Picnics always look so appealing in the movies, like that scene in O Brother, Where Art Thou? where John Goodman breaks off the tree branch and starts swinging. But here in the real world, picnics take a lot of work and schlepping, and if you don’t have one of those deluxe picnic baskets an unspoken feeling of inadequacy can quickly turn that potato salad to sawdust in your mouth. Thankfully, there are a number of......

An Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund has acquired the Chrysler Building from a fund managed by Prudential Financial Inc. for an untold sum. It was learned last month that the Abu Dhabi group was considering buying a majority stake in the 1930 skyscraper for $800 million; Bloomberg news is now reporting that the deal is done. Middle Eastern investors have spent $1.8 billion this year buying commercial property in the U.S., more than other international......

Clearing up a legal gray area, state lawmakers have passed a bill regulating the sale of frozen dessert products made with wine, permitting the sale of ice cream and sorbet to anyone over the age of 21. The bill limits the alcohol content to 5 percent by volume and requires warning labels – even though it would take two gallons of wine ice cream or one pint of wine sorbet to equal one glass of......

The new Joker action figure modeled after the late Heath Ledger has started arriving in stores and is reportedly flying off the shelves, as toy collectors scoop up as many of the snuff toys as they can get their hands on. After completing filming on The Dark Night, Ledger died in January from a prescription drug overdose. As expected, the merchandise being released in his likeness has become a hot item. Eager consumers lined up......