Last Summer Grilling
The fall season has started encroaching upon us and the grilling season's peak is ending (yes, you can grill all year long, but it's best without snow on the grill). Saturday I had some excellent Lemon Pepper Chicken, grilled zucchini drizzled with olive oil, roasted red potatoes and green peppers, and of course, a spot of wine (and by spot, I mean bottle).
Dancing Bull 2003 Sauvignon Blanc pairs with the chicken and veggies extremely well. Plus, at $12 or so a bottle, it's very affordable. In fact, it was the most expensive thing on my menu solely because we grow everything else that I made except for the olive oil (yes, we have chickens).
I would recommend that if you want a nice picnic/grilling wine, the Sauvignon Blanc isn't too dry and so should be fairly well received. You might still have a few people who want something less dry and a Reisling or
something similar might be a good choice. The semi-sweets are affordable and available at almost all grocery stores.
Posted by Ben at 9/25/2005 03:13:00 PM
More Virtual Wine Tasting
Tim (of
Winecast) has a good bit about his version of
Virtual Wine Tasting. Given that he runs along the audio side of blogging, his tastings seem to have a more personal feel.
Posted by Ben at 9/25/2005 02:55:00 PM
Meijer Advice
Wow,
Meijer has some good
advice on buying wine. I have to admit that I didn't expect it. Today's lesson is that wine doesn't have to be purchased from a guy with a monacle who calls you sir. It could be just as easily bought from a teenager with bad skin. Just try it out. It helps to learn about it so that you can enjoy it to it's fullest potential, but if you don't want to go to the effort, it doesn't hurt to experiment. You might just want to be ready for raised eyebrows if you start
adding the ice though...
Posted by Ben at 9/24/2005 04:56:00 PM
How Grand Shall I Go?
It was
suggested that Disney's
Grand Californian Hotel may be a better place to
drink wine than what I had
previously mentioned. There are also a couple
other places at Disney to stop and sip the time away. But atmosphere, while important, only affects the taste marginally. It's more of the fact that Epcot is hosting a nice wine & food
festival that originated my own fleeting wishes for travel.
Posted by Ben at 9/24/2005 04:41:00 PM
DIY Wine - By the Barrel
If you're looking to drop about $4000+ on a bunch of wine (a few cases), you definitely need to check out
Crushpad Wine. They even started a
harvest blog this month. Their concept is very interesting and I'd love to get together with a group of people and try out a barrel. Very fun for a wine group to get around and work on thier own product. Fun for all.
Posted by Ben at 9/22/2005 10:30:00 AM
I'm Going to Disneyland!!!
I wish. Actually I don't, but it would be nice to have some
good wine there. Besides, vacation is a good thing.
Another link to read up on is a bit more political. Indiana sucks for wine. No, we have some
good wineries around, but you have to go to that winery to get their product or figure out a distributor around you. The days of shipping it to yourself are
done. Same with getting wines from other states sent to you. This is not happiness. This is the state legislature banning us from shipping a product made in Indiana to people who live in Indiana to use in Indiana. I'm a bit pissed of about this. If you like wine and want to enjoy it without driving to, say,
Steuben County, to personally buy it, give your
representatives a jingle.
Posted by Ben at 9/18/2005 10:38:00 PM
Forgetting Johannes Gutenberg
Herr
Gutenberg had some good
ideas for getting stuff around, but it may be time to move on. The
printed media does a good job at what it's meant to do, but there are so many ways to
change it and
update it for electronic media. I am simply worried that by focusing too much on the Preface and its model, we limit ourselves and don't brainstorm far enough from the cloud. Let's get a bit of momentum and mix it up a bit. The categories are great and we can get inspiration from many newspapers out there, but we also need to embrace the blog, the forum, the pseudo-permanence of the net and really get our feelers out there. Even by getting people to work with
trackbacks we can get readers from areas that normally we wouldn't think of. It just allows our community to grow and develop without any conscious effort.
<steps down from soapbox>
I would like to work on everything in the group project. But I cannot. That's just too hard and leads to poor focus on many things instead of slightly better focus on one thing. I think that I would either like to look at a
Offbeat/Misc section occasionally with a regular beat pertaining to College 101. What hints to IUSB can be garnered from upperclassmen and faculty. What deals exist on campus, what orgs can help out the student. Well, that might be a little too vague. It seems like the topic for the whole project again.
Perhaps I'll work with
organizations. Poli-Sci, Student Gov't, ACM, misc clubs, organizations, etc. Sort of a spotlight for the campus on the smaller coalitions that thrive in the underbelly of academia. What they do, who does it, and why they want to do it. That sort of thing. Plus, it might help get some backing if we write nicely about them and they recommend us to others...
Posted by Ben at 9/18/2005 10:07:00 PM
Virtual Wine Tasting
Alder, at
Vinography.com, has an good
post (with additional links) on an
online wine tasting #14 for New
New World Pinot Noir. A great concept for both wine tasting/sharing and for blogging. It seems like a great idea for one of my initial posts too. Unfortunatly I don't tend to drink a lot of Pinot Noir so I'll have to head over to the
Chalet for a good bottle... now to find a couple people to split with. The one-to-one ratio doesn't seem to usually work real well. Perhaps a multi-day event with a few different meals.
I do have a
Grove Mill Pinot Gris that is supposed to be an incredible product from the
Kiwis. I seem to have impulsively bought it on a whim because it had a nice label and the guy at the counter said it was excellent. Also, it seems to have some
fans.
Posted by Ben at 9/16/2005 08:36:00 PM
Wiki
It looks to me that my favorite
comic has but a small wiki
article for it. This could easily be an addition that I would be happy to adopt.
Posted by Ben at 9/14/2005 08:11:00 PM
Boxed vs. Bottled
I must admit that my previous post might not have been entirely accurate. I shouldn't bash boxed wines because, apparently they are the
upcoming hit in the wine world. Aside from that though, I still wouldn't drink it. Why? What is so bad? Honestly, the same reason you don't go to Taco Bell for authentic Mexican food. And that's not really the best reason either. Wine is about more than fermented grapes and
Paul Giamatti. However, that's a post for later. Remind me in a couple days or something to return to the sociological impact of a bottle of wine and why it's more romantic to uncork than to unscrew.
Boxed wine is getting
better. Better materials, better processes, and similar things are making boxed wines of a higher quality and more cost effective nature than were previously available. But problems still exist. Even NPR, the self-acclaimed radio Mecca for sophistication has
acknowledged that there's something to be said for upper, middle class - in a box. They've even changed the name. Cask wines are the new black.
However, it's also important to realize that boxed wines do not reach the same lasting quality that a bottle holds. Air still decides this battle. Boxed wine does not tend to really exist just in a box, rather it is a plastic bladder inside a pretty box. It's more like an easier way to carry a bag of wine than just schlepping it around like a water balloon that stains. Since plastic tends to be porous and therefore will let it the air (specifically oxygen), then the box doesn't really work well as a long-term storage device. It does, however, work better as short term storage.
After uncorking a bottle, oxygen is on the wine like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat. Even if the bottle is stoppered, there's still air in it. There are ways to pump out air, but that's just kinda working too hard for a drink. Instead, the tapped box maintains that barrier against the O2 and keeps the wine inside fresh for a
couple weeks or more. So, keep an eye on the expiration date and you should be okay.
Recently, the wine industry as also begun to embrace the cardboard-plastic medium (even cans have been seen) and the
variety of boxed wines have expanded from the stereotypical Franzia Lonely-Night-in-a-Box. Companies are simply
responding to where the
money is starting to go.
Black Box Wines is one of the top brands to focus on the boxed wine genre and also is attributed with the driving force behind the cubic revolution. And they sell in many stores in your area. Check out their store list for a more comprehensive list or drop by a local Meijer or Martin's Supermarket for a box of warmth in the cold days ahead.
What you lose with a cask wine is the romantisized pour from a bottle (opening a spigot doesn't really do it), the regal feel of a nice, royal blue Reisling bottle in the candlelight, the joy of finally uncorking a $40 bottle smoothly like the playboy you wish you could be... You also lose a lasting ability with the unopened bottle. Air doesn't seem through glass and a constantly wetted cork (from proper storage of a bottle tilted slightly toward the neck) like it will through plastic. You also lose a lot of choice despite the growing number of boxed wine makers. You also need to find out if you want to drink 4 bottles of the same type of wine for the following couple weeks. 3 liters is a good amount of wine.
My final conclusion and advice. If you're having a lot of friends over and you want wine, buy a box. It's like a wine keg. You get a lot, it's convenient, and you wouldn't be giving that many people really expensive wine anyway. But, remember that if you don't use it, it will eventually go bad. And there is still a stigma attached to a boxed/cask wine. Other than that, embrace the bottle. Impress the SO, live a little and please don't grab it by the neck and chug it. Enjoy the moment along with your glass. It's nice.
Posted by Ben at 9/13/2005 09:40:00 PM
Final Note...
If
it comes in a
box, it's not wine. That's just old grape juice that went bad.
Seriously.
Please.
Don't do that.
Posted by Ben at 9/12/2005 10:26:00 PM
Wining about Bloomington
If you need a great place around central Indiana to get a great wine (I love them all, but the Camelot Mead, Savignon Blanc, Reisling and Gewurtztraminer are amazing), then I completely recommend 100% totally to check out
Oliver Winery. Indiana sucks and they can't ship it anymore to direct customers, but many places stock them in the state and a few outside. Check them out for more details and excellently priced wines. It's a good thing.
Posted by Ben at 9/12/2005 10:18:00 PM
Heard on the Grapevine
Another "quick" post. Sorry folks, concise still isn't quite working out.
So, now that I've concluded that wine is a good direction to go, I'm thinking I'd like to do wine for the average un-wine-y people out there. But then it seems so dull to always be talking about the lower level of something I'd be learning more and more about. So, sorry average Joe's, but there will be some higher stuff going on too. That should be okay though. It gives a bit of depth to the posting and maybe I'll even stick in a few
podcasts too. Mixing it up at the ol' blog!
So, to start off... wait, back up. There are a whole mess of additions to my
bloglines account and you should check
those out too while waiting for more goodies here.
So, to start off... again. Jameson has a
great post on a
Can Fiexes Red. If you don't know what to put a red with, they have good info on their
site or you can check out a quick
guide I know of until I get something better put up here. Basically, you'll want to look at the
rule for now unless you feel particularly bored or ready to learn. Overachiever.
Posted by Ben at 9/12/2005 09:37:00 PM
Quickie
Pictures are nice. Worth 999 words or more... It seems that they can also be the cement on a poor blog's feet as it is sent out on the leaky boat of the internet. They seem to draw our attention, instantly bring tears or anger to our hearts, and can also get us to run away like things that run away from other stuff.
I think the good blogs are those that sprinkle images like small pieces of bread that draw in the curious reader. It is as if they say, "Come read this. Look what amazing crumbs there are! The meat and potatoes are even tastier!!!" Something like that. If too many crumbs are left, or the writer just decides to drop bagels along the path to the posting, then you get bears. Nobody wants hungry bears at their blog. Then you have to train them for circus tricks and the small, bear bikes are kinda pricey. I digress.
Pictures are a gift. I think it's best to treat them
that way and the blogs that want to overdo pictures seem to resemble a
wordy ad instead of coherant thoughts I care about.
Posted by Ben at 9/11/2005 07:09:00 PM
Shall I Wine?
My conundrum remains. Do I want to talk about wine or electronics. My reasons seem valid for both, and I believe that I could write equally about both... so, the inner dilemma begins. Wine or Electronics. Snooty or Nerdy. Grapes or Silicon. Expensive or Expensive.
I found a lot of good
forums on electronics but haven't really found a lot of good
blogs. The difficulty when trying to write a blog about electronics is that you need to be very specific. Otherwise, you find that you may know a lot about a good number of topics, but there are always those who specialize in one aspect that will always trump you. So, what happens is you have people who would like to post comments that correct a small bit of what you said. Unfortunately, blogs don't usually allow for comment tracking like a good forum and so any responses you have are lost in the comments. What works best are places where everyone is allowed an equal (or at least somewhat equal) say in the topic input. It is more like an informal Wikipedia article and forums can be social, informative, or etc.
Wine might work better just because it seems more apt to be written about by one person to many instead of a strange social
demultiplexer of the internet. By this point in the post, I think I've done a good job of at least convincing myself. You can now ignore the second paragraph.
By using some of the knowledge at some local
stores, along with some winers that I know fairly well, I should be able to slap (and by slap I mean thoughtfully create) a blog for the college student, factory worker, Joe Normal and his equally important friend Jane Doe to buy, enjoy and, above all, learn about wine. And if it should fail, wrath will be upon me like no grape has ever known.
Posted by Ben at 9/10/2005 09:52:00 PM
Camaraderie
When posting to a blog (or any other web literature) it seems that there are a lot of people who find that because they can type, then it is their duty to fill webpages. Kudos. The same people who find that because there is no trash naturally occurring in the ground, we should dig holes to hold our own. Yippee! It's helping.
So, in light of that declaration, I'm pleased to find that there is someone (and there are actually many more too) that doesn't do that. In fact,
Stacy's posts seem to be well thought out, structured, they flow nicely, and she conveys conscious thought in a way that isn't randomly spewed digitally onto my screen. I think that deserves a shiny gold sticker of the internet.
Posted by Ben at 9/08/2005 02:12:00 PM
Triad Force!
It's Monday. It's Labour Day. I'm not working.
Panera Bread gives free (as in beer)
Wi-Fi and imposes no time limit.
Awesome.
Over my lunch (Broccoli Cheddar soup and Sierra Turkey sandwich), I decided to read some comics. And I looked at the previous entry in this blog. I'm liking the idea of wine information for the unknowing folks out there. Plus, perhaps a weekly post about a good <$20 bottle that's good for a college date or lonely friday night. Speak to me, Mr. Gewurztraminer! So, some trips to wineries in the area (possibly some trips elsewhere too) for some good info and writing material. I can do that. Possibly even get a date out of it too... hey, I have to at least try.
The comics though. Interesting topics there for blogs. The ideas don't tend to follow any structure. In fact, the structure seems to be there only in the essance that there is no discernable structure to be found.
Penny Arcade is a good example. Lots of posting. Lots of variance. In addition,
Diesel Sweeties,
Goats,
Overcompensating, and many other online comics are a weird combination of art and writing. Like a blog that doesn't want to rely on the writing alone to maintain an audience. Might as well make it pretty too.
I find that despite not having a linear feel for the postings most of the time, these posts still can hold a readership together because people feel more loyal to the writer than the material he/she creates. It shows that good writing and material can overcome the lack of reason or structure. To convey thought well can draw people in the same way that good aggregating seems to draw people to other news repeaters.
In a way, I would like to accomplish both tasks sans artwork. I'm not even sure I can draw a passing wine glass. However, by getting a blog that combines useful information that isn't necessarily related linearly but more in a
6-degrees sort of way, I can keep people reading just because they gain something from the material and not the reliability of what's to come.
Posted by Ben at 9/05/2005 02:23:00 PM
Part Deux
Okay. 2/3 of the weekend gone. Still, I sit here reading about other people's lives and interests.
I seems to me that in the search for wine blogs, I found a lot of sites that go into so much detail about years, types, and so on. However, I'd like to see one for the casual drinker. The guy who likes wine with a dinner he makes to show the parents that he can cook and yet not burn down the house, but when he gets to the store, they all look the same and he has no clue what he wants or needs. Where's the aid for this poor lost soul?
So, another topic, help for the impatient, the inexperienced and the inept. By talking with some local wine sellers and growers, it could become a central information spot for a brief jaunt into the world of social beverages without the burden of memorization and commitment. I don't want to be too artsy or hip and come across as trying to hard. Just a simplistic, straightforward series of notes on what wines are good for what events and how one should go about finding a good version of that. Ooh, and perhaps I'll figure out the whole idea of concise writing by then too!
Gizmodo has really interested me as a blog (even though it seems to be more of a corporate sponsored regime). It gives little burbs on various topics (more like a magazine in short articles) with links to full stories on other sites. It seems as more of an aggregator than a blog, but that does seem to be a theme among bloggers.
In addition,
MacAddict, while still a normal magazine and it's corresponding website, seems to have an unrelated blog on their main page. The blurbs don't necessarily align with any stories in past or future articles and don't always have a lot to do with the Macintosh platform. They are well-written with ample relevant links and useful information (most of the time).
Macworld, just blatantly states that they have weblog entries and they follow a more scripted, magazine-aligned format.
Posted by Ben at 9/04/2005 01:56:00 PM
Possibilities
There are many things that interest me but it seems that not many of them are all that beneficial in an online metaverse that we exist in at the moment. The joys of cooking can be talked about, but I fail to see the purpose when you cannot share in the aromas, the flavors and the fun of burning the hell out of yourself trying to make a sandwich.
However, the technical fields seem to thrive in this environment, as they very well should. The underlying technological layers that support the internet. And within these areas, I would like to make my habitat.
After listening to
All Things Considered on
NPR on
August 22, I developed an interest in the
theremin and similar musical instruments that are electronic in their origins. However, very little has been written in
Wikipedia as to the methods of creating a theremin and online resources are sparse and generally unhelpful.
Also, I would like to see if I could add some information to online information concerning
Jim Varney. Perhaps an informative site just for actors/actresses that haven't really ever been recognized but are still well known for their characters. A sort of "Where are they now" of entertainment.
Finally, in my sampler platter of blogs, I started with those that don't necessarily have main topics but are interesting to me because I have some personal connection to the authors of the sites. Jacqui's
blog serves as a good source of entertainment as well as keeping me up to speed with what is happening in her life. It is well written, with links to relevant sites and postings. It also incorporates multimedia into the site fairly well. Unfortunately it is not really the best site to visit with a dialup connection because of the large pictures and content which can make for a very slow loading page.
Wil's
blog is also well done. Ok, I admit it. I don't actually know Wil, but like everyone who's ever been a trekkie (even as a naive teenager), I'd like to think that I did. Even if only to then be able to personally
mock him. He has created a very good site that makes a person who is well known - though to a small subset of the population - easily accessible and personalized along with the rest of the painfully average masses.
Posted by Ben at 9/03/2005 10:09:00 PM
to blog or not to blog
The assumption that others care about your thoughts. Ah, the power of a limitless network and people with free time coupled together. You can
cook,
share news, or just
aggregate the world.
Unfortunately, the well done blogs that have consise commentary or information that is not simply repackaged for others are few and far between. They are buried under a deluge of "me too" posting and responces that have relegated the blog community to large, mass of color with no contrast to separate the edge of drivel and content.
Posted by Ben at 9/01/2005 12:14:00 PM
Wednesday
There are many things nice about the lab. However, handily available beverages are not one of them.
Posted by Ben at 9/01/2005 11:42:00 AM
