Maybe an afternoon in the park and some good music can solve the blockage…

Enjoy your Sunday.

ESPN

“Today is the youngest you will ever be. Act like it.”

Here is my take on the various luxury brands out there:

Tier 1 – top of the line, ultimate luxury

1. Maybach - the classiest of the three. I would have to choose a Maybach to be driven around in, over the next two.
2. Rolls Royce – so classic, but rather old fashioned by new (see Mercedes down below).
3. Bentley - becoming very cool with super high luxury sports cars like the GT, but still number three.

Tier 2 – the elite for the average person (talking about the higher end models, not the entry level 3/C/A4/IS)

1. BMW - Their tag line says it all, ‘the ultimate driving machine’. BMW’s are great, model after model has lead the rest of the industries design (even if people have hated the designs when they were released).
2. Audi - Audi is a major force to be reckoned with. The R8 is one the the most amazing cars ever released, the A5 is gorgeous, the Q7 (though last one in) has pushed the luxury SUV market further out there. I expect that Audi can be my number one in just a few years.
3. Mercedes - Old school (see Rolls Royce). The new S is an amazing top-of-the-line vehicle and the new C is a bit more cutting edge, but the brand is old, boring, and a poor value for the price.
4. Lexus - The car that parks itself is rather cool as well as all the hybrids. The ride is the smoothest you will ever experience, but that’s it.

Tier 3 – more affordable brands, more mainstream

1. Jaguar - It is a shame that Ford sold Jaguar.  Some would say that Jag is tier two, I would have said it was #5 in tier three until the XF. The XF is the nicest Jag ever. Let’s see what happens next.
2. Infiniti - First the G35 coupe, the new G35 sedan, the M, and now the FX. At this rate, Infiniti could be a even more major player in this tier. But first they need to release a higher-end/larger model than the M.
3. Cadillac - I can’t not include Cadillac, but the brand is older than Mercedes in my mind. The CTS helped a bit but then you have the DTS. Yup I didn’t forget the Escalade, but that is not at the core of the brand.
4. Tied for 4th: Acura and VW – Acura’s are more upscale than Hondas, and VW is less than Audi but that doesn’t really offer an identity for either.

Sports Cars – to me these just don’t fit in the lists above, but probably be tier 1.5

1. Aston Martin – If 007 drives one then I can drive one too. They are just gorgeous. Perfect.
2. Maserati - I am torn to stick this as #4 in tier one, or put it here. The cars are brilliant, but they have been a bit stagnant the past few years.
3. Ferrari - Black or red, enough said.
4. Lamborghini - Yellow or black. #2 because the designs are a bit to out there for me.
5. Porsche - To be honest, I am just getting tired of the brand. The Cayenne didn’t help, we will see how the 4 door Panamera will work out.

What do you think? Where did I go wrong, where am I spot on?

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality” – Walt Disney

The problem with wine is that there are just so many brands and varieties from all over the world. Then you factor in the year the wine is from and the fact that you ordered it at a restaurant from a last over over 200 bottles and the chances of remembering are slim to none.

So if you are a wine seller how do you breakthrough? There seems to be two standard solutions and one really interesting idea.

1. Advertising – Major wine brands like Yellow Tail and Gallo wines have huge marketing budgets.
2. Turn the market on its head - Why sell wine based on some funny variety names, why not send it as people drink it…with food. "Wine that loves " did just that.
3. Give people something to remember – Tons of people collect corks, but as far as I can tell they don’t really tell you what bottle (brand, type and year) you just drank. So the first option may me to brand the corks, but why not give people something a little more useful to take home with them. Like a place they can get all the information they would need to find the bottle again — the label. That is what Oxford Landing did with their label. Just peel it off and take it home, now that is how your create loyalty.

Now don’t you wish you thought of that last one?

In Germany (and maybe this exists in the rest of Europe), you are able to bring your bottles (water bottles, beer bottles, and other plastic and glass bottles) to the grocery to get some money back. This is such an easy thing to do and is great pocket change. With the price of water being so low in the first place, you almost make back 1/2 of what you spend for the water in the first place.

I know that in certain states in the US this exists, but it really should become more prevalent. One solution that I have come across is to eliminate the consumer effort needed. RecycleBank provides you with a bin and a barcode to put on your recycling bin. Then when collected, the collectors scan the code and reward you based on the size of your bin and therefore the amount of material that is in it. This weight is converted to points and then to dollars.

In the long run it may slightly drive up the price of goods, but isn’t that a small price to pay to give people an incentive to recycle and to save our world?

The 60 Bloggers project is co-production of Jewlicious.com and the Let My People Sing Festival. It is published daily for 60 days to celebrate Israel’s 60 birthday.

As an American Jew I honestly do not find myself thinking about Israel on a daily basis; some may, but I don’t. But living in Hamburg, Germany the past 3 months and the recent conclusion of Passover has made me think a little bit about the significance of Israel and the even greater importance of freedom.

Freedom has many different meanings and values to various people. Thankfully, living in the western world, in the 21st century “freedom” and “life” are words that hold the same connotation for our citizens. We have freedom of speech, equal rights, and protection from the government, legal systems, widespread access to education, food, shelter, and the other necessities of life. ( I recognize that not everyone has these various freedoms and luxuries but many/most people in the western world have at least some level of these.) Given all of this what does freedom really mean? Is it not the mark of the western world to take everything we have for granted and classify it under “living”, not “freedom”?

I believe that when you step back and look at the Jewish people there is no such thing as freedom or “living” without Israel. Freedom is the ability to be who you are no matter what. When you go to Israel for the first time, you realize Israel is the only place in the world where a Jew can have complete freedom and understanding. Even in religious or prominently Jewish communities in and outside of America, Jews are and will always be outsiders. Until you have the chance to take a trip or make aliyah, you may find it hard to understand what I am saying, but ask around, it is true. Religious or not, there is a way of Jewish life that differs from the secular world, and only in Israel can you live this life to the fullest. I would attempt to explain this concept more fully, however it is really something you need to experience from both sides — living or visiting Israel for an extended time as well as living outside of Israel in various communities around the world.

Living outside of Israel it is so easy to be jealous of the amazing country that so many of our family members live in and the true freedom they have achieved. We should all be thankful that Israel is around, a tiny little place that offers true freedom to all Jews for the past 60 years. I just hope that over the next 60 years Jews around the world (and all people) can experience this same freedom no matter where they are. With the happiness that comes from celebrating the 60th anniversary of Israel, it should not be forgotten that those living in Israel have been in a constant battle from the very beginning to keep this place, our place, a homeland for the Jewish people.