2003 Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Hello Blog viewers, all 1 of you. Thought I would keep the trend up of writing about something that has nothing to do with the post before it. Today it is wine. I just bought, with the help of my lovely future sister-in-law a bottle of the above wine. It was, with her discount $102US. Probably the most I have ever spent on a single bottle of wine, outside of a restaurant of course. I'm excited. I had a 2000 when I was last home and it was stunning to say the least. Looking forward to this one. The question is, when to open it??? It probably could do with 5-10 years bottle aging before even considering it. Guess I'll have to wait it out. Here are the notes from their site.

“If you really want to make great wine, go to the hills” was theadvice given to us in 1966 by André Tchelistcheff, America’s preeminent20th century winemaker. And indeed we came to these rocky hillsides ofPritchard Hill, where we have farmed winegrapes for nearly 40 years andproduce what many critics call one of the world's finest wines.

We're pleased to offer Club members an exclusive opportunity toreserve this wine before it is available to the general public.Compelling in its elegance and power, the wine exhibits a bouquet ofbaked cherries and berries shaded by nutmeg and sweet new French oak.The wine is extraordinarily concentrated, with deep flavors of cherryand plum touched by hints of chocolate, cola and roasted coffee. Withonly 200 cases, we are able to provide a maximum of 3 bottles permember. We will reserve the wine in your name to ship upon release inearly October, 2006.

Ciao till next post!!

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In Tents of the third kind

InTents, a repeat success. I sooo wish we were there. Drew and I really miss events like this, this is what our family is all about.

It may be a bit country (well blues in this case) but hey we are who we are.

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Two most prized material possessions

    Since I have moved to England I have lost the 2 things (material) that I value most.  My motorcycle (stolen) and My wine (corked).  I have had a fairly big collection of wine.  Total cost of about £1000.  No small sum for me.  Since this heat wave began my flat's temperature has gone from 20c to as high as 40c degrees.   Anyone that knows anything about wine can tell you that temperature fluctuation is the first and best killer of wine. 

    I keep all of my wine in wicker baskets on a book shelf as far from any windows as possible.  The key thing was dark (light is another killer) and minimal air flow.  Save a wine fridge; this is my only option.  When I lived in America I kept wine this exact way for over 5 years never losing a bottle.

    This post may be pre-emptive as I have yet to go through all of it yet, but over the past 4 days I have opened 6 bottles; 4 whites and 2 reds.  Of those bottles only 1 wasn't corked a cheap (sub £8) Rioja.  If I lost my more prized wines I will be extremely distraught. 

    I know people will say they are material but most of these wines I have had for years.  They were gifts from many friends and family over the years.  To lose them would be very upsetting to me.  I cherish wine, love the industry, and would quit my job tomorrow to be a vineyard manager or winemaker.  I have family in the wine industry, have worked on vineyards, even went to school to train in wines and winemaking.  Needless to say I like wine, probably more than most.

What to do now?  Well one thing's for sure, I'm not buying anymore wine to keep while living in England.  I can't currently afford a wine fridge (a decent one is about £300), and storage at a facility is also out of range.  I don't know what I'm going to do.  I have a lot of vinegar, maybe I can create some new fancy blend.  yuck yuck . . . I'll probably just start over, although I'm still completely gutted about the whole thing.  Life goes on . . .

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10 years later

Probably one of the greatest and most influential bands ever released their last album 10 years ago on the 15th of August.  Sublime (not an official site) is extending their self-titled album.

This release will included a number of tracks that were intended to be used on the original by Brad and the band but due to an untimely overdose weren't.

A long standing argument is that if Bradley was alive for even a few more months he would have been remembered equally to Kurt.

Here is a list of the songs on the re-release:

Disc one:
"Trenchtown Rock"
"Doin' Time" (original mix)
"Wrong Way"
"Paddle Out"
"What I Got"
"Pawn Shop"
"April 29th, 1992 (Miami)"
"Santeria"
"Seed"
"Jailhouse"
"Caress Me Down"
"The Ballad of Johnny Butt"
"Under My Voodoo"
"Burritos"
"Same in the End"
"Get Ready"
"What I Got (Reprise)"
"Garden Grove"

Disc two:
"I Love My Dog"
"Superstar Punani"
"April 29th, 1992 (Miami)" (alternate version)
"Saw Red" (acoustic)
"Little District" (acoustic)
"Zimbabwe" (acoustic)
"What I Got" (alternate version)
"Doin' Time" (Uptown Dub)
"Doin' Time" (Eerie Splendor remix)
"Doin' Time" (Wyclef Jean remix)
"Doin' Time" (Marshall Arts remix)
"Doin' Time" (Marshall Arts instrumental)
"April 29th, 1992" (instrumental)
"Caress Me Down" (instrumental)
"What I Got" (instrumental)

Videos:
"What I Got"
"Wrong Way"
"Santeria"
"Doin' Time" (original mix/alternate version)
"What I Got (Reprise)"

technorati tags:sublime, music, bradley, 90's

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World jump day

Tomorrow is the day when all of us need to get together and jump. Each year on the 20th of July we try to disrupt the earth. I know so far we haven't been successful but that is because we aren't trying hard enough. I reckon that if we "all" get it right we will be able to due amazing things. My predictions for problems averted by "the jump" are as follows.

1. Peace in the middle east

I'm not really sure how; but there is a good chance that Israel and the ME will place down their weapons if we can work this out. They will (possibly) believe divine intervention.

2. End of global warming

My prediction is that when we jump the ozone will allow all of the CO2 in the upper atmosphere to escape via an opening, then upon landing it will close up and it will appear as if pollution never existed. In a few years people will sit back and say, "Wow, who would have thunk it?".

3. I will become a millionaire

This one is very simple. By the amount of hits/click-throughs I get from this blog I will become a millionaire via the Goggle ads. My plan is fool proof.

I know all of you out there don't believe me but there is only one way to find out. I mean come on, how much fun will it be to stand up in unison and jump. You will be able to right that time off when you file your taxes. It will go down under the voluteer section, IANAA but "World Jump Day" has to count. The problem will be calculating out the exact price of the jump. Hey there's an idea, what a way to stick it to the man. Practice jumping and claim that back to. The money will start rolling in.

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Microsoft's new "ultra-mobile" PC

Looks like Samsung and Microsoft have developed a new mobile PC.  It's waaay too big!  and XP?? come on where is Vista mobile?  I got this from the mysteriously lame Origami Project site.

Ultra-Mobile PC - Go Everywhere. Do Everything.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 OS

Approximately 7” diagonal display (or smaller)

Minimum 800 x 480 resolution

Approximately 2 pounds

Integrated touch panel

WiFi- and Bluetooth-enabled

 

 

 

Viognier

I have been saving a 2000 Viognier for a special occasion. I bought it in Santa Cruz in 2001 while out there for a friends wedding. Well like their marriage the wine is bad. It looked like that an amontillado dark can oxidized. It tasted horrible (I know, I know, why did I taste it) it actually made me start coughing. I figured I should post this b/c I guess sometimes you just miss out. I was saving and saving and now because I wanted the moment to be just right I missed my chance. I think I am going to have to go through my inventory to make sure nothing else I have is on the outs. I am going email the person at Bonny Doon that I talked to about 2 weeks ago and tell him the wine died. Okay now to go make dinner before drew kills me.

technorati tags: wine, bad, santa, cruz, bonny, doon, marriage,

robbery

My motorbike was stolen on the 13th of February from a locked garage. I had a large chain lock disabling the rear wheel and a disk lock on the front wheel. You couldn't see my bike from the road. Someone (READ: the local fucking ASBOs) must have been in the building before and saw it. Told their older brother/father/some other pikey that they know, and that person came with a carrier van and nicked my shit. Someone I know said dog-eat-dog yesterday, after thinking long and hard about this, I'm convinced this could be the case. Having done some "not proud of" stuff in my past I should be happy that it was only a material thing that I lost. Even if it was my most valued material possesion. I probably shouldn't post this on the internet but I have a fairly nice camera kit and would have been happy if it was that that was stolen. It is probably not going to be a good summer for me. That bike was (is) my favorite hobby. I'm depressed and aggrevated. Mostly depressed. Some people that I know recommend that I get a new bike, a different one, I would love to do that but, and it's a big BUT, I am still paying off my CBR. Fuck fuck this really sucks.

technorati tags: motorcycle, motorbike, cbr, stolen, robbery, pikey, london, theft

What Up Willy! - Surfin, Hangin, Poker, and Life's other goodness: In-N-Out 100x100

What Up Willy! - Surfin, Hangin, Poker, and Life's other goodness: In-N-Out 100x100

100 burgers $100 in 2 hours, something I hope that I am never a part of. I guess it is something to be proud of.

The race is on

I've been looking for a way to convince my company that I would be more effiant on a Mac, with the introduction of an Intel power MacBook Pro that may be possible. I'm not the only one that sees value in this, please donate to his cause!

edited to say: I gave him a fiver

technorati tags: apple, macbook, windows xp, windows, microsoft, laptop, donate

Delicious Library

Delicious Library
What a sweet as application, this is going on my list of i _need_ !!

Multiplicity

Just something that I have been playing with in Photoshop, if you were to see the .psd file you would notice that I am shit at it still but I'm trying. There has to be an easy way to do this. I'll get it.

Fucking Iran

Well ladies and germs it looks like we (the US and company) may be going into yet another war. In the middle east no less and for oil. I hate Bush, I hate the people he put in place, although I do not have all the facts, something impossible for a civilian (for good reason I think), I have strange feeling that this is coming. I know his agenda (read history), this is something he has probably prayed to his God for years to have happen. We are not going to have good (read safe) days ahead. I'm writing this to get it off of my mind so I can get back to work, it is bothering me so much that I can't concentrate. I hope this post will help. Fuck fuck, we're going to yet another pointless war.

p.s. I think the leader of Iran is dangerous and a complete nut, but he is so dangerous that he knows no bounds. He needs to be removed and not made a martyr.

technorati tags: iran, war, bush, fucked, fuck,

By far the best blonde joke I've heard!

when i came across this I couldn't stop laughing

Bird Flu

been sick for two days now and it sucks, i have no energy and i get super lazy. read a lot about photography today, starting to realise more and more than i have a ton to learn and remember when out shooting.

i have to say that i'm a lazy shit, so lazy that i have run out of things to write. i just ate a snickers ice cream bar when i should have been taking a shower (something i really _need_)

Fuck

New idea, and way to wreak havoc, http://www.fuckthiswebsite.com . . .

I just may have a new hobbie (like I need one).

Soo . . .

I am trying photography, I been learning for a few months now and it is great. I have purchased 2 lenses so far a 55-200, and a 50mm 1.4. I love my 50mm, it is the most amazing lens, so fast, now if I can't only remember to adjust the ISO speed when necessary I will be able to get some decent photos. I keep leaving it on 200 and wondering why my photos turn out so dark. Here are some of my newest.

This was taken in Chinatown when a collegue came to visit from NYC and as it turns out he has gotten the photo bug as well. I haven't really done much to this photo other than fix the white balance, I know it is still off my that is what i like about it.

This one was taken right before I went to work on the day I got my 50mm lens. It was posted for SelfPortraitTuesday, something I have been trying to remember to do. It hasn't caught on too much in the community but I'm trying to promote it.

If you have an opinion please let me know.

flock

testing for flock, trying to find my blog

new vagina mouse

look what ms created