in the news
i got in the car this morning much earlier than i've had in the last few weeks. on fridays, i normally pick up coffee and something to eat at starbucks. so, i don't spend time friday mornings making myself breakfast at home. so, i got in the car right before NPR's "morning edition" started their 10-minute "business news" segment of their program. since today, i've only caught the last minute or so, usually an op-ed type piece the past few days. in any case, this time, i got to hear the whole thing. the third story, which held a particular interest to me...
champagne: who doesn't love champagne? i know i love it. whenever it's available, i'll drink it. i am picky about it, though. bad champagne is really bad, but the good stuff is wonderful. plus, there are plenty of good champagnes, which are reasonable in price. keep in mind, though, a $7-bottle of champagne will NOT taste like a $30-bottle. let's take, one of my cheap favorites: freixenet. freixenet, at the store, will run you a little over $7 per bottle. don't scoff, though, because this is a very decent wine. you will notice, that even though it has a french-sounding name, this is, in fact, from spain. the bottle is labeled "sparkling wine", NOT champagne, even though it taste like champagne and looks like champagne. now, apparently, the european union is VERY strict when it comes to the labeling of champagne. champagne can only be labeled "champagne" IF AND ONLY IF it's made in the champagne region of france. if it is not, it can only be called "sparkling wine". there are some california wine-makers who have taken the liberty of calling their "sparkling wines" champagnes. just recently, a shipment of andre* "champagne". it arrived on a ship going through a port in belgium. it was ordered by a cruise-ship company and was ultimately bound for nigeria. however, according to EU law, even if it's destined for somewhere OUTSIDE of the EU, it cannot be labeled "champagne", since it's quite obvious andre is not made in the champagne region of france. this is rather picky, on the part of the EU. apparently, when they drafted these particular trade agreements, they weren't very good at explaining it to those OUTSIDE of the EU. those within the EU claim that labeling a bottle of sparkling wine "champagne" when it's not made IN that particular region in france is false-advertising. now, to the normal person, champagne is champagne, whether or not it was made in france. after looking around at some higher-end wineries in california, most (if not all) call their champagne-like varietals "sparking wine", thus complying with the simple fact that this wine was grown and bottled in california and not in france. so, because andre did not comply with this and called their sparking wine "champagne", the port in belgium were given the authority to destroy every single bottle of andre wine. some people on the US-side of the argument find this to be a) picky and b) not open to competition. but, really, what can you expect of the french?
+_+_+
well, i survived my week without themarshal. yesterday afternoon, i picked him up from the airport and we enjoyed a nice leisurely afternoon together. he had a great time in vegas and came back talking about going together. he mentioned during his trip that he missed having me with him when he went to see cirque du soleil's ka. he said that throughout the show, he kept looking to the person next to him, hoping it was me, just so he could see my reaction to the show. :) he liked this show so much, he brought home the soundtrack and we listened to it while hanging out in the office. it was really neat music. he told me the show was like a final fantasy game with costumes from the movie the cell. sounds like an interesting combination to me, at least. i've never seen a cirque du soleil show before; i've never really had the chance. marshall had seen o, i think, the last time he went to vegas. the last time i was in vegas, we opted for the medieval show at the excalibur, because a) it was cool and i've wanted to go since i was 10 and b) MUCH less expensive than the cirque. so, maybe there's a vegas-trip down the road for us. even just a small one would be cool. :)
+_+_+
there are lots of popular things, to which i've arrived late. i'm definitely a johnny-come-lately type of person. it wasn't until last year that i saw the british version of the office, which i ended up enjoying immensely. since it started a few years ago, i never even saw the US-version of the office. that is, until this week. despite having a very small list of "instant" viewings on netflix, they have a large collection of tv shows. they have all the episodes available for heroes, law and order, 30 rock, etc. earlier this week, i was having a slow day and was going through my queue. i found that annie (the original) was available "instantly". i decided to watch it. first, i love that movie, and second, i had no idea that albert finney played daddy warbucks. as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, i thought "i know that voice...". then, when i was finished, i looked to see what else i could watch. i landed on 30 rock. what a great show! i can't wait until the second season is out, so i can watch it. i'm glad it caught on. so, the next show to watch, i decided to give the office a try. holy crap - i love this show!! i had seen bits and pieces of a few episodes, but seriously, i find this so incredibly hilarious. i had to keep from totally laughing hysterically at work. last night, marshall and i watched it and we were both cringing and laughing at all what was going on. once tv gets back to normal, i've GOT to keep up with this!
+_+_+
so yeah, that's pretty much what's been going on. exciting, huh?
______________________________
* i will say this: at $3/bottle, i wouldn't touch andre with a ten-foot pole. i would never even consider buying this even if i had to buy a massive amount of champagne. if i were that cruise company, i would rethink their choice in champagne and try and find something better for only slightly more. but yeah, i don't blame the europeans for destroying this. i'd destroy it myself, whether or not it was called champagne. blech!
champagne: who doesn't love champagne? i know i love it. whenever it's available, i'll drink it. i am picky about it, though. bad champagne is really bad, but the good stuff is wonderful. plus, there are plenty of good champagnes, which are reasonable in price. keep in mind, though, a $7-bottle of champagne will NOT taste like a $30-bottle. let's take, one of my cheap favorites: freixenet. freixenet, at the store, will run you a little over $7 per bottle. don't scoff, though, because this is a very decent wine. you will notice, that even though it has a french-sounding name, this is, in fact, from spain. the bottle is labeled "sparkling wine", NOT champagne, even though it taste like champagne and looks like champagne. now, apparently, the european union is VERY strict when it comes to the labeling of champagne. champagne can only be labeled "champagne" IF AND ONLY IF it's made in the champagne region of france. if it is not, it can only be called "sparkling wine". there are some california wine-makers who have taken the liberty of calling their "sparkling wines" champagnes. just recently, a shipment of andre* "champagne". it arrived on a ship going through a port in belgium. it was ordered by a cruise-ship company and was ultimately bound for nigeria. however, according to EU law, even if it's destined for somewhere OUTSIDE of the EU, it cannot be labeled "champagne", since it's quite obvious andre is not made in the champagne region of france. this is rather picky, on the part of the EU. apparently, when they drafted these particular trade agreements, they weren't very good at explaining it to those OUTSIDE of the EU. those within the EU claim that labeling a bottle of sparkling wine "champagne" when it's not made IN that particular region in france is false-advertising. now, to the normal person, champagne is champagne, whether or not it was made in france. after looking around at some higher-end wineries in california, most (if not all) call their champagne-like varietals "sparking wine", thus complying with the simple fact that this wine was grown and bottled in california and not in france. so, because andre did not comply with this and called their sparking wine "champagne", the port in belgium were given the authority to destroy every single bottle of andre wine. some people on the US-side of the argument find this to be a) picky and b) not open to competition. but, really, what can you expect of the french?
+_+_+
well, i survived my week without themarshal. yesterday afternoon, i picked him up from the airport and we enjoyed a nice leisurely afternoon together. he had a great time in vegas and came back talking about going together. he mentioned during his trip that he missed having me with him when he went to see cirque du soleil's ka. he said that throughout the show, he kept looking to the person next to him, hoping it was me, just so he could see my reaction to the show. :) he liked this show so much, he brought home the soundtrack and we listened to it while hanging out in the office. it was really neat music. he told me the show was like a final fantasy game with costumes from the movie the cell. sounds like an interesting combination to me, at least. i've never seen a cirque du soleil show before; i've never really had the chance. marshall had seen o, i think, the last time he went to vegas. the last time i was in vegas, we opted for the medieval show at the excalibur, because a) it was cool and i've wanted to go since i was 10 and b) MUCH less expensive than the cirque. so, maybe there's a vegas-trip down the road for us. even just a small one would be cool. :)
+_+_+
there are lots of popular things, to which i've arrived late. i'm definitely a johnny-come-lately type of person. it wasn't until last year that i saw the british version of the office, which i ended up enjoying immensely. since it started a few years ago, i never even saw the US-version of the office. that is, until this week. despite having a very small list of "instant" viewings on netflix, they have a large collection of tv shows. they have all the episodes available for heroes, law and order, 30 rock, etc. earlier this week, i was having a slow day and was going through my queue. i found that annie (the original) was available "instantly". i decided to watch it. first, i love that movie, and second, i had no idea that albert finney played daddy warbucks. as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, i thought "i know that voice...". then, when i was finished, i looked to see what else i could watch. i landed on 30 rock. what a great show! i can't wait until the second season is out, so i can watch it. i'm glad it caught on. so, the next show to watch, i decided to give the office a try. holy crap - i love this show!! i had seen bits and pieces of a few episodes, but seriously, i find this so incredibly hilarious. i had to keep from totally laughing hysterically at work. last night, marshall and i watched it and we were both cringing and laughing at all what was going on. once tv gets back to normal, i've GOT to keep up with this!
+_+_+
so yeah, that's pretty much what's been going on. exciting, huh?
______________________________
* i will say this: at $3/bottle, i wouldn't touch andre with a ten-foot pole. i would never even consider buying this even if i had to buy a massive amount of champagne. if i were that cruise company, i would rethink their choice in champagne and try and find something better for only slightly more. but yeah, i don't blame the europeans for destroying this. i'd destroy it myself, whether or not it was called champagne. blech!