Tasty treats!

A raspberry cosmo for him and an extra dirty martini for me.

Comfortable weekend, ambitious wine, funny memories...

Patrick and I had a comfortable weekend, returning to our recent favorites haunts -- Slow's and Atlas Global Bistro. I had the blackened catfish at Slow's and, I must say, my lips were aflame.

But my wine choice was anything but comfortable. I ventured out and had a Chateau Gauthier Medoc Bordeaux (2003). I'll go on a limb and say it had flavors of black cherry, boysenberry and vanilla overtones. Bottom line -- it was tast-eeee!

At Atlas, I was in a quandary. Do I go with the familiar Mas Borras Pinot Noir or the Dry Creek Meritage? Oh, the Pinot was yummy but I again strayed from the comfortable and went with the Meritage. Bevmo.com said it has "has black cherries, plums, and hints of dried herbs, picking up notes of coffee and chocolate." I don't know about all that but it was a joy to sip and swirl.

Must've been fate that I picked the Meritage. Wikipedia said it's a wine made in the Bordeaux style. I guess I had France on my mind yesterday.

I had a brief brush with fame when I was in the Bordeaux region of France some years ago. My best pal from college, Ame, and I briefly spoke with Harry Connick Jr. He was at a concert there and we snagged some tickets from a French scalper, I think. (How we managed to buy legitimate tickets to see Harry Connick Jr. in Bordeaux from a French scalper, I'll never know.) Anyway, we waited with a bunch of groupies outside the back door of the concert venue until he arrived. My pal Ame finally got a chance to talk with him as he walked around to sign autographs. She tried her best to come up with something clever. (And let me tell you, she's clever.)

But all she could muster was: "Harry, did-did-did you miss Thanksgiving? We-we-we missed Thanksgiving."

That's it. That was our moment with Harry in Bordeaux.

:-)

Happy Thursday from my brother.

To be or not to be...

Uh oh. In an attempt to find out how many people share my first and last name after reading Gina's post, I learned nobody has my name -- not even me.

I knew it was uncommon, but this is downright bizarre.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

If you had a flavor, what would it be?

Colbert's got his own Ben and Jerry's flavor. From the press release:

Stephen Colbert is donating his proceeds from the sale of AMERICONE DREAM to charity through The Stephen Colbert AmeriCone Dream Fund. The Fund will support charities of concern to Stephen such as food and medical assistance for disadvantaged children, helping veterans and their families, and environmental causes. Said Colbert, “I will save the world.”

If I had a flavor -- Detroit Dynamo -- it would be Godiva chocolate ice-cream with dark chocolate chips and Chianti-flavored raspberry swirls. It would be served on a pizzelle and drizzled with a Rioja reduction. Yes, people, Detroit is that cool!

My charities would certainly include no-kill animal shelters. I would also contribute to my favorite union -- UCAP. (UCAP stands for United Cats Against Phoebe, which has recently increased its membership by 100 percent from 2 cats to 4, including the addition of my parents' 2 cats. But as with most unions, UCAP desperately seeks more members and could use the additional funding. I love you, Phoebe, but I grew up in a union household and have got to support the cats.)

Patrick's Mouthfulla Murph would be potato-flavored ice cream in a reused plastic cup. He said his charity would be the UBPA (United Brotherhood for Pale Ale).

Wining and Dining...

Last night, we ventured out to the very hip Royal Oak to try Vinotecca, a trendy wine bar with a drop-down wooden ceiling that makes you feel like you're in a beautifully renovated barn in California wine country. (At least, that's how I felt.)

I was so glad Patrick discovered this place because it gave me a chance to explore some lovely wines that I'm sure I never would've discovered on my own.

The first was a River's Edge Pinot Noir, which I could only describe as a fruit bomb. I really loved this wine, with its explosion of (hmm. let me think...) raspberry, cherries and strawberry. If it hadn't been the last glass from the last bottle, I would've sipped this lovely wine -- from a vineyard along the the Umpqua River in Oregon -- all night. But alas, I had to choose another.

The next Pinot was a Casa de la Cruz from the Sonoma Coast. It, too, had a smooth black cherry flavor but was considerably less the fruit bomb than the River's Edge. I liked this one, too, but not as much. I also had a taste of an Albert Bichot premier cru Burgundy (smooth strawberry with light tannins) and a Palacios Remondo Rioja. The latter had some black licorice (Patrick's suggestion) and spice. I really enjoyed this Spanish beauty.





We had a nice time dreaming about where we might go on vacation. A trip to satisfy us both would be California, we think, where we could visit hipster L.A. and wine-drenched Napa Valley. Then we could cruise to San Diego for some good ol' fashioned baseball under the sun, topped off with hot dogs and beer.





Mmmm.

Ansel Mradamsozowski?

Our street...

The DIA...

The Fox from our car window...

A room (at the Y) with a view...

A flower on our table at Cafe DIA...

The parking lot at work...

After being insprired by the exhibit at the DIA, I figured I'd go Ansel on y'all today and try out my new camera a bit.

It's not all black and white...

On our way to see an Ansel Adams exhibit at the DIA. Will update more later.


Update: I loved the Ansel Adams exhibit but was most impressed to learn about Adams' work as a conservationist. (And I really enjoyed some of the photographs you wouldn't associate with Adams -- like a terrific candid picture of Georgia O'Keeffe, caught in mid-conversation and looking almost devilish beneath an animated sky.)

Anyway, I gained a new appreciation for this photographer who is probably best known as having his photos grace the most college dorm rooms of any artist in history. (Or at least, that's how it seems.)

From the Sierra Club's Web site:

Adams' role in the Sierra Club grew rapidly and the Club became vital to his early success as a photographer. His first photographs and writings were published in the Sierra Club Bulletin. Adams also got involved politically in the Club, suggesting proposals for improving parks and wilderness, and soon became known as both an artist and defender of Yosemite. In 1934, Adams was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club, a role he maintained for 37 years. His tenure spanned the years that the Club evolved into a powerful national organization that lobbied to create national parks and protect the environment from destructive development projects.

Thankfully, Adams captured some of nature's most awesome creations though his lens, and those images will live forever through his work. Hopefully, all those posters on all those college dorm walls will serve as constant reminders to idealistic students that such beauty should be preserved.

Sweet March!

Don't be alarmed about the change in color. My blog, which is clamoring for spring, is simply in bloom.

Doin' the D...

I went kind of crazy yesterday and bought ten (yes ten!) tickets to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The symphony had this great deal for people who have never been there: any ticket in the house for ten bucks. (Well, almost any ticket. I tried to buy tickets to one of the shows that apparently didn't fall under the ten-buck category.)

Anyway, we got five shows for about the price of two. It seems like a great way to get people to try the symphony. It worked for me. Some of the shows are traditional, but others are quirky.

The tickets incude the likes of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique, for which Tchaikovsky allegedly said "Without exaggeration, I have put my whole soul into this work." I believe you may be able to listen to a snippet here.

There was also Forbidden Broadway (a musical spoof on musicals), and Bronfman plays Rachmaninoff. I wanted to see the Rachmaninoff piece because it reminds me of Marilyn Monroe's famous breathy, adorable line about the Russian Composer's Second Piano Concerto in the Seven-Year Itch: "Every time I hear it I go to pieces."

Listen to some Rachmaninoff here.

For the parents, I bought the Ray Charles Tribute.

HappyHappyHappyHappy Day times two.

Patrick and I opened gifts from my brother and sister-in-law on Patrick's birthday. And my mom, who claims she can't bake, made Patrick a delish chocolate cake. (My dad helped Patrick change his head light, but I don't think that was a birthday gift, specifically.)

Even Phoebe got a gift -- some tasty Frosty Paws. Yum. She ate her whole frosty cup in minutes. (Last year on her birthday, I made her a doggy cake with a recipe I found on the Web. It was peanut butter-carrot with cottage cheese frosting.)

Giving her the Frosty Paws reminded me of old times when we used to take her to the legendary Putz's Creamy Whip -- a plain cup of vanilla for her, a chocolate swirl with chocolate sprinkles in a cone for me and a chocolate malt shake for Patrick. You Cincinnatians need to go there. It's a West side mainstay. And as they say, West Side, Best Side. (Keep that in mind if you want to buy a house. Our lovely place is still for sale.)

But I digress. Back to the gifts. We got a super cool game of Wine-opoloy and a book called the "Judgment of Paris" on the 1976 legendary wine-tasting event that transformed the wine industry.

I wish all my old pals were here because we'd have a wine-tasting party and play Wine-opoly. The concept is much like the original monopoly except that you buy wineries instead of properties like Boardwalk. In lieu of houses and hotels, you pile grapes and decanters on your wineries.

There's no Community Chest or Chance. Rather, you select from the red and white card decks. An example of a card: "You've been elected president of your local wine club. Pay $20 to each player that voted for you." Or "You've toured your third winery of the day. Stumble back 7 spaces."

Best of all, you get to learn about wine from the winery property cards. For example, the Beaujolais Nouveau card says: "This wine is traditionally sold on the third Thursday of November and is best when consumed before the end of the year."

I had my only two-day hangover ever from Beaujolais Nouveau when I lived in France. (The nouveau is released with great fanfare and partying each year in France.) I didn't drink red wine again for about ten years! A travesty. I disagree that the wine can be likened to pleasantly tart barroom swill. It can be lovely and a good, drinkable table wine some years (Hmm. I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about) even though it may have harmed France's wine industry.

Anyway, all this promises to be much fun. If I learn more about new wines, I'll share. So happy birthday to us. Thirty-three is looking to be a good year.