2014-12-20 Saturday - Workout

30 minute run-walk around the harbor
10 push-ups
10 jumping jacks
stretching

2014 Retrospective Contemplations

Another year approaches to a close....another year around the sun on this fragile blue marble.  It has been a good and productive year.

Some highlights from this year:

• 5th metacarpal subluxation (April)
• Continued adding substantially to my personal library through various thrift store purchases and library sales
• Completed some important repairs to my sailboat(July-September)
• Continued work on my book of nautical poetry
• Spent time exploring Port Ludlow and Port Angeles
• Labor Day trip to Vegas (August)
• Attended Strange Loop in St. Louis (September)
• San Diego Zoo trip (September)
• Explored the coastline of Maine  (October)
• Attended QCon in San Francisco (November)
• A client engagement was successfully concluded this year
• Spent 47 weeks living in hotels on business trips
• Began negotiations to start a new client engagement in 2015

Goals looking ahead to 2015...

•  Renew my efforts to learn Mandarin
• Focus my efforts to establish a deeper understanding and working level of expertise with Machine Learning concepts, algorithms, and tooling
• Spend some time sailing out to the islands
• Add some new gear to the sailboat [Wind Generator, Solar Panels, ...]
• Attend Carnaval in Mazatlan (Feb 12-17) and see some old sailing friends...
• Attend OSCON 2015 in Portland  (July 20-24)
• Make at least one international trip (Japan or Scotland)

Ripples of Kindness

One drop in an ocean sends out only a tiny ripple.

It is easy to discount and ignore that ripple.

But that ripple intersects with another ripple. Eventually the ripple meets a shore and rebounds. Sometimes the harmonics of the ripples can build. Rogue waves of towering power and immense size arise from just these principles.

An act of kindness can send out ripples that you cannot even begin to imagine. One ripple was started over 10 years ago when someone treated me with kindness at a venture capital breakfast meeting in Seattle.

Today, I send back out yet another ripple.

 

Mark Knopfler - Seattle from new album, "Privateering"

Seattle...where my soul is renewed...

2014-11-10 Monday - New Horizons

There is a familiar nautical saying that comes to mind when the urge to voyage, literally or figuratively, comes to the fore: "Men and Ships Rot in Port"

To head out once more into the great unknown - to explore uncharted waters - one needs confidence in one's ability; confidence in one's ship; and a spirit that can never be satisfied tied to the dock.

A short film, 'Wanderers' by Erik Wernquist captures the spirit of which I speak...



Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.

2014-10-25 Saturday - Apple iTunes 12.0.1 installation problem

I tried to update my Apple iTunes software this week to 12.0.1 (on a Windows 7, 64-bit system).  I had a similar painful experience back in September when I installed the previous iTunes update.

The software seemed to install - and then I get the error telling me that there was an installation error.

I've tried uninstalling and re-installing - and found no joy.

Trying to download again from the iTunes web site doesn't appear to work (perhaps because it is detecting that 12.0.1 is already installed?).  Listen Apple, you are trying to be too smart for your own good. If i want to download the app again, just get the hell out of my way.  Also, there really should be an option in the application's folder to completely uninstall this infestation.

These links maybe of help to someone trying to solve the same kind of problem.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1717

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1926

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6562#iadcore

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6601961


Some links on how to uninstall iTunes

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/23959/completely-remove-itunes-and-other-apple-software-from-a-windows-computer/

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/169828-unable-to-update-uninstall-or-install-software-due-to-missing-file/

http://techlogon.com/2011/09/11/cant-uninstall-itunes-solution/
...apparently, the order of uninstall matters...

1. iTunes, 
2. QuickTime, 
3. Apple Software Update, 
4. Apple Mobile Device Support, 
5. Bonjour 
6. Apple Application Support (if you have iTunes version 9 or later).

Pearl Buck on the Truly Creative Mind

I have read that Werner von Braun carried this quote in his wallet:

    'The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: a human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To them, a touch is a a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or building or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off from them. They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.'" - Pearl Buck

2014-01-26 Sunday - Library Book Sale Treasures

This weekend I was able to pick-up the following books for $43 at a local Friends of the Library book sale:

A Sea of Words
A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O'Brian's Seafaring Tales
Dean King, with John B. Hattendor and J Worth Estes

Patton: A Study in Command
Hubert Essame

The Four-Color Problem
Assaults and Conquest
Thomas L. Saaty and Paul C. Kainena

Mathematical Recreations & Essays
W.W. Rouse Ball and H.S.M. Coxeter

A Dictionary of Quotations from Shakespeare
A Topical Guide to over 3,000 great passages from the plays, sonnets, and narrative poems
Selected by Margaret Miner and Hugh Rawson

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas
An American Slave
Ferederick Douglass

Bobos in Paradise
The New Upper Class and How They Got There
David Brooks

Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations
R.C. Bell

The Capable Cruiser
Lin and Larry Pardey

The Rise of Nuclear Iran
How Tehran Defies the West
Dore Gold

The World of Leonardo 1452-1519
Robert Wallace and the Editors of Time-Life Books

This I Believe
Selections from the 1950s Radio Series
Edward R. Murrow

The Essential Gandhi
Edited by Louis Fischer

The Life of Mahatma Gandhi
Louis FIscher

The Unfettered Mind
Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master
Takuan Soho

New Seeds of Contemplation
Thomas Merton

Memories of Silk and Straw
A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan
Dr. Junichi Saga

Radical Islam
Medieval Theology and Modern Politics
Emmanuel Sivan

My Brain is Open
The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos
Bruce Schechter

Currency Trading for Dummies
Mark Galant and Brian Dolan

To The Top of Denali
Climbing Adventures on North America's Highest Peak
Bill Sherwonit

Tuning Yachts & Small Keelboats
Lawrie Smith

Gaff Sail
Robert Simper

Lateral Puzzles
David J. Bodycombe

Challenging False Logic Puzzles
Norman D. Willis

Recreations in Mathematics
Sliding Piece Puzzles
L.E. Hordern

Math Logic Puzzles
Kurt Smith

Game, Set, & Math
Enigmas and Conundrums
Ian Stewart

The Cunning Caliph
And Other Number Puzzles To Test Your LogicKenneth Kelsey

Mathematical Games
C. Lukacs and E. Tarjan

The Smarter Bet Guide to Blackjack
Basil Nestor

Winning Blackjack For the Serious Player
Edwin Silberstang

Mastering Sketching
A complete course in 40 lessons
Judy Martin

Melloni's Illustrated Medical Dictionary
Dox, Melloni, Eisner

2013-11-30 Saturday - New Library Additions

I made a trip to my favorite thrift store this weekend, and picked up 39 books for ~$44

Travel Related

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World
by Michael Lewis
http://www.amazon.com/Boomerang-Travels-New-Third-World/dp/0393081818

The Rough Guide To New Zealand, Fourth Edition
by Laura Harper, Tony Mudd, Paul Whitfield
http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Zealand-Travel-Guides/dp/1843533251

Frommer's Scotland's Best-Loved Driving Tours, 25 Unforgettable Itineraries
http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Scotlands-Best-Loved-Driving-Tours/dp/0028638409

Frommer's China: The 50 Most Memorable Trips
by J. D. Brown
http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-China-Most-Memorable-Trips/dp/0028616367

Sailing Related

Adrift Seventy Six Days At Sea
by Steven Callahan
http://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Seventy-Six-Days-Sea/dp/B0011N6APE

Captain Cook, R.N.,
The Resolute Mariner
by Thomas Vaughn, and  A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver
http://www.amazon.com/Captain-resolute-mariner-international-Oceanic/dp/B002J83XCI
 

Languages

Oxford French Grammar
by William Rowlinson
http://www.amazon.com/French-Grammar-William-Rowlinson/dp/019860341X

Getting by in Italian
Barron's
Second Edition
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Italian-British-Broadcasting-Company/dp/0812084446

History

When the Going Gets Weird: The Twisted Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson
by Peter O. Whitmer
http://www.amazon.com/When-Going-Gets-Weird-Thompson/dp/1562828568

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
by Marcus Luttrell
http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Survivor-Eyewitness-Operation-Hardcover/dp/B00BP0N100

Submarine
by Tom Clancy
http://www.amazon.com/Submarine-Tom-Clancys-Military-Reference/dp/0425190013

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
by Stephen Ambrose
http://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Meriwether-Jefferson-American/dp/0684826976

The World's Last Mysteries
Reader's Digest
http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Last-Mysteries-Readers-Digest/dp/089577044X

The Idea of India
by Sunil Khilnani
http://www.amazon.com/Idea-India-Sunil-Khilnani/dp/0374525919

Philosophy

The Nicomachean Ethics (Oxford World's Classics)
by Aristotle
http://www.amazon.com/Nicomachean-Ethics-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199213615

A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
by Edmund Burke
http://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Enquiry-Sublime-Beautiful-Classics/dp/0199537887

The Problem of Pain
by C.S. Lewis
http://www.amazon.com/The-Problem-Pain-C-Lewis/dp/0060652969

Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On! A Cowboy's Guide to Life
by Texas Bix Bender
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Squat-Spurs-Cowboys-Guide/dp/0879054700


Architecture & Construction

Architectural and Building Trades Dictionary, Third Edition
by Robert E. Putnam
http://www.amazon.com/Architectural-building-trades-dictionary-Robert/dp/0442274610

New Old House - Designing with Reclaimed Materials
by Ed Knapp
http://www.amazon.com/New-Old-House-Designing-Reclaimed/dp/1586850490

The Architecture of Frank LLoyd Wright
by William Allin Storrer
Second Edition
http://www.amazon.com/The-Architecture-Frank-Lloyd-Wright/dp/0262690802


Business
Becoming Self-Employed
by Susan Elliott
http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Self-Employed-Create-Independent-Livelihood/dp/0897091493

Selling to VITO
by Anthony Parinello
http://www.amazon.com/Selling-Vito-Important-Officer-Parinello/dp/B000K066T4

Successful Large Account Management: How to Hold on to Your Most Important Customers - And Keep Them Going Strong - In Today's Marketplace
by Robert B. Miller, Stephen E. Heinman, Tad Tuleja
http://www.amazon.com/Successful-Large-Account-Management-Marketplace/dp/0446393568

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
By Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras, Jerry I. Porras as, James C. Collins
http://www.amazon.com/Built-Last-Successful-Visionary-Companies/dp/B007OVBTSK

How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication
by Larry King
http://www.amazon.com/Talk-Anyone-Anytime-Anywhere-Communication/dp/0517599058

Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches
by John W. Creswell
http://www.amazon.com/Research-Design-Qualitative-Quantitative-Approaches/dp/0803952554

Scientific
Pocket Guide to Stars & Planets
by Ian Morison
http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Guide-Stars-Planets-Morison/dp/1845377893

Writing
The Language of News: A Journalist's Pocket Reference
by Jack Botts
http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-News-Journalists-Reference/dp/081382494X

Literature

A Salty Piece of Land Hardcover (With Free CD in Back)
By Jimmy Buffett
http://www.amazon.com/Salty-Piece-Land-Jimmy-Buffett/dp/0316743763

Complete Sonnets (Dover Thrift Editions)
by William Shakespeare
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sonnets-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486266869

Greek Classics (Cliffs Notes)
Mary Ellen Snodgrass
http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Classics-Cliffs-Notes-Snodgrass/dp/0822005662

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
by John Steinbeck
http://www.amazon.com/Acts-King-Arthur-Noble-Knights/dp/B0019VKHJI

Babbit
by Sinclair Lewis
http://www.amazon.com/Babbitt-Barnes-Noble-Classics-Sinclair/dp/1593082673


Cooking
The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook: Recipes and Reflections from FORREST GUMP
Southern Living Magazine
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bubba-Gump-Shrimp-Cookbook/dp/0848714792

Humor
We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupidby Denis Leary
http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Suck-Staying-Stupid/dp/0670031607

The Official Explanations
by Paul Dickson
http://www.amazon.com/Official-Explanations-Paul-Dickson/dp/0440564492

Politically, Fashionably, and Aerodynamically Incorrect
by Berkeley Breathed
http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Fashionably-Aerodynamically-Incorrect-Collection/dp/0316107018

Night of the Mary Kay Commandos Featuring Smell O-Toons
by Berkeley Breathed
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Commandos-Featuring-Smell-O-Toons/dp/0316107387

2013-11-09 Saturday - New Thrift Store Treasures

In my eternal quest to assemble a respectable private library, I found the following treasures after visiting a local thrift store today...

Survival Chinese, by B.L. De Mente

The Professional Service Firm50, by Tom Peters

Charles Jordan's Best Card Tricks, by Karl Fulves

The Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown, by Charles R. Morris

Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel, by Frances & Joseph Gies

The Best of Time, by L.O. Hooper

Coming of Age in The Milky Way, by Timothy Ferris

Pirates Aboard!, by Klaus Hympendahl

San Juan Islands, A Falcon Guide

The Longman Writer's Bible

How to Model It, Problem Solving For the Computer Age, by Starfield, Smith, Bleloch

The Big Book of Poker, by Ken Waren

Shoal of Time, History of Hawaii

Confidence Men, Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President, by Ron Suskind

Alone At Sea: Joshua Slocum, by Ann Spence

LoveActually (script + behind the scenes) by Richard Curtis

Border Boating, Twelve Cruises Through the San Juan and Gulf  Islands

2013-10-30 Monday - R.I.P. Tommy G. Meeks

My father has passed away.

Before I was a gleam in his eye...

"Rattler" - the dog that died saving me from a rattlesnake

The enduring gift of my father - teaching me to "fix things"

His Golden Age

Tommy G. Meeks

January 2, 1939 - September 30, 2013

                               

Memorable Sayings of My Father:

"What's this 'we' business cat-shit?"

"Every Day's a Holiday, Every Meal's a Feast"

"Cotton is down, to a quarter a pound, and I'm busted"

 

"Two Goods and A Better"

"Son-of-a-Bitch!"

"It was the government" (re: 9/11)

"I Suppose"

 
"No Worky, No Eaty"

Things My Father Loved:

Arkansas

A cold beer after a hard day's work, during summer

Country Music 

 

  Fixin things


Things My Father Enjoyed:

Pepsi

Fried Chicken

Black-eyed Peas and Fried Okra 

Cornbread

Licorice

Bologna Sandwiches

Fishing Greers Ferry Lake

The Tractor Supply Store

Wearing his fancy 3-piece suit at Christmas

Oaklawn Park Race Track (in Hot Springs)

Buying Lottery Tickets



My Father's Gifts:

His innate intelligence

Independence of thought

Self-educated

Mechanically gifted

His long-suffering in the face of incompetence

His Honesty

 

My favorite memory of the times I visited with him in his final years: When I could make a joke - that would bring cascades of laughter from deep within his belly.

 

In terms of physical appearance, I always thought that my father most resembled the actor Andy Griffith - during the time he played the character of Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968), and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968-1971).

[image source: Wikipedia.org]

 

 

There is much that resonates in my memory of my father - with the character of Al Bundy, in the television show, Married With  Children, which he greatly enjoyed watching.

A memory from my youth...sometime in the late 60s, sitting on the front steps of our house in the woods...a summer day...hot and sticky with sweat from clearing brush...

My dad offered me a sip of his beer (Budweiser). 

He asked if I liked it. 

My reply: "tastes like horse piss". 

 We never really ever understood each other. But, we were men - and the menfolk don't talk about their feelings in my family. 

 

 2026-05-26 Tuesday:  

My mother passed away this past Sunday.  

After my father passed away in September 2013, it took some time for me to be able to grieve for him. A few years later, while I was living in downtown Seattle - it was a rainy Sunday, the weather was cool - I was sitting outside a Starbucks, enjoying the gentle feeling of the rain...and a feeling of grief for his loss welled up from within,and my tears finally flowed. 

 

2013-09-25 Wednesday - Links to tips on writing

http://bighow.com/news/the-art-of-great-writing-60-writing-tips-from-6-alltime-great-writers

http://bighow.com/news/the-art-of-great-writing-part-2125-more-tips-from-20-all-time-great-writers

http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html

http://dannystack.blogspot.com/2009/01/joss-whedons-top-10-writing-tips.html

2013-07-06 Saturday - Thrift Shop Books [treasures]

Another trip to a local thrift shop today (Spent ~$39) resulting  in the following additions to my library

Finance

Investments, 2nd Edition, by Zvi Bodie, Alex Kane, and Alan J. Marcus

Mathematics

Probability Without Tears, by Derek Rowntree
Where Do I Put The Decimal Point, by Elizabeth Ruedy and Sue Nirenberg
College Mathematics, Barnes & Noble College Outline Series
Mathematical Fun, Games and Puzzles, by Jack Frohlichstein

Business

Purple Cow, by Seth Godin
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell
The Forbes Book fo Great Business Leters, edited by Erik Bruun
Smart Moves for People in Charge, by Sam Deep and Lyle Sussman

Writing

The Berlitz Complete Book of Effective English
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting, by Skip Press
Podcasting for Dummies, by Tee Morris and Evo Terra

Spiritual / Philosophy

afterzen, by Janwillem van de Wetering
The Wisdom of Judaism, by Dan Cohn-Sherbok
Secrets of the Zohar, by Michael Berg

Nautical

learning to cruise, by H. A. Calahan
The Way of a Ship, by Alan Villiers

History

A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830, by T.C Smout
The Army of the Potomac: Mr. Lincoln's Army, by Bruce Catton

Literature  / Fiction / Biographical

The King of Torts, by John Grisham
Watership Down, by Richard Adams
Jian, by Eric Van Lustbader
My Horozontal Life, by Chelsea Handler

2013-01-28 Monday - New Library Additions

Last week I had the chance to visit another thrift store one evening, while traveling on business.

I picked-up the following additions to my library:

"A Sea of Words, A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O'Brian's Seafaring Tales"
By Dean King, John B. Hattendorf, and J. Worth Estes

"Practical Beekeeping"
by Enoch Tompkins and Roger M. Griffith

"Words I Wish I Wrote, A Collection of Writing That Inspired My Ideas"
by Robert Fulghum

"The Fatal Shore, The Epic of Australia's Founding"
by Robert Hughes

"Go Basics, Concepts & Strategies for New Players"
by Peter Shotwell

"The Stock Market: Theories and Evidence, 2nd Edition"
by James H. Lorie, Peter Dodd, and Mary Hamilton Kimpton

2012-12-31 Year In Review

2012 was a year of travel...and change.

Major Highlights

• Visited Zihuatanejo in February 2012
• Attended the Miami International Boat Show - and had a chance to spend some time aboard  "The Lost Soul" chatting with Bob Bitchin
• A trip to Sedona Arizona in April with my Mom. 
• Attended the Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show in Jack London Square, Oakland, CA
• Attended the Strange Loop 2012 conference in St. Louise
• Spent Labor Day in Las Vegas at the Aria Resort and Casiono with good friends
• Found and completed the purchase of a sailboat [I previously sold my last boat in 2007, in Mazatlan]
• Sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge
• Spent a week visiting Monterey aboard my sailboat 
• After almost 2 1/2 years, shook the dust of the desert off my feet for good
• Sold (pennies on the dollar), or gave-away all of my furniture
• Returned to the Pacific Coast - and living aboard a sailboat again 
• Reconnected with old sailing friends from King Harbor, Redondo Beach, CA
• Signed a lease for a new office location
• Explored many Friends of the Library sales, as well as many thrift stores- and added hundreds of books to my personal library over the course of the year.
• Started writing a novel
• Started writing a book of seafaring poetry
• Published 41 blog posts to my technology blog [finally reached 30,000+ visitors]
• Lost more money in one week (on a string of bad investment decisions) than most people make in a year.

Shipping Container Home Ideas

This post is intended as a collection of links to various Shipping Container Home Ideas...

http://www.dwell.com/articles/Five-Inspirational-Shipping-Container-Homes.html

http://seacontainercabin.blogspot.com/

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-concept/steves-shipping-container-cabin/

http://www.tincancabin.com/

http://www.leedcabins.com/Home.html

http://www.bobvila.com/articles/316-home-sweet-container/pages/1
http://pinterest.com/whispersiren/shipping-container-buildings-cargotecture/

http://seacontainercabin.blogspot.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/modular-design/crate-expectations-12-shipping-container-housing-ideas.html

http://www.jetsongreen.com/2010/11/off-grid-container-cabins-from-15k.html

http://www.permies.com/

2012-10-05 Friday - Needing a dose of Buffett's Magic

There are times when the turbulent waters of life cause the ship to shake and shudder, and one feels the shadow of mortality looming dark and large, cold and grey.  The spirit quells, the mouth goes dry, the stomach knots, the hands begin to loose their grip on the proverbial tiller of life.

Storm in the North Sea 1865
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky

In those moments, we need to be able to summon courage to face the daunting shade, and summon a light that will banish the darkness, and push it back for one more day.

For some, their magic talisman may be a book, or a poem.  For others it may be some favorite passage of scripture (Psalm 91).

For me, it is the magic of the music that is the living legend of Jimmy Buffett:

After having read the book, 'A Salty Piece of Land', and hearing the song, there is a special place in my heart for Captain Cleopatra Highbourne:

2012-08-23 Thursday - MusicScore.org

I am, have been, and will always remain - an aspiring musician.

To stand on a corner and busk for the money to buy my dinner - is as yet, an unfulfilled personal goal.
Although I did once join an impromptu jam session with a sidewalk band in San Francisco, playing my original composition to Sir Walter Scott's poem, "Lochinvar".

I have a few other bits of music I've composed on various pieces of paper over time - but always longed to be able to put them in a nice sheet music format.

Also, as a musician who has often struggled with learning a particularly complex arrangement at times - I've often wondered how it should sound, if properly played.

And so, the question has lingered for some time - where could I find some software that might help me...

Until tonight...

I've installed the free music composition and notation software, MuseScore

Within about 10 minutes I was able to create a score, a midi file, and play the tune I composed.

Very impressed so far.

Other software  / resources that may be worth considering:
Sibelius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scorewriters

OnlineSheetMusic.com
music-scores.com
greatscores.com

2012-07-22 Sunday - Recommended Wines

Last year I had a chance to enjoy a fantastic 5-course meal at the Different Pointe of View restaurant in Phoenix with a good friend.

As part of the meal, we enjoyed the full range of wines offered by the sommelier - and in particular, the following were exceptional:

David Girard, Roussanne, El Dorado, California '09
David Girard, Grenache, El Dorado, California '09
Treana, Marsonne/Viognier, Central Coast, California '08
Ramey, "Claret", Napa Valley, California '05'

2012-05-12 Saturday - Inspiring