WELCOME!

It is truly rare in our society today that someone makes a documentary film that gets the publicity and audience that scripted films get. That is why it was such a huge deal that the movie Food Inc. had the impact that it did. Food Inc. is inspired by the books Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemmawhich explore where our food comes from and what the acceptable ways of “doing business” are in the food industry. Around the Spintacular office, and in Asheville in general, we are always talking about where our food comes from and how we can support our local farmers who farm organically and sustainably. Not only is this food far better for you and for the environment, it is also just better. So today, when I read this article  from the Organic Authority blog, it made me worry. Apparently, students from the University of Arkansas traveled all the way across (up?) the country to North Dakota testing canola flowers to see if they contained the genes of a genetically modified strain of the plant created for its use in Canola Oil, a popular vegetable oil used for cooking. Their findings? EIGHTY PERCENT of the plants that they tested had at least some modified genes. This means that even our wildflowers are affected by our need for mass consumption! What does this mean for us? Well, if you are found to have GMOs growing on your property, you could be sued by the company that made the original seed. Mass, genetically undiverse populations are also subject to the possibility of mass extinction. And, in the United States, our food is not marked if it is genetically modified. You don’t know what you’re eating!!! In short, support your local farmer’s market. It’s “thousands of miles fresher.”

One of the great things about living in Asheville – aside from the music, the people, the art, the food, and the beer – is that it is a beautiful place. We are in the middle of the Appalachian mountains, so pretty much anywhere you look, you can see the ridges in the distance. And, because we have so much rain, it is a very green place. There are a lot of random wooded lakes around, which is such a treat. The reason that I am bragging about our city so much today is that it is beautiful and I want to have a picnic today!! So this post is simply to share some awesome picnics and picnic supplies with you guys…. now get outside!

Pretty amazing picnic pic I found from lunching in Peru

If you forget a picnic table...

Elementary, my dear picnic

That's my kind of picnic!

Here at Spintacular Entertainment, we are always traveling. However, we very rarely travel by boat, which was why I was so interested to find out about this next story. The Crafton Family, from Anchorage, Alaska, just got back from a little trip around the world. How long were they gone, you ask? SEVEN YEARS!!! Apparently, the BLANKS were fortunate enough to have successful careers and achieve a certain level of wealth, but were not satisfied with what that wealth afforded them. They didn’t want the big house or all the stuff. So, in 2001, they sold all of their properties and assets and purchased a small sailboat. For seven years, they traveled absolutely everywhere, staying mostly in the very small cabin of the boat, but venturing into every port they came across to get at least a brief picture of what the daily life was in that area of the world. Their three children grew up on the voyage, the youngest being eight when they started and the oldest 15, and seem to miss the boat now that they are on land. What a cool way to grow up!! Just wanted to share this with you guys, let you know how other people are seeing the world!!

For the full text of this story as well as a timeline and pictures, please click here to see the article at The Washington Post.

GREAT NEWS!! Spintacular Entertainment is offering a new special on some of our novelty items for tailgate!! Every tailgate has food and fun, but no tailgate has ever been this much fun! Check out the different items that can come with this deal:

1. Car Flags for flying your school spirit high
2. Bobble Heads for realizing your dream of being a football player or cheerleader (and so much more!)
3. Fun Photos with custom backgrounds to commemorate your event
4. Can Wrappers to keep your soft drinks cold while supporting your team
5. Airbrush Tattoos to instill fear into the hearts of the opposing team
6. Magnetic Signs to further pimp your car out in school spirit
7. License Plates to make sure that the first thing that people know about you coming down the road is that you are a DIE HARD FAN!

CALL TODAY to book with Spintacular Entertainment!! In the meantime, here are some pictures from awesome tailgates around the world.

So here’s the deal. I was going to refrain from commenting on the major BP oil spill at all on this blog, and stay away from controversial matters in general, but I can not help myself. Why now, do you ask? Oh, just because of the SECOND oil spill of this year in the Louisiana gulf. A tug boat pulling a barge hit the well yesterday, causing it to spew oil and natural gas twenty feet in the air. Apparently, it could be capped quite soon, and then focus will shift back to BP, but I can not believe that we could write this up to sloppy boating and move on. It’s time to take a long, hard, critical, and constructive look at the oil industry and decide what is important to society as a whole so that we can make some serious changes. On a lighter note, here is one of my favorite videos about the oil spill from one of the funniest comedy troupes of all time.

If you know Spintacular, you know that we are in the business of travel. From August to April, we are everywhere all the time. One would think that this would make us want to hibernate like little summer bears in Asheville when May comes around, but, in fact, we are still going! I think it is because we all, in our hearts, love to travel. The thing that can really drive you crazy about being away from home, however, is changing your lifestyle for just that little while. People are creatures of habit. We like to make our bed the same way every day, take the same way to work, and drink the same tea every night before we go to bed. When we are not in an environment that allows us to do these things, we get fussy. One of the things that bothers me most about traveling is the waste of it all – especially airports (well, that and the security checkpoint!). Seeing all the tickets being printed out, the two or three unnecessary pages from printing from home, hundered of water bottles a day being thrown into the trash before going through the aforementioned lovely checkpoint – it makes me cringe! It seems that in order to travel via airplane these days and not be completely wasteful, you must either a) starve and deal with your unquenched thirst, or b), become a crazy hoarder lady who has 12 pounds of recycling crammed into your regulation size carry-on. However, on my last trip, I was proved wrong. The Atlanta airport, which is known for being crazy and huge and unpleasant, was the airport that turned my whole cynical world upside-down. There was recycling everywhere! Every trash can, in fact, is a sorting trash can that decided for you if what you are putting into it is, in fact, recyclable, and, upon determining its fate, sorts it into either its appropriate recycling category or into the trash section! What?!? I was so excited!! There is not even an option not to recycle. The first thing that I did when I got home was research the trash cans (…nerd). Apparently, they were only a small part of a recent “sustainability overhaul” in the most heavily trafficked airport in the United States, which, according to this article by the Hartsfield-Jackson News, also included:

• New fixtures and plumbing in terminal restrooms, which save almost 7 million gallons of water per month.
• Water-conserving chiller plants.
• A water conservation and recovery system, which recaptures more than 145 million gallons of water per year.
• Energy conservation efforts, resulting in power savings of more than 7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in only a 10-month period.

Hooray!! It also created 28 jobs! If you would like to learn more about the program, click here. In other air travel recycling news, it seems that some flights have started to recycle. My mother always asks what the flight attendants do with the empty cans on the flights, and got her first answer of “we recycle!” Small victories, people. That was a Delta flight, by the way. Here is a picture of the marvelous trash can – go do something “green” today!

The trash can that does your work for you!

This past weekend, downtown Asheville (where we live) was shut down to make way for the 2010 Bele Chere Festival! This festival happens annually in Asheville, celebrating art, music, food, and the town in general. Vendors take to the streets to show off their wares, from local artists and musicians to non-profit organizations trying to get their messages out. The main attraction, however, is the music. This year, the Bele Chere festival went for a more Western North Carolinian focus musically, capturing the more traditional bluegrass sound and bringing in the old and the young to dance (and sweat!) in the middle of downtown. The Spintacular crew was out in full force at the festival; Jay, our commander-in-chief, managed one of the stages, and Ballard and Chloe (me!) were spotted grooving at the Toubab Krewe show. All in all, a wonderful weekend for Asheville. Come out and join us next year!

Here are some videos of the featured bands:

News from down under – scientists have discovered new aquatic species living underneath the Great Barrier Reef! According to this article from the The Daily Mail, researchers from Queensland University in Australia have a new series of photographs out that were taken with a camera stationed a record 4500 feet below sea level! Scientists say that these animals have features that can directly relate them to their prehistoric ancestors, and that fossils that they also found will help them to better map the geneology of the sea. What an amazing discovery!! Marine life is just infinitely fascinating to me; I was at the beach last week and saw some bioluminescent algae and have been thinking about it ever since, so I was so excited to find this story! I also always get excited when a new species is discovered because it makes me think about how much more is out there to be discovered. Here are the photos that accompany the article – Enjoy! Have a great weekend!

And…. for good measure, a very appropriate Radiohead song.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, they’ve done it. Carl’s Jr. has officially topped KFC’s Double Down as the number one culinary reason that people hate Americans. What is their precious gift to the Committee for the Fattening of America? The all new foot-long hamburger, which consists of three hamburger patties shoved onto the same foot-long hoagie roll. Ew. The item is not currently posted on the Carl’s Jr. website, but it can apparently be found only by asking for it at select Carl’s Jr. locations. This story has prompted me to ask, when will it stop? Will there soon be a double cheeseburger version of the foot long burger? How many patties can a person physically put in their mouth? I will leave you to contemplate these questions, but, in the meantime, here are some other nutritious foods courtesy of thisiswhyyourefat.com.

Triple decker pizza “cake” (1 ham, 1 sausage, 1 pepperoni) layered with boneless buffalo chicken wings, topped with a ranch and buffalo sauce drizzle, and sprinkled with a confetti of real bacon bits. Served on a bed of lettuce and surrounded by a garnish of celery and carrot sticks. Bottle of ranch dressing on the side.

The Zellagabetsky: 8 Decker on special cut rye, corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, tongue, Swiss cheese w/cole slaw, Russian dressing and sweet peppers.

The Melt Challenge - Five pound grilled cheese with13 different cheeses, 3 slices of grilled bread served with fried and slaw.

Pulled Pork & Mashed Potato Parfait

Bacon Bouquet

The Cheddar Pour - Two burger paddies topped with an oversized layer of cheddar cheese.

Inside-Out Spaghetti & Meatballs - A giant meatball stuffed with spaghetti, marinara sauce and ricotta cheese.

IHOP Who-Cakes - Inspired by Horton Hears a Who! : A stack of five pancakes drenched in boysenberry and blueberry syrup, covered in rainbow-colored chocolate candy and topped with a pink Dum-Dum lollipop.

Peanut Butter French Toast - A giant peanut butter sandwich, coated in french toast batter and bran flakes, fried in a griddle and served with caramelized bananas and brown sugar syrup.