Daily Archives: March 23, 2017

Book Review: Utopia For Realists: And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman – Press and Journal

Posted: March 23, 2017 at 2:23 pm

Much of the worlds population has seen dramatic positive change over the past few centuries; our diseases get treated and many of us have enough to live comfortable lives.

We are living in the Land of Plenty; a place people before us could only imagine in their utopian dreams. But where do we go from here?

Rutger Bregman, the 28-year-old Dutch historian, wants universal basic income, a 15-hour working week, and open borders. These are the goal-posts for his new utopia, set forth in this book.

Bregman has many tightly-spun arguments, case studies, and statistics to support giving people free money. In 2009, 13 homeless men in London were each given 3,000 as part of an experiment. After a year and a half, all of them had used the money in positive ways, ultimately saving social services money.

The arguments for shorter work weeks and open borders are less developed, but Bregmans account of global economic history is impressive.

He treats his topic with an accessible style and touch of humour, so while Utopia For Realists often convinces, it always engages.

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Barbecue Italian Style – Texas Monthly

Posted: at 2:23 pm

April 2017By Daniel Vaughn

In 1891 a transatlantic steamship departed Italy, headed for New York City. It never arrived. The S.S. Utopia, carrying 880 passengers, many of them Italian immigrants who had boarded in Naples and Palermo, was sailing through the port of Gibraltar when it struck another vessel. The hole created by the collision sank the Utopia in just twenty minutes, and 562 people died.

Fortunately for our story, the DiMaria family, citrus farmers from the inland town of Poggioreale, in Sicily, were not on this voyage. They had boarded the Utopia, bound for New Orleans, three years earlier, part of a wave of Italian immigrants fleeing poverty and political unrest (the exodus from Poggioreale alone was so large that the towns church ceased holding a weekly mass). According to the ships passenger list, the DiMariasAntonino, Vita, and their two children, fourteen-year-old Antonino and eleven-year-old Gasparearrived in New Orleans on October 17, 1888, after a monthlong journey in the steerage compartment. They were traveling in a group of nine, carrying a total of six pieces of luggage and possibly boxes of Sicilian lemons to sell when they landed. Along with 796 passengers, the ship also carried oranges, onions, olives, and almonds.

Many of the immigrants stayed in New Orleans; some moved out of town into the swampy land of Plaquemines Parish to find work on sugarcane farms. Thats where the younger Antonino would marry his own Vita (Casciola, in this case) eight years later, shortly after she arrived in New Orleans. They had four sonsTony, Joe Jr., Gaspare, and Peterwhile in Louisiana; eventually they followed Antoninos parents to Waco, where they had moved in 1902. There they had three more children. Antoninos brother, Gaspare, took a little longer to make the trek to Texas, but at some point he and his wife, Mary, headed west, making a stop in Angelina County, where Gaspare worked in a lumber mill. (Many of the immigrants from Poggioreale settled in Bryan; in fact, the largest Italian agricultural community in the South at the time was in Brazos County.) By 1916 the couple was in Waco, according to the city directory, which listed Gaspares occupation as bartender.

The two brothers were finally back together, but now with the Americanized names Joe (Antonino) and Jasper (Gaspare). Their homes sat side by side, and the brothers were almost certainly a comfort to each other. Joes wife had passed away in 1910. Three years later their eight-year-old daughter, Vitas namesake, was killed in a coal oil explosion. Mary was stricken with tuberculosis and forced to live out her final days in a San Antonio hospital.

In Marys absence, Jasper put his energy into entrepreneurship. In 1919 he opened a meat market and grocery at 1219 Elm. At some point he began to smoke meat, a humble start for what would become the longest-running barbecue joint in Waco. In 1926 he moved the operation to 105 Clifton; Joes son Tony left his job on a truck farm and took over his uncles old location with his wife, Josie. They were now in the business too, just a few blocks from Jaspers. This was considered the outskirts of town back then, and most of their neighbors were also of Italian descent. (Jaspers Bar-B-Que is still cooking meat at 105 Clifton today, though its no longer in the family; Jaspers son Tonyyes, he had a Tony tootook over when his father died, in 1953, and sold the business in 1990.) In the 1934 Waco directory, Gasper (the G shows up only in these directories) and his second wife, Lena, are listed as working in barbecue meats, the first specific mention of barbecue associated with the DiMaria family name. That same year, Tony and Josie moved their business to 1223 Elm. Tonys Market and Grocery served Hot Bar-B-Q with a side of Phillips Pork & Beans, all likely cooked in a brick pit in the alley next to the store.

Photograph courtesy of Tony DeMaria's Bar-B-Que

Both Tony and his son, Tony Jr. (I know), went off to World War II. When they returned to Waco, in 1946, Tony Jr. opened his own place with his wife, Lillie, at 1317 Elm. It was called Tony DeMaria Jr.s Food Market, the first official sign that the spelling of the Sicilian last name had morphed at some point in Texas. Jaspers side of the family kept the DiMaria spelling, but Tony Sr.s side used DeMaria. According to Tony Jr.s son Geoff, the current proprietor, Tony DeMaria Jr.s served barbecue from the start (when he was old enough, Geoff would break down the forequarters for the pit), along with groceries and fresh meat, and the barbecue they were cookingand that their descendants are still cookingwas unlike any youd find in Elgin or Lockhart. In what I like to call Wacos Little Italy, the beef forequarter was butchered and simmered in a vat of beef broth. Once it was tender, it was retrieved from the broth and finished in the smoker, a sort of Texas twist on bollito di manzo. Geoff assumes his dad learned this method of cooking barbecue from his own father; even before Tony Sr. had a storefront, Geoff says, he used to cook barbecue at the house and serve it out at the auction barn. Geoff switched to briskets when he took ownership, in 1985, but almost everything else is the same: the brick pit in the smokehouse bears a strong resemblance to the original, if a bit bigger; the sauce is the thin, spicy red-vinegar version the family has always made; and the meat is served with slices of white bread and gravy (more like jus). Thats the way weve always done it, Geoff says. What has changed is where its eaten: the barbecue was served to go until construction on Interstate 35 started to bring in large crews of hungry workers. The shelves moved out and the tables moved in, he recalls. In 1995 he moved the business to 1000 Elm, the current location of Tony DeMarias, got rid of what was left of the groceries, added more tables, and now runs the place with his son Blake by his side.

Its important to note that theres a proper way to eat this kind of barbecue. Unlike the brisket you get in Central Texas, which gets its flavor from a heavy rub of salt and pepper, this brisket is adorned by the eater. Take a slice of your white bread, pile some meat on top, add pickles, onions, and that vinegary barbecue sauce, and then dunk the whole thing in the jus, just like a French dip sandwich. With the Waco dip, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. (Incidentally, Id suggest asking for some of the crustier outside cuts from the brisket.)

This Italian variant of Texas barbecue is a strange one. Boiled and smoked meat isnt as pretty as its Central Texas counterpart, but its also part of our history. The DeMarias/DiMarias barbecue comes from a culinary heritage that has more in common with New Orleanss legendary Mandinas than Lockharts Kreuz Market. Who knows what the dominant style of Texas barbecue would be today if Italians had arrived in Texas at the same rate as the Germans (there were already 40,000 Germans in Texas by the time the DiMarias arrived). For now, though, we can enjoy their unique contribution in its unadulterated, unaltered form, a barbecue artifact found only in Waco.

Tags: Food, DiMaria

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This Swiss Startup Is Bringing AI to the Music Label Business – Bloomberg

Posted: at 2:23 pm

A Swiss-Swedish startup wants to bring the power of big data and social-media analysis to the music business, offering artists instant insight into where and how their songs are playing so they can market more effectively to fans.

Utopia Music Group is being billed as a new kind of record company by its founder,Mattias Hjelmstedt. Like an old-school label, Utopia Music will also produce and book live performances and handle artist logistics, such as flights, cabs and hotel rooms.

Source: Utopia Music Group

But the company claims to offer more -- artificial-intelligence software that sifts through data gathered from sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Augmented with the information coming from YouTube, radio playlists and music-streaming services, it spits out insights that pinpoint, for example, where musicianss fastest-growing audiences are. The intel can be used to boost income with better decisions about marketing campaigns, live concerts and promotions.

Today the music world is so digital that you can essentially see the result of marketing seconds later, Hjelmstedt said in a phone interview ahead of this weeks Winter Music Conference in Miami.

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In a departure from traditional label deals, Utopia Music will sign artists to open-ended contracts, allowing them to walk away at any point, Hjelmstedt said. The programmer and serial entrepreneur, who founded cloud-based TV service Magine AB and co-founded video-on-demand company Voddler, is convinced that artists will stick around once they see the benefits of an AI-infused marketing strategy that captures global data on listening habits and emerging trends compared with the standard spray and pray approach, he said.

Were a blend of a record label, a publisher and a management company that works with artists to shrink the value chain and use technology to transparently extend their reach, Hjelmstedt said. Record companies today dont use much of the modern marketing technologies, they sort of throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

The company, which is currently funded by the Swede and a small group of investors, plans to raise a larger sum at the end of the third quarter to invest in management companies and artists to tap into existing revenue streams, Hjelmstedt said.

These days, artists earn more touring than on distribution and the industry is very old-fashioned, with concert bookings still based on personal contacts, according toHjelmstedt. Utopia Music can see that an artist should tour tomorrow in Queens, New York, for instance, because their fan base is surging there.

That can change the entire industry for touring so the artist is always where theyre hottest, boosting income significantly, he said.

Utopia Music is based in Zug, Switzerland to take advantage of the best international corporate laws to enhance artist revenue,Hjelmstedt said. Utopia has its main operational office in Barcelona, where local laws are forgiving to startups, and it has satellites in Los Angeles and New York.

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Tahiti on track for Oceania World Cup qualifying group final after win over PNG – Stuff.co.nz

Posted: at 2:22 pm

Last updated21:48, March 23 2017

Peter Meecham / Phototek.nz

PNG striker Nigel Dabingyaba's (R) goal could not prevent Tahiti from winning 3-1 in Port Moresby. Dabingyaba is pictured playing for Canterbury United.

Tahiti opened their World Cup Oceania qualifying group stage three campaign with a convincing 3-1 win over10-manPapua New Guinea in Port Moresby.

The home side opened the score in injury time at the end of the first half on Thursdaythrough striker NigelDabingyaba.

The 24-year-old,who had two games for Canterbury United in the Stirling Sport Premiership this season before signing forMalaysian League club Penang, looped a long-range header over goalkeeper MiakelRoche from AlwinKomolong's freekick.

But goals to midfielderSylvain Graglia in the 59th and 85th minutes gave Tahiti a 2-1 lead before Teaonui Tehau added the third goal in the third minute of added time.

READ MORE: * Hudson unloads frustration *Reid's big plans to give back *Reid out for five weeks *Wood leads the way *Smith back in from the cold

Tahiti host PNG in the second leg in Papeete on Tuesday.

They are now well placed to meet the winner of the series between New Zealand and Fiji in the Oceania group final.

The All Whites play Fiji in Lautoka on Saturday before a second leg re-match in Wellington next Tuesday.

Both Tahiti and PNG were without key players for the Port Moresby match with PNG missing skipper David Muta and goalscoring striker Raymond Gunembaand Tahiti deprived of brothers Jonathan and Lorenzo Tehau.

PNG suffered a major blow midway through the first half with forwardDavid Browne sent off on debut for an off-the-ball incident, but theystill went ahead through Dabingyaba'sheader.

Graglia drew Tahitilevel by converting from near the penalty spot, following a fine run down the left by the lively Teaonui Tehau.

PNG pushed forward at every opportunity despite the numerical disadvantage.

However, the home side's resistance was finally broken five minutes from fulltime as Graglia converted with a perfect strike inside the near-post following a lightening counter-attack.

Tehau added insurance with a comfortable back-post finish.

PNG goalkeeper Ronald Warisanwas forced off in the final minute with a serious-looking leg injury.

-Stuff

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Oceania Marina culinary cruising in the Caribbean – The Telegram

Posted: at 2:22 pm

Even the mandatory pre-cruise safety drill was gracious and polite. As we gathered with our lifejackets in the main lounge, the British leader asked us to pay careful attention to the upcoming announcements, with a small amount of hush. Sure beats, Be quiet!

Boarding cruise ships, even in a port as efficient as Miami, can be chaotic. Oceania, with its small fleet of medium sized vessels, seems to have perfected the process. Its in keeping with the overall sophistication and professionalism of our ship. Marina, built in 2011 for 1,200 guests, is supported by a well-trained crew of 800 (among the best passenger/staff ratios at sea).

Marina is classed as an upper-premium cruise ship, one step down from luxury. It doesnt offer complementary excursions, free Wi-Fi or wine with lunch and dinner but prices are more moderate than top lines like Regent or Crystal. However, from our 10 days aboard Marina, we can state that weve never had better cuisine on any cruise ship and the level of service was second to none. There are no facilities for children and guests ranged from middle age to senior. Most were veteran cruisers (25 per cent were Canadian) who appreciated the casual Country Club atmosphere and luxury touches.

Marina is small enough to get around easily but big enough to offer a wide variety of culinary and entertainment options. The bright atrium with its glass elevators and the many public rooms all felt like a cozy club with comfortable chairs and great lighting. The library is huge with a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction. The ship was built in Italy and its heritage shows with lots of polished granite on floors and walls and sophisticated art works on staircases and in lounges.

Our standard balcony cabin was large by industry standards (270 sq. feet ) with plenty of storage space, good AC, a very comfortable bed (sheets with 1,000 thread count) and a generous-sized bathroom with Bulgari toiletries. All rooms have a mini-fridge stocked with complimentary bottled water, pop and juice. The high def TV offered movies and several news channels.

The pool deck is very generous in size with scores of well-padded recliners surrounding a salt-water swimming pool. Unfortunately, smoking is still allowed in one corner of the pool deck and, when the wind is right, the smell permeates the entire pool area.

For a relatively small ship, the evening entertainment was first rate. The ship has a troupe of six singers and six dancers, all very talented, complemented by a seven-piece band. During our 10-day cruise, we enjoyed four excellent and highly choreographed production shows. The band plays in other venues as well and a string quartet performs every afternoon (at high tea) and in the evening.

From its beginning in 2003, Oceania has stressed fine dining and Marina excels in providing outstanding cuisine from its 140 chefs in its main dining room and four no-extra-cost specialty restaurants. Celebrity Chef Jacques Pepin is Oceanias Executive Culinary Director and his influence is evident in the quality and presentation of all meals. His namesake restaurant Jacques is like a high-end French bistro with plenty of foie gras, caviar and rotisserie meats. His Dover Sole, prepared tableside, was particularly good.

The other specialty restaurants were Polo Grill (classic steakhouse with crab cakes, massive steaks and Maritime lobster), Toscana (wonderful lasagna, pan-seared sea bass and an extensive olive oil menu) and Red Ginger (Asian fusion specialties including spicy duck, Thai beef and an extraordinary Lobster Pad Thai).

The well-named Grand Dining Room is also open every day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and offers an extensive menu with food and service thats a match for the most luxurious high-end ships. The informal Terrace Caf on the 12th deck (with several outside tables) is a buffet restaurant with a wide choice of freshly prepared dishes (the almond croissants at breakfast were better than any weve had at big city cafs).

Many Caribbean cruises have ho-hum itineraries but Oceania planned this one to hit some fascinating ports. In Cozumel we joined an elaborate Mexican cooking class at Playa Mia where humourous Chef Luis helped us prepare tortilla with shrimp, grilled grouper with tamarind sauce and caramelized plantain with chocolate tequila sauce. We then enjoyed our creations with bottomless margaritas. Cozumel has a great port facility with good, competitive shopping. Even Mexican beer was available at two for $3.00.

Our next stop, Costa Maya, Mexico, offered a wonderful historic tour to the Mayan Ruins of Chacchoben. The remarkable pyramids and sacred temples date back 1,500 years. Costa Maya has a modern port facility but shopping should be avoided. Souvenirs are expensive and the beer that cost $1.50 in Cozumel is $6.00 here.

In Central America, we visited the fascinating countries of Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. The highlight was Guatemala where we boarded a panga boat and headed along the tropical coast to the isolated fishing port of Livingston. We then sailed up the Rio Dulce River and visited a unique vocational boarding school in the jungle with 600 students. In Belize, we enjoyed a beach day on a private island, Harvest Caye, developed just months ago to serve Norwegian and Oceania cruise guests. Its a great facility with free beach chairs and beach umbrellas.

As we reluctantly returned to Miami several well-travelled guests told us why they love cruising with Oceania. One said he appreciated that there were no in-your-face photographers or Baked Alaska parades! Most just commented that fellow guests were informed and interesting and that the food and service were unbelievably good.

We concur.

John and Sandra Nowlan are travel and food writers based in Halifax

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Oceania, Regent Seven Seas Cruises Appoint Steph Armengol VP Hotel Operations – Travel Agent

Posted: at 2:22 pm

Steph Armengol, who previously held the position of senior director of hotel operations for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, has been appointedvice president of hotel operations for Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. In his new position, Armengol will continue to report to Franco Semeraro, senior vice president of hotel operations for the two luxury cruise lines.

Armengol held his first cruise ship position in 1998 and joined Regent Seven Seas Cruises in 2000 (then known as Radisson Seven Seas Cruises) as sommelier aboard the Seven Seas Navigator. In 2005, Armengol was appointed general manager of Seven Seas Mariner, the world's first all-suite, all-balcony ship.

Ocean Cruises has a six-ship fleet that calls on more than 370 ports across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and the Americas. Oceania's Regatta, Insignia, Nautica and Sirena each have 684 guest rooms, while the Marina and Riviera have 1,250 guest rooms.

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2017, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has a four-ship fleet that visits more than 425 destinations around the world. Regent Seven Seas Cruises is currently undergoing a $125 million fleet-wide refurbishment that will elevate its onboard productthroughout the fleet to the standard set by its newest ship,Seven Seas Explorer. The line's fares include all-suite accommodations, round-trip air, personalized service, unlimited Internet access, sightseeing excursions in every port, gratuities, ground transfers and a pre-cruise hotel package for guests staying in concierge-level suites and higher. Beginning in 2017, Regent Seven Seas Cruises also will include business class air for all intercontinental flights.

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We think Royal Caribbean is positioned perfectly to profit. – Seeking Alpha

Posted: at 2:21 pm

Due largely to the incredible rise of its middle class and its love of traveling the world, the China market has been touted as one of the major growth opportunities for the global cruise liner industry. Not only has the country lived up to expectations so far, but it looks set to continue growing at a rapid rate for the foreseeable future. As one of the world's leading cruise liners, we believe Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) is in a strong position to profit.

For a good number of years now China has been the focus of many international businesses that are looking to capitalize on a growing economy filled with consumers who enjoy the luxuries in life. With China's middle class and affluent class continuing its incredible rise, it's no surprise to see luxury retailers scrapping it out for supremacy in the world's second-largest economy. But these retailers are certainly not the only ones looking to capitalize on the emerging middle class.

As China's middle class has grown, so too has its love of traveling. One area of the travel market that has benefited has been the cruise liners industry. An ever-increasing number of Chinese tourists are opting for cruising, so much so that the world's biggest cruise liners have adjusted their business models accordingly to accommodate this lucrative market. Two recent examples of this include Royal Caribbean's decision to remove South Korean sites from certain cruises due to a political row between it and China, and the company's plan to build China-centric ships.

Is it worth it? We think so. According to the company's most recent 10K, Asia-Pacific provided approximately 15% of global cruise guests in 2016. Thanks largely to Chinese growth, the number of global cruise guests from the Asia-Pacific region has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 25% from 2012 to 2016. Impressively, we feel confident this level of growth can continue for some time to come. One only needs to look at the estimated market penetration to see this.

Source: Company 10K

As of last year, just 0.09% of the Asia-Pacific market had been penetrated. Whilst we don't necessarily expect to see it ever reach the same level of penetration as North America, we do believe there is reason to believe it could grow beyond 0.3% in the next decade. That is roughly equivalent to 13 million passengers, almost in line with North America's passenger numbers. As official forecasts by the Chinese Ministry of Tourism predict that there will be 4.5 million cruise liner passengers in China by 2020, we don't think it is too far-fetched to believe that the whole region could provide 13 million passengers by 2027.

But Royal Caribbean will only profit if it can capture this growth. It's all well and good simply saying the industry will grow, but there's a little more to it than simply docking in and shouting all aboard. We think the company's decision to build China-centric ships will prove to be a fantastic one. We feel these ships will attract increasing numbers of passengers, and then maximize their spending once on board.

So is it time to invest? We think that the long-term tailwinds from Chinese tourism mean Royal Caribbean is a great long-term investment option. Especially with our view that oil prices will remain subdued for a good number of years. Being a cruise liner, the company does of course consume a large amount of fuel. This year, for example, according to its 10K, Royal Caribbean expects to consume 1,332,000 metric tons of fuel at a cost $704 million. As a result, an oil price that stays lower for longer means fatter margins and increased profitability. Although OPEC aims to cut production to tackle the oil surplus and boost prices, we agree with the view that prices will remain in or around the $50 a barrel for the foreseeable future. Whilst we are skeptical that OPEC and Russia will fully comply with its output cut promises, the main reason for subdued prices, in our opinion, is rising production in the United States. In February, domestic stockpiles recorded their ninth consecutive month of supply rises to reach 8.2 million barrels.

Because of this, we feel Royal Caribbean will hit the top end of its earnings guidance range of between $6.90 and $7.10 per share. Based on this and our opinion that an earnings multiple of 16 is fair, we have a 12-month target price of $113.60 for the cruise liner giant. Should its share price reach this level it will mean a return in excess of 15%, or 17% including its 2% annual dividend. Although rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region is a risk worth considering, we believe that an investment in Royal Caribbean provides investors with a compelling risk/reward at the current share price.

Disclosure: I am/we are long RCL.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Spice up your weekend with these dining picks – The Courier-Journal

Posted: at 2:21 pm

Spicy double soup with Tonkotsu broth (a 36-hour pork bone broth), Dashi broth (made with skipjack tuna and seaweed), house made Thai bird chili paste, Chasu pork, whole Shoyu egg, scallions and a ginger tare. 16 March 2017(Photo: David R. Lutman/Special to The CJ)Buy Photo

Spice up your weekend with Asian street food or Caribbean cuisine. Or, stay at home with a few new recipes from the Courier-Journal.

Either way, there's plenty to eat around Louisville this weekend.

If you're still looking for options, check out last week's dining suggestions.

Mirin is serving up delicious dishes on Frankfort Avenue. Rachel Aretakis/Wochit

Hope you're in the mood for Asian street foodbecause, this week, we've got lots of recommendations at Mirin at 2011 Frankfort Avenue. Try some spicy ramen or a bahn mi sandwich and you won't be disappointed. Read the review here.

Curried chicken at Naila's Caribbean Cuisine is spiced with curry, Marsala wine, onions, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper, "and a good hand," says Chef Naila Seow. A similarly spiced dipping sauce is seen at right.(Photo: David R. Lutman/Special to The CJ)

Turn up the heat this weekend with a few family favorites fromNailas Caribbean Cuisine at 1370 Veterans Parkway in Clarksville. The family restaurant is serving up spicy Carribean food and we've got three recipes you can try at home: macaroni pie, fry bake and curry chicken. Get them here.

La Chasse has launched a new spring cocktail menu.(Photo: Dan Dry, provided by La Chasse)

Spring is in the air at La Chasse, which recently rolled out a new cocktail menu with flavors such as berries, florals and springlikeherbs. Grab a refreshing cocktail at 1359 Bardstown Road. Read more here.

Our bracket-style beer competition, Malt Madness, is down to eight beers and you can have a hand in which is named best in the region. Vote here.

Red Hog's garlic herb sausage atop cheesy parsnip mash garnished with Italian parsley(Photo: David R. Lutman/Special to The CJ)

This week, reporter Jere Downs dives into the world of parsnips. And we've got two recipes from Red Hog that incorporate the sweet and tasty veggie: cheesy parsnip mash with garlic herb sausage and smoked bass and parsnip chowder. Get the recipes and read more about the veggie here.

Pho Ba Luu's Jessica Machwill host a Saigon street fooddemonstration class at Cooking atthe Cottage 93739 Lexington Road, from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 25. Cost: $50.

610 Magnoliawill host James Beard nominee Ian Boden of The Shack in Staunton, Virginia, for a five-course dinnerwith Edward Lee on Tuesday, March 28. Cost is $70 plus optional wine pairings and tax and tip. Read more here.

Rachel Aretakis can be reached at 502-582-7132 or raretakis@courier-journal.com.

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Crown Jewel of Caribbean Yacht Racing >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News – Scuttlebutt Sailing News

Posted: at 2:21 pm

Over 60 teams from the Caribbean, U.S., Canada and Europe will race in the 44th St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) on March 24 to 26 at St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

This three-day regatta known as the Crown Jewel of Caribbean Yacht Racing will be prefaced by the 2nd Round the Rocks Race on March 23, which features a circumnavigation of the 19-square-mile neighboring U.S. Virgin Island of St. John.

Back for its third year is Robert and Libby Alexanders Gunboat 60 Fault Tolerant, joining an impressive class of five offshore catamarans. We love the courses sailing around the islands and the entry list should make for some great competition, notes Robert, who adds that hes especially looking forward to competing with former Boston University college sailing teammates as crew along with his wife and some of her former teammates from Tulane.

Flow, another Gunboat 60, owned by Stephen Cucchiaro from Boston MA, beat Fault Tolerant to win this class in the 2016 STIR and Flow will be back to defend its title. Fujin, a Bieker 53 built by St. Croix, US Virgin Islands-based Gold Coast Yachts, will certainly be an entry to watch. The catamaran, owned by Greg Slyngstad from Sammamish, Washington won the Offshore Multihull class at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta earlier this month.

The CSA Spinnaker Class has attracted several past winners with even hotter boats and teams. Doug Baker of Huntington Beach, CA, who topped this class last year aboard the chartered J/122 El Ocaso, will be back on his Andrews 70, Runaway, with several Americas Cup crew aboard. Last years second place finisher, St. Thomas Peter Corr, is also back aboard his King 40, Blitz, with the same professional Aussie, New Zealand, UK and US crew who are raring to race.

We all enjoyed the boat last year and did quite well with podium finishes in all 4 regattas we raced in, notes Corr. The boat is light and fast with a carbon fiber rig. It takes 10 to race her. Were looking forward to very competitive racing with great wind and sea, beautiful weather.

Another class entry poised for the podium is Touch2Play Racing, a J/88 Canadas Rob Butler brought down after enjoying racing in STIR last year aboard his same-named VXOne. Butler has enlisted Jeff Johnstone, president of Newport, RI-headquartered J-Boats, to crew with him for STIR.

In the CSA Non-Spinnaker class, Martin van Breems, president of the Sound Sailing Center in Norwalk, CT, will be back for his 16th STIR with a charter of center members and students as crew aboard the VAr 37, Varuna. We outfitted the VAr 37 for the Newport-Bermuda Race last year and managed a podium finish despite blowing out our only asymmetrical sail, says van Breems. With a self tacking headsail, we are pretty fast upwind if its over 15 knots, a reasonable bet! Im an inventor of marine hardware, and our boat always has some interesting stuff on it I am testing, including an innovative batten system for the headsail.

One-design classes are highighted this year with the C&C 30s. I have never raced a boat in the Caribbean and wanted to cross this off my bucket list, says Sandra Askew, from Cottonwood Heights, UT, who will be sailing her C&C 30, Flying Jenny. We are still working out the kinks to get faster. For me the boat is special because it is easy to sail and really gets going fast for a 30-footer, especially downwind. Hopefully by us, Themis, Nemis and possibly Dont Panic sailing, we can generate interest in the class.

The St. Thomas Yacht Clubs homegrown fleet of IC24s, a modification of a J/24, will be out in force. I think the IC24 class will see a lot more boats this year since the Club has started their new sailing school and have Dave Franzel in charge of the class now, says St. Thomas Mike Findlay, who races his Huron Girl.

The Virgin Islands commemorates this year its Transfer Centennial, or the 100th year anniversary of the U.S. purchasing the island from Denmark. On Friday (Mar. 31), for the race to the Charlotte Amalie harbor, all STIR race boats will fly the U.S. Virgin Islands flag and will individually sail along the waterfront in an ongoing Centennial Salute after finishing the days first race.

In addition, STIR organizers welcome two Danish Royal Navy sailing ships, the THYRA and SVANEN, which will be participating in both the Round the Rocks and STIR. The ships are 60-foot Bermuda rigged international open-ocean racers which are used as cadet training ships for future Danish Royal Naval officers.

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Source: Carol Bareuther

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Crown Jewel of Caribbean Yacht Racing >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News - Scuttlebutt Sailing News

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Evidence for pre-Columbian tsunamis in the Caribbean? – temblor

Posted: at 2:21 pm

By David Jacobson, Temblor

See earthquakes in the British Virgin Islands

In a journal article published earlier this week, researchers at the University of Washington, USGS, and several other institutions outlined evidence of extreme waves in the British Virgin Islands. The evidence for this coastal inundation are brain corals scattered up to one third of a mile inland from the northern coastline of the island of Anegada.

In order to get over 200 brain corals, which in some instances are several meters in diameter, so far inland, inundation would not only have to be extreme, but violent enough to detach living corals from a Caribbean reef. The scientists have two theories, a rare tsunami or an unusual hurricane. The tsunami source would likely be the distant Puerto Rico Trench, which lies 120 km north of the island. While this trench sits on the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates, where large earthquakes are possible, no documented tsunamis have even been generated here. Having said that, there are other potential sites along the plate boundary where active faulting could generate a destructive tsunami.

So, does the fact that no tsunami has ever been recorded discount the possibility that one occurred in pre-Columbus (1492) times? Not necessarily. While it can be extremely difficult to prove that clasts were displaced by tsunamis, the argument often hinges on the idea that storm waves are not capable of transporting exceptionally large clasts so far inland. And, in the case of Anegada, no modeled hurricane storm surge or historical hurricane has resulted in inundation that matches the extent of the displaced brain coral. The reason behind this is the deep water just off the northern coast, and a fringing reef, both of which help dissipate energy. It is important to note however, that these characteristics do not have the same effect on tsunamis, which are in fact aided by deep water because less energy is extracted. While this would appear to suggest that a tsunami is the only possible explanation for the displaced coral, in 2013, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines generated tsunami-like surges, in what can be described as an unusual event. This is why the Brian Atwater and his team believe the culprit is either a tsunami or an unusual hurricane. It should be noted that the effect of tsunami-like surges similar to those seen in the Philippines have not been modeled for Anegada.

Despite this lack of modelling, the scientists believe that the burden of proof rests more with an unusual storm than with a locally-sourced tsunami. This is likely due to the lack of evidence of past tsunamis and the regularly-occurring hurricanes which hit the Caribbean. Regardless of the exact cause, the findings by Brian Atwater and his team help bring scientists a little bit closer to determining if large local-sourced tsunamis are possible in the Caribbean. Additionally, people in the British Virgin Islands believe that the more evidence they have of large destructive waves, the better their public outreach efforts will do.

References Brian F. Atwater, Uri S. ten Brink, Anna Lisa Cescon, Nathalie Feuillet, Zamara Fuentes, Robert B. Halley, Carlos Nuez, Eduard G. Reinhardt, Jean H. Roger, Yuki Sawai, Michaela Spiske, Martitia P. Tuttle, Yong Wei and Jennifer Weil-Accardo, Extreme waves in the British Virgin Islands during the last centuries before 1500 CE, Geosphere(2017), DOI: 10.1130/GES01356.1 Link

USGS Press Release Enormous Caribbean Waves Before 1492 Link

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Evidence for pre-Columbian tsunamis in the Caribbean? - temblor

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