Auch wenn keiner sich das so recht zu sagen traut (weil sich mit Wein auszukennen natürlich zum Savoir-vivre und so gehört) - die meisten, mich inklusive, kaufen Wein nach dem Etikett. Was haben wir sonst auch schon, um uns daran zu orientieren? Mit viel Glück und am richtigen Ort kriegt man vernünftige Beratung, aber meistens stehen dann 5 Flaschen vor einem oder man selbst steht vor einem Regal mit mehr, und ist etwas ratlos. Und wonach entscheide ich dann? genau, dem Etikett. Schließlich will man nicht hinterher feststellen, daß der Wein nicht schmeckt und nicht mal die Flasche was hermacht.
Insofern gleicht Wein durchaus Kinofilmen und dem anderen Geschlecht, wenn der Inhalt nicht überzeugt, dann will man wenigstens was Schönes zum Anschauen haben.

In diesem Sinne hier ein Beispiel, das sich wohltuend von den ganzen Bürgchen, Schlösschen, Weinbergchen, Landschaftchen, mit denen Weinetiketten so gerne bevölkert/bebildert sind (Terroir mein Arsch!) abhebt:

Der blutrot-metallic Strich ist ein echter Hingucker auf dem hochweißen Papier, die traditionelle Komponente (aka Wappen) ist tiefgestapelt, aber dank Prägung doch dezent betont, die Typo vielleicht etwas altbacken, aber meilenweit über den typischen Schreib- und Handschriften.

Das einzige was mich wirklich etwas stört, ist die Wortmarke von Pradio - hätte es wirklich keine Type gegeben, aus der das A nicht so rausfällt?

Aber das mindert nicht (für mich wenigstens) die schlichte Eleganz des Designs, die eben aufgrund des Understatements wirklich heraussticht.

Ganz nebenbei bemerkt, kann man auch den Wein drin sehr gut trinken - als bekennende Weißweintrinkerin tue ich mir immer etwas schwer mit den Roten, aber der Cabernet ist wirklich angenehm rund und harmonisch, mit Aromen von Kirsch und roten Beeren in der Nase.
Besonders hat es mir aber der Tocai von Pradio angetan, der sooo nach Äpfeln und Birnen duftet und mit einer ganz zarten Bitternote auf der Zunge überrascht.

Kurzum: Well played, Pradio!

Ach, und nachdem ich jetzt lange genug nach Bildern gestöbert habe: Ich weiß nicht, warum, aber der Name dieses Weins weckt unangenehme Vorahnungen - ob das an mir liegt? (N.B.: auch hier beweisen die "Technischen Details" (huh?) daß Etiketten ein schlagendes Verkaufsargument sind.)

I've been eyeing the Helio's Ocean for the longest time, even before it was released. I'm a sucker for dual sliders. It's so cool. I mean you can have a normal slider phone with numeric keypad and then, BAM! a full QWERTY keyboard. But don't forget the fact that technology hates me, okay? The Helio's Ocean only runs on their own plan so I can't use AT&T or T-mobile on it. I'm a SIM card fan, btw. But lo and behold, my prayers have been answered. Today I found out that AT&T and the creators of the Helio's Ocean has combined forces and released the PanTech Duo aka C810 ... a year ago. Hahaha. How did this slip out of my hand? Maybe because I was too into the Helio's Ocean at the time. I mean you have to admit. A dual slider is pretty cool. Here's the Helio's Ocean and the the Pantech Duo.

Helio's Ocean. Very cute and sleek eh? I think so. Pantech Duo - more stubby looking. But the fact that I can use AT&T with this phone is making me a happy camper.

Nonetheless, I am still in love with Sony Ericsson. I remember the friends I hung out with in High school all had Sony Ericssons. We were the only group of people that was like "Once you go Sony Ericsson, you don't go back," (no, it wasn't supposed to rhyme) and it's true! It's hard for me to convert to Helio's of Pantech's even though their dual sliders are so appealing! I really think that Sony Ericsson should come up with a dual slider. I'll even be their representative if they wanted me to...for free! But I don't think they would want me to do that.

I think she's a beauty. The w580. Orange, slider (boo! not a dual slider!) and has all the functions I want: calling, texting, photo taking, organization tools.

I've got a hundred or so saved up. I should invest in a new phone considering the fact that my old one is well, dead. I've had it for a little more than two years and decided not to get a new phone when I got my new plan. Talk about having regrets, ugh.

Look at that. Binny (yes I name my electronics), you've good to me even though you purge (Bulimic!) and delete all your own memory (Wait, maybe it's Alzheimer's?!) sometimes. I don't blame you. Just look at yourself: scratched up keypad, super glue stains all over you, being dropped all day long, being thrown around when angry, missing piece at battery door, and oh, did i mention the messed up camera rim?

....Don't let me raise your children. (:

2. Martin Lawrence

3. Madonna

4. New Kids on the Block

5. Bon Jovi

6. Robin Williams

7. Cher

Your 15 minutes are up. Way up.

While suffering through butcherings of some of our favorite REO tunes, we discussed the following:

1. Is Kevin Cronin gay now? With the sinewy physique, frighteningly tight black t-shirt, and bleached hair, I thought, that dude would look right at home in any gay bar I've ever been to. And the rest I haven't.

2. I mentioned to the hubby that back in the day (and by that, I mean during the blissful reign of Hi Infidelity), I had a huge crush on Gary Richrath. He guffawed and claimed that no one in the world had ever thought or said that.* I beg to differ. Ladies, transport yourself back to the early 80s, take a look at that album, and tell me that Richrath is not the dreamiest guy around.

*I'm sure I misquoted the hubby. He says I'm always editing. Hell, I probably misquoted that, too.

I don't know why it's human nature to always look at the bad. I mean what's the ratio for optimistic versus pessimistic? Is something like 1:3? I wouldn't be surprise if it was even worse.

Now, speaking of that purchase on eBay. I thought about saving money for that iPod but as of right now, it seems like the getting a phone would be more logical. It's been two years and now it's acting up. After my unsuccessful attempt to bling up my phone so I would put up with it until I get a new phone was a epic failure, I think it's a sign for me to get a new phone.

The w580 is looking pretty good right now. A good friend of mine just got this in black (bitter) and like he is all raving about it. I think he's pretty geeky. Again, negative comment about my friend. Ha.

2. Cars - have you seen Doc Hollywood? Then you've seen Cars. It's just the Pixar version. Even the toddler was bored after about 15 minutes. Thankfully, I had a dentist appointment to save me from suffering through the whole movie.

You've both had success as movie actresses, and now you want to get greedy (isn't one entertainment industry profession enough?) and be singers, too. I've sampled both of your albums, and I regret to inform you that neither of you should quit your day jobs. Scarlett, your transgressions are worse because in addition to the fact that the producer saw fit to bury your voice in every song, you have managed to piss all over an album's worth of Tom Waits covers. Bad girl. Zooey, charming though you may be, your contribution to music is nothing more than a vanity project. Keep it in your basement where it belongs.

Ladies, remember when Madonna couldn't be satisfied with selling millions of albums? She just HAD to be taken seriously as an actress? Have the good sense to stop now. Work on your existing talents and leave the music to the folks with those chops.

Anyhoo, their free download from iTunes a few weeks ago was called Love Don't Live Here. I listened to it last night, and it's a fine song. Not particularly memorable, but I will listen to it many more times on purpose. Then, it occurred to me that Madonna has a song by the name of Love Don't Live Here Anymore from Like A Virgin. She's at least old enough to be the mother of every member of Lady Antebellum.

I find the lack of anything new to be equally despair-inducing and comforting. Surprises aren't always good, but once in a while would be nice.

Wenn ich mir überlege, was das über mich sagt, kann ich
nur die Schultern zucken und denken, daß meine Haare zunächst mal gar nichts sagen - meine Haare waren nie bunt, extravagant, zu kurz, zu lang, und schon gar nicht politisch. Sie sind einfach da, und sie sind soweit bar jeder Äußerung.

Was meine Haare allein nicht aussagen können, das können viele zusammen schon - nämlich daß Frisuren Menschen und Gruppen nicht nur definieren, sondern sogar machen, und daß sie natürlich auch immer ein Politikum waren - Haare verbinden, Haare trennen, Haare faszinieren.

Die Faszination des Themas hat die Fotografin Herlinde Koelbl zu einem mehrjährigen Projekt verführt, welches zur Zeit in der Villa Stuck in München zu Gast ist.
Die Fotografin zeigt sich in jeder ihrer Porträtserien als Meisterin der induktiven Fotografie - der Einzelne wird zum Wegweiser auf der Suche nach dem übergeordneten Abstrakten.
Bei "Haare" stehen konkrete Porträts neben abstrakteren Bildern, jedes davon fast bis zur Manier perfekt ausgeleuchtet und komponiert, um akribisch das Hornmaterial auf unseren Köpfen und anderen Körperteilen in Überfluß und Mangel zu zeigen - kaum ein Aspekt bleibt unbetrachtet, nicht mal Haare als störender Müll im Abfluß.

Daß die Aussage "Haare sind mächtige Identitätsstifter" auf Dauer ein bißchen hohl ist und die Personen der Materialstudie untergeordnet sind, stört fast nicht weiter angesichts der oft fabelhaften Bilder.

Mein nächster Friseurtermin ist jedenfalls schon gebucht.

Ich spiele generell eher wenig, deswegen passiert es nicht so häufig, daß ich Spiele im Netz suche oder gar richtig schöne finde. Questionaut ist also sozusagen ein Glückstreffer.

Questionaut ist gedacht für Schulkinder (schätzungsweise so um die 11 Jahre) und wurde von Amanita Design im Auftrag der BBC gemacht - was aber nicht heißen soll, daß man Erwachsener keinen Spaß daran hat.
Acht Levels wollen durchspielt werden, bestehend aus jeweils einem relativ leichten Point-and-Click- Rätsel und (englischen) Fragen aus den verschiedenen Themengebieten (nicht immer ganz leicht für jemanden der a) schon mehrere Jahre nicht zur Schule gegangen ist und b) nicht in Großbritannien zur Schule gegangen ist - Danke, Google!).

Die Illustration erinnert (zumindest mich) entfernt an Michael Sowa (eigentlich eher noch an jemand anderen, dessen Name mir aber entfallen ist) und ist durch und durch atmosphärisch und entzückend - würde man in ein Kinderbuch einsteigen, es könnt nicht schöner sein. Die Musik rundet den dezenten Surrealismus des Spiels zusätzlich ab, und so macht Questionaut von vorn bis hinten Freude - und das auch noch beim zweiten Mal, oder dritten, vierten, fünften.

Spielen! Vielen Vergnügen!

Songs

Fill in your own blank here. Any song that you loved but grew to despise because of excessive airplay or melodramatic use in every movie for the next 10 years. Or just a song you never really liked but still have to suffer through.

• "You Are the Everything" by REM
• "Stand" by REM
• Hell, most of REM's catalog, for that matter
• "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam...and the rest of the hits from Ten
• Most of Nirvana's catalog
• "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles (ruined by Ferris Bueller)
• "Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC (ruined by drunken assholes the world over)
• "Melt With You" by whoever. A song that was considered nostalgic in 1992 (I bought the CASSINGLE that fall), and is downright grating now. I beg every radio station out there to please please please stop playing this tune.

Bands

• Alice in Chains - The dirty howl of Layne Staley appealed to me for many years. I fantasized about covering their tunes in my dreams of being a singer. Jerry's lyrics spoke of desperate souls and lives. I loved the darkness. And now, I don't ever want to hear Rooster again. Ever.
• U2 - Bono is SUCH a douchebag. No other explanation needed.
• Hank Williams - Yes, I am quite aware of his icon status. I am also quite aware that he's such a fucking depressing and drunken whiner that I never need hear him again.
• Bob Dylan - Great lyrics. Shitty voice.
• Allison Krauss - I'm sure she's nice, but she sure is boring. Please explain her popularity to me. I ruminated to a friend recently that the only thing I can figure is this: she's just outside the mainstream enough to make people feel cool for liking her. Bluegrass? Whatever. I'm not from the hills of eastern Kentucky or Tennessee. What the fuck do I care?
• Aerosmith - You have damaged your legacy beyond repair. Your animated appearance in The Polar Express not only ruined that movie, but it was the final nail in your coffin (for me, anyway). The guys who recorded Toys in the Attic would hate you.
• The Rolling Stones - When was the last time these guys made a decent album? Was it even as late as the 1980s? Stop embarrassing yourselves and pissing all over your own legacy. See Aerosmith entry, but substitute Keith Richards' cameo in Pirates of the Caribbean (Oh my god, a movie based on an amusement park ride?! For fucking real???) for the Polar Express remark. You get the idea.

Movies

• The Wizard of Oz. This aired a few months ago, and I found myself anxious with the desire to change the channel to ANYTHING else. Why, I don't know. I just don't care about Dorothy and her whiny journey back to fucking Kansas, of all places. Her shoes are pretty cool, and the witch rocks, but...eh.
• The Truth About Cats and Dogs - I loved this movie. I owned this movie. You see, for a few years, Janeane Garafalo was my hero: biting wit with a real woman's body. A gal like myself. Then she sort of went nuts, I grew up a bit, and realized this movie is SUCH a colossal piece of shit, I'm embarrassed to think I actually paid for it. Ah, youth.
• Most other movies I own but can't remember.

This is in no way a complete list. Please feel free to add your own entries.

Adam Duritz could use some new inspiration. How many songs can you write and reference Michelangelo, Amsterdam (new or not), Los Angeles, and seeing someone or being seen? Dude, I like your stuff. Really. I just like it with a little variety. You are not cheese fries: always awesome no matter what. Mix it up, please.

I'll listen a few more times. The track-by-track interview with Duritz inspired me to give this record another shot, although I will never forgive him for wearing fake dreads. Lame.

Predictably, I've been mocked a few times since: "What do you know, you watch Rock of Love!" It's all done in good fun, and although it was good to get it off my chest, now I must suffer the consequences of watching some 80s hair band douchebag eliminate bimbos in every episode.

And yet, I must know who wins.

So here's the thing, I have had my Creative JukeBox Zen 30 gbs for about three years. I don't see why people complain about the Creative Zens. They have been nothing but good and bulky to me. I have to admit sometimes it's been mistaken for a tape recorder, tape player, and even a brick because of the large size it comes in.

So it's bigger than an ipod classic and definitely thicker than 2 ipods combined. Despite the size, it really has everything that an mp3 player should have and do: hold mp3s and play them.  It's 30 gbs. It's been three years and I still have tons of room for more mp3s and I have a lot of songs - trust me.

The battery life is beautiful. I charge it like once every two weeks and I listen to it almost every night and sometimes even leave it on for the whole night on when I fall asleep. The software and transferring files is great. It lets me transfer in and out of my mp3 player. I heard in iPods that you cannot transfer files out of it. Someone confirm?

Another thing I like about it is that I can opt it to become my external hard drive. So it's like a million times bulkier than a flash drive but it also carries a million times more. It's perfect to carry all my Korean dramas, Tae Bin music videos and movies.

Okay, so here I am praising my bulky mp3 player. What's the point? I don't know if I want a new one. I mean - it's not broken so if I do buy a new one - that would be spending unnecessary cash. Sadly enough, none of the mp3 players out there appeal to me currently. Sure there's the love Zune, Meizu m6 and also iRiver Clix but they all seem to have the same functions to me.

A new mp3 player is not going to be an easy breezy of a couple of bucks. It's like an investment to me. My Creative Zen was around $200 tax and shipping included and it's been a doll to me. As of now, I don't think I will get a new mp3 player. I rather spend that money on something else.

So Stephanie, here's your mp3 blog entry. Maybe when I do decide to get a new one, I'll let you know. So here's to you wasting time reading this, cheers. Pst. I'll see you in English class and do not attack me. (:

At least Flickr is on the list. Flickr is one site that continually delights me. As of late, I'm digging the maps section, an area where people geo-tag their photos and drop them on the map where the photos were taken, or close to it. The maps interface is a bit clumsy right now, from a usability perspective, but I have faith that they'll improve it, as they have everything else on the site. I love the limited amount of quality products Flickr has for sale, too -- like Qoop photobooks. I ordered one last year, and it was professional-looking, inexpensive, and shipped fast. And it makes a really great personal gift. They give their members credit by not making the commerce options the focal point of the homepage, or any other page for that matter. In fact, while there's a block of info about products on the homepage by default, members can click to close the commercial message. When you refresh the page, poof! It's gone. How many websites today will let you control the money-making aspects of the site?

Hmm. Maybe this should have been a post about the "25 parts of Flickr I can't live without." I haven't even started on my favorite groups yet.

Her mother died when she was nothing but an infant and she has no memory of her, and in the true fashion of literature, you are teased with her memory, just like Baby is, until the very end of the book. Predictable, but classic.

Baby is raised solely by her father, a "recovering" heroine addict. He tries to take care of her, but his addiction to "chocolate milk" and his love for quick-money-making schemes, doesn't exactly make him the perfect parent.

They move from place to place in seedy downtown Montreal. They are in the worst areas of town, and Baby is making the most interesting friends.

The book explores how mature relationships between 11-12 year olds who wish they could just be children can be.
She moves from home to home to foster home to town to city to home again.  Without giving too much away, this girl does not live in the same place for more then a year.

Later in the book, at the age of 13, she captures the attention of a local Pimp. He falls in love with her, as only a pimp can.

At 13, she is trying to be a woman, she wants to be a troubled adult, not a child from a broken home. She pushes herself into becoming disturbed grown women. She pushes herself to die inside, to lose her emotion, to become a shell of herself, just so she can fit in with her junkie father, his junkie friends and the prostitutes who fill her life with "adult guidance".

The book is described as "heart-wrenching" and I do believe that if you invest yourself into it, and really read what is in front of you without criticizing that she's 12, without feeling dirty in your safe little life for peeking into Baby's daily occurrences, without feeling sorry that children really do experience this kind of life, you will see a touching story of a little girl's love for her father and a little girl's love for the childhood she never had.

I warn you now, there are some scenes in the book that will make your skin crawl, there are scenes in the book that will make you want to cry. But when you finish this book and have read it cover to cover, you will feel that you gained something.

(7/10)

1. The image editor is not at all intuitive. How do I insert an image into the body copy and have a runaround/margin so that the image isn't bleeding into/interfering with the text?

2. There's no built-in font editor. You can change the color, change text to bold or itals, but there's no way to change the font, except for editing the code.

3. I'm using Firefox (and the whole world will use Firefox in the future too, I promise) and maybe that's part of the problem. I will never ever go back to IE. But randomly when writing a post via WordPress in Firefox, I get an editing toolbar and sometimes I don't. No rhyme, no reason, just annoyance.

4. Sometimes I can copy/paste from Word into the Write Post box and it'll retain all the formatting properties. AND SOMETIMES IT WON'T! At least be consistently annoying.

5. "Snapshots" seem to be the default -- little preview screens appear when you hover over a link on the blog. It's an innovation that that's better in theory than practice. It's like the Rovion of linking.

This is just my not-so-eloquent way of saying that I realize the fonts and images and spacing of the previous posts are all effed up. Trying to figure it all out.

I want to like MOG, I really do. The music-based social networking site, its name a derivation of “music blog,” has a welcoming and homey aesthetic. If MySpace is a cheesy pop-music arena concert, then MOG is an intimate indie-rock show.

The site’s personality starts with the playful copy (a rotating top-nav tagline says things like “a musical nudist colony” and “where the hokey pokey ‘is’ what it's all about”). The primary design elements are curvy and earthy brown. Once you register, you can wiki it up and create your own MOG. But the extent of customization is limited—you can move around and delete widgets and change your skins, but widgets only fit into certain spaces within the three-column layout and skin selection is limited, unless you want to go through the trouble of creating your own.

Unlike many social networking sites, you can add a Mogger as your friend (“My trusted Mogs”) without that person necessarily adding you (“Mogs that trust me”). Trust is based on knowing a Mogger, or simply finding their writing and/or taste in music interesting.

Founder David Hyman is MOG’s Tom. He’s your default friend when you sign up, and he acts as the site’s emcee, the community’s leader. He impels conversation, warns about updates and interrupted service, keeps users apprised of new features—he even invites Moggers to parties. He is also the face of apology when something goes wrong. (A few weeks ago, when Facebook Platform was unveiled, an industry-shaking move that opened up Facebook to outside developers, MOG had a hard time adapting. MOG was unprepared for a load increase of over 3000%, and the site slowed to a crawl as a result.) Hyman (even with such an unfortunate name) is genuinely likable, someone whom you want to pat and say “there, there” to when something goes wrong.

MOG’s motor is the Mog-O-Matic software, which scans a user’s hard drive for music files and tracks members’ collections. Mog-O-Matic keeps dibs on music files added and how often files are played, extracting the data into site widgets for other members to see. To me, this is the boon and bane of MOG.

Without Mog-O-Matic, the site’s recommendation engine—a primary component of MOG’s appeal—wouldn’t exist. Music lovers would discover each other through what they say they listen to, and not what they actually do listen to. But it’s all a little too Big Brother for me. And I'm sure I'm not the only: Who wants that kind of virtual invasion? Who wants to intentionally install tracking software, regardless of its innocuous purpose?

But I think even beyond that, the concept of MOG is fundamentally flawed: It tracks songs played on your computer. What self-respecting music lover uses their computer as their primary music player? And if you're going to argue that you'd install it on your work computer, where you listen to music all day long, I'll call bullshit. Do you keep your music collection on your work computer? Do you even have install privileges on your work computer?

In spite of these limitations, MOG has created an endearing music community. And even if it never achieves a MySpace-size fan base, there’s always room for a warm nook for audiophiles on the web.