Archives for the 'Foolishness' Category
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How many lives for a blog?
This blog has died several times but the Twilight Zone just played the Happiness Arizona episode and suddenly it’s resurrected.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-debord12-2008may12,0,6289192.sto
A Momentous Occasion
Friend –
I’m about to take the stage in St. Paul and announce that we have won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
It’s been a long journey, and we should all pause to thank Hillary Clinton, who made history in this campaign. Our party and our country are better off because of her.
I want to make sure you understand what’s ahead of us. Earlier tonight, John McCain outlined a vision of America that’s very different from ours — a vision that continues the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.
But this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past and bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
It’s going to take hard work, but thanks to you and millions of other donors and volunteers, no one has ever been more prepared for such a challenge.
Thank you for everything you’ve done to get us here. Let’s keep making history.
Barack
Breathable Screw Cap
Associated Press
DAVIS - University of California, Davis students have invented a way to bottle wine that combines the breathability of cork with the reliability and convenience of a screw cap.
The invention won the university’s annual Big Bang business plan contest and $15,000 in startup funding this week.
The patent-pending design is a 5-cent plastic and metal disk beneath a screw cap. Like cork, the cap lets in just enough oxygen so the wine can age properly.
Winemaker and business school student Tim Keller says his team’s invention can be adjusted for different wines. For instance, pinot noir needs a little oxygen, while cabernet sauvignon needs a lot.
Vintners want cork alternatives because cork can produce a musty-smelling compound.
Holy Ship! He Signed It.
Effective July 1, Georgia residents may order up to 12 cases of wine a year from any winery in the country, including Georgia. Surprisingly, Sony Perdue signed House Bill 1061 into law on May 13 and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Georgia didn’t oppose it.
Fred Kitchens, president and general counsel for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Georgia, while officially neutral on the bill, did not oppose it. “We felt that it was an agreement between the Wine Institute and the Georgia farm winegrowers, and we thought it was a good compromise,” Kitchens said. “It’s a good, consumer-friendly bill. Wholesalers have been the target of a lot of bad publicity and accusations, but the wholesalers in Georgia are realistic and progressive.”
Which leaves me suspicious… what kinds of hurdles do you suppose are built into it? How difficult or expensive will the permitting process be? I’ll forward this article to a couple of wineries I’ve been unable to order wine from and see what they say.
update - Silly me. The bill allows wineries to ship to Georgia, not retailers. Hence the “progressive” stance by the local wholesalers. It’s a step in the right direction but I’d still like to be able to buy wine from web retailers.
Whatchagonna do Sonny Perdue?
08 LC 36 0995S/AP
House Bill 1061 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Stephens of the 164th, Ehrhart of the 36th, Amerson of the 9th, Williams of the 4th, Tumlin of the 38th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 6 of Title 3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to wine, so as to amend certain provisions relating to special order shipping licenses; to define a term; to limit the number of cases of wine shipped to any one consumer; to provide for certain taxes to be paid by the shipper of the wine; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 6 of Title 3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to wine, is amended by revising Code Section 3-6-31, relating to special order shipping license requirements and regulations, as follows:
“3-6-31.
(a) For purposes of this Code section, the term ‘winery’ means any maker or producer of wine whether in this state or in any other state, who holds a valid federal basic wine manufacturing permit.
(a)(b)Notwithstanding any other provision of this title to the contrary, a shipper, without complying with the provisions of Code Section 3-6-22, any shipper which is also a winery may be authorized to make direct shipments of wine to consumers in this state, without complying with the provisions of Code Section 3-6-22, upon obtaining a special order shipping license from the commissioner pursuant to this Code section.
(b)(c)A special order shipping license shall only be issued to a person who holds a valid federal basic wine manufacturing permit and who is not otherwise licensed under this title, wineryupon compliance with all applicable provisions of this title and the regulations promulgated pursuant to this title, and upon payment of the license fee designated for retail dealers in Code Section 3-6-20.
(c)(d)A special order shipping license shall entitle the shipperwineryto ship wine upon order directly to consumers for personal or household use in this state without designating wholesalers as required by Code Section 3-6-22, provided that:
(1) The holder of a special order shipping license shall only ship brands of wine for whichhe or she the holderhas submitted labels to the commissioner;
(2) No holder of a special order shipping license shall be permitted to ship in excess of5012 standard cases of wine of one brand or a combination of brands into this stateor in excess of five cases of wine of one brand or a combination of brands to any one consumer or address per calendar year;
(3) Before accepting an order from a consumer in this state, the holder of a special order shipping license shall require that the person placing the order state affirmatively that he or she is of the age required by Code Section 3-3-23 and shall verify the age of such person placing the order either by the physical examination of an approved government issued form of identification or by utilizing an Internet based age and identification service;
(4) No holder of a special order shipping license shall accept any order for any wine that is otherwise registered and designated pursuant to this title or from a person who is licensed under A special order shipping license shall not authorize the shipment of any wine to any premises licensed to sell alcoholic beverages pursuant to this title; and
(5) Every shipment of wine by the holder of a special order shipping license shall be clearly marked ‘Alcoholic Beverages, Adult Signature Required,‘ and the carrier delivering such shipment shall obtainbe responsible for obtaining the signature of an adult who is at least 21 years of age as a condition of delivery.
(d)(e)The failure to comply strictly with the requirements of this Code section, Code Section 3-3-23, and all applicable provisions of this title and regulations promulgated pursuant to this title shall be grounds for the revocation of a special order shipping license or other disciplinary action by the commissioner. Upon revocation of a special order shipping license for shipment of wine to a person not of age as required by Code Section 3-3-23, such personwineryshall not be issued anyspecial order shipping license pursuant to this Code section for a period of five years from the date of revocation.
(e)(f)The holder of a special order shipping license shall collect all excise taxes imposed by Code Section 3-6-50, shall remit such taxes in the same manner as licensed wine wholesalers, and shall accompany such remittance with such reports, documentation, and other information as may be required by the commissioner. In addition, an applicant for and a holder of a special order shipping license, as a condition of receiving and holding a valid license, shall:
(1) Agree to collect and to pay applicable Georgia state and local sales tax on each sale shipped to a consumer in Georgia;
(2) Accompany each remittance with such sales tax reports, documentation, and other information as may be required by the commissioner; and
(3) Consent to enforcement of the provisions of this Code section by the department and to the jurisdiction of the courts of Georgia for the collection of such taxes or other moneys owing, including interest and penalties.
(f)(g)The commissioner may promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary and appropriate for the enforcement of this Code section.“
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
I Don’t Believe Ben Franklin Said This
This is one of those inane viral emails, most of which I delete before reading beyond the first sentence. In this case, it came from someone who rarely sends me email and when she does it’s usually worth reading. This elicited a small chuckle.
As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria. In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting. Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health Therefore, it’s better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.
How We Feel About Tourists in Key West
A Wine Blog Post
At dinner last night (a seaside Italian restaurant in Key West) I was ordering for the table which included the broadest range of wine experience possible — all under the level of serious oenophile, including myself. We had a couple of Francophiles, some hard core New World Cally Fruit Bomb (NWCFB) addicts, a few who hardly drink wine at all, and one fool. From a broadly limited selection (I’ll let you figure that out) I ordered one classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (NZSB), a meek Albariño, a mass market Chianti Classico and a respectable Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Maybe I should have ordered only Italian wines at an Italian restaurant but I’m not like that.
The first thing the waiter did was arrive with a tray of white and red style glasses and proceeded to ask who was drinking white and who red. I told him to forget it and just distribute the glasses randomly. He graciously did so and then opened the NZSB. After I gave it an upward turned thumb he started to go around the table asking who was starting with it. I stopped him and suggested he just open all four bottles and place them randomly on the table (admittedly after I tasted for spoil). I even rejected the offering of a bucket of ice for the whites. I then sat back and watched what happened.
The Cab was quickly passed back and forth and emptied first. Then the Sauvignon Blanc. Then the Albarinõ. The Chianti was still full near the end of the meal and I asked one of our local hosts if we would be allowed to take it home. He told me to wait a few more minutes, which I did and the Chianti bottle was soon empty. (I initially expected that we would order more wine and was curious to see which wines would be requested but four bottles ended up being just enough.)
No-one considered pairing appropriateness, at least not out loud, choosing instead to simply drink whichever bottle they liked most. Some at the table only drank from one bottle until it was gone. Some stuck with white and some red. A couple of us drank some of each and one poor soul sat with a mostly empty glass because nothing pleased her (she also knew some of her current favorites were waiting at home).
That’s it. No mention of wineries. No rituals. No tasting notes. No food pairing reports. No criticism. Just a simple observation of how wine drinking can occur. Sure, there was a little context but isn’t there always?
WBW Re Ducks
I dropped out of the WBW thing for a while, partly due to some themes I wasn’t excited about but mostly due to having moved twice in the past three months and otherwise had my life turned so upside down that I haven’t been blogging much at all — though that’s obvious from the look of this page.
April is still pretty far away (in wine drinking years) but it’s theme is one that will bring me back into the fold: Old World Cabernet Franc.
I can’t help myself
Warning: Non-Wine Content Ahead
I love this.
Rothera Winter 2007
What would you do in your spare time if you were a scientist in Antarctica? (Wine blog relevance comes in at the 2:00 minute mark.)
Mo’s 38 Caliber Chocolate Bar
Yes, that’s right, chocolate and gunpowder together - a match made in the kitchen of the N.R.A. Lovely contrast in texture of creamy milk chocolate and gritty black gunpowder. Paired well with a 2004 Clautiere Port.
Full disclosure — this is a joke that was inspired by a real chocolate bar that is almost just as ridiculous, as seen on spume.
“good wine makes good blood”
I’m linking to this post from Do Bianchi just so I can make the following quote,
buon vino fa buon sangue
Cheers.
Edmunds St. John Syrah Wylie-Fenaughty 2001
Since this costs around $30 I like it. (joke — see previous post)
Very classy wine with depth and complexity — almost perfectly balanced. Rich but not cloyingly so. Tobacco and spice and everything nice.
This Must Be Why I Hate all Those Trader Joe’s Wines
Twenty subjects tasted five wine samples which were distinguished solely by their retail price, with bottles ranging from $5 to $90. Although the subjects were told that all five wines were different, the scientists had actually only given them three different wines. This meant that the first two wines were used twice, but given two different price labels. For example, Wine 1 was labeled as a $35 dollar wine and a $5 wine. The subjects sipped the wines inside an fMRI machine.
Not surprisingly, the subjects consistently reported that the expensive wine tasted better. They preferred the taste of the $90 bottle to the $10 bottle, and thought the $45 bottle was more delicious than than the $5 wine.
I still haven’t had a good wine from Trader Joe’s (excluding a few of the major California brands they carry which are often decent but can be had at any grocery store for almost the same price). I’d like someone to try and trick me with one to see if I fall for it.
An Aside
Don’t ask me why I watch Faux News but I also can’t stop myself from looking at beheadings when they happen in my vicinity. Right now they’re interviewing New Hampshire people who are skewering Billary and praising B-Hussein-O so I can only imagine that they want to promote the black guy from a belief that a black guy will never get elected in Amerikkka.
And now Dennis Hopper is promoting a financial investment company. Time to bring out the Hennessey.
Back From the Dead
Moved after 20 years in the same house. Almost killed me. Then Ex-mass. Then a nasty goddamned chest hacking thing. Painful to be alive. What the fuck do I want a wine blog for?
#@*&%!
The lack of content this summer has been largely due to the fact that I’ve been having a depressingly bad (badly depressing) year. I’ve been in therapy for like the kazillionth time dealing with very old but not yet stale issues of life, death and fear of both. My old man died and as much as I’d like to say it wasn’t such a big deal… well, it wasn’t big but it was a deal. Notwithstanding the Parkinson’s, he wasn’t very old (except in a Yankee kinda way which means he was prematurely aged, most likely due to a shitty diet and lack of exercise) but he was fairly miserable so his departure was something of a relief, albeit a disconsolate one. Then there are the facts that the wine group I was involved in dissolved at the same time I had to cancel most of my wine club memberships (3 out of 4) due to financial constraints.
I’ll probably keep blogging but I need to give some thought to the why of it. I like to write and I like to drink wine but the two sometimes interfere with each other.
Just so you know who you be dealing wit - a non-wine treatment for insomnia
I often find myself unable to sleep at night, I can depart this earthly world and delve deep into a dream any and all mornings and afternoons which is in fact one of my decadent allowances and luxurious privileges. The payback’z a bitch. I don’t expect an easy return to the ethereal realm but still I expect to be able to find it again after an hour or two of meditatively releasing myself from the obligations of fleshly engagements. When that doesn’t work I get creative. A common ingredient in the night time calling cocktail is a fine cognac but tonight there is none available so I turn to what’s is on hand. It’s effective enough I wonder about patenting, or at least copyrighting the formula, results guaranteed.
Ingredients
4 Trader Joes Dark Chocolate covered Almonds dusted with sea salt and turbinado sugar
4 Boars Head maple smoked turkey slices, approximately 2″ wide x 5 inches long
1.5 oz’s Russell’s Reserve Straight Kentucky Bourbon
2 oz’s Silk Mocha Soy Milk
3 ice cubes
1 10mg Ambien
Instructions
Eat the Ambien
place one TJ’s chocolate almond onto the end of one piece of Boars Head turkey and roll it up - repeat with the other three chocolates and turkey slices.
In a Highball glass place the three ice cubes. Pour the Russel’s Reserve over the ice and stir. Pour the Silk Mocha Soy Milk over the Bourbon and stir. Don’t be alarmed by the curdling - it won’t have a detrimental effect on flavor or efficacy.
Alternate bites of the turkey wrapped chocolates with sips of the drink. Be sure to mingle the multitude of tastes in your mouth. Take your time but be sure to consume all the wraps and empty the glass.
20-30 minutes from inception… sleep is stalking me, looming over my shoulder, waiting for me to stand up so it can pull me back down.
Now it’s time to say good night
Good night Sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.Close your eyes and I’ll close mine
Good night Sleep tight
Now the moon begins to shine
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.Close your eyes and I’ll close mine
Good night Sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.Good night Good night Everybody
Everybody everywhere
Good night.–The Beatles
Chateau Petrogasm
It’s an original idea and one worth watching: wine reviews that consist of a single image. Some of the implications are refreshingly clear (see 2004 DRC Eschezeaux or 2006 August Briggs Leveroni Chardonnay) while others are confounding.
I assume the destroyed television is a bad review but how can I be sure? Some people like to blow things up just as some people like metallic or chemical associations in their wine. Are we to associate the wine with the act of destroying the television deliberately or stumbling on it while taking a shortcut through a vacant lot?
I usually don’t bother to return to sites whose reviews are largely of wines that I’ll never be able to afford but I’ll visit Chateau Petrogasm again.
And Proud
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You Are 100% Feminist |
 I am a total feminist. This doesn’t mean I’m a man hater (in fact, I may be a man). I just think that men and women should be treated equally. It’s a simple idea but somehow complicated for the world to put into action. |
Wine Ratings Are For Suckers
Jonah Lehrer is a neuroscientist and editor of Seed magazine. I know it’s old news for many but it’s worth a link nonetheless.
?
A wine blog has no new entries for a month. Does it really exist?
OK, Again
The next night. It’s getting late. It’s hot and humid. I’m in the mood for a nightcap, which my dictionary defines as, “an alcoholic or hot drink taken at the end of the day or before going to bed.” I’ve got the aforementioned Brandy, which I bought for exactly an occasion such as this. Brandy is often drank in a snifter usually at room temperature but many people like to warm it up a bit by holding the bowl in their hands. That’s fine and dandy but tonight I did something I’ve never done before. I’m hot enough that I want a cool drink. I considered a glass of white wine but it just didn’t feel right. I considered a bourbon but it’s after 11:00 and bourbon usually gives me a lift and what I want is a mellowing agent. Thus I turn to the Brandy. But it’s hot so I poured poured a shot over ice. I almost cringed as I did it wondering if I was making a mistake.
What… a… wonderful… surprise. The flavor was all smoky sweetness and the ice took away the heat. It was quenching and soothing and I think I’ve got a new Summer late night ritual.