The Gift Gamers Will Gobble Up: Chocolate Space Invaders.

Fruition is a small batch Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Workshop in the Catskill Mountains of New York and Shaloon is a design studio in Brooklyn, NY. Together they created the Chocolate Invader.




This collaborative effort between Fruition Chocolate and Shaloon brings us delicious small batch chocolate made in the shape of a classic video game character from Space Invaders, an arcade video game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978.



The Chocolate Invader, which weighs 50 grams, is created with with Single Origin 66% Dark Chocolate crafted from Costa Rica Cacao and Peruvian cocoa:


The beans are sorted by hand to remove any foreign materials or less than perfect quality beans. Each batch of chocolate invader is made from beans from one region. The genetics, climate, and post harvest processing effect the final flavor of cocoa beans from every region, yielding unique flavors from origin to origin.

The beans are then slowly roasted and then the shells are removed.:


The cocoa is mixed with evaporated cane juice and cocoa butter:


The cocoa is ground in a granite melangeur for 4 days. When complete, its texture is extremely smooth and the flavor is nuanced and in balance. The mill uses two 40 pound granite wheels to refine the particle size of cocoa until grittiness is no longer detected on your palate.

Once finished, the chocolate is tempered and molded into invaders. Tempering is the process by which chocolate is warmed and cooled to specific temperatures in order to induce the propagation of stable cocoa butter crystals. Proper tempering will allow the chocolate to set shiny and have its characteristic snap.



The design was produced on a CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine to create the mold. The metal plate was then used to thermoform plastic, creating the molds they used to shape the chocolate into an invader.


The Chocolate Invader was designed in 3D CAD. You can download the STL model for their chocolate invader here at Thingverse

The Three Bar Gift Set:


three 50 gram 66% dark chocolate bars
- invader mini-poster
- invader sticker
- invader postcard
- joy of eating 69 pixels
$20, buy it here

2-Bars + Laser Engraved Box:

- two 50 gram 66% dark chocolate bars
- limited edition engraved wood box
- invader mini-poster
- invader sticker
- invader postcard
- joy of eating 46 pixels
$18, buy it here


Fan of Space Invaders? 
Then you'll want to check these out:

The Space Invaders Watch:


The Space Invader's Couch:


The Space Invader's Rings:

Ardbeg Galileo Rockets To Market. The Special Release of A Limited Edition 12 Year Old Whiskey That Is Out Of This World.

Ardbeg Galileo has landed.


Galileo, a vatting of different styles of Ardbeg laid down in 1999, is a combination of spirits that have been matured in ex-Marsala wine casks or in ex-bourbon casks. Together they create a sweet, smokey whiskey. The few thousand cases of the 12 year old whiskey made available are being picked up quickly and the space experiment that it was named after is going strong.



The beautiful packaging by Zing:





Invited by US Space Research Company, NanoRacks LLC, Ardbeg has been taking place in an experiment to test micro organic compounds in a maturation experiment since 2011. Vials of Ardbeg were launched into space and are currently maturing on the International Space Station.

The experiment will help explain the nature of "terpenes" compounds and will provide Ardbeg with information on new chemical building blocks in its own flavor spectrum.

Having recently become available, Galileo is restricted to two bottles per person (but already out of stock on the Ardbeg site). Bottled at a strength of 49% it is non chill-filtered for extra texture and mouth feel.



Tasting Notes
Aroma: A burst of intense smoky fruit escapes into the atmosphere. Add water and breathe in toasted vanilla, sizzling cinnamon and warm hazelnut.
Taste: An explosion of crackling peat ignites flavour explosions. Tangy lemon and lime juice, spiced toffee, followed by smooth buttermilk, bananas and currants. Smoke brims with creamy cappuccino and toasted marshmallows.
Finish: Long and smoky with tarry espresso

above: The Ardbeg Rocket Tour kicked off in Chicago on May 3, 2012 and will stop in 22 states in 28 weeks. Tour stops include key U.S. landmarks in states including California, Texas, New York and Florida. An Ardbeg Brand Ambassador will be on board the tour to educate consumers on the experiment, the brand, and where legal, to sample Ardbeg, recently rated by The Whisky Bible as the "Best Single Malt Scotch – 10 Years and Under."

Ardbeg

Ardbeg only ships within the UK, however other specialty liquor stores around the world do carry the item. Prices seem to range from $89.99 to $199.99

Here are a few online stores that carry the product:
Worldwide merchants who carry the product
Single Malts Direct
Online merchants who ship world-wide

Sterling Silver Space Invaders Rings In Three Styles For Men and Women by Tjep.

Artist and Designer Frank Tjepkema (aka Tjep.), has a fun series of solid sterling silver rings based on the pixelated alien invaders in Taito's classic arcade game, Space Invaders.

Invader Aiko ring:


Invader Hoshi Ring:


Invader Yuki ring:





Shop for them and other Tjep products here.

To learn about tons of other products inspired by the aliens, check out one of my favorite fellow blogger's sites, Technabob

LEGO Minifigs Stow Away on NASA's Juno Spacecraft Mission To Jupiter.

Okay, so they weren't really stowaways, but certainly not your expected passengers. The special cargo - three 1.5" tall aluminum LEGO® Minifigs- left earth on NASA's Juno deep-space probe on August 5th for a five-year mission to Jupiter as part of NASA and LEGO's Bricks In Space program, a joint partnership to inspire children and broaden awareness of the importance of planetary research.




above: the Lego Minifigures affixed to the Juno probe before take-off.


In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. From Mount Olympus, Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt:



The third LEGO crew member is Galileo Galilei, who made several important discoveries about Jupiter, including the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honor). Of course, the miniature Galileo has his telescope with him on the journey:



The LEGO Minifigures will help get attention for Juno’s mission to improve understanding of our solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.


above: click to enlarge and get a better look at the Juno Spacecraft

The inclusion of the three mini-statues, or figurines, is part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.



Video of the August 5th launch (on which the minifigs were affixed to the space probe):


The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The mission will investigate the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno's color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet's poles.

More information about Juno is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu. You can follow the mission on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nasajuno.

images courtesy of LegoSpace, NASA and Wired

Unearthly Commitment: Out Of This World Wedding Rings Made of Gold That Went To Space.

50 sets of rings known as SWR-50th Anniversary Collection were inspired by the 50th anniversary of first human space flight which took place on April 12, 1961. The collection will be created in cooperation with jewelry designers from all over the world.



On May 20, 7:24 (MDT) the first set of space wedding rings were sent in space in a suborbital sounding rocket in New Mexico, USA. The flight went smoothly and the professionally secured package containing one set of wedding rings and some gold reached the space and came to Earth sound and safe.


CREDIT: Bob Martin/KRQE Television

The first 10 sets of rings available now will be made from the gold that was flown in space in the same capsule as the first Space Wedding Rings SWR-001.


Each set of Space Wedding Rings will be assigned a unique serial number and engraved with the SpaceWed logo. The rings will be sold in custom designed, space-themed packaging and will include a Certificate of Space Flight, as well as documentation of the rocket launch.




From the beginning of June you will be able to place an ORDER for the RINGS AVAILABLE NOW or PRE-ORDER the rings which will go in space in the next flight by the end of 2011.


Space Wedding Rings

Thanks to Nishu from The Luxury Hub for the tip!

Vintage Style Illustrated Star Wars Travel & Transportation Posters.

If you're a fan of vintage travel posters and George Lucas' Star Wars movies, like illustrator Steve Thomas, these Star Wars Travel Posters will quickly become amongst your favorites. Illustrated in the style of mid- 20th century travel posters, they advertise the merits of Star Wars planets, places and transportation.


above: detail of the Millenium Falcon from one of the posters

Although he created these a few years ago, they were recently brought to my attention by Dvice. They have yet to be produced, but he's working on it.






About the artist:


Steve Thomas has been working for newspapers churning out graphics and illustrations for more than 10 years. When not at his day job, he tries to come up with new and interesting ideas for illustrations. His love for vintage poster, propaganda and product art from the early 20th century and an interest in retro-futuristic art from the mid-20th has led him to create some great poster art, many of which you can see in his online portfolio or purchase on Zazzle.

Steve has also created marketing and advertising art for various companies, from label expo organizers to architecture firms. Some of his clients have included the Tarsus Group, Meteora, the Alderac Entertainment Group (Fantasy Flight Games), Synaptic Overload Games and ICON magazine.

He is available for commissions, just send him a note here. And don't forget to follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Be sure to check out his Zazzle store, in which he sells many of his beautifully illustrated posters along with other items.