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From Drinks

Whether your loved ones are gluten free gourmands or adventurous homebrewers, cider just might be on their holiday wish lists. We're here to help with gift ideas: books, bottles, gear, and even a weekend getaway that your favorite cider lover is sure to enjoy.

Cider They Can't Get at Home

If your local selection is limited, consider ordering a few ciders from another part of the country. For East coast ciders, we recommend the selection at New York's Astor Wines, while Made in Oregon is perfect for crafting a West coast gift basket. Shipping is not available to every state, so double check before you buy.

Artisanal Cheese Hard Cider Collection

Cider and cheese are happy together and this collection from Artisanal Premium Cheese will have the cider-lover on your list chomping away this holiday season. This collection includes three cheeses selected (in collaboration with Angry Orchard Cider) to pair well: Garrotxa, Ossau Iraty, and Colston Bassett Stilton. Of course, you could also build your own cider-pairing gift basket at a cheesemonger near you.

Available online, $59

World's Best Ciders: Taste, Tradition, and Terroir

Cider is a cultural phenomenon around the world and this book is your hand-held tour. Acclaimed beer writer Pete Brown and British cider documentarian Bill Bradshaw travel to the apple-growing regions in Spain, France, England, Germany, Canada, and America to explore the people and places who hold cider in high esteem.

Hudson Valley Cidermaking Kit

This cider making kit contains everything to make a batch of cider at home. Just add a gallon of juice (not included) to the glass fermentation jug, stir in the yeast, and in about a month you'll have a batch of homemade cider. Be sure to avoid juice that has been treated with potassium sorbate or a similar preservative. These chemicals inhibit yeast growth, which will impede the conversion of sugars into alcohol.

Available online, $49.95

Maximizer Fruit Press

You can make cider with store-bought juice, but in truth, cider is all about the apples. This fruit press is just the thing for home cider makers looking to up their game. It's also a great way for home orchardists—or anyone with access to a few apple trees—to turn their fruitful harvest into gallons of fresh-pressed juice.

A combination apple grinder and traditional basket press, The Maximizer Fruit Press is the most convenient all-in-one home press we've tried.

Available online, $469 to $549

The New Cider Maker's Handbook

Claude Jolicoeur is considered one of North America's finest home cider makers. In The New Cider Maker's Handbook, Jolicoeur applies his previous life as a scientist to the craft of cider with over 300 pages of traditional techniques and modern practices. The formulas, charts, and experiments in this tome put even the geekiest homebrew book to shame—it's the perfect gift for anyone looking to get serious about home cider making or considering what it would take to go pro.

A Weekend Getaway at Albemarle Ciderworks

For cider fans who love to travel, consider a weekend getaway at Albemarle Ciderworks in North Garden, Virginia. Their cottage—available through VRBO—is located next to the tasting room, steps from the orchards and a short drive from the many wineries, breweries and cideries near Charlottesville. It sleeps up to 8 people. Ask nicely, and they might even let you tour the cidery.

$400/night. Book online at VRBO.com

Everyday, I take a walk. It's good for health, I think. While I wear sneakers, Beijing factory owner Zhang Fuxing wears iron shoes.

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Happy 20th birthday, Doom! id Software's legendary shooter was released twenty years ago today. To celebrate, folks over at Game Art HQ put together an amazing art tribute, with gorgeous HD illustrations of the series' many memorable enemies. Above is Eric Ridgeway's version of the Mancubus; visit the site for more.

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Unless you’re an invertebrate, you probably have a skeleton. But even though we all have these bony structures holding us together, we still find skeletons kind of creepy. French artist Chris Panda seems to have an obsession with skeletons, having created a series of illustrations which let us see the bones of cartoon, video game, and pop culture icons.

The image of Sylvester with Tweety Bird in his stomach is pretty amusing, and Batman looks quite majestic, but Ariel’s skeleton put me in the mood to eat fish for dinner tonight. Is that wrong?

The series of images includes everyone from The Legend of Zelda’s Link, to Fionna and Cake from Adventure Time to Popeye. But the most disturbing image of all has to be this one of Miley Cyrus twerking with Beetlejuice. That’s even harder to look at than the original – now that’s an accomplishment.

Check out the entire series of illustrations over on Chris’ Facebook page.

[via ufunk via Who Killed Bambi via Laughing Squid]

As part of a long-term relationship, Pearlfisher have created a new brand world for Cadbury Dairy Milk that spans brand strategy, identity creation, packaging design and brand guidelines. Pearlfisher’s challenge for this project was to nurture what makes Cadbury Dairy Milk iconic, whilst bringing to life the joyful character of over 50 global variants. The result is a celebration of the great iconic taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk – taking the brand from iconic to experiential around the world

 “We refreshed the Dairy Milk logotype creating a more joyful expression of the brand whilst retaining the milk splashes of the ‘i’ and kick of the ‘k’. Custom typography has also been created for each variant, reinforcing the different personalities of each bar and enhancing navigation and the buying experience.” Johnathan Ford, Pearlfisher Chief Creative Officer

 “Our challenge was to create a harmonious global expression for Cadbury Dairy Milk that would bring to life the brand’s iconic and long standing association with Joy, make it more contemporary and ultimately, better help shoppers navigate through the range and chose the right product for them. Pearlfisher have achieved this in a way that stays true to our brand essence with a unique and engaging approach that communicates the Cadbury Dairy Milk product experience in a generous, tasty and playful way. The new design is rejuvenating the chocolate aisle and shopper experience.” Nikhil Rao, Cadbury Global Brand Equity Director at Mondelez 

Creative Directors: Sarah Cattle and Natalie Chung, Pearlfisher

Founding Partner & Chief Creative Officer: Jonathan Ford, Pearlfisher

Design Director: Dan Gladden, Pearlfisher

Senior Strategist: Rory Fegan, Pearlfisher Words: Sylvie Saunders, Pearlfisher

Technical Project Director: Henry Leeson, Pearlfisher

Account Directors: Andrew Slade and Margit Wettler, Pearlfisher

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They are the grey eminences of aviation. They are doing what they have to do without any ado. We hardly notice them when we take a flight from A to B. However, cargo aircraft can be as interesting and special as fighter planes or passenger aircraft. We are going to prove this.

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I’d say every person visiting this website wishes he was her.

“People are still enjoying Looney Tunes cartoons despite the constant references to forgotten movie stars and ad campaigns for products that haven’t been manufactured since the Eisenhower administration, and that says a lot about the high quality of the work produced by Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery and other Warner Bros. directors. If you’ve spent your whole life wondering why the characters in these cartoons would sometimes turn to the camera, bug out their eyes and say, ‘Well, something new has been added!’, this is your lucky day! In this list, we’ll finally get to the bottom of a few of the weird catchphrases that have plagued Looney Tunes fans for generations.” w/ videos

Lana and Andy Wachowski, best known for their sci-fi trilogy, The Matrix, have a new sci-fi flick upcoming — Jupiter Ascending, and the first trailer just hit the web.

Channing Tatum plays Caine, the half-man, half-wolf warrior who has to rescue Jupiter Jones (played by Mila Kunis), a janitor with enormous genetic potential

Just like The Matrix, the movie is based on an original screenplay by the WachowskisMatrix fans will be glad to see that Jupiter Ascending, too, features a great deal of gravity-defying martial arts scenes. The movie also seems to be quite epic in scale, spanning several planets and civilizations, and some good old spaceship fights are thrown into the mix as well Read more...

Om nom nom nom. Sudo make me a sandwich.

[Source: The Doghouse Diaries]

For the last time, please stay off Mr. Keith’s lift. (at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill)

At first glance, this amazing piece seems like a simple candle with a burning wick and slowly..(Read...)

This video is crazy: Watch ace helicopter pilot Dan Clark demonstrating his incredible skills while harvesting Christmas trees at mad speeds. "Oregon helicopter pilot ruthlessly owning inertia," says Redditor coolmandan03. Indeed. It's absolutely insane.

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