The Wine Commonsewer™

2005 Silver Palm Cabernet

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Michelle is a friend and the honcho over at Wilson Elementary School's PTA. I'm sure she had a little help, but dam if she didn't put on a shindig Friday night at The Retreat. Sole purpose: raise some dinero for the school.

You know, it's a good cause so you eat Pasta Primavera, spend a little money, laugh with your friends, pretend to gamble, do the silent auction (Mrs TWC, looking stunningly glam in black, brought home a huge basket of parlor tricks for the kids), skip the not-so-silent auction (where it almost sounds like high bidder gets Chippendale's at the house), and have some drinks.....On the way out Michelle handed me a bottle of Chardonnay. Sorry, Mike, I know it's white. Might have been insurance on her part (Lips that touch white.....). Goes to who you know, though.

Sidebar: Lissen boys, when I was in grade school the mom's did NOT look like this. Apparently the rumor is true, thirty-something is the new twenty-two.

The wine, though, was good. Jackson, of Kendall Jackson has expanded horizons and the new venue is White Rocket.   Not clear how it all meshes overall, but Silver Palm Cabernet is a new direction and the target market is the millennium kids. That's the people who came of age after the turn of the century. Feel old?

Although Silver Palm often retails for ten bucks a glass in fine eateries around the country, we were fortunate enough to score a glass for five bucks. Retail? $15.00-$20.00 a bottle US.  But, intriguingly, the core market is upscale food purveyors, not retail.

The wine is complex yet mellow. No fumes, no barnyard, no desperate call for aeration (decanting). It is surprisingly good and four glasses later my opinion remained steadfast. Good stuff. Nice offering. Winemaker Melissa Bates (Rutherford and Sebastiani) has done herself up right.

You'll see it on the menu when you take that hottie in 4-D to dinner. Order it. (what did I tell you about taking chicks out to a high dollar dinner on the first date? Eh? Buy you books and you just eat the covers).

I liked it. You will too. Not the book covers.

As Ever,

TWC

Julio and the Homeless

Gentle Readers,

Tooling down the hill and across town this morning (in the politically incorrect full size Japanese pick up truck that's made in America) TWC rolled off I-15 at Magnolia Street. It's a long ramp on an upslope. Near the top sat a couple of booze-addled homeless guys with long greasy hair. One was lazily smoking. The other fumbled with the signs: Hungry! Please Help. How do I know they was booze-addled? I don't. But it's a reasonable assumption.

Swinging right onto the surface street I noticed twenty or so illegals, loitering near Big Box Hardware, spread out in small groups of twos and threes. All neatly dressed in work clothes. All hoping for a days wages. At half past Saturday mid-morning their chances were dimming. How do I know they was illegals? I don't. But it's a reasonable assumption.

Needless to say, neither demographic is wildly popular with mainstream America, but judging by the onslaught of political propaganda arriving daily in the box out front (election June 3) you'd think the single greatest threat to the Republic and the *only* issue in this county is those guys down on Magnolia looking for a job. How Un-American.

As Ever,

TWC

We Are The Dead

“The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.”—General John A. Logan

As Ever,

TWC

Pink Panther: Dead Ant, Dead Ant

Gentle Readers,

Jake's at camp, Mrs TWC is reading some thriller called In The Woods, & TWC watched the Pink Panther with The House Blond.

This is *how* it's played.....

No can see? Try here.

As Ever,

TWC

Original Sin: 1913 Style

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The first year the federales taxed personal incomes was 1913. A married couple paid ZERO income tax until the net taxable income exceeded $84,920.00 (inflation adjusted).

For taxable incomes between $84,920 and $424,601.00 (inflation adjusted) the tax rate was ONE PERCENT. That's $4,246.00 on an income of four hundred grand and change.

Tax Freedom Day was January 30 not April 23.

Original four page tax 1913 return here.

Kind of helps put our three trillion dollar federal budget and the trillion dollar war into perspective. Eh?

Have a nice afternoon. Don't spend your Stimulus Payment all in one bar.

As Always,

TWC

A Down Home Memorial Day Parade

Guesting today from Shelter Island New York, Dee Dee.....

We had our Memorial Day Parade today. Now this is a small island with a permanent population of under 2,500. The parade consists of the American Legion (membership about 75, ambulatory about half that); the fire company (about 75 guys and 40 or so in the auxiliary and every truck they've had since 1912); the Daisies, Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts; the school band (total graduating class this year is 21, the band has a lot of middle schoolers in it); and the ambulance.

They form up at the Center firehouse, march down 114 to the Legion Hall, turn left for a block, left for another block, left again, back to the firehouse. And then they do it once more. I was told they do the route twice because the band feels rooked when they only march for 15 minutes or so. The old legionnaires in the vintage fire trucks have the same grins on their faces the second time around.

Best part of Memorial Day is that the Manhattan summer residents are here to open up the big houses, put their boats in the water, and drive their often rather exotic vehicles around for our delectation (Austin-Healy, Morgan, and a very nice Bentley made the tally this morning). I left the Taurus in the driveway and walked to town.

Live From Palm Springs Deux: THIS Green Monster

Gentle Readers,

Some people wrote and asked why on earth TWC was avoiding Fenway Park's outfield fence, others couldn't make the connection between last night's post (see below) and Took's execution. I blame the wine and I'll try to be less obtuse. Edits & Clarifications italicized.

As you may know, TWC is marginally insane, so when the guys at the tennis-court house down the hill set up Megadeth's old sound system (bought on Ebay) and fired it up, TWC had a slight increase in blood pressure.

The neighbors had a stage set up the width of a full size tennis court and the sound system was better than Jimmy Buffet had last time I saw him at Irvine Meadows. Scouts Honor!

And, of course, the fargin' speakers are facing my way instead of pointing at Shelley's house. When the rap hip-hop crap (you can't spell crap without rap) started rattling the windows shaking the house off its foundation (from a quarter mile away) and you know the cops aren't coming unless there are bodies bleeding in the street I figured the smart thing was to get out of Dodge. A small price to pay to avoid.....

This Green Monster:

Turns out that I'm one of those old fashioned guys who figures that your right to make a bunch of got dam noise ends at your property line.  That doesn't play well in modern America and who was it that said you can't run away from your problems?

Pack up the babies and grab the Old Lady, and everyone goes.....to Palm Springs....and nobody gets hurt. Absolutely progressive.

A nice steak, a little wine, and nothing the kids like better than the pool and Jacuzzi at some hotel in the desert anyway.

Make sure the wine's in a plastic cup.

Clint Eastwood once said that a man has to know his own limitations. Good advice.

Hope this helps understand my predicament. Thankee.

As Ever,

TWC

Live From Palm Springs

Gentle Readers,

As you may know, TWC is marginally insane, so when the guys at the tennis-court house down the hill set up Megadeth's old sound system (bought on Ebay) and fired it up, TWC had a slight increase in blood pressure. And, of course, the fargin' speakers are facing my way instead of pointing at Shelley's house. When the rap hip-hop crap (you can't spell crap without rap) started rattling the windows (from a quarter mile away) I figured the smart thing was to get out of Dodge. A small price to pay to avoid the Green Monster.

Turns out that I'm one of those old fashioned guys who figures that your right to make a bunch of got dam noise ends at your property line.  That doesn't play well in modern America and who was it that said you can't run away from your problems?

A nice steak, a little wine, and nothing the kids like better than the pool and Jacuzzi at some hotel in the desert anyway. Make sure the wine's in a plastic cup.

As Ever,

TWC

ION USB Turntable Review

Gentle Readers,

Finally got a chance to fiddle with my hi-tech Christmas gift, which instantly transported TWC to De Javu-land. Not the records, but the turntable itself. Things like anti-skip, cartridge, platter, and grams of pressure adjustments. Flash to the Stone Age, and I was humming along, putting stuff together like I knew what I was doing. Just like adjusting the fuel mixture on a Holley carburetor. Okay, maybe more like riding a bike. You don't forget how.

The House Blond took an immediate interest in the ten inch records with their colorful jackets. She spent a long time admiring the album art and reading the song titles. Jacob thought the turntable itself was eminently cool even though it looked as foreign to him as something out of a Star Wars picture. This is cool, Dad. What's it do? [immediately starts pushing buttons and touching everything] Katie wanted to know if she could do that rapper thing with the tone arm.

First impression:  Although the ION USB turntable is cool, it isn't as well made or as solid as my still-functional Fisher (circa 1982). Except for that USB part that is. The ION doesn't come with a lid or a dust cover, the platter isn't close to as heavy or substantial, and I'm pretty sure the Fisher is direct drive. That ain't a big problem though because the sole mission is to get the vinyl into digital format.

Software: The ION comes with two programs. EZ Vinyl Converter, which worked fine except for the rhythmic clicking in the speakers (not evident on the recorded product). EZ Vinyl is a no frills conversion program that is easy to use and gets right to the point. Audacity is a powerful program that allows people with no life to spend hours and hours tweaking their antique record collection into something vaguely resembling the quality of a modern CD or MP3.  It has a big learning curve and I'm lazy. Or maybe it just doesn't work well with 64 bit Business Vista.

UPDATE:

The Audacity program works fine with 64 bit Business Vista, in fact, it does a great job. The key is understanding the program and setting the preferences.

Secondly, adjusting the gain settings on the turntable to minimum reduces distortion and background noise to a minimum. The gain control is right next to where you plug the USB line into the turntable.

Reality:  I was absolutely stunned at the awful condition of some of my albums. Snap, Crackle, & Pop. Hiss and campfire. Skips and stucks. Ghastly. Sounded like I was using a nail rather than a needle. You can clearly hear the campfire in this old Stones sample from Out of Our Heads. It's my understanding that a patient man can clean that up using the Audacity program.

Most of the really old stuff was virtually unplayable and rendered ever so much more awful by comparison to modern technological advances. Newer albums fared better, in part, because they were purchased, immediately recorded onto reel-to-reel tape, and then put away for posterity. Wish I'd kept those tapes. The Go Go's is a newer record and didn't get as much play as the Stones. Predictably, the sound is much better. I know, what self-respecting guy admits owning a Go Go's record?

Two surprises: I don't have as many albums as I remembered and many of the records I have enjoyed over the years I've already replaced with CD's and MP3's.

All that notwithstanding, it's a worthwhile investment for us fossilized throwbacks to another era. If your vinyl is in halfway decent condition, the plain vanilla format of the EZ Vinyl software is going do a quick and painless conversion of your records to MP3's.

As Ever,

TWC

The New New Cats

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The newest addition to the lineup.....

That brings the count to four, the fat old Gray Kitty, who can still cut the mustard now and again, the Black Cat, who's a merciless welter weight speed freak, and these new guys.

Take a look at the damage the Old New Cats did to this rattlesnake. That would be the above-referenced Black Cat and his now deceased brother, the Siamese-Looking Cat.

Overheard the House Blond's tiny little voice, whispering Leo's story to the New Black & White Cat. She was moved, in part, by Leo's remarkable resemblance to the New Black & White Cat. Wiping her eyes, she tearfully assured him that he'd be okay and not to worry. A Daddy's Kodak moment, indelibly inscribed on my heart.

As Ever,

TWC