Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Models for 350
Models are:
Rachel Alexander
Dorothea Barth-Jorgensen
Shannan Click
Hanne Gaby
Olya Ivanisevic
Alla Kostromicheva
Heidi Mount
Crystal Renn
Cameron Russell (producer)
Rianne Ten Haken
Nicole Trunfio
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Why Organic Booze and Taunting PeTA!
You wonder why Jim Beam would be charming PeTA at a time when they're under fire from Greenpeace Australia. Jim Beam hasn't been too clear with to their GMO corn policy and now finds itself on the Consumers International GMO Red List. This is a super cute commercial, but for those not ready for the punchline, big surprise discovering it's for a bourbon whiskey, which raises big money with Kid Rock for Operation Homefront.
Founded in 1795, the all-American Jim Beam is a proud, old company, been around for a long time in Kentucky, producing 6 million cases a year, using 70 warehouses to store nearly 2 million barrels of aging bourbon. They get most of their corn from Kolkmeier Bros. Feed & Grain Inc. in Indiana which (probably) buys their seed from Monsanto. Problem is, now that GMO foods (and that means liquor too) are being banned in countries like Australia where Jim Beam is a bestseller, plus a good portion of the European union, their brand is finding itself in an awkward predicament. According to Camper English's Alcademics, Jim Beam claims "they distill, age, and bottle non-GMO spirit separately for export where they have restrictions against GMO products."
Last year, Jack Daniels who had committed itself to a non-GMO policy, sent out a press release saying they couldn't keep that promise because there just wasn't enough non-GMO corn around! In 2007, 80 percent of all U.S. corn and 84 percent of all corn grown in Canada was genetically modified. Another environmental disaster in the making, according to many.
But why organic booze? I launched a little faux-blog called Cocktail Organico when there was only a couple of organic liquor bottles on the market. I chronicled the eruption of this new trend in libation. Today there are SO MANY as described by Intoxicated Zodiak, it's impossible to keep track. Obviously there's a fast growing market for socially conscious alcohol, but why? What makes it so important, why now and why more than just a trendy green fad?
It's because of the change in how we relate to agriculture. The way you grow your grain is a reflection on the way you care for the land. For years now the corn growers associations have been begging for the re-legalization of industrial hemp so they could use it in their fields as a rotation crop, to replace alfalfa. Why? Simple. Because hemp, much like peas, puts nitrogen back in the soil, and dispenses with the use of copious amounts of petroleum-based fertilizers. To boot, hemp can be harvested for food, fuel and fiber, giving farmers twice the revenue from two harvests.
So what's keeping it all from happening? Think about it, in America, even Oxygen, pure simple little oxygen atom, is regulated by the FDA as a Class A drug. We live in a nightmare of our own making, so with this simple little commercial, albeit unknowingly, Jim Beam has cracked open a can of worms, unleashing a litany of super critical farming issues, because of all the connective tissue that exists in the environmental community between animal rights and organic agriculture!
But that's not all. By law, to use the bourbon appellation, not simply labeling it whiskey, not only do you have to be made in the USA, but it needs to age in brand new virgin barrels. Yes, that's right, every new batch of Jim Beam is made in a spanking new white oak barrel, produced with great care by the Independent Stave Company in Missourri. Yes, the white oak is grown sustainably, but it's imported from, get this... France, where French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently visited the Stave Mill of Tonnellerie Quintessence.
So what happens to all these used barrels? They are re-sold by Kentucky Barrels to age other spirits, especially tequila, and sometimes turned into eco-chic furniture by designers like Uhuru in Brooklyn. Some are shipped to Scotland to make Scotch Whiskey and last up to 50-60 years. Others are chopped into wood chips. Jim Beam's parent company Fortune Brands, Inc. also owns MasterBrand Cabinets, a certified manufacturer in the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association Environmental Stewardship Program.
So all in all, a lot of good gets mixed in with the not-so-good, as in all things. There is a cosmic trigger to this commercial, directed by Zach Math for Bob Industries, and it's not just the cuddly puppies.
How Jim Beam barrels are made: video
(Banner Wines & Liquor window display ~ South Norwalk, CT)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Andy Neal LED Lights Soon Sold By Catskill Soap Company
Some LED lamps on the market are still less efficient than compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which have an efficiency of 48 to 60 lumens per watt. This isn't the case with Andy Neal's ANL LTD Illuma design, friend of Rock The Reactors, being installed along the Walkway Over The Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York celebrating its grand opening October 2nd.Friday night, after the fireworks display reaches its climax Andy will flip the switch, sending a huge FU to Indian Point, spelling the beginning of the end for Entergy's old plant!
Straight T-5 and T-8 fluorescent tubes are better than CFLs, with efficiencies of 98 to 105 lumens per watt. Although most LED lamps on the market are about equal in performance to CFLs — Cree produces LED downlights rated at 46 to 60 lumens per watt — they cost significantly more than CFLs.
The majority of LED lighting products on the market produce only 10 and 19 lumens per watt — about the same as an incandescent bulb. Testing of LED lights by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2006 and 2007 revealed that most LED manufacturers were exaggerating lumen output. LED devices that were touted as producing 36 to 55 lumens per watt actually produced only 11.6 to 19.3 lumens per watt. Illuma has come a long way since then with 90 lumens per watt.
We want you to test Illuma for yourself. In a few days, Annie Adams's Catskill Soap Company in Bloomingburg, NY and Ed Koster will put "Grid" for sale up on her website and also on eBay.
Grid is ELV (Extra Low Voltage) as far as UL is concerned, no electrical code issues at 12 volts DC. Grid can be connected to any 12 volt battery, including those that can be re-charged by a solar panel. Total power is around 30 watts.
The connectors are industry standard Neutrik 'Speakon' parts, very tough, the cable is also very high spec' it works down to -40C which is basically the artic!
Andy's 12 volts design will retail for $295, manufactured by the Mid-Hudson Workshop for the Disabled and be available in Black or White frames.
It will be marketed to vendors, campers, boaters and anyone who has a backyard. Ed Koster plans on exhibiting at Javits Center Boat Show, display in online catalogs and at Green Drinks in Beacon, NY.
You can reach Ed Koster at:
ek5257@netscape.net
(Please mention Winafish!)
Additional photographs can be seen here.
