Honouring an Old and Faithful Friend

A noble companion

Hobbes has finally reached the end of his natural lifespan, and I'm going to give him a send-off I think would please him no end: I'm going to pull him to pieces, build a fire to his bones, and grill on his glowing coals.

Lest you think me a candidate for the dangerous ward, Hobbes is one of my four wine barrels. While I avoid anthropomorphising inanimate objects (they don't like it) I have a penchant for naming things. Thus my barrels are Calvin, Susie, Hobbes and Moe. Calvin and Hobbes are from Gibbs Cooperage, Moe came from Yugoslavia (he's the biggest one, and kind of mean) and Susie is a recent arrival from my friend Anna at Barrel Imports. I've got Susie running barrel-fermented batches of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris right now, all for Sur Lie and some ageing time.

...read more

Posted by Woody Tim AT 5:09PM 1 Comment Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email

Oscar Wilde and What I learned At WBC 10

Oscar Wilde

WBC 10 was a real eye-opener for me, both in terms of how big the wine blogging world is (estimates ranged up to a thousand wine bloggers currently posting) to where the divide between 'traditional' wine writers and bloggers lies (solely in the minds of each) and what is my worst sin as a blogger (writing too long and not often enough).

Other seminars included

...read more

Posted by Tim 'À rebours' Vandergrift AT 2:13PM 0 Comments Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email

Wine Bloggers Conference 2010

How cool is that? Icy, really.

It's been a whirlwind 24 hours at the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference. First, the drive down from White Rock to Walla Walla took a bit longer than I thought it would--but that was fine, since the drive was beautiful and the scenery was superb.

Rainforest or desert, Washington is beautiful in all directions

I chronicled my adventure last night at Basel Cellars over on my Unreserved blog.It's a stunningly gorgeous place, with great cellars and soaring architecture. The wines are pretty big--not really my bag, as I'm all about elegance, but they're really stretching some boundaries with their intensity and fruit.

Of course I got to bed early, in order to register and take advantage of the educational opportunities. Like drinking at 10 am. I picked up my bag o' swag, which fortunately included a pile of USB thumb drives. This is a new trend at conferences, since you can include thousands of pages of advertising, information, literature and pictures in a cutesy little package that people will hold on to and - for a long time. I'm especially grateful since I go through dozens of the silly things every year.

...read more

Posted by Conferential Tim AT 2:05PM 2 Comments Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email

Don't Steal (the Government Hates Competition)

In the next panel the little man is flattened, with money squirting out everywhere

I read an article once, by a prominent economist. He contended that people didn't mind taxes, they just hated getting lied to, and they hated getting nothing in return for their part of the social contract. It ain't the heat, it's the hypocrisy, apparently.

And thus we come to the matter at hand. According to the Vancouver Sun, BCLDB Increases Markup On Booze As HST Lowers Tax.

...read more

Posted by Totally Taxed Tim AT 11:56AM 0 Comments Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email

The Man With the Plan(ning)

My home away from home in the sky

Ah, another airplane ride, another blogging opportunity! I recently realised that if I spent six hours a day on airplanes, without the internet, telephones or meetings, I could meet all of my writing goals for the next two years in about a month and a half. There’s just something about sitting in a giant Pringles™ can in the sky full of strangers that makes me want to retreat into the world of words and stay there until I can get my feet back on the ground.

On the other hand (the one in the cast, I guess) I want to spend another day on an airplane like I want to moisturise with Tabasco sauce, so I guess I’m not going to be spending all my spare time as a junior birdman.

...read more

Posted by Farsighted Tim AT 1:11PM 2 Comments Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email

LD Carlson Conference: Cuyahoga Falls or Bust

 

 

...read more

Posted by Tizzying Tim AT 10:00PM 0 Comments Comments Post A Comment Post A Comment Email Email
< View May 2010 Archives

Send this post to a friend