Following up on both Joel’s post about oil and Eric’s post about Flocke I’ve got two things for you. Admittedly these items are only tangentially related to Joel & Eric’s posts, but as far as I am concerned they are close enough.
First up we’ve got images of Darvaza (The Burning Gates), Darvaza is a village in Turkmenistan where, in 1971 a drilling rig found an underground cavern and then promptly fell inside creating a crater about 75 meters across.
As the underground cavern was filled with natural gas (relatively close to oil, right?) it would have killed virtually everything around had someone not had the idea to ignite the gas and let it burn off instead of polluting the surrounding area.
37 years later and the Gates of Hell (another name for the site) are still ablaze. John H. Bradley has posted some incredible pictures of the Gates.
Next we’ve got the animals: The BBC has made a three-part series called “Tiger- Spy in the Jungle.”
Using a whole bunch fo different types of cameras (and some elephants in place of traditional cameramen) they caught some incredible (and adorable) images of life in the jungle, well, at least life in the jungle when the animals are posing for pictures. You can check out some of the pictures that the Daily Mail posted here, or some others that the BBC posted here (plus some videos).
Part one apparently aired yesterday (int he UK) so keep an eye on the Discovery Channel in the next few months to re-air the program.
Times are tough and we here at AmericanMadness want to help our loyal readers. Continuing on the theme of “Recession Proof Your Wine Portfolio,” I present to you my latest discount find. Chateau Lafayette has produced a crisp, tight white wine with lots of pear and apple flavors. This Finger Lakes wine bring together the best parts of Chardonnay and the best parts of a Seyval blanc to give a well rounded white for $8. A must buy, particularly as the temperature starts to rise.
Winery: Chateau Lafayette Reneau
Grape: Seyval Blanc & Chardonnay
Region: Finger Lakes, New York
Year: Undetermined
Source: FreshDirect.com
Price: $8
Color: Light yellow
Nose: Melon, grass and butter scents right out of the bottle. With a swirl, strong bubblegum notes join pear and vanilla in the bouquet.
Taste: Crisp and controlled, the seyval, chardonnary blend enters with big pear and apple. The medium-bodied wine has a nice mineral balance, giving a slight fizziness to the tasting, particularly when you spend some time slurping it through the mouth, enhancing the grass, celery, pear and apple flavors mid-palate. At the finish, more of the chardonnay’s characteristics come forth, giving a mango flavor, with kiwi, before a nice, crisp lingering finish of pear and watermelon. Read more »
The idea is simple: You need help now. You don’t want to wait to receive a call back. You don’t want to wait for an email response. You don’t want to create an account or provide demographic data. You want to talk to a service provider in your area right NOW!
That is the concept behind ServiceGuy, it is essentially a referral website, you plug in your needs and are giving a phone number. Let’s say you need a painter. You are given a number by ServiceGuy and when you dial it as you listen to a message, the system rings up to 25 different painters simultaneously for you. The first one to answer their phone and say they are available gets connected to you. Pretty convenient if you don’t have a whole lot of time on your hand to find a painter or a personal assistant to find one for you.
On the flip side there is no evaluation of who you are being connected to, though they are working on it (”We plan to ‘call back’ consumers who successfully connect to service providers and ask for feedback. Check back soon for more information on our rating system.”). You have no idea if Big Al’s Painting is a reputable painter or some guy operating out of his mom’s basement who used to be really good with his paint-by-numbers sets. While it might save you some time, keep in mind it is a crap shoot of the type of service you might get.
Christiania Vodka is pretty good stuff. A Norwegian vodka made from organic Trondelag potatoes and Norwegian arctic spring water, Christiania is an ultra-premium vodka that bills itself as “The World’s Smoothest Vodka.”
Now, I liked this vodka, it is really good stuff, however, if you are going to make a claim in advertising like “The World’s Smoothest Vodka” you better have some seriously incredible vodka on your hands. While I really enjoyed Christiania I’ve got to say, I have had smoother vodkas. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t really a dig at Christiania itself, but rather directed towards their trademarked tagline. In fact the US Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) apparently even approved them to be labeled as such… Though there is no indication as to when they did this.
Besides, in my opinion, not being the world’s smoothest, it is a really good vodka, an ultra-premium if you will. That means it is going to be sitting on the topshelf at the bar, right next to Grey Goose and the likes. A little background- Read more »
Matt introduced the AmericanMadness world to Flocke back in January. Back in those early days, she was just a squirming ball of fluff, but like all baby polar bears she captured the world’s heart.
Today, she is growing up fast and taking the star from Germany’s other world famous polar bear cub Knut. Of course, how can we forget Knut? When he took those first shaky steps last March in Berlin, he ignited a baby polar bear frenzy, and in the process becoming the spokesbear for the environmental movement (he starred next to Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover of Vanity Fair). The Berlin Zoo actually saw its stock price increase as a result of higher gate revenues from all the folks wanting to get a glimpse of the little bear.
Not to be outdone, the Nueremberg Zoo has plans to roll out its star to the public this coming month. In anticipation of Flocke’s big day, the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region has unveiled posters utilizing the star power of Flocke’s black button eyes and large bears’ paws.
Translated, “Knut war gestern,” is roughly, “Knut is yesterday’s bear.” The poster expresses some of the self-confidence of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, which knows its infrastructure will soon be strained with Germany looking to get a glimpse of Flocke on her first days out. Read more »
The staff of American Madness would like to thank the 
