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Corks - an Endangered Species
Written by Charley Norkus   
Wednesday, 12 May 2010 15:48
Corks from wine and champagne bottlesGenuine cork comes from cork oak trees that grow along the African and European Mediterranean coast. The bark from these trees can be carefully harvested every 8-14 years (acc. to 'How Stuff Works'.com) and from the strips are punched the corks that are used (less and less) as stoppers for bottles of wine and champagne. Cork is naturally resistant to rot, fire, and insects and is impermeable to gas and liquid, thus making it the perfect wine stopper. Unfortunately, because of the tremendous demand for cork and subsequent unfavorable growing conditions, a substitute has been introduced made of resin. These corks will undoubtedly become the future replacement for the real thing, but one hopes that they will continue to improve and take on more of the natural characteristics of the genuine item, e.g., absorbing some of the wine (note the purple color on the end of the real cork). Artificial corks do have much less tendency to break apart, but purists still bemoan them. One can almost hear them gasp at the latest innovation for stoppers now being used on actually some very fine wines - screwtops!
Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 May 2010 15:49
 
Wedding Matches the Right Color - Blue
Written by Charley Norkus   
Wednesday, 12 May 2010 15:28

Wedding Matches Matchbox

Providing some sort of keepsake for every wedding guest is fashionable in America for those who can afford it. Often the gift of choice is a box of matches with the married couple's name and wedding date in gilded print on the cover. How practical are matches these days with the continuing decline  (at least in this country) of smoking? As practical as the use of candles to create that extra romantic ambiance...er, yes, and perhaps that is why boxes of matches seem to last forever these days... sometimes longer than the marriage itself. In the 1970s, roughly 20 per 1000 marriages in the U.S, approx. 5%, ended in divorce. According to divorcerate.org, 40-50% of today's marriages in America will end in divorce, but that includes hefty increases for second- and third-time marriages. Got a cigarette? (Maybe less stress is the answer.)

 

 
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