Manducation: A Beginners Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whiskey

On the continuum of alcoholic drinks, with girly drinks¹ on one side and manly drinks on the other, single malt scotch is without question the manliest alcoholic beverage of them all.While once a linchpin of every man’s collection, occupying prime real estate in liquor cabinets across America, the popularity of scotch declined during the ‘80s and ‘90s as men got in touch with their sensitive sides.

Thankfully, those days are over; men are rediscovering their manly sides and the popularity of scotch is on the rise once again.

Considering the innate manliness of scotch, and Ploomy’s never-ending quest to bring men what they need to know, please read the following primer carefully. Not only will it help you achieve your full man potential, but it will also keep you from looking like an idiot when all your buddies go through their inevitable “scotch phase.”

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Ploomy Girl #7: Hot Mama’s

Felicia, Ploomy Girl #7 is San Francisco’s premier pancake queen. She basically grew up in the restaurant her family started (Mama’s). At this point in her life, the 27-year old has done everything from wait tables to flip pancakes. And for the record, she prefers flipping pancakes. She can hold her own in Mama’s kitchen, which means she’s speedy with a spatula and can swear coherently in English and Spanish. You don’t see too many female line cooks out there, so we love the fact that she’s mixing things up. She starts her days early, hopefully getting all the baking for the restaurant done by the time they open at 8am, then, a couple of days a week she cooks in the line. Between that and pastry school, she spends most of her time in an apron, covered head-to-toe in flour (it gets messy). We recently caught up with her at the restaurant to see what was cooking. We fed her a few lines to get her to take off the apron…but yeah she wasn’t having it.

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Economesst.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from “Master Banker.” Check out more of his writing here. To submit your own piece and have thousands of people read your words, click here.

Economesst.

The state of the markets is fucked. From my 900-pound mahogany desk in midtown I write, frustrated with financials and angry with oil. Inflation is on her broomstick and the only thing ‘experts’ tell people to buy is commodities and the contradictory everything-green. The last several months can be described as a big long panic, spattered with spells of euphoria—a lot like a night out in Bushwick. Luckily for the disciplined, panic is what to buy. Read more

10 Music Sites Not Owned By Viacom (or big business for that matter)

Just before the Independence Day weekend, media giant Viacom won a legal victory over YouTube that set off fireworks across the Internet. The July 1st ruling essentially marked Viacom’s acquisition of 12 terabytes of YouTube user data with the intention to infringe on the public’s privacy in pursuit of copyright litigation. After a privacy fiasco like this, you can’t help but wonder about popular media websites and their link to big business: after all, Viacom owns Last.fm and MP3.com while live event giant Ticketmaster is a part-owner of iLike. Here’s a list of 10 music sites not owned by big business. Read more

The 12 Types of Pickup Basketball Players: Which Type Are You?

If you regularly play pickup basketball, then you can immediately recognize a certain kind of player. Go to any gym or playground across America, and you’ll probably notice most of these types of “ballers” [disclaimer: this term is used very loosely]. While you would want a few of these guys on your squad, most of them spend more time on the sidelines than the actual courts, as they’re typically on the losing squad and are quick to call next. Here are the 12 types of pickup basketball players. Read more

And the Winner of the Ploomy Writing Challenge is…

Last month we started the Ploomy Writing Challenge and we received numerous entries from around the world. We then picked 4 finalists and let the Ploomy readers decide the winners. And after all the votes were counted we’re happy to announce that the winner is James Blackmore. Congrats to James and thank you to all those that submitted and voted to make this contest a huge success!

1st Place: James Blackmore
7 Legendary Men Any Guy Could Look Up To
(average score: 4.35)

2nd Place: Sharon
Pursuit of Dating
(average score: 4.21)

3rd Place: Hamilton Wong
Overcoming the Money Crunch
(average score: 4.14)

Ploomy Girl #6: Saved by the ClaraBelle

Ploomy Girl #6 ClaraBelle is talented. No wait, let me rephrase that. Ploomy Girl #6 ClaraBelle is “bloody” talented. She’s our first international Ploomy Girl (lives in London) and we’re excited to have her on the site.

Raised in Osaka, Japan by a Scottish mother and a Japanese father, 25-year old Clara had a very unique upbringing. Her mother, dedicated to a world peace movement, named her for the “clarity” she would bring into the world (no pressure). After settling in Scotland for the latter part of her schooling, she then went on to study music in London where she now resides. And when you listen to her music, you realize she’s developed her own unique East meets West aesthetic. That’s probably because her grandparents surrounded Clara with the traditional island sounds and culture of their native Okinawa while her jazz-loving father and mother brought her up on a steady diet of The Carpenters, Carole King, Celtic music, and that little group The Beatles.

Although she’s been so busy in the studio recording her first album, we caught up with her so she could school us on what it’s like juggling a budding music career and being a music teacher. Read more

Manducation: How to Do Your Own Oil Change

We’ve all heard it before. Changing your cars engine oil regularly is one of the most important things you can do to extend the life of your vehicle. Sure that sounds great, but if you’re like us you really don’t want to hear that guy try to sell you on the air filter, the new windshield wipers or that transmission flush. Hear is a quick guide to help you do your own oil change.
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Ploomy Girl #5: Cin City, USA

Maybe it’s the southern hospitality, but there’s just something sexy about women from the South. Ploomy Girl #5 Cindy Lu from Atlanta, GA is no exception. This 23-year old recent nursing graduate is what we look for here at Ploomy. She’s got secret tattoos, dresses up for Halloween, loves giving guys shots (of the medical variety) and has also been known to tear up the dance floor. We caught up with this busy belle and got a few doses of that southern charm we keep hearing about. Read more