Of Wine, Starbucks, and the Academy
Dee and I spent a whole Saturday in Napa Valley this past weekend. We had a wonderful time going from 1 winery to the next and sampling some really expensive wine. The experience was exciting and a bit intimidating as well. I guess people who tour the wine country are folks who have a lot of money. Also, we’re not very experienced at it compared to some of the tourists we met. It’s so easy for someone to spend $100 at just 1 stop. The average fee for tasting is $10 and the price for a bottle ranges from $16 up to $300. We asked one of the hosts what makes a bottle of wine so expensive and she said, "You do." Yes, wine is expensive because the public is willing to pay outrageous amounts of money for a bottle of pinot, merlot, sauvignon blanc, etc … In any event, it was a fascinating experience. I really learned a lot and it made me appreciate wine even more. I know a lot of you out there are beer-drinkers, but a wine tour is definitely something I would recommend to anyone.
Recommend: Silver Oak Cellars, Peju Province Winery
On the way home yesterday, my front passenger side door was damaged at a Vallejo plaza parking lot. (I was sitting in the passenger side. Dee was driving). I opened my door without looking first to see if there was an on-coming car ready to take the space beside ours. Sure enough, as I swung my door open, the other car hit my door. I now have a 3inch dent on the bottom of my front passenger door. May this be a lesson kids, just because you’re excited to get coffee at Starbuck’s, you should still be aware of your surroundings. Luckily, I had no injuries except for a humiliated ego. Also, the coffee tasted bland because of the accident.
No big surprises in last night’s Academy Awards. Million Dollar Baby is a great movie. Out of the other Best Picture nominees I saw, Sideways & Ray, Clint Eastwood’s film was a cut above both of them. Jamie Foxx deserved the Best Actor nod although I was also pulling for Clint Eastwood. Morgan Freeman finally got a well-deserved Oscar, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if Thomas Hayden-Church won for Sideways. Hillary Swank made me a believer in her after seeing Million Dollar Baby. I can’t envision another actress portraying that role in such a convincing manner. Natalie Portman’s character in Closer was the most compelling, but the movie was so over-rated – no surprise that Cate Blanchett won in her category. As for the show as a whole, I thought it was quite boring. Chris Rock was excellent though. But, the speeches were lame as usual.
Note to celebrities: Stop thanking people we don’t know or care about. And when the music starts, that means that your time is up and the Viagra commercial is standing by.
Recommend: Silver Oak Cellars, Peju Province Winery
On the way home yesterday, my front passenger side door was damaged at a Vallejo plaza parking lot. (I was sitting in the passenger side. Dee was driving). I opened my door without looking first to see if there was an on-coming car ready to take the space beside ours. Sure enough, as I swung my door open, the other car hit my door. I now have a 3inch dent on the bottom of my front passenger door. May this be a lesson kids, just because you’re excited to get coffee at Starbuck’s, you should still be aware of your surroundings. Luckily, I had no injuries except for a humiliated ego. Also, the coffee tasted bland because of the accident.
No big surprises in last night’s Academy Awards. Million Dollar Baby is a great movie. Out of the other Best Picture nominees I saw, Sideways & Ray, Clint Eastwood’s film was a cut above both of them. Jamie Foxx deserved the Best Actor nod although I was also pulling for Clint Eastwood. Morgan Freeman finally got a well-deserved Oscar, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if Thomas Hayden-Church won for Sideways. Hillary Swank made me a believer in her after seeing Million Dollar Baby. I can’t envision another actress portraying that role in such a convincing manner. Natalie Portman’s character in Closer was the most compelling, but the movie was so over-rated – no surprise that Cate Blanchett won in her category. As for the show as a whole, I thought it was quite boring. Chris Rock was excellent though. But, the speeches were lame as usual.
Note to celebrities: Stop thanking people we don’t know or care about. And when the music starts, that means that your time is up and the Viagra commercial is standing by.
3 Comments:
Why his door really got damaged -What actually happened was that David and I were reminiscing about when we were younger.. We took a road trip to Monterey. David (being the big coffee drinker 5 years ago) decided to have a Caramel Macchiato. Well, the new drink with the winding roads and a new crush didn't do anything for him as he had me pull the car over so he could VOMIT on the side of the road (very romantic). Of course sitting in front of Starbucks yesterday, we were laughing - this is why he was not paying attention as he threw his car door open into oncoming traffic! I guess I should still say, "watch the door when you open it" even when my kids are not around..
Wow Dave, I bet you really impressed Dee with the vomit thing.
Don't worry about the damaged door--I've caused two full-blown accidents. There's nothing worse on the ego than being the cause of an accident and watching passerbys as they look at you and your nice mess.
The Monterey incident was very "unromantic", BUT it worked 'cause I got the girl in the end. I actually planned that. =O)
And Tim, you've always been so cautious. You're the last person I would think of being accident prone. Nevertheless, yesterday's door incident was pretty humiliating for me.
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