Château du Grand Carretey 2009

For an amazing dessert wine, that will not break your bank account, one needs to look no further than Château du Grand Carretey 2009.  Total Wine sells it for about $30 a bottle.  It's one of Dr Desert Flower's favorites. 

It's got apricot notes in it, and an intoxicating floral bouquet.  Excellent quality and consistency.  A good "go to" Sauternes. 

Quinson Fils Côtes de Provence 2010

Dr Desert Flower and I enjoyed a nice bottle of Quinson Fils Côtes de Provence earlier this month, when it was still over 100F here in Arizona.  Côtes de Provence is a wonderful appellation in Southern France, that is under appreciated.  Great in warm weather, or with cheese and fruit on a leisurely afternoon.  Highly recommended.  Excellent quality.  We've got one more bottle left in the fridge.  

I disagree with the online reviewers who've given this one or two stars (out of 5).  It's delightful, crisp, enjoyable.  Maybe 2011 turned...  but the 2010 bottle we had was great.

Unwinded? Barely Wine

At Fresh & Easy, they have a special on "Unwined" Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio.  It is made in Romania, and the sign in the store said it was "In cooperation with the EU and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce".  They were asking $4 a bottle, so I thought... "Why not?  I'll try it". 

I opened the Pinot Grigio first - it was a 2011, lol!  Dr Desert Flower and I were eating cheese and crackers (she was) and cured meats (I was), and I thought it might pair well with the Brie and the Toscana.  Well, in DDF's words"This is barely wine".  It was flavored water basically.  The weakest, most flavorless Pinot Grigio either of us have ever tasted.  It was not offensive, or harsh.  it was just not appealing.  Weak, watered down, virtually no flavor, white wine colored water.  I finished off the bottle over the next few days.

Then, a week later, I opened the Pinot Noir - a 2010 vintage.. lol!  And it was similarly innocuous as it's Pinot Grigio sister.  I cannot recommend it, unless you are looking for colored water that has virtually no flavor.

When I took my aunts to fresh and Easy to get their no-fat, no sugar added soy milk that they were seeking, there was STILL a GIANT pallet of Unwined in the middle of the beer & wine aisle.  Apparently, Fresh & Easy can't give the stuff away.

From Oven to Coven

I saw this in Sedona last week, when I was visiting there with my aunts who were visiting from the mid west.  I found this absolutely hilarious.

Doesn't everyone have a Toad Peeler?

Good Morning Sandy

I was going to post this earlier today.. but work's kept me very busy. 

On second glance... this image DOES look photoshopped.  Lady Liberty looks south and east, out the mouth of the Hudson.  This image shows a SETTING sun, not a rising one, to the West of Liberty Island.  And the cloud swirl is clockwise, instead of counter clockwise, as every single storm north of the Equator Must rotate. 

So someone is good at photoshop, but bad at geography, science, and realism.

I hope all of my friends in the Northeast stay dry and safe.

Horses and Bayonets

This clip (link here), sums up a nice schooling, and re-direction to the facts.  It's not rhetoric, it's not socialism or fascism, it's just facts.  "We have fewer horses and bayonets today in the military".

Or, to put it more graphically:

Yeah, the USA better build more ships, pronto!

Pakistan Loves Romney

When I heard republican pundits on the radio earlier this week express how they think America has "lost standing in the world" since President Obama was elected, I thought my head would explode.   No, we've not lost standing...  in fact, most of the civilized world wants Obama to be re-elected.  Except Pakistan of course.   They're tired of Pakistani Intelligence sanctioned drone strikes inside of Pakistan, and blame it all on the US, whenever one goes wrong.  They'd rather have Romney elected (yeah, drone strikes would CERTAINLY go down under a republican..  sure).  Link here.  Too bad the whole world doesn't get to vote for 'President of the Free World'.

Un-Bound

Thanks to my great friend CKG for the Tumblr link to Binders Full of Women.  Absolutely Hilarious!

Sophomoric Workaholics

Sophomoric Workaholics  - no thanks.  Actually, to call them "Sophomoric" is an insult to "sophomoric".  The characters are unredeeming, unlikeable, and moronic. The writing is on a 6th grade level, on it's best day.    The hours it has stolen of my life - while it drones on in the background in my hotel room - will never return.  I wish I could hold Comedy Central liable for airing such total merde.

Be forewarned.   It's not even worth being called 'a waste of time.'

There Was room for 2

Dr Desert Flower and I watch the last 1/2 of Titanic together last month (I still have never seen that movie in its entirety).  The photos below illustrate one of James Cameron's biggest gaffes in the film.  There definitely WAS room for 2.  (the card game cracked me up!)

Republican Presidential Positions in 2012

amamBoing!!!!

I am not going to watch the Presidential Debate tonight, since I am not independently wealthy, not making the bulk of my income only from investments, and therefore not on the fence or undecided about who I will be voting for. If I was making the majority of my income from investments, taxed at just 15%, or hidden in a trust of an off-shore account, I'd probably vote for Romney in my own self interest, if my conscience didn't get the better of me. So I don't know who these "undecided" voters are in NY who will be asking questions tonight... but it is America, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions and perceptions. The SNL skit that aired a few weeks ago on Thursday, trying to identify who the undecided voters are ("Who is the president now?" and "am I allowed to vote?" for instance) was spot on.

Just Wanted A Banana

I am sure this kind of thing has been happening for years... but now, parents (and older siblings) have cell phones to capture such moments.

Granny From The Beverly Hillbillies?

I understand the list, and as a kid in the 80s shared an attraction to most of these... but Irene Ryan, #5?  that's granny from the Beverly Hillbillies... =P  ...  very silly. 

[Yes, I even admitted to my dear wife of a quarter century that when I was an elementary school kid, I liked #7 on this list as well.]

...If You Believe It.

This sums up the first Presidential Debate strategy that Mitt Romney employed last night.  Strangely, the farthest reaches of the Right Wing applauded Mitt's shift to the middle.  None of the "extreme conservatism" that Romney repeatedly stated in his 23 primary debates with other Republican sparring partners was presented - shaking that Etch-a-Sketch, again.  NPR summaries the Romney BS here (link) so you can hear it with your own ears.

Martian Spiders

It took almost 40 years since David Bowie asked "so where are the spiders?" (see link) But NASA saw something today, that appears Bowie was way more prescient than anyone ever thought.


The NASA story is here (link).  We shall see what these spidery shapes really are, (likely geysers... but geysers of what?) when they're viewed more closely than from 200 miles away.

Yeah, the "private sector" would definitely have done a better job than NASA at getting 3 long lasting rovers to Mars, doing all the science that is so extremely profitable, and inspiring generations of youngsters to embrace science and engineering as a career path.  Martian spiders  / geysers / anything Martian, would not pass Romney's litmus test of "is it worth borrowing from China to fund?"  Sorry Mars, you and Jim Lehrer and Big Bird would have to remain in the dark.

Bears Spank Cowgirls

5 turn overs, and Dallas puts in its 2nd string QB.  34 to 18, da Bears defense played admirably.   Bears offense, was not too shabby.  I also found that MGD tastes as good as I used to remember it did 20 years ago..  and very cheap to drink at home!