Consolation Champs

Very very funny and interesting report about a night out to see a movie in mainland China. The best part was about the loud conversations going on all over the theatre in Cantonese, especially the guy on his cellphone. A very different experience, indeed. The entry on buying pirated DVDs is also great. (via boingboing)

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Slate’s wine columnist Mike Steinberger weighs in on Sideways, perhaps my favourite film of 2004. Though he generally likes it, he can’t help but display some typical wine geek insecurity. He worries that Paul Giamatti’s portrayal of Miles Raymond, a character who is, in his words, “a bit of a wine asshole” will reflect badly […]

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I was signing up for some online games at EA Sports Big and I was asked if I wanted to sign up for some optional offers. Here was one of them: “Learn about Saudi Arabia’s fight against terrorism. Get weekly updates from Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia regarding current issues such as war on terrorism, […]

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Here’s an excellent introduction to the magic of Bollywood, including a whole lot of free MP3s. (via boingboing)

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Review
Wine Report 2005, by Tom Stevenson. (Dorling Kindersley, 432 pages, 2004). $20.00.
This annual guide was one of my favourite finds last year. Its aim, as described by editor Tom Stevenson, is to “provide a one-stop update on what has happened in the world of wine over the previous 12 months.” In my review of last […]

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Review
A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth, and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma, by Alan Deutschman. (Broadway Books, 221 pages, 2003). $22.95.
With such an unwieldy title, I feared that this book might turn out to be an impenetrable sociological treatise. Fortunately and unfortunately, it’s more breezy and gossipy than that. […]

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Review
Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France, by Kermit Lynch (HarperCollins, 288 pages, 1988). $24.00
Kermit Lynch is in the same business as Lifford. He imports and sells wine. Except that Kermit travels around France and personally chooses the blends and barrels of wine that he wants to import and sell to […]

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Review
The World Atlas of Wine, Fifth Edition, by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson (Mitchell Beazley, 352 pages, 2001). $75.00
As I was reading Kermit Lynch’s book, I realized just how indispensible a wine atlas has become. It’s fine to know vaguely where Burgundy and Bordeaux are located, but when authors (and wine critics) start dropping the […]

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Review
The Hachette Guide to French Wines 2004: The Definitive Guide to Over 9,000 of the Best Wines of France. (Mitchell Beazley, 1,019 pages, 2003). $50.00.
Boasting over 9,000 entries, the annual Hachette Guide is one of the most comprehensive wine guides to this most intimidating of wine producing countries. 900 wine experts make the selection of […]

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Review
The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, by Michael Ruhlman. (Henry Holt, 305 pages, 2001). $23.95.
Although I’ve never seriously considered becoming a chef, I must admit to a certain fascination with the profession. After reading Michael Ruhlman’s book, I hesitate to even call it a profession any longer; it’s […]

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