California dreamin'...

The one thing I miss about home is the access to a great selection of California wines. California wines are rated some of the best in the world. And because there is such a HUGE selection of excellent wines, the prices are kept at a reasonable price. Hell, you could even go to a local grocery store and find a Cabernet rated 90 or better for 15 bucks.

But like most things in life, you don't realize that you have taken many things for granted until they are gone...

Well, it turns out that they keep the prices low if you live in California. Anywhere else in the country, they jack up the price . After a long ass week, I decided to treat myself to some flavas from home. I went to a local wine store (they have weird laws here about alcohol so the only place I could buy wine that doesn't come out of a box is at this place) to purchase some good ol' fashioned California grape juice only to be shocked by the markups.

I looked around and saw some names I recognized and some vineyards I have never heard of before. I walked from aisle to aisle trying to decide how best to exchange my limited cash reserve for some great vintner's reserve.

Cabernet? Merlot? Blanc? Pinot? So many choices...all at an unreasonable price. I knew that if i were at home, i could get these same bottles for 5-10 bucks less than the price they were charging here. Nevertheless, I was determined not to leave the store without a purchase.

I decided that because it was a long week, I wanted to cleanse my body with some red wine. The weather was getting warmer and I wanted to purchase a red before it got too warm to keep a bottle of wine at room temperature. Since i have no wine fridge or any means of controlling the temperature in my apartment, it's often hard to buy red wine and keep it longer than a day. And cold red wine is just gross.

Anyway, i purchased the wine that you see above. It is a 2004 Kendell Jackson Pinot Noir Vintner's Reserve. It cost me 20 bucks, which is more than the usual price but I wanted to try it anyway.

I am not wine snob (I have don't have the cash to be one). But I have learned to respect and enjoy great wine. My friends knew about my first wine purchase. I spent 4 bucks on some wine on my 21st birthday. It was nasty. But over the years, I have learned to appreciate the smell and the subtle flavors that come with each bottle. I also find myself remembering the names of great bottles I have tasted.

This wine was pretty good. Velvety, smooth with an amazing aroma of cherries.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Kendell Jackson? KJ is like the McDonald's of California wines. EVERYONE drinks their wine. (That's what you were thinking right jeff?) I know it's not a unique purchase but it has always been a safe one. Many of their wines are rated pretty consistently in 80s and it's one of those 'go-to' vineyards when you can't find some of those esoteric selections. Kendell Jackson, Robert Mondavi, Sterling, etc. are all pretty much safe bets in my opinion. Besides, I remember all of those vineyards had some excellent 1997 selections that I could still taste in my mind.

So I had two glasses of this pinot with a to-go box of Ribeye steak for an Applebees. It was a nice meal. Usually, I drink a Cabernet Sauvignon with my steaks but this was a good combo too.

The sad thing about drinking wine and eating a fatty steak is the diarrhea that comes afterwards. Apparently, like many people of my race (puerto riquenos), I am missing some key enzymes in my body to "process" the juices from a winery. Although I have been cursed with low levels of dehydrogenases, I still find it worthwhile to experience a good meal.

In fact, I am writing this blog on the toilet while experiencing one of those Shasta-style explosive fecal ejections. Well, I think i have to cut this entry short because I feel another explosion coming on.

Until next time... 

I hate bugs.

I hate bugs. It's that time of the year again when insects crawl out of their nasty eggs and gross holes to bother me day in and day out. I hate bugs. My phobia runs deep and I hate Springtime as a result. Yesterday, I saw the first bug. That means that winter is over. During the winter, the bugs freeze to death or they go hide somewhere. I could leave my door open (but i can't because it's cold...oh the irony) and bugs won't come into my home. Now, these damn bugs are flying, crawling, slithering their way into every damn crack and hole they could find. I have RAID in hand to murder those vile minions of Satan but overcoming the tidal wave of those sinful beasts is close to impossible. I hate bugs.

Curry of Life? WTF?!??!

Here are some screenshots from some oriental cartoon from China or wherever called "Naruto". I don't know much about it except the fact that they/manga dude must be really desperate for story arcs. Curry of Life??? Seriously, curry?
"Life-saving curry recipe"? Hell, we should just get rid of our healthcare system and feed people this curry. Hot damn!

The curry looks nasty. It looks like black stool to me.

Fuck loneliness. Curry can solve all your problems!!! Bravo, writer of Naruto. Bravo.

Steak, Chicken, and the Bitch

Ooh...the title sounds a bit misogynistic. I can assure you that I am not...I just wrote that for "effect" or “pizzazz”. The stories I write in my blog are usually boring. And today’s entry is no different. The title is all I got.

Chicken Story:

I went to a local deli to get some food today. There are a lot of delis where live, and I find myself frequenting many of them these days. They're nothing special in my opinion, because they all serve pretty much the same damn thing: Sandwiches with a hint of italian/everything.

Now, I have nothing against sandwiches or pseudo-italian food, but where I come from, when I go out to eat, I usually visit establishments that serve food of unique origin (aka ethnic food). I don't go out to smorgasbord food joints unless it's a buffet (and there are no buffets around here...or at least the kind of buffets that i'm used to where it's "all you can eat" for a set price). I like to eat Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Italian, French, Hawaiian, "American", Indian, etc. and I like to visit places where they serve those particular flavors in joints that specializes in said ethnic-ality. Sandwiches, i suppose, can be argued as a specialty, but I don't think of that as unique unless they serve something like...say Vietnamese-Sandwich-with-that-cilantro-thing.

I looked around to see what I could eat for sustenance. As an aside, in college, I used to eat for pleasure since I enjoyed the company of my friends, and it was a grand affair celebrating the great sin of gluttony, enjoying the great flavors of the world. Now, I just eat to pass the time and survive. I have no time to enjoy culinary delights. I also don't have the means (money) to do so.

After spending a minute or so, I found myself disgusted by the poor selection and my lack of appetite. Although hungry, I didn’t want to eat anything there. Everything looked bland and disgusting. There were sandwiches, some pedestrian pasta, some fried things, and some more fried things. Under the heat lamp though, there were some roasted chicken. It didn’t look too appetizing, but there were only 2 left so I suppose someone must like them enough to maintain the demand.

There were 4 people in the deli with me, and they all seemed to be in the same boat I was in…looking to settle for something somewhat palatable to satiate hunger. It was a weird experience because all of us were wandering aimlessly through the store, trying to figure out what to eat, much like the zombies in those horror movies looking for a delectable brain to munch on. 5 minutes go by and I don’t see anything appetizing. I realized that the best thing I could do was to buy that roasted chicken. I decided that, like most things in life, I needed to settle for the lesser of two…errr evil foodstuffs.

The interesting thing though, was that all four of us came to the same conclusion at the same time. I found myself heading toward the roasted chicken at about the same time everyone else headed toward those disgusting heat lamp apparatus holding our chicken things.

We were all adults so I didn’t think any one of us was going to run after it. But there was an understanding that two chicken baskets were not going to satisfy all four of us. The race was on. You could see the bodies tense up, ready to fight for that nasty chicken. Well, now that other people wanted it and because there was a limited supply, suddenly the look of the chicken seemed to go from nasty to palatable.

I am no competitor, but I’m also lazy as hell. I didn’t want to visit another establishment to find another alternative to dinner, going through the process of thinking all over again. So, I started to walk briskly toward the goal. As soon as I did that, everyone else started walking a little faster. Oh baby, it was on. We didn’t want to cause a scene but we also didn’t want to lose either. The pace picked up. I knew that at that point, I needed to pull some serious maneuvers to achieve victory. I decided to go for a shortcut through the big stack of Pepsi and around the coffee cart. There wasn’t much space but I managed to pull it off. I have the edge! I reached for the chicken. Success!! I clutched the chicken basket close to my chest, protecting it from the other predators. I swung around and headed for the cash register. The second competitor grabbed the second chicken and followed suit. The two losers stopped in their tracks, with faces showing great disappointment.

I got home excited about the victory. I opened up the basket to smell my glorious success. Gross. I took a bite. Nasty. I had hoped that the sweetness of my success would make the chicken more palatable. I was wrong. I wasted 6 bucks on a piece of shit. Sigh…story of my life. Well…at least I…err…won.

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Steak story:

I was driving today when I saw a girl with an interesting shirt. Across her big breasts, the words “STEAK” was written on it. I didn’t understand the point of that shirt. Maybe the point is that there is no point. Steak is a metaphor for a lot of things, including but not limited to a man’s genitalia, an attractive male, and ribeye. Steak could not have referred to her breasts. Usually, they’re usually referred to as gozangas, boobs, melons, rack, airbags, tits, man-bottle, etc. but never “steak”. It’s a mystery.

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Bitch Story:

Acutally, there is no story. 

Disney is corrupting our kids

Product placement has gone out of control. This is a screenshot from the made for TV movie "High School the Musical" on the Disney Channel. If you look closely, the girl is holding a fancy cellphone. That phone is a Treo 650. Is this what they're teaching kids these days? Are they telling parents that they should shell out $400 bucks on a smartphone to turn their kids into hipsters? For shame Disney! As a proud member of the Christian Coalition and the Alliance on Morals, I must condemn this kind of behavior by Disney. After all, how is it that kids are using Treos when an adult like me don't even have one?

(If you're wondering, I am indeed jealous)

For shame Disney! For shame! 

Funny? Commercial

There was an advertisement on TV for PC/Windows Training Videos.

One lady in her 30s exclaimed that she loved the product. She went on to say that her daughter knew more about computers than she did.

She then said, "And my daughter is 3 and a half!"

I know I shouldn't laugh but I did. Of course, learning to use a PC is not easy. Everything is weird and confusing. She probably didn't grow up with computers like most kids these days. For some reason though, this commercial made me laugh.

Shameful shameful joy.

BLOG stalkers = Blogkers (Copyright 2006)

I've been reading several blogs on a daily basis. I like to read about crazy adventures around the world.

I've noticed over the months that a couple of people leave comments on various blogs with flirtatious and stalker like remarks for the blogger. They're not aggressive or blantantly horny but any "double-d" can figure out their intentions.

There is one blog in particular where this one guy leaves stupid/funny comments to every post. It's clear that the guy wants to get in her pants. It's also clear that the blogger does not know who this guy is. That qualifies him as stalker.

I find it weird watching this unfold. But can I really criticize what he's doing? Does he become a stalker just because it's some dude making funny comments on a female blog?

(Note: I see there is some irony in what i'm writing and doing. And NO, I'm not the stalker.)

Neolojizzm

I heard someone use a new word today on the street.

"STOLED"

Ok...it's NOT a new word...but the way it was used was new to me.

The guy said, "So yeah, he stoled my food and left me with nothing.

I think he was trying to say the preterit form of "steal".

Awesome.

Guns guns guns

I was watching some police program. I think it was "Cops" or some variation.

A man who lived in a small run down house with a really old broken down car had a concealed weapon on him.

It was a fucking Glock 27 with a hard chrome slider.

I thought to myself....how the fuck can he afford that? Did he steal it? Did he buy it from some shady dealer? Even if he did, it ain't no saturday night special. He must have paid more than 100 bucks for it.

Well...that's it. I thought you'd like to know.

The World Interrupted

(_)O(_)

Where's my hamburger?