The Wine Commonsewer

Martoonis Prohibited in the Cleveland National Forest

2010-02-08T20:26:51-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Ironically enough, the Cleveland National Forest is in So Cal, not in Ohio.

As Ever,

TWC

Superbowl Sunday

2010-02-07T13:59:01-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Superbowl Sunday is big, maybe even more popular than the World Series. But there was a time when it wasn't so.

Football season was a bit shorter back in the day and the 1951 championship game was played the day before Christmas Eve. That means that football season was over. Before Christmas. Not like today where it drags into the baseball's All Star break.

Marking the beginning of a grand tradition, this was the first football championship game that was televised from sea to shining sea. Get this: after adjusting for the gift of inflation, a thirty second Bud Lite spot this afternoon costs five times more than buying the rights to televise the entire game did in 1951.

Televised or not, odds are good that most fans tuned in with an RCA or Zenith table radio as TV's remained a scarce and expensive commodity in 1951.

The Rams beat the Browns 24–17, at Coliseum in Los Angeles, which is the only venue to have hosted the Olympic Games twice.

1932 Olympics

We're doing home made frijoles, tacos, and from-scratch guacamole for Superbowl Sunday.

Enjoy yours.

As Ever,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Larry B & Betty H-G

Clouds

2010-02-06T18:57:55-08:00

Saturday Afternoon Looking Northeast From The Casa © TWC

Tax Rates Do Matter

2010-02-05T09:34:02-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

I love my high dollar monitor, but its got more than a few miles on it. Like a lot of us, sometimes it doesn't wink into life right away when the switch is flipped in the morning.

Monitor prices continue to fall and with an eye to a long tax season ahead TWC did a little shopping yesterday for a replacement. Found a great monitor at a stunning price over at Costco. I was happy as a clam until I realized that the effective rate of sales tax was 18.75%.

There is, of course, the nearly 9% sales tax rate (almost 10% in the Bay Area and Los Angeles). Additionally, ever-so-progressive Californicate instituted an e tax a few years ago. Ostensibly this tax, which the state calls a fee, is supposed to stem the flow of landfill-bound decrepit TV's and outdated computer equipment. The state slaps a tax onto new purchases so as to pay recycling firms to take your old equipment and do something useful with it.

You know, Recycle! Reuse! A concept that is entirely at odds with the government and greenie push to get everybody to buy new stuff that is more energy efficient and earth friendly. Not to mention that the federal government legislated everybody's television into obsolescence with the mandated HD format that took effect last year.

Sorry, Girls, you can't have it both ways. If you want energy-wise products than you shouldn't be encouraging people to keep using energy-hogging outdated electronics.

Besides, TWC is a real man and he makes the occasional dump run, where there are sheer mountains of old electronics that seem to exist without purpose. Apparently, they can't just bulldoze them into the pile with the dead bodies and old sofas, but they can't do anything else with them either, such as, ah, recycling them. So the piles grow ever taller. Ever broader.

A lot of really smart people will assure you that tax rates don't matter, but Moi and a lot of other people simply aren't going to pay an effective sales tax of 20%. In simple terms, when you add 20% to the purchase price it ain't such a great deal, so, back onto the shelf it went.

Found one on Amazon. A little less money, no ecology tax, no sales tax (you are required to pay use tax on taxable items purchased out of state), no shipping costs, & UPS delivers it to my door. I think that's called a no brainer.

As Ever,

TWC

2007 Sunset Ridge Vineyards Petite Sirah

2010-02-03T11:46:55-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

My friends at Sunset Ridge threw a tasting at Pop The Cork in Anaheim Saturday last. SRV was poured for a SRO crowd and by all accounts the tasting was a rousing success.

Pop the Cork is a relatively new venue and I suspect the proprietors were slightly overwhelmed and somewhat unprepared for the sheer number of patrons they found bellied up to the bar. That place was packed. Mrs TWC kept the wine flowing to our group and more than earned the hundred dollar tip she didn't get.

Mrs TWC still smiling despite her meager tip

The 2007 SRV Petite Sirah is almost a full bodied wine which is deep ruby red (running-to-purplish with black fruit highlights) in the glass. It is exceptionally smooth and well balanced with hints of blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, and a noticeable oak component on the finish. It isn't fumey nor is it especially tannic.

The wine is very good now and will drink well for the next five or six years.

For the tasting, Linda paired the Petite Sirah with a delectable chocolate that she personally served to the guests. I'd definitely go with that after enjoying the wine with salt crusted standing rib roast, grilled filet mignon, or a hearty pasta with spicy Italian sausages.

Buy the Sunset Ridge Petite Sirah online here or, if you're in Paso Robles, you can find it at several places, including the Paso Wine Center and The Hotel Cheval.

If you can't see the slide show of the event pix go here.

As Ever,

TWC

TWC On-Air for Five Years

2010-02-02T13:41:39-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC received this note from a long time reader on Monday.....

Mike: Has it really been 5 (count 'em...FIVE) years since you began your blog? Back then, I didn't even know what a blog was!

Congratulations on your excellence, your stick-to-itive-ness, your erudition, your humor and other great qualities. THANK you for all the great, fun, interesting time I have spent there.

Stay well, and keep it up!

Truth told, TWC completely spaced the anniversary, which was sometime around January 15 or so.

Thank you, Del Mar Dave, for your kind words, friendship, and loyalty. That goes for all the rest of you Gentle Readers as well. Thanks so much for your comments (both here and at Facebook), emails, and for spending a little of your busy day hanging around with me here (and on your feed reader and in your email box).

Now, if only blogging paid a little better.

As Ever,

TWC

New IRS Short Form

2010-01-31T13:27:16-08:00

TWC

Sunset Ridge Vineyards Tasting in the OC

2010-01-30T08:25:49-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

My friends at Sunset Ridge Vineyards will be pouring their marvelous Petite Sirah tonight at Pop the Cork in the heart of The OC (Orange County, which nobody who ever lived there ever called it until that stoopid TV show that wasn't even filmed in Newport Beach).

Pop the Cork is at Anaheim's Gardenwalk, just east of the Mouse House. There is plenty of shopping and dining, so plan on making an evening of it. The fun starts at five and the pouring goes for at least a couple of hours.

Directions here.

Hope to see a few of your smiling So Cal faces out there.

As Always,

TWC

All Systems Are Go

2010-01-30T07:58:10-08:00

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

It would appear that Humpty Dumpty has been put back together again after TWC was pushed off of the wall by the schmucks at Mapname.com. The feeds seem to be working normally, the pictures display, the links work, and email subscriptions are now functioning.

TWC would like to thank, Zalary, Brianna, Colleen, & Laura in tech support at Typepad, who hosts this blog, for their efforts to bring TWC back from the dead. My Typepad platform isn't free, but sometimes you get what you pay for and nobody has better tech support. These guys performed the final fixes that Mapname.com should have but didn't.

Also a tip of the glass to John at JMR Technology for his efforts to liberate the domain from the hijackers. I'll be transferring the domain to his care soon.

Thanks as well to everyone for their patience and especially to those who tracked TWC down when everything went in the ditch.

As Always,

TWC

The Wine Commonsewer

Martoonis Prohibited in the Cleveland National Forest

Superbowl Sunday

Clouds

Tax Rates *Do* Matter

2007 Sunset Ridge Vineyards Petite Sirah

TWC On-Air for Five Years

New IRS Short Form

Sunset Ridge Vineyards Tasting in the OC

All Systems Are Go

Tax Rates Do Matter