The Trend: Mayans, Miss Universe and Rewind Style

Good morning!

Google's hot searches list of 2012 is out.   Whitney Houston was the top trending search, according to the Zeigeist report - Google's 12th annual round up of top internet trends.   Korean rapper PSY's Gangnam Style music video was the second most searched term.   The video has nearly a billion views on YouTube.   Superstorm Sandy ranked third.    Round out the top 10: iPad 3, Diablo 3, Kate Middleton, the 2012 Olympics, Amada Todd, Michael Clarke Duncan and BBB12 (also known as Big Brother Brasil, a reality show featuring barely dressed men and women living together).

Wait there's more!

The top memes (a way to spread addictive ideas and phrases) are out.  Facebook says its top memes included TBH (To Be Honest), YOLO (You Only Live Once), SMH (Shake My Head) and Big Bird, thanks to Mitt Romney.

Yahoo's top searched memes include Kony 2012 (the short film and campaign against Ugandan militia leader Joseph Kony), "stingray photobomb" (a vacation photo that went viral) and "binders full of women," thanks again to Mitt Romney.

And last but not least, the most popular retweets of 2012 according to Twitter are President Obama's "For more years" and Justin Bieber's "RIP Avalanna.  i love you."   Avalanna was a six-year-old girl who died from a rare form of brain cancer.  She was one of Bieber's biggest fans.

Speaking of Tweets, the Pope has tweeted for the first time.  "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart," Pope Benedict tweeted early this morning.   He actually has 8 Twitter accounts, so he can tweet in different languages.

Two giant asteroids passed close to Earth today.   The asteroids 2012 XE54 and 4179 Toutatis did not pose any danger to the planet, experts say.   Toutatis was the much larger of the two, often described as a “malformed potato.”  Well, this potato is about 3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide.  By comparison, the asteroid suspected of wiping out dinosaurs is estimated to have been about 6 miles wide.  Close, of course, is a matter of perspective, but Toutatis came within 4.3 million miles of Earth, or about 18 times the distance between planet rock and the moon.   That was close enough to be picked up by telescopes and streamed live on various space watching sites.  Toutatis passes by Earth about every four years.

An outpouring of remembrances for Pandit Ravi Shankar is a trending topic on Twitter this morning.  Shankar's music transcended cultural barriers, bringing Indian music to the west, during a life that lasted nearly a century.   Shankar, already famous in India at the time, taught Beatle George Harrison to play the sitar in the sixties and took Eastern music mainstream, performing at Monterey in 1967 and at Woodstock in 1969.  One of his daughters is jazz singer Norah Jones.  Shankar, who was 92, had been in failing health over the past year, but continued to perform.   He shared a stage with another daughter Anoushka, who is also a sitar virtuoso, just last month.  It was his last public performance.

Actress Amy Adams continues to pick up honors ahead of Oscar season.  She will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Cinema's Vanguard Award for her performance in The Master.    The honor comes on the heels of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association naming Adams as best supporting actress for her performance as the wife of a charismatic spiritual leader in the 1950s.    She has been nominated for Oscars three times, but has never won.

Ask Men's  annual list of 99 most desirable women is out and the bigger winner is Jennifer Lawrence, the star of The Hunger games.  Desirability is determined by attractiveness, personality, talent and other factors, according to Ask Men.  Mila Kunis and model Kate Upton round out the top 3.  Kim Kardashian, who ranked in the top 10 on the list last year, has dropped to 98.  

From YouTube, Silent Night 2012 at Taylor University.  It's one of the coolest traditions in college sports.  Fans remain silent until Taylor U scores its 10th point of the game.  Then, the crowd goes wild.

It appears that catfish like bird hunting, at least in this viral video.

So this guy was apparently babysitting and having some fun with the kids, but he didn't think it through.   Check out the video.

Finally, be careful on the road if visiting New Zealand.  Dogs can drive.

That's the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob

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'Smush' ice cream deli style sandwiches

NEW YORK (WABC) -- "Smush" outside Bryant Park in Manhattan makes ice cream sandwiches like you've never had before.

"We make ice cream sandwiches," the owner said.

That's an understatement.

At "Smush" the ice cream sandwiches are custom made just like at a deli.

But, instead of bread you choose cookies which happened to be shaped like slices of bread.

Then you get your cheese and its homemade and its fudge.

The ice cream is of course the meat.

Instead of pickles, it's crushed potato chips or fruit.

Smush it down, slice it in half, and there's your deli sandwich.

Brett Lavendar and Andrew Michaels merged their love of ice cream and events to come up with this concept.

It's a pop up on 40th Street across from Bryant Park and it gets jammed.

One option starts with French toast flavored cookies, caramel vanilla ice cream, strawberry cream fudge, strawberry slices and pretzels, all in one ice cream sandwich.

So take it to go or grab a seat on the indoor stoop to enjoy your "Smush".

Online: http://www.gotsmush.com/about.html

Featured Smush Sandwich Recipe: french toast flavored cookies
caramel on the cookies
vanilla ice cream in between
a slice of strawberry cream fudge
fresh strawberry slices
crunched up pretzels

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(Copyright ©2012 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Neighborhood Eats »

recipe, neighborhood eats, lauren glassberg

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New York Hotels - Where Style Meets Elegance

Looking forward to a stay in New York hotels? With the best in luxury hotels available across New York, you can enjoy a hotel stay in utmost comfort.

Exploring Options

As a prominent city of America, New York is a leading name among tourist hot spots. Each year, many people head toward New York from all over the world. There are many New York hotels offering comfortable accommodation in several prime locations across the city. Hotels in New York are usually categorized on the basis of location into the following:

* Staten Island Hotels,

* Queens Hotels,

* Brooklyn Hotels,

* Times Square Hotels,

* Long Island Hotels,

* Bronx Hotels, and

* Airport Hotels.

Offering the best in services and ambience, New York hotels are at par with the leading hotels anywhere in the world.

Getting To Know The City

With the Internet connecting the entire world into a single web, information on almost any subject is available at the click of a mouse button. For the people interested in New York and all that the city has to offer, there are many websites available today offering a host of information. Prominent websites pertaining to New York provide the details regarding hotel accommodation in the city as well as offer information on major attractions as well. Today, there are many well-maintained websites offering a great deal of information on luxury hotels in New York. Along with the information on New York City hotels, these websites also provide details on various other aspects of the city, including information on the following:

1. New York restaurants or NYC restaurants which include many prominent names such as The View, Pastis, Four Seasons, Per Se New York, Nobu, Union Square Cafe, Tao, Le Bernadin;

2. New York shows, also referred to as New York broadway shows, which include shows such as Come Fly Away, Wicked, West Side Story, In The Heights, A Little Night Music;

3. New York tours such as Liberty Helicopter Tours, Circle Line Tours, Grand Central Tours;

4. New York attractions that include the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, Times Square;

5. Famous New York clubs such as Stanton Public, Pacha New York, Cielo, Club Quo;

6. Prominent New York stores which include Fendi, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Barneys, Armani New York; and

7. New York city spas such as Tribeca Spa, La Peau Spa, Spa Ja, Great Jones Spa.

Leading websites offer comprehensive and well-researched information on almost every facet of life in New York.

When Only The Best Will Do

Accommodation in any of the luxury New York hotels can easily be sought online. A great many websites offer information on all types of hotels available throughout the city. Among the prominent hotels in New York are The Mandarin, Four Seasons Hotel, The Ritz, Carlyle Hotel, Waldorf Astoria, The London NYC, and many others.

Surveying the options available on the Internet is a good way to decide upon the most appropriate New York hotels for your individual requirements. With many websites offering information on almost everything related to New York, planning for a trip to New York - either for business or for pleasure - is a pleasurable experience devoid of unnecessary hassles.

New York hotels offer the highest grade of services available in the hotels across the world. With many options to choose from, there are several luxury hotels in the city.