's supernova.

Radio waves from remnants of the gases emitted by Tycho's supernova were first discovered in 1952, and in 1960, faint light was identified with an Earth-based telescope. Today when scientists aim their telescopes at the same spot, they see the gas left over from the supernova (shown in image above).

Flickr Updates Mobile Site, Adds Video Playback for iPhones

Flickr is rolling out a new and improved version of its mobile website, the company announced Thursday. In addition to some enhancements to the mobile site's user interface, the update adds video playback capability -- something previously missing from the Flickr mobile experience.

The Return of 'Blue Steel'?

So I'm rappelling down Mount Vesuvius when suddenly I slip, and I start to fall. Just falling, ahh ahh, I'll never forget the terror. When suddenly I realize "Holy shit, Hansel, haven't you been smoking Peyote for six straight days, and couldn't some of this maybe be in your head?"

Probably, but Zoolander 2 might become reality.

Vice Squad

Staying Alive is an awesome movie and when you combine it with skin-colored clothes it becomes an awesome porno.

Stuff White People Like - #42 Sushi

Regardless if you are vegetarian, vegan, or just guilty about eating meat, all white people love Sushi. To them, it’s everything they want: foreign culture, expensive, healthy, and hated by the ‘uneducated.’

But there are different levels of white person Sushi love. At the bottom are the spicy tuna/california roll eaters. These are the people who get their fix at places named “Rock And Roll!” “Magic Sushi Company,” or Trader Joes-type supermarkets. Often times, this sushi isn’t the most authentic, but white people can’t get enough!

The next level up is the entry level Sushi snob, these are people who still love rolls, but are willing to branch out to Salmon and Tuna sashimi, maybe even eel.

Finally, you have the white sushi snob. These people just take it all way too far. Often times, they will only sit at the sushi bar, will try to order in Japanese and will only order Omakase. These people will often be extremely critical of anyone who eats a roll of any type or does not properly flip the nighiri into their mouths.

When white people get Sushi they all want to order Sake to complete the authentic experience.

So, how can this information be turned into personal gain?

White people are obsessed with finding good sushi, therefore if you offer to take them to ‘the best sushi place’ in town, you are sure to have them accept. If you are asian man, this is an almost no-fail method of getting dates with white girls, and maybe, just maybe joining Bruce Lee and Paul Kariya’s dad.

In addition, going out for Sushi is considered a special evening in white person culture. Not as special as breakfast, but still, it comes with expectations.

But what if the person you are interested in is a vegetarian? Not a problem. For some reason, most white people who say they are vegetarians will eat Sushi. Apparently, fish aren’t cute enough to warrant inclusion with pigs, chickens and cows.

Fail of the Day

The Return of ‘Lost’

Good Times Gone at Google?

Terrible news. Google, whose nurturing, loving, perk-heavy corporate culture has long been the envy of emotionally abused cubicle-dwelling schlubs everywhere, has found itself, in the face of the recession, needing to cut back on some of the good things:

In recent months, it reduced the hours of its free cafeteria service and suspended the traditional afternoon tea in its New York office.

Horrors. They've also begun reconsidering those weird, awesome little projects they do for no reason, "stopped the pell-mell hiring of virtually any employee who met its qualifications, focusing instead on adding heads only where they were needed," cut back on contract workers, and have hired a new CFO who is trained in something called "Six Sigma" management practices, "a rigid quality-control system designed to eliminate waste." How Office Space.

This is a depressing blow for workers everywhere. If Google becomes just like any other office, what will there be left for us to aspire to? What's next, cutbacks in heaven?

Hawaii Endorses Plan for Electric Cars

The State of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Electric Company on Tuesday endorsed an effort to build an alternative transportation system based on electric vehicles with swappable batteries and an “intelligent” battery recharging network.

The plan, the brainchild of the former Silicon Valley software executive Shai Agassi, is an effort to overcome the major hurdles to electric cars — slow battery recharging and limited availability.

College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.

The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the biennial report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Panel Seeks Changes in E.P.A. Reviews

The Environmental Protection Agency must revise its approach to assessing environmental health hazards and other risks, because current practices hinder useful and timely regulation, an expert panel of The National Research Council is reporting.

UNKLE to release new album this month

UNKLE are set to release a new album this month that features classical reworkings of some of their existing songs plus two new efforts.

The album, 'End Titles... Redux', will feature seven reinterpreted songs from the dance duo's 2008 album 'End Titles... Stories for Film' plus the two new songs.

Around 3,000 copies of the album will be released on CD on December 15, while digital copies will be available to download from Unkle.com a day earlier (December 14).

The album will be performed live by The Heritage Orchestra on December 18 at the London Union Chapel.

The Knife Writing Darwin-Inspired Opera

According to their website, the Knife's Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson have been enlisted to write both the music and libretto (i.e., words) for Danish theater group Hotel Pro Forma's upcoming production Tomorrow, in a Year.

The piece is set to debut in Copenhagen in November 2009, and takes as its inspiration Darwin's thoughts on evolution, change, transformation, and mutation.

Guns N' Roses Lay the Smack Down on Dr. Pepper

Dr Pepper made good on the promise by offering a coupon on its website for 24 hours, but a problem arose when the demand from thirsty GN'R fans crashed the site. In response, Dr Pepper "extended the window for the giveaway from 24 to 42 hours, added a toll-free line to handle consumer requests for the coupons, and set up an interactive voice recorder to accept coupon requests," according to a CNN report. Ridiculous problem ridiculously solved, right?

Not so fast. Plenty of people still didn't get their free Dr Pepper, and some of these people blame GN'R frontman Axl Rose himself, despite the fact that he wasn't officially involved in the promotion at all.

To clear up the misunderstanding, CNN reports that Guns N' Roses lawyer Laurie Soriano wrote a letter to the good Dr requesting an apology. She told CNN, "The door to a lawsuit being filed is always open until the fans are taken care of and Dr Pepper has done the right thing."

So, wait, Axl Rose can sue Dr Pepper for half-assing a promotion he wasn't involved in because his fans think he's responsible? Hey kids, let's play the misplaced blame game!

P.S. It is funny when a writer for CNN gets a sentence like "No one is LOL" published.

Two-in-One Guitar Amp Sounds Like Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix

The impeccably finished cabinet looks vintage, but it's actually a postmodern mashup: Under the retrolicious grille cloth are two sets of power tubes from the classic age of rock — dual 6V6 amps, favored in the United States by the likes of Buddy Holly, and a pair of EL84s, secret weapon of the '60s British Invasion.

Flip a switch to alternate between them. Dual volume controls for each mode let you further color the tone for a jangling rockabilly sound or a fuzzed-out Hendrix snarl.

Designed in 2004 by legendary amp auteur Fred Taccone, the JRT 9/15 has won scores of devoted converts — folks such as U2's the Edge. It may look small (just 21 inches high and 38 pounds), but rest assured: This baby makes some glorious noise.

Get Your Mini EV Now. Some Restrictions Apply.

If you've been lusting after the all-electric Mini-E that BMW unveiled at the L.A. Auto Show, now's your chance to get one.

BMW is looking for 500 lucky people it says will "make motoring history" field-testing the car during a "year-long research project."

Aircell's Gogo in-flight WiFi goes live commercially on Virgin America

After launching to a select handful of lucky souls last week, Virgin America has gone live with its Aircell-engineered Gogo internet service on select flights.

As of now, an undisclosed amount of VA flights will offer guests unlimited use (with certain restrictions around VoIP, we hear) while in the air for $12.95 on flights longer than three hours and $9.95 for flights under three hours.

The airline's entire fleet should be WiFi-ready by Q1 2009

Vice Squad

We try to avoid putting up photos that have such shitty res, but we’re making an exception for this snap of one guy eating out another guy’s asshole, captured at 10AM on a weekday by a reader in Australia. We’re not even going to try to make a cute comment here. Just look at it. Behold it.

Stuff White People Like - #117 Political Prisoners

For the most part, this list has offered ways to befriend white people one at a time. However, if you want to befriend a large number of white people at the same time, the easiest way to do it is to go to jail for political reasons.

White people love political prisoners because they are individuals who have been locked up because their beliefs or their presence stands in defiance of an unjust system. In fact, most white people would love to be locked up for their beliefs provided that they could go to a jail with private toilets, plenty of books and no rape.

Instead, white people are forced to turn those dreams of oppression into something more productive. Specifically the belief that one day their law degree, graphic design skill, or ability to attend a concert can be used to free a political prisoner.

If you happen to be this individual, then you have no further work to do. White people already like you and will provide for you financially in the form of book deals, commencement addresses, and documentaries. But do not assume that these are the only people who can benefit from their time in jail.

Political prisoners make excellent choices whenever a white person asks you to name a personal hero. If they drop an answer like “Kurt Cobain” or “Toni Morrison” you can easily trump them by offering up a name like Mumia Abu Jamal or Nelson Mandela which will show white people that you are smart, well informed, and political. Or that you own at least one Rage Against the Machine CD.

But what if you pick the wrong political prisoner? Impossible. This is because political prisoners do not exist until a famous white person has drawn attention to them. Until that point, any person who has been locked up for their beliefs is just a regular prisoner and subsequently not worthy of graffiti stencils.

Conversely, if you ever find yourself needing to end a friendship with a white person you can simply say something like “well, he’s a criminal he belongs in jail. I don’t care what the Beastie Boys have to say about it.”

End of friendship.

Fail of the Day

'It’ Bags Are About to Be So Embarrassing

The luxury market has been booming for fifteen years, but all good things must come to an end.

Craigslist has got the hook up

According to the Daily News, special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan has launched a “war” against drug dealing on Craigslist, enlisting prosecutors from around the country and requesting the help of the Website’s CEO.

The magic of a little hair and make-up

A gallery of before-and-after pics of models.

Anna Wintour ‘Vogue’ Documentary to Sweep Sundance?

A while back R.J. Cutler made a documentary about Vogue, specifically the preparation for the magazine's September 2007 issue.

Film-industry insiders are saying the movie has a good shot at making it into Sundance, the lineup for which will be announced this week.

According to WWD, the film was made "with the full cooperation of editor in chief Anna Wintour and staff."

Just Think ‘007’ and Add $269,993

The New York Times reviews my new car, er, the new Aston Martin.

Facebook Aims to Extend Its Reach Across the Web

Facebook, the Internet’s largest social network, wants to let you take your friends with you as you travel the Web. But having been burned by privacy concerns in the last year, it plans to keep close tabs on those outings.

Facebook Connect, as the company’s new feature is called, allows its members to log onto other Web sites using their Facebook identification and see their friends’ activities on those sites. Like Beacon, the controversial advertising program that Facebook introduced and then withdrew last year after it raised a hullabaloo over privacy, Connect also gives members the opportunity to broadcast their actions on those sites to their friends on Facebook.

In the next few weeks, a number of prominent Web sites will weave this service into their pages, including those of the Discovery Channel and The San Francisco Chronicle, the social news site Digg, the genealogy network Geni and the online video hub Hulu.

Facebook Connect is representative of some surprising new thinking in Silicon Valley. Instead of trying to hoard information about their users, the Internet giants have all announced plans to share at least some of that data so people do not have to enter the same identifying information again and again on different sites.

Fuel-cell powered devices getting closer

Laptop, cell phone and iPod owners tired of having their devices run out of charge after a few hours have been patiently waiting for the next portable power source to arrive.

Tiny fuel cells, powered by combustible liquids or gasses, have long been touted as the eventual solution. Potentially, they could power a laptop for days between refills.

But fuel cells have perennially remained a year or two away from reaching the market as companies have worked on making them small, cheap and long-lasting, while making sure they don't overheat.

The U.S. government removed a key roadblock this year when the Department of Transportation amended its hazardous materials regulations to allow cells with methanol, butane or formic acid to be carried on airplanes. Methanol and butane are flammable, and formic acid is corrosive.

Genetically Modified Peanuts Could Save Lives

Genetically engineered peanuts may help fight the most common cause of fatal allergic reactions to food in the United States. While the research is unlikely to result in the creation of completely allergen-free peanuts, it could result in fewer outbreaks and even fewer deaths.

Tomy's printer-equipped Xiao digital camera hits Japan

There are finally a few more details about the would-be Polaroid successor.

That includes word of a price for both the camera (¥34,800, or just under $370), and the paper you'll need to actually print photos which, at ¥880 (or about $9) for 20 sheets, likely won't have you plastering your walls with the 2x3-inch shots, even though they do actually have adhesive backs.

Interestingly, you can also use the camera to print photos from any IrDA-equipped cellphone, but unfortunately not via WiFi or Bluetooth, which would be a tad more welcome.

If that's got you intrigued, you should have a slightly easier time picking one up when it launches internationally next spring, although by then it'll likely also be competing with Polaroid's own Zink-equipped camera.

Historic Center of Venice Flooded

One of the highest tides in its history brought Venice to a virtual halt, rekindling a debate over a plan to build moveable flood barriers in an effort to save the lagoon city from high tides.

A New Picture of the Early Earth

Geologists now almost universally agree that by 4.2 billion years ago, the Earth was a pretty placid place, with both land and oceans. Instead of hellishly hot, it may have frozen over.

Because the young Sun put out 30 percent less energy than it does today, temperatures on Earth might have been cold enough for parts of the surface to have been covered by expanses of ice.

Pitchfork Reviews Guns N' Roses New Album

Chinese Democracy receives a 5.8. Not that surprising.

Windspire vertical turbine on sale now, aiming to capture the consumer wind power market

Mariah Power's Windspire is a 9 meter tall vertical turbine intended for residential or commercial installation, capable of providing about a quarter of the power an "average" household needs (2000 kWh annually).

It's "bird-friendly" thanks to a relatively slow maximum blade speed (2.5 times that of the wind) and even includes WiFi so you can watch your carbon footprint shrink wirelessly.

The company is accepting orders now, and while prices aren't listed on the website (you'll need to request a quote), we hear you can get yourself into a 2009 model with a 5 year unlimited rotation warranty for around $5,000 -- plus customization if you want one in something other than "Soft Silver."

Vice Squad

This girl looks like Silly Putty except, instead of pushing it on to the Sunday Funnies to get pictures on it, she got smushed all over the 80s.

Stuff White People Like - #72 Study Abroad

In addition to accumulating sexual partners, binge drinking, drug use and learning, white people consider studying abroad to be one of the most important parts of a well rounded college education.

Study Abroad allows people to leave their current educational institution and spend a semester or a year in Europe or Australia. Though study abroad are offered to other places, these two are the overwhelming favorites.

By attending school in another country, white people are technically living in another country. This is important as it gives them the opportunity to insert that fact into any sentence they please. “When I used to live in [insert country], I would always ride the train to school. The people I’d see were inspiring.”

If you need to make up your own study abroad experience, they all pretty much work the same way. You arrived in Australia not knowing anybody, you went out to the bar the first night and made a lot of friends, you had a short relationship with someone from a foreign country, you didn’t learn anything, and you acquired a taste for something (local food, beer, fruit). This latter point is important because you will need to be able to tell everyone how it is unavailable in your current country.

It is also important that you understand the study abroad ranking system. Europe/Australia form the base level, then Asia, then South America, and finally the trump card of studying abroad in Tibet. Then there is the conversation killer of studying abroad in Africa. If you studied in Africa, it is usually a good idea to keep it quiet, it will remind white people that they were too scared to go and they will feel bad. Use this only in emergencies.

Fail of the Day