Eat Drink Play:
Instant Pot to the rescue in the kitchen! Well, it’s not without a few ups and downs along the way.
Zombie zin?
Whether you’re entertaining zombies or hosting a “Walking Dead” premiere party, the big question has always been, “What wine pairs best with brains?” Oh. You never asked that? Shoot. Well, we’ll share the answer anyway, because “Walking Dead” is returning to the airwaves Feb. 25 and as any post-apocalyptic survivor or TV-watching party host can tell you, preparation is everything. As it turns out, the “Walking Dead” folks have answered the what wine to serve question by launching their own pop culture-wine spinoff.
The new “Walking Dead” California wine line includes a Blood Red blend and a cabernet sauvignon ($19 each), with augmented reality labels that let the dead rise once more. You download a Living Wine Labels app, available via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, then point your smartphone at the bottle, whose label leaps to virtual life. Let’s just say, those ravenous undead walkers are coming for you and your phone may not survive. But at least you won’t go thirsty.
Celeb berating
If you watched the Super Bowl, you likely saw Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” commercial, which had Anthony Hopkins, Rebel Wilson, Cardi B and other celebrities standing in for the Amazon Echo voice. But the best by far was Gordon Ramsay, who cursed out a male millennial for asking Alexa for a grilled cheese sandwich recipe:
“The name is the recipe, you bloody bleeeeep!”
Turns out the ad was the perfect segue to the latest interactive Alexa “skill.” Now you, too, can enjoy having the fiery celebrity chef hurl his prolific insults while you’re cooking.
If you like that kind of verbal abuse, or just get a kick out of hearing Ramsay explode, you can apply the skill for free and even ask Ramsay what he thinks of the latest dish you made. Just say, “Alexa, enable Gordon Ramsay.” And wait for the onslaught of nonkid-friendly abuse in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Comfort peacocks
Perhaps it was the service pigs at San Francisco International Airport. Service dogs are a wonderful, valuable, important thing. But it’s possible that this whole emotional-supportanimals-aboard-airplanes thing may have gone a step too far: A United Airlines passenger recently attempted to board a flight at Newark International Airport with Dexter, her comfort peacock. Now the airline has announced that it’s tightening its rules on animal companions beginning March 1. Delta has updated its rules, as well. The new rules are hardly draconian — unless, of course, you’re someone who thought it would be perfectly fine to bring a 7-foot-long, screaming bird into a coach-class cabin. That particular demographic will likely find the rules, whose requirements include veterinarian statements and vaccination verification, completely outrageous.
Delta has already increased its list of animals banned aboard flights to include hedgehogs, animals with tusks, birds of prey and reptiles. So emotional-support anacondas are right out.