This just in–Jo Diaz from Wine Blog.org called less than an hour ago to let me know that YES I could go to Portugal for the Enoforum Wine Tour of Portugal’s Alentejo region! And arrive early enough to attend most of the European Wine Bloggers Conference!!
OH MY GOODNESS!
I leave on Thursday. I have A LOT to do between now and then including learning a little more about what this adventure will entail!
What an amazing opportunity! I get to attend the European Wine Bloggers Conference as soon as I get off the plane in Lisbon, followed by a trip sponsored by Enoforum to the Alentejo Region, in the south of Portugal.
OK, I’m giddy with excitement. Please let there be wifi on the plane so I can do some research adn some blogging too about what’s in store for me in the coming 10 days.
Next week at this time I will be in LISBON!!!
This weekend last year was the First Wine Bloggers Conference, held in Santa Rosa, the heart of Sonoma County Wine Country. And next weekend is the second European Wine Bloggers Conference to be held in Lisbon, Portugal Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
I remember when I first found out that there WERE wine blogging conferences in the US and in Europe. Excited, I looked on-line at videos and other reports about the EWBC, and dreamed that one day I’d be able to go.
I love Wine Blogging Conferences. Actually, I love going to conferences! The two Wine Bloggers Conferences that I’ve been to have been a blast: I learned a lot (A LOT!), met so many fabulous people, and tasted so many amazing wines. Here are links to my posts over on Wine Predator about WBC 2008 and WBC 2009.
And then I got so close to going this year when I was named first runner-up Read more…
Greg Norman, CA Pinot, Angels & those dam Yankees
Tonight, since we don’t have TV, we went to Golden China, a local Chinese restaurant for dinner and to watch the Angels lose to the Yankees. My husband had a Firestone on draft. I wanted a glass of wine but the wines by the glass list was pathetic. Not much to choose from by the bottle either.
Yes, it was a really sad wine list and a really sad game for Angels fans. That was the game that ended the season for them. No World Series this year for my son to go to with his dad!
What was even more sad for me was that no one in the restaurant had a key to the display case which showed a few other oddball but interesting wines that weren’t on the list Read more…
350 Day, Harvest ArtWalk, Kinetic Sculpture Race–and presenting my son, The Wizard!
There’s plenty going on around here what with 350 Day activities today, the Ventura Harvest Artwalk this weekend downtown as well as the Kinetic Sculpture Race along the coast and in the Harbor today!
Bell Arts Factory is always a highlight of any ArtWalk, but tomorrow, Sunday at 2pm, my son will be performing there in a very unusual and free theatrical presentation, “We Source” about “magical beings in a magical forest who discover what empties the spirit and feeds the soul.”
About 11 children from 5-12 have been developing the story and rehearsing the play two afternoons a week for two months. Numerous adult artists from Bell Arts and the community have also been involved in various aspects of the play written and directed by Tracy Hudak, created by the young artists of the Bell Arts Youth Program, and with live music. The set includes a fabulous tree created by MB Hanrahan, Rosel Weedn, and Michele Foster. Bell Arts is located at 432. N. Ventura Avenue.
My son plays a Wizard and he’s very excited about being part of this performance. He’s worked very hard to understand his character and the character’s motivation. Being part of this play has been an important journey in his life. He’s had lots of fun but he’s taken it very very seriously. I see how much he’s grown in terms of understanding the world, 
his place in it, and how we are each motivated by various factors. As he has come to understand what motivates the characters in the play, and why and how they respond to conflict and opportunity, he has understand to himself and the world better.
If you can’t make the performance of the play on Sunday at 2pm at Bell Arts, a second performance has been added for Tuesday Oct 27 at 4pm. Hope to see you there!
And if you can’t make either performance, drop by Bell Arts to check out the set. Or join us for the First Friday ArtRide –it will still be up and lit up for our Bikers Ball gracing the stage where band The Sideshow Preachers will be performing!
Participating in 350 Day? Enjoy local & organic food & wine!
Tomorrow, October 24, is 350 Day–a day where citizens of the world who are concerned about climate change will take various actions. On 24 October, we will stand together as one planet and call for a fair global climate treaty. United by a common call to action, we’ll make it clear: the world needs an international plan that meets the latest science and gets us back to safety. For more informaiton: http://www.350.org –
So how will I, the Wine Predator, participate? We’ll ride our bikes around town for the Harvest ArtWalk, we’ll enjoy locally caught shrimp bought from the Fishermen’s Market here at our harbor, which we’ll enjoy with locally grown vegetables from our CSA box (consumer supported agriculture).
But which wine will we choose to enjoy with our evening meal?
Wines appropriate to the occasion would be grown biodynamically and certified like Bonny Doon and Quivera, or organic and sustainabe like Michel-Schlumberger or grown and made locally like Vino V. Guess I’ll have to hit the cellar to see what meets the needs of the meal, our budget and availability!
How will you be participating in 350 Day?
This Saturday, October 24, around the world people are engaging in various acts to raise awareness and to encourage people to take action about climate change.
We’ll be taking our bikes that day wherever we go. It’s the ArtWalk around here so it should be fun. Other local events can be found by checking out this map.
Around the corner, we’ll probably drop by VCCOOL’s Rachel Morris is hosting a 350 Paint Party and Potluck:
Saturday, October 24th
2:00 pm Paint the 350 Mural
5:00 pm clean up
5:30 pm Potluck Food and Fellowship
345 West Center St., Ventura, CA 93001
In support of the International Day of Climate change, VCCool is throwing a 350 Paint Party and Potluck. We will paint a huge, beautiful “350” mural on a local garage door. Then we will photograph our artwork and post the images with 350.org to support the United Nation’s Climate Treaty of December 2009. Afterward we will wash our brushes, enjoy a pot-luck dinner, and bask in the beauty of our community creation. We also hope to raise $350 to purchase VCCool’s new volunteer database! Think globally, donate locally.
What to Bring:
Yourself – plus Brushes, Paint clothes, an old pie pan, rags, and one yummy potluck dish.
How to Get Here:
Walk, bike, skateboard, pogo-stick, skip, roller blade, carpool, bus, scooter, you get the idea.
For More Information and to RSVP:
Visit 350.org , or drop us a note at action@vccool.org.
I wish we could be in SF–or that I could get 350 people on bikes to join us in doing what they’re doing. Here’s the info listed on the SF Bike Coalitions Chain of Events:
Bike the SF Rising Shoreline
Sat., Oct. 24 | 2pm | Gather at Justin Herman Plaza
On Oct. 24 people all over the world are acting to send a message to politicians to reach meaningful climate agreements in Copenhagen. In San Francisco, there will be a 350 bicyclist ride along the predicted new shoreline. Read more info on the SF shoreline change.
At 3 pm the ride will join a Human Billboard at Justin Herman Plaza. To sign up register online. Please bring a snorkel and mask. This will be an easy, mostly level 3.5 mile ride. 
Their facebook page adds these details:
Bike the SF Shoreline! Get your bikes ready for underwater pedalling! Pull out your floaties and snorkel masks!
Sign up to be one of 350 bicyclists to ride along SF’s future post climate-changed shoreline as part of this Global Day of Climate Action. When you sign up, you will be contacted soon with more information. At the ride you’ll also receive a colorful momento which you will get to keep. This action will start at 2pm from Justin Herman Plaza (SF). CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP:
http://west.actforclimatejustice.org/upcoming-events/international-day-of-climate-action-102409/sf-bike-action-2pm/
Well I won’t make that ride–but I will be joining in for the Halloween Critical Mass in SF on my new bikergo! That’s going to be a party! Hmmn, which costume should I wear? Maybe the Snake Charmer…
In the recent VCCOOL newsletter, I learned about The Ventura Experiment. Newsletter editor Rachel Morris writes:
A group from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB will feature Ventura as a model city in a three part project that addresses the questions a community faces when it tackles its carbon emissions: what to do, how to do it, and what will it cost?
Around the world a selection of “Pioneer Cities” are undergoing similar projects. Ventura will be linked to Wuxi, a city on the Yangtse River in China.
The study will have three steps. Bren students will evaluate our carbon footprint as a community. They will design a menu of strategies for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Then they will develop a feasibility analysis of the political and economic factors of our community. In addition to a set of recommendations for Ventura they hope to create a toolkit adoptable to other communities. We can look for the results in the spring of 2010—right around Earth Day. But you can check out the project on their web page.
Not Your Father’s Climate Change
Looking at Climate Crisis from the vantage of sea-level rise
By Bill Fulton, Ventura City Council Member
“I attended two panels today where speakers dealt with adaptation and sea level rise. Both had a handful of people – in contrast to the throngs that went to the emissions reduction panels, which is what we’re used to thinking about in regards to climate change.” Read the complete article.
Looks like a fascinating and important project. I’ll certainly keep you readers updated!
PS Thanks Rachel for putting together such a fabulous newsletter this month and every month! You’re doing great work!
VCCOOL presents: Election 2009 Forum 10/21/09 at Bell Arts
Many folks in the US have an election coming up on the first Tuesday of November–which is soon! I urge you to find out about local issues and participate! VCCOOL’s is sponsoring a forum tonight–I’ll be there at Bell Arts to listen and learn and to pass out flyers about the Nov 6 ArtRide and for the after party which will be held at Bell Arts!
The following post features excerpts from a recent newsletter put together by editor Rachel Morris. Read it here.
Ballot Measure Forum with Local Flair
Why is November 3 Important for the Environment, Public Transportation, and Social Justice?
Wednesday, October 21st
6:30-8:30pm
Bell Arts Factory
432 N Ventura Ave, Ventura 93001
Free / Bilingual
Join us for an Ventura-Avenue-Style forum on this year’s November ballot initiatives. VCCool and ASERT (Alliance for Sustainable and Equitable Regional Transportation) will be hosting this in-depth look at measures A, B, and C, with help from C4 Green Building Council, and CAUSE. We’ve worked hard to come up with an informed, gender-balanced panel that can go into detail on the pros and cons of each measure. There will also be time for written questions collected at the event.
As a special treat
Los Amigos band will be opening for us Read more…
And many of my students participated by posting about it on their blogs and by posting writing here on a special gallery for Ventura College: http://www.galleryofwriting.org/galleries/52342.
Did you participate in National Day of Writing? If so, please leave a comment below with the link to your blog so we can see! We can also go to the gallery and see what everyone at Ventura College posted as well as students from other colleges here http://www.galleryofwriting.org/.
Sat. 8/8/09 3:15am
(for Walt Whitman)The Daddy Long Legs Spider
looks dead there against
the soft green wall
his body a bit awkward
sideways legs akimbo
too flatSo I blow: give the air
a bit of a push
swing him lightly
on his web I can’t seeThis is my first clue he’s alive.
He moves a bit then
beyond my volition
unflattens out his legs
and walks through air
up toward a painting.
He reaches stretches and
strides down again almost
the floor rests poised
waits for whatever comes next
feast or foe
or just the light
going out again
I wrote this poem at 3:15am as part of this year’s 3:15 Experiment where poets all over the world set their alarms and wake up to write at 3:15am local time. After I wrote this, I was reminded by Walt Whitman’s “Noiseless, Patient Spider” poem but I had no idea why and was more interested in going back to sleep. Now, in the light of day, I see the connection:
A Noiseless Patient Spider
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
Now to decide whether it will be one of the 100 3;15 poems I choose for the manuscript I am working on: Love and Terror at 3:15am–Poems from the 3:15 Experiment 2001-2009. What do you think?
For more poetry, ride the Train!
art predator 