The Good
In the last year my wife and I have become addicted to the show Mad Men. I know, we tend to be a little late arriving to these kind of parties, but we are here now. For those who don’t know, and there can’t be very many of you, Mad Men centers around the lives, beverage choices, and infidelities of a group of Madison Avenue ad executives in the early 1960s. The show is clever, and has a real eye for the details of the media world in the early 60s, taking a really interesting look at some famous ad campaigns from the past.
Anyway, Tamara Belgard of Sip With Me fame wrote a great post that pairs some of the main characters from the show with a variety of wine (beware of some spoilers if you aren’t caught up with the show). I don’t think she could have hit Joan any better than she did -
Joan Harris is the seductive, cunning and manipulative Office Manager
at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Before she was married, she was
briefly involved with Roger Sterling. She’s very Marilyn Monroe-esque—
always in style and totally rocking the curves. Joan’s a smooth and
silky, seductive Merlot—pretty, fleshy, soft and sensual though complex
and easy (to drink) yet—often passed over for something more complex.
The Bad
It’s not often that a person gets to have the experience of going into a restaurant and listening while the maître d’ shouts into the phone, threatening to “smoke” someone. Well, Katie Pizzuto had the pleasure of such an experience at a local Italian joint, and wrote a post about it on her Gonzo Gastronomy blog. I would say that this qualifies as a “Bad” experience.
As a side note, Katie also introduced me to a new addition to my pantheon of musical favorites this week. This part isn’t bad, but I’m taking to opportunity to share the Bob Schneider love. The guy is a lyrical miracle worker. Check out this vid, and make sure and track down more of his stuff if you get a chance.
The Ugly
You guys had to know that this was coming somewhere. This is the last I’m going to say about this mess, but the Ugly this week is definitely the insanity behind the busted sale of the Cap*Rock winery to Gruet. I worked a lot with Russ Kane from VintageTexas on tracking the goings on. Russ did a fantastic job of tracking down information on the whole situation, while I did the Lubbock legwork, running around the to the courthouse (which turned out to be a fool’s errand), and then to Cap*Rock for the press conference.
Cheers!
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Wow, I’m truly honored to have made the cut this week. Thanks Ben! The Gruet deal’s certainly an ugly one, hopefully forgotten soon!
Ben, I realize Lubbock is nowhere near Austin, but that’s where Bob is from. In fact, he plays at the Saxon Pub and Antones regularly, when he isn’t touring the country….nothing like going to see him live. He’s a mad genius and deserves a lot more attention than he’s ever gotten, but something tells me he kinda likes flying under the radar. Glad you’re diggin’ him!
You bet! Loved the post.
Yeah, that’s the last I’m going to mention it for a while, although I still have to cover the completed sale on Tuesday/Wednesday.
Yeah, I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about him before, him being from Austin and all. I do plan on trying to take a trip out to Austin soon, so I might have to check his performance schedule to pick the time of the trip. Thanks again for turning me onto him.
Bob’s the man.