The Good
Every week I find more material than I need for “The Good” portion of this post, and this week was no exception. I want to call out a couple of items this week.
First, my friend Steve Paulo from Notes From the Cellar posted a list of wine-themed movie quotes. From my communication with him online, I picture Steve as being a movie quote guru, able to rattle off the perfect line from a movie (or song for that matter), for absolutely any situation. I also wanted to congratulate Steve on completing his first 6 months of wine blogging. Kudos Steve!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Tweet and Taste Michigan event that I participated in this week. Shannon Casey from Michigan by the Bottle did a great job of putting this event together, and I had a great time experiencing Michigan wine for the first time.
The Bad
Okay, so I’m trying to use my VAST influence on the wine blogging world to be a force for positive change; I like to give a little back to the community. 
That being said, I want to use this portion of the post to call for the return of The Wine Whore to the blogosphere. This last week elapsed without a post from my old pal Randy, and I miss him. Come back to us Randy, you whore, you!
PS – Randy, I certainly understand how crazy things can get here in the real world, so please take this in the spirit it was intended, as good clean fun. I honestly hope to see you posting again soon, but I also understand that stuff gets in the way sometimes.
The Ugly
A big welcome back to the Hosemaster of Wine, who is back to his old hijinks, this time roasting 1WineDude, Joe Roberts. I have to say that Joe’s fear of puppets seems to be perfectly logical in the face of the horrifying image that the Hosemaster uses for the post. I halfway expect to be brutally murdered by the Howdy Doody puppet after it jumps out of my computer screen. <Shiver>.
Update: The Twitterverse is aflutter right now with the news about some new anti-consumerist legislation that is in front of congress right now. Thanks to Brian from Norcal Wingman for mentioning this in the comments. This is definitely going to be ugly for consumers if it goes through.
I’m going to have to start keeping my eyes out for some ugly things out there.
You could include Steve in your BAD part too because it’s BAD that he hasn’t gotten a scholarship yet! booooooo
I miss Randy too. People may not always agree with his style, but he’s such a nice guy!
Josh
Josh, if you’re looking for “ugly”, why didn’t you mention the Seattle Mariners?
ZING!!!
Dude, you are so right about Steve’s scholarship. I am about ready to start a huge campaign to get him there, but it would have to be through the scholarship process since the conference is sold out. Hope he’s one of the ones added today.
Yep, Randy is a nice guy. I hope to see him back.
Ooooohhhh, snap! He just went there Josh!
Joe AND Ben, you just wait, the Mariners are getting their sea legs…you like how I did that, connected Mariners and ocean-stuff! lmfao! There’s a reason they play all 162 games
Josh
You guys are all so sweet
Working the angles if I can’t get a full scholarship… we’ll see what happens!
Ben, Here’s some really Ugly stuff
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/41581
Call your Congressman now!
Later
Brian
http://norcalwingman.com
Yeah, I’m not counting the M’s out yet for sure. They don’t even have Cliff Lee or Bedard back yet, which will sure help. Also, my Rangers aren’t looking great either, especially at closing out games, so I don’t have much room to talk.
You are definitely right about that. Saw that after I’d already posted. I’m adding it as an update. Thanks!
Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. If you have some pathetic pictures of yourself, I’m happy to use them in a fund-raising post.
As always, love it, love it, love it. I too am happy to see Hosemaster back, maybe he’ll parody you one day!
I can only hope to be so lucky.
Thanks for the mention! I am always afraid that I may one day get nominated for the Ugly!
I don’t see that happening, but you might try to stay on my good side, just in case.
That hosemaster post was pretty funny… I’m a fan.
As for the WSWA thing, the biggest problem for distributors and retailers is the unevenness of state laws… I live in GA, and can buy online from out of state sites and stores… but GA retailers can’t sell online and ship. Retailers, most of whom are small businesses in GA, are at a competitive disadvantage. Wholesalers feel a alight pinch of that in GA too, but I think it is the retailers in my state who are hurting as a result.
Obviously the best solution is for each individual state to fix their laws, but we can’t even get Sunday sales passed in GA thanks to our conservative governor and legislature. I don’t think the WSWA solution is a good one obviously. I think the three tier system can work without messing up direct shipping for everyone. The WSWA approach is very shortsighted- much of what wineries direct ship isn’t readily available through distributors… it doesn’t really affect their business IMO. What they need to do is pressure individual states to make their markets more competitive by allowing wine retailers to compete online.
I’ve worked in distribution and now am a supplier. It can all work with a little common sense. Almost all accounts need distributors to buy from and almost all wineries need distributors to sell their products to accounts. Distributors have to collect taxes for the state. It can be a functional system at its heart, while still allowing for consumers to purchase online and wineries to direct ship.
well said, Matt. I work in distribution (different industry), and some direct sales have actually helped us by bringing to market new products and ideas that our dealers can sell with more ease now that there is awareness.
Just joshin’ on the Mariners.
Paulo should get out to W-squared. I’m in the same boat with waiting on scholarship to come though…