The Wine Commonsewer™

Lunch at the Lake

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

When we lived on the hill in Lake Elsinore above Four Corners, the view out back included this restored wetlands area. Many locals don't realize it, but Temescal Creek is born from the outflows of Lake Elsinore which meanders through this riparian habitat.

Lake Elsinore is a natural lake and is a popular stopover on the Pacific Flyway. It isn't unusual to see some pretty exotic birds.

I have no idea what kind of bird this guy is but I am pretty sure he's having a non-native crawfish for lunch.

As Always,

TWC

photo crediit: TWC 04-18-11 ©

School Choice is #Winning (Braggin' On The Old Lady & Clare)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

As Mrs TWC points out in her presentation, if students in Compton Unified manage to graduate from high school at all, only 1.5% of them make it to college.

The public school monopoly and the teacher unions have had decades to fix this problem and have, at best, allowed these children to be denied an adequate education. At worst they are complicit in the destruction of generations of perfectly good minds.

It is time to try something other than the status quo, which is why the school choice movement is so important.

For those of you who don't know, Mrs TWC is the Director of Education at Reason Foundation in Los Angeles and school reform is her life's work. Clare Mullin is Senior Program Officer at Gleason Foundation.

As Always,

TWC

 

South African Nannies

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

If you assumed that the US has the market cornered on the progressive nanny-state, you would be incorrect. The phenomenon appears world wide as evidenced by this warning label from a bottle of Arabella wine. 

Please hand your Keds to the designated walker.

As Ever,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Rogier at Nobody’s Business

Wine Spectator's Free VintageChart+ App for Smartphones

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Last summer, Wine Spectator released VintageChart+ on the iPhone, which became one of the most downloaded wine apps from the App Store. Now, other smartphone owners can have the same authoritative information on vintage quality at their fingertips.

Whole thing at Wine Spectator.

As Always,

TWC

Tip of the glass to.........slipped my mind. Sorry. 

Happy Easter

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The intention was to do an Easter post that was a little different than my usual sermon, then I found myself drifting off on a tangent about the depressing news from all over the globe this morning. But that won't do, neither. Delete. Delete. Delete. 

On a cheerier note, Easter at the Casa is like Christmas morning. Mrs TWC The Easter Bunny goes all out to fill the kid's baskets with goodies to boost their blood sugar levels (chocolate soda, Godiva, M&M's, bunnies) and other awesome stuff like iTunes cards, power bait, slippers, Bloonies, balsa airplanes, bunny candles, & baby slinkies. 

For the record, Bloonies are way up near the top of the nanny's wish-we-could-ban-this list.

The House Blond made a video for Easter. Can't post it because the YouTube censors disabled the Sponge Bob soundtrack. Not sure if this link will work for you if you're not FB friends with Katie.

As Always,

TWC

 

 

Wine 101: Merlot

 

Tip of the glass to J C Bowman

Jacob's Project

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

My son Jake has taken an interest in making things with his hands. He was stymied for a bit by the semester-long, mandated health class that is inflicted on all incoming freshman. However, once he proved he could wash his hands unassisted and understood the difference between the various anatomies, he was free to move on and he chose wood shop as his second semester elective class (replacing health).

This fully functional gumball machine was Jacob's first effort in wood shop. Simply rotate the schnoz to the right and a gumball drops out of the mouth into your waiting hand. Slick.

This seems a bit more complex than the ashtrays the wood shop kids were making in the days of my vagrant yoot. Seemed like every boy's first project was an ashtray.

In modern Amerikka, I reckon making an ashtray would earn you a three-day suspension. Perhaps even a stint at Continuation School, a term invented to disguise the real nature of Continuation School, which was to warehouse troublemakers, who were formerly known as Juvenile Delinquents.

As Always,

TWC

I Am The God of Hell Fire and I Bring You the BATF

Gentle Readers,

On April 19, 1993, agencies of the federal government, under the supervision of Attorney General Janet Reno, presided over the immolation of 21 children in Waco Texas.

These were their names:

• Sheila Martin, Jr. 15
• Lisa Martin 13
• Audrey Martinez 13
• Rachel Sylvia 12
• Abigail Martinez 11
• Joseph Martinez 8
• Cyrus Koresh 8
• Melissa Morrison 6
• Star Koresh 6
• Isaiah Martinez 4
• Serenity Jones 4
• Crystal Martinez 3
• Dayland Gent 3
• Bobbie Lane Koresh 2
• Mayanah Schneider 2
• Chica Jones 2
• Little One Jones 2
• Hollywood Sylvia 1
• Chanel Andrade 1
• Page Gent 1
• Startle Summers 1

As Always,

TWC

For Those Who Think The Rest of Us Pay Too Little in Tax

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

It's Tax Day here in the US and, suitably, the Southland is dreary, dank, and drizzly. 

Lots of rancourous debate over how much tax is enough, but most of the people who actually pay income tax figure they've paid plenty. For the record, about 47% of all US households pay zero federal income tax.

As a public service, TWC offers the following links for those who think taxes should be higher.We encourage you to lead by example (I'm looking at *you* Stephen King).

Click and Pay.

To make a direct gift to the US government click below.

Or, you could just add an extra zero or two to the check you send with your tax return today.

As Always,

TWC

47 Explanations of the Acronym I.R.S.

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

My friends at Reason have, once again, snarked impressively.

Yes, it's juvenile humor, but......

As Always,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Mrs TWC