Buried Treasure Found in Galveston

According to reports in the Houston Chronicle, a bobcat operator engaged in hurricane clean-up at Galveston Island State Park uncovered a metal ammunition box containing buried treasure. The contents of the box, which included jewelery, coins and currency also contained information enabling the finder to identify the treasure's owner. According to the Chronicle, the true owner is serving time on charges for intoxication assault but is due to be released in April. Arrrgh

Champagne Chairs

Classic furniture etailer, Design Within Reach, is still accepting entries into this year's annual Champagne Chair Contest until Friday January 9th. Under the rules, entrants must design and build a miniature chair entirely out of champagne corks, cages, foil and label (metal plaque) - actually all materials other than the glass are fair game, from up to two bottles. Chairs must not be larger than 4". Chairs must be an original design and not a replica of someone else's design. Arrrrgh!!

Treasure Quest Heading To Discovery Channel

Starting on January 15, 2009 at 10:00pm Eastern, the Discovery Channel will premiere a new show about underwater shipwreck treasure hunters from Odyssey Marine Exploration. Arrrrgh!

British Claim to Inventing Champagne

For centuries, credit for inventing the méthode champenoise was traditionally given to Dom Pérignon, and to France. Now, however, a British researcher claims that the credit should be given to an English scientist by the name of Christopher Merrett. According to the Times Online, James Crowden, author of a book on the history of cider, Merrett described how to make sparkling wine in a paper presented to the Royal Society in the year 1632. This would upset the French claim, but would also be surprising, since the Royal Society was not founded until 1660. Arrrgh!

Champagne Preservation

If you find yourself unable to finish what you've started, you can now indefinitely preserve your opened bottles of Champagne. Many wine connoisseurs will be familiar with the Cruvinet system for wine preservation, which uses nitrogen gas to prevent oxidization of an opened bottle of wine. The Perlage system is similar, but uses carbon dioxide to both prevent oxidization and to re-pressurize the Champagne, preventing the loss of dissolved carbon dioxide (the source of those tiny bubbles, sometimes refered to as "perlage." Systems are available for residential and restaurant uses, with prices for the residential system starting at around $300. Of course, any Pirate worthy of the name would never need something like this. Arrrgh!

Sexy Pirates

Lingerie manufacturer, Agent Provocateur has launched a new Pirates Collection and an ad campaign under the banner Season of the Pirates. The campaign features renowned supermodel and cheese addict Helena Christensen. Arrrrrgh!

Quantum of Bollinger

I hope the film is cooler than this... For a mere $5,765.00 you too can own one bottle of Bollinger and this James Bond souvenir which doubles as a small safe and a wine cooler. Only 207 will be made, so act fast. Arrrgh.