Chocolove Limited Edition Holiday Bar

by Evan Orensten

Chocolove recently announced their limited edition Holiday bar. Available exclusively at Whole Foods Markets "until they run out."

The bars are 55% dark chocolate and are inspired by mendiants, the French confections made with bread or chocolate and nuts and dried fruits. Tart cherries, sweet currants, hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans, orange zest and ginger make this a flavor-filled bar. It's a lot of chocolate for only a few bucks.

Chocolove has sent us a box of 12 bars, a Chocolove long sleeve (American Apparel) tee and a Chocolove baseball cap to give away. To win, send us your answer to the following question:

How did mendiant get its name?

To enter, follow the contact link at the bottom of the page, select "Chocolove giveaway" from the pull down menu and send us your answers. A winner will be selected at random from all CH readers who correctly answer the following question before midnight, Tuesday 21 November 2006.

Popular Science's Best of What's New 2006: Logitech MX Revolution

by Ami Kealoha

Today's CH selection from Popular Science's recent Best of What's New 2006 is Logitech's MX Revolution. After hearing the buzz about this multi-functional new device, CH decided to test it out for ourselves.

Over two years in development, the main feature is a central scroll wheel, which switches between "hyper-fast" and slow speeds with a downward click. But toggling between speeds with the MX Revolution is something you probably won't have to do for yourself that often. Using "SmartShift" technology, the mouse actually detects the software you're using on the computer and switches to the appropriate speed. When you scroll quickly, the wheel disengages so as not to spin out of control and, if you leave it spinning, it stops with a simple touch. Moving side to side as well, the wheel's also great for navigating horizontally around programs like Photoshop.

While all the buttons can be customized to perform a variety of functions, they're all designed to work intuitively to enable easy desktop navigation. A second thumb-controlled wheel, located on the side, enables easy flipping between applications with a toggle motion and a central click. For searching, a dedicated button directly below the main wheel can be customized to use the program of your choice, which is especially handy for Microsoft programs that don't have built-in Google searches. And two other programmable side buttons are useful for making modified keystrokes into one-click operations.

For $99, there are more inexpensive options out there, but none that provide so many ways to navigate so fluidly. Pick one up from Logitech.

Boxed Wine

by Letizia Rossi

The fastest growing sector of the American wine market, boxed wine is starting to shake off its stigma as the gauche alternative to bottles. Wines that actually taste good can now be found in ecologically-sound, well-designed packaging without sacrificing quality. Here are a few of the better boxed wines featuring latest packaging innovations and some accessories to go with them.

Black Box
Black Box Wines feature grapes from renowned California growing regions. Unlike bottle stoppers that don't do much to stop oxidation, the spigot design prevents air from contacting wine until its poured, keeping it fresh for almost a month. Three-liter boxes (more than triple the volume of a bottle) sell for $18 and a couple varietals are available from BevMo.

Bag-in-box Wine Dispenser
A perfect fit with the Black Box three-liter bags, the Bag-in-box Wine Dispenser conceals your secret with its sleek design available in black, white and red. Designed by Swedish designer Patrik Svanberg, the Bag-in-box Wine Dispenser's European heritage is no surprise—boxed wine has long been popular on the continent. Available online for €40.

French Rabbit
When French Rabbit wines were introduced in both glass bottle and Tetra Prisma packaging (the same used in standard juice boxes) in Canada in 2005, sales of the box version were 21 times greater than the glass bottles. Their 100% recyclable ePod packaging was commended by our friends at Treehugger, who pointed out that the reduced weight of the packaging means that a truck can carry 25 more times wine, conserving fuel and keeping prices low. French Rabbit offers four varietals from the Languedoc Roussillon region of France: Pinor Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The one-liter containers (25% bigger than standard bottles) retail for about $10 from Wine Outlet and others.

Stemmarkers
Made from non-toxic foam, these candy-colored markers (pictured above left) work on stems and rims alike and are un-fussy alternatives to the usual bangles. The set of 10 comes on a spool for easy storage. $10 from MoMA.

Three Thieves
Three Thieves uses the same Tetra Pak technology as French Rabbit, but their California wine comes in individual-sized "Bandit" boxes (pictured above right), which are similar to juice boxes minus the straw. Perfect for picnics and parties, Three Thieves Bandits are available in in various varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio, and cost $10 for a four-pack of 250 mLs from Three Thieves.

Aix Decanter
With its slim space-saving profile, the elegant lines of this Aix decanter by Ichendorf (pictured right) is a good way to cloak the humble packaging of boxed wine if you're embarassed by its reputation. Available from Unica Home for $119.

Dtour Wine
An effort by chef-lebrity Daniel Boloud, sommelier Daniel Johnnes and vintner Dominique Lafon, Dtour Wine's three-liter tube design (pictured left) has been praised by critics for its taste and (like Black Box) ability to stave off oxidation with its vacuum bag. It's available from Sussex Wines for $38.

Squidfire Hoodie

by Ami Kealoha

Just over a year old, the Baltimore-based line Squidfire now boasts a whole range of goods hand-printed on manual presses with their original designs. In addition to Vans (actually hand-painted), messenger bags and a line for kids, they've recently introduced hoodies, like this "Workout" sweatshirt (pictured left, $45) that features overlapping images of a smiling 70's-era muscleman in red, blue and black on grey. Printed on American Apparel (like most of their items), it's a good option for exercising outdoors on chilly fall days—or just for keeping warm in front of the TV.

We also like the old-time styling of the green-and-brown Seahorse print (pictured right), available on a silver tee for $25.

Tita Lima: 11:11

by Ami Kealoha

Lilting rhythm guitar, trumpet solos and swirling synth bubbles on "A Conta Do Samba," the opening cut on Tita Lima's debut solo album, 11:11, sets the mood for a journey to Tropicalia. Firmly grounded in and paying homage to the classic sounds of 70's Brazilian vocal soul, jazz, samba, and bossa nova, 11:11 is more rootsy than Bebel Gilberto electro-bossa. The album's 11 tracks— consisting mainly of live instruments, classic percussion and horn arrangements—were recorded between São Paulo and L.A., with a rotating cast of seasoned veterans. Subtle touches of hip hop, reggae and programmed elements make 11:11 an unmistakably modern record.

"Catatonica" features a subtly broken Timberland-ish drum track and Brazilian funk underpinnings, while "Esquizofrevo" adds touches of beat-boxed percussion—and it actually works. "Traz Um Alivio" is dubby and ambient downtempo soul like a Portishead song, minus the bad weather.

Overall, the album is mellow and pleasurable (not easy) listening. The well-written songs are all in Portuguese, mostly penned by Lima herself, who also co-produced most of the recordings. With a nice mix of tempos and styles, and a warm sound, 11:11 is the perfect southern breeze to take the edge off the winter chill.

Listen on Tita Lima's site and buy from Ksd Music or Amazon.

by DJ Scribe