The Ten Commandments. The Golden Rule. The Prime Directive.

There are always lists, guiding principles and ideals for conducting oneself — in life, in relationships and even in space. So in that spirit, here’s Fuego’s list of five things every man shouldn’t be without:

Five real man essentials:

1. One expensive pen: From the board room to signing personal checks, you can’t be caught with the Bics. An expensive, nice pen communicates style, good taste and makes you stand out. Recommended brands: Waterman, Mont Blanc, Cross.
2. Shiny shoes: Key for first impressions. For some reason, 99% of human beings look at the floor after meeting someone new. Make sure they see their reflection in your shoes. Click here for a resource we like.
3. A quality timepiece: A good watch complements suits, blazers and jeans — communicating prestige, style and everything else. Make it stainless steel, too. We recommend Movado, Rolex, Omega and certain Fossil models.
4. A good lighter: This one might be a little outdated, but even if you don’t smoke it can be a survival tool — both in the clubs and in the wild. One can never go wrong with a Zippo.
5. Fitted shirts: Is your nickname ‘billows?’ Even if you don’t have Daniel Craig’s frame, ditch the shirts resembling Glad trash bags and, at the very least, get some ’sport fit’ button-downs.

Classic beauty never dies: Audrey Hepburn gallery
…neither do beautiful pictures…

One can’t argue with classic beauty. Here’s a taste of Audrey in her hey-days — meaning her entire life.

The gallery spans from the 1950s to the 1990s and shows both on-set, staged and impromptu stills.

The Audrey Hepburn Gallery

The three-day rule is obsolete
Undoing an old pickup tactic

Every woman is now aware of the three-day rule and expects every average chump to play coy and not call her for “at least” three days.

It’s Friday, you finish work late and you’re in a hurry. Your friend’s having a dinner party and you said you’d bring the wine. The stakes are high because the workplace hottie will be there, too.

What’s a classy guy to do? Pick a wine with a cool label at a lame convenience store?

The answer is no. You can do better. You’re a classy guy.

Building up a personal repertoire of wine is essential for countless reasons – evolving your personal taste, general knowledge – but mostly for sharing wine with your friends.

I recommend building a personal list of a few wines that you like and want to share with your friends. Part of doing this is knowing where to buy wine on the fly – or you could even stockpile a case of it. Either way, never let the answer to “why’d you pick this one?” be “the dude at the gas station recommended it.”

And when you share it with friends (especially the ladies), they learn something too – both about you and the wine. So pick something you like. Make it personal.

I’ll give you a few value wines to get you going, but promise me you’ll also start some of your own hunting – alright?

You can begin a trusting relationship with your wine store as soon as they recommend to you one that you end up liking. Then go back and give some feedback so that same person can recommend something more attuned to your tastes.

That method is exactly how I found these at The Anderson’s General Store. They publish wine notes and have email alerts. Their wine department is fully loaded, not just with great wines, but also wine experts. They taste what they buy, and when they find a great small batch or closeout, they buy it all. A truly great wine operation.

The recommendations

Start exploring lesser known South American mega-value wines, which you can find here. I highly recommend Veramonte vineyard wines from Chile, too.

The Cabernet in particular works for so many foods it’s a major hit for under $10. It alone proves that South America rocks for value. For about double the price, Primus comes from the same vineyard with the same value status.

You can really help people enjoy their wine by doing your homework in advance. Your friends (especially your female friends) will enjoy hearing why you picked the wine and toast your role in a great evening. So make it happen.

Expert opinion contributed by JH, an entrepreneur, educator and wine aficionado from Ohio.

Mojito: the ultimate summer drink
Cubans gave the world more than cigars

Bond’s had one in Die Another Day (even though Brosnan was a little girly) and so has Sonny from Miami Vice. It’s the mojito, and it’s probably the most refreshing summer drink out there.

Before you get the simple and amazing drink recipe, here’s a quick background on mojitos:

• Has been compared to the American mint julep, but a Cuban version
• Was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway
• Said to have originated when Francis Drake tried to sack Havana in the 1500s
• Used to be made for medicinal purposes

And now, the recipe:

• 3 fresh mint sprigs
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 oz light rum
• Chilled club soda

In a tall thin glass (preferably a highball), crush part of the mint with a fork (or wooden dowel) to coat the inside. Add the sugar and lime juice and stir thoroughly. Top with ice. Add rum and mix. Top off with chilled club soda (or seltzer). Add a lime slice and the remaining mint, and serve.

Cigars. Every classy guy should at least know how to pick, smoke and identify one. This week we’ve got a useful and fun compact guide of (almost) everything cigar to appeal to both connoisseur and novice. Bonus: download Fuego’s compact cigar reference card to help you ID cigar shapes, color grades and top brands in the field. Slip it in your wallet for best results.

Every cigar is the result of three elements: body, size and rating.

The body is how strong the cigar is. From “take-your-head-off” extreme to full, medium and mild, pick something that tastes good but isn’t overwhelming. A full-bodied cigar could be considered by some to be strong but not necessarily flavorful — while the opposite could be true. It all depends on taste. But we hear “experienced” cigar smokers prefer full-bodied and flavorful smokes.

As for length, a cigar is always measured in inches and the most common is the 5.5-inch corona. See Fuego’s reference card for all of them. Diameter is measured by “ring,” which is 1/60th of an inch. So that same corona is measured as 5.5 x 42, or 42/60ths of an inch in diameter.

You can find cigar ratings in Cigar Aficionado, where obviously a higher score means a “better” cigar out of 100 points. In the end, a better cigar balances its aromas and flavors to give the smoker the most desirable taste.

A good place to start is Cigar Dave’s Cigar Draft — you’ll find 20 great cigars there.

Get smoking
So now it’s time to light up

There’s a reason why cigar lounges always give you wooden matches — it won’t taint the flavor. Stay away from gas lighters and paper matches for this reason. And you can take the label off once you’ve started smoking.

We’ll smoke a cigar ½ to ¾ of the way – after you’re ¾ of the way through the stick, the flavor starts to change.

There’s more to learn – you should check out this rundown on the parts of a cigar (wrapper, binders, filler) and Cigar Aficionado’s FAQ page.

That’s it. Now get yourself a smoke. And don’t forget to download Fuego’s wallet card for in-the-field intel.

We hear diets can be really painful.

But Tim Ferriss, the Four-Hour Workweek guy (which is a great book, by the way), has some Fuego-caliber rules for cutting fat, eating well and increasing muscle.

The Four Rules:

Rule 1: Avoid “white” carbs

• White bread
• Rice
• Potatoes
• Pasta
• Fried food with breading

Rule 2: Eat the same meals over and over again from these groups:

Proteins:

• Egg whites + a whole egg for flavor
• Chicken
• Grass-fed beef
• Pork

Legumes:

• Lentils
• Black beans
• Pinto beans

Vegetables:

• Spinach
• Asparagus
• Peas

Rule 3: Don’t drink calories (update: read our previous issue on low-cal beers)

Rule 4: Take a “vacation” one day per week (Ferriss calls this “Dieters Gone Wild” Day — a Saturday holiday)

Get your stupid face out of bed earlier
In other words, how to get out of bed when your alarm goes off

Steve Pavlina says getting up when your alarm goes off is all about repetition.

1. Reproduce your nightly sleep routine — whatever you do before you go to bed, do this with your room as dark as it gets.
2. Set your alarm for a few minutes ahead and zone out the best you can. You’re faking going to sleep, but don’t think about faking it.
3. When the alarm goes off, turn it off as fast as you can, then take a deep breath and stretch out all your limbs. Then do the next thing you’d do if you were waking up.
4. Perform this procedure over a period of days, just like reps at the gym. Pavlina recommends “one or two sets per day at different times…and perhaps 3-10 reps each time.”
5. Make this a daily habit and a pattern. That way you’ll stop beating yourself up for waking up late, and it won’t be just willpower getting you out of bed every morning.

A quick estimate: if you oversleep 30-60 minutes a day, you’re missing out on 180 to 365 hours a year — nine 40-hour weeks!

Miller Lite’s man laws. The manly Texas Double Whopper. Daniel Craig as James Bond.

Part of society is realizing (again) that men can’t be tamed and shouldn’t apologize for what makes a man…a man.

As Johnny Diaz of the Boston Globe wrote, we’re witnessing a “menaissance,” which consists of the following rules when dealing with women:

1. Don’t be intimidated
2. Rejection of sexual blackmail
3. Keep your wallet closed
4. Assert yourself
5. Don’t be a dick
6. Don’t apologize for being a man
7. Expect respect

Nobody likes an AMOG
Get rid of toolish “cockblockers”

Sometimes he’s a jock. Other times he’s the best-dressed guy in the room. Or perhaps just the biggest.

In every situation, he’s got one thing in common — he’s the jackass that attempts to get between you, a lady friend, or even a girlfriend.

He thinks he’s funny, but he’s not. He thinks he’s the “alpha male of the group” — an AMOG.

Here are some methods to shut him down, shut him up and go home with the girl. Or just shut him up.

1. Act polite while disinterested to him but charming to the crowd around you. This lowers his perceived value and causes him to qualify himself to increase lost value.
2. Two words carry endless value: “Cool, man.” Say this and then turn your attention away from him. He won’t know how to react.
3. Don’t jump through hoops — take any challenge and reverse it back on him.

Remember when enterprising elementary school teachers would teach you lame acronyms to help you learn long lists — which ended up only being useful in Trivial Pursuit tournaments? Those days are long over, but we actually found something worth committing to your memory banks.

It’s called the “power foods” acronym, a collection of 12 foods meant to power up your eating for your active or sloth-like lifestyle. Eat at least six of them a day and you’ll not only get healthier, but they’ll power up your workouts and give you more energy. Now THAT packs a punch.

Meet ABSDIETPOWER:

1. Almonds (or other nuts)
2. Beans (or other legumes)
3. Spinach
4. Dairy
5. Instant oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Turkey (or other lean meats)
8. Peanut butter
9. Olive oil
10. Whole grains
11. Extra-protein powder (whey)
12. Raspberries (or other berries)

As seen in Men’s Health 2007 issues.

Bonus: “Control Your Cravings” with this daily meal plan and watch your calories plummet to pygmy proportions.

Power up your happy hours
Arm yourself with this little-known beer knowledge

When you go out and live it large with your coworkers, you need not forget that you can power up even with your tasty brews.

Fuego has gone on the hunt and found the five healthiest and the five meatiest beers — so while you’re powering up, you’ll still be able to keep that two-pack you spent years cultivating.

We judge the following beers by calories and carbs.

1. Amstel Light (99 calories, 5 carbs)
2. Yuengling Light (98 calories, 7 carbs)
3. Stella Artois (140 calories, 13 carbs)
4. Beck’s Dark (146 calories, 11 carbs)
5. St. Pauli Girl (148 calories, 10 carbs)

The Top Five Meatiest

1. Anchor Porter (209 calories, 23 carbs)
2. Sierra Nevada Stout (210 calories, 19 carbs)
3. Sam Adams Cream Stout (194 calories, 24 carbs)
4. Red Hook IPA (188 calories, 13 carbs)
5. Michelob Honey Lager (175 calories, 18 carbs)

Bonus: Curious about how your favorite brew fares? Get the nutritional lowdown here.

Power up your tools
Everybody likes some good hardware

Nobody uses a hammer to actually hammer anymore. These days they’re mostly used to claw drywall or take out cockroaches. So here we found something that allows you to break stuff without losing your sense of style.

A beautiful woman. A potential sales lead. A possible business partner.

Ease the occasional difficulty of bringing new people into your life by eliminating “approach anxiety.” Relationship expert and consultant Jonathon Hudson says it’s just a matter of exuding the right vibe.

Hudson says to “think about a person in your life who makes you smile” before opening a conversation. By exuding the happiness you feel about them, you’ll find that starting new conversations will become easier.

Need some more comfort? The “person you’re approaching is as nervous about bringing a new person into your life as you are.” Lead the interaction, and it’s your job to start things off on the right foot — with a “happy vibe and energy.”

What’s the difference between Sunni and Shia?
What everyone’s been talking about all this time

You probably hear about this every day, but you’ve never taken the time to answer this question — what’s the difference between the Sunni and the Shia?

Sunni and Shia are the two dominant sects of Islam. It matters because their differences can be tied to years of violence, which stem from a disagreement over who should lead Islam after Muhammad’s death.

Memorize this and maybe you won’t pull a “Reyes” when you’re asked the question.

Tuck in your shirt…the right way
Do this, and don’t look fat

For best results, start with a fitted or tapered dress shirt — it’ll eliminate the excess fabric that builds up around your waist.

Copy this from Hillary Clinton’s thesis
“Power is not only what you have, but what your enemy thinks you have.”

We don’t get political here at Fuego, but one of Hillary Clinton’s inspirations, Saul Alinsky, has a list of power tactics that read like a modern day Sun Tzu.