Social Find Friday | Laurel Tavern

 

A food revolution is happening right now in the Valley of Los Angeles' thirty mile zone. Now home to 2.2 million residents, if the area were its own city it would be the fourth largest city in the US all by itself. So, it's no wonder that so many amazing eateries are populating Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino and beyond.

We recently grabbed a table at the lively Laurel Tavern across from Radford Studios. This gastropub boasts an impressive California-brewed beer selection, a fun cocktail menu and noteworthy eats. Our table enjoyed the Blackflower cocktail, Black Market Anglo-American Brown Ale and the North Coast Old Rasputin Stout that packs a whallop of 9% alcohol. They paired well with the Pork Belly Skewers, Tavern Salad, Bistro Burger, Steamed P.E.I. Mussels and Steak Fries.

Pictured Above: Blackflower cocktail with freshly muddled blackberries in vodka and St Germain; Steamed P.E.I. Mussels topped with fresh herbs.

Tech | Rock-It 3 Speaker

Sometimes, the only thing missing from life is a dance party. The Rock-It 3.0 Portable Vibration Speaker is here to help by turning any hollow object into a speaker system. The attachment locks in place and works with any device that has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack such as iPods, iPhones, Android, laptops and so on. At 1" x 2.5" in size, it's ideal for traveling and taking the party with you everywhere.

Tech | Apple's New Carplay

For 2014, it seems that Apple isn't just trying new products. With its new product, Carplay, Apple has also delved into new collaborations with third-party organizations, something the company never does. Demand continues to build for options that offer drivers interaction with their phones without having to actually pick up the phone and break the law.


Carplay connects iPhones to cars through Siri technology and the physical interface on steering wheels. Users get a virtual car personal assistant that can handle selecting music, making calls, sending and returning messages, and gathering directions.

Since the tech works with existing car controls, Carplay gives users the choice of dictating to Siri or touching and twisting car knobs. Currently, Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Ferrari carry Carplay but BMW, Land Rover, Kia and Vauxhall have announced their future cars will have this technology as an option.

Tech | Portable Scanner Wand

It might seem like magic. This Wi-Fi Portable Scanner can create color scans of documents or photos in as little as 3 seconds and handle up to 900 dpi. There's no bulky equipment, chaotic cords or cables. It features one-button technology and easily saves files as PDF or JPEG formats. Plus, your photo-quality scans are downloaded wirelessly to any Wi-Fi enabled tablet or computer, or saved on a microSD memory card smaller than a stamp.

Verge | The Getty Museum

Photos & Words By Joy Donnell

 

 

As a city dweller, I often feel the need to change my perspective. Nestled on a hillside above Los Angeles proper rests The Getty Museum. The moment the monorail makes its steady rise to the top, I feel transported beyond traffic and endlessly ringing cell phones. At the Getty campus, art flows inside and out. Every detail is graced with beauty, from immaculately landscaped grounds to light-filled walkways to minimalistic fountains. Each visit is an enchantment.  

Drink Up | Amethystos

If you prefer something a little dark and exotic with your liqueur, look no further than the Amethystos cocktail at Hotel Casa del Mar.  If being served in a lovely coupe cocktail glass wasn’t enough to make us fall in love, the flavors definitely seal the deal.

This mixture is simultaneously refreshing and mysterious with Amethyst gin, St. Germain, fresh lemon juice, blackberries and lavender blossoms. The drink also offers a lovely bouquet that is intoxicating to all your senses.

This article appears courtesy of Sunset Main.

Mars Mission as Reality TV

Photo courtesy of Mars One

With shows like Fox's Utopia and Discovery's Naked and Afraid demonstrating reality TV's evolution into televised social experiment, this new subgenre is glowing red hot. So, when Dutch billionaire Bas Lansdorp announced his plan to establish a Mars colony, it's no wonder industry insiders saw the idea as the pinnacle of televised reality.

DSP, an Endemol company, has now teamed with Lansdorp's Mars One to create an unscripted show documenting these forthcoming 300-million mile one-way missions. According to the press release, DSP is, "the exclusive worldwide production partner for the Mars One astronaut selection and training program

which will see people from all walks of life undergo one of the most extraordinary and challenging assessment processes ever seen."

DSP becomes the exclusive worldwide production partner for the Mars One astronaut selection and training program, which will see people from all walks of life undergo one of the most extraordinary and challenging assessment processes ever seen. - See more at: http://www.mars-one.com/news/press-releases/mars-one-teams-with-endemol-for-worldwide-tv-event#sthash.f3kNTLwG.dpuf

DSP becomes the exclusive worldwide production partner for the Mars One astronaut selection and training program, which will see people from all walks of life undergo one of the most extraordinary and challenging assessment processes ever seen. - See more at: http://www.mars-one.com/news/press-releases/mars-one-teams-with-endemol-for-worldwide-tv-event#sthash.f3kNTLwG.dpuf

Beginning no later than 2024, Mars One foresees sending teams of four trained colonizers to Mars every two years. Mars One has already received to 200,000 applications from team hopefuls around the world. That number has now been shortlisted to 705 "highly motivated candidates" who will be tested and evaluated by a panel of elite scientists, astronauts and adventurers.

It seems that space is the final frontier for reality television and chronicling the human diaspora across the galaxy goes hand in hand. Our first journeys beyond our atmosphere will be televised with a combination of entertaining voyeurism and documentary not dissimilar to the moon landing or the Nasa space shuttle launches.

Endemol is not the only production company taking the leap. Last year, NBC signed on to Space Race from producer Mark Burnett and British billionaire Richard Branson. The show will have contestants competing for a spot on Branson's commercial spaceline, Virgin Galactic.

Speed Demon | 2014 Ducati 899 Panigale

New to our Lust List is the 2014 Ducati 899 Panigale Superbike. Light and agile with 148HP, the need for speed might be calling to you day and night.