Filed under: Whisky, Spirits, Liquor Cabinet

Tuthilltown Spirits Old Gristmill Authentic American Corn Whiskey is 40% abv. / 80 proof and is an un-aged, clear, corn whiskey made from 100% Hudson Valley Grown New York State Corn.

Tuthilltown Spirits make a great line of premium spirits including whiskeys of several types, rum, and apple based vodkas. I’ve tried most of them at various events around the country, but this is the first bottle that ever made it home, and it was a close call this time as well. As you can see, the clear spirit is almost gone. This was from less than five minutes at a party I went to, where I mistakenly took the bottle out of my bag to show to my friend and fellow blogger, Joe Distefano. He grabbed the bottle and put it to his lips and took a sip, then way too loudly pronounced it excellent. Before I could get the bottle back in my grasp it had made a quick round of those in our vicinity, and the level had decreased precipitously by 3/4’s. To make up for my loss I had a bit as well, and then greedily stashed it back in my bag out of sight. When I got home it accidentally ended up in my spirits storage area and lay forgotten until I ran across it last night. So I poured a nice glass on the rocks, which reminded me how much I like this spirit. Not just as a fan of fine distillates, but as a distiller as well.

I’ve visited Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner, NY and seen them make their spirits. They grind the corn (and other grains depending upon the product), add the clean, sweet, and pure filtered water from their well, heat it up to make a mash, add the yeast, and ferment it. Then they take the alcoholic mash and distill it several times to produce their wonderful whiskies.

Continue reading Whiskey Notes: Tuthilltown Spirits - Old Gristmill Authentic American Corn Whiskey

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Filed under: Industry, Lost, Celebrities, Reality-Free

Success comes with a price. That price is giving the stars of that success a bigger piece of the action.

ABC has started to quietly renegotiate the contracts of Lost stars Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly, increasing their take for each episode to about $150,000. Unfortunately, “quietly” and “Hollywood” are contradictions in terms. Upon learning of this, other supporting players are also attempting to bump up their salaries.

Two things I don’t understand: First, knowing that the show would last six years, why didn’t the producers verify the participation of the required actors before they could potentially walk away like this? I know the show has a high mortality rate, but can they get away with killing off Jack or Kate? Second, how did ABC honestly think they could keep this quiet?

It’s wonderful to see capitalism and egos at work and everybody exaggerating their worth in order to get a higher salary. I just hope Fox and Lilly remember to include their take for those Lost action figures.

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Congratulations to Jenna Jameson and Tito Ortiz who are expecting their first child.

Jenna has attempted to get pregnant during her previous marriage however she suffered a miscarriage. I wonder how their baby will look. Tito looks like a Koala Bear and Jenna..well she’s one of the hottest women out there.

Hopefully things will run smoothly during this pregnancy and we can only wish her and her hubby the best.

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In the coming months, Jennifer Aniston will be celebrating two major milestones in her life: turning 40, and marrying the new love of her life, John Mayer.

“She’s at an age where she is thinking with her head not just her heart,” a source close to the actress tells OK!, adding that the event will take place this fall. “No way would she still be with anyone if marriage wasn’t a real option.”

When Jen married Brad Pitt eight years ago, they spent $1 million on the ceremony, which featured a gospel choir, four bands, fireworks and an estimated 50,000 flowers!

But this time around, Jen wants something entirely different. “She doesn’t want anything elaborate or showy,” one friend tells OK!.

With best friend Courteney Cox as her matron of honor and godchild Coco Arquette as her flower girl, Jen will have all the attendants she needs or wants.

With both of them sharing the same laid-back and down-to-earth lifestyle, friends say Jen and John, 30, are made for each other.

“They are just a perfect match,” says a friend. “And everything about that will come through in this beautiful wedding.”

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The H16A might look like any other high end slide-out smartphones in the market, and you can be excused for thinking that way. After all, the design isn’t exactly inspired, and I don’t think anyone has thought of a way to turn this design around in a slimmer form factor yet. This will be the business person’s constant companion, so hopefully the battery has more than enough juice to handle all the features and functions that come along with the H16A.

• Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• Samsung S3C2440A 400MHz processor
• 128MB ROM
• 64MB RAM
• 2.8″ TFT LCD 240 x 320 resolution display


• QWERTY keyboard


• Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system


• Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity


• Wi-Fi connectivity


• miniSD memory card slot


• mini USB connectivity

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Intel (INTC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wachovia Corp (WB), Stocks to Buy, Cramer on BloggingStocks, Technology

TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer says all that money has to go somewhere, and this is a likely destination.

Clash of the ideals! Oil’s down, and what can you buy when there’s so much bad bank news? What can you buy when Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer’s Take) is boosting reserves and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)) (Cramer’s Take) is still being pursued by authorities and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer’s Take) says July stunk and UBS (NYSE: UBS) (Cramer’s Take) is so tarnished that you can’t believe it was once the most conservative blue chip out there.

The answer is tech, of course!

Wait a second. Would anyone mind if we actually had a reason to buy tech beyond the Kindle, the device that made Citigroup gaga about Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) (Cramer’s Take) — not that you needed a device to do that.

Sure, we have pre-seasonality. Remember, you are supposed to buy tech at the end of the summer, not that anyone waits that long.

But what we really have is that quant thinking that Doug rails about so correctly: the CDO of stocks! We take a little bad tech, the lowest-end stuff like RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) (Cramer’s Take) and Parametric (NASDAQ: PMTC) (Cramer’s Take); mix in some mid-tech, stuff like National Semi (NYSE: NSM) (Cramer’s Take) and Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) (Cramer’s Take); then throw in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer’s Take), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer’s Take), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) (Cramer’s Take), Amazon and Adobe (NASDAQ: ABDE) (Cramer’s Take) — yes, Adobe; then split them into tranches, slice ‘em up, and offer a derivative on them for those who want leverage and we have, well, a tech rally!

I know, could it be any more stupid? But there is simply too much money that is betting or leaving oil and gold, and that money goes somewhere. It does not sit idle. Given the ugliness of the banks, it can’t go there today, so it will probably go to tech.

Heaven forbid it actually go to the consumers of energy, but then again, some of these big behemoth funds have taken retail up on that tangential benefit, so there’s at least some correlation. The problem there is that the worst earnings may be in retail, so they are tough to buy. Even the ones I thought might have a turn at hand, like Macy’s (NYSE: M) (Cramer’s Take), which reports tomorrow, have run 60% — how much higher can it go even if it does do a good report? In this market there might be enough shorts in the name for it to rally and then go back down, as someone might recognize this unimportant quarter for what it is: an unimportant quarter!

Meanwhile we are so overbought — plus-4 on my oscillator — that it might not be worth buying anything anyway. The most oversold here is oil and heaven knows, I have tried that trade.

So the “out of oil, into financials” trade gets a rest. The “out of oil, into tech” move continues until we get some bad news. And the “out of oil, into retail” trade has gotten to the nosebleed zone for me — I want a pullback. Maybe we will even get one! Or do pullbacks only come in regular and premium?

Random musings: “Mad Money” is back on at 1:30 again all week and next week, as is my regular show at 11:00. Grueling, in case you were wondering.

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RELATED LINKS:
Oil Sinks Despite Georgian-Russian Turmoil
Cramer: Buy Tech Here
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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com’s sites and serves as an adviser to the company’s CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer was long Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.

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Filed under: Consumer experience, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT)

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Mr. Softee below in the comments.

You would be hard-pressed to find a professional stock trader today who didn’t know that “Mister Softee” is Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) . The nickname is so widely-used among investors that it seems to barely need explanation. But there is actually a quite simple reason for the derivation of the moniker. Here is how I imagine it taking hold:

Once upon a time in a land known as Manhattan, some Wall Street traders were enjoying some after-work beers. After about the fifth brew, these professionals began to gain insights, as they so often do today, into weighty topics.

They pondered the amorous tastes of Ginger and Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island. They debated whether “Freebird” or “Stairway to Heaven” was the greatest rock song of all time. Then, one of the traders had the burst of insight that the ticker symbol for Microsoft (”MSFT”) has some of the same letters as beloved self-serve ice cream Mister Softee. And so, one of the most ubiquitous bits of Wall Street slang was born.

I cringe whenever I hear Jim Cramer or someone else call the world’s largest software company “Mister Softee.” The nickname serves as an insult to the hard working employees of the soft-serve ice cream company who, unlike Microsoft, bring joy to millions on a daily basis. Mister Softee’s products are cheap and delicious. Microsoft’s are expensive and complicated. People who need technical support from Mister Softee can always count on an employee with a napkin and spoon. No such luck with Microsoft.

Maybe we need to figure out a new more accurate nickname for Microsoft, such as “demolition derby,” since its software crashes so much. I can’t think of a snarky way to trash the Zune or Microsoft’s inability to catch Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Perhaps others can pick up the slack.

Until then, leave Mister Softee out of it. That company, which has been bringing the “very best” to kids and families since 1956, has suffered enough from its guilt by association.

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Well, the final chapter of SayNoToCrack’s Guide to enjoying Summer is here!

Chapter Last: Activities!

Did you know that there are lots of Activities to take part in during the summer? There are! And with summer rapidly passing by, you’d better get right on it! Aside from picking the berries, eating the food, and admiring the wildlife of summer, here are a few more activities that the summer can offer…

Fairs and Carnivals

Fairs and carnivals! These celebrations take place during the summer and offer a variety of activities. Risk your life on rickety roller-coasters that have traveled from fair to fair across the state for over twenty years! Try to win oversized stuffed animals in rigged games from shady dealers! Watch various vehicles smash into each other - a lot! Listen to mediocre local talents compete for prizes! Enter a contest! Go hog wild!

Play with Water!

You can go swimming in the summer! You can fire water guns or throw water balloons! You can run fast and jump down too hard on a slip-n’-slide and hurt yourself on all the rocks you forgot to make sure weren’t there when you laid it down! Get wet! Woohoo!

Star Gazing!

Try this! Lay on a blanket outside at night and look up! Those sure are stars, aren’t they? Fantastic!

Get Eaten!

Did you know that all the bugs that want to eat you most of all come out almost exclusively in the summer? Sweet deal! Go outside and see for yourself! And just wait - some bugs don’t want to eat you at all, they just want to dive on your face! Moths, mayflies, dragonflies, golly-whoppers (or skeeter-eaters, if you swing that way), and bees all love to get caught in your hair! It’s true! And ants, centipedes, and ladybugs simply cannot wait to get all over the snacks you love. Party!

Be way too Dang Hot.

Sweet lord. It’s over 88 degrees Fahrenheit out there. If you jump gently, you can feel yourself become suspended in the gelatin-thick humidity of the air. Sweat and sun. Did you know that your A/C is 100% more likely to break during the summer than any other time?

Can you combat it with lemonade? Water? Sleep? Maybe. But no matter what activity you choose to engage in this summer, you will also be way too dang hot. Hooray for multitasking!

Enjoy the rest of your summer, you crazy kids!

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