Family, Travel, Wine & Art / Facilitate the Wallet

My Teacher Is an App - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-11-12T22:21:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

My Teacher Is an App

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030600066250144.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Panel Urges Cholesterol Testing for Kids - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-11-12T08:46:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Panel Urges Cholesterol Testing for Kids

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577032194104839570.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Rescuing a Classic - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-07-10T06:08:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Rescuing a Classic

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304803104576428660973676124.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Flight Risk: You Really Should... (good.is)

2011-06-12T05:20:00.000-06:00

Flight Risk: You Really Should Turn Off Your Cellphone on Planes
http://www.good.is/post/flight-risk-you-really-should-turn-off-your-cellphone-on-planes/

---
Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app.
Available for free in the App Store.
www.zite.com

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Crisis Abroad: Tips for International Travelers - WSJ.com

2011-06-09T04:04:00.000-06:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304778304576373472364977458.html?mod=djemseat_t

USA TODAY: Which travel websites are the fastest?

2011-06-02T07:43:00.001-06:00

Check out this article that I saw in USA TODAY's iPad application.

Which travel websites are the fastest?
http://usat.ly/mUCfXg

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Leading psychologist says odd glass of wine doesn't help teenagers drink sensibly | Mail Online

2011-06-01T06:27:00.001-06:00

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-1392541/Leading-psychologist-says-odd-glass-wine-doesnt-help-teenagers-drink-sensibly.html

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Blanks for the Memories - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-05-31T10:04:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Blanks for the Memories

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304520804576341482658082052.html

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Required, A Market Tutorial - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-05-21T06:11:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Required, A Market Tutorial

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703421204576329151327971510.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Money Strategies For Mr. Mom - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-05-14T07:31:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Money Strategies For Mr. Mom

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704681904576313602973893970.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Kid-Friendly Adventure Trips - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-05-13T22:33:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Kid-Friendly Adventure Trips

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703992704576307311843444374.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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USA TODAY: Tiger Mom: Here's how to reshape U.S. education

2011-05-11T07:31:00.001-06:00

Check out this article that I saw in USA TODAY's iPad application.

Tiger Mom: Here's how to reshape U.S. education
http://usat.ly/mkcPNH

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The Unwise War Against Chocolate Milk - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-04-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

The Unwise War Against Chocolate Milk

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704004004576270773639365188.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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USA TODAY: 10 great places to have scientific sleepovers

2011-03-18T05:57:00.000-06:00

Check out this article that I saw in USA TODAY's iPad application.

10 great places to have scientific sleepovers
http://usat.ly/h39cpR

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Who's the Boss? When Jobs Are Scarce, the Kids Are - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-03-16T06:27:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Who's the Boss? When Jobs Are Scarce, the Kids Are

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704662604576202473412495838.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Sweating Out a Fever - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-02-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Sweating Out a Fever

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704615504576172311079669134.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Larry Summers vs. Tiger Mom - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-27T10:13:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Larry Summers vs. Tiger Mom

http://blogs.wsj.com/davos/2011/01/27/larry-summers-vs-tiger-mom

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Whatever You Do, Don't Buy an Airline Ticket On … - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Whatever You Do, Don't Buy an Airline Ticket On …

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704062604576105953506930800.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Raising Creative Kids - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Raising Creative Kids

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576104082257078742.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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What Book Critics Say About 'Tiger Mother' - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

What Book Critics Say About 'Tiger Mother'

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/01/25/what-book-critics-say-about-tiger-mother

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Why Rich Parents Don't Matter - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-22T10:43:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Why Rich Parents Don't Matter

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954004576090020541379588.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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The Tiger Mother Talks Back - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

The Tiger Mother Talks Back

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703583404576080032661117462.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Growing Pangs - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-17T06:56:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Growing Pangs

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703296604576005553135608250.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Tiger Mother's Child-Rearing Method Draws Response - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Tiger Mother's Child-Rearing Method Draws Response

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704803604576077841292640496.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

"Now" Issue featuring updated coverage throughout the day, with top article picks from Journal editors
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The Suzuki Method He Imported Keyed A Music Revolution - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

The Suzuki Method He Imported Keyed A Music Revolution

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704637704576082283677493472.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

"Now" Issue featuring updated coverage throughout the day, with top article picks from Journal editors
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Remember 'The Trip'? Well, It's Happening. - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Remember 'The Trip'? Well, It's Happening.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704323204576084360450166684.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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In Defense of the Western Mom - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

In Defense of the Western Mom

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703333504576080422577800488.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Your BlackBerry or Your Wife - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-11T17:28:00.001-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Your BlackBerry or Your Wife

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703779704576073801833991620.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Why Chinese Mothers are Superior - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-01-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Why Chinese Mothers are Superior

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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How to Raise Boys Who Read - The Wall Street Journal.

2010-09-26T20:34:00.001-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

How to Raise Boys Who Read

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405511702112290.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Kids' E-Books Take the App Route - The Wall Street Journal.

2010-09-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story from The Wall Street Journal.

Kids' E-Books Take the App Route

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704285104575491863029792640.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal's award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Airline goes green by asking passengers to use the toilet before boarding | Mail Online

2009-10-07T08:48:00.000-06:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1218473/Airline-goes-green-asking-passengers-use-toilet-boarding.html

How to Snag an Upgrade Now - The Wall Street Journal.

2009-10-01T11:18:00.002-06:00

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

How to Snag an Upgrade Now

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703787204574445061299280086.html

The Wall Street Journal Mobile Reader for iPhone^TM delivers the latest global news, financial events, market insights and information to keep you ahead of the curve. Get the information you depend on plus entertainment, culture, and sports coverage when, where, and how you want it from the most credible source for news and information. Click below to download the WSJ Mobile Reader for free from the iTunes App Store.

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(BN) Airline Business-Class Giveaways Risk Last Profit Center on 2-for-1 Deals

2009-08-24T14:06:00.001-06:00

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Price cuts aimed at filling empty airline seats mean flying business class is no longer a luxury affordable only when the company is paying.

Swiss International Air Lines is selling upgrades to flat- bed berths for $460, while Singapore Airlines Ltd. has halved the price of business tickets bought with air miles and British Airways Plc has offered two premium seats for the price of one.

First- and business-class travel fell 21 percent worldwide in June compared with a year earlier, or three times the decline in economy class, according to industry data. That has eroded the prime source of profit at carriers such as British Airways, which last year got 45 percent of revenue from premium travel that accounted for only 13 percent of seats sold.

"There are more promotions than ever, fare wars left and right, and you can use your air miles in ways we've never seen before," said Matt Bennett, founder of FirstClassFlyer.com, a Monterey, California-based online newsletter. "What's bad for airlines is great for the traveler. Their pricing structure is under siege."

Filling seats through discounts is risky, said Stephen Furlong, a Dublin-based analyst with Davy Stockbrokers. Cheaper deals may erode the exclusivity of premium-class travel and business flyers may switch en masse to the cheaper fares, hurting overall revenue.

While June's fall in premium traffic eased from a 24 percent drop in May, the improvement came at the expense of a steeper decline in revenue, which fell 41 percent in the second quarter as fares shrank.

Not so Sacred

Singapore Airlines, where the exclusivity of premium class- travel "used to be sacred," according to Bennett, has offered its 30 inch business seats, among the widest in the industry, at a 50 percent discount when paid for in air miles. The deal has featured 25 destinations this year with about half a dozen qualifying in any given month.

The discounting is a response to the economic slump and the company's strategy is to remain a premium, full-service carrier, spokesman Nick Ionides said by e-mail.

"That doesn't mean we are averse to adapting to changing market trends," he said.

Until Aug. 31, Swiss, a unit of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is offering an upgrade from coach to business class for 500 Swiss francs ($460) on flights from Zurich to New York and 700 francs to Sao Paulo. That's less than 10 percent of the full business fares of 5,544 and 8,073 francs.

'Plenty of Space'

"Our business class isn't empty exactly, but there's plenty of space even when economy is overbooked," spokesman Jean-Claude Donzel said by telephone. "If we can persuade some people to move up, we can sell more economy tickets."

British Airways introduced its first ever two-for-one flights offer in May for selected departures between June and October. The deal is still available to people booking from the U.S. using a BA Visa credit card.

The carrier, Europe's third largest, is also offering online upgrades that allow travelers to shift from premium economy to business class or from business to first class at prices starting from 399 pounds ($661).

Tickets must have been booked at least 14 days in advance and no longer be for sale, and upgrades will be offered "tactically" on certain flights only, spokeswoman Amanda Allan said by e-mail. A business-class return ticket from London to New York normally costs 1,986 pounds, or 1,170 pounds more than premium economy, she said.

Never Recover

BA Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh told shareholders last month that business travel may never fully recover from the global economic slump, threatening the airline's "long-term viability" unless at least 4,000 jobs are cut. It may also rip out some of the luxury seats it installed only three years ago in a 100 million-pound revamp.

Annual sales may fall by 1 billion pounds this year, or about 12 percent, based on the decline in the three months through June, Walsh said in this week's edition of the carrier's employee newspaper. Finance chief Keith Williams added that "there is no quick fix in sight." BA closed up 0.9 percent at 189.9 pence in London, taking gains this year to 5.7 percent.

"We don't think that these offers erode our business model or yields because it is about giving customers an experience and stimulating travel," spokeswoman Allan said. "We make it affordable for customers to upgrade and hope they like it so much that they come back."

In the U.S., carriers are generally less reliant on long- haul premium travel because of the greater proportion of domestic flights, with discounting not so extensive.

Bonus Miles

Delta Air Lines Inc. currently has no promotions for cabin upgrades, according to spokesman Paul Skrbec, and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines has made "no changes to levels, discounts, policies or procedures," spokesman Stephen Schlachter said. American is instead awarding 50,000 bonus miles with a business- class booking, enough to get a round-trip upgrade on the next trans-Atlantic flight.

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines has long offered discounted upgrades to economy plus, business and first class on the day of departure when seats are free, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said. Other deals are sometimes available, such as a recent offer of two upgrades for the price of one.

Airlines are also increasingly providing free upgrades to first class when passengers pay the full business fare.

"We used to see that occasionally on the softest of routes in the low season," FirstClassFlyer's Bennett said. "Now it's everywhere all the time."

Damage Limitation

Other carriers are seeking to limit the damage from business travelers deserting to coach class by expanding premium-economy cabins that combine the legroom of older business seats with economy-style service and catering. Air France-KLM is accelerating the introduction of its new "Voyageur" class across the long-haul network by next summer.

While cheap upgrades, heavy discounting and no-frills business seats may help airlines fill the front of their planes, carriers face a delicate balancing act in order to avoid permanently damaging demand for premium tickets.

Swiss Air's Donzel said upgrade offers can't be run for too long before ordinary corporate travelers switch from business bookings to economy tickets with cheaper upgrades.

Neither should premium economy seats be too welcoming, said Frank Skodzik, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt.

"The rationale is to prevent premium travelers from trading down all the way to economy, but the danger is that they just stay there in the intermediate class because it's comfortable enough," he said.

Tough Task

Once companies do shift to economy-class travel, airlines face a battle to persuade them to switch back, with only deep and sustained discounting likely to prove effective, said Davy's Furlong.

Besides BA, which got almost half its revenue from premium travel before last year, Lufthansa, Air France, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas Airways Ltd. are particularly exposed, Furlong said.

For those passengers who do find their way to the front of the plane, the distinction between a carrier's premium seats and those back in coach class is becoming less obvious.

British Airways has reduced the variety of newspapers and alcoholic drinks on some European business flights and cut after-dinner chocolates, while Air France has saved 36,000 metric tons of fuel annually through weight reductions that include lighter glassware in its premium cabins.

Airlines serving competitive long-haul markets may eventually follow low-cost carriers in charging for baggage check, meals and anything beyond the seat itself, predicts Dan Solon, an analyst at Avmark International in London.

"I wouldn't be totally stupefied to see someone decide that what they're really selling is a comfortable bed, and if you want dinner it's going to cost what it would in a four-star hotel," he said. "You don't expect to stay in a business hotel and not pay for your meals and drinks."

To contact the reporters on this story: Laurence Frost in Paris at lfrost4@bloomberg.net Sabine Pirone in London at spirone@bloomberg.net

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Hotel Insider Reveals How to Snag the Best Deals - Guest Post: Bonnie Caton ~ Champagne Living

2009-08-09T19:51:00.001-06:00

http://www.champagneliving.net/2009/08/hotel-insider-reveals-how-to-snag-best.html

Sweet Bike

2009-06-28T20:36:00.000-06:00

Colleges Flunk Economics Test as Harvard Model Destroys Budgets - Bloomberg.com

2009-05-01T17:32:00.001-06:00

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- On a Thursday morning in March, the $32 million School of Management building at Simmons College in Boston is all but deserted. Three students lounge in armchairs facing floor-to-ceiling windows that look over the quad with its winding walkways and greening lawn; another makes photocopies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aoglHAxZffTI&refer=home

Customised playhouses, designed by children - Springwise

2009-04-29T12:32:00.001-06:00

Consumers in the market for a new children's playhouse have a wide
variety to choose from, with pint-sized properties ranging from thirty-
dollar cardboard versions to uber-premium, custom-built chalets. A new
product from the Netherlands takes the market one step further,
allowing kids to become designers by creating their own one-of-a-kind
playhouses.

http://springwise.com/style_design/quubi/

The Praise Craze - WSJ.com

2009-04-23T23:24:00.001-06:00

Children are getting too much flattery and not enough moral instruction

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124053094209050311.html

529 Plans: Ranking the Best and Worst - WSJ.com

2009-04-23T22:02:00.001-06:00

The economic downturn is highlighting some serious flaws in 529 college-savings plans, according to a new report that selects the best and worst plans.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124045704717946739.html

Little Passports - Product Info (educational children, educational online games, kids travel, educational games, social studies)

2009-04-21T20:11:00.001-06:00

Little Passports is your child's ticket to an exciting global
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Win $200 and a BISSELL Vacuum!

2009-04-07T10:54:00.002-06:00

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Is Your Investing Personality in Your DNA?

2009-04-05T10:40:00.002-06:00

From the WSJ:

Whatever investing mistake you have committed lately, there is probably a gene that is often associated with that behavior. Are you predestined to be the prisoner of your genetic code?...

His findings: In all five genes, I have a variant, or allele, that is sometimes associated with bad investing decisions.

Consider the FAAH gene. Roughly 25% of people with European ancestry carry the 385A allele of this gene. That tends to damp their brains' fear circuitry and to intensify their brains' reaction to the prospect of making money. I am one of those people.

Or take the DRD2 gene. Some 20% of Caucasians have an allele that can make them respond more intensely to gambles, even when no skill is involved. I have it.

While I lay inside the fMRI tube, I viewed a card face down and tried to guess whether it was higher or lower than a five. If I got enough of the guesses right, I was supposed to win $10. Whenever my guess turned out to be right, my ventral striatum -- one of the brain's reward centers -- responded roughly twice as intensely as that of the average person in Dr. Hariri's experiments.

That suggests I may get an even more visceral rush out of making money than other investors do. "Controlling this kind of impulsive response to reward," says Dr. Hariri, "is crucial to success in many aspects of life" -- like investing, where impatience often lowers returns. Another test showed that my brain is about 50% more sensitive to fear than that of the typical person Dr. Hariri's lab has tested.

Happily, the lab also ran a test to see how I react to real-world financial decisions. That produced a different picture.

Given the choice, would I rather have a small profit sooner or a larger profit later? Many people hate to wait, choosing as little as $50 today rather than wait a year to get $100. I, meanwhile, was willing to wait a year for $100 rather than take anything less than $90 today.

Perhaps 20% of the variation in risk-taking among individuals is genetically determined; the rest comes from our upbringing, experience, education and training. So, while my genes bias my brain toward spooking easily and trying to make a quick buck, that isn't how I actually behave. I hold investments for years, even decades; I don't panic in bear markets, and bull markets make me uncomfortable. Those habits, I now understand for the first time, don't come naturally to me. I have been fighting my genes for years, and the reflective parts of my brain have been struggling to rein in my emotions for a lifetime.

Growing up on a farm, with warm parents who knew a great deal about history, may have trained me to evaluate momentary changes in a longer-term context and to think twice before acting on gut feelings. From studying the writings and careers of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, I learned to distrust the crowd and to remember that future returns depend on today's prices.

says Dr. Hariri, "environmental stresses can play a critical role in unmasking any underlying biases determined by your genes." In other words, bear markets give nature the upper hand. It is now harder than ever to stick to the disciplines that can override your genetic impulses, but it also has never been more important.

Free Printable Health Natural & Organic Grocery Coupons Organic ...

2009-03-31T07:02:00.000-06:00

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Yapta Launches Hotel Price Tracking Service

2009-03-20T08:14:00.001-06:00

Yapta Launches Hotel Price Tracking Service

The last time you booked a hotel room, how confident were you that you got the best rate? Chances are, you probably have no idea because hotel rates can change daily. Well, today Yapta.com launched a new hotel price tracking service that lets you track and compare prices on over 110,000 hotel properties around the world so that you can be sure you're getting the best deal.

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Coupon search clicks: Sweet sound for Web marketers - USATODAY.com

2009-03-11T13:33:00.001-06:00

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-03-09-internet-coupon-search-marketing_N.htm

Financial fallout on the Las Vegas Strip? Four Seasons’ $149 deal - Travel - LATimes.com

2009-03-10T20:19:00.000-06:00

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/cheap-vegas-hotel-de-4229/

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How to make some extra money by selling your extra stuff - USATODAY.com

2009-03-06T15:45:00.001-07:00

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Airlines Slash Fares to Fill Up Empty Seats - WSJ.com

2009-03-04T11:23:00.001-07:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123612836110424527.html#mod=testMod

Cellfire - Mobile coupons for your cell phone

2009-02-25T07:39:00.001-07:00

http://www.cellfire.com/grocery/kingsoopers/?a=CKI/

Finding Coupons Online Has Increased to Stretch Grocery Budgets - WSJ.com

2009-02-25T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ms. Wilcox, a 32-year-old mother of two from Greenville, N.C., prints
out some of the coupons. Others she uploads directly onto her
supermarket rewards card.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123551425475363603.html

Sales Ends Feb 20th - fares start from $39 each way - JetBlue | Flights

2009-02-19T10:41:00.001-07:00

Gotta get your travel bug in somehow.

http://www.jetblue.com/UBF/flights/flights.aspx?source=EM022709_main&sp_mid=1430003#

Parents urged to ensure enough protein, vitamins D, B-12 in vegetarian kids' diets - Los Angeles Times

2009-01-12T13:21:00.003-07:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-med-vegetarian-kids-health,0,6963286.story

Campbell Further Reduces Sodium in Kids' Soups

2009-01-12T13:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/progressivegrocer/content_display/supermarket-industry-news/e3i74d29bd095b963a993f0d7e6c152e229

Business class comfort o/w from $417*. Book by January 26th! NY o Amsterdam

2009-01-09T00:22:00.001-07:00

https://www.flyopenskies.com/os/promo_nycams_prem

Cathay Pacific USA - All Asia Pass - Highlights

2009-01-07T21:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.cathayusa.com/offers/allasiapass/offer.asp

Cathay Pacific "I Can Fly" Programme 2009

2009-01-07T21:37:00.001-07:00

http://www.cathayusa.com/icanfly/subdefault.asp

myair.com Cheap air travel in Europe via Italy

2009-01-07T18:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.myair.com/docs/cust/news/news_en.htm

Weird Hotels Around the World

2009-01-05T16:00:00.001-07:00

http://hotels.uptake.com/blog/weird-hotels-around-the-world-838.html

Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition

2008-12-24T13:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.elfontheshelf.com/index_html.php

Bonus Coupon Book Offer - P&G Everyday Solutions

2008-12-24T12:48:00.001-07:00

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Limiting School Snacks Boosts Fruit, Veggie Consumption The increase, while modest, was significant, study finds

2008-12-22T12:37:00.001-07:00

http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=622370

Healthy breakfast may mean healthier diet overall - Yahoo! News

2008-12-22T12:33:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081218/hl_nm/us_healthy_breakfast

Epicurean Expeditions

2008-12-22T11:35:00.001-07:00

Epicurean Expeditions

Curated by the Luxury Collection

http://starwood.p.delivery.net/m/p/stw/eml/preview.asp?cid=13145147980&pid=343126&mid=1114295844&msf=H

Frontier Airlines new fare system

2008-12-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Frontier offers new tiered fare system

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7732/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=nXwFZ8HO

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Southwest Airlines & major airports

2008-12-19T18:44:00.001-07:00

Southwest mulls move to 3rd major US airport

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7739/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=2MQwKxbb

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London & the open back bus

2008-12-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

Mayor: London's open-backed buses to return

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7739/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=w3xUU5Ad

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Alpine ski season

2008-12-19T18:41:00.001-07:00

Alpine resorts nervous as recession reaching peaks

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7739/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=0on08sqK

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Fair Trade now available in US stores

2008-12-19T18:39:00.001-07:00

Fair trade wine now available in US stores

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7738/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qLndax8y

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Cathay Pacific USA - All Asia Pass - Highlights

2008-12-19T17:43:00.001-07:00

http://www.cathayusa.com/offers/allasiapass/offer.asp

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(BN) Wine Investors Raise a Glass as Cash Boosts Petrus, Chateau Margaux Funds

2008-12-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

Fine-Wine Investors Raise a Glass as Petrus, Margaux Lure Funds

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Lench, manager of the Vinum Fine Wine Fund in Guernsey off the coast of Normandy, says his business is doing very well, thank you very much.

The 58-year-old, who buys bottles of Petrus, Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau Margaux wines for the fund, is benefiting from the turmoil in the financial markets, which is driving investors out of stock markets and into investment vehicles like his. Vinum's collections climbed 12 percent in September, another 15 percent in October and 2 percent in November.

"We've seen an increase in interest," said Lench in an interview. "Markets have frightened people."

Vinum, Elite Advisers' Nobles Crus in Luxembourg and Arch Financial Products LLP's Arch Fine Wine IC fund in London are among wine funds created in the past 18 months that are luring investors as the Morgan Stanley World Index sank 40 percent this year. Investors buy shares backed by actual bottles, getting an asset group whose fortunes are not closely tied to credit markets. Vinum slipped only 3.1 percent this year, Elite climbed 20 percent, while Arch advanced 0.5 percent.

Investments in such alternative funds may continue to rise next year, said John Godden, chief executive officer of London- based IGS Group Ltd., which advises hedge funds.

During financial crises, investors prefer "things they can touch," like wine, art or antiques, he said.

"We expect to see alternatives rise into next year," Godden said. "Everyone is knocked off balance by the performance of equities and bonds. If the value of wine goes down you can drink it."

Market Meltdown

Art investments also have outperformed stocks, with the Art Market Research Art 100 Top 25% Index up 41 percent this year. The index is based on the median of the top 25 percent of prices in the industry.

Meanwhile, more than $30 trillion was erased from the value of global equity markets as more than $1 trillion of losses and writedowns at the biggest financial companies triggered a freeze in credit markets.

For its fund, Vinum requires a minimum 10,000-pound ($15,060) investment. Started with 2 million pounds, it now has 5 million pounds. Lench buys wines from France's Bordeaux region because of the "structured" market, where bottles pass from the chateau to brokers and negotiators and have a classification system to help set prices.

This makes the market more transparent than in Burgundy, where producers often sell directly to customers, Lench said.

Chateau Margaux

Lench, who hasn't sold any of his purchases, values investors' shares in the fund on a monthly basis.

Elite's Nobles Crus, begun with 2.5 million euros ($3.6 million) at the start of the year, has grown to 13 million euros as fund manager Christian Roger snapped up bottles of Romanee Conti 2005 and Lafite-Rothschild 2007.

"Wine is one of the most affordable luxury goods," said Miriam Mascherin, 47, managing partner of the Luxembourg-based Elite. "You can drink a good bottle every day, but you can't buy a Ferrari every day. It's an investment in something that is consumed, so the price is always going up."

Elite's investors can take profits in either money or wine.

Mascherin, formerly a managing director at Paris-based fund manager Carmignac Gestion, says she chose wine as a theme because she aimed to create an investment vehicle involving a product that is tangible, easy to understand and a source of pleasure. Her firm plans on launching a diamond fund next year.

Intrinsic Value

Duncan Hughes, manager of Arch's 6 million-pound wine fund, said he recently sold 1982 first-growth vintages and bought those from 1986. He made a 25 percent gain on a 1982 Lafite-Rothschild.

First-growth vintages are considered to be the best and highest-quality wines, according to the wine classification system used in Bordeaux.

"What you have with wine is a level of intrinsic value," said Hughes, 45. "It's a desirable thing people want to continue buying. The market will remain relatively robust."

The fine-wine market hasn't been completely immune to the financial crisis with the Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index, which includes mainly red wines from Bordeaux, down 13 percent this year. The index, which has surged 171 percent from the start of 2005 to a record high in June, is heading for its first annual decline since 2004.

'Nest Egg'

Sotheby's noted a 25 percent retreat in prices during a recent auction in New York.

"The prices have gone so high in the past 18 months that the declines are expected," said Damian Tillson, deputy director of wine at the company's London office. "It's surprising it hasn't happened sooner. There could be a correction of the market. No one here is concerned of an imminent crash. We're looking more at a plateau."

Tillson said once wine matures and people start consuming it, prices rise, making it a good "nest egg."

"You've ridden out one to two economic cycles" by that time, he said. "It's a safe thing to put money into. We've been benefiting from the recent crisis."

Vinum's Lench says historical wine data shows its value as a long-term investment. The top price at auction for 1996 Vintage Chateau Haut Brion jumped 89 percent from 1999 to 2007, according to Sotheby's. The 1996 Vintage Chateau Lafite during the same period rose more than fourfold, the data show.

"Wine has been a more stable investment," Lench said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net .

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(BN) British Airways Risks Becoming Also-Ran Following Failure of Qantas Deal

2008-12-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

British Airways Risks Becoming Also-Ran After Qantas Deal Fails

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc, once the world's most profitable airline, risks falling from the first rank of global carriers following the breakdown of merger talks with Qantas Airways Ltd.

London-based BA must now revive flagging negotiations with Spanish carrier Iberia and win approval for a long-delayed alliance with American Airlines if it's to match competitors after failing in a dozen transactions in the past decade.

While the U.K. carrier pursued deals that were potentially lucrative but tough to execute, rivals pulled off a series of acquisitions that gave them broader networks and higher earnings. Air France bought Dutch carrier KLM in 2004 to become world No. 1 by sales and may soon get a chunk of Alitalia SpA. Deutsche Lufthansa AG purchased Swiss International in 2007 and this year added Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines AG before striking at British Airways' London Heathrow base by buying BMI.

``BA is getting left behind,'' said Geoff van Klaveren, an analyst at Exane BNP in London. ``They're playing a desperate game of catch-up because they've missed out on quality mergers over the years. Lufthansa and Air France have played the game much better. They always knew what they wanted. BA spent too much time milking the market across the north Atlantic.''

British Airways' failure to seal purchases has seen a carrier that once billed itself as ``The World's Favorite Airline'' slip from first to third place in Europe over the past two decades. The gap is no longer even close, with the carrier generating the equivalent of $17.6 billion in annual revenue, compared with $34 billion at Air France-KLM and $30.7 billion at Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa.

Qantas Flop

The reduced size of British Airways was also a factor in the failure yesterday of talks with Sydney-based Qantas. The merger stalled because the carriers couldn't agree on who would control the new company, BA spokesman Tony Cane said, with the U.K. airline's market value having fallen to less than that of its potential partner.

``There's a danger that British Airways will get left behind,'' said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London with an ``add'' recommendation on the stock following its 44 percent decline this year. ``This puts pressure on them to do the Iberia deal and also to complete the cooperation agreement with American.''

The pressure to secure partners has increased as British Airways suffers more than most in a recession that's wiping out the London business travel on which the airline overwhelmingly relies. Financial institutions account for 13 of its top 50 clients, Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said Sept. 24.

Traffic Tumbles

BA's passenger traffic plunged 5.9 percent last month, led by an 11 percent fall in business- and first-class sales. Air France-KLM reported a 1.8 percent increase, excluding a four-day strike, and Lufthansa posted a gain of 0.7 percent.

Consolidation may help airlines survive the global slump by reducing shared costs and feeding more passengers through hubs. Better networks also attract larger company accounts with guaranteed custom, said Henri Courpron of Washington-based consultant Seabury Aviation and Aerospace.

Already the biggest carrier across the north Atlantic, in good times the industry's most profitable market, British Airways has long viewed securing a U.S. partner as the top priority as it seeks to better tap the world's largest economy.

In 1989 the U.K. carrier failed in an attempt to buy a 20 percent stake in UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and in 1992 missed out on 21 percent of US Airways Group Inc.

AMR Saga

BA has expended most effort in seeking a tie-up with AMR Corp.'s American. The pair announced plans for an alliance in 1996, only to be refused the U.S. antitrust immunity they needed to share revenue and coordinate pricing. They tried again before scrapping a proposal in 2002 after regulators said they must surrender flights at Heathrow.

British Airways' focus on winning an alliance with AMR left it at a disadvantage after Lufthansa won clearance to cooperate with Star Alliance ally United and Air France secured approval for partnerships first with Northwest Airlines Corp. and later with Delta Air Lines Inc.

BA and AMR renewed their antitrust application on Aug. 14, buoyed by an Open Skies agreement that freed up trans-Atlantic flights to increased competition, and analysts say the venture now has a better than even chance of succeeding. U.S regulators are likely to rule on the application in the first quarter.

In Europe, British Airways concentrated on establishing overseas units rather than bidding for existing carriers. The units were later closed or sold and BA tried four times to merge with KLM before Paris-based Air France finally secured a deal.

Last Chance

Short of intervening in the bidding for Italy's unprofitable Alitalia, Iberia represents BA's last chance of combining with a major European airline. The carriers announced a merger in August, when Walsh said the deal would allow his company to ``compete much better on a global scale'' and particularly in Latin America, where Iberia -- along with AMR -- is the dominant foreign carrier.

The deal, though, is being jeopardized by British Airways' widening pension deficit, which Iberia shareholder Caja Madrid has cited as the main obstacle to negotiations. This week's failure to reach agreement with Qantas could also weaken BA's negotiating position over the balance of ownership.

``British Airways is in a difficult position,'' said Exane's van Klaveren, who has an ``underperform'' rating on the company. ``They have no other options and Iberia knows it.''

The U.K. airline has completed just two purchases this decade; this year's 54 million-pound ($81 million) acquisition of L'Avion, a French carrier with one route, and the takeover of franchise operator British Regional Airlines in March 2001.

Lufthansa Expansion

Lufthansa, meanwhile, has been doing deals right and left. Swiss International added Zurich as a third hub with Frankfurt and Munich, while the addition of BMI will make the airline the second-biggest slot holder after British Airways at Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., BA's biggest U.K. competitor, has since expressed interest in a tie-up with BMI, while Nordic carrier Scandinavian Airlines said Sept. 23 it was seeking a ``structural solution'' in response to reports that it would be bought by the German carrier.

For British Airways, the concern is that there may be precious little left to purchase if the AMR and Iberia tie-ups founder, said Andrew Lobbenberg, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland in London with a ``buy'' rating on the stock.

``They were skeptical about Air France and KLM and about Lufthansa and Swiss, but they've seen those work and now they're converts,'' he said. ``The problem is that they're so late to the game.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France at aerothman@bloomberg.net Steve Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net .

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New Food Pyramid Is Aimed at Kids - Yahoo! News

2008-12-18T20:21:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081214/hl_hsn/newfoodpyramidisaimedatkids;_ylt=ApXDeCU2huYHX.Da4wsjZKrVJRIF

WSJ.com - BA, Qantas End Merger Talks

2008-12-18T12:08:00.002-07:00

WSJ.com - BA, Qantas End Merger Talks

Sympvertising and secrets for business travellers: Airport Havens - Springwise

2008-12-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.springwise.com/tourism_travel/sympvertising_and_secrets_for/

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Online farmers' market for small wine producers - Springwise

2008-12-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.springwise.com/retail/online_farmers_market_for_smal/

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(BN) Arts Festivals Brace for Cost Cuts as Global Recession Hampers Fundraising

2008-12-17T11:44:00.001-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

Arts Festivals Brace for Cost Cuts as Recession Hits Budgets

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- International arts festivals are mulling cost cuts amid fears their budgets will be slashed.

Jonathan Mills, director of the Edinburgh Festival, held in August, is concerned about the impact of the recession. The festival, which had a 2008 budget of 9 million pounds ($13.7 million), is concentrated in an annual three-week burst of activity and that makes the outlook more difficult to predict.

"We don't have time to see trends evolve," Mills, 46, says. "There's no way of knowing whether our funding will be affected. I'm afraid it will come down to who is winning a particular argument at the bank when funding decisions are made. It's as fragile as that."

Like similar multidisciplinary festivals in Australia and Canada, Mills's funding is derived from three main sources: government, sponsorship and ticket revenue.

"These are scary times, but having said that, the Edinburgh Festival evolved out of the ashes of World War II," he says. "We represent more than just a frivolous arts festival. We are well loved, even revered, because when times were tough we demonstrated the value of art."

The managers of the Avignon Festival in southern France, which takes place in July, share that conviction.

Culture's Role

"Art and culture must assert their legitimate right to receive public subsidies," says Hortense Archambault, co- director of the summer theater festival, which had a 2008 budget of about 10.3 million euros ($14 million) and gets two-thirds of that sum from public sources. "It is essential to maintain culture's central role in society."

How does she press that argument with politicians? "The question to ask is why do we need art and artists?" says Archambault, 38. "I am convinced that artists help us to think and anticipate world problems by making us look at them from another angle, and invite us to find new solutions."

In oil-rich Norway, Per Boye Hansen, 51, is relatively sanguine. Central and local governments provide half the budget, which totals 50 million Norwegian kroner ($7.2 million), for his May-June 2009 Bergen International Festival. The rest comes from sponsors and ticket sales.

"At the moment, things still look good," the festival director says. "There is a strong political majority in Norway that feels that government must subsidize art. We tend to have long-term deals with our sponsors, so we're not too worried yet."

Still, Hansen says he has a hard time finding new sponsors.

'Long-Term View'

Hansen's view is that artistic content shouldn't be influenced by news. "Take 9/11," he says. "Many artists reacted immediately and they didn't make interesting art. Art that reacts directly to events is too close to public relations. Artists have to take a long-term view that isn't reacting to the media and is opposed to received political thinking."

Yossi Tal-Gan, who runs the Israel Festival in Jerusalem, likes his program to be a balanced mix of classic and topical works. He says next year's festival will have to cut costs because some foreign foundations that fund it are in trouble. His 2008 budget stood at 2.5 million euros.

"A festival is a mirror of what artists think, feel and produce, and the programming can't ignore reality," Tal-Gan, 64, says. He is negotiating with a Georgian theater company because he says that conflict-wracked country's voice should be heard.

Among the festival's most challenging productions next spring is a play put together by young actors from Israel's Habima National Theater and Germany's Schaubuehne, which deals with the loaded relationship between Germans, Jews and Palestinians.

Tal-Gan expects that both the Israeli government, which pays half the festival's costs, and his sponsors will shave funding, and he is also concerned that people who used to come to see several shows might buy tickets for just one or two.

Reducing Risk

"We'll certainly be looking again at our programming," he says. "We'll have to cut risks, although in Israel, the budget for culture is already small, so if they reduce our funds by a small percentage we shouldn't feel much difference."

While work on the program for the 2009 Edinburgh Festival began two years ago, the shows won't be out of touch with events.

"We try to create such large-scale and archetypal projects that they speak eloquently to the human condition," says Mills. "That is art's great opportunity -- to transcend our immediate and sometimes miserable circumstances and appeal to our better nature. If something good comes out of this uncertainty, it may be that people will reassess their values and think about what really matters. And art really matters."

(Brigid Grauman writes for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Brigid Grauman in Brussels at brigid@skynet.be .

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ColoradoBiz Magazine

2008-12-17T11:28:00.002-07:00

"Chicks who Click" building online communities

Wal-Mart empowers women to get involved

http://www.cobizmag.com/articles_printable.asp?id=2485

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Hertz rolls out car sharing program

2008-12-17T10:55:00.002-07:00

Hertz rolls out car sharing program

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7739/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Dk2ywB8w

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Best South Florida adventures

2008-12-16T15:50:00.002-07:00

Best South Florida adventures

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7739/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=lKowf56L

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AirAsia offers 100,000 free tickets to Thailand

2008-12-16T15:48:00.002-07:00

AirAsia offers 100,000 free tickets to Thailand

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7739/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=CqWnBmby

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Fine Wine Investment Blog: Now's a Good Time To Keep Assets Liquid, and In Bottles

2008-12-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

http://premiumliquidassets.typepad.com/wineblog/2008/12/nows-a-good-time-to-keep-assets-liquid-and-in-bottles.html

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Brits drink more American wine than French | Uncorked | Wine advice and commentary - wine tastings and events around Dayton, Ohio

2008-12-16T10:10:00.001-07:00

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wine/entries/2008/12/15/brits_drink_mor.html

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Editorial: Michigan alcohol ban unwise - Grand Rapids Opinion - The Grand Rapids Press Online - Michigan Newspaper - MLive.com

2008-12-16T10:09:00.001-07:00

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/opinion/index.ssf/2008/12/editorial_michigan_alcohol_ban.html

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Twitter and deals

2008-12-15T23:31:00.003-07:00

I don't know if you are using Twitter or not but there is and interesting site that searches Twitter for deals - called CheapTweet -

(BN) Marchesi di Barolo Challenges Barbaresco With Classic Reds: John Mariani

2008-12-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

Marchesi di Barolo Challenges Barbaresco With Classic Red Wines

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Whenever a wine snob voices the cliche that in Italy's Piedmont district Barolo is the masculine "king" of wines and Barbaresco the feminine "queen," Anna Abbona smiles and shakes her head.

"Perhaps it is only that women prefer Barbaresco because it sounds lighter," she says. She ought to know. Abbona and her husband, Ernesto, own the historic Marchesi di Barolo estate and make both kinds of wines.

In fact, both are made from the same grape, nebbiolo, which has never produced a wine of distinction outside of Piedmont, where the chalky soil and humidity -- nebbia means "fog" -- are ideal and the locations of the vineyards give Barolo and Barbaresco their different styles. Both wines are aromatic and silky, often with high alcohol levels, yet never jammy.

Barolo is aged longer than Barbaresco (two years in barrel versus one for Barbaresco, with both spending at least another year in bottle). Reservas are aged for four or five years. If Barbarescos seem lighter in body, with looser tannins, they nonetheless have their own complexity of terroir.

Still, Barbaresco has achieved a higher status, largely due to the fame of Angelo Gaja's versions, which often sell for $120 a bottle and more. Barolo, kingly or not, has become the stepbrother to Barbaresco.

Changing Image

The Abbonas are trying to balance perceptions about the two nebbiolo wines, not least because they own an estate that dates to the 12th century through the aristocratic Falletti family that claimed to have given Barolo wine its name. The Abbonas acquired Marchesi di Barolo in 1929; Anna married into the family and now, at 50, is known for her tireless efforts in restoring the estate and promoting wineries as travel destinations.

"We are not just a company," she insisted over lunch at an Italian restaurant in New York. "We are a family winery, and we know what we have to do with our wines by controlling every aspect from the vine to the bottle. We are not just looking to get rich.

"In Italy, big wineries are buying small ones and changing their wines for a global taste. In the last 15 years, people just want to be impressed by simply tasting a wine. You have to drink a wine, not just taste it, and we make our wines with elegance so they can give pleasure throughout a meal."

To this end, Marchesi di Barolo, while investing in the most modern technology, makes its wines in the reserved, highly refined style they have for decades. They still use some of the big oak barrels that date back 200 years, when many Piedmont wineries use smaller barriques made from new wood.

Wine Library

The estate is famous for its library of 35,000 wines, with vintages dating back to 1859. It still offers limited quantities to U.S. clients of vintages from 1938, 1947, 1948, 1961 and 1964 (the U.S. is the estate's most important market, taking 20 percent of its production). This allows a wine lover to assess both the consistency and the changes in Piedmontese winemaking over the past eight decades.

With Anna Abbona, who speaks English as fast as she does Italian, I tasted several of her wines. The 2004 Barolo ($55) had a wonderful warmth on the palate. It was tight in the nose, as expected from a young vintage, and had a charming, rose-like bouquet.

An older vintage, 1999 ($90), had achieved marvelous maturity. It's elegant, full bodied and expresses nebbiolo's underlying spiciness. Not surprisingly, a 1990 ($125) showed off a classic, older style of brawniness, though it's a highly satisfying wine with plenty of vitality left.

Top of the Line

The winery's Estate Vineyard series comes from its finest vineyards, including Cannubi, Coste di Rose and Sarmassa; the 2003 vintage ($63) was dark and intense, with a truffle-like nose and a developing balance of elements still coming into complex focus.

We then tasted a wine from grapes grown entirely in the Cannubi vineyard, considered the finest in the region. The Abbonas own about two-thirds of it, and their Cannubi Barolo is one of the highest achievements of Piedmontese winemaking.

The grapes are hand-picked and fermented in stainless steel. Then part of the wine is aged in oak for two years, with another portion in moderately toasted French oak for one year; after blending they spend a year in bottle. I tasted the 2004 ($100), with a high 14.5 percent alcohol level, yet it didn't blast my palate with either alcoholic heat or overripe fruit flavors. It was certainly full bodied, and the oak is still present, so I'll look forward to a rematch in about five years.

Till then, I'll content myself with getting hold of one of those library wines to give me an idea how the Marchesi di Barolo releases of this century will develop in the decades to come.

(John Mariani writes on wine for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer for this column: John Mariani at john@johnmariani.com .

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BA + Iberia + Qantas? How much of OneWorld does that eat up?

2008-12-03T14:09:00.002-07:00

So BA & Iberia have been working on merging since mid summer. Now BA is also looking at Qantas. Now technically for most travellers it will only mean on logo instead of three for routes they normally fly because all of the above airlines are part of the OneWorld global airline alliance.

I am sure BA would have preferred to have merged with AA first, but the US makes things like this a little more difficult (still can't earn AA miles on a BA trans-atlantic).

Recent WSJ articles covering the topic - subscription required for some articles

11-24-2008 BA Deficit Is a Headache for Iberia, Too

12-3-2008 BA, Qantas Considering A Merger To Span Globe

12-3-2008 A Tie-Up Closer to Home Better for Qantas

Life Memories - in Video

2008-11-29T20:11:00.001-07:00

WSJ article

Lights. Camera. Memories.
Turning a family's past into a present
By NELLIE S. HUANG

As his mother's 80th birthday approached, Loke-Khoon Tan pondered what present would be fitting to mark such a milestone.

Munshi Ahmed (mother and daughter); Julia and Harold Kim (the Kim boys)
Left to right: Chin Mooi Tan with her daughter Francine Tan; Julia and Harold Kim's film stars their five boys
He settled on a gift of memories: a 3½-minute film dotted with old black-and-white photos of his parents' younger years and snapshots of him and his two sisters as children, awkward teenagers, then proud university graduates. It's a family love letter of sorts to their mother, Chin Mooi.

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December 5 1933 - December 5 2008

2008-11-29T19:46:00.002-07:00

Celebrating 75 years of the end of 12 years ten months and 19 days and the confusion it has wrought.

The end of Prohibition.
Three tier.
Direct Shipping.
Blue Laws.
Happy Hour.
One person one license.
License quotas.

Oh the joy that prohibition and the its end have brought.

A few articles highlighting the end of Prohibition.

WSJ.com Celebrating Cinco de Drinko.

Capital Spice

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