It’s not every day you are invited to board a giant yacht, get to hear the Food Network’s Guy Fieri speak, and are lucky enough to enjoy a room with a view of the San Diego Bay.
So though we couldn’t be happier that deep’s own Stephanie Kabbaz is representing deep at the Flavor and the Menu’s 2009 Flavor Experience in San Diego, we are also slightly jealous. Which is why our evil writers decided to put her to work, tweeting about the things she’s learning while there.
We are genuinely thrilled that Stephanie went to help Torani, whose Beacon of Discovery yacht tour was deemed a great success by the client. The event was designed to help them gather national account leads as they continue to break into the restaurant world. Stephanie will be blogging away when she gets back so we can all hear more about what it’s like to sample drinks from San Diego’s top mixologist, Ian Ward, and to help make sure it was truly smooth sailing for Torani.
There’s no better way to celebrate Chris Heil’s 30th birthday, and his powerful golf slice, than with a cake designed by Mark Leicht. That’s what we call the King of Slice, and the Ace of Cakes. Happy birthday, Chris, and way to rock a cake design, Mark!
You know those moments where you see something you wish you had thought of first? And you want to punch yourself, and then you get pretty pouty because somebody else did something really, really smart and you can’t steal their idea because, well, that would be just wrong? Well, we had one of those moments when we found Christopher Doyle’s brand guidelines. We love him. We hate him (out of pure jealousy of course). And we know exactly how he should appear.
Well, actually, we’ll help others shoot flaming balls this 4th of July. Some of the designers at deep enjoyed spending much of the winter designing new packaging for a fireworks company, not just because it allowed them to get really, really creative thanks to some of the crazy fireworks names, but also because it made us giggle like 12 year olds when we read the warning labels on the packages.
We all look forward to seeing flaming balls, flaming sparks, rockin’ gigantic bursts, and explosive shots that rock the night this 4th of July.
To many of us at deep, this is what heaven might just look like. Or, for those of you who would like to try making your own specialty beverages at home, this is what your kitchen could look like now that Torani syrups are now available directly from their website.
Torani launched their online store last week, which means that if you have a Torani “problem” like some of our employees, you can order to your heart’s content. You can even sign up to receive recipes and an email newsletter on how to use the different flavors. Congrats to Torani for helping feed our obsession.
What’s better than getting to watch Daniel Craig on the big screen? How about getting to snack on a limited-edition popsicle that’s shaped just like the beautiful Bond emerging from the water in Casino Royale. Yummy.
We were so in love with the idea of Del Monte celebrating National Ice Cream Week in the UK by offering these under 100 calorie treats, that deep is officially working on our own popsicles to coincide with our own big July celebration: the first annual Bonehead Barbecue, and Chris Heil’s birthday. Like the Bondsicles, our CHeil popsicles will also be available in blueberry, pomegranate, and cranberry, just in time to cool off for the 4th of July.
In honor oNational Ice Cream Week in the UK, Del Monte Superfruit Smoothies has sculpted a limited edition popsicle in the shape of Daniel Craig’s nude torso. The frozen treat — said to come in blueberry, pomegranate, and cranberry flavors and be under 100 calories each — is the result of a poll of more than 1,000 women, the majority of whom wanted the image of Craig, emerging from the water in Casino Royale, immortalized.
Two questions: Could you actually eat this popsicle in public? (Like the model in this photo, I don’t think I could face Craig — or anyone else — when I licked those abs.) And if America were to offer such a delicacy for what is allegedly the 25th anniversary of our National Ice Cream Month — July! — whose form should it take? I’d vote for sticking with Craig’s 007. For starters, it’s kind of awesome how his torso glistens when he begins to melt, as though he’s wet from the sea. And there’s less guilt when you can think of it as an iconic character instead of an actual person.
We’re not ashamed to admit it: temptation got the best of us today. After receiving a package of frozen product from a client and opening the box to discover piles of dry ice inside, we figured there may never be a more opportune time to create fog in the women’s bathroom. Welcome to Tuesday morning science camp at deep.
So, yes, maybe we found out later from our fearless leader, Phil, that dry ice could potentially freeze the pipes and then we’d be in a world of hurt (we ladies have occasionally braved their bathroom, and believe me, it is terrifying). And maybe it was dumb that we dropped ice in both toilets, making it pretty much impossible for the girls to use the bathroom at all for a little while, but damn if it wasn’t pretty sweet watching the toilet smoke.
After finding this little gem, we’re looking forward to hunting down more dry ice to learn more about science, as well as to destroying things that stand in our way.
There seems to be a lot of confusion these days about the proper way to use an exclamation point, and much to the chagrin of some of the creative staff here at deep, we are sometimes irritated when we receive communications from people who use exclamation points with what we would consider great fervor.
That’s why we’re dedicating today’s blog post to the exclamation point. Not because we want to be grammar fiends necessarily, but more because we want our writers to feel loved and important.
With that said, here’s a quick lesson on the right way to use the exclamation point. The Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers says that their use is totally OK for “a strong command or emphatic declaration.” So basically, if your friend gets run over by a chair during “Race our Chairs Around the Office Day” and you’re emailing your BFF to tell him or her, you could write, “Mark got run over by a chair and his wig ripped right off in the middle of the race! Who knew that was a wig?!”
Notice, if you will, that carefully place interrobang, which, though not found in the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers (nor in other conventional English books), makes many writers a bit giddy with glee.
And finally, please, avoid the overuse of the exclamation point. As stated in the Handbook for Writers, “In academic writing, your words, rather than exclamation points, should communicate the strength of your message. Reserve exclamation points for occasional emphatic dialogue. Use them only very rarely for a short emphatic declaration within a longer passage. If you use exclamation points too often in academic writing, your reader will think that your judgment of urgency is exaggerated. Your choice of words, not (!) should communicate amazement or sarcasm.”
We think they’re right!!!!! Or maybe we’re being sarcastic? Hmmm…
It’s pretty amazing that Neil Young was so passionate about his 1959 Lincoln Continental that he would dedicate his latest album to it. But what’s even more amazing is that the reason he did so was because he and a team of like-minded visionaries found a way to turn his vintage car into an electric hybrid—creating a zero emissions vehicle that gets around 100mpg. Not bad, eh?
The LincVolt website talks about Neil and his team’s goals for inspiring green technologies in the auto world, and it looks as if any vehicle—yes, even this guy and, WHOA, maybe even this guy—could run just efficiently as Neil’s sweet little cruiser. Fingers crossed, it’ll happen sooner than later.
If you’re wearing sweatpants or have a tendency to walk slowly in comfy clothes, you may be really, really ill—or at least that’s what you might think if you watch drug commercials. Sarah Haskins has the phenomenal ability to make fun of ads and TV shows by simply pointing out the obvious. And we sort of love that about her.
