Sunday, November 6, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Why we can all feel ok about only buying cheap wine....
From The Atlantic:
"In 2001, Frederic Brochet conducted two experiments at the University of Bordeaux.
In one experiment, he got 54 oenology (the study of wine tasting and wine making) undergraduates together and had them taste one glass of red wine and one glass of white wine. He had them describe each wine in as much detail as their expertise would allow. What he didn't tell them was both were the same wine. He just dyed the white one red. In the other experiment, he asked the experts to rate two different bottles of red wine. One was very expensive, the other was cheap. Again, he tricked them. This time he had put the cheap wine in both bottles. So what were the results?
The tasters in the first experiment, the one with the dyed wine, described the sorts of berries and grapes and tannins they could detect in the red wine just as if it really was red. Every single one, all 54, could not tell it was white. In the second experiment, the one with the switched labels, the subjects went on and on about the cheap wine in the expensive bottle. They called it complex and rounded. They called the same wine in the cheap bottle weak and flat."
I mean if oenophiles cannot even tell the difference between red and white????
"In 2001, Frederic Brochet conducted two experiments at the University of Bordeaux.
In one experiment, he got 54 oenology (the study of wine tasting and wine making) undergraduates together and had them taste one glass of red wine and one glass of white wine. He had them describe each wine in as much detail as their expertise would allow. What he didn't tell them was both were the same wine. He just dyed the white one red. In the other experiment, he asked the experts to rate two different bottles of red wine. One was very expensive, the other was cheap. Again, he tricked them. This time he had put the cheap wine in both bottles. So what were the results?
The tasters in the first experiment, the one with the dyed wine, described the sorts of berries and grapes and tannins they could detect in the red wine just as if it really was red. Every single one, all 54, could not tell it was white. In the second experiment, the one with the switched labels, the subjects went on and on about the cheap wine in the expensive bottle. They called it complex and rounded. They called the same wine in the cheap bottle weak and flat."
I mean if oenophiles cannot even tell the difference between red and white????
Did you hear the one about the frozen armadillo????
From the NYTimes:
"Important News You May Have Missed Dept.: While you and I have been spending the fall worrying about the secret talks of the Congressional supercommittee or trying to determine whether it would be a fun idea to dress as Rick Santorum for Halloween, other even more fascinating news events have been occurring.... “Man Allegedly Beat Woman With Frozen Armadillo.”
“According to investigators, the altercation occurred when the suspect was selling the carcass to the victim, who planned to eat the animal,” said a report from Lynn Kawano of Fox 4 News. “The pair apparently began arguing over the price of the item when the man twice threw the armadillo at the woman.”
Another report said the victim knew her attacker and had, in fact, been storing his armadillo in her freezer. But everyone agrees on the salient armadillo-as-weapon point. And we are left with several questions.
Is frozen armadillo illegal? Or is it a sort of sidewalk-vendor novelty item, like frozen custard? Are armadillos tasty? Are they endangered?
No to the last one. “They’re not in any short numbers,” said Scott Vaca, the assistant chief of wildlife enforcement at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He added that it was illegal to sell a live armadillo, but not a dead one.
This seemed a little strange. I’m sure the armadillo, for one, would prefer the live route. But Vaca was really not interested in debating the matter.
“I’m telling you the law,” he said. “It’s illegal to sell a living armadillo. By statute. Dead armadillos you can sell parts of them. Make a curio of a little armadillo on his back drinking a bottle of beer.”
O.K....."
Yeah, best NYT column ever. and more evidence that we should never move to Texas.
"Important News You May Have Missed Dept.: While you and I have been spending the fall worrying about the secret talks of the Congressional supercommittee or trying to determine whether it would be a fun idea to dress as Rick Santorum for Halloween, other even more fascinating news events have been occurring.... “Man Allegedly Beat Woman With Frozen Armadillo.”
“According to investigators, the altercation occurred when the suspect was selling the carcass to the victim, who planned to eat the animal,” said a report from Lynn Kawano of Fox 4 News. “The pair apparently began arguing over the price of the item when the man twice threw the armadillo at the woman.”
Another report said the victim knew her attacker and had, in fact, been storing his armadillo in her freezer. But everyone agrees on the salient armadillo-as-weapon point. And we are left with several questions.
Is frozen armadillo illegal? Or is it a sort of sidewalk-vendor novelty item, like frozen custard? Are armadillos tasty? Are they endangered?
No to the last one. “They’re not in any short numbers,” said Scott Vaca, the assistant chief of wildlife enforcement at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He added that it was illegal to sell a live armadillo, but not a dead one.
This seemed a little strange. I’m sure the armadillo, for one, would prefer the live route. But Vaca was really not interested in debating the matter.
“I’m telling you the law,” he said. “It’s illegal to sell a living armadillo. By statute. Dead armadillos you can sell parts of them. Make a curio of a little armadillo on his back drinking a bottle of beer.”
O.K....."
Yeah, best NYT column ever. and more evidence that we should never move to Texas.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Its Nanowrimo time!
are you guys writing this year? I was going to write one thing but then last night I had a dream about something else and am taking it as a sign and am going to write something else!
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