Dilbert on Online Reviews
As someone that relies on online reviews for almost everything, I take offense to anyone that does this:
Please never do this...
Notaviva Wine & Music Pairing
Last night we did the Notaviva wine & music pairing that I mentioned earlier. First of all the building that we did the tasting in was awesome. Set at the end of a gravel road, almost the entire building was exposed wood. There were three levels to the building, and the top level was a recording/production studio. As I mentioned before, they played 10 clips of songs for each wine and we rated them based on a 1-10 scale. There was a wide range of music genres from organ music, to Metallica, to country and so on. It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I ended up trying to think of the wine I was drinking, and what kind of music I would like to be hearing when I was drinking it. Others tried to think of the subtleties of the wine (bitter, long finish, etc.) and if that went with the wine. I would say by the 3rd or 4th wine (out of 5) – we trailed off and were just feeling good to be drinking wine. Notaviva said that they were going to release the results of the ratings and also the raw data to us, so I’m wondering what that will look like. Either way, a fun way to spend some time with friends.
With the winemaker from Notaviva
Update, check out the picture set on Flickr: Notaviva Music & Wine Pairing
The Notaviva Experience
Continuing posts about wine – this weekend we will be going to the Notaviva Vineyards One Year Anniversary wine tasting. This isn’t just a normal tasting, it’s the “World’s First Wine & Music Pairing“. Here’s some information straight from the site about the tasting:
For the first time, a select group of wine and music enthusiasts can participate in a live experiment based on experiential sensory pairings. The event has been designed to ensure an unbiased forum for the consideration of the complex ways in which auditory stimuli can influence the perception of wines. The event shall proceed as follows:
- Five wines will be individually presented (4 oz blind tasting)
- Each wine will be accompanied by ten 30-second clips of music from widely varying genres with a 5-second silent pause between clips
- The clips will then be repeated
- Tasters will have evaluation materials available to rate each clip according to the current wine being tasted
- Evaluation materials will be collected at the end of the evening and loaded into a research database for graphical presentation on the Web
This definitely sounds interesting. I’m not sure if different music will affect what I’m tasting or the perception of how a wine tastes, but I’m willing to try! I’ll let you know how it goes.
Trip to Sonoma and San Francisco
I’ve been meaning to post about my (somewhat) recent trip to Sonoma/San Francisco – and if you follow my Flickr photostream, you’ve already seen the pictures. If not, check out the pictures from our trip here.
I’ve been wanting to go on this trip ever since we saw Sideways. The idea was to go to Napa and Sonoma and check out a ton of wineries, but once we got over there we found that there was so much to do just in Sonoma. There wasn’t any need to spread ourselves too thin. We flew into San Francisco on a Thursday morning and stopped by Sausalito for a quick lunch at a great taco place called the Salsalito Taco Shop.
Salsas at the Salsalito Taco Shop
Jasmine Plant
Jasmine Bloom
In my last home, I got barely any sunlight and the Jasmine plant that my Grandma gave me nearly 6 years ago only had about 3 blooms total – and that was when my A/C unit died for a long weekend. In my new house, it is starting to thrive. With an Eastern facing window, plenty of morning sunlight and more attention and water from me – there should be about 20-25 blooms in the next two weeks. It’s hard to tell from these pictures, but you can see how much healthier the plant is compared to a few years ago (it just looked like a growing twig). My grandma would be proud.
Jasmine Plant over the years on Flickr.
Washington Capitals v. Pittsburgh Penguins – Game 2
I made it out to the Verizon Center last night to support the Caps in the semi-finals against the Penguins. It was an amazing game, Caps are now up 2-0 in the series thanks to another clutch goal by Steckel and of course Ovechkin with his first playoff hat trick. The series is moving back to Pittsburgh, so I will have to watch the next couple games on TV. I’m glad I went, because I have never heard the Verizon Center as loud as the video above. The fans poured out into the streets and there were cars honking and people cheering “CAPS CAPS CAPS!”. Finally, something to root for in this town. Check out my pictures here.
On a side note, I have been reading a ton of Caps stories everywhere online, but I have especially enjoyed the Capitals Insider, DC Sports Bog and Mike Wise’s piece on Donald Brashear lately. Click through for more videos and pictures from the game.
Go Caps!
I haven’t posted in a long time. I’ve been busy but also have been glued to the TV rooting for the Caps in the NHL Playoffs. They barely pulled out the series win against the Rangers, and so far so good in our 2nd round series against the Penguins – thanks to a brilliant save from Varlamov. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Robbed Crosby of his second goal of the game.
The Rentals Return (again)
One of my favorite bands of all time keep coming back better than ever – The Rentals. They’re going to be releasing . Following in the footsteps of NIN & Radiohead, they will be releasing a digital download of a mini album every quarter in 2009 with 3-4 songs on it. The price is fair for $4, but they’re also offering pretty enticing packages beyond the standard download. Check out the tracks at therentals.com, and youtube videos here. I won’t say that I’m not thinking about investing in the Limited Deluxe Edition for $275:
- Hardcover coffee table photo book of exclusive images, photographed by Matt Sharp in connection with Songs About Time
- Four-LP set of Songs About Time on 180 gram vinyl with unreleased exclusive bonus tracks. This vinyl set will ONLY be available in the Limited Edition Package!
- Three CD-set of all 3 Songs About Time Mini Albums
- CD of Films About Weeks original soundtrack scores
- High-Def DVD of Films About Weeks Video Collection
- Two all-access VIP backstage passes to a future Rentals show of your choice (tickets must be purchased separately).
- One undeveloped roll of black and white 35mm film shot by Matt Sharp during a single day in 2009
- Exclusive access to online photo gallery to post and share the images from your personal 35mm roll of film.
- Immediate Free download of all Songs About Time Premium Digital Mini Albums as they becomes available including the exclusive “A Thousand Seasons Past” music video. Your download includes 100% DRM free, high quality FLAC files, 320kbps MP3 audio and Mp4 video files, a 35-page PDF booklet and wallpapers. The files will arrive as zip archives.
- Each Limited Edition is numbered and signed by The Rentals and personalized per request (you will receive an email prior to the shipping date to choose your dedication)
My Favorite Arlington Restaurants (March 2009)
It seems I have written more and more about food and restaurants lately. Finding out and trying new restaurants is one of my favorite things to do and there is no shortage of places to try around DC. I thought that I would start off by writing about places that I’ve eaten at tens of times – my favorite places in Arlington. Rather than serve up some of the typical favorites of mine (Faccia Luna, Whitlows, Harry’s Taproom) I’ll try to keep it to places that are less typical and more the “gems” of Arlington as well as give you some inside tips. All of these places are super cheap, so you can keep going back without it hurting your wallet.
Peruvian Chicken
El Pollo Rico – I was introduced to Pollo Rico almost a decade ago when I was doing some temp work in Ballston. An employee at whatever place I was working took me there for lunch and my life hasn’t been the same ever since. There was a short stint where I thought it had disappeared when the 1021 condos knocked down the shady strip mall it used to be in, but found it after college on quiet Kenmore St.
Pollo Rico has the best Peruvian rotisserie chicken, period. Every place in the area tries to be like it but fails. Pio-Pio, Edy’s, Crisp & Juicy don’t come close. They don’t have yucca, but the chicken is the real star. Get extra mild sauce, and mix it with the hot (green) sauce. Insider tip: for a complete authentic meal, get an Inca Kola. I couldn’t place the taste until a year or two ago, but Inca Kola tastes like cotton candy. Don’t judge, just try it. An order of quarter chicken with fries, cole slaw and and an Inca Kola will run you about $6. Even Anthony Bourdain dropped by in his DC episode of No Reservations (@ 7:50). Oh yeah, cash only.
Tons of beers
Lost Dog Cafe – Lost Dog is off the beaten path in the Westover neighborhood of Arlington. You would probably never run into it unless someone told you to go there. Lost Dog specializes in having a huge variety of sandwiches to try along with some pretty good pizzas. My favorite sandwich is the Balboa or the Bureaucrat. I also highly recommend the chili.
In addition to all the sandwiches and pizza that they offer, they have a few hundred bottles of beer to choose from (and some on tap too). Half of the restaurant is for selling microbrews and six packs of beer and the other half is the dining area. Insider Tip: if you’re coming to get bombed, you’ll max out at 3 beers. Since they’re in a fairly residential neighborhood, they wanted to keep it neighborhoody. So…order the big beers.
awesome burritos
El Charrito – My sister has been touting this place for a while and I’ve only recently become obsessed with it. The back story is that El Charrito used to be a mobile taco vendor until they moved into a store front right on Washington Blvd. I haven’t ventured too deep into the menu, mostly sticking with the burrito supremes (I get the pork, but I haven’t heard a bad thing about the chicken, or the veggie version). I want to work up the courage to try the goat burrito, but haven’t yet. The rice and beans are also great.
Don’t plan on grabbing a table, this place is pretty much only walk up and take out orders. There are some bar stools there, but I haven’t seen anyone eat their entire meal there yet. Insider tip: Like Pollo Rico, cash only – and tax is included. There’s something awesome about ordering a $4 burrito, and paying $4. Rice & beans will run you $3, but could serve two.
Try these places out, and let me know what you think.
Readability
I recently found a great bookmarklet that has earned a spot on my bookmarks toolbar. Readability. When reading an article online you can remove all the distracting clutter surrounding the content by clicking on it. There are multiple settings you can do to customize how you want to read your articles as well. Check out the video below.
