The Moscow Mule

A Moscow Mule is a cocktail made with Smirnoff Vodka, ginger Ale, and lime. Served in a high ball glass with 4 or 5 cubes of ice. Garnish can consist of a sprig of mint (for decoration not flavour) but usually the drink is only served with a swizzle stick. The name gets its origins from the classic combination of Russian vodka, Lime and the intense flavour of ginger beer, which first served in a brass tumbler baring the emblem of a kicking mule (Hollywood circa 1941). The drink was invented by John Martin. The story goes...

In 1941 when the first carload of Jack Morgan's Cock 'n' Bull ginger beer arrived in New York. 3 friends were in the Chatham bar (Jack Morgan, owner of Cock 'n' Bull Restaurant, John Martin, president of G.F. Heublein Brothers Inc., and the third was Rudolph Kunett, president of the Pierre Smirnoff). Jack Morgan is quoted as saying, "We three were quaffing a slug, nibbling an hors d'oeuvre and shoving toward inventive genius". Martin and Kunett came up with the plan that vodka and ginger beer with a squeeze of a lime, over ice, would make a suitable nightcap. The concoction was made. Glasses were raised. The men drank., Several drinks later, the Moscow Mule was born.

Thanks to the good people at Smirnoff, and with help from Suzanne in WHPR, my eyes were opened yesterday evening to this fabulous drink. I was lucky enough to be invited to an excellent evening of entertainment and education, learning the history and heritage of the Moscow Mule while watching a skilled performer, dazzle me with his juggling and balance. Hosted in Pygmalion, a blogger event was held to usher in the return of this rather tasty beverage, bringing together a number of Social Media types (you know who you are!).

The official, media, launch is next Thursday (17th July) and, from all accounts, should be a fantastic follow up to last night. Stay tuned for photos and videos of last night (pending them coming off my phone) and a follow up next week, for the official launch.

Heineken's New Walking Fridge

First there was Heineken's 'Walk-in Fridge', then there was the home made version of 'Walk-in Fridge' and finally the 'Walking Fridge'.

So what next?

To follow up these three hilarious ads, Heineken decided to get a real UGC version. So in partnership with Brandfighters, Heineken created a viral video contest and asked for submissions of ads featuring the mini fridge. On Tuesday the winner was announced...

All Things Digital iPhone App

Although the Wall Street journal already has an iPhone app, the recent All Things Digital D7 conference saw ATD launch a dedicated iPhone app of its own. The new app offers a distinct advantage over the WSJ version through deeper content and a free download. The ATD app delivers the same articles as the WSJ app, but also dedicated video and the ability to share content on Twitter and Facebook.

Features on the ATD app include:

• Daily columns, blogs and video
• Product reviews and analysis
• Breaking Silicon Valley news
• Galleries of D conference videos and photos
• Post links directly to Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Email blogs and video links
• Walt Mossberg’s Personal Technology, Mossberg’s Mailbox and Mossblog
• Kara Swisher’s BoomTown
• John Paczkowski’s Digital Daily
• Peter Kafka’s MediaMemo
• Katherine Boehret’s Mossberg Solution
• Voices links to compelling stories from around the Web

The app is available free from the iPhone App Store here.

The Journal has introduced a host of offerings in the last year and has experimented with a number of different revenue models, so the move to release a free app, offering emhanced content, may seem odd. The WSJ is one of the few online publications that currently charges for its content (over $100 a year), but WSJ owner News Corp. is clearly creating a future market with this free offering. So while the app is currently free, logic would dictate that this will not continue. Once the app reaches a tipping point, introduction of a charge system will put people in the position of paying for convenience, rather then content. A cost that current trends would indicate they are more then willing to take.

Hula Hoops: A World of Their Own

Check out the latest ad for Hula Hoops, around their 'A World of Their Own' campaign concept. It's pretty cool work by the 'puppeteer' to be able to move his fingers so freely. On the back of this, the campaign also features a microsite, calling on the public to produce their own 'finger puppet' short film. Fun stuff, and there already seems to be a lot of entries. Definitely worth a look.

No More Locked Doors

How many times have you been playing a first person shooter and you quickly start to realise that the huge sprawling city that the game occupies, is in fact block after block of locked buildings. You can't enter them and they play no significant role in the game other then as landscape. Unfortunately the cost/resources etc. to develop and render an entire city would be astronomical. What if, hoewever, there was a cheap and effective way to do it.....



This is potentially the biggest breakthrough in gaming technology.