friends and i took part in this year’s chinese new year treasure hunt in san francisco.

the goal was to hunt down 17 bits of information spread through san francisco. the clues are all two parts. the first part gets you to the right area of the city. the second part tells you specifically what to look for.

we had 7 people on our team and we finished with 15 minutes to spare (that’s four and a half hours of figuring out the clues and running up and down hills, from coit tower down to market street in the financial district.

33 wineries, 102 bottles

doesn’t count an old box set of italian table wines and some random wines and champagnes.

ok, i am a sucker for port wine.

boman took me to arlequin‘s port tasting. tasty bits from absinthe and ten ports of varying styles. an importer from portugal was there to talk about the wines.

usually when i try a variety of wines i tend to like the cabs and the ports (and lately the zins). but when i try a variety of ports i found myself liking some more than others. i tended to like the older tawnys and the blends.

here’s what i came home with:

• fonseca porto bin no. 27 finest reserve
• fonseca guimaraens vintage 2000
• croft porto vintage 2000
• taylor fladgate 20 year tawny

i also picked up:

• domaine georges vernay 2004 viognier (i was told i would like this since i like gewurstraminer)
• talai berri, hindarribi zuri (recommended by boman)
• albert mann gewurstraminer 2004 bin d’alsace (recommnded by chris of arlequin – he said this was their best gewurstraminer)

so.. ya.

we met a wine judge who talked to us about how she became a judge and what she writes down about wines. we met a nice couple of ladies who share boman’s love of unpasteurized cheese and one of whom recommended i try a viognier. we met a couple from south carolina – the wife lived in plainfield, indiana and knew someone from my high school!!!!

wild. despite having a good amount of wine in 2005 i think 2006 is shaping up to be a good year.

my first usenet posting:

Newsgroups: rec.humor
From: jschl…@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Jason Schlachet)
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1993 17:23:10 GMT
Local: Sat, Oct 2 1993 9:23 am
Subject: email jokes

Is anyone is emailing jokes, could i get on a list? I am looking
specifically for funny textfiles and lists. Thanks

jason

–
-==————————————————————————==-
__/__/__/ jschlac…@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Jason S Schlachet)
__/__/ “On a rocket, to the fourth dimension. Total self-awareness,
__/ the intention.” HAIR – THE AMERICAN TRIAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL

(604×800)

this is a small scene in the corner of a hairpin curve on the way out to la honda. there’s not really any good place to park and you might never see it since the road is so fun to drive on. but for the past two times i’ve been on this road i couldn’t help but stop.

the corner is in complete shade most of the time. i decided to try my “new” heliar wide open.. on one hand, i wanted to try a wide-open shot to create interesting focus using movements. on the other hand, the lens was mounted in my cardboard lens board and the aperture ring wouldn’t budge. :-)

superbowl advertising: $80,000 per second
national football league salaries: $1,250,000 per year (meanwhile those educating the country’s children are making $48,000)
halftime show: still too racy for the american public (and more commercial than ever – seven of the first ten halftime shows were marching bands)
gambling on the superbowl: $400 million?

i spent today out on a nice drive. the weather was beautiful. i didn’t even think to turn on the tv today. come monday morning.. the water coolers, blogs, and news media will be buzzing with post-superbowl euphoria, i’m sure.