Wine around the world

Eh aprendido hoy una gran leccion, NO VULEVO A VER UN VIDEO sugerido por cierto compañero de la escuela, simple y sencillamente mis ojos y mis oidos esta muy frustados despues de ver esto, para aquellos que ya vieron el video "obedece a la morsa" sabran a que sensacion me refiero, y este video que aunque no tiene que ver con el tema si me ah dejado un poco frustado...

Si solo fue mi imaginacion o soy de mete debil avisenme, si no... Tambien

Amen a los Valientes que vean esta video... Chicas abstenganse...

In his song "Fine Wine," from the Sensational meets Kouhei self-titled album, Sensational repeats "Doing it all the time. I got that taste like fine wine." I think that this is a perfect description of this obscure artist's addictive verbal flow. For one to truly appreciate the genius of Sensational, one must devote oneself to a steady diet of his work, but be warned, Sensational seeps into one's pores and may cause a pleasant or disconcerting feeling of inebriation. You may lose balance.

It is not unusual to see depictions of religious television evangelists lose bodily control and begin speaking in tongues. In this state of obscene vocal possession, strange sounds pour out of the speaker's mouth apparently being transmitted and controlled by supernatural forces from beyond. And, in Slavoj Zizek's "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (dir. Sophia Fiennes)," one can see his analysis of "The Exorcist" where he analyzes the terrifying dimension of the voice. "Voice is not an organic part of the human body. It is coming from somewhere in between your body" he says. When one listens to the flow of Sensational, one can hear something akin to possession, a voice emanating words from without, a voice off-balance, a pure voice. That is to say, it is as if Sensational, when flowing, taps into a rarely accessed dimension of the human voice, an altered state of vocal consciousness, in communication with an almost monstrous linguistic force.

I would argue that it is not necessarily the content of his rhymes that are engaging, but the way in which he flows them, his, as he mentions, "natural shine." Interestingly, in Stanley Kubrick's film "The Shining," we find that one who 'shines' is one who is in contact with a different (and, terrifying) dimension of reality. That is, the boy of the film, Danny, experiences 'shining' in two ways. The first, a voice, the voice of as he says, his imaginary friend Tony who lives in his mouth. Secondly, he is in contact with this 'shining,' by a kind of paralysis of Being. His body is taken control of, he drools, sweats, shakes and even hallucinates. I think that Sensational's repeated use of "natural shine" is akin to what young Danny in "The Shining" experiences, that is, a kind of possession of the voice, a teleportation of consciousness, a teleportation to a strange dimension of language. Moreover, one quickly notices the way Sensational produces his own voice on his albums. We find him distorted through reverb, delay or through his use of headphones as microphones.

To someone who has never tried wine, the taste may be startling, confusing and bitter. For the one who is a conneisseur, there is the acute awareness of the wine's body, it's smell, the way it sits in the mouth, the way it dissolves in the mouth, its aftertaste. I think it is wise to keep this in mind when approaching Sensational: once ingested, his "natural shine," while perhaps uncomfortable at first, takes root and spreads as eyes become glazed and objects slowly melt away...one enters rapture.

Sensational Links:
http://www.myspace.com/chunkobliss
http://www.wordsound.com/sensational.html
Sensational

Time for a quick update...

Through the past 10 days or so, I've remarked several times that the tide had turned in my thinking.  This has been true every time I've said it, but I keep bringing it back up because at each turn, I feel like it's grown MORE true.

Momentum is a crazy thing.  Now that I have some, I almost can't remember why I couldn't get myself in hand long ago.  It wasn't for lack of desire, that's for sure!  I've made several attempts to change my eating habits over the past several years, since my last successful attempt on the Jenny Craig plan back in approximately 2003.  Back in 2003, after having an on-again, off-again relationship with JC until finally petering out, I weighed somewhere in the 160s.  This isn't my "perfectly slim" weight (that'd be 150), but it was a decent weight for me.  We took a cruise, and in the videos of me in my swimsuit, I don't look too bad.  I was also comfortable wearing skirts that hit above my knees.

But gradually, the weight crept back on.  I can remember a few years ago growing very alarmed when the number on the scale hit the mid-170s.  I went on the Atkins plan and stuck to it religiously for a month.  I'm telling you, I don't know why, but that plan did NOTHING for me, and I even exercised faithfully throughout, jogging at least two miles almost every day.  I think, after one month, I'd lost maybe four pounds, and I just felt weird.  I can't explain it, but I was having issues sleeping, and I constantly craved bread and all the other things I couldn't have.  I know the Atkins plan has worked for many people - my husband lost 35 pounds on it and felt great - but for my body chemistry, it did nothing.

Over the past three years or so, after that Atkins attempt, I've watched with alarm as my weight crept higher and higher.  Periodically, I'd be overcome with disgust over how I had "outgrown" various clothing items, like my favorite slim-fitting capris from three summers ago.  (I noticed, to my horror, that the side zipper kept coming unzipped, and that I couldn't seem to pull them all the way up, as they were getting stuck on my fat thighs!)  Or, I'd go to a meeting at my kids' school and be envious of the slim, stylish moms and also intimidated by them.

So I'd get motivated and try to do something about my weight, but it seemed like always, after one or two days of thinking about it, I'd hit a wall and cave in to Crazed Addict Fatgirl.  Or, I could never quite get all the componants together for successful weight loss.  For instance, I'd have no trouble exercising, but then I'd throw it all away and wolf down a huge dinner.

So I've been trying to figure out why this time has been different.  Why have I been able to gain momentum?

Part of it, I honestly think, has to do with this blog.  Although I don't get more than 25 or 30 hits per day, there's that knowledge that a couple dozen anonymous strangers have been reading my words.  Especially during the first day or two, I thought of how foolish I'd feel to have to delete the blog and admit that I couldn't keep to what I'd promised myself.  Plus, seeing the words in black and white - seeing a stark record of what I was admitting that I wanted, which was to slim down and be fit again and be able to wear nice clothes again and feel like a "normal-sized" person again - was sobering.  Crazed Addict Fatgirl somehow could not quite overcome the existence of this website.  Even when she yelled loudly at me that it didn't matter and I could just cave and eat what I wanted, I had to admit to her that I'd published my desires in a way where all the world could see.

And then...well, then, there's just momentum.  After the first few days, I felt a lot better, and I could tell that I'd lost a little.  This motivated me to stick with it.  When I'd gotten through a week, I realized that it simply was not that hard.  I could do it.  And now, it's been two weeks.  I've lost 6.5 pounds, and I'm not going to quit.  I'm getting into that mindset where I do not want to cheat.  I want to choose healthy foods and get my fruits and vegetables in.  Actually, when I eat all my fruits and veggies, I'm honestly not that hungry for anything else, as evidenced by the party yesterday.  I'd had a big plate of cauliflower and carrots before we left, and I was able to just nibble a couple of crackers instead of going crazy over stuffed mushrooms, artichoke dip, and all the other really fattening, tempting things they served as appetizers.

Finally, if I could give one word of advice to someone pondering making yet another commitment and wondering if you can stick with it - MAKE A PLAN.  And commit to sticking to it for at least a few days.  This is the magic of plans like Jenny Craig.  The menus are all pre-printed, the food's in your freezer and pantry, and it just gives you this sense of security that all the decisions have been removed for you, at least at the beginning.  I did this for the first several days of this dieting attempt, and wow, it was incredibly helpful.  I had several Lean Cuisine entrees in the freezer, and I had my fruits and veggies and lunch items, and I knew what I was going to have when.

I'd also say, plan three meals and two snacks.  Eat at least two different fruits and two different veggies each day (make one veggie a high vitamin A veggie, like carrots or broccoli).  Get your calcium, through nonfat milk and nonfat low-sugar yogurt.  Yogurt, actually, is another thing that I think does something to your digestive system which takes away your appetite.  At least, it works for me. 

Choose foods high in fiber, too.  Those dried soups from Safeway's "Eating Right" brand are amazing.  They contain something like 12 grams of fiber per serving.  After a cup of the black bean soup, at 180 calories, 12 grams of protein, and 12 grams of fiber, I seriously won't be hungry till dinner.

Those are some tricks that I've learned.  Make a commitment, make a plan, and make yourself accountable to someone.

If you're reading this, thank you!  Because you're MY "someone" today.

Hey,

A big thanks to Jeff for having painstakingly selected and shipped the wines back to Chicago from New York, and then organizing with Zhen and Rita a tasting for us. It was great fun as usual, and thanks to the new folks who came! Hope you guys had a good time as well and we look forward to having you back again.

Coming up, we have a tasting of wines from Argentina. It will be held on April 19th, Saturday, at WineStyles (830-11pm). Denise, Martin, and Jenel will help us put together a thoughtful selection of wine, and Jenel, who has a culinary degree, will pair the wines with tasty treats as well. And, as a bonus, we'll be conducting a smell quiz with dozens of tiny little vials to test your sense of smell! Think a Chardonnay has popcorn notes? Well compare that against a vial with popcorn scent! Think a NZ Sauvignon Blanc has a cat pee scent? Well... Good times! We'll send out another reminder closer to the date; in the meantime, if you don't know already, WineStyles offers free tastings every Thursday. Stop by if you can; it's a great opportunity to meet with the distributors and find out more about their wines!

Look out for our May tasting as well. Bruce and I will be hosting a "make your own wine" DGS, where everyone will get a chance to pit their wine blending skills against one another! More details on that to follow, but in the meantime, drink and be merry!

Cheers,

New York is actually the oldest wine region in the U.S., but is obviously shadowed by Napa. Nonetheless, New York native Jeff bravely decided to tackle wines from that state last night, going where most wine distributors in Chicago haven't dared to tread - I know, because we have been asking around. He'd gotten most of the wines shipped back from a previous visit, and carried the rest back in his suitcase on other trips.

So it was that we held our DGS New York wines tasting at Jeff and Zhen's Saturday night. For the most part, we tried established grape varietals, and didn't taste native grapes such as the Concord and Seyval Blanc. There were around twenty people in attendance, including three new folks whom I think enjoyed themselves, and would hopefully be around in the future. And even though we tried to end earlier by starting at the much earlier time of 6pm, the tasting only concluded at midnight. Hehe.

We started the ball rolling with a couple of fun wines, a pear wine, Goose Watch Bartlett Pear $12. It was fun, with clear pear notes but not too cloyingly sweet on the palate.

Next up was a strawberry wine, Baldwin Strawberry $16. Sadly, that was the only bottle that lay unfinished at the end, no mean feat considering we went through 12 bottles in total. It had a bold nose, big, ripe strawberry jam. Alas, it was sweet, waaaaaaaay too sweet, and most people had to cut it with a couple of ice cubes or water it down.

The Viognier, Casa Larga Viognier $20, we were served next was almost a relief from the lingering sweetness. I say almost because it tasted a little too green and tight, maybe a result of an unfortunate contrast with the syrupy strawberry wine. It's definitely not my favorite examples of viognier; I could name a dozen more that had showed a much better structure of the woodiness. Bruce and a couple others said it smelled musty. No matter, Aaron and Yeming found that they quite enjoyed the almost refreshing crispness of the wine.

We got a bottle of Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling $24 next. Aaron and I both agreed that the wine showed a lot of potential in the nose and body... alas only to suddenly disappoint with a finish that plunged into nothingness.

Happily, the next dry Riesling, Hermman Wiemer Dry Riesling $30, showed really beautifully. It was my favorite bottles of the night, with an elegantly light nose and dancing aromas of pineapple and floral notes, and a soft finish.

Wine Number 6 was a late harvest Riesling from the same vineyard, the Hermann Wiemer Late Harvest Riesling $30, and again, this one thrilled, though I'd much rather the drier version.

We tried a third bottle from the same vineyard, this one the Hermann Wiemer gewurztraminer $25 that had the clearest example of lychee notes so far. Beautiful nose, and the slight spiciness of the body was a delight.

Wine Number 8 was a Chardonnay, the Palmer Reserve Chardonnay $17, and Natalie, upon lifting the glass to her nose, immediately pointed out the buttery popcorn notes, and not just buttery, mind you, but with a little bit of burnt edge to it, as if the popcorn had been in the microwave for a couple seconds too long. How true! I loved it, and especially savored the slight salty edge in the wine.

We had a Pinot Grigio next, the Hunt Country Pinot Gris $16, and I stand by my statement that I've not had many Pinot Grigios that have wowed me, one excellent exception being the Pinot Grigio from Rocca, Italy. This was not it, but tasted pleasant enough, even if it didn't give a lasting memory.

After all the whites, we finally moved on to the reds. My second favorite of the night, a Merlot blend, the Rivendell Merlot $17. This one had a funky-ish nose, not quite merlot tasting with its smell of wet earth/wood, but I loved the soft tannins in the mouthfeel and found myself reaching out for refills a couple times afterwards.

The next red was a Pinot Noir, the Six Mile Pinot Noir $22, and this was a surprising version, the color so light that it could almost pass for a rose. Not quite what I'd expect from a Pinot Noir - a little too tart and almost sweet for my liking?

The last wine of the night, a Salmon Run Petit Noir from Dr. Konstantin Frank, was interesting. The color wasn't quite as light as that Pinot Noir, but still a lighter shade than the Merlot. Light and fruity. Apparently a blend of Gamay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvginon (how the hell did they come up with the name Petit Noir???).

• Joseph Drouhin Chablis 2006
• Chateau Moulin de Ferrand Sauvignon Semillon 2006
• Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages 2006
• Domaine Des Graves D'ardonneau Premieres Cotes De Blaye 2003

Jesus is a friend of mine, the best I ever had,

So I did something this weekend that I hadn't done in years. It's something that I used to really enjoy, I did it often, and it was just kind of a routine really. When the Mister and I first met, we would both get off work around 1 AM, after working a 10-hour shift. Every Friday night, we would venture to WalMart after work (yeah, I know, how romantical) and we would wait for the baker to break out the hot, fresh donuts. She would usually have them ready by 130 AM, and we would walk around WalMart and eat our donuts and drink our pint of white milk. Yeah, don't be jealous. He was a big spender, he knew how to treat his woman right.

And every Friday night, after we consumed our donuts, we'd hit the "video store".

It was seedy. It was dirty and funky and the man that ran the joint was always drunk. I bet he even ran drugs through his "video business" - But . . . But! It had porn. It was the only store in town that had porn, and I was willing to overlook the yucky for that.

So this past weekend, I got an itch. I wanted porn. Not donuts, not WalMart . . just porn. The same ol' seedy joint was still the only place in town that dealt with the nekkid flicks, so off we went to find some boobies and creampies. It was a popular place that night. A lot of single (I'm assuming) guys were jam-packed in the small room used for the dirty movies. I was the only girl present. Yes! Circle jerk anyone? Bukkake?

A lot of the good movies were already taken, but yet there was still a variety of goodies to be viewed:

Chicks with dicks
Big tits and big dicks
Dominating chicks
Anal
Black chicks and white dicks
and of course,
White chicks and black dicks
Double dicks in tight places
Miniature dicks
Anal
Fat chicks and fat dicks
Big boobies and nothing but!
Big dick blowjobs
Anal
Tons o' Oriental chicks
But no Oriental dicks
Anal
Anal
Anal

There were a few anal flicks, and lesbian ones and some with blowjobs and such . . but I didn't want to watch just one . type . of . sexual . act for two hours. I wanted variety. I wanted to see ... this and that, not just creampies and facials or double penetrating anal positions. I wanted an assortment of sexual deviations.

And I found the perfect video for what I was after. And I took it home, but not before stopping off at the local liquor store to purchase some goodies.

Needless to say, you won't get any horny details outta this post. I was passed out before the ending credits, and I suppose somebody got their jollies off that night, but it wasn't me.

Though I did wake up the next morning with some nasty shit encrusted on my chin. Yeah, I know. Seeeex-y! Turns out, it was drool.

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So how was your weekend?

Recent research found at Science Daily...

1. Red wine can help protect against prostate cancer - read here
2. Wine is great as a mouth wash! - read here. It certainly tastes better than Listerene.
3. White wine is a great disinfectant/cleaning fluid - read here
4. Red wine antioxidant resveratrol can help kill cancer cells - read here

SOUTH of the border this time for a bottle of beer from Oxford. This one is called Blue and it's from Ridgeway Brewing of Oxfordshire.

I usually ignore the neck label when in the shop, so it wasn't until I got home that I noticed this...

It turns out that this won ‘best beer' at the Tesco ‘brewing awards'. That makes this the second I've tried, with Broughton Champion Double Ale was the first Tesco winner I tried. And very good it was too. This upshot of which is that I now have higher than usual expectations going into this one.

The front label is round. And features mainly blue text. I'd describe what the illustration is of. But I can't tell what it's supposed to be. Can you?

The bottom edge of the label has their address. The full address. Post code and everything. And that's unusual, as the address normally goes on the back label. It does prove that this one comes from South Stoke in Oxfordshire however. Also down there, in tiny writing is "Alc 5% vol." It's so small, you'd think they were trying to hide that fact.

Either side of the roundel are a couple of facts. On the left, it says "whole leaf hops". And on the right, "maris otter malt". How that will affect the taste, we'll find out soon enough. If you think you can explain what it means, do by all means leave a comment at the end of the post.

The first thing that jumps out at you on the back label is the "CAMRA says this is real ale". That's not something I've seen on any other bottle I've reviewed so far, and it's a welcome sight. Always good to know that the Campaign for Real Ale gives it's approval to something, so that clueless drinkers, like me, can enjoy with one less thing to worry about.

Ridgeway open the rear label with some marketing speak about sharing this bottle or drinking it at a barbeque. Fortunately, they have some useful advice in there too, in the form of a description of what the drink will be like. As always, that's immensely helpful, as it gives me something with which to judge the success of the drink. This one includes words such as "distinctively hoppy", "lively" and "refreshing".

They also suggest "drinking cold". Whether they mean that the bottle should be cold, or that you should drink while feeling cold is unclear. Assuming they mean that the bottle is the one that should be cold, the include a nice touch underneath it in brackets saying that it's not compulsory. I like that sort of touch.

The, the label goes on to explain something really rather interesting. And something I've met before without realising it. You see, Ridgeway helpfully explain what "Bottle Conditioned" is all about. It turns out, that live yeast sediment goes into the bottle, so that it can ferment some more while it waits for you to open it. And that all Ridgeway beers are bottles that way because it makes the flavour "brighter" and "fresher". I'm not sure about those two adjectives, but I do know that Hoegaarden does something similar, and that it is one of the best I've ever had. And yes, looking closely into the bottle, you can see some of that yeast sediment. There go my expectations up a few more notches. Not just for Blue but for all Ridgeway bottles.

Down to the small print, and this is a moderately priced, 500 millilitre bottle from my local Tesco. It contains malted barley. And the web address given on the bottle is www.ridgewaybrewery.co.uk. Which doesn't work. Why do so many bottles feature web addresses that are wrong or go to sites that aren't there? Come on chaps. You're making bottles of beer for Tesco now. Not just for the county fair.

In a glass, it has a thin head. And yes, while pouring, a small lump of that yeast sediment plopped in. The colour is a cloudy dark gold. And the smell is... quite nice. It smells almost citrusy. But I could be wrong about that. There's definitely something ‘clean' and ‘fresh' about the way it smells. You'll also pick up hints of the malt, hops and yeast that are in there too, if you sniff hard enough.

First thing that hits me is the smoothness. Then the light and palatable bitterness. And a taste and aftertaste of hops and yeast. If you don't have ale very often, and want to try something that typifies the entire category of drink, this is looking like a good choice.

What else can I say about it? Well, it's not to gassy. It's easy to drink, being inoffensive to all but the most beer averse taste buds. And you needn't worry about the sediment. This is not like drinking orange juice with bits, if that's something that worries you. Instead, it's more a smooth cranberry juice, of a beer. Refreshing, but with a sharp bitterness.

Towards the end of the bottle, and I'm growing to quite like Blue. It's something you'd probably have with a pub meal. But it's nor without its problems. I like ales to have character and complexity. But Blue is lacking both. The tastes and flavours are straightforward. It does what it does, very well, but ‘best beer' award winning? I'm not entirely sure.

I liked Ridgeway Blue enough to want to try Ridgeway's other bottles. In fact, I will definitely be looking out for them on the shelves. This is a good, decent, quality, solid ale. But it just couldn't reach my lofty expectations. It's still worth your money trying though.

Rating: 3.5

Have you tried Ridgeway Blue or any other Ridgeway beers? Let the world know your thoughts and opinions in the comment box below.
Also any ideas for what you think I should review next.