Holiday Drink-Of-The-Week: Christmas Candy

Serves 1

* 1 candy cane or 4 to 5 peppermint hard candies
* 1/2 ounce + 2 ounces clear or white creme de menthe
* 2 ounces white chocolate liqueur (such as Godiva)
* 2 teaspoons grenadine syrup (optional)

Instructions: Put candy cane or hard peppermint candies in a zipper-top bag. With a mallet or rolling pin crush the candy into fine crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a shallow saucer. Pour 1/2 ounce creme de menthe into another shallow saucer. Rim a martini glass with the creme de menthe, then with the candy crumbs. Set aside.

Place the white chocolate liqueur, the rest of the creme de menthe and the grenadine in a shaker with ice. Shake until condensation forms on the outside of the entire shaker, then strain the mixture into the rimmed glass.

HBO to air Will Ferrell's 'Bush' show

HBO will air a live telecast in the spring of Will Ferrell's Broadway show "You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush."

An exact date for the HBO airing has not been confirmed, although it seems likely it would come toward the end of the run of "You're Welcome America" to prevent the telecast from cannibalizing ticket sales for the Broadway engagement. Limited Rialto stint is slated to end March 15.

Politically themed comedy "You're Welcome America," structured as a parting address from outgoing President Bush, will be Ferrell's first solo special for HBO.

Stage production is helmed by Adam McKay, the writer-director with whom Ferrell has collaborated on pics including "Step Brothers," "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

Ferrell and McKay also are exec producers of HBO skein "Eastbound and Down," bowing Feb. 15.

"Will Ferrell: You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush" begins previews at the Cort Theater on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, ahead of a Feb. 5 opening.

Hugh Jackman to host new-look Oscars

This is just stupid.

Hugh Jackman will host the 81st annual Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed Friday.

Jackman, a triple-threat actor, singer and dancer who was recently named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive," has awards-show host experience, and to good effect: He won an Emmy in 2005 for hosting the 58th annual Tony Awards in 2004, when he also took a best-actor Tony for his performance in the musical "The Boy From Oz."

Telecast producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon called the Australian actor "a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star."

Whatever.

Arcade Fire Film Hits the Web Monday, Coming to DVD

Arcade Fire will release their new 70-minute documentary, 'Miroir Noir', on Monday, December 15.

The film documents the band through the making of their 2007 album 'Neon Bible' and subsequent tours. It also includes short films made on the road by the band.

The documentary is directed by Arcade Fire and Vincent Morisset, who was also responsible for the interactive video for 'Neon Bible'.

The deluxe edition DVD of 'Miroir Noir' features bonus material including Arcade Fire performances on TV shows such as Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and Saturday Night Live.

Both the digital and deluxe versions of the documentary will be available to order from Miroir-noir.com on December 15 (with the digital version delivered instantly).

A trailer for 'Miroir Noir' is available to watch now.

Oil Consumption to Drop for First Time in 25 Years

The world's population will use less oil this year than it did last year, according to a new forecast from highly-regarded International Energy Agency.

Global oil demand hasn't dropped since 1983 when the world's developed economies were struggling on the tail end of a recession. This time around, it's not just the old, big economies that are struggling. China, which has experienced the greatest boom in history, appears to be in economic trouble.

Car Key Jams Teen Drivers' Cell Phones

Key2SafeDriving is a fine concept (at least in the parent's eye), as it fuses a cellphone jammer (of sorts) into a key fob in order to put the kibosh on freeway conversations.

Essentially, the signal blocking kicks into action anytime the "key" portion is flicked out, connecting to a handset via Bluetooth or RFID and forcing it into "driving mode."

No actual jamming, per se, is going on; it's more like a manual override of the ringer. Anyone who phones / texts you while you're safely driving will receive an automated response informing them of such, though we are told that handsfree devices can be utilized.

Researchers at the University of Utah are hoping to see it on the market within six months via a private company "at a cost of less than $50 per key plus a yet-undetermined monthly service fee."

That's ridiculous.

Vice Squad

Being all serious about DJing is pretty bad but how about being all serious about chest hair, sexy underwear and having woman’s hands? Could this guy possibly waste more of his own time?

Stuff White People Like - #6 Organic Food

Because of the balance of global wealth and power, there is a general assumption that white people are pretty shrewd. And for the most part, history has proven this to be true. But white people have one great weakness: organic food.

As seen by the image on the left - when faced with eating food that has been processed and loaded with nitrates, sodium and saturated fat, or organic rat poison, 10/10 they will take the rat poison.

Just like with farmers markets, white people believe that organic food is grown by farmers who wear overalls, drive tractors, and don’t use pesticide. In spite of the fact that most organic food is made by major agribusiness, and they just use it as an excuse to jack up prices, white people will always lose their mind for organic anything. Never mind the fact that if the world were to switch to 100% organic food tomorow, half the earth would die of starvation.

But white people don’t care, just so long as they aren’t eating pesticides they are pretty sure they can live forever.

It’s almost guaranteed that if some Columbian drug lord can start offering “organic” cocaine, he’ll be the richest guy ever.

Fail of the Day

Lasonic and Rap-Up team for the Limited Edition i931 boombox

Weighing in at about 25 pounds, this behemoth boasts two 12-inch speakers, it docks and charges your iPod, and it's going to look semi-fly doing it, too. It's also got an AM/FM tuner, EQs, an alarm clock -- you know, the works. This hulking "high performance portable music system" is destined to make you nostalgic for a simpler time of miniscule MP3 players with teensy little earbuds. It's $189 and available now.

Toys and Tools for Upwardly Mobile Musicians

Musicians are some of the most privileged gear hounds because their equipment ostensibly serves a higher purpose. But sooner or later they mask their addiction with increasingly flimsy rationalizations. This gadget gallery is dedicated to them, with eight "Aha!" devices to covet. Enjoy!

Mercedes-Benz intros SPLITVIEW COMMAND system

From the looks of it, the system is very similar to the Delphi one, with the 8-inch display able to let the driver keep an eye on the GPS while the passenger simultaneously watches a DVD or something equally distracting on the very same screen. That's done with the use of a special filter that masks the display and only lets the proper pixels slip into view depending on where you are seated.

No word on what sort of premium the system will demand, if any, but it'll apparently be available on all S-Class models starting in the summer of 2009.

Gadgets, Games Help Musicians Offset Declining Sales

As album sales continue to decline, gadgets and games may help ensure the survival of the music business. Indeed, the most tech-savvy bands are already recording songs for distribution exclusively through new channels opened up by the iPhone, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

Japan installs cellphone jammers near ATMs to prevent fraud

Chiba Bank has installed phone signal jammers at four unnamed ATMs at bank branches in the Tokyo region, and while it has gone down as the first institution to go to such lengths, it's highly doubt it'll be the last.

Scientists Encourage Legalizing Brain-Enhancing Drugs

If drugs can safely give your brain a boost, why not take them? And if you don't want to, why stop others?

In an era when attention-disorder drugs are regularly — and illegally — being used for off-label purposes by people seeking a better grade or year-end job review, these are timely ethical questions.

The latest answer comes from Nature, where seven prominent ethicists and neuroscientists recently published a paper entitled, "Towards a responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy."

In short: Legalize 'em.

PETA is at it again

Honestly, who is running things over at PETA. They cheapen their position by only doing all these crazy things for the shock-value of it. Such a waste.

A New Mexico company is building all-wood human coffins in a partnership with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They bear painted slogans, such as "Lifetime PETA Member" or "I saved 500 animals."

Another serves up a last laugh that plays on a long-running PETA advertisement: "Told You I Wouldn't Be Caught Dead in Fur!"

Google shifts Chrome browser out of test mode

Google Inc. is shifting its Web browser out of test mode just 100 days after its debut, an unusually quick transition for a company known for keeping the "beta" tag on some products for years.

Google is trying to lure Web surfers away from the leading browsers, Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox.

In the process, Google hopes Chrome makes it easier to gather insights about users' preferences and extends the popularity of its online applications, which are supposed to run more smoothly and quickly in Chrome.

Phoenix Motorcars bringing all-electric vehicles to Maui by 2009

In an ambitious press release, plans have been announced to bring "all-electric vehicles and an electric vehicle infrastructure to the island of Maui by 2009."

The premise is sound; after all, it doesn't take many months of paying $5.29 / gallon for regular to get everyone on the island to support such an initiative.

Digitally Assisted Billiards makes everyone a pool shark

There's cheating, and then there's out-thinking the room. Georgia Tech's own Justin Needham and Matthew Straub are clearly headed for great things, as their Digitally Assisted Billiards is reason enough to give these guys a degree in our eyes.

Using an array of low-end kit -- just an eBox 2300 embedded computer, Logitech webcam, 4- x 3-foot mirror, a VGA projector, pool table and a few extenders -- the two were able to concoct a system for visually displaying the expected trajectory of all possible shots based on the location of the balls still on the slate.

Apple and AT&T bring back iPhone home activation

Online shoppers looking to spend the holiday season firmly planted on the couch can add the iPhone 3G back to their lists -- it's been confirmed that Apple and AT&T have quietly brought back in-home activation.

Sure, it's been available in limited circumstances before, but now it's here and for real, just like with the first-gen unit. Would-be unlockers looking to score a phone for $199 flat can't start celebrating just yet, though -- you'll still have to provide your billing details and face an ETF if you don't activate within a set period of time.

Darpa, Dronemaker to Brew Algae-Based Jet Fuel

Pentagon way-out research arm Darpa and Predator dronemaker General Atomics are teaming up to try to turn algae into jet fuel. The Defense Department announced the $20 million deal earlier in the week.

The idea is to "demonstrate and ultimately commercialize the affordable production" of an algae-based surrogate for JP-8 jet fuel by 2010. The work is going to be spread all over the country, from the Scripps Institutions of Oceanography near San Diego to Hawaii Bio Energy in Honolulu to the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental research center. General Atomics also seems to have pulled down an extra $4 million in Congressional pork money to set up a plant-fuel research facility at Eastern Kentucky University.

Video Shows Every Flight on Earth in 72 Seconds

Ericsson and Intel developing remote kill switch with GPS locator for stolen laptops

While a power-on password and encrypted drive in your laptop could protect your data in the event of theft, it doesn't come close to the satisfaction you'd feel at being able to locate and prosecute the bastard who stole it.

While Lenovo has its Lockdown PC Now feature that allows you to remotely disable your lost or stolen laptop via SMS, it lacks GPS to pinpoint your gear's location. Enter Ericsson, who just announced its intent to make its HSPA-capable Mobile Broadband Modules compatible with Intel's Anti-Theft Technology. Ericsson's modules will support remote-SMS disable like Lenovo's slabs but adds GPS to transmit the laptop's location.

Now if they could only install a remote-activated explosive device.

Air Force to Use 'Battlefield Acupuncture' for Pain Relief

The military medical community has been using all sorts of alternative therapies -- yoga, meditation, even animal-petting -- to ease the strains of post-traumatic stress disorder FOR returning troops. One of the non-traditional treatments will be used in a war zone for the first time.

"The Air Force will begin teaching 'battlefield acupuncture' early next year to physicians deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan," reports the Baltimore Sun's David Wood. "The initiative marks the first high-level endorsement of acupuncture by the traditionally conservative military medical community, officials said."

Vice Squad

After a fifth of a century struggling to get women in the art world, the war is over. The Guerilla Girls of yesterday lay strewn on the battlefield as bright young flowers emerge from their corpses, thrilled by the limitless possibilities of tomorrow yet oblivious to the sacrifices made only yesterday.

Stuff White People Like - #5 Farmers Markets

This one is a no-brainer and served as the inspiration for the photo on the far right. That photo described the woman as a “local herb merchant.” Everything about that description is white.

White people like Farmers Markets for a number of reasons. The first is their undying need to support local economies (see future post), and the idea of buying direct from the farmer helps them assuage the fears instilled in them from reading Fast Food Nation (and yes, every white person has read this book).

White people also like Farmer’s Markets because it is outdoors (they love being outdoors), they can bring their dogs and children in expensive strollers, and they get to see other white people. If they are single, this is a good place to meet other single white people who share their passion for sustainability.

Fail of the Day

Listen To James O'Shaughnessy. He knows more than you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM2nDODEESE

Gotta give a shout out to Unkie Jim!

Watch the clip to hear what he thinks about the current economic opportunity.

Gmail Introduces Texting Via G-Chat

Boy, first video and audio chatting, now texting. Gmail is becoming your one-stop shop for communicating with anyone, anyway, anywhere.

Simply enable the texting option in the "labs" section under the "settings" tab, click on your friends name in chat, then "video & more", click "send sms", enter their number, and your texting in the same window you normally chat in. Fast and simple U.S. numbers only, for now.

iWow Offers Premium Sound for Your iPod

This device is a hardware-based version of their "award winning" iWOW plug-in for iTunes, bringing the same "expansive sound stage" experience that you've been enjoying on your home computer to your iPod Classic, iPod 5G, or iPod nano 3G.

This is accomplished by eliminating the narrow sweet spot to create an immersive audio experience with deep, rich bass and high-frequency clarity, dynamically locating and restoring audio cues buried in the original source material.

Billy Corgan says Smashing Pumpkins won't release any new albums

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan says the band will not release any new albums in the future.

Corgan admitted that the negative reaction to 2007's comeback album 'Zeitgeist' is partly to blame.

He told The Chicago Tribune: "We're done with that ['Zeitgeist']. There is no point. People don't even listen to it all. They put it on their iPod, they drag over the two singles, and skip over the rest."

The frontman said that, despite not recording new albums, fans would still be able to hear new music from the band.

"Our primary function now is to be a singles band, that drives Pumpkins Inc through singles. We'll still be creative, but in a different form."

He added that the band would also stop touring traditional venues.

"We won't do shows like this anymore, where we try to draw a good crowd and balance the past with the present," he explained. "We'll go small and do exactly what we want to do and stop playing catalogue. We'll be like a new band that can't rely on old gimmicks. I'm not stupid. I want people to feel good about what we do."

Corgan went on to verbally attack people who accuse the Smashing Pumpkins of reforming for money.

"What bothers me is the notion that we're done," he said. "We didn't come back for the cash, we came back to be great again. It made me mad that people thought we're done, that we don't have a future. Get out. We don't want you. We've never been that band. That happy band. We picked up where we left off. We're not the retirement band playing our old hits."

Referring to the band's original split in 2000, Corgan lambasted former guitarist James Iha, saying: "The real story [behind the split] was Iha was driving me out of my mind. He was so negative. The guy literally drove me insane."

The Knife's Karin Preps Fever Ray Album, Single

The Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson has lifted the shroud of secrecy surrounding her previously mentioned solo project to reveal a debut album due next year and a lead-off single due much sooner.

Jimmy Fallon Confirms the Roots as "Late Night" Band

Jimmy Fallon has confirmed the rumors that the Roots will serve as his house band when he takes over "Late Night" for Conan O'Brien next year.

The revelation comes at the end of the first video on Fallon's new blog, where he will offer regular behind-the-scenes looks at the show.

Pearl Jam to Reissue Ten Four Different Ways

The most basic of these Ten reissues is called the Legacy Edition. It features one CD with the original album remastered and another CD with the album both remastered and remixed by producer Brendan O'Brien. The second disc also includes six bonus tracks: "Brother", "Just a Girl", "State of Love and Trust", "Breath and a Scream", "2,000 Mile Blues", and "Evil Little Goat".

The Deluxe Edition has everything in the Legacy Edition but expands upon it by including a DVD featuring Pearl Jam's "MTV Unplugged" performance from 1992. The "Unplugged" show has never been commercially released before, and this DVD includes a performance of "Oceans" that was never aired.

Then there's the Vinyl Collection edition of the reissue, which is like the Legacy Edition without the bonus tracks and on vinyl: one LP with the original Ten remastered and one LP with Ten remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien.

Finally, there's the mother lode: the Super Deluxe Edition. This one collects everything in the Deluxe Edition and the Vinyl Collection but adds a couple very important things: a live set recorded at Seattle's Magnuson Park from September 20, 1992 called Drop in the Park on two vinyl LPs, and a replica of "Momma-Son", Pearl Jam's original demo cassette featuring "Alive", "Once", and "Footsteps". The package also includes a recreation of Vedder's composition notebook with replica notes, images, and other rare memorabilia.

Japan Moves to Become Electric Vehicle Testing Ground

Japan wants to make recharging electric cars as easy as filling a gas tank. The country is hosting the EV evangelists from electric-vehicle startup Better Place, encouraging them to build battery-exchange stations that might bring cars with cords into the mainstream.

The California company joins Subaru and Mitsubishi in helping the Japanese government get on the road toward toward its goal: half of all cars sold by 2020 will be electric. The pilot program announced Tuesday will allow consumers to swap depleted batteries for fresh ones easily when they don't have time to plug in. Limited to municipal fleets, the program is the first step toward electrifying Japan's vehicle fleet.

Firefox Adds Multitouch Gestures for Macs

The latest beta version of Mozilla's Firefox browser brings built-in support for the multitouch trackpads on modern Mac notebooks.

Back in October, Mozilla's Eddie Lee produced an experimental version of Firefox that allowed Mac users to control the browser with multifingered gestures (no, not that kind).

In v3.2 Beta 2, those gestures have been made official.

Vice Squad

When you find the perfect haircut for your face like Little Miss Fringe here, you should just have it cast in bronze right onto your head. As the farmer said to Babe, “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.”

Stuff White People Like - #1 Coffee

There is no doubt that white people love coffee. Yes, it’s true that asians like iced coffee and people of all races enjoy it. But I promise you that the first person at your school to drink coffee was a white person. You could kind of tell they didn’t enjoy it, but they did it anyways until they liked it - like cigarettes.

White people all need Starbucks, Second Cup or Coffee Bean. They are also fond of saying “you do NOT want to see me before I get my morning coffee.” White guys will also call it anything but coffee: “rocket fuel,” “java,” “joe,” “black gold,” and so forth. It’s pretty garbage all around.

If you want to go for extra points - white people really love FAIR TRADE coffee, because paying the extra $2 means they are making a difference.

Fail of

Jay Leno to Stay at NBC in All-New Time Slot — Right Before Conan!

Conan O'Brien, who, after a decade and a half of being the second-most-important star in NBC's after-hours lineup, will have to move all the way to Los Angeles just to be … the second-most-important star in NBC's after-hours lineup.

Bastards!

Tomorrow: A Day Without Gays

Tomorrow, some will explore what would happen if everyone who was gay didn't show up for work in a nationwide protest against the passing of Proposition 8.

Biotech Industry Seeks Help via Change in Tax Law

Biotechnology industry executives plan to visit Congress on Wednesday to ask for a temporary change in the tax law that would let money-losing companies get cash from the government now, in exchange for tax credits they would pledge not to take if they eventually become profitable.

Math Gains Reported for U.S. Students

American fourth and eighth grade students made solid achievement gains in math in recent years and in two states showed spectacular progress, according to an international survey of student achievement, released Tuesday.

Thank you, Asians.

Financial Crisis Tames Demand for World’s Oldest Service

The terrorists truly have won.

While the world’s oldest profession may also be one of its most recession-proof businesses, brothel owners in Europe and the United States say the global financial crisis is hurting a once lucrative industry.

Vice Squad

Japanese people are really good at taking something fairly complicated and streamlining it down to perfection, which is awesome when they set their minds to computers or cars, but less so when they set them to shitty rap.

Stuff White People Like - #66 Divorce

Most studies on the topic of divorce, focus in on the obvious. For instance the median age of divorce for white men is 30.5 and 29 for women. This is usually around the time when white people further over analyze their lives and look for change, even if some of the stuff that they accomplished, like having good credit, a high paying job, or the ability to purchase a hybrid car are things that people from other ethnicities would love to have.

Another key factor of divorce is children. On average people who divorce, do so when their children are between the ages of 7-10. Before the birth of their first child, white people like to spend thousands of dollars on books that tell them how to raise children So instead of simply letting their child watch Hannah Montana or work on their jump-shot, they will take them on weird activities suggested by some over educated individual with a PhD or force them to read a book that is meant for a 9th grader. This often leads to white children hating their parents especially when they don’t live up to their expectations.

While all of these are 87% true very little is spoken of the positive reasons on why white people divorce. Look at the sets of jobs below

Job Set A
marriage counselor
family therapist
lawyer

Job Set B
wedding planner
caterer
80s DJ
photographer
videographer

There is basically a large sector of white workers with arts majors, that would otherwise be unemployed were it not for the high rate of divorce. So just like the love of lawyers, getting divorced is a way to give back to the community. Not getting divorced would have same effect as pulling Shell out of Nigeria or call centers out of India. People would be on the street and a civil war would break out.

The list in Job Set A deals with the actual act of divorce. Married couples like to go to lawyers, counselors and therapist before, during, and after a marriage. There really is no need to pay $300 an hour to talk to someone who has read a lot of eastern European authors, but Hollywood has done a great job of popularizing this profession, and as mentioned above, there is a charitable aspect to this as well.

The list in Job Set B deals with weddings. First of all white people love throwing weddings, and if the first wedding did not go according to plan or if a close friend’s wedding had clever invitations, better desert or a samba band, then the act of the divorce serves as gateway to give it another shot. Secondly many white people in their late teens / early 20s make the mistake of taking film or photography in college. Since Hollywood can not employ everyone, the wedding industry is the one field that allows all these poor arts majors to pay for their rent and their first divorce later

Fail of the Day

Abercrombie Refuses to Discount, Stock Plunges

Eight years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch was the bee's knees of discreetly sexy casualwear. Overpriced sandblasted jeans and button-up plaid shirts were boxed up and put under the tree (or menorah) of any 16-year-old with a Suburban in the driveway.

Those were the good, pre-recession, naked-models-riding-horses-in-catalogues days. But now Abercrombie is suffering much worse than its competitors, like American Eagle, in the economic downturn. Though the competition is discounting prices to get consumers to shop, Abercrombie has kept its prices the same because they don't want to look cheap.

Shepard Fairey Was Not Trying to Make Money Off of Those Obama Posters

Lots of people out there are still trying to get their hands on one of those Obama "Hope" posters. This weekend, the artist who makes them, Shepard Fairey, told us why he's not selling them anymore on his Website.

Getting Payback

A trainer wrecked your back. An ATM ate your twenty. A money-borrowing friend is avoiding you. Some phone time and a little paperwork can bring lost causes to sweet resolution.

Gender Bender

More women are drinking, and the women who drink are drinking more, in some cases matching their male peers.

This is the kind of equality nobody was fighting for.

Alleged 9/11 Plotters Offer to Confess at Guantánamo

The five Guantánamo detainees charged with coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks told a military judge on Monday that they wanted to confess in full, a move that seemed to challenge the government to put them to death.

The request, which was the result of hours of private meetings among the detainees, appeared intended to undercut the government’s plan for a high-profile trial while drawing international attention to what some of the five men have said was a desire for martyrdom.