Category Archives: Review

Abandoning Google Plus

Posted on by
2

Yesterday I opened my Google Plus page and discovered to my surprise and initial pleasure that Google had brought a new interface to their social network system. As I started to explore this new interface I started to immediately notice that things had changed not for the better, but rather for the worse. Google had unilaterally included their chat system on the right side of my browser window, it’s something I rarely ever use so that system is all wasted space. I noticed that the stories in my circles, the things I really care about are now shuffled off to the left in a column that lost 10% of space on the leftmost and 50% on the rightmost, being moved over for some controls at the very top of the page that now occupy this dreaded whitespace region on my Google Plus page.

It’s this whitespace, and the meaningless chat talker system that I can’t stand. Facebook attempted a similar move by presenting me with a chat-talker screen on the left side as well months ago, when I still used Facebook. When they made the changes to their interface, along with privacy concerns and workplace issues with social networking I left Facebook. Now it just languishes as an identity marker, if content gets on my Facebook page it’s wholly accidental. Twitter’s web page also underwent this columnar approach, as they reconfigured the entire interface out from underneath their users. For Twitter, I stopped using that because it was more noisy than useful, the people I wanted to engage with were just human billboards, and the interface changes were really the straw that broke the camel’s back.

So what is there to do? Complaints about the interface changes are really the only channel you have to express how much you dislike when a service does this to you – but you have no real power. Just complaining is one easily ignored tiny little voice in the darkness and doesn’t amount to anything at all. The only real power that any single user has is the power of choice. In the end, the only choice I have to make is, do I want to still use the system? It’s actually a matter of abandonment. I abandoned Facebook. I abandoned Twitter. Because they changed the interface and made it less useful to me, I am facing the idea of abandoning Google Plus. I don’t need these social network systems to give my life meaning. They need me, or rather, they need aggregate me’s, lots of people, to give what they do meaning. The less people use a socially networked system the less appealing that system is to everyone else. Facebook is only compelling because everyone uses it. There is no real value inherent in Facebook itself. This is a lesson that the classic business models these companies use can’t take into account – that their popularity defines their success. If they make a grossly unpopular change to the interface, then people will flee and their success will go tits up.

I don’t care to encourage other people to abandon these systems if they like them. Each of us has to make these kinds of decisions on a wholly personal level. I find it obnoxious that Google, and Facebook, and Twitter for that matter all force interface changes on users without giving the user any control whatsoever. It would be more elegant if there were a batch of controls we could select from and build our own interface. Put the bits and pieces where we want, opt out of things we don’t care for and make the interface work best for us, as the users. None of these sites have done that, they all behave as if they have global fiat to make changes willy-nilly. The end user who has to contend with these changes can’t do anything really except make that singular choice surrounding the issue of abandonment.

So where do I go now? It’s comic, but in many ways I am looking forward to going backwards. There is one system that I’ve used, mostly as a category but the people behind what I currently use I regard as being the platonic form of that category, and that is WordPress. Going back to blogging. What does the WordPress infrastructure have that attracts me? It’s got stable themes, the site looks very much like it always has. There are changes, but they aren’t as gross in scope as these other systems have perpetrated. I can share links on WordPress, I can write long posts, short status updates, and WordPress has a competent comment system already in place.

So I will give Google Plus until May 1st to do something better with their interface, to recognize the value in the stream and give us users the choice of what systems we want to see on our Google Plus page. Google should give us the ability to turn off the whitespace region, we should be able to turn off the chat talker region, so that we can maximize the stream region. If they fail to correct these glaring human interface deficits I will do to Google Plus what I did to Facebook. I will abandon Google Plus. I will keep the account running but I will no longer actively use it. Things that end up on Google Plus will end up being the same sort of things that end up washing up on Twitter, specifically links to content on my WordPress blog. Google’s loss will be WordPress’ gain. WordPress has always done right by me, and I respect them. I do not respect Twitter, nor do I respect Facebook. My respect for Google is quixotic at best. I used to believe in their “Do No Evil” company mantra, but that has been shed as Google has done some very evil acts, they aren’t what they once were and this sullying of their image makes the pending abandonment easy.

Will my abandonment hurt Google? No, of course not. I’m not so full of myself as to think that me leaving will change anything about the service, that Google will even notice my absence. However if I can inspire other people to give another look at WordPress, maybe see that progress forward can be achieved by regressing to earlier systems may be a worthy pursuit if what you get in the trade is interface stability. That this single raindrop encourages others to fall. The raindrop doesn’t believe it is responsible for the flood. I can only hope that I help the flood along. These massive changes that these social network sites perpetrate on their usership should be punished! We want it all, we want to use the service and we want to control it as well. We want the interface to be regular, logical, useful and static. When we want to make a change, we want to be the ones making it. We do not want to be victims of someones good intentions, Google! I would say this for Facebook as well, but that’s a lost cause.

So time is ticking away. If Google does not act, then the stream on that service is terminal. If that comes to pass, I will be migrating to my WordPress blog.

I hope to see some of you there.

Chocolatea

Posted on by
Reply

Chocolatea

Chocolatea was originally discovered by Scott a while back and he recently introduced me to this new shop down in Portage. It’s located at 7642 South Westnedge Ave between Schuring Road and Centre Road. They have great hours, open during the early mornings on the weekdays, close at 9p and open at 9a on the weekends. It has become our preferred spot to begin our mornings during the weekends.

I never thought I liked tea, my maternal grandmother loved tea and she would always make tea via teabags and boiling water and it would make this bland brew in her white porcelain teacups. I drank it once and didn’t like it, it tasted like hot tap water with a plant in it. My folks, including the entirety of my paternal side of my family all prefer coffee. They are all very avid coffee drinkers, my mother prefers hers without additives and my father prefers his additives with a little bit of coffee. I will drink coffee if it’s available but I won’t brew it myself and I won’t go out of my way to obtain it. I find black coffee to be too bitter for me. Other people enjoy it so I don’t begrudge them their preferences.

So I drank a lot of soda pop, then tried to get it out of my diet due to the high fructose corn syrup that they use to sweeten it. I switched to diet soda and that was really not much better. I swapped out one unwanted chemical (HFCS) for another (Nutrasweet). So I gave up on soda pop altogether and once I got my HydroFlask, I’ve been enjoying my native element quite a lot (Cancer is a water sign).

It wasn’t until I visited Chocolatea did I re-discover Tea. They have two walls completely devoted to various kinds of looseleaf tea. Almost all of it is high quality full-leaf teas, with only a few powdered teas to speak of. They have apparently a full spectrum of teas from what I’ve been researching. They have White, Green, Black, Oolong, and Pu-erh Teas, some pure, some with additives. They have Earl Grey, with it’s delicious citrusey Bergamot oils in Black and Green varieties, which I really appreciate as that was (and still is) one of my favorite flavors of tea. They also have some Tisanes, Rooibos and Yerba Mate teas to round out the selection. Everything is stored in these glass spring-sealed jars that line the walls. The type of tea has it’s name and an index number and the price per ounce listed plainly on the label. Most of their teas are between 2-4 per ounce and while it seems not very much, tea is exceptionally not-dense, so you get a LOT of tea for the money.

Chocolatea also has a fully stocked supply area to explore tea and I never knew that teabags were a conceit to sell crappy tea to ignorant consumers. It doesn’t help that Americans rejected tea as a drink after the Boston Tea Party (and no, we aren’t going to honor the modern “tea party” whackjobs here) and Americans never recovered a taste for tea. This particular American however has. Chocolatea sells everything you need to make an exceptionally excellent cup of tea. They sell Bodum cups, which are double-walled and insulated so you can pour boiling water into them without scalding your fingertips as you try to drink. They also sell tea infusing baskets, which are cup-sized stainless-steel microfilter baskets that you put the loooseleaf tea into and then pour water on top of. The basket allows water and the soluble parts of the tea to pass in and out while keeping the leaves sequestered in the basket. Making tea this way is so much better than using teabags that I’m amazed there still are teabags!

Chocolatea is 80% about their teas and they sell as well as brew tea to order. They also have a great selection of lattes, coffee, and specialty tea-derived drinks as well that are quite nice. The other 20% of their business is selling supplies, food items and desserts, and their chocolate selection. If you like tea you owe it to yourself to visit Chocolatea, if you like Chocolate, you owe it to yourself to go. Even if you don’t like tea or chocolate (and frankly I don’t know if I want to know you if you don’t like at least chocolate) the atmosphere is incredibly conducive to writing. There is ambient music provided by XM/Sirius celestial radio, but it’s very subdued. The people sounds are the predominant feature in Chocolatea as they do a brisk business. The ever-present mishmash of people talking quietly is very soothing, at least to me. You can’t really make out individual conversations but the droning chatter is pleasant.

Chocolatea has a frequent customer program and if you sign up they ask you for your email, address, and birthday. I can only imagine that they have something clever, marketing wise up their sleeves when they ask for birthdays and email. The owners work their store and I’ve run into them from time to time and they are incredibly helpful and amazingly pleasant people. Their employees are very nice and are always free with kind smalltalk and smiles. One thing I did discover to my chagrin is after buying tea, which they have a little area set aside for dosing out the teas you want into plastic baggies – it’s important to write the name of the tea down as well as it’s index number! I had three baggies with just numbers and not a clue what was in the baggies. After calling Chocolatea they were very happy to help me identify what each baggie contained and now when I buy tea there, I always include the name.

So far, for my explorations I love their black teas, mostly “Paris”, “Earl Grey”, “Cream Earl Grey”, and the Green “Bangkok”. Their Yerba Mate blends are excellent and I just purchased sight-unseen some Pu-erh Tea and that is AMAZING. I keep on marveling at how good tea is now that I’m making it with high-quality ingredients and brewing it the correct way. The owners of Chocolatea are always pushing tea education even when you call them to get names of teas from just having index numbers. They are free with advice on how to brew whites, greens, oolongs, and black teas. Both the temperature of the water, how much tea to use, and how long to let it steep. If you go to Chocolatea, you will get an expertly crafted cup of tea and after you are done, you can hand them back the cup and ask for re-steeps. I had no idea that tea leaves could steep over and over again! The refills are complimentary! One thing to note, if you get an Oolong tea, apparently that particular tea can re-steep a LOT and the flavors in each cup unfold with each steeping. There is so much to explore there, and the prices will not break the bank.

If you have never been, I heartily recommend it! If you love to drink coffee then you really should ask for them to make you a cup of Caramel Pu-erh Tea. I bet you’ll fall head over heels in love with it and want more!

If you would like to get set-up to make tea I can make some good suggestions, first off if you have a tea-pot already then use it. If you don’t, then Rival or GE make a very nice electric kettle for $12 or $30 respectively. I bought a Rival electric kettle for work so I could fill it with water and heat up my water by my desk. The Rival is nice (as I assume the GE one is as well) in so far that when the water boils the unit pops off. When you hear the click, the water is just about at 200 degrees which is perfect for black teas. If you wait just a little bit longer, the water cools so you can make whites or greens too. The infusion basket is $10 and is permanent, so with careful cleaning you’ll never need another one. The Bodum cups are $10 as well. So right there for about $40-$50 of an initial investment you can enjoy tea the way it was meant to be enjoyed! After your initial investment you just have to buy the tea itself and as far as I can tell loose-leaf tea is shelf-stable for a long while, so it’s not like there are any timers that are running if you don’t get around to a particular tea in time.

If you go to Chocolatea and you discover that you like tea as much as I do, please leave comments about what teas you like. I’m always looking to explore more and the selection at Chocolatea is enough to keep you occupied for a very long time.

Beer and Skittles

Posted on by
1

Beer and Skittles

There is a new shop in town called Beer and Skittles. We spied it as we were driving around town foraging for our weekly supplies a few weeks ago. They are located at 1912 Whites Road in Kalamazoo. The first time we spied the shop it was a drive-by and people were laughing how odd it seemed to have skittle-flavored beer, as we had made the fundamental mistake of confusing Skittles the board game with Skittles the candy. As it turns out, it’s actually an idiomatic expression in british english, “beer and skittles” which is supposed to be a catch-all phrase for going out and doing something.

The first time we stopped at Beer and Skittles they weren’t open yet, so we peered through the windows and the owner came out to talk to us. They were in the home stretch of opening and I was giddy with the notion that they turned a First National Bank of Detroit into an epicurean food and wine shop. What a reversal of banality for that building! We laughed and talked and wished them well and then a week or so later they were open, except for not having a liquor license to sell the beer, which is part of their name. Apparently Michigan has laws on the books that come from an earlier time when alcohol sales were strictly controlled. This state still has some blue laws on the books and from my understanding, Michigan runs a zero-sum-game with it’s liquor licenses. For one shop to get a liquor license another shop has to surrender theirs. There is only a fixed number of liquor sales allowed in this state and that sort of law has more to do with the troglodytes in Lansing than anything else. To keep a shop like Beer and Skittles wanting for a liquor license is just harming the local economy. It’s stupid.

As for the shop itself, in the beginning we noticed that they set up a sparse store. There is nothing wrong with that, but when you factor in the handicap of not having that liquor license it is a little worrisome. The products are all local, unique, or niche and play directly into the theme that Beer and Skittles publishes on their website. We found some notable treasures in this store that we really enjoy. They have deals with local food-preparers to distribute prepared pasties, pot pies, as well as bread, hummus, dips, mixes, spices, and a constellation of other products that appear to be an assortment of local food fare.

We tried pasties for the first time by buying two there and cooking them at home. We weren’t sure what to expect as we’ve never had pasties before. At first we were taken aback by how dry they were, but then we realized after talking with locals that what we experienced is what pasties are and that it’s not a flaw, it’s part of the design of the things. Scott wasn’t as awed by the pasties as I was, I would definitely buy another one since they are only $5 and one should be enough for a hearty lunch or dinner.

The meat pies are exceptionally good. Scott surprised me by swinging by Beer and Skittles on his way home from work as it’s somewhat on the way back home from Barnes & Noble in Portage. One pie is more than enough for a dinner for two and the price of $14 is excellent for what you get. The products at Beer and Skittles have very little carbon built up on them, as much of the food is from Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, or somewhere else in Michigan. There are some notable exceptions, but they are few, like Demerara sugar, which comes from very far away and has a lot of carbon attached to it.

Baklava

The real draw for me is Beer and Skittles has a deal with a greek pastry maker in Grand Rapids and they sell little wedges of Baklava for $1.95 a piece. I’ve had Baklava from other places around town and while many locations sell okay Baklava, what they have for sale at Beer and Skittles is over-the-top-amazingly-good. I have plans to save up, and if Beer and Skittles is willing, buy an entire platter in one go. Whoever makes their Baklava makes little triangular wedges of sweet heaven.

One thing that I feel I have to remark upon is the hours for Beer and Skittles. The owners are pushing the envelope here, and going far above and beyond every other shop in town by being open until 10pm every night. This state is blue as hell and there are only a few places that are open after 8 or 9pm and Beer and Skittles is one of these places. I worry that their hours may reduce their chances for success but it’s what they have posted. Their dedication on running that business is notable and I think more people should go and give them a shot. Look in their cold cases, pick something out and try it. If you see the platter of Baklava, you have to buy at least one piece. You will not be sorry.

I hope that they get their liquor license soon and complete their namesake. It’s these sorts of shops that open up and play the risk that need attention from the buying public. It’s these shops we have to support. Excellent quality, fair prices, outrageous hours. What is not to love? Even if they don’t have their license yet I visit frequently and often times find something to buy there.

Rhum Barbancourt

Posted on by
Reply

Rhum Barbancourt

So today we’re trying a new rum. This one is in the French style from Haiti. It’s Rhum Barbancourt, aged eight years. It definitely is different from the English style found in Trinidad that was obvious on the first sip. While the Trinidadian rum had a hot lead and then quickly mellowed to feature an extended flavor profile post-palate this Haitian rum, in comparison resembles most closely Cognac.

I quite enjoy Cognac so this will be perfectly acceptable. Now that I’ve tried two different rums, I can clearly say that the English style so far has my preference. Perhaps there will be some new notes I can pull out of this Haitian rum, but so far it’s pretty much wrapped in a kind of straightforward Cognac simplicity.

My selection of rums was pretty much a coin toss. It was either going to be this one or one from the Dominican Republic. It’s a learning process, so I’m not going to weep over a rum that isn’t exactly knocking my socks off.

After I perused the label a little bit longer, I discovered to my chagrin that this rum is 86 proof, while the Trinidadian one was a standard 80. That increase in alcohol is definitely a major factor in the taste of this liquor.

2011 Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsula Wine Explorations – The Wretched

Posted on by
Reply

Finally here is the list of wines that we didn’t care for at all. I don’t know why and I can’t explain it and I’m not even going to try to cover this one with platitudes. These wines had something deeply wrong with them.

  • Peninsula Cellars 2007 Dry Reisling – dump it in a field.
  • Peninsula Cellars Old School White – dull.
  • Shady Lane Cellars 2009 Cabernet Franc / Merlot Rose – Watery and weak.
  • Douglas Valley Bunk House Red – Vinegar.
  • Chateau Chantal Naughty Red – Burning bakelite, repellent.
  • Brys Estate 2010 Pinot Grigio – Hot and Blunt, best sacrificed in an earthquake.
  • Brys Estate 2007 Signature Red – Dull and flabby.

I hate writing these criticisms and hurting the winemakers, but these were absolutely awful. C’est la vie.

2011 Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsula Wine Explorations – Second List

Posted on by
Reply

Here is a list of wines that we tried that were very good on their own as we explored the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas near Traverse City Michigan. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, we tried wine in nearly every winery and this list, while not sock-knocking-off were quite good.

This also bears to say that this is MY OPINION and in no way do I mean to demean the wines listed here. They were okay, not as good as the ones on my winning list previously. As always, my palate is unique and I really don’t want to hurt any of the vintners feelings with these next two lists.

  • L Mawby Sparkling Pinot Grigio – Too dry for me.
  • L Mawby Sandpiper – Pineapple city.
  • Peninsula Cellars 2008 Pinot Blanc – Rather plain.
  • Longview 2010 Chardonnay – Granny Smith apples and acid.
  • Longview 2009 Dry Reisling – Too acidic
  • Longview 2010 Rustic Red – Gentle and uninvolved.
  • Longview 2008 Cabernet Franc Barrel Reserve – Gunny sack, musty, pickles in the palate.
  • Chateau Grand Traverse 2009 Ship Of Fools – Nice, but didn’t get 4/5 marks, only 3.
  • Left Foot Charlie 2009 Stumble – Fruit bomb with acidic chaser
  • Shady Lane Cellars 2008 Dry Reisling – Pickles and vinegar on the palate. Sad.
  • Chateau Chantal Pinot Noir – Nose had asphalt sealer and burning electronics. I couldn’t escape the scent of dying technology.
  • Black Star Farms 2008 Arcturos Pinot Noir – Monotonous.
  • Shady Lanes Cellar 2007 Cabernet Franc – Flatfooted.
  • Bowers Harbor Vineyards Blanc de Noir – Way too hot.

  • Brys Estate 2008 Merlot – Lazy tannins.

    • *

2011 Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsula Wine Explorations

Posted on by
Reply

This past season my friends and I visited Traverse City Michigan and explored the wine regions known as Old Mission Peninsula and the Leelanau Peninsula. These two land formations jut out into Lake Michigan and offer a marvelous vista and environment, especially one to winemakers.

The land itself is carved up, and since it resembles upstate New York so very much I can only assume it’s glacial carving that gave the land such compelling contours. Along with this, there are lots of hillsides and the land is good for growing grapes. There is also a very neat geographical component and that is that the 45th Parrallel runs right through these two peninsulas. There is at least one winery that uses that geographical fact as their namesake, and there even is a special place where you can learn all about the 45th Parrallel.

So what are the great wines of the region? I will list the ones that got special notes in my wine journal below. If you are reading this and your winery is on this list, I visited you and enjoyed what you had to offer. I can only hope that my recommendations help other people discover you as well.

  • Longview 2008 Riesling, noted honey, starfruit and pineapple.
  • Longview 2008 Pinot Noir, cherries and strawberries on the nose, plums, red fruit and chocolate on the palate.
  • Longview 2008 Cabernet Franc, nose has pickles, palate was of black cherries, cocoa and vanilla
  • Chateau Chantal Chardonnay, nose of pool water and meunster cheese, palate of grapefruits and pears with a fair acid kick in the teeth.
  • Left Foot Charlies Longcove Reisling, honey and sweet, very refreshing.
  • Black Star Farms 2009 Chardonnay, nose had vanilla, roses, apricots and peaches. Palate was acidic, oaky, loaded with vanilla. This wine surprised me with it’s mid-palate development.
  • Chateau Leelanau Semi-Dry Reisling, nose had pineapple and apple, palate had warm honey, apples and spice. This was one of my top picks during the tasting.
  • Bel Lago 2009 Auxerrois, nose was lightly floral, palate was buttery and creamy. I give this wine a score of 97. Every time I visit Bel Lago I buy a bottle, it’s that good. Was one of the most magnificent wines I tasted in the entire region. Bel Lago wins a Bravo for their wines.
  • 2 Lads 2009 Pinot Noir, nose of plums, cheese, meat. A very well rounded red and this one surprised me because it unfolded as I was tasting it, changing over time. Wines that do that almost always start at 90 and usually go up.
  • 2 Lads 2009 Cabernet Franc / Merlot, nose of plums, cassis, pine sol cleanser, antifreeze. Palate of pickles, rye, nicely acidic and wrenchingly tannic. This wines note indicates that this wine would be a perfect pair to a corned beef dinner with a beautifully sharp mustard.
  • Chateau Grand Traverse 2009 Gamay Noir, nose of bread crusts and peanut butter. Palate of red, plum, and tomato. This wine won high marks because it unfolds mid-palate.
  • Left Foot Charlie 2009 Uncle, nose of strawberries and raspberries and blueberries. Palate was very tannic and chewy. This wine won high marks because it continued to linger after it was consumed, the post-palate play was very shocking and welcome.
  • Chateau Leelanau Hawkins Red, nose of strawberry, red fruit, raspberries. Palate of spice, chewy, tannic.
  • Good Neighbor Organics Chardonnay, nose of road, pavement, plums. Palate of butter, apples, pears. The wine was excellent, the hosts were absolutely charming. Great salesmen.
  • Bowers Harbor Vineyards 2009 Cabernet Franc Rose, nose of strawberry and peaches. Palate of spice, caramel, dulce de leche. This wine won a note of “Delicious!!!”
  • Ciccone 2009 Pinot Grigio, nose of natural gas and sulphur. Palate of bright lemons, apple, tart blueberries.
  • Ciccone 2008 Cabernet Franc, nose of pickles, cheese, asphalt, and clay. Palate was very tannic and had quite a lot of acidity.
  • Ciccone 2009 Tre Rossi, nose of cheese, cream, vanilla and oak. Palate of cake, chocolate, smoke and tannins. I bought three bottles and this wine I reflexively buy in two bottles when tempted. It is magnificent.
  • 45 North Pear Cider, not really a wine, but if you like pears, you’ll love this.

Zaya Rum

Posted on by
1

I’ve recently been exploring different tastes in various liquors and recently I’ve been concentrating on rums. This is to compliment what I’d like to think is a developing palate for wines, and while I’m no super-taster, I do take pride in knowing what I like and being able to identify good wines from bad. I’d like to see what serious artisans do with their distilled spirits.

To that end I’ve decided to leave certain spirits by the wayside. They may have their charms but to me a lot of them are just sophomoric vehicles to deliver ethanol to underage kids looking to explore intoxication. I’ve “enjoyed” Vodkas and Tequilas. They are for the most part blunt instruments. Before anyone gets worked up over what I write about these spirits, please know that just like the type that I have chosen, Rum, there are examples of both Vodka and Tequila that are upstanding and respectable members that have things to bring to a discerning palate, but please be aware that my exposure to these types is biased by my early college experiences which lead me to the ‘blunt instrument’ summation of those spirits. I may revisit those sometime in the future but don’t hold your breath.

As for rum itself, I’ve elected to trim away the obvious filler that surrounds this spirit and only concentrate on the serious ones that remain. So the squeaky clean silver and clear rums are out. They, along with the spiced rums are really ingredients in mixed drinks, not really meant to be explored all on their own. They just have either nothing to contribute or a carefully constructed and factory-same quality that doesn’t interest me. What I’m after is the same as I am with wines. The vintner for wine has only a few things he or she can really take a solid grip on and similar themes run for people who distill spirits.

The rum I’ve started with is called Zaya. It’s from Trinidad and comes in a really distinctive bottle with a huge heel in the bottom. The rum itself has been aged 12 years and is a nice deep caramel color. Much like the wines that I really love, I’m selecting rums based on their age and their maturation in oak barrels. It’s the oak that attracts me. I really love oaky red wines, oaky chardonnays and now oaky rums. I did a little research on rum and discovered that different language-speaking islands in the equatorial belt approach their rums in distinctive ways. The english-speaking islands feature very molasses-forward flavors in their rums while the spanish-speaking rums seem to depress this molasses flavor in their rums.

Zaya is Trinidadian and while shopping I discovered that Trinidad is an English speaking island, so I was expecting a rum dominated by molasses flavors and that’s exactly what I got. A bottle of very soft, very delicious and approachable rum. I found a nice glass and I’ve been sipping it as an evening cordial for a few weeks now. The bottle is very distinctive and the rum inside is aged 12 years and as I’ve said before has a delightful deep caramel color. Nothing is quite like shopping all on your own and taking a shot on something different.

Since this is the first bottle of serious rum that I’ve enjoyed I am going to reserve judgement as I don’t have the palate developed to start forming opinions on each bottle. What I can say is that this rum has what I was after. It’s clearly a definite molasses-forward spirit. The next rum I am going to get is from a Spanish-speaking island so I can compare the strength of the Zaya against the next rum and see which one I prefer. A well-done rum is a delight no matter where it comes from, it’s only until you get to the finer points of aging and in some limited ways the fermentation and distillation where you spend your time establishing one spirit over another.

I’m looking forward to enjoying many more rums and then we’ll see what next is on my list for exploration. Only time will tell. 🙂

DCUO

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday Scott talked me into downloading DC Universe Online and joining up as a “Free to Play” player. I cleaned up my old Dell gaming PC as DCUO is a PC-only game and loaded it onto my computer at home. The client and all the content clocks in at over 20GB so it took a while to download across the network.

Once I got the game installed I had to fix DirectX, and then after that it ran. I had seen it during Sony’s beta test of the game and wasn’t terribly impressed or thrilled with the gameplay mostly because the human interface was so different from what I was used to with City of Heroes from NCSoft. I knew Scott was very keen on having me play so I relented and agreed to play the game. While going through the lead-in trial course that every new player has to go through I revisited the same issues I had before when playing the game. The mouse and keyboard controls are maddening. I was cussing and swearing while trying to button-mash. It felt like the inanity of a Playstation game, where you dispense with the pleasantries of the cut-scenes and the lame lead in until you move a figure to a part of the screen and then click like you’ve got Parkinson’s.

Near the end of playing yesterday, around lunchtime I went exploring the settings of the game and discovered to my chagrin a setting called “Invert Camera” and that singular adjustment made the game MAKE SENSE TO ME. All of a sudden the game played much more like City of Heroes and once I was beyond that obnoxious hurdle I actually really got into playing the game.

What do I think of DCUO? It’s certainly a competent game and is engaging. The mission system is acceptable and the play itself is entertaining and worth my time. The only real issue that remains with DCUO is how much lag the mouse pointer has when it’s not controlling the camera in-game. You have to have patience with the pointer as it doesn’t fly as your mouse moves, it instead feels like the game is asking the computer to manually redraw the mouse each time the mouse updates. This is irritating but not so much to make me stop playing the game.

As I play more of DCUO I’ll have more experience and will most likely refine my critique of the game and if I have the presence of mind enough I may blog about it again in the future. Or I won’t. We’ll see.

And we're shoveling, shoveling…

Posted on by
Reply

True Temper Snow Boss Shovel

This is without a doubt the best snow shovel I have ever used. The entire thing is incredibly sturdy and the way it’s constructed allows me to plow, shovel, and dig. The two interior handles let me change my leverage on the shovel itself making lifting and tossing snow much more comfortable than it otherwise would have been with a standard straight shovel. It has more power than my ergonomic shovel and for that I am very grateful.

I was able to clear out my entire driveway in half an hour. The front parking area took about as long only because of the drifts built up by the township plows. All in all I didn’t overexert myself, I got an hour of cardio + circuit exercise in, so I don’t need to go to the gym today and I was even able to plow a strip across the properties for the mailman and the energy company guy to come and deliver mail and take meter readings if they have to.

I was able to get this awesome shovel at Meijers, on sale for about $30. I’ve seen them also at Lowes. Amazon has them as well, but the price is about $45. If you live where it snows and you have to deal with snow removal, and you want a good workout too, I can’t recommend this shovel enough. I was going to buy a little snowblower this year, but with this shovel and my interest in getting in shape, what’s the point now? I’ve got what I need, might as well use it and not burn more gasoline that I don’t have to.