bookofjoe

Snail Caviar — The next big thing?

Bet you didn't even know it existed.

I sure didn't until I read Nicholas Lander's eye-opening June 20, 2009 Financial Times article.

Wrote Lander, "Gastronomy by the Seine is an eclectic new festival located on two big moored river barges in Paris, which this month attracted some 300 chefs and suppliers from Europe and the US."

"... the biggest surprise was the snail caviar that Jacques Pourcel from Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier used to finish off his dish of courgette flowers, yoghurt and summer fruits. This led to big crowds at the large stand occupied by the caviar’s sole producer, De Viridi."

"Dominique Pierru, its general manager, introduced me to this new luxury product, which sells for €1,200 a kilo to chefs. The production can only be described as a labour of love. Pierru explained that snails produced only 4g of eggs during their lives and roared with laughter when I asked how many snails there were on the farm at Soissons, northern France. “I don’t have a precise figure but somewhere between 150m and 160m, I would guess.” The eggs are white, 3mm-4mm in diameter and in their freshness and taste are remarkably similar to the caviar from the endangered sturgeon. A few snail eggs served on a fresh sage leaf was an excellent appetiser."

Sounds tasty, what?

30 grams (1.1 oz) for $109.

MicroBlue Forensic Evidence Detector Kit

From websites:

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MicroBlue Forensic Evidence Detector Kit

Cool CSI tool spots incriminating evidence that may surprise you... or just gross you out.

• Forensic detection kit reveals traces of blood, urine, saliva, and other gnarly fluids that may be hard to see (which might not be a bad thing)
• Shine LED penlight and view through amber shield and — VOILA! — somebody's got some explaining to do!
• Also detects latent fingerprints treated with fluorescent powder (not included)
• Used by forensic pros — but great for amateur CSIs and Who-done-its
• Includes blue LED penlight, amber shield, pocket case, and batteries

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$39.95.

[via 7Gadgets]

Work rate, pace, set piece, service and nil: R.I.P.

Drop the silly jargon and use plain American English: hustle, speed, play, pass and nothing will serve very nicely, thank you very much.

Keep nutmeg.

Apple G4 Cube Tissue Box

[via Toxel and Unplggd]

Null Stern — World's First Zero Star Hotel

From the website:

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Null Stern Hotel

Null Stern Hotel is an invention by the Swiss twin brothers and concept artists Frank and Patrik Riklin

from the Atelier für Sonderaufgaben [Studio for Special Works] in St.-Gallen.

The Null Stern Hotel is the antithesis of the luxury and megalomania of this time.

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The Grand Opening took place Friday, June 5, 2009 in Teufen (Appenzell Outer Rhodes), Switzerland.

Bookings and reservations here.

[via What Alice Found]

Gorbachev Sings

True.

Long story short: It's his live rendition (above) last week of "Old Letters," one of seven ballads on a CD he made for charity whose single copy brought $165,000 at a private gala auction for the benefit of the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation.

Here's Al Kamen's story from yesterday's Washington Post.

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Gorbachev Frees the Top-Dollar Songs in His Heart

Step aside, Paul McCartney. Move over, Alicia Keys. And The Jonas who? The latest megastar on the music scene -- and surely the only one who gets $165,000 (per CD!) -- is Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union.

"Songs for Raisa," dedicated to his late wife, sold for that sum at a private gala auction in London a couple of weeks ago for the benefit of the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation, the British newspaper the Guardian reported Monday. Raisa Gorbachev died 10 years ago.

"There are seven ballads, which Raisa Maksimovna [Gorbachev] loved," her widower said at a news conference last week, according to Pravda. He added, "I performed them myself, with Andrey Makarevich accompanying me." Pravda noted that Makarevich, a major star in Russia, "is the front man of Russia's legendary Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine) rock band."

The CD was bought by an "anonymous British philanthropist," who paid that enormous sum for the only copy that is said to exist. Gorby himself, however, gave the crowd a sampling, apparently bringing down the house with his rendition of a song called "Old Letters." It's really not bad at all. Take a listen and remember, this is live. If the foundation, which is dedicated to fighting childhood cancer, needs cash, there's always the possibility of releasing a cut or two every now and again. Then the worldwide tour . . . film rights . . . T-shirts . . .

The 'Blog' of 'Unnecessary' Quotation Marks

Right "here."

Portable Valet

• Top opens to allow up to 3 devices to "park and charge"

• 2 USB charging ports + 1 grounded outlet

• LED charging power indicator

• Extendable cord manager

$19.99.