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Writes Grateful Palate’s Dan Phillips of his 6 Bottle Grab Bag for $50:
Knowing the condition of Dan’s warehouse after several warehouse sales, I’d say this one’s a go for it steal of the day! I’m betting it will include some super close-out deals of wines that they no longer import or the tail end of a case that they don’t want to mess with anymore. My bet is he’s going to give you some great wines at a great price knowing you’ll come back for more! And what soundtrack might you choose to enjoy with your Grateful Palate wine? The soundtrack to 15 years of my life in SoCal is KCRW–the public radio station out of Santa Monica City College that I’m obsessed with! And now that they have an iPhone ap, I never have to leave home without it–even when I’m traveling by bicycle or out of the station’s reach or away from an internet connection! This KCRW iPhone ap is absolutely the best news I’ve had since the good times on the Santacon ride Friday! The only bad news is it’s not free–which it should be for us subscribers! Yep, it’s .99. Here are the details: KCRW Listen to KCRW with our brand-new iPhone app. Listen Live, On Demand, and Be Tuned-In to events around town! http://ow.ly/doajBTW, here’s the info on Today’s Top Tune: KCRW Today’s Top Tune is Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens with “Trouble in My Way.” Get the FREE song-a-day athttp://ow.ly/do5D |
WBW #58: pairing music & wine
A month or so ago I went to a tasting at Paradise Pantry in downtown Ventura where Vino V winemaker Michael Meagher showed off his chardonnay, his Confundido blend, his pinot noir, and his syrah. I knew the syrah and even used it for the Wine Blogging Wednesday North vs South Challenge, so I was excited to experience the others. At a rushed tasting that night (we had a documentary on loons we’d planned to catch that night and we were on bikes), I loved the chardonnay because it was NOT overwhelmed by oak, and I was super impressed by the pinot which means a lot because I’m not always impressed by California pinots. I knew when it was wild salmon season, I wanted to pair it.
Fast forward to Copper River salmon season, those fleeting, magical few weeks in early June which I wish would last for months, but this year may even be shorter than the typical Memorial Day weekend to Father’s Day or sometimes July 4th weekend. The Copper River salmon season lasts as long as the allotment, and this year the allotment is so small that Von’s won’t even commit to having it one day to the next; when they have it, it’s $29.99 a pound unless you’re a Vons Club member which means it ranges in price from $8.99-15.99. Right now it’s $12.99.
So when I learned that Gonzo Gastronomy’s Wine Blogging Wednesday #58 Prompt “Now I’m waiting for Wednesday, waiting for Wednesday…” was to do a tasting under different musical influences, I thought: FUN! Then I thought: Gotta get some of the Vino V pinot and taste it with some Copper River salmon and then sit around and listen to music! (This is how I broke the news to the Big Monkey–you be my dj and I’ll be your dancer and we’ll both do the drinking! You can imagine this suggestion was greeted with enthusiasm!)
Just to make it more interesting, and because I’ve become quite fond of NZ pinot noirs following the Wine Blogger’s Conference last October, I opened a bottle of Babich 2004 Lone Tree which I found on clearance for $8 at Vons. It typically retails between $15 and $20. The Vino V has super limited distribution but since they’re local, I was able to pick up a bottle that night from winemaker Michael Meagher who was hosting a winemaker dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Brooks. (I’ll post the menu on that later!) It typcally retails between $40 and $45 but for members of their email club, it’s 10% less or on special at $35 which is what I bought it for.
While we were preparing our dinner, we of course opened the wines and snacked a little on some simple wheat and flax organic crackers from Trader Joes. The Babich was room temperature rather than cellar temperature like the Vino V, which was especially important to the Vino V since it is 14.5% while the Babich is 13.5%.
At first there were many characteristics that we really liked about the Babich, and we liked it even more after we chilled it down a bit: it has a nice, earthy character, a generous nose, and surprising depth and complexity with notes of eucalyptus and truffle. We liked it with our simply prepared salmon, brown rice, fresh squash, and stuffed portabello dinner. But as the meal and the evening progressed, it seemed to grow harsh, and flat while the Vino V flourished. It was significantly more flavorful and complex–flat out more enjoyable, begging us to refill our glasses. It had plenty of flavor and character for our meal yet didn’t overwhelm the salmon either. The wine comes across balanced and has a lovely finish.
The next stage was to fullfill the legacy of the prompt: to taste the wine with various musical offerings and see how that changes the experience of the wine, enhancing or degrading it.
Honestly, it’s hard for me to imagine a wine such as this as ever being distasteful. But we did find that our experience of the wine changed depending on the music. Our musical choices ranged from Bruce Springsteen to Frank Sinatra to a spoken word piece of mine with music I arranged:
The bottom line on this prompt is that we really enjoyed selecting music from our hard drive, clicking play and then tasting the wine and talking about it and the music. This is one experiment we will do again!
Here are some really rough notes of the Vino V pinot noir with various musical pairings: Read more…
An Introduction to Green Drinks & Green Wine
Whenever I bring up Green Drinks, the national green monthly networking event, people always assume I am talking about “green” as in sustainable drinks.
Uh no, but that’s a good topic too and one that confuses people as well. Since I just happen to have some info on it and a desire to let you in on some wonderful “green” wines including the Vino V Pinot Noir I want to feature for tomorrow’s Wine Blogging Wednesday #58 hosted by Katie at Gonzo Gastronomy, I figured I’d take on a intro to both Green Drinks and “Green” Drinks especially green wines in this post.
First, Green Drinks–the event. Then Green Drinks, the beverage with particular attention to wine, my favorite drink of all and possibly one of the most easily available green drink (after water and likely most non-alcoholic beverages!)
Green Drinks is a networking event Read more…
Poetry from the 3:15 Experiment–August 2 2007
Thursday August 2 2007 3:15am Ventura
from the 2007 3:15 Experiment
Outta that dream
I’m so glad
I hated that dream
but that shrieking alarm!
go away all you noisiness
didn’t I already get up?
What was that hateful dream?
Snarling kittens
red & black linoleum
on the wall
no sense
some meanness
thank goodness
for small children
I get to wake mine up
by the end of the month
no more diapers at night
we say
let’s put some pee in the potty
pisssss it comes
my turn
he nestles his head
on my chest
rubbing his cheeks
his hair his ears
back and forth on
my breasts half
asleep & half awake
he’s in milk nirvana
again
back to bed we shuffle
hand in hand
up & in blankets on
he smiles up at me
eyes mostly closed
“I love you,” I say
Hmmn he smiles
rolls over & wraps
himself up
to sleep
Join us in the 3:15 Experiment this August where poets all over the world wake up at 3:15am to write in a hypnopompic hypongogic state, neither awake nor asleep. Two anthologies have been published and individual poets have also published 3:15 experiment poems. Go to the website to sign up or to read poems written by experimenters from over the years! See you at 3:15am!
There’s lots more poetry and poetry sites on this site as well as on the web: take a ride on the poetry train or visit Read Write Poem.
I LOVE this image of Ganesh. Not sure what is about Ganesh, but there’s something there, some chemistry, some magic, some connection. Ganesha even showed up in one my my 3:15am experiment poems: Gamesh (aka Ganesha) 315 Experiment Poem: Aug 6, 2007
So I wasn’t surprised when I learned more and found out Ganesha is the Remover of Obstacles and the Patron Saint for writers and artists.
On a previous trip to India, my Iyengar style yoga teacher Bryan Legere of the Ventura Yoga Studio brought several wonderful art pieces, including a wooden carving of Ganesh (which he won’t sell me) and an amazing silver and bronze sculpture which he will sell me if I want to part with $750. That’s a big obstacle!
You can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that there’s a show up now through Sept. 20 in the Los Angelese region featuring Ganesha which provides an amazing opportunity to learn more about Ganesha and the Hindi traditions around Ganesha. I am hoping to go see the show next Saturday!
According to the following article from the LA Times, ‘Discovering Ganesha’ trumpets a Hindu tradition | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times.
The Hindu god Ganesha is known by more than 1,000 names, including Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, but he is best known as the Remover of Obstacles, the Patron of the Arts and the Lord of Wisdom. So it’s only fitting that the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena is presenting an exhibition examining one of Hinduism’s most revered deities — and is doing so after significant obstacles had to be removed.
“Discovering Ganesha: Remover of Obstacles” features works from multimedia artist Shana Dressler and photographer Sudharak Olwe as well as objects from the Pacific Asia Museum and Norton Simon collections. Read more…
Last November, it was curtains for the Ojai Poetry Festival. The economic situation made it impossible for organizers to fund and underwrite the extravagant event which planned to bring in poets of the stature Robert Bly.
But a group of local poets stepped forward, chose to tap local talent, and the festival was on again, albeit not in the beautiful Libbey Bowl, but in the still prestigious and gracious Ojai Art Center.
Headlining the Festival this year are Frank T. Rios and Wanda Coleman; events start soon and go on all day! The whole program is listed below with numerous links to presenters.
Next weekend Ojai’s Libbey Bowl will once again host the Ojai Music Festival. Friday night is “Bloggers Night” ! I’ve been hearing about this festival my whole life but have never attended (it’s expensive and hard to get tickets!) Here’s some background on the Ojai: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojai_Music_Festival Should be fun!
See you in Ojai! Read more…
Springsteen, Santacon, World Environment Day & you!
Today June 5 is World Environment Day!
So Happy World Environment Day! How to celebrate?
According to an email from Live Earth, there are many things you can do to celebrate the environment today: they suggest you watch the premiere of HOME, the magnificent documentary by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand; Twitter for Trees to help UNEP’s Billion Trees campaign; or follow any of these WED tips.
Of course, here in Ventucky, we think you should follow Bruce Springsteen’s example from his concert in Finland the other day and don a Santa hat to come ride in the Santacon with us from the Artists Union Gallery (meet at 530pm)–whether it’s raining on us or clear skies with moonlight! Yes, we will ride rain or shine!
Speaking of riding in the rain, we’ll also hook up with the SF-LA AIDS LifeCycle Riders who rode during this unseasonally rainy day to camp their last night at the Ventura State Beach Park. Do you know that in order to ride they each raise $3,000? Wow–let me buy you a donated beer from Anacapa!
Then we’ll ride around downtown and end up at Bell Arts Factory at 730pm for an afterparty with live music, fresh fish tacos as well as vegetarian fare, and beer from Anacapa Brewery!
Take Action on U.S. Legislation
The Waxman-Markey bill may be debated on the House floor in as little as two weeks. This clean energy bill could go a long way toward creating green job and combatting the climate crisis if we take action and ask Congress to strengthen and pass the bill.
ecoAmerica has just launched a new campaign to inspire parents to reconnect their families to nature. It’s called “Nature Rocks.” Visit the site to find all sorts of nature activities for the whole family, plus tools to help guide and plan your adventures.
Click here to read more.
So where are we going on the First Friday ArtRide this month you wonder? Where is Santa cycling?
Some of us will gather at 5:15pm in the free parking lot at the City of Ventura’s Maintenance Yard at San Jon Road near Thompson. We’ll ride down the hill to the ocean and along the bike path to the State Beach where LifeCycle, the fundraising bike ride from SF to LA is camping out over night. From there, we’ll ride to the Artists Union Gallery where California Street intersects with the Promenade and the ocean. depending on the group, we may ride back to see if any of the LifeCyclers want to join with the Santa Cyclers!
Since this First Friday ArtRide is a SantaConvention, we decided to bring the ride to some of the retail establishments downtown. So from the Promenade, we’ll ride up the river trail to Main and make our first stop at Architexture (corner of Main and Ventura Avenue) to see the photographs of Jessica Lindley. From there, we’ll ride up Main to Oak and Santa Clara where Winston Braun has a show up at Buffalo Records. Back on Main, we’ll ride up to at least Fir, and then ride back down Main to Fox Fine Jewelry (210 E. Main). From there, we’ll ride up Ventura Ave past Bell Arts to 643 Gallery.
The ride ends at Bell Arts Factory, 432 Ventura Ave, where a bluesy rock band will start playing around 7pm, and where at 7:30pm chips & salsa, quasadillas & corn burritos & fresh fish tacos and other Mexican food will be served along with fresh lemonade for a $10 donation ($5 for children), and where a pony keg of Anacapa beer will flow for a donation of $3 for one and $5 for two for you if you bring your own cup!
Art is always in abundance at Bell Arts Factory; many artists will hold open studios, and there are openings for Bobbi Jo Free in the Tool Room and in the Community Room for Ricardo Ortega whose work represents and honors the history of the Mexica/Azteca people (Mexican). Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc will be present to give a traditional blessing and dance for the artist, his art, and the stories that his paintings tell. Danza will start at 7:00 PM followed by the artist himself who will explain what each painting represents. This will be a wonderful opportunity, not only to enjoy the beauty of Ricardo’s artwork and Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc’s dances, but to also learn about the rich and fascinating history of our Mexica ancestors.
Bobbi Jo Free’s show in the Tool Room Gallery “A Retrospective of Creativity” takes the viewer through the production stages of Free’s fine art, fabric sculptures. Often viewed as dolls, Bobbi Jo takes her craft and expertise to inspiring levels by imbuing them with the spirit of life and fairytale. Free has had an illustrious career which includes production for Christian Dior, Hue and The Muppets. Bobbi Jo Free lives in Ventura and enjoys creating in her Studio 94 at Bell Arts Factory.
We’re gearing up for tomorrow night’s First Friday ArtRide, the Ventura SantaCon(vention!). We’ve got our Santa suits out, and plenty of Santa hats which we’ll sell you for $1! And I’m trying to figure out how best to attach the hats to helmets. 
For more: Get Your Santa On June 5 and Summer Solstice Santacon Rides Into Town June 5 and June 5 Santacon after party set for Bell Arts Factory!!
BRING YOUR OWN CUP! Bring a cup for a friend! Santa contributes cash (not trash) and combats climate change. What would the North Pole be like without snow?
The Big Monkey is pumping up low tires so new Venturan but long-time friend Ron can ride with us. He’s fixing Sheila’s flat on her bike and will hook up the trailabike we found at a thri
ft store so Ian can ride along behind. And of course making sure our bikes are set and lights affixed for tomorrow night’s adventure.
What we don’t have, unfortunately, is one of these bike blenders which we be sooo awesome to have tomorrow night so we could add some tequila to the home-made lemonade and a little ice and make some margaritas at the afterparty at Bell Arts!
And where might one get a Fender Blender? http://www.rockthebike.com/blenders Hopefully we’ll have a few in our crew someday soon. Can’t you just see us riding around making smoothies on the FFArtRides? Ohhh, maybe I’ll get one for the Big Monkey for Father’s Day!
Then we’ll have one for the Fossil Fuel Free July 3 afterparty at Art City. Which would mean we’d have it for the Animal Fair Ride and for Burning Man where the culture there encourages a gift economy.
And what might we gift? How about a nice iced blended drink using our bikes?
Toronto Commits $70m on commuter cyclist infrastructure; Ventura Hosts Cycling Santas June 5
Figuring that by giving bikes more room on the road, more people will ride them, reducing congestion and smog, the city of Toronto plans to spend $70 million to improve infrastructure for cyclist commuters:
Cyclists, who frequently ride a gauntlet of crude epithets, single-digit salutes and honking, say motorists are jealous of the cyclists’ speed and freedom.
“They’re trapped and frustrated,” says Yvonne Bambrick, executive director of the Toronto Cyclists Union. “Cars are not freedom. They’re like a ball and chain around your ankle. A bike is real freedom. You’re on your own schedule and it costs hardly anything Our streets need to better accommodate this active form of transport. Cyclists deserve dedicated space on our roads. It is up to drivers and cyclists to share the space.”
Or, as one commenter said, “I always thought it would be thought provoking to place a large sign on the back of my bike that read, WOULD YOU RATHER I WAS DRIVING AN SUV?”
Tremendous News says in this blog post The Case Against Cyclist Commuters from Tremendous News
If Toronto goes ahead with this plan to inject $70 million for cyclists I’ll be maddened.
It will set a precedent for bike freaks everywhere to take to every city. Soon the entire planet will be affronted by tiny bikes with suit-wearing cyclists and armpit sweat stains.
I say, Santa, go for it! Forget Rudolph and deliver by bike this December! Or at least join us at the SantaCon(VenturaVention) this Friday June 5 for a rockin’ rollin’ and ridin’ good time with food, music and beer from Anacapa Brewery! For more, go to Summer Solstice Santacon Rides Into Town June 5
The following series of articles articulates more of the issues involved with bikes and cars sharing the roads not just in Toronto but everywhere:
The Case Against Cyclist Commuters.from Tremendous News
art predator 