Monthly Archives: June 2011
Michele Bachmann Launches 2012 Presidential Campaign
” . . . and eyes Assured of certain certainties, The conscience of a blackened street Impatient to assume the world.” – T.S. Elliot, “Preludes”
A Bend in the Road: Wine Recommendation – Virage Napa Valley 2007
The French word “virage,” has two general meanings, and both have a bearing on Virage Napa Valley, one of the most interesting new wineries in California. The first meaning is a “change in orientation,” and that is exactly what proprietor … Continue reading
Persephone Rising: Korbel Champagnes as a Rite of Spring
The Greeks had a lovely myth about the arrival of spring: Persephone, daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter, was forced to spend half the year in the dark underworld, and during her sojourn there with Hades, human beings endured an … Continue reading
An Abominable Truth
I wholeheartedly endorse the notion that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and so, when definitive evidence in support of my astounding claim is forthcoming, I naturally expect all but the most diehard skeptics to accept what I concede is an … Continue reading
With Jack London in Mendoza: A Wine Recommendation – Antigal Uno Malbec 2008
I think that Jack London would have loved Mendoza, the province in Argentina that produces the country’s best wines. Look at the photograph on the left, which shows a typical vineyard in the region, and then consider these words London … Continue reading
June 3, 1942: The Battle of Midway
The first stage of the Battle of Midway, the outcome of which permanently changed the course of World War II in the Pacific, occurred on this day sixty-nine years ago. The American forces eventually prevailed, thanks to what one analyst … Continue reading
June 2: On This Day
On 2 June 1835, America’s great showman, P.T. Barnum, took his circus on its first tour of the United States. It is appropriate to recall this event, because today’s Great American Circus, the Republican Party, is now entertaining the nation … Continue reading