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5 Stylish Rides

December 6, 2013 / Bullz-Eye Staff

We hear this story all the time, those guys that claim I don’t care about cars, as long as it gets me from A to B. Want to know a secret? Those people are liars. Who wouldn’t want to cruise around in a car that turns more heads than a laughing clown game? Even my partner, the most eco friendliest of hippies, dreams of nothing more than owning his very own 911 Porsche. Perhaps these naysayers have only been driving Toyota Camry’s and don’t know any better? Well these rides should know, here are the top five cars that ooze style, class and even a bit of swag.

Aston Martin Vanquish

There have been times in Aston Martins past where their vehicles have won on the road and times where models have simply flat lined, remember the short-lived Virage? Despite this fact, everyone still wants to claim for themselves a slice of cinematic history. I mean, who wouldn’t want to re-enact that illustrious image of Sean Connery suavely relaxing against his Aston Martin staring broodingly into the distance? The Vanquish line is hands down the most exquisite model to date, the interior screams soft leather which is perfect for long drives around the cliffs of the country side and whiles it’s not the quickest of the Aston Martins, it’s certainly involved.

Mini Cooper

The Mini often cops a lot of flak, mostly because it is reserved for Daddy’s little girls and those who just see it as an oversized go-kart. However, those people are dead wrong. The Mini Cooper handles just as well as a sports car and is practical yet super stylish. While it’s probably not fit for a family car, the Mini Coop is perfect for inner city driving.

Jaguar F Type Coupe

This bad boy is hot of the manufacturer’s line, and claims to be the fastest and most dynamic model ever released by Jaguar. We hope so, because Jaguar (otherwise known as the kitty cat of the automotive industry: Stubborn, self-absorbed and untameable) has been going back and forth between moments of sheer brilliance and unfortunate nose dives. The new bloodline boasts a 3.0 litre V6 engine that is powerful and refined, a sleek body type, quick shift transmission and more assistance to allow drivers to focus on the pleasure of the drive.

Range Rover Sport SE

Four wheel drives are normally bulky and abrasive characters, designed for the Real Housewives of Whatever City to somehow manoeuvre and crash into a shopping cart return at the supermarket. However, the new Range Rover Sport SE asserts a radical change with sleeker lines, an aluminium-bodied lighter-weight, improved off-road skills, and a far more lavish interior. For whole range of Land Rovers check out this luxury SUV comparison.

Maserati GranTurismo

When it comes to rides only attainable by the 1%, the GranTurismo is a key favourite. Out of all the Italian cars available on the market, the GrandTurismo is the only one that’s exotic without telling the world that the owner is obnoxious. Maserati are really good at focusing on the finer details and this car scores top marks when it comes to style, technology and craftsmanship.

Cars

Aston Martin Vanquish Jaguar F Type Coupe Maserati GranTurismo Range Rover Sport SE stylish cars stylish rides

Drink of the Week: The Dominicana 1888

December 6, 2013 / Bob Westal

If you’re going to build a cocktail around a distinctive, high end spirit, I think it’s definitely better if you can still distinctly taste that spirit. Sure, a lot of cocktails benefit from a sort of alchemical reaction where flavors in various ingredients unite to create an entirely new experience, but it’s nice to leave room for the unique flavors of a particular product — especially if the drink was created largely to promote that product.

I raved here a few weeks ago about Brugal 1888, a high end darkish rum that mysteriously arrived at my house via the booze-promoting powers that be. It unites the appeal of a really good bourbon or Scotch with hints of the exotic sweetness of a more conventional quality rum. In some ways, though, I think I might like today’s recipe a bit more than the Old Fashioned variation we tried earlier. It’s a very simple drink that’s delicious and sweet, while letting the most intriguing aspects of this somewhat pricey-but-worth-it booze really come to the fore.

I did, however, rename today’s choice as there’s another rum-based cocktail called the Dominicana. I modified the name in honor of its outstanding base spirit. One more thing, I didn’t get quite the amount of froth you see on the picture — you probably need egg whites to get anything remotely like that in real life — but this is still a very delightful drink, presentation issues notwithstanding.

The Domincana 1888

2 ounces Brugal 1888 Rum
1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 ounce pineapple juice
1 teaspoon turbinado or brown sugar
1 cocktail cherry (desirable garnish)

Add the three juices and, especially if you’re using turbinado sugar (aka, “raw sugar”), you can muddle it into the liquid to ensure it mixes properly. Next, add the Brugal and lots of ice. Shake very vigorously and strain it into a cocktail glass. Add the cocktail cherry, which really does seem to add a little extra something to this drink.

Sip and salute the power of sugar, both processed and naturally occurring. Rum might be the only drink made directly from sugar or it’s byproduct, molasses, but without some kind of sugar we’d have no liquor at all!

****

I shared the brown sugar version of the Dominica 1888 with a couple of test subjects and I can tell you that, apart from the fact that I like it a lot myself, it’s possible that it’s one of your more sophisticated crowd pleasers. Certainly with the combination of three great fresh juices — I even used fresh pineapple juice this time around, which is not always the case with me — and just a little bit of additional brown sugar/turbinado sweetness, it mellows out the Brugal 1888 about as far as it can be mellowed. At the same time, it leaves plenty of room for the high end rum to have its say, and that’s a very good thing. You’re paying for this stuff; presumably, you want to taste it.

Re: brown sugar and turbinado. I basically stuck to the original recipe, created by some clever but unnamed mixologist at Brugal, on all of my successful attempts at this drink. The only variation I tried turned out to be something of a happy accident. The first time I made this, I didn’t have any actual brown sugar around but did have plenty of turbinado, aka raw sugar. Since both brown sugar and turbinado share the same basic trait — they contain the molasses which is usually removed from conventional, processed sugar — using it as a substitute made sense; the results bore me out.

The next night, I went out and bought some regular C&H Dark Brown sugar (it was either that or “golden brown” which seemed lighter than the, er, classic brown sugar I remember from a few years back). I used that version on my test subjects and it worked extremely well, don’t get me wrong. On the other hand, the overall effect, strangely enough, was to make the Brugal’s sharper, almost leathery edges just slightly more obvious. I thought the turbinado sugar gentled the booze in a way I found to be almost perfect. I tried it again and found I really liked my original version best, but purists especially might prefer the regular brown sugar version best. Try it both ways.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

Brugal 1888 C&H Dark Brown Sugar cocktails Drink of the Week Happy Hour raw sugar The Dominicana 1888 turbinado sugar

Movie Review: “Inside Llewyn Davis”

December 5, 2013 / Jason Zingale

Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Adam Driver

Joel & Ethan Coen

There aren’t many directors that can boast a track record as impressive as the one that Joel and Ethan Coen have enjoyed throughout their 30-year careers, and “Inside Llewyn Davis” is just another notch on that cinematic belt. Markedly different from a lot of their films in that it’s a much more intimate, character-driven piece, “Inside Llewyn Davis” most closely resembles “A Serious Man” in both tone and execution. But although the movie is a fairly bittersweet portrait of personal failure (a running theme in the Coens’ repertoire), it’s not without their trademark wit and humor. The comedy may not be as pronounced as in the duo’s other films, but it’s yet another fine period drama that showcases a different side of the directors.

Set during the early 1960s in the middle of the New York folk scene, the movie stars Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis, a struggling musician trying to make it as a solo artist after his former singing partner commits suicide. The music business is already difficult enough to break into, but even more so for the hard-to-market folk genre, despite Llewyn’s obvious talent. With no steady income or plans for the future, Llewyn spends his days wandering the city in search of his next gig and his nights crashing on friends’ couches, including musician couple Jean (Carey Mulligan) and Jim (Justin Timberlake), the former of whom Llewyn may or may not have gotten pregnant. Desperate to get out of town for a few days, Llewyn hitches a ride to Chicago to audition for legendary manager Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham).

Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies

Carey Mulligan Coen Brothers Inside Llewyn Davis Inside Llewyn Davis review Oscar Isaac

Movie Review: “Out of the Furnace”

December 5, 2013 / Billy Tatum Jr.

Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker

Scott Cooper

Christian Bale hands out his own brand of justice in the revenge drama “Out of the Furnace,” but don’t expect Alfred or Commissioner Gordon to help out the former Dark Knight. Instead, the film features an all-star cast under the direction of Scott Cooper in a story about retribution, loss and broken spirits in the Rust Belt of America.

With the rapid intensity of a horse race, the film opens with Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson) pulling into a country drive-in theater. He asks his date (Dendrie Taylor) to remove her hot dog from the bun and shoves it down her throat. When an onlooker sees DeGroat’s boorish behavior, he sets out to remind him of what a gentleman is. Unfortunately, that act causes him to be beaten to a pulp, to the point where other men are scared to help the would-be hero.

However, the furnace in the title refers to the Carrie Furnace located in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where the Rust Belt serves more as a lead blanket, suffocating those who live there to the point where escape is rarely an option. It’s here that steel worker Russell Baze (Bale) solemnly toils away at the mill, while having a constant reminder that the place that pays his bills also left his father slowly and painfully dying of cancer. Russell’s girlfriend Lena (Zoe Saldana) is cooking up another kind of heat for Russell in the hopes that he’ll make an honest woman out of her complete with bouncing baby Bazes.

Russell already has kid problems in the form of his brother Rodney (Casey Affleck), a soldier always looking for a quick score, but always ending up in debt to the local bookie and tavern owner John Petty (Willem Dafoe). When Russell tries to bail out Rodney from his latest loan, the night ends with him serving a stretch in prison. Upon his release, he learns that the world has moved on without him. Rodney is even deeper in debt and suffering from PTSD, finding his solace in bare knuckle fights, which often require him to take a dive. Lena has moved on with the local sheriff (Forest Whitaker), and both Rodney and John Petty are going to realize that clearing your debts is easier said than done, especially when those debts are to DeGroat.

Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies

Casey Affleck Christian Bale Out of the Furnace Out of the Furnace review Woody Harrelson

4 Reasons for Men to Pursue Opportunities in Social Work

December 5, 2013 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Some careers, for whatever reason — a stereotype, for example, or a history of hiring one gender over the other — attract a significantly higher number of members of a certain gender. Many women have strived to break down the gender barrier in various careers, but it exists for men, too, in some occupations. Social work is one area where the women greatly outnumber the men, but men can make a major difference if they choose that path.

A Rewarding Career

Men and women attending college both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student look for career paths that are enjoyable, growing and financially stable. Social work is a rewarding career that allows students to make a living while getting involved in the community.
Social work is a field that will always exist, no matter the economy’s state. In fact, there’s even more need for social workers when the economy isn’t doing well. Social work provides a stable, well-paying job even in a poor economy. Click here to learn about the financial benefits of earning a masters of social work.

Less Competition

In a struggling economy, every open job has dozens or even hundreds of job applicants. It’s a struggle to find any job, let alone a rewarding one. However, men will face less competition for social work positions, particularly if an organization specifically wants a male worker to work with male clients. After investing time and money in an advanced degree, it’s important to know there will be jobs in your field after you graduate. Not every major can offer less job competition, meaning you may not be able to work in your chosen field unless you choose one that’s actively seeking people like you.

Empathy With Male Issues

Everyone brings their own experiences to a job, even if given equal training. Women do well in social work not only because of their individual talents in the field, but because they can empathize with women’s issues when helping female clients; however, the same can be said of men. There are many men and boys who require social work assistance, and a male social worker can empathize with some of the male clients’ issues more effectively because of his insight into the male mind.

While social workers of both genders can work with clients of both genders, the fact remains that male clients are less likely to seek the assistance they need because they mistakenly believe there are only women social workers available who may not understand them.

Helping Other Males

There are a large number of male clients who may feel more comfortable with a male worker. There’s a stigma attached to men seeking mental health and poverty counseling, a falsehood that it makes them “weak” or “non-masculine.” Male social workers help to dispel the notions that mental health counseling is offered only by women primarily for women.

The goal of social work is to help people live healthier and more productive lives. That means helping not only people with poverty issues, but also helping people with substance abuse problems and even physical abusers to lead more productive, stable lives. A large portion of substance abusers and physical abusers are male; they may not feel comfortable talking about their issues with a female social worker, especially if their victims were female. But both to save these clients and to save anyone affected by their actions, they need support. Having male social workers available can inspire men to come for help.

PolyMic reports almost 82 percent of social workers are female. To say there’s a gender gap in the field is an understatement. Men searching for a rewarding career that allows them to get involved in their community shoulder consider social work. There’s plenty of room for talented male social workers, and you’ll help organizations attract and retain male clients. Look into earning your degree in social work today.

About the Author: Daniel Soria is a social worker with a masters in the field.

Lifestyle

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