Lessons start Wednesday, January 19, and every two weeks after - come and find your inner sensual Lady. Burlesque is more about what you leave on and less about what you take off. We will teach you how to tease, how to become more confident and how to use your body.
It's an art for every size, every shape and every lady to learn. A lesson in undressin, starts at 8:00 SHARP! Recommend a tight black top and shorts or skirts with fishnet hose - don't forget your heels! Feather Boa's are Optional!
Ladies, lots of free drinks and lots of new confidence. In two weeks we will do another class in Sensual Dance - and teach you all about Sex Appeal. Come, learn, then practice your new arts on the totally unsuspecting men in your life. ENJOY YOUR SELF!
About a year ago the Food Network producers started a daunting mission: Find the best eats in America. Adding to the pressure, Good Eats' Alton Brown would unveil the winners in a special Food Network series. Thousands of great restaurants, food trucks, bistros and bars were investigated. After many heated debates, the list was narrowed to 10 in each of four categories, one of them - Destinations. The lists were handed off to Agent Brown who approached the picks with his usual skepticism. Who are the finalists? Well one of them is ICEBAR Orlando! We made the top 10 in Destinations of America's Best. The Number 1 spots will be announced on September 21st at 9:00 pm on Food Network TV.
"BEST PLACE TO CHILL OUT" one of the Top 10 Destinations in America - says Food Network, "These incredible spots are worth a trip"
So, make you plans, come to the BEST in AMERICA..... ICEBAROrlando
To experience the Thrill of the Chill is old hat for our Russian friends. On Thursdays at Icebar we have the best Russian night in Florida. Here is the flyer, they change guest DJ's and have a new one from Mother Russia coming next week. These are some lovely ladies, and serious dudes here and they love to party inside the icebar. We love our Ruskies. We even have a Russian speaking bartender, you gotta see this!
INSIDE the Icebar or in the FIRE Lounge it's Cool, then it's HOT HOT HOT!!!
Holy Salsa! We have been having a great time at the monthly LMP Promotions party at Icebar. So good, in fact, that we are starting a weekly event, here's the ad, and you can see photos of all the happy guests on their site. Come have a great time - heck I might even learn to do the dance! Here is where all the pictures are: http://www.lomaximoproductions.com/pics.php
Amazing drink specials, European Bottle Service at $100 and drink specials all night. You gotta BE HERE FOR THIS PARTIIIIIIIII
When the chicks were small, it was important for one of the adults to always be around to protect them from predators. Now as they get bigger, the chicks need increasingly large amounts of fish to maintain their growth, and both parents must now go to sea to catch enough fish to satisfy the chicks' increasing appetite.
Despite being only a few weeks old, the chicks are now nearly as big as Ice Ice Baby, and need a lot of food.
With both parents away from the nest for much of the time, the chicks get more adventurous, and begin leaving the nest on their own. This makes it easier for us to take photos, and I now attach a photo of the chicks.
Although the chicks are now nearly as big as Ice Ice Baby, they still have a lot of growing to do. It will be about 4 to 6 weeks before they are ready to go to sea on their own.
First they need to shed out the soft fluffy feathers which you can see in the photo. These fluffy feathers are excellent at keeping the chicks warm when they are dry, but they are useless in the water. These feathers are not waterproof, and would soak up water like a sponge if the chicks went into the water, making it impossible for the chicks to swim.
So over a period of about three weeks the fluffy feathers fall out and are replaced by sleek waterproof feathers. These new feathers are just like those of Ice Ice Baby, except that the markings are different. The chicks will not develop the markings of the adults until they are 5 years old, and this change in markings indicates to other penguins that they are mature enough to take a partner and begin rearing chicks of their own.
The five years it takes to reach maturity are necessary for the chick's body to develop full muscle strength and stamina, and for the chick to become a master at catching fish. Without years of practice to become an expertise fish-catcher, the young penguin would not be able to catch enough fish for its chicks, and any other penguin pairing up with such a young penguin would be unlikely to be successful at raising chicks either. It is for this reason that the juveniles only develop adult plumage when they reach 5 years of age, to prevent other penguins from pairing up with inexperienced penguins.
The other change that the chicks need to undergo before going to sea, is the strengthening of their flipper muscles. The chicks have put down large deposits of fat over the last few weeks, which will be very important in providing the energy reserves they need to stay alive whilst learning to catch their own food.
But up until now the chicks have been confined to their nest with virtually no exercise, and their flippers have never been used, so the flipper muscles are small and weak.
Now that the chicks can wander out of the nest, they begin exercising their flippers, in order to strengthen their muscles. They can often be seen flapping their flippers up and down vigorously, as though they are excited at the prospect of getting into the ocean. The strength and stamina of their flipper muscles will be very important for the speed they will need to catch food when they begin life on their own in a few short weeks.
The chicks are very sociable, and mix with chicks from adjacent nests. Just as children go out to play with their friends, so too penguin chicks seek out other chicks for company, and it is common to find four or six chicks all in the same burrow. The adults do not mind other chicks visiting their burrow (it provides extra protection for their chicks against predators), but they never let other adults enter their burrow.
This season has been very dry, with very little rain, and this has led to differing fortunes for our colonies. Our penguins in Argentina have benefited from the reduction in rain, and chick survival rates have been high there this season.
The low rain fall has not really affected the vegetation there, which comprises mostly of drought-resistant thorn bushes, with deep root systems that seek out moisture during drought. The penguins use these bushes as cover for their nests, since the soil is too sandy to support burrows..
However here on Magdalena Island in Chile there are no bushes. The vegetation is short grass and small flowering plants, with relatively shallow roots, growing over a sandy soil. These have suffered badly from the drought, and most of the vegetation has died off leaving bare soil. The wind turns this loose sandy soil into dust storms, which in some areas are so severe that they bury the entrance of the burrows, with the penguins still inside.
Ice Ice Baby and the other adults are wise enough and strong enough to dig out the soil that comes into the burrow, but the chicks are not. They very often retreat to the back of the burrow, unaware that they are being sealed into their own tomb by the storm. Recently we have had to dig out several burrows to rescue the chicks trapped inside. If it were not for the burrow markers we use to name the penguins, many of the burrows would have completely vanished from sight.
Rain is desperately needed to restore the short grass cover, which in turn is needed to stabilise the soil in order to secure the long-term future of these penguins.
The chicks will begin leaving the colony in a few weeks, and I will write to you again when that exodus begins.
The coolest NYE party in Orlando, and possibly the entire nation is here! 50 tons of ice, and MORE! New sculptures, an amazing Penguin Pizz luge, Meet "Chip" the new bear.
Eat, Drink, Dance, be Merry.
Go to www. Icebarorlando.com for the rest of the story and join us for a COOL party.
We have the decorations, the lights, the Hottest DJ, the coolest drinks, the Iciest glasses, and the best champagne. Can't find a more luxurious lounge, or hotter Ice Princesses to help ring in the new year.
Aaron Costic of International Ice Carving fame, finished a new bear for us yesterday. This is what we have been waiting for!!! It is a 6'5" standing Polar Bear with one paw up, and already has instant success with Icebar Guests. We have moved and updated all the sculptures and added a new shelf for displaying some of the new an amazing vodkas we are featuring. The bear was made from 8 blocks of ice, frozen together starting out at 2,400 pounds! After the carving, I think he probably weighs close to a ton. This is a BIG FELLA.
Aaron started by stacking the blocks and we will get the video up so you can see how it was done. Really fun to watch him work. We also had a film crew from the International Drive Travel website come and take some movie shots. That should be great publicity for us and for Aaron. I am considering going to take a class in carving from Aaron's studio in Cleveland, but have to wait until it is not so darn cold!!!
I am a Florida native, and really don't like much snow... so why am I operating an icebar? Good question! It's FUN, people SMILE when they see it, and it makes me Feel GOOD! Besides, I get to taste test all the new recipes, like the one below.
Along with Diamond Standard Vodka, we have just tasted the 4 Orange Vodka made from Florida Oranges! This is, I believe, the first vodka distilled from Oranges. After the oranges are squeezed for juice the skins and pulp are made into molasses which is distilled to make the great tasting and quite aromatic vodka. We are trying a new drink with our ice glass that has a sugar rim! Then the orange vodka and a splash of fresh limeaid for an "Florida Orange Freeze". YUM YUM.
Here's the bear -and we are designing another bar to be installed in the future! Let us know what you like, and any suggestions.
Oh, Yeah, it's Florida Classic Weekend November 19 - 21. Icebar has secured some great hosts and sponsors to make every night a great memory. Thursday, the Motown Mixer with all alumni invited, sponsored by Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Beta Sigma will have a bus running from the Rosen Center to the Icebar starting at 9:00. Friday, the Motown Mash up with DJ David Z and DJ Cize spinning Dance tunes all night. Come and hear your favorite tunes. Saturday! MOTOWN CLASSIC PARTY - Sponsored by Hennessy Cognac - FREE bottle with every VIP purchase. This is IT! Best party in town, this is the place to show off your wheels and your heels. Free parking, Free entry for ladies before 11, 2-4-1 Premium for gents, specials all night.
We are now featuring Diamond Vodka in the icebar and in our VIP packages. If you have not tasted this marvelous brew that is filtered through DeBeers diamonds you must come. We have absolutely the best prices around, and they are a sponsor of Icebar. It is GREAT STUFF! We have a special martini made with white grape juice that will chill you out!
“Our Diamond Filtered patented process is an industry first.We utilize over six hundred cut diamonds of up to one carat in size to purify our vodka.Our innovative process creates vodka with the silkiest and most subtle of palettes and is simply the most exquisite mass market vodka available anywhere.Our filtration system took over three years to perfect.Its yield is 750 carats of liquid elegance since each and every drop has been individually Kissed by Diamonds.” http://diamondbeverages.com/
Icebar Orlando has been practicing our Flair. We have had Devin from Rockstar Bartenders show us some cool tricks, and we have made up a few of our own. A couple of weeks ago Devin filmed another episode of his bar-tending lessons at Icebar and we wanted to share it with you. He is amazing, has a great smile and I can swear that no liquor comes out when he slings those bottles.
I have almost mastered one small trick, and we are all working on doing what is called "working flair" That means you do it while still pouring drinks for a crowd without slowing down. We have also been practicing good bar-tending skills.
For me, never having been behind a bar until we owned one, it has been a lot of fun learning how to craft drinks. My most recent was a very Classic Martini.
I can truly say I have never had a classic martini, and I LOVE them! Wow, what a difference the skill to pour the right way makes. Here's the recipe, and the technique to do it at home.
Properly chill a stemmed martini glass (that means fill it with ice and water and let it get very cold) then pour out the water.
Put 1/2 ounce of dry vermouth in the glass and swirl it around to coat the inside of the glass, dump it out.
Fill a shaker 1/2 full of crushed ice and add 3-4 ounces of Bombay Sapphire Gin. (I use a pretty large martini glass) Stir for one minute to dilute some of the ice and make the gin very cold. Don't shake!
Strain gin into glass. Take a lemon peel and twist it over the gin to allow some of the oil to fall down on top of the gin. Throw peel away.
Add two olives on a pick. Just two, don't be greedy!!!!
That's it!. The perfume of the lemon oil, the tiny bite of the vermouth and the chill of the Bombay - Awesome!
Note: If you use vodka, it is a gibson, not a martini. The only martini is made with gin!
Now watch Devin make a cosmo - You can do this at home, too. We'll do more classic cocktails this week. Icebar is making a new menu for those of us who don't drink drinks just to be blind drunk - we are reviving the Civilized Cocktail Hour at Icebar. Come join us, especially on Sunday for cool jazz as we "wine" down the week.
This month we are designing the new sculptures and theme for Icebar Orlando. Aaron Costic, our amazing sculptor will be available the second week of September to do 4 days of carving and installation. We are tentatively working on the ANIMALS OF THE COLD as the new theme. We have plans for a replacement polar bear, standing up this time, and some Eskimo's with no faces so you can put yours in for a photo, like this: There are also Narwhales, Penguins, Arctic Fox and Hare, Snowy Owl, Seals of all kinds, and the leopard is my personal favorite (see post below), there are also orca whales, albatross and a lot of other kinds of creatures. What is your favorite? Let us know what you think (other than you think I draw funny!)
We are also offering our liquor partners the opportunity to participate in branding of our sculptures and the new bar. I created a power point presentation, and in doing the research am totally in awe of how many people atually visit our website, see us on television and read about us in blogs and articles. We have, this month, two new videos, one on nbc's Travelscoot and another on an English travel site. We also taped a segment for a new website being developed called The Information Network. We will be taping for ION tv a program called Southern Bike Nights which will feature us in a bike-friendly look at Orlando. We continue to get weekly requests for photos and information and interviews.
The result?? BUSINESS IS GOOD!!!!
For that, we thank our guests, and our great Icebar team.
I went South as far as I could go, it was cool, well actually it was unbelievably cold. This is my story.
In my life travel has been a passion. I have now been officially to 137 countries, and not just to change planes. To experience the culture, to enjoy the differences, and mostly to taste the food and come to know the people. There are some good places I could stay forever, some places with no soul that were challenging just to visit, and some places that lit my imagination like a rocket.
Antarctica! The South Pole! A pure white covering of ice over the very beginning of the earth. The core of Gondwanaland. Frozen mountains, Katabatic winds that blow up to 150 miles per hour, a sky of endless sun and endless dark, and the South Pole space station, in search of the origin of the Universe. Imagine yourself in the midst, all alone in the world's most brutal place. It is the highest, coldest, stormiest, driest, windiest place on the earth, and far away from any civilized life. What would it be like, and what would you be like in it? Would you survive? Would you cope? Would it change your life forever?
In this world of instant gratification, immediate global communication, streaming video of every facet of life there seems not much left to explore, to find, to discover. TV shows fly around the world on a racing adventure, anyone can raft the Amazon, we've been to the moon, to caverns far below the surface, I guess we have been there, done that everywhere.
Or, wait, have we? There is a huge difference between looking at a picture and actually standing in the spot. I think that only in the physical experience can we truly know where we are, and where we are going.
When you put your hand into the water in iceberg alley you can feel what the seals and penguins feel when they swim. You can have your guide yell "Get your hand back in the boat" at the top of his lungs, and wonder why until a leopard seal at least 10 feet long pops up to see where his snack went. PHEW! In a 12' zodiac inflatable boat you are on the water and part of the wildlife. The small motor is a huge attraction for penguins who love to swim and jump in the wash of the propeller, and the leopard seals follow to find their next of the eight penguins a day they eat. As you sit very still on the cold and rocky shore two juvenile penguins come to check you out, nudging each other forward until one thinks that jumping into your lap is a good idea, and you are not sure that he isn't after your eyes - so you shoo him away, gently, and he hops off to tell his parent. You watch with horror as a bird large enough to be a nightmare snatches a baby penguin for its supper. You also watch as the penguins snuggle their young and cuddle their mates.
Reality is not on TV, get out there and see it for yourselves. More on Antarctica tomorrow, then the North Pole!
Advertising and Marketing are part of every product. At ICEBAR Orlando we have had the pleasure of working with some great advertising minds, and we have had the pain of working with some who just thought they were great. After our latest experiment, a real bust, we decided to refine our advertising with what we knew felt good to US. The result? Here she is, our Blue Ice Princess. We'd like to know what you think about her.
While we know that "sex sells", we are also part of the Orlando family of tourist venues and for that reason don't want to be overly suggestive. We did want to show that being at Icebar Orlando is fun and also let guests know that we do have the best Ice Princesses that Orlando can offer. Please give us your comments, we appreciate any thoughts and suggestions. Ice Blue Princess will also be part of our upcoming Ice Princess Calendar, which we are shooting very soon. We have found our photographer, and our Ice Princess team is excited to be part of this opportunity. Just have to find a great publisher to make it happen. We'll keep you posted, and hope you let us know how we are doing.
At the crack of day this morning the Icebar team opened early to meet FOX news 35 Entertainment maven Christine Van Blockland for a live taping of our ICEBAR. This had been scheduled three times, but today there was no news more worthy and we were LIVE.
Omar, the camera guru, set up shop at 6:00 AM. His truck, looking like a van from space, cranked up a tower about 30' tall and snaked wires out to hook us all up to the towers LIVE. Interestingly we OOPS "lost the feed" on one segment, and seems like we were being beamed to a tower in Sanford, which was a little too far, but the Hunters' Creek tower was down, and so we were transferred to the Bithlo tower. I did not know there were so many from which to choose. Omar was truly a one man crew with an amazing array of wires, batteries, microphones, cameras, tripods and other magic gear than seemed to appear and reappear while he effortlessly filmed with a camera that had to weigh 35 pounds. Great job, Omar, and THANK you for making us look good.
Christine Van Blockland, star of Fox 35 Entertainment, and "ASK Christine", is a tiny dynamo. She and our Ice Princess Tristen are the same size, I think they claim to be 5' tall, but from my clogs it looked a little like a "tall tale".
Christine talks, energetically and FAST. She is an upbeat whirlwind at 6 am. First fixing her hair and makeup, she cheerfully let us throw capes over her head and then even asked for an Ice Princess fur headband. (Note to self: Christine would make a great Ice Princess should she ever decide to leave the world of TV). She walked us through the process of being on live TV, and told us she would give us about a 10 second warning... that seemed long enough, and we spent the next two hours mostly waiting for the next shot.
It was fun, we had a good time, and when we were taping inside Christine told our guys at the side bar that since it was morning TV they could toast with the ice glasses, but not drink, because we wanted to be careful not to show alcohol consumption. She didn't tell the Ice Queen, so when it was my turn, Hey! I DRANK! It was water with blue curacao just to show some color, but Sean our Ice Bartender, put real vodka down the luge, so I got my first drink of the day quite early! The one thing that seemed to be a problem was our drink names. We serve Seal Bite, which is red, Thin Ice, which is green, Yellow Snow (you figure it out), and our signature cocktail, Penguin Pizz.
The Pizz part gave them a lot of angst. Christine just could not bring herself to say the word, so she said, hey, the drink comes out like a Penguin PEZ !!! The anchor said HUH!
This was fun, we look forward to seeing ourselves on the news, and you can see it at: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/mornings/072109icebar
Saturday the 18th of July is the 3rd Saturday, and another JADE Event at Icebar Orlando. This groups parties have been a mainstay for the local crowd enjoying the Icebar and the Fire Lounge. With the sponsorship of Godiva Chocolate this month, and the birthdays of Ernest Wilson, Sophia Jones and DJ Saxwell we expect to have a great crowd.
We roll out the red carpet, crank up the volume and welcome everyone with FREE champagne at the door and $2.00 per glass for this months' Birthday Celebrations.
The music, a creative combination of r & b, hip hop, top 40's will be mixed by DJ Saxwell and guest DJ Dr. Doom, who won the Jacksonville "People's Choice" award. A night to dance under the Nordic lights in the Fire Lounge.
With specials like $5.00 Long Island Ice Tea, $2.00 Domestic Draft, and $100 bottles with VIP service you are sure to be treated like loyalty by our Ice Princess and Icebar Team. The doors open at 9 pm and don't close until the wee hours.
A sell out is expected, so come early to get in, and it's for the grown ups only tonight, you must be 21 and dressed to impress..
In the past we have had many celebrities make appearances at Icebar Orlando, recently, Marcus Jordan came for a birthday party, we have had boxers, pro football players, basketball players, arena football players, and even a film star and producer. You never know who will show, so come, see,and be seen at the premier red carpet event of July.
We adopted our first penguin from the wonderful folks at http://www.penguins.cl/. The name of the penguin is Ice Ice Baby. This International Penguin Conservation Workgroup has the cooperation of many of the best penguin research and conservation organizations and is a collaborative effort that will benefit all the habitats.
Did you know? Penguins can run faster than most men, and swim faster than most fish! Skeletons have been found that are about 50 million years old. These guys are designed to be the best fishermen in the world. While penguins are perfectly adapted to the environment in which they live, they are less able to cope with alterations of the environment brought about by commercial fishing, oil pollution and coastal development.
We'll be working to help make changes in the dangerous practices of some folks that are threatening the penguin existence. You can help! Adopt your own penguin, or just join us at Icebar Orlando on any Sunday where we feature Little Penguin Wine and donate all proceeds to Arctic and Antarctic preservation.
Testing new shots for our Icebar Orlando shot menu is hard work, but heck, the Ice Queen is up to the challenge…. I left out all the ones with objectionable names, hey, we’re in Orlando!
ANTI FREEZE yuk
Ingredients:
2 fluid ounces or 6 centilitres of Vodka 1 fluid ounce or 3 centilitres of Midori Splash of Sprite
This is actually awful tasting.Even with the smooth Pinnacle Vodka.Maybe I should wait longer after I brush my teeth.
AMARETTO CHILLgood, sweet needs a lemon twist
Ingredients:
1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Vodka 1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Amaretto 1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Lemonade Mix 1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Pineapple Juice
Instructions:
Shake with ice and strain into a 2 ounce shooter glass.
AVALANCHEYUMMYmight make a good sweet martini with some vodka YUP, chocolate pinnacle is jist right Just add the Pinnacle Chocolate Vodka and the martini is VERY GOOD
Ingredients:
1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Kahlua 1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Creme de CacaoI used white godiva
1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Southern Comfort
Pour the peppermint schnapps into a large shot glass. Layer the Southern Comfort on top of it. Light the Southern Comfort on fire but blow it out before you drink it! ALWAYS USE CAUTION WITH FIRE
