We’re dedicated to sustainability, organic farming & promoting artisanal winemakers who eschew pesticides and practice earth-friendly viticulture. We videoblog (& occasionally podcast) winemakers - like Nicolas Joly, Tony Coturri & Randall Grahm - discussing the in’s & out’s of wine, and biodynamic winemaking in particular.
Since we’re also a martini bar with our own house-infused organic vodkas – fêted by The New York Times as the “epicenter” of vivacious organic cocktailing in NYC’s funky East Village - we feature tips, tricks & fun videoblogs that show you how to mix up cocktails like an old hand, as well as videoblogs on preparing & plating restaurant-quality dishes.
And since food isn’t just food anymore…it’s “lifestyle” we go with the flow & cover anything fun, cool or simply too irresistible not to blog about.
As of the end of 2005, an estimated 38.6 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, and 2.8 million people lost their lives to AIDS last year, according to the latest UNAIDS data released today in the 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. HIV and AIDS do not discriminate, and the AIDS epidemic remains a serious health concern with devastating consequences for society - for people of all ages, race, genders, religions and nationalities; it can reach each of us in the most innocent of ways and that is what makes it so dangerous. Over 38 million men, women and children are currently living with HIV/AIDS, and the disease continues to spread.
You can show support & spread the word - helping reduce the number of individuals infected daily by raising the nation’s level of awareness of AIDS - by purchasing a Don’t Get It Twisted…AIDS Killsfrom One Earth Foundation.
The wee red bracelet symbolizes awareness among humankind in promoting a consciousness about this devastating disease, representing One Earth uniting people to fight HIV and AIDS. The bracelet is designed to help humankind recognize awareness of the virus, and wearing a twisted bracelet says:
“Don’t get it twisted"…I know AIDS kills
Wearing a twisted bracelet says “Don’t get it twisted"…I’m educated about AIDS
100% proceeds from the sale of "Don’t Get It Twisted…AIDS kills" bracelets goes to support the One Earth Foundation HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The key thing to remember is that AIDS education works.
This year, the longest-running festival of its kind in the Rocky Mountains is counting on one of the nation’s preeminent celebrity charity wine auctioneers, Tom DiNardo of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers, to work wine collectors into a record-setting frenzy, with proceeds going to local charities. “It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to be involved with Colorado’s most scenic and revered wine and culinary event,” says DiNardo, who boasts of five world records for proceeds generated at charity wine auctions. “I look forward to working amid the sheer beauty of Telluride and selling rare wines and lifestyle experiences to some of the world’s top bidders — people who truly appreciate the finer things in life. I’ve been doing benefit auctions since the beginning,” says DiNardo, who helped the Telluride Wine Festival generate $30,000 in net profit through the wine auction in 2004. DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers is ranked among the top four benefit auction firms in the country. “I’ve firmly established myself as an expert in charity wine auctions through selling some of the rarest vintages and most impressive-tasting wines from around the world. This year,” DiNardo says, “we’re going to take the Telluride Wine Festival to a whole new level.”
Held in the historic town of Telluride, high in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado amid stunning views of snowcapped peaks soaring to more than 14,000 feet above sea level, the four-day Telluride Wine Festival features more than six dozen wineries from around the world pouring their finest at venues throughout town, as well as in Mountain Village, just a gondola ride away. Bidding begins Thursday, June 22, with a live benefit auction during the Opening Night Celebration for Winemakers and Patrons. A silent auction follows on Friday afternoon, June 23, at the festival’s Grand Tasting. During the grand finale, Saturday evening, June 24, during the Patron’s Dinner Gala and Annual Benefit Auction — will be the event’s signature benefit auction with dozens of items, including the festival’s official artwork this year, a painting created by Sally Strand, a native Coloradoan.
Some of the wines, culinary items and travel packages to be auctioned during this year’s Telluride Wine Festival and benefit auctions includes:
The 2004 Estate Cuvee Staircase — a bottle, a magnum and a double-magnum of Stephan Asseo’s signature Syrah /Cabernet Sauvignon “Paso blend” — from L’Aventure Winery.
A 6 -liter bottle of 2002 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, from Raymond Vineyards, signed by the winemaker.
A 5-liter bottle of Baron de Ley Reserva 2000 from Frederick Wildman and Sons.
A 3-liter bottle of 2002 Kenwood Vineyards ' Jack London Vineyard' Cabernet Sauvignon, donated by Heck Estates.
Two nights’ stay at Long Meadow Ranch, in the Mayacamas Mountains of California, high above the Napa Valley.
As one of a growing number of winemakers adhering to biodynamics - an incredibly earth-friendly approach to making wine that uses some unorthodox techniques - with his 2006 vintage, Washington vintner Christophe Baron is planning to release his first biodynamic wines. This vintage will be his first grown & created in accordance with the three-year certifying process laid out by Demeter International, a Brussels-based outfit - named for the Greek goddess of the harvest - which overseas the standards for farming biodynamically.
According to Baron, whose roots (so to speak) go back to the family vineyard's in France's champagne region, the 2003 might be the best he's ever made since he went biodynamic the year prior. His conversion occurred about 15 years ago, following a blind, side-by-side comparison of conventional & biodynamic wines. "The difference was like night and day," he said in a recent piece in WinePressNorthwest. "One was alive and full of flavors and character and personality. And with the other, something was missing."
Despite some of the stranger aspects of biodynamics - such as packing a cow horn with manure and burying it in the earth for 6 months from the winter solstice on December 21 until the summer soltice six months later on June 21, when it has transformed into humus to be applied to the vine - the final product is without a doubt superior. "Some people may think it is a wacky way of doing things," says Baron, adding that it's difficult to dispute the results. In fact, a 1993 report published in Science showed that biodynamic farms demonstrated:
superior soil respiration
deeper topsoil
higher microbial activity
more than eight times as many earthworms present as neighboring conventional farms
For Baron, the process is one of reconnecting with the rythyms of nature. "It's been a wonderful therapy for me the last couple years, observing my vineyards and connecting with the earth."
Vinography has a humorous post about the oenophile tendancies of the apes & monkeys at the Budapest zoo. Apparently, they quaff about 6 cases of red wine a year - a bottle a week for the entire population - but it's a case of quality, not quantity, attest the zookeepers - who add a touch to their tea during meals. "It's mainly good for their blood cells." via Vinography.com
Situated along the Niagara Parkway just minutes from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, is the four-diamond Riverbend Inn and Vineyard - a 21-room Georgian mansion dating to the 1860s filled with antiques and artifacts, old-world charm, and historic elegance - a primo spot to wile away the summer months amidst the pastoral charm of the Niagara wine region, taking in the ambiance at the Inn's 17-acre winery - one of the few country inns in the area with a working vineyard.
During the local Shaw Festival, the Inn offers two Shaw Festival Package which include:
accommodations
meals
a Niagara winery tour & picnic lunch
tickets for two to the Shaw Theater Festival in “A” level seating
For those who are happy to pass the day chilling, there are three packages which cater to pure leisure which include dinner & breakfast for two, and weeknight or weekend accommodations until October 31st, 2006. More information at www.riverbendinn.ca
The excellent Gang of Pour wine blog had a chat with Grahm, whose opinions on winemaking, corks, and adopting biodynamic winemaking practices are singular & always entertaining. Explaining how he ended up working with Ralph Steadman of Hunter S. Thompson fame on the Cardinal Zin label - "He's totally brilliant. The problem with Ralph is that he's totally brilliant. All you can really propose to Ralph is the name of the wine and the approximate dimensions of the label, and beyond that, it's really not worth saying too much more. " - to his unabashed ardor for Syrah, living in Europe & giving interviews in bad French: "I sort of have fantasies about relocating to Europe at some point in the near or distant future, and so I wanted to see if I could function over there, and I think the answer is yes, I can perfectly well. I occasionally do interviews for French TV and radio, and I'm totally convinced that these poor people are adjusting their dials, like what is he talking about, what is he saying?! Is he speaking French?!" - Grahm is always as insightful as he is funny.
Less than five years ago, the owner of Quivera Vineyards (QuiveraWine.com), Henry Wendt, & the winemaker, Grady Wann, were skeptical to say the least. "With Henry's background as the former CEO of a large pharmaceutical company and my background as a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford, we are probably the least likely practitioners of biodynamics," says Wann in a recent article in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "But our interest evolved from our habitat restoration project for Wine Creek." Wine Creek is part of the Quivira estate, located in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley.
Biodynamic for three years, Wann now views biodynamic techniques such as the special tinctures applied to the soil to shore up deficiencies as the opposite of "doo doo voodoo" because they actually encourage decomposition in the soil and increase the level of nutrients. "The sprays are not super fertilizers," he explains. "Rather they are soil energizers that help revitalize the vines. I've seen improvement in the health of the soils with better drainage, and I have also observed improved overall vine health especially in blocks that had previously struggled."
Although he doesn't claim to understand the inner workings of biodynamics, the results speak for themselves. "Do I have more questions now than when we started this approach? Probably yes. But I also see biodynamic working first hand. The property is more alive now, and I see that as a positive benefit that I hope will translate to the wines."
Some Quivera biodynamic wines to try:
2003 Quivira, Steelhead Red, Dry Creek Valley (Specialty 15339, $16.99). "Match the terrific blackberry and plums aromas and flavors and fine, soft tannins with this tasty blend of grenache, syrah, zinfandel and Mourvèdre with shredded chicken enchiladas with a spicy red mole sauce. (see www.quivirawine.com for the recipe). "
2002 Quivira, Zinfandel, Anderson Ranch, Dry Creek Valley (Specialty 14476, $24.99): "The intense, fruity aromas of blackberry jam and spice open to ripe, bursting flavors of berries and spice wrapped in beautiful, elegant tannins in perfect balance. Highly Recommended."
Although the techniques and philosophy behind biodynamics can seem strange to the uninitiated - a system based on the writings of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian who advocated tending to the soil like a living organism, treating it with tinctures and natural fertilizers & pest control, and harvesting the grapes in accordance with lunar cycles - there's no arguing with the end product.
"I gathered some California biodynamic reds for a raucous dinner that ended in slurpy talk. Compared with traditionally grown varietals, Frey Vineyards' 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon ($14), and the 2000 Four Vineyards Pinot Noir ($46) and 2001 Los Carneros Cabernet Franc ($36), both from Robert Sinskey, tasted more like the piquant little apricots I grew last summer than the fat, indifferent ones I bought at the supermarket in January," writes the author of The Blair Wine Project in Outside Magazine. "The real test was pitting these American wines against an American meal of corn bread and bison chili with New Mexico peppers. While the flavors of all three stayed vibrant, the winner was Sinskey's cabernet franc, which was so full of nuances and dark secrets, I went into our garden after the last glass and bayed at the moon."
In the US alone, 45 million people are without health insurance. For those who can afford insurance, the health care they receive is often overly toxic; in fact, the third or fourth leading cause of medically related deaths in the US has been attributed to the toxic side effects of prescription drugs.
Grouppe Kurosawa, a self-help medical organization, is testing the efficacy of natural medicines & developing treatment protocols for acute and chronic diseases like cancer, leukemia, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, allergy and HIV/hepatitis B/C infections using only natural medicines, supplements and generic drugs. Working with individuals who refuse modern medical treatment, as well as physicians who want to enhance the effectiveness of their treatment protocols, the feedback from the volunteers and physicians pro or con - is posted to the non-profit Grouppe Kurosawa site.
“Most of the natural medicine supplements sold in the US are total garbage. Many of these so-called natural remedies are not standardized. You have no idea what you are taking. The other problem is bioavailability. Many of the active ingredients are not soluble in water. They form clumps in the GI tract and pass right through the body," says Dr. Stephen Martin, Chief Scientist of Grouppe Kurosawa, explaining that the major problem associated with the use of natural medicines is bioavailability. "We are constantly working to enhance the bioavailability of these natural medicine compounds by dissolving them in fat compounds such as coconut milk, a great carrier of natural medicines and drugs into the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is exactly where you want to target these medicines because lymph fluid bathes all the cells in the body."
Their research has revealede that combining chemotherapy drugs with certain natural medicines can dramatically enhance the effectiveness of the chemo. "The natural medicines prevent the chemo drugs from inducing their own resistance. This means that chemo drugs can be taken in smaller, less toxic concentrations and still be effective. If only the medical profession would listen to us.”
The demand for Segway tours in Sausalito and San Francisco has proven so popular, the company is gearing up with a better facility, more Segways, and night tours. “Last year’s demand was overwhelming. Tours sold out quickly and there was always a waiting list. This year, we’ll be serving a lot more people and we’ll be doing it more efficiently than ever,” says San Francisco Electric Tour Company founder, Brian Huber. “The night tours allow riders to explore the spectacular nighttime landscape of the city by the bay. The city is gorgeous by day, but is incredible by night.”
Segway - the electric transport mechanism that is guided by the rider’s natural motions for forward and backward maneuvering - was first introduced in 2001. It easily navigates most walkable areas, including paved surfaces, dirt roads, grass, and inclines.
With a new and improved facility and a bigger fleet of Segways, Huber expects to accommodate thousands of tourists and locals alike who are looking for unique ways to get around and see the sights. “Gas prices are more than $3.50 a gallon; people are looking for eco-friendly ways to travel. Segways are zero-emissions vehicles that operate on electricity, so they’re easy on the environment as well as the wallet.” He added that the Segway HT travels from 15 to 24 miles on a 25 cent battery charge, making it an ideal replacement for short-distance sightseeing tours.
The 411 on Segway tours of San Francisco & Sausalito:
The after-hours tour includes spots in Fisherman’s Wharf, Maritime Pier, and the Marina District generally not accessible by vehicles.
From April through October, night tours depart Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
From November through March, night tours leave only on Friday and Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Additional evening tours will be added on closed nights for groups of four or more.
A new survey of daily and several-times-a-week wine drinkers released by Wine Opinions in their Core Track report reveals some interesting trends among American "high frequency" wine drinkers:
Merlot is Tanking “The trade and consumers are as opposite in disposition as Venus and Mars when it comes to Merlot,” said John Gillespie, founder of Wine Opinions. “Consumers show a very strong liking for Merlot wines, even if they are not always a favorite. The trade, however, seems to have turned its back on Merlot, especially in comparison to other red wine varietals.”
More "Second Label" Wine Purchases Usually sold in specialty wine shops & a retail price-point of $100 or more.
Fun with "Fun" Wine Defined as having fanciful or “critter” labels where a sense of humor is a key part of the brand positioning, there is a surprisingly strong acceptance among daily and several-times-a-week wine consumers. “Trial rates and satisfaction do skew younger overall with these brands,” noted Christian Miller, the Director of Research for Wine Opinions, “but there are quite interesting variations in the degree of acceptance among them.”
Attempting to capture the gastronomic essence of New York City’s celebrity chefs and culinary establishments, The Spirits of Cocktail "cookbook" (Paletz Rinot Publishing) features over 100 colorful designs and make-it-at-home, do-it-yourself recipes and images, highlighting recipes of signature cocktails and appetizers from some of the most celebrated chefs of the Manhattan culinary world in a stunningly visual way: each work of art is graphically designed to correspond with, and present a scene for the cocktail identity.
“The book portrays today's home and out-of-home life style habits”, said Rami Rinot, Managing Director, Paletz Rinot Publishing and Co-Author; “Drinking unusual cocktails with funny and sexy identities (such as: Passion Margarita or Blue Riviera), paired with light, small portioned cuisine has become one of our readers favorite pastime. To truly represent this growing trend, we sought to bring together the most innovative restaurateurs and celebrated chefs to share their most successful creations. We collected one hundred signature cocktail and appetizer recipes served to the chic reader as they are mixed in New York’s trendiest establishments and created a guide to the perfect host-at-home cocktail party.”
Targeted specifically at the forgetful male market, CheeseNWineOnline.com is the result of research that shows that while men really don't intend to be forgetful, the little details of anniversary dates and birthday dates tend to slip their minds. (No, really?!)
In addition to long stemmed roses, desperate gift givers can choose from:
gourmet gift baskets brimming with chocolates, cookies, cheese, crackers, hard candies, nut mixes and snacks
fruit baskets overflowing with a smorgasboard of tangelos, pears, apples, Bing cherries and more
wine & cheese gift baskets filled will top notch vino and delectable cheeses
In the future, the site is planning to be preemptive about the desperate part by offering a special day reminder service, as well as a monthly special as well as gift giving articles and ideas.
If you're in a gift-giving pickle, zip on over to CheeseNWine.com
If you've ever wished for a way to never forget a great bottle of wine, or avoid bad one twice, a helpful new website recently launched which allows users to store their deep thoughts, scribbles & notes on wine likes & dislikes online - and access their wine tasting notes anytime through a computer or any mobile device with internet access. "I have also heard stories of our users wowing others when they add tasting notes while still at vineyard events," explains co-founder, Steve Perlow, who recently started logabottle.com with a group of other young wine enthusiasts. " That technology coming together with wine tasting is the vision we had when we started logabottle.com."
100% free to sign up and use, users can also choose to make their notes public, which is great for others looking for new bottles to try - from novice to full-on wine snob. Logabottle's wine watches and custom lists make searching a cinch, and include an extensive wine and grape guide. A combination of mobile access, AJAX and Google Maps allows users to see where bottles come from on satellite imagery - without having to constantly reload pages to find new bottles.
Keep your - and others' - wine moments straight at Logabottle.com
According to GrapeRadio.com, the definition of a wine geek is a member of " a unique subclass of individuals who spend all their time, money and energy worshipping that elusive perfect glass of wine – literally chasing it around the world. "
If you're of the mind you fit the bill, CLICK HERE. The winner will receive a signed copy of George Taber's Judgement of Paris.
Recently completed digging at Israel's Suba Cave, an archaeological site that is possibly connected with John the Baptist - or Jewish groups of his time - has revealed features that deepen the mystery of the site's ancient origins, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte archaeologist James D. Tabor, associate director of the excavation.
The site was initially brought to international attention in 2004 with the publication of The Cave of John the Baptist (2004), a controversial book by the director of the site, Israeli archaeologist Shimon Gibson. The initial connection with John the Baptist was based on some of the earliest Christian drawings related to John on the cave walls as well as the location of the cave near Ein Kerem, the birthplace of John's birth. The cave and underground reservoir at Suba, 15 miles west of Jerusalem, show signs of particularly heavy use during the early Roman period, around the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. In particular, the discovery in 1st. Century AD stratigraphic levels of thousands of small pottery vessels - all apparently ritually broken - led Gibson to theorize that the cave had been a site for baptismal rituals, possibly performed by John the Baptist or Jesus, or other Jewish groups of a similar nature who practices ritual water purification rites.
If the cave was used for baptismal rituals at the time of John the Baptist - as Gibson has argued - it is a possibility that the site was used because it had ancient significance to John and his followers. In the most recent excavations in March, 2006, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student team, supervised by Gibson and Tabor, uncovered an outside corridor leading to what appears to be another, unexcavated cave. The corridor was filled with deposits that date to the Iron Age (within 100 years of the site's original construction) and leads directly into the steep hillside - pointing to the possible existence of second, still unexcavated cave at the site, suggesting that the location may have been a major complex of uncertain function during the Iron Age. "Just last summer we found new pools outside up above the cave and a corridor, which our most recent dig shows is leading into what we now think is another chamber," said Tabor. "We're almost afraid to continue because it now looks like this is some huge complex, but now that we are into it, we can't stop. We're following the corridor on back and taken it up to a wall of fill – it is leading to something – maybe another cave. The corridor narrows as it approaches the cliff face and up above you can see bedrock, maybe a roof, but in front you can just see fill. It could just be a little enclave, but it just keeps going… it's going somewhere...The entrance, if that's what it is, is blocked with Iron Age fill, so this went out of use quickly after it was built, which is another mystery. Why do you build this huge thing and then it goes out of use within a hundred years? You have to wonder."
As a result, the pair have been exploring more practical theories, such as whether the complex was quarried for some kind of industrial use--perhaps as a clay production facility. "Evidence showed that the cave at Suba was already more than 700 years old at the time of John the Baptist," Contends Gibson. "It was a place, I believe, that must have possessed a hoary Israelite tradition of ritualistic bathing going back into the mists of time." As more evidence has been uncovered, the original function of the facility has come into question. Although a roughly similar reservoir - minus the external pools and corridor - exists at nearby Bet Shemesh, there are no precise parallels to this kind of complex from the Iron Age.
Towards the end of the cave excavation, Gibson also found evidence that the cave's large (24 meters long, 4 meters wide and 5 meters high) plastered reservoir had originally been constructed in the 7th Century BC, near the time of Isaiah. Because the massive cave had been professionally cut from solid rock, Gibson concluded that it must have been a project of the Kingdom of Judah. As it was not conveniently located in an urban area (the nearest town was Suba, which was more than a kilometer away), and because it contained features that were inconsistent with a storage reservoir or cistern (its unusual shape and broad stairs descending to the water), Gibson theorized that part of its original function might have included ritual rites of water purification.
The team also uncovered seven rough stone pillars in the middle of the corridor. "We have no idea what purpose these pillars served," said Tabor. "They could be quarry stones, but they left them standing in the corridor for some reason." Tabor sees the new discoveries as further evidence for the past significance and historical importance of the Suba Cave site.
A self-educated winemaker - and former Silicon Valley electronics type - is producing a steady flow of biodynamic wines out of Edna Valley in California's Central Valley near San Luis Obispo, reports a recent article (The Biodynamic Winery, 5/5/06, SanLouisObispo.com). "We started going organic five years ago, and we've been biodynamic for the last three years," explains Terry Speizer, owner of Domaine Alfred Winery, about the system of farming introduced in the 1920 by Austrian Rudolph Steiner. "It basically says there's a way to heal the Earth in harmony with the sun, moon and stars, and he gave us eight prescriptions to do that."
When he originally started Domaine Alfred in 1994, he transformed the then-dormant Chamisal Vineyard, replanting 50% of the vinyard with pinot noir, despite a generally accepted belief that it was a grape better suited to a cooler clime such as Oregon. "I had a fundamental belief that the reason that California had never conquered pinot was because they really hadn't planted it in the right places." Every one of his vintages since 1998 - his first - have sold out, and his 2003 Califa Estate Pinot Noir received an astounding 96 from the wineworld's kingmaker Robert Parker. Ever modest, he gives Mother Nature the credit. "We get a more sense of place, what the French call ‘terroir,' he explains. "I'd love to tell you how great we are at making wine," he says, "but all the credit goes right there," indicating the vines.
Domaine Alfred (Speizer's first name is Alfred), now producing about 15,000 cases of 12 different wines a year - primarily pinot noir and chardonnay, but also including syrah, pinot gris, and grenache - Speizer recently completed a 33,000-square-foot wine production and storage facility with a production capacity up to 20,000 cases. As a bit of an iconoclast, Speizer constructed the plumbing & pipes of the facility in such a way that tanks and fermentors can easily be moved at minimal cost. "The business that I came from was a modular business," he says about his former life, "so I wanted the ability to move things around." (via Winery)
Philadelphia is developing into a hot food & wine spot, steadily attracting a new generation of food & wine critics, and Philadelphia Style Magazine & Dining Out Magazine recently brought Keith Wallace on board as their wine writer.
A former writer for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition (Boston) - who has appeared on Fox News, CBS, and on the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, Business Week - Wallace is also the director of the wine education firm, The Wine School of Philadelphia, where he has developed somewhat of a reputation for his unconventional & dynamic teaching style. “I hope I can offer something new and exciting to the mix,” he says. “I always treated a wine class like a well-researched magazine article. Now I have the chance to write magazine articles like I teach classes. I can’t promise you will love everything I write, but I can promise you won’t be bored.”
New research shows that pre-historic horses in Alaska may have been hunted into extinction by man, rather than by climate change as previously thought. According to a paper published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by researchers - at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Royal Botanic Garden, and the University of East Anglia (UEA) - uncertainties in dating fossil remains and the incompleteness of fossil records mean that the survival of the horse beyond the arrival of humans cannot be ruled out.
The previously accepted view was that the wild horses became extinct long before the extinction of mammoths and the arrival of humans from Asia - ruling out the possibility that they were over-hunted by man. One theory had been that a period of climate cooling wiped them out. However, the PNAS paper develops a new statistical method to help resolve the inherent problems associated with dating fossils from the Pleistocene period - the first epoch of the Quarternary period between 1.64 million and 10,000 years ago. It was characterised by extensive glaciation of the northern hemisphere and the evolution of modern man around 100,000 years ago. It is known that the end of the Pleistocene period was a time of large-scale extinctions of animals and plants in North America and elsewhere but the factors responsible have remained open to question, with climate change and over-hunting by humans the prime suspects.
"This research is exciting because it throws open the debate as to whether climate change or over-hunting may have led to the extinction of pre-historic horses in North America," explains researcher Karen Robbirt of the UEA about the group's aim to provide a far more accurate timetable for the extinction of caballoid horses and mammoths and, ultimately, the cause.
Through their brands centered around original stories about nature, the environment and endangered species, Wild Heart Ranch is encouraging young readers and parents to become informed and become active. Books like Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop, I Sea Horses, From Sky to Sea, and No More Night Mares address conservation of the critically endangered wild Bactrian camels, seahorses and wild horses.
Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop empowers children with cancer and brings awareness to the endangered wild Bactrian camel. The wild camels living in the far away Gobi Desert may offer a possible cure for illness based on preliminary research, and the lesson at the heart of the book is that one small boy with cancer can change the world. Together, the lines raise awareness for related causes including the Wild Camel Protection Foundation - founded in 1997, with Jane Goodall as its patron, to protect the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus) and its habitat in the fragile and unique desert ecosystems in the Gobi and Gashun Gobi deserts in Northwest China and South West Mongolia - at www.wildcamels.com, Project Seahorse and marine conservation at Project Seahorse and education and awareness of wild horse preservation with several foundations listed on the back of the No More Night Mares book.
Kids with stores of altruism and goodwill towards the animal kingdom and encouraged to send in their entries to the Wild Heart Ranch Kids Club contest and show that kids can make a difference.
Winemaker Tony Coturri discusses his winery's Pinot Noir at a recent winemaker dinner at NYC's Counter Vegetarian Restaurant and Organic Wine & Martini Bar - CounterNYC.com.
At a recent winemaker dinner at Counter Restaurant and Organic Wine & Martini Bar - CounterNYC.com - Tony Coturri was happy to discuss what makes his winery's Grenache so special.
The future is looking brighter for the village of Santa Rosas, where a new preschool is quickly becoming a reality thanks to the support of Ladybug Homeschool Supplies. "By supporting the construction of a pre-school, Ladybug Homeschool Supplies is helping the children of Santa Rosa overcome adversity and reach their potential," explains Foster Parents Plan, Ladybug's partner in this admirable undertaking. "This preschool will improve educational success at all levels, and will provide children of Santa Rosa with increased opportunity, confidence and potential. The entire community will benefit from the education of their youth, resulting in a brighter, more hopeful future for all."
In addition to donating $1-$5 from the sale of the book Beatrice's Goat & accepting cash donations for which Foster Parents Plan will be issuing a tax receipt, Ladybug is to donating 5% of its profits - all to meet the goal of raising more than $15,000 for the preschool fund. "Homeschool families, educators and parents, more than anyone, know the value of education. That is why we decided to help with this project," explains Ladybug's Annanie Pang. "All children need an equal opportunity at what life has to offer. How can we expect people in Nicaragua to change their future, if we don't help by giving their next generation the basic building blocks for that future"
Recent Comments