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The Sloppy Mermaid

Monday, June 30, 2008

Chinese Chardonnay?

Chinese Chardonnay?:

"Over the past two decades, one industry after another has abandoned the West for the world’s developing countries. Now, a product that predates the Bible looks vulnerable to the same siren call. Wine, writes Philip Martin, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis, is one more commodity that technology and marketing ability can make into a profitable industry on almost any improbable hillside where fruit will �grow."

Friday, June 27, 2008

Yellow Science

Yellow Science - WSJ.com:

"Man has always had a healthy desire for knowledge, and it is the feeding of this hunger that ennobles journalism. Hearst and Pulitzer were acutely aware that man has a less healthy but no less voracious desire to believe that he has knowledge, particularly knowledge of something sensational. It is the feeding of this hunger that irreparably disgraced journalism, and a century later now threatens to do the same to science."

Friday, June 13, 2008

Wine Cult?


Spook Hills in the Lab :

"To start with, what exactly is biodynamics? It is a method of organic agriculture admixed with some odd extras. These additional methods include taking into account cycles of the moon and relative positions of the zodiacal constellations when farming, as well as applying different sorts of homeopathic or esoteric 'preparations' to the vineyard soil. These and other similar pretensions are set against a complex background cosmogony that makes the whole process not unlike a quasi-religious movement."

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wine Pretension?


"There's a lot of snobbery when it comes to the subject of wine and that intimidates many otherwise intelligent, successful people. But you don't have to go to sommelier's school to pass yourself off as knowledgeable about matters of oenology. All you have to be able to do is talk the part. So here it is, The Bluffer's Guide to wine and grapes."

Do I detect a note of pretension?:

Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Reach of an Ancient Greek

The Is there nothing new?:

",.... it had been said that there were two sides to Pythagoras -- which is a little ironic, given his presumed association with triangles."

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Mysterious Montague

The best golfer who never played.

Mysterious Montague - TIME

Wikipedia

The simplest way to access wikipedia is to enter www.wikipedia.com into the address bar of your browser.

Try it, it will make you smart.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Decanting Robert Parker

Decanting Robert Parker - New York Times