Looking for a way to knock the argyle socks off your geeky lover this Valentine’s Day? Skip the computer programmer-themed porn and try gifting your nerdy loved one some HTTPanties or “Tweet Me” Sweethearts candy. The Huffington Post tracked down thirteen geeky gifts that scream “I love you, nerd face.” Full geeky gift list at Huffington Post. Get your geek on. Permalink | Leave a comment »
Selected by knighton
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Holy Kaw!
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13 geeky Valentine’s Day gifts
9 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm -
Google Buzz's official demo [video]
9 Feb 2010 | 11:25 amGoogle has just unveiled its latest attempt to become more relevant in the social media space—Google Buzz. The product is integrated within Gmail and will be rolled out gradually to all of the webmail service’s users over the next few days. While this development is still unfolding, you can check out Google Buzz’s two-minute demo of Buzz in action both online and via mobile. What are your initial reactions? Another soon-to-be-forgotten Google product like Wave, or a Facebook/Twitter killer? Full story at Mashable. Total Google coverage. Permalink | Leave a… -
Darth Vader’s original wimpy voice [video]
9 Feb 2010 | 11:15 amImagine a galaxy far, far away where Darth Vader sounded like any other British bloke strolling down the corridors of the Death Star. Before James Earl Jones provided the menacing voice of the Dark Lord of the Sith, English actor and bodybuilder David Prowse delivered the lines from inside the Darth costume. While George Lucas never intended for Prowse’s voice to make the flick’s final cut, it’s weird to imagine how different Star Wars would have been with a different Vader voice. Full story at Huffington Post. Tons of Star Wars tidbits. Permalink | Leave a… -
7 things you didn’t know about condoms
9 Feb 2010 | 10:14 amRubbers. Raincoats. Inconvenient. Whatever you call 'em, condoms remain a must-have in the safe sex tool box. Long before the days of Durex and Trojans, men used animal intestines to protect their willies (that sounds lovely, eh ladies?) and still to this day use lambskin condoms for latex allergies and supposed extra sensitivity. Want to learn even more fun facts about condoms that will surely impress your friends and potential lovers? Check out Asylum's seven things you probably didn't know about condoms that includes tantalizing tidbits like: Vaseline + condoms = Disintegrated rubber and… -
Horror flick mirror scare mash-up [video]
9 Feb 2010 | 9:25 amHorror movies love to rely on cliches to scare the bejeezus out of us, but does it really surprise anyone that the axe murderer is going to pop in the reflection of a mirror? Ok, yes, it still totally sparks a few pee-in-pants moments. Check out this mash-up of mirror scare moments (fair warning: don’t watch alone in a big, dark, scary house): Full story at Four Four. Boo! Tons of scary and not so scary movie news. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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My Wine Education
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Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: Feb 5 – 12
5 Feb 2010 | 12:41 pmBe still my beating heart! The Weekly Wine Events are back! Really, all is takes is for me to be in town longer than a week at a time. And happily, I’m in town for quite a while this time! I’m terribly behind at this, and my calendar crashed and lost a lot of information this morning. So … please let me know what I’ve missed and I’ll add it to the calendar! You’re probably thinking Super Bowl for this weekend, but take a moment to peruse the rest of the February calendar. There are all sorts of great events coming up. Of course, if you look ahead on the… -
Blood Into Wine: Maynard James Keenan
4 Feb 2010 | 5:05 amOnce upon a time I wrote for the (now defunct) Taste Magazine. I was working on an article about celebrity-branded alcohol, although that article got scrapped when I took over the Wine Academy column for the magazine. In the process of researching that article, I somehow managed to get in touch with the publicist for Maynard James Keenan, and eventually, I interviewed him. It’s just as well my article got scrapped, because my recording of the interview wasn’t very good. It was so bad, I have yet to be able to clean it up and use it. (Since then, I’ve improved my recording… -
Better Off Bottled?
3 Feb 2010 | 11:04 amCNN Money reported today that restaurant wine lists are huge rip-offs. I think we all knew this. But just in case you weren’t clear on the facts: Restaurants mark up cheaper bottles by an average of three times the retail price, while the prices of higher end wines are typically doubled, says Ronn Wiegand, a master sommelier who runs the industry newsletter RestaurantWine. Last week, I got to eat at the wonderful (and amazingly expensive) new restaurant Sage in Las Vegas’s new Aria / City Center complex. My friend and I picked a $44 bottle of Argentinian Malbec off of the wine… -
Review: Tonic on 4th
29 Jan 2010 | 5:44 amI really didn’t want to like Tonic on 4th. In fact, I loved Twist so much, and was so mad that it was gone, that I was determined to never go to Tonic. Period. Then I met Josh Durr, the cocktail consultant for Tonic. His skill with a cocktail shaker swayed me, and later the same week I popped into Tonic. I sort of feel like I haven’t left since. Josh trained all the bartenders (Benjamin, Maggie, Erin, and Mike), and every one of them has that vintage, craft cocktail thing down to the art that it is. Even better, they’ll explain anything to you, from how and why they make… -
Cocktails: The Aviation and a True Whiskey Sour
28 Jan 2010 | 9:00 amHere are some more drinks from our session with Josh Durr. The Aviation 2 oz dry London or Plymouth gin 1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur 1/4 oz crème de violette or Parfait Amour 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice Add ingredients to a shaker filled halfway with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. I had recently sat through a session on gin presented by Tanqueray, so I was surprised when Josh grabbed the Beefeater for this drink. He told me it’s bcause the big bold London gin flavor holds up to the rest of the ingredients. So there you go – it really does matter what…
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Wilf's Wine Press
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Chinese Wine Made in Australia...!
29 Jan 2010 | 12:41 pmBefore I delve into today's topic, just a quick update on my last post. It seems that Brussel's concern about labeling is not impressing European consumers. In a report just released by the European Food Information Council and published in the Journal of Public Health, it states that only 16.8% of consumers looked at nutritional information on labels. Say no more. We all know that the Australian wine industry is going through a bit of a hard time and we also know that there is a potentially sizable market in China, but is selling out to the Chinese the answer? Doing business in and with… -
Wine Labels Under attack by Brussels...!
18 Jan 2010 | 2:44 pmAre government wine regulators somewhat akin to restaurant food critics, who feel it is their job to be critical of every restaurant they review? Do regulators feel they must foist obnoxious rules on the wine community or they are not doing the job they are paid to do? North America may have their neo-prohibitionists but it seems Europe has a whole gang of neo....(fill in your own blanks ).They feel humanity must be saved form this harmful beverage that has been around for thousands of years. The latest outrageous proposal from Brussels will see dramatic changes to wine labels for wine… -
Wine Predictions for the New Decade...!
7 Jan 2010 | 10:23 amAs we begin 2010 and a new decade there are some fascinating predictions out there. Two I found particularly interesting were Steve Heimoff's "My Ten for the Next Ten" and Julie Brosterman's "Was 2009 the Tipping Point for Wine & Social Media." But let me begin 2010 with a needed correction to my last blog entry. If you look at the picture I posted, courtesy PhilippeDurst of the Dopff Au Moulin winery in Alsace, you would have to believe that there was a lot more pressure inside that bottle than the 2-3 atmospheres of pressure I attributed toCrémants.I am again indebted to Philippe for… -
Celebrating and Toasting with a C....Sparkling Wine!
31 Dec 2009 | 8:24 amWill that be a Champagne, a Cava or a Crémant you will be drinking to celebrate the new Year? All of them made of course in the traditional method. Crémants are produced by adding a smaller dosage for the second fermentation, resulting in less carbon dioxide and thus a lower bottle pressure.This lighter effervescence creates a creamy texture to the wine and hence the term Crémant which means "creamy". Crémants have 2-3 atmospheres of pressure instead of 5-6 in wines from Champagne. My friend Philippe Durst, the Export Manager at Dopff Au Moulin in Alsace sent me this picture of a Crémant… -
How Much Will you pay for your Wine.....?
7 Dec 2009 | 5:03 pmYes ,the Asian market is hot. According to Sotheby's auction house fifty-seven percent of all wine sold by value went to Asian buyers this year. Asian bidding has boosted prices at both Sotheby's and Christie's International for first growths such as Lafite, Latour, Petrus and Mouton Rothschild. Both houses anticipate selling wines worth $5.7 million this week as buyers attend the last international sales of 2009 and thus propping up the prices once again for the greedy first and second growth Bordeaux producers. ( Don't be afraid to click on the feet in the picture.) But tell that to the…
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Woot Wine! - One Week, One Wine
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Lost Canyon Stage Gulch Syrah Three - Pack - $54.99
7 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pmThe Grander CanyonMy horse had run off during the night. My map was swept away in a Flash flood. I thought I was lost. Little did I know I’d just found myself.I wandered the canyon for days, foraging for food, half-mad from not hearing another human voice for so long. I was just about to eat some kind of crawdad I’d dug out of a creek bed when the aroma caught me. Was it blackberries? Blueberries? Leather? White pepper? Or even… rose petals? It was all those things, a complex potpourri that set my mouth to watering. I followed that scent like a bloodhound, deeper into the canyon, deeper… -
Metrokane Six Piece Houdini Wine Tool & Stand
4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pmOne Last Chance“Jamie! Jamie, open the door! Jamie, please, I know you’re home, just come out and talk to me! It’s raining out here and I just want to talk for a second!”“Stephen? Stephen, what are you doing out here?” “Jamie, I want you back. I’m just a mess without you and I… Wait a sec. Is someone else here? Are you with somebody in there?!” “Sigh. Yes, Stephen, if you must know, there is a nice gentlemen in my house waiting at my dinner table with a meal he cooked just for me who is probably wondering why I’m out here trying to get my ex-boyfriend off my porch.”… -
Radog Pinot Noir Three - Pack
2 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pmPlay It Again, StanOf all the comic shops, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine.She was schweet. Super schweet. It’s not everyday you meet a girl with a head for comics and a body built for continuity. From the moment we first discussed the art of Jack Kirby, we both knew that when our lives crossed over, nothing would be the same. Some things are unstoppable, I guess, like the Juggernaut or one of Wolverine’s berserker rampages. And for what seemed like a brief six-issue run, we were happy. Maybe it was the fights over who was the better Green Lantern. Maybe it… -
Mumm Napa Sparkling Trio - Three Pack
31 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pmLike A Vampire For Your MouthSparkles mean love! Love means gifts! Gifts mean Valentine’s Day! You see where this is going, right?She wants him to think she’s prettier. He wants her to think he’s manlier. Or maybe he wants him to think he’s prettier, or she wants her to think she’s manlier. Love is love as far as we’re concerned. They all want the other to laugh a little more at their jokes. Any other day of the year, a boxed malt liquor would be a perfectly acceptable way to enhance this mutual appreciation. But we’re talking about Valentine’s Day. On Valentine’s Day,… -
G Debbas Chocolate Valentines Truffles
28 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pmA little candle light, some rose petals…...but first: you know what you’ve gotta do.“Come ooooooon!” Do it. “Come ooooooooooon!” DO it! “Grrr.” - 1 minute later - Oh wow, that was great! I’m so glad I was able to order these things right away, so they had time to get here for Valentine’s Day! “Because you wanted to see me do the Truffle Shuffle on the most romantic holiday in America?” No, silly, because I wanted to enjoy Swiss style truffles in creamy milk- and rich dark chocolate with delicious ganache centers in flavors like Apple Pie, Espresso, Hot Cocoa,…
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CheapWineRatings.com
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Forest Glen Gewürztraminer
I’ll be honest with you, California isn’t the first region I think of when I’m looking for a Gewürztraminer. And Forest Glen never comes to mind as a brand I would expect to turn to for Gewürz. But then Forest Glen has surprised me before, like when their Pinot Noir topped some other Pinot’s more [...] -
Lucien Albrecht Gewürztraminer Reserve
Although its name can be intimidating to those who are new to wine, Gewurztraminer is a wonderful and exciting variety that I recommend you try. But first, let’s deal with this name. It looks long and complicated, but it’s not when you break it down. Let’s start with the first half of the name, Gewürz, [...] -
Ten Carménère Under $20
Carménère , or Carmenere, was once one of the grapes of Bordeaux. It was always a problematic grape, due to late ripening, but brings some unique qualities to the wine in which it’s used. In particular, it’s known for giving a green pepper characteristic to wines, which is intensified when the grapes are harvested under-ripe. [...] -
Valdivieso Reserva Carménère
Viña Valdivieso originated as Champagne Valdivieso way back in 1879. It was the first producer in South America to make sparkling wine, and didn’t even begin producing still wine until 1980 when they expanded and formed Viña Valdivieso. The grapes for this Carménère are from Central Valley, which means that they aren’t from one region, but [...] -
Casillero del Diablo Carménère
Casillero del Diablo is one of the brands produced by Concha y Toro, the largest wine producer in Chile and one of the best in terms of consistent quality and good value for the price. The story goes that in starting in 1891, the founder of the Concho y Toro Winery, Don Melchor, kept a personal [...]
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Wine For Newbies
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Yet another politician opposing direct shipment of wine
8 Feb 2010 | 7:16 amThe Baltimore Sun reports on a member of the Maryland senate who will not allow a vote in her committee on a bill that would end the ban against direct shipment of wine. Again we get the tired old “minors will get alcohol by ordering online” argument. Never mind that the facts don’t support this position. In the U.S., there is only one (maybe two) documented incidents of minors trying to order alcohol online–and it was as a part of a “sting” organized by the wholesalers (who want to protect their economic fiefdom). Apparently no one recalls the basic facts:… -
Where can I buy that wine?
1 Feb 2010 | 1:09 pmIf there’s one thing about being a wine enthusiast that will drive you buggy, it’s trying to buy wines you’ve heard about. If you live in a state like Indiana in the US, the wholesalers bring in only 5% of the wines available in the US. It can be tough to find wines that Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, or even just the local newspaper are writing up. Luckily, for some folks in the US, there is a partial solution. I don’t normally plug vendors here, but WineAccess.com is worth mentioning. I’m an affiliate, which means like with Amazon.com, I get a commission from… -
Tweet and Taste Live–Michigan on March 8
1 Feb 2010 | 2:32 amMichigan wines are largely unheard of outside of the Great Lakes region. Nevertheless, there are parts of Michigan that have great climates for grape growing. Michigan has grown wine grapes for decades, and is now coming into the forefront of up-and-coming wine regions. On March 8, a group of wine bloggers and wine professionals will participate in Taste and Tweet Live. We will sample and discuss 3 Michigan wines from Black Star Winery. You can join us, if you wish. All the details can be found at the Taste and Tweet Live–Michigan site. -
What to do when they bring you the bottle, by Judy Beardsall
19 Jan 2010 | 11:24 amLet’s say you asked for a bottle of Napa Valley Chateau Montelena and it comes to your table already opened. If they don’t show you the uncorked bottle, you’ve got a problem… Send the bottle back. Don’t let the waiter or sommelier pull the cork in some distant part of the bar or kitchen and arrive at your table ready to pour. Tradition holds that they must show you the bottle so you know you’re getting the wine you just ordered and not a substitute – or that it was not opened earlier in the day and refilled with something else. Look carefully at the… -
What can I do for you?
18 Jan 2010 | 8:38 amEvery once in a while I like to ask readers to give me a bit of feedback. Specifically, I like to ask: What do you like about Wine For Newbies (the web site)? What do you like about Wine For Newbies 2.0 (the podcast and vidcast)? What do you not like about the web site/podcast/vidcast? What makes you spend time at the web site? What could Wine For Newbies do that would make you declare WFN to be the world’s best web site? (Okay, maybe not the world’s best site, but what would make you tell all your friends, Facebook contacts, and so on?) If you’d be kind enough to leave a…
