Good evening, I hope your weekend has gone well in this hellscape that we’re currently living in.
It has begun for me. The return to the office. They are trying to push a hybrid solution but this solution goes against my directors ideas of increased visibility. I have heard “back to normal” 17 times this week. Just because places are scaling back measures doesn’t mean it is any safer and that normal is coming. Am I exhausted by it all? Yes. Do I think that this is anywhere near over? No.
/Checks graph of cases in Europe and nods.
I’ve been virus free for these 2 years and have only caught 2 daycare illnesses from Decilitre who spends his days in a germ factory. I’ve followed all the rules but in my province there are no more rules. Just this week alone I have had 4 friends go down. Luckily they’re vaxxed up and are only getting hit with a 3 day freight train but it’ll get worse here IMO.
Will this stop me from going to Toronto to see Canada v Jamaica futbol? No it won’t. I’m of the mind that I will get it now so I had might as well do what I want (still masked up). I’m allowed to wear a mask in the restaurant where I picked up my part time gig but NOBODY wears them. One of the things that I noticed my 1st week there was that the rich folk did NOT adhere to the policy happily. My bff had a table that was discussing vaccinations and because she was triple vaxxed they said she was a Trudeau lover and stiffed her on a $800 bill. At this resto we have to tip out 7.5% so she basically paid to serve these pricks.
Travel story time.
My now ex, my buddy and I were in Sofia, Bulgaria and were making our way to Veliko Tarnovo in the morning. The evening prior to the minibus ride we went out with a bunch of Slovenians and got absolutely trashed. I was a hurtin unit the next morning and the whole bus ride I laid under the seats trying not to vomit. We finally arrived in the town which was stunning as you can see from the pic above. We had to walk to our auberge which would take about a half an hour. Well, we got lost and everything was in Cyrillic so we had no clue where to go or where we were. I suggested we split up at a fork in the road and keep heading west. I had a rumble in my stomach and I also wanted to separate in case something occurred. Suddenly, it was going to happen, and happen very quickly. I found an abandoned shed in what I thought was an uninhabited house and dropped trousers hidden from the street. Luckily in Eastern Europe you should always carry toilet paper because most WCs do not have that luxury. After I was done, I put my big backpack back on and headed back tot he street. My buddy was there howling and pointing at me as a man came charging out of the woods yelling at us in Bulgarian. We finally did find the auberge and I still feel bad for what that farmer found.
Bulgaria is awesome, if you ever get a chance to go, do it.
Wine time!
We have now discussed the classifications in Italy and their nuances. We will now turn to White grapes and the regions that they are grown in.
The most famous white wines that come out of the boot are Pinot Grigios and Proseccos. We will first look at where they are grown.
The Pinot Grigio heartland consists of the Veneto, Friuli and Tentino Alto Aldige which are all in the north of the country. The grape thrives there completely due to lack of intense heat and the shade of the mountains. They also harvest this grape real early to avoid frost and so you get a zesty fresh taste. People love this stuff because it is light, crisp and not all that complex. Of course there are exceptions to the rule and they can develop these like an Alsatian Pinot Gris which when left on the vine develops peach, apricot flavoUrs.
*Nine times out of ten when you see Pinot Grigio from anywhere it will be the early harvest zesty, citrusy, maybe a bit of effervescence and when you see Pinot Gris it will have stayed on the vine longer and be a bit more complex and floral with stone fruit and ripe apple tastes.
On to Prosecco! Poor person’s Champagne! Prosecco is more popular than its French rival due to price and stigma. Brits inhale the stuff and they cause a shortage in 2016. To be a Prosecco it has to be made with 85% of the Giera grape and can be maximum of 15% of 9 other varietals like Pinot Grigio, Chard, Pinot Blanco, Pinot Noir (no skin contact), and other obscure Italian grapes. Prosecco can achieve DOCG and DOC classification so check those labels folks!
Prosecco can have more aroma than Champagne due the soil and the way the wine is made. You get a lot of yeast with good Champagnes but here Giera doesn’t behave like Chard, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier used for the bubbles in France. Personally I prefer Prosecco to its Spanish counterpart Cava which I find smells like burnt tires a lot of the time. Prosecco is a phenomenal food wine and goes with a wide range from salted meats to stinky cheeses.
I am being brief as I do not want to get too nerdy in these. My goal is to entertain and give you a bit more knowledge if needed in a wine store. Once Italy is somewhat covered I will move on to other areas/grapes. If anyone wants to nerd out more let me know.
Time for a tune. His name is Italian but he’s Scottish!
So tomorrow morning there will be a post by my illustrious wife..stay tuned.
So, read about some dickhead heckling Naomi Osaka last night…
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/33490935/naomi-osaka-addresses-crowd-fan-heckles-loss-indian-wells
Would have loved to see her just jump into the stands and whale the stuffing our of that asshole with her racquet.
I don’t know about this one.
I like Osaka, and whoever was heckling her is a dick, but in general I don’t think it’s out of line to heckle a professional athlete. I would happily tell Novak Djokovic that he sucks. (He does, though in a non-tennis sense.)
If her mental health issues make that too difficult for her, then I truly have empathy, but then she ought to retire. She has enough money to never work another day in her life. To me, it’s like if a tennis player said that her knee or back or whatever won’t allow her to play three-setters. Ok, but we’re not changing the rules for you, so….
Ha! Was actually just thinking about that re this topic.
I think Dunstan articulated pretty well what I was feeling towards Osaka’s situation. At the end of the day, professional athletes are entertainers. It’s one (debatable) thing to not be willing to put up with bullshit from the press. But it’s another thing entirely to not be able to handle shit from spectators, provided they stay within certain limits.
I understand that sentiment. I was just thinking of the karmic beauty of her just snapping at that moment, and perhaps screaming “WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY KENNETH?!?!?!?!” while going to town on him.
Permanent DST is the worst idea ever, the only people who support it have the luxury of sleeping in or live in the southern part of the country.
I’d hug you, but…[waves letter from HR instructing me not to do that anymore]
Doing some mixology experiments tonight. All in the name of SCIENCE! Drunk science, that is.
Lol, I just noticed I have the banner!
We didn’t want to tell the others.
Is anyone else watching Eliza Coupe’s new show Pivoting? I think one of the actors might live in my neighborhood.
I can’t say this enough. Fuck Russia. Fuck Putin. I hope hell is real so Putin can suffer there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4fFNBTXGPQ
“Islands In the Stream” just came up on streaming audio, and … yeah, I enjoyed it. I don’t mind admitting it.
Dolly is so lovely that anything she’s ever done is also lovely.
Wright St/Bryant players watching this bracket reveal
Man, not one of these GI Joe movies are worth watching.
Hey, the money it brought in for the guys who wrote it made Deadpool possible, so it’s not all bad.
The cartoon was a little after my time, but I sat through a whole afternoon of a story arc of it one time that involved Cobra creating the perfect military leader, Serpentor, using DNA from various warriors and generals from all of history. At one point they failed to get Sun Tzu’s DNA, so the decided that the next best donor would be Sgt. Slaughter. At that point I was hooked.
Bengals make the Super Bowl = Reds go Full Rebuild AND Xavier and Cincinnati BOTH don’t make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985
Coincidence I Think Not GIF – Find & Share on GIPHY
I just submitted a men’s bracket and a women’s bracket and didn’t watch a single minute of either all season long. This could be my year!
I need a DFO bracketology.
My strategy is the same every year, no matter if I’ve watched or not. Pick Duke to go out in the first round, pick Xavier to win a couple games cause the X makes them cool, then about 90% favorites unless I feel like doing something else.
WAIT! How did I not put this together before, but yeah right ran a Sunday gravy today called the Number 12. It’s his fault Tom Brady unretired today.
I think that Handjob Bob Kraft put him up to it. Tom signed a one-day contract to retire as a Patriot, so they are going to franchise tag him and force him to win another ring, to replace the one that Putin stole from Kraft.
Hey that was my idea below
Sorry, I knew I was stealing the franchise tag bit but I thought it was from reddit.
I think Kraft should hire a bunch of mercenaries to pull some Mission:Impossible shit and steal the ring back, and maybe assassinate Putin as a side quest.
I am really disappointed at the billionaires. Russian oligarchs are losing their fortunes and their yachts. You’d think Putin would’ve had two in the head and one in the chest by now!
They can still hang out in the UAE, until Dubai starts confiscating shit they’re gonna keep being useless. OPEC in general isn’t cooperating, those fuckers.
You mean a Russian suicide?
Its probably just a coincidence. People will be irrationally angry about Tom Brady’s return.
Now, if someone will place Yeah Right on the Red X of Safety that is under the Anvil of Rationality hung only by the Frayed Rope of Common Sense.
But it’s 3/13….OR IS IT??
I’m tired, so I should go to bed to get up and do the work I’m already behind on, but I don’t wanna, so I’m having another beer.
I’m going to try and take full advantage of the fact that I can get a recovery certificate and get out of testing for most international travel for the next 3 months. I feel like most of Central America can be weekend trips, right?
Right. Just document the trips so I can live vicariously through you and your travels
I really should write up some of this last trip. Both to brag about drinking champagne while hanging out on a piece of floating sea ice that I kayaked to, and to give some practical tips about getting stuck in Argentina.
BOTG!
botas sobre el terreno!
I’m not a particular fan of Station 19 (aka Grey’s Anatomy: Fire) but I do appreciate that they cast women who weigh more than Karen Carpenter and I don’t have to suspend my disbelief too hard to conceive of them as firefighters.
If you demand your TV shows to be reflective of the human smorgasbord, you can do worse than Grey’s Anatomy. I know Station 19 folks were popping in and out of Grey’s Anatomy, to the point that if you were watching it on Netflix there were a couple of loose ends that were tied up over on Station 19.
My daughter dragged her mom into Grey’s Anatomy, and she dragged me into it. It was good for a, “What disease is that again?” trip to wikipedia once in a while to keep me interested, plus I have a little crush on Lexie Grey.
Success! Managed to get wine from the other room without getting distracted by too many other things!
Well done. You deserve a second glass to celebrate
I tried a white from Gavi this weekend. It was fantastic
-Cecil Rhodes
Oooh yeah great producer.
BWAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAAHHA
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33495979/source-minnesota-vikings-qb-kirk-cousins-gets-35-million-extension
AHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH
AHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
AHAHHAHAHAHHAHA….. haha, ahhh
someone better check on yeah right and Drew
That is A LOT of money to do salary cap shimmys.
You know, every year, Steelers fans get pissed because the team doesn’t do anything in free agency. The last few days have been a good reminder that many times the best thing to do is nothing.
Yeah. Drew’s brain probably just exploded again…. oof.
https://defector.com/if-the-vikings-dont-trade-kirk-cousins-i-will-fucking-die/
Huh, I got up to grab a bottle of wine, but forgot to grab the wine and cleaned some tack instead. I’m gonna have to try that again.
Ya know, that tack doesn’t look particularly clean.
Well I didn’t clean ALL of it, duh
I had two Irish slammers, formerly known as Irish car bombs. I am feeling good right now. I was watching the selection show, but apparently missed anything selected after Stanford. Whoops!
The end of this Yam FC game is cray cray
Who is Yam?
Puebla. Los Camoteros.
NAWT HAPPY!!!!!!!
Brady just pulled the ultimate troll job on the poor sap that bought his “last” touchdown ball….
“According to a Sunday report from ESPN, the ball that represents Brady’s last touchdown pass (for now) recently sold for $518,000, per auction site Lelands. Several hours after the story was posted, Brady announced his un-retirement. That would, of course, nullify whatever historic value that touchdown ball holds”
‘Course, upon reflection, the schmuck paid over half a million bucks for a fucking football because it was thrown by fucking Pretty Boy Brady so my heart isn’t exactly bleeding for the guy. My reaction is much more along the lines of:
Stanford has the number one in the Spokane bracket. The first time I watched a women’s game was back in the 90’s and it was Stanford. The point guard, Molly Goodenbauer, if I spelled that right, handled the ball like a boss. Been rooting for Stanford ever since. Here’s hoping they repeat!
Legit question–since Brady signed a one day contract to retire as a Patriot, are there implications for him as a free agent with TB or something? Like, could Belichick franchise tag him?
Ooh! Controversy.
This would be the greatest Face Turn ever if Belichick pulls that move.
Gronk next?
(puts fantasy of Gronk in Bengals stripes next to fantasies of Emma Stone in my bed and Donald Trump on a gallows)
WHY CAN’T WE HAVE NICE THINGS GODDAMMIT‽‽‽
And yeah sure I might touch myself, but sweet jebus!
Incarnate Wood or Howard going up against South Carolina in the women’s tournament. Lol!
(door flies open; sees Digital Avatars hanging from ropes as TV shows Brady’s retirement renegement)
Are you guys trying to kill yourselves or thrill yourselves?
IT CAN BE TWO THINGS
Woohoo, 17+ more chances for a debilitating injury!
Have you seen the current state of the NFC? He has 18-19 chances at least.
I am happy about the news. He’s too good to be retiring yet. Retire when you suck, not when the results are floppy and limp.
I don’t know.
Personal Memory: Boomer Esiason retired in 1997 after going 4-1 with a TD-INT ratio of 15-2 and a rating of 106.2 and nearly single-handedly dragging an underachieving Bengals squad into the playoffs. Bengals fans to this day still wonder what would’ve happened if he stayed for two more years instead of gone to MNF.
NFL Memory: John Elway lost four Super Bowls but finished winning two in a row while dominating the NFL.
People don’t remember how you started; they remember how you finished.
Quickly?
I don’t know what my ex-girlfriend said, but it was a long week… and her father walked in….and…and….it happens!
Not in his case. That many rings counts. If he keeps winning, then it’s going to be cock rings he is wearing.
One for Giselle’s cock too!
Brady, ha!
Anyone have a vitamin D supplement they like? I’m ditching my current one since it’s combined with an omega-3 derived from krill. KRILL FISHING KILLS ADORABLE PENGUINS EVENTUALLY
I like the gummy ones. I call the red ones Chewy.
Do they still make Flintstones vitamins? I loved those things as a kid
Youd think the Jetsons would’ve had the vitamin brand.
Flintstones! Well weren’t you fancy? It was Chocks for us.
Nerd out to the max
AW FUCK YOU BRADY
FTB
RIP William Hurt. That came outta nowhere.
Best part of A History of Violence, except maybe Maria Bello not closing her robe.
Definitely the reason why Mr. Brooks was a good movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if5qqwhKcCI&ab_channel=CommanderJedoMeta
Any thoughts on amateur Secco?
Yeah, they are huge on x videos.
Looking forward to Mrs. Cola’s post!
A Reasonable Serving of Low-Sugar Cola?
I strongly prefer cava to prosecco, and it’s frequently cheaper nowadays as well! It’s partially because I’m a snob about the traditional method of adding bubbles, which cava uses and prosecco doesn’t, and partially because I’ve had way more fun drinking cava in Spain than prosecco in Italy.
Only a 4 seed for Westwood Klavern, and in the EAST?
Pac-12 getting little love as usual and 9 Big 10 teams is stupid.
Whatevs, gotta beat whoever shows up.
Oh, BayBay gon’ push the Holes’ shit in. Look forward to that.
BayBay doesn’t take “no” for an answer.
Once again, as every year – HIPPO STRONGLY OBJECTS TO THE TERM “corporate champions.”
War Damn Eagle/Troi Boiz in the 2nd round, also interesting
Providence/South Dakota State will be fun.
Oh, I like Richmond over Iowa for your 12-5 upset.
Feklahr frowns.
Wasn’t he Iowa State?
You went to (or tried) Etar’s town. I HAVE BET ON THEM!!