If you’ve seen the current "Cocktail" in the March issue of Spirit, you may wonder why we thought it was a good idea to make a milkshake with Guinness beer, using the recipe from the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. Personally, I’ve had a Guinness shake—several of them, actually—and it’s really not bad. Plus it greatly exceeds the minimum daily requirements for two important food groups: ice cream and beer.

All our drinks are shot by an Austin photographer, Adam Vorhees. Adam is a genius at shooting cold cocktails and frozen substances under hot lights and still making them look cold and frozen. This is actually the second beer-and-ice cream combo we’ve had him shoot. A couple years ago he did a beer float. How did he get the ice cream to look delicious after hours in hot beer? I’m not saying, but I’ll give you a hint: tampons. You’ll find the recipe—for the Guinness shake, that is—on the Spirit web site.

Another photographer performed a heroic act for our photo essay on the World Adult Kickball Association, “Not Just for Kicks.” Matthew Rainwaters shot a championship match in L.A. last year, and his photos are dramatic and funny at the same time. The shoot went fine until after the game, when Matthew tried to get some photos of the losing team. They had completely vanished. Apparently, the Valley Girls and the Guy Fawkes Conservatory (the co-ed teams' actual names) take the sport very, very seriously. So am I the only person burdened with post-elementary-school kickball trauma?

This month’s cover boy, the Food Channel’s Alton Brown, was much more cooperative. My favorite piece of Brownian cooking wisdom: “You don’t need to put anything on steak; isn’t it enough that the cow died?”

Finally, be sure and read our story on brand ambassadors if you haven’t yet. It contains a wealth of information, such as:

• The hottest category of marketing has to do with roping you and me into physically trying products.
• Motley Crue is still doing concerts.
• A coffee roaster for invalids went up for sale in 1851.
• Bluetooth marketed itself at the 2003 Consumer Electronics show in Vegas by hiring 150 models to walk around in sunglasses, talking to no one. A smashing success.

Personally, I’ve tried walking around mysteriously in sunglasses. My kids say I look like an idiot.