A (Gummi) Game of Cat and Mouse

Herr J brought back a fun assortment of gummis from a business trip. He found these cute marshmallow gummi cats in a Hussel Confiserie, and Trolli's "PlayMouse" gummis. They are pastel with gummi worm tails.

The Advent Beer Calendar Selection

So as not to spoil Herr J's fun, I did not reveal online the contents of his Advent Beer Calendar.

Some we had tried before (in the German Beer Championship), and others were new....but the calendar opened up possibilities of non-German beers and "beers" that do not conform to the Reinheitsgebot, and thus cannot be called "beer."

The 24 Beers of Advent 2010 were:

Tegernseer Hell
Beck's Ice
Beck's Green Lime
Heineken
Beck's Gold
Paulaner Originial Münchener Hell
Paulaner Hefeweißbier Natrutrüb
Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Grapefruit
Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Kaktusfeige (Cactus-Fig flavor)
Guinness
Desperados
Magners Irish Cider
Budvar (the Czech Budweiser)
Bittburger
Cab (Dragon-Fruit flavored cola & beer)
Samuel Smith's India Ale
Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
Foster's
Corona Extra
Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale
Warsteiner
Jever Pils
Legendary Duff Beer (yes, Homer Simpson's favorite)
König Pilsner

And as with any chocolate sampler, there are one or two "suprises"....here we had two potential bombs: Cab, the Dragonfruit-flavored Cola & Beer, and Desperados Tequila-flavored beer.

 
Now, you have to understand that I mock Desperados relentlessly. I had never tried it, but the commercials were endless on MTV and billboards. And I just didn't get the concept. Sure, I enjoyed a nice tequila followed by a Bohemia beer in Mexico. But I did not mix them. And most of the under-25 party crowd (the group targeted by Desperados) doesn't drink tequila for it's taste....so why flavor a beer with tequila?

But I tried it, blindly, in a taste test with Samuel Smith's India Ale. (In my cute Ladybug and Ribbit glasses that we often use for tasting....)

Herr J brought me a glass of each, without telling me what I was drinking. The India Ale was a bit too hoppy for my taste.

And after a sip of the Desperados, I said, "Wow, that's good, suprisingly sweet. What is it?"

I was shocked when he told me. Now, I probably wouldn't order it in a bar or buy a case. But it mostly tastes like a Radler (half beer, half lemon soda) or a Beck's lime. So, a super light and refreshing beer with a little sweetness. Something you would drink on a hot summer day in Texas or by the river. So, I stand corrected, and there is actually a time and a place for drinking Desperados. Not sure why they say it tastes like tequila, but I guess that makes it sound edgier than Beck's Lime or Bud Light Lime.

We'll let you know how the Cab tastes....It's brewed by Krombacher, so it might be actually be good.  

Advent Calendar Contents

The Advent Calendars were great fun this year. You'll recall that I had a Gummibear one and a Kinder Egg one, and Herr J had a Handyman's Advent Calendar and a homemade Beer Advent Calendar.

Now that there are no surprises to ruin...here's what we found in them!

The Handyman's Advent Calendar ("Heimwerker-Adventskalender"): 

This one suprised us, because it actually contained small-sized useful tools and supplies. Herr J's favorites were the multi-tool, the wall anchors (" 'Cause those are always useful"), the keychain LED-flashlight, and the padlock caribiner.

My favorite - purely for its humor factor - was Day 22...Bandaids. A must-have for every handyman!

Contents: 

Mini-Box Cutter, 2 sizes wall anchors and screws, nails, mini screwdriver with 6 interchangeable heads, Phillips screwdriver, Standard screwdriver, 2 rolls electrical tape, mini line level, surfact 2-D level, keychain LED flashlight, picture wire, mini swiss army knife, bandaids, tape measure caribiner, multi-tool, small padlock, combination lock caribiner, santa keychain, bungee cord, and magnifying glass. Wow!

   
The Kinder Surprise Egg Calendar:

The Kinder Egg one was incredibly fun...not only do you get chocolate, you get toys...and the challenge of some assembly required.  This calendar included everything from several Christmas ornaments (cute animals, strangely all wearing backpacks...guess they were carrying gifts??) to an inflatable paper cat (atop the capsules that contained the toys)...along with a ring that stamped "Hello" in Russian, a spinning top, and a cute brontosaurus.

For those of you not familiar with this wonderful German treat, the Kinder Suprise Egg ("Kinder Überraschung") is a life-sized chocolate eggshell (in a milky chocolate, healthy for children) which contains a toy stuffed into a yolk-looking yellow capsule inside. Toys range from preassembled small cars or animals to larger toys requiring some thought in how to follow the instructions. The designers who create these things and figure out how to efficiently stuff a huge toy into an egg rival Apple's packaging designers!

Here's a great example of the design genius - a plastic glider wrapped up inside the egg:

Dream Christmas Gifts

I wouldn't be surprised to see this in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog.

It's the Jelly-fish 45, a 6 person floating "house." The bottom of the 5 levels is underwater, giving you a living room with a 360° view of the sea life. Yours, for only $2.5 million.

I'm not really sure how the legalities work about parking your house, but when they start having undersea trailer parks, sign me up!

Gummi Bear Performance Art

Even better than the video is the first comment, which says "I think Kim Jong Il has heard this and now wants a Third World War"

 

Undersea Art

This is one exhibit I definitely want to see!

British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor has installed his exhibit The Silent Evolution 30 feet underwater with 400 life-sized sculptures of real people.  

These sculptures will quickly be taken over by sea creatures to form an artificial reef - a message, Taylor says, "remind[s] us of our close dependency on nature and the respect we should afford it."

    I love how the batfish are always lurking, ready for a photobomb! 

He's made several other installations or sculptures in Cancún, Grenada and the UK. 

 Vicissitudes installation, Grenada

via HowStuffWorks, photos by Jason deCaires Taylor

Spinning like a Hamster at Work

you know you feel like this some days

This Dutch company now sells a USB spinning hamster. When you work, he runs. When you stop, he stops.

With HamsterDance music, of course!