Bacchus di Pietro

Dr Desert Flower enjoys a nice Chianti from time to time, especially with the pasta dishes she makes (and of which I do not partake, but I do eat the meat & veggies... usually both of which I've grilled) and she picked up a reasonably priced (less than $12) a bottle of Bacchus di Pietro last month.  We enjoyed it with some gluten free pesto lasagna from Raimondo's, and the bottle didn't last a 2nd night.

Chianti's are nearly all Sangiovese grapes, and are usually quite good.  Bacchus di Pietro was also quite good - no complaints.  A typically good Chianti.  The label is fancier than I would have been drawn to purchase, but the wine within did not disappoint.

Tariquet Bas-Armagnac

At Total Wine I found a bottle of Tariquet Bas-Armagnac that was reasonably priced.  Armagnac & Bas-Armagnac are a carmely, smooth, delicious, aged-to-perfection, full of eau-de-vie (water of life), much like Cognac but produced in the Armagnac region adjacent to Bordeaux.  It's really a superb beverage... and as the holiday season approaches, it makes a wonderful gift as well!

Tariqiet is high quality Bas-Armagnac, and is strongly recommended if you've never tried Armagnac before.

This bottle (pictured at left) lasted about a month, and I've gone back to Hennessy Cognac that COSTCO sells for $20 a bottle.

Fonseca Porto Bin No 27

About 2 years ago, Dr Desert Flower got a Port buying spree.  She'd had a taste of a "ok" Port at the last good Wine tasting they had there, and we bought several bottles.  I've never been a huge fan of Port.  It's too sweet for my tastes, and it gives DDF a head ache after one glass.  Why we bought any is still beyond my understanding, but in our wine rack in our dining room, we had several bottles of Port.

2 weeks ago, DDF opened the Fonseco Porto Bin No 27.  We got it, I think, for about $20.  I didn't like it at all when it was opened:  strong overwhelming flavors of Robitussin Cherry Cough Syrup, solvent-like after taste.  And it of course, induced the traditional headache in the cranium of my beloved scientist wife after a tiny, 4 ounce glass.  "We can cook with it maybe" I thought, and put it in the fridge.

2 or 3 days later, I was looking for something to have a night cap before bed, and I tried a sip with some trepidation.  I was amazed, to find that chilled, and 3 days older, it actually tasted quite good.  I can't really recommend it as an awesome Port, but it was drinkable, and over the next week we did not have to pour it down the drain.

Cubicle Life Force

One advantage of working from home...

War On ____ : Andy Singer

War on Drugs.  War on Terror.  They're all the same.  Andy Singer's accurate summary.

7.77 Trillion - Turn It Up To Eleven

I am still trying to get my head wrapped around this one. Many Americans hated the $700 billion TARP bank bail out, which all got paid back (with interest) by the banks to whom the Federal Reserve gave money.  But up to March 2009, the Federal Reserve, through it's "Discount Window" loaned money virtually for free (0.01%... just try to get a car or home or business loan for 0.01% ANYWHERE) to the tune of TARP X 11.  $7.77 Trillion (with a "T") of imaginary money was poured out to US and foreign banks up in the form of 21,000 transactions (link here to Bloomberg), to keep the biggest banks solvent while FDIC went around closing down dozens of insolvent small banks who didn't have Tim Geithner on speed dial.

And then, these evil, evil, despicable F-tards from the biggest banks patted themselves on the back and gave giant bonuses in 2009 & 2010 to their "smartest & best" executives - bonuses stolen from the American Tax Payers' pockets without them even knowing it.  Their artificially inflated system of imaginary wealth comes crashing down around them, and they not only have the gaul to come to the US Federal Reserve for loans to bail them out at 0%, but then they give themselves bonuses to boot?

Yeah, it makes no sense why anyone in America who is not part of the 1% is angry and ready to grab pitch forks and torches.

And now, the European Central Bank is looking at doing the same thing for their PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain)... but unlike the Federal Reserve, they can't just print money out of thin air in imaginary credit default swap / collateral debt obligation BS land, where up is down, merde is pleasingly aromatic, and the rich get insanely richer.

Kokopelli Takes Out Baby Jesus

Today I was on an international call for work, and I heard a loud CRASH in my home.  I thought someone was breaking in... so I asked the Canadian I was speaking to wait a moment please, grabbed one of my Estwing Hammers, and darted abut the house, looking for a prowler.  I found none, and returned to the call 2 minutes later, apologizing to the nice Canadian profusely.  He understood, as he works from home too.

After the call, I walked around the house, wondering "what the heck crashed?"  Then, in the dining room, I found the Nativity scene that Dr Desert Flower put on her dining room buffet with the stained glass Kokopelli that had previous hung in the 12 inch x 12 inch window, 6 feet above it, laying in the middle of the Nativity scene.  It seems that Kokopelli couldn't stand being above the 8lbs, 10 ounce baby Jesus, and crashed down upon him with precision.  "Christian 'Saviour' in my desert? I don't think so!"

One of DDF's colleagues, Dr Todd, interpreted this as "Jesus sacrificing his life for us all" - but I don't see it that way.  I look at this as a pre-emptive strike by Kokopelli.  He was upset that the stain glassed representation of him did not have a HUGE phallus, as traditionally, the indigenous peoples of the Sonoran desert have depicted him (he plays a "flute" after all!).  And perhaps, as Kokopelli is a mischievous spreader of mirth, he wanted to modify the Nativity scene to have all the other statuettes paying homage to the camel, which is now the centerpiece.  =)

We used to have an elaborate hummingbird stained glass window hanging in that same window, that we bought in Tijuana 2 years ago, but it crashed and shattered (no baby Jesus to beak it's fall).  Me thinks that window suction cups in Arizona are just too weak, hampered by the remarkably low humidity the suction cup cannot maintain a strong seal on the window, dries out, and pop's off - but that is not as interesting as propagating the Kokopelli vs Jesus mythos. 

China's Most Popular Export - Pollution

Undoctored, honest photo, Not "weather induced".

Marketplace had a report today akin today to "Dog Bites Man" entitled "China Exports Pollution, Too".  Really?  Wow!  (link here) Who would have known that? (except that I've been beating that drum for years, here, and here).  It IS Nice though, that mainstream media is reporting what I've already been saying, proving I am not just a negative curmudgeon or a China basher.  I remember years and years of not being able to see even a 1/2 mile in China, no sun, no birds, no clouds, just a pall of snog over everything.. and that was 200 million fewer people, a trillion less in debt, and 10 years ago.  3 years of nasty pollution from '99 to 2002... but that was only 6 months of my life (intermittently) and 13 different airports all around the country.  Yeah, it was an anomaly.

Early Arizona December Freeze - Yikes!

NOAA predicts temperatures dropping to 33F and 31F for the next 3 nights!  Yikes!   I have a great deal of plants I need to move inside my garage to keep them from freezing tonight, basil to harvest (and dry), and plants to cover if I can - though the blowing wind really makes that quite difficult.  I'll also run my Christmas lights more on the small transplanted cacti in the front yard, to keep them from getting too cold.  No time for more posting!!

Swagger Hilarity

Old Spice's new commercial is over-the-top hilarious!  I do miss Bruce Campbell though....

The Best Bear I saw all day!!!

Westgate Cardinal Parking Scam

Last Friday night, Dr Desert Flower and I went to Westgate - the large commercial & sports complex in western Glendale where the Arizona Cardinals & Arizona Coyotes play, and had some Mexican food at Cactus Jacks.  We'd never been to Cactus Jack's before, and the food was OK, service a little slow, but a $40 bill that included drinks was not bad.  On the wall at Cactus Jack's, was a framed poster that had both the Oregon University Ducks (I THINK it was Oregon...  Ohio has no duck mascots) and a Chicago Bears cymbal. 

I asked our uniformed waitress "do you show Bears games here?" .. and she responded distractedly "if they're on, then probably".  Slightly annoyed, I reiterated, pointing at the poster - "You have a poster that shows Bears...  do you have the games here?"  "Um, let me check, this is my first day".  Sadly, she never got back to us...  but I DID stop a bar tender who was walking past our booth, and he confirmed "Yes, my brother is the GM, and he LOVES the Bears, so they're on every Sunday."  Ok.. the Stadium is about 3 miles from my house.. a much shorter drive than the 20 miles to Old Chicago, right?

Wrong.  The Cardinals are "in town" this week.  That means, ANYWHERE within a 1/2 mile of the Cardinals stadium (Cactus Jack's included) there was a $20 parking fee.  $20?!?!  No way.  So we had to drive up to Bell Road anyways.  What a scam.  IF we wanted to go to the 12 screen multiplex theater near to Cactus Jack's, we'd STILL have to pay the $20, and then the theater would reimburse us... but no such luck at Cactus Jack's, even though we were 4 hours before game time...  lame.  Lesson learned.

Gluten Free Beer - Redbridge

Thought he Guinness is good at Old Chicago, they have a whole wire-bound binder full of beers.  So after a pint of Guinness for breakfast, while I waited on my wings to arrive, Dr Desert Flower and I found a nice Gluten Free beer made out of sorghum - "Redbridge".   It's not bad.  Has a short of citrus tang to it, and is reminiscent of a Heiffe Weissen, but with less fiber and more flavor.

As I have come to the conclusion after reading a great deal on the subject, that gluten is generally BAD for humans, but industry and government don't want to admit it, or believe it, I try to avoid gluten whenever possible.  That same chemical that holds wheat together also loves to clog arteries (especially in men) and lead to early onset heart disease - refer to the health blogs, links on the left hand side of this blog, for copious amounts of postings to that effect. 

I will keep this "wheat free" beer in mind, and look for others in the future as well.  Sadly, Redbridge is brewed by Anheuser Busch, and I am just not a big fan of LARGE Corporately made products.  I prefer to have a delicious micro-brew over most millions-of-gallons-a-year vatted corporate beer any-day.

Mocha Porters, Wings For Brunch, and Impotent Bears

Dr Desert Flower and I enjoyed a Rogue Mocha Porter and a pint of the Old Chicago Black Diamond Porter, with some chicken wings of various flavors.  We could not enjoy the dismal performance of Da Bears, who struggled to put even 3 points on the board.  Yes, Matt Forte, Da Bear's running back and work horse got a helmet-to-the-knee, and is probably out for the rest of the season, but Kansas City lost their starter (Orton, a former Bears reject), and did not too badly.

In addition to the delicious Porters and wings, we saw Miami decimate Oakland, which was particularly sweet after last week's Raider run in near my neighborhood.    Old Chicago on Bell Road is indeed THE PLACE to watch a Bears game on the West Side of Phoenix - sadly, it's the North West side, about 20 miles from our home, but it is closer than Bruno's in Fountain Hills on the far far farrrr East side of Phoenix (takes over an hour to get there from here).

I sure hope Manning and the Giants can stop the juggernaut known as Aaron Rodgers and the accursed Green Bay Packers.

American Reality Check - Iraq Says GET OUT

Listening to Diane Rehm show this morning (link here), the international hour I found QUITE illuminating. One of the guests,Yochi Dreazen, senior national security correspondent, National Journal magazine, related a story on the show (transcript not yet available at time of this blog posting) that went like this:  "In Basra, there's a massive military base that the British built and the Americans have been running.  The American base commander, who was speaking through a translator to the Iraqi general who was going to be taking over the base, said 'we should have a flag ceremony, lowering the American flag, raising the Iraqi flag.' And the Iraqi general who had been listening to a translator this who time, responded bluntly in English: "No ceremony. Get Out. Now."

American citizens and military are SOOOO Worried about 'leaving with honor' and making the massive sacrifices in blood and treasure poured into Iraq as 'meaningful'.  But according to all of the Diane Rehm show guests, ALL of them VERY informed about conditions on the ground and the political realities and influential forces (the Kurds, the Iranians, the Shia'a militias, the Sunni militias, the Saudis, the military) in Iraq, stated quite clearly that after 8 years of war & occupation, the American military and diplomatic forces are hated, despised, resented.  In Iraqis' perspective, the Americans cannot leave fast enough.  In Americans' perspective, we need to have slow withdrawal "with honor".  Well, sorry, but W and the Neocons flushed away all the honor when they preemptively launched an unnecessary war.  5000 American dead, and 33,000 severely wounded, with millions of Iraqis dead, and a trillion dollars wasted... I don't see the honor in that, and anyone who wants to try and pretend it is honorable, they're delusional. 

The service of the US troops was very honorable, but the mission the politicians sent them on in the first place was not honorable at all, and no amount of Republican hand waving and wringing will "restore" or "instill" any honor in it.  A pig turd is still a pig turd, no matter how much you try to polish it or dress it up, it remains a pig turd.

Turn It Up To Eleven

Dr Desert Flower and I were going to try and go to see Puscifer - Maynard James Keenan's from Tool's side project, at the Mesa Arts Center next Friday... but tickets are nearly sold out with only "very limited view" seats available.  That sucks.  Why do concert promoters and performance venues even try to seell such tickets?  We saw The Cure that way at the Dodge Theater.   or rather, we saw 1/2 the Cure, the other half was hidden behind a stage edge wall that blocked out the drums, bass, video screens, and back-up singers.. and it was not very enjoyable.

Here's a nice animated feature "Man Overboard" - 'about to turn it up to eleven' - from Puscifer.  Tip of the hat to my buddy Ryan for alerting me to the concert.   Wag of the finger to the Mesa Arts Center for trying to sell really pathetic seats.

APC - Blue

in keeping with the "Blue" frame of mind...

...Wasn't Working For Me

Subdivisions

"Subdivisions" - Rush, 1982, Signals.  Though this is not on of Rush's best songs, and when I was in High School and it came out, I could not 'relate' to it, and thought the lyrics somewhat trite (IMHO), the cymbal / high hat / snare drum work, in 7/8 and in 4/4 are remarkably precise.  The triple stroke, single handed ride cymbal work at the 3:52 mark, I really used to enjoy playing as a young drummer.  When it transitions to the driving splash cymbal 4:44, I used to try to simulate that with a pair of old, trashed, cracked high-hat cymbals that I mounted between my ride cymbals, but I lacked Peart's precision, and typically wound up knocking over the rickety-stand-equipped cracked cymbals and instead, just doing VERY HARD accents, with plastic tipped sticks, near the raised bells of the ride cymbals (after the rides fell over).

I'd forgotten all about the Tempest video game screen captures at end of the video (4:39)... and I did spend 100s of hours planted in front of Tempest machines... but then again, in the 80s, I had "peasant vision" (my father refused to get cable - and still refuses, with a GIANT antenna on his Indiana home) so I never really watched this video on a TV before.

Enforcers of the 1%'s Power

This is an excellent perspective, and important to keep in mind.  I found it rather poignant. (link here)

Perry Needs To Listen To Nixon

Mojo Nixon, that is....

"Now another thing is kinda gettin\' on my nerves...
another thing that\'s kinda gettin\' on my nerves is this
national 21 drinking age
Huh? what do ya think about that?
A bunch of malarky
whatever malarky is man
it\'s a whole bunch of it..
you know if Reagan finally gets the war he\'s lookin for
you think he\'s gonna be draftin\' 21 year olds?
No man they\'re gonna be draftin\' 18 and 19 year olds
but ya cant buy beer
you can get married and screw yourself up real good
but ya can\'t buy beer
ya can charge 8 million dollars on the mastercharge
but ya can\'t buy beer
you can vote for one fool or another
but ya can\'t buy beer
\'cause this is America"



The legal voting age in Umerika is 18, you Texas idiot.  No New Texans!