The Wine Commonsewer

Fireworks: Statue of Liberty + Iwo Jima Memorial

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

For many of us out west, fireworks of any kind are prohibited because of the extreme fire danger that arrives with our nation’s birthday. To help mitigate that grievous misfortune The Wine Commonsewer offers a rather creative alternative complete with exciting visual and sound effects (Rated G for the entire family).

This is kind of a cool take off on Lady Liberty.

UPDATE: Here's one take on fire hazards and fireworks.

TWC: Not sure how a good libertarian such as myself feels about the outright ban in this county, where the fire danger is extreme. A blanket ban that stretches from the fire prone foothills to the sand and rock of the Colorado river area where fire danger is minimal.

DD: Seems to me that you make people responsible for their actions- if they start a fire, they pay...for the fighting and for restitution.  And if they don't have enough $$ to pay, they'd better not play.  If not enough to cover the bill, how about bringing back debtor's prison?

As Ever,

The Wine Commonsewer

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

For many of us out west, fireworks of any kind are prohibited because of the extreme fire danger that arrives with our nation’s birthday. To help mitigate that grievous misfortune The Wine Commonsewer offers a rather creative alternative complete with exciting visual and sound effects (Rated G for the entire family).

This is kind of a cool take off on Lady Liberty.

UPDATE: Here's one take on fire hazards and fireworks.

TWC: Not sure how a good libertarian such as myself feels about the outright ban in this county, where the fire danger is extreme. A blanket ban that stretches from the fire prone foothills to the sand and rock of the Colorado river area where fire danger is minimal.

DD: Seems to me that you make people responsible for their actions- if they start a fire, they pay...for the fighting and for restitution.  And if they don't have enough $$ to pay, they'd better not play.  If not enough to cover the bill, how about bringing back debtor's prison?

As Ever,

The Wine Commonsewer

Who Needs A Car? (or a 747)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Before I blew outta town last week on an old-fashioned road trip, it cost me a hundred bucks to fill the politically incorrect foreign pickup truck that's made in America. A hundred bucks. That's never happened, so I felt like I should open a bottle of Moet Chandon or something.

Funny thing about that too, once we crossed the Nevada border the gas prices dropped like a hot rock. Downtown Laughlin's Chevron Premo was selling for less than ARCO's Pingmaster regular down the hill from the Casa. The further southeast one travels in Arizona, the cheaper the gas gets. Twenty-five percent less in Tucson than in So Cal.

Course, like incest, gas prices are relative. $3.75 a gallon is still stiff. It's just relatively better than $4.85. Somebody emailed me that demand is finally falling and gas prices have eased a bit. Mrs TWC confirmed. Hadn't noticed, myself.

OTOH, high prices coupled with availability are preferable to cheap prices and long lines.

Been there. Done that. I'll pay.

Yes, that's 81.9 per gallon.

Why speculation doesn't necessarily affect oil prices.

Bonus: Well, no video bonus today, girls, because the video I planned to use has apparently been yanked. I've got A VERY COOL one myself but it isn't ready for YouTube quite yet. Well laid plans and all that.....But Wait! At the risk of burning through my entire bandwidth allocation for July, you can listen to it instead.   You'll need WinAmp, Itunes, or Quicktime to hear it. It's way cool.

Freddy Mercury on Moet Chandon here.

As Ever,

TWC

Plain Text Email

Gentle Readers,

TWC gets a lot of email, most of which is HTML. However, I still get several emails a day in plain text. Often they've been forwarded a few times and as a rule, the text is splattered across the page, the pictures are stripped out, the formatting has gone dyslexic, and whatever meaning or beauty the page held is gone.

Hot tip: Most people are not going to individually open sixteen formerly-embedded pictures and try to fit them with the now-unformatted text that makes no sense. It's mind numbing to do so and the delete key looms large.

Worse. Try tracking a conversation back and forth in plain text with all those > > >. After two or three replies you've lost the rabbit. I'll try to keep up if it's a friend or a client, but I'm grumbling the entire time. Eventually, plain text requires that you excise the relevant parts and paste them into a new email just to beat back the urge to inhale fumes from the tailpipe of an idling UPS truck and slip gently into that good night.

In the heyday of plain text, emails were terse and direct, with little flourish or flair. Plain text was all there was and, like a loin cloth, it served it's purpose. In modern America, we are half past 2008 and plain text email is a relic, a dinosaur, the Neanderthal of the modern computer world.

As Always,

TWC

Vote For Me & I'll Set You Free

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

And in other news.....

Can't see news video? Look here.

Bonus:

As Ever,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Kent

Hippo Birdees Two Ewes

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Uncle Will fires up a whole pile of fat candles today.

Send in your birthdays, Outlook lost yours. Don't get me started on that.....

As Ever,

TWC

B&G Bistro Pinot Noir

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The B&G Bistro is yet another illustration of the TWC premise that price isn't always the best indicator of what to expect from a wine. At ten bucks US this is an excellent buy and is better.....stop me if you've heard this before.....than many Pinots costing twice as much.

As Pinot Noir goes, this one is pretty good, actually I'd say delightful. Much better than this one.

Winemakers Notes:

In France, the local bistro is where folks go to relax, socialize, drink wine and dine in a casual, friendly setting.

This Pinot Noir has all the right qualities of a good bistro wine: it is simple, delicious, fun to drink, and pairs well with lots of different foods and flavors.

Soft and round on the palate, this wine is chock full of ripe, wild berry flavors and aromas that culminate in a long, supple finish.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Definite Strawberries on the back side as well.

We paired this wine with (gasp) crab cakes, Waldorf salad, medium rare filet mignon, and crusty bread with olive oil (seasoned with balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and roasted garlic).

As Ever,

TWC

What Part of Shall Not Be Infringed Is Unclear?

Gentle  Readers,

When the ruling came down on Thursday, TWC was incommunicado, out of the reach of cellular networks and laptops, ten seven and on the side.....

......until the early Friday AM edition of USA Today plunked at the hotel door.

That's Jake waving from the tube.

Most of my gun totin' friends were delighted that the Supers would hear the DC gun ban case, which was totally ineffective in reducing homicides in the nation's capital. TWC warned them to be careful what they wished for and, frankly, I am surprised things went as well as they did. Especially after that disastrous eminent domain ruling.

Video here. Scalia's opinion here. Motor City Mad Man's rant here.

Huh? Sure I got a permit for that thing. It's called the Second Amendment.

Emergency? Dial 3-5-7 Regards,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Lone Châtelaine and KC

Roadside Americana

Gentle Readers,

Coca Cola is a proud sponsor of The Wine Commonsewer.....

Coca Cola sign circa 1961, Seligman, Az, on Route 66

As Always,

TWC

Joyce

Gentle Readers,

Something didn't look right and I had to go back to the source documents to see why. I don't keep paper files, everything is scanned. Going through the .PDF quickly from page to page something caught my eye.....in the middle of the page..... a bright orange sticky note that apparently had scanned along with the page. It was upside down to the page and I'm not sure why I flipped it to read.

Saturday 11/24

Michael-

Sorry I'm late with work. Had trouble w/pain medication + had to take another CT Scan~should have some answers in a few weeks about my cancer.

Regards~Joyce

The answers weren't good and Joyce passed away in early April.

Although we weren't close, seeing the sticky note jolted me like a shot of caffeine. Made me think I shoulda called her a couple more times.

There might be a lesson in this.

As Ever,

TWC

Tuesday Twofer

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

It's for fellow wino, the Kosmik Kid who, on occasion, gets misty for another California, one that more closely resembles the mostly vanished, mostly laid-back Promised Land, where long haired free spirits like him once wrote software and lived among the Oaks and Sycamores in Silverado Canyon.

Oft times he was behind the bar (or smoking weed with the Hells Angels) at Silverado's now-defunct Alpine Inn, next door to Missy's old place, right down the road from where Evelyn's family was evac'd by helicopter during the floods (watched it on the Six O'clock news). Despite the Kevin Bacon rule, none of the three of them knew each other.

And, also just because I like it and, because Loona is ever so much prettier than Don Henley (or the Ataris). I was going to say way smokin' hotter, but this is a family rated blog.

Speaking of hotter, it's been hotter than a three dollar pistola here at the Casa. No June Gloom, for once summer started before the 4th of July.

Took that boy surfing a few days ago. I love the sun but its toll is plain anymore. Tops of my feet always look dirty, gave up trying to scrub it off in the shower. Years of bare feet, Huarache's, and river trips. You don't realize how sunburnt your feet can get until it's too late. Hasn't hurt my love life though.

Now, Gentle Readers, go soak up some sun. While it's still free. I plan to do just that.

BTW, my feet don't look like hers.

For the longest time The House Blond wondered why Sheryl had her .45 on, so she could rock on. At the beach.

That's Banana Boat, not Sam Colt. Sweetie. Train up a child and all that.

Soak Up The Sun here. Loona here.

Happy Two's Day.

TWC

TWC Rebate Red Blend + Stimulus Checks

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC Rebate Red Blend is a private label specialty wine made by Darryl Heirendt of Sunset Ridge Vineyards and a couple of friends. Yes, TWC, is, precisely, exactly, The Wine Commonsewer. Is that cool? Or what?

It's a blend of Petit Syrah, Petit Verdot, and a little Cabernet. Naturally, since we were grilling steaks  the other night, we popped one of the bottles. Yummy stuff indeed. The Rebate Red is drinking nicely now and easily clobbers many of the over-the-counter reds you'll run into at Bev-Mo or Trader Joe's.

This is just a hobby for these guys, but this is marketable wine. TWC is grateful to be on the short list of those who've shared it.

Thanks guys. My UPS guy is jealous.

Wondering about YOUR rebate?  I guess it's a stimulus check. Wait. A stimulus check? Isn't that something Eliot Spitzer gives the hooker?

All the skinny on the retroactive tax cut here. Dave Barry's take here.

As Always,

TWC

No More Wood Splitting

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Talked to my dad for a little while tonight.

He told me it's a little tough with his wife being knocked out with the stroke and all. He doesn't have much help and at eighty, he's a little tired. Got no aches and pains though. I offered him some of mine, which go in streaks it seems. Five weeks on, five weeks off. He said he'll probably forgo splitting wood himself this year and hire it done.

As Ever,

TWC