Saturday, November 29, 2008

What The Hell Is Wrong With You People?


People trampling a man to death to get into Wal-Mart early on Black Friday really make me proud to be an American. Ugh

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Nothing Like Snow on the Day After Thanksgiving



Ok, so it was the day after the OBSERVED Thanksgiving. But the snow was still pretty sweet. Now, 2 hours later, it's almost all melted, but it was quite pretty. This makes two unseasonable snows in one year in the 'dorf. Good times!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Mmmmm... Nerdery...



If only there were Murphy's, all of my loves would finally be combined!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Penance for Voting For Obama?


Ahhhh... psychotic, irrational conservatives. They make finding blog topics easy. Rev. Jay Scott Newman took time out of his busy schedule at St Mary's Catholic Church to inform parishoners that they must do penance if they voted for Obama. No word if the Catholic Church will relocate said voters to third-world countries unlikely to sue if said votes are uncovered and publicized.

Even worse, Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia fears that Obama has potential to be another Hitler or Marxist dictator (he apparently doesn't realize that Hitler wasn't a Marxist):

"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."

The era of bipartisan unity was a nice 5 minute break from the recent hyper-partisanship.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Champagne, Day 3



Day 3 was short -- breakfast, then the Reims cathedral, then headed home. The cathedral is beautiful, but very reminiscent of Notre Dame. One might even say "derivative", especially as the architects & all involved are long dead.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Champagne, Day 2



Day 2 started a bit later due to some overagressive sampling the night before. But we made our appointment at Andre Clouet, a small producer in Bouzy. The guy gave us a great tour, capped with a rather bizarre ending. First, one of the other employees took a sheet of plywood off of the bucket it was covering to reveal a live hedgehog. Then he dumped the hedgehog on the lawn (see the photo). This led to two questions:
1. Why did they have a hedgehog in a bucket?
2. How did it get there?

Our guide quickly moved on (after disparaging hedgehogs as "full of all kinds of shit") and showed us their caves and storeroom -- but refused to sell us any! He did give us a bottle, which was very nice, but he wouldn't sell us any more. Oh well.

Next we went to Moët & Chandon, and the one thing they will definitely do is sell. Their 12+ miles of cellars are filled with various vintages of both Moët and Dom Perignon. It's impressive that Moët can be blended so that it tastes the same every year, but I have to admit that I'm not a fan. It was by far my least favorite of what we tried, which is probably for the best -- it was also the most expensive by far.
Ja, Sehr Gut!



While the Ben Affleck episode of SNL was very good overall (especially the McCain and Obermann parts), the Bierhof Bros. Coat Store really made me laugh. "Our coats are no nonsense because that is the only thing that makes sense to us!"

Heh

Monday, November 10, 2008

Champagne, Day 1



After a very late (almost midnight) arrival in Épernay on Thursday, Scott & I woke early, went for a jog, had a tasty breakfast, then hit the town. We quickly found out that most of the largest houses only worked by appointment (or with people significantly more famous than your humble blogger). We got a list of smaller houses in the nieghboring town of Bouzy and hit the road. The first was E. Barnaut, fairly applicable as we've done our share of bar exploration. The it was across the street to Paul Clouet and down the road to Andre Clouet (who told us to return on Saturday).

We finished the day with a return to the Champagne Bar for more tasting and observing the local nightlife.

In case clicking the pics didn't work, go here.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

This About Sums It Up



After 2 full days of Champagne tasting, this says it all. Tasty bubbly!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Well, This Is Surprising


Apparently, this whole Obama victory thing isn't just an Orson Welles-style hoax. America actually elected a black President. I have to say, I was wrong. Apparently Americans aren't all "a bunch of brain-dead, racist crackers that make the cast of 'Deliverance' look like faculty of CalTech" as I might've said on a few occasions. Bully for them.

After watching Obama's rousing acceptance speech, here's what I expect to see from him in his first 100 days as president:
- Fix the economy
- Sell my house for 140% of its value
- Make me 6 inches taller (but keeping the same amount of legroom on long flights)
- Cure AIDS
- Rerelease versions of Star Wars 1 and 2 that don't suck
- Heal Tony Romo (or at least stop Cowboy Nation's whining)
- Get me a date with the redhead from Mad Men
Let's Not Go Overboard


Worst headline of the day: "Analysis: Next up after Obama win, governing". No shit, Sherlock. That's one the AP apparently keeps ready every 4 years.

Yes, I'm thrilled that Obama will be the President (and even more thrilled that we have at least 4 years guaranteed of NOT having Palin as Pres). But he must deal with the looming specter of a Democratic Congress. They showed all the good sense of a pack of retarded monkeys when Bill Clinton was elected, can they do better now? Sure, Ted Kennedy isn't there, but they still have to contend with Pelosi's rants and the Dem's natural inclination to screw up a good thing.

I'm just happy that with the election over, the economy is fixed, we've withdrawn from Iraq, are friends with Iran, have ended our dependence on Middle East oil and can get back to watching "America's Worst Acne" on Fox.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Well, That Was Impressive



If you're going to be a Euro-douchebag, it really helps if you have mad skillllllz.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Breaking Up Is Tough But Fun



I'll be honest -- her firm, full body, dusky good looks and shocking mane of light hair called to me from the start. I never thought I'd fall for another, but I have -- deeper, more soulful, less tinged with bitterness. Never was cheating so good. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be stuck with second best for a while


The Old Model


The Much Improved New Model