Latin Nights @ Icebar Orlando

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

The North Pole

This is our NEW EXPEDITION
Starting NOW!
Icebar has a great experience to share – a taste of the North Pole. OK, if you are from Minnesota or even Canada, you are still not at the North Pole!
This is the expedition for those who want to escape the ordinary, to taste and feel a new sensation, only available at ICEBAR…
BAR NORTH POLE EXPEDITION

WELCOME TO THE NORTH POLE! I’m your expedition guide.
Please be careful where you walk, you’re walking on water! Well, actually the NP is all water, it’s the Arctic ocean, but the top of it is frozen, so it’s an island made of ice. The ice is from 2 to 10 feet deep, but the bottom of the Arctic ocean is 13,000 meters below you!

Come on in, let me tell you the tales of the ARCTIC.. but First, have you decided which Top of the World cocktail you’d like for starters? We have the:

Chips Chilly Willy –
Yellow Snow
Arctic Breeze
And the world famous Penguin Pizz!
In a glass made of crystal pure ice – $10 and remember, refill the glass for only $5. Our glasses are completely recyclable, so we ask you leave them in the recycle container near the door. We only take pictures with us, and only leave footprints at the NP.
There is life up here, CHIP is our resident Polar Bear, the largest land animal in the Arctic, reaching up to 1300 pounds, he’s a very savvy predator. Hunted by Eskimos, I can tell you how they used to capture him without damaging the fur. They would chop a hole in the ice, line it with peas, wait until morning, and when the Polar Bear stopped to take a pea, they would kick him in the ice hole! HO HO HO, hey, that was a JOKE!.
For real, Polar bears have black skin to absorb the heat, and their fur hairs are hollow, giving them the best insulation in the world. Can you guess their weight when they are born? (1.3 lb.) They are the largest carnivore in North America and Polar bears occupy fast ice and pack ice habitats where their main pray, Ringed Seals, occur year-round. Females travel with their cubs for two to 3 years. Great endurance walkers and swimmers, these bears make seasonal migrations of between 1200 and 2500 miles across the ice and can swim 60 miles (100 km) in open water. They are fast runners, reaching speeds of 25-30 miles per hour. Females use dens throughout the winter and both males and females may construct dens for short term shelters to conserve energy when food is scarce.
Global Warming occurs in a cycle throughout history, today’s scientists have recorded lower temperatures in the Arctic and less ice, but whether this is an acceleration of the cycle is still under debate. Here at Icebar we support the Polar Foundation to help fund research and scientific analysis of ways to conserve our environment.
On the other side of the world, actually the bottom, we also fund penguin research, and this is a lifesize depiction of our adopted Magellanic Penguin whose name is Ice Ice Baby. Two chicks hatched this year, Ice has had a busy season in Chile, and we look forward to adopting the offspring when they are ready to have burrows of their own.
Hey, let’s try a quiz. The person who gets closest to the answer gets a free refill!
How far are we from the true geological North Pole????

ICE ICE BABY

ICE ICE BABY OUR ADOPTED PENGUIN - THE SAGA CONTINUES

It has been a difficult season here on Magdalena Island in Chile. The earthquake and after-shocks that recently struck Chile, occurred more than 2000 kilometres to the north of where we are based, so nobody here was directly affected. Nevertheless, the areas affected included the two principal cities in Chile (Santiago and Concepcion) and most people in Chile have family and friends in the affected areas, so the whole of Chile has been hit by the tragedy.

The penguins were not affected by the earthquake, and Ice Ice Baby's chicks have both left the colony to begin life on their own. But this year has been a mixed year for the penguins on Magdalena Island for other reasons. Food has been abundant, as usual thanks to the ban on commercial fishing, but lack of rain has caused the grass to die off across the island, causing the strong winds of the region to whip up the dry soil into dust storms. These dust storms completely buried some of the penguin burrows, and we were kept busy digging out chicks trapped inside their burrows.

The youngsters now face new challenges, as they begin life on their own. Throughout their young lives the chicks have had food brought to them by Ice Ice Baby, but now they are completely on their own, and must learn to do everything for themselves.

Having never even been to sea before, they must now learn where to find fish, and how to catch them.

Ice Ice Baby cannot go along to help, because the adults must now attend to their own needs. In about 4 weeks time the adults' feathers will fall out. This is perfectly normal. The old feathers fall out, and new ones grow back each year.

The process is called moulting , or molting, depending in what country you live in.

During the moult (molt) the penguins must remain on land, and since all their food is at sea, that means they are unable to eat during the 3 or 4 weeks of the annual moult. So the adults must now catch as much food as they can for themselves to build up the weight that they have lost during chick-rearing, so that they are well fed and in good condition to take on 3 or 4 weeks without food during the moult. That is why Ice Ice Baby cannot go with the chicks.

However the youngsters have received the best possible help that Ice Ice Baby could have given them. Firstly, just like a cat will chase anything small that moves in front of it, even a piece of string, the chicks automatic know to chase and catch anything small that they see moving in the water. This is called instinct.

It is like knowledge that is stored in the brain from the time of birth; knowledge that is there without having to be learnt, just waiting for the moment when it is needed.

Secondly, the layers of fat that the youngsters built up as chicks, thanks to all the fish that Ice Ice Baby fed them, now act as their food reserves, keeping the youngsters strong and healthy, as they master the art of catching fish for themselves.

The fatter the chick is when it leaves the nest, the longer it can go without food, as it learns to catch its own food. That is why a plentiful food supply during chick-rearing is so important to the penguins' survival, and why uncontrolled commercial fishing, like that which occurs around the Falklands, is so damaging.

Fortunately these chicks were raised in an area where the penguins are cared for, and so the chicks are fat and healthy, and have the best possible chance of making it on their own.

The adults feed on small fish, mostly a species called 'Sprattus fuegensis', but the chicks will eat whatever they can find to begin with, including squid, shrimps and other crustaceans. It will take many weeks for the young juveniles to build up the strength in their flipper muscles that the adults have, which will eventually give them the speed and stamina necessary to catch the fastest fish. Becoming a master fish catcher takes a long time.

Back in the colony, things are very quiet for the time being. The chicks have all left, and most of the adults are spending most of their time out at sea, feeding and building up their fat deposits ready for the annual moult. Once the adults finish their annual moult, they will follow the chicks northwards towards Brazil, on their winter migration. I will write to you again when Ice Ice Baby and our other penguins are getting ready to leave.

Best wishes

Mike