Spring yet?

With Zeus and Achilles still wreaking snow havoc, even the tomatoes think it's fall....

Convention Goodies

Just in time for record snowfall and disturbing national news, Geek Convention Season began this weekend, with Anime Detour sounding the opening horn.  Only the second "Con" I've ever been to, I'm hardly an expert or honestly a huge anime fan, but there's usually something interesting to make it worth the trip.

Mixed in with panel discussions of Hetalia, Naruto, and How To Make a Furry Costume, there were presentations for grown-ups that included the history of Japanese theater, how to design, implement, and market your own web comic, and enough Dr. Who, Steampunk, and Zombie tangents to make you forget it's supposed to be about anime.

When it comes to the usual convention hospitality features, Detour seems to have learned a thing or two in the ten years it's existed.  Rather than being handed a sack full of sugar candy, convention-goers were given swag bags that included authentic gear and Japanese goodies.  Ramune, Pocky, and Ramen. 

There's nothing special about that on the surface, except at Detour, you find these things in iterations that you can't get elsewhere:  giant glass bottles of the melon-flavored soda directly imported rather than the smaller U.S.-made versions, matcha-flavored stick cookies rather than the ubiquitous strawberry, and ramen bowls that wouldn't be in your local mega-grocery. 

Ramune  (rah-myoon-ay)

The anti-can soda.  If you've ever missed what the old Coca-Cola bottles were like, you'll want to try one of these.  There's something special about a bottle that instructs potential imbibers to seek adult supervision before opening.  Part sculpture, part sugar delivery system, you can only partake of the soda by first removing a plunger that's molded into the top cap, and then using said plunger and the palm of your hand to plonk a glass marble into the top compartment of the bottle.  Thus begins the fizz and the clinking noise as you try not to let the marble drop back into the top of the bottle to block the soda once again.

                                           A freshly-opened Ramune with fizzing glass marble


Disembodied plastic plungers and clinking bottles were found in every viewing room at the convention.  Even with bubble tea in the offering, Ramune was the apparent go-to choice for the weekend.

Pocky

I've written about matcha previously, and have even documented an unsuccessful attempt to make matcha-flavored macaroons.  There are all kinds of things flavored with the traditional green tea, but Pocky wouldn't be the first thing you'd think of if you've ever tried their chocolate or strawberry sticks.  Despite this, it works. 

If you're not prepared to try the real stuff, this might be a gateway.  Still bitter and grassy, but sweetened well enough that you won't have to brace yourself.  Not easy to find most places, but not impossible.  Convenient to tuck into a bento box.

Ramen Bowl

Well, noodles are noodles.  This version contains a packet with pieces of dried squid, unlabeled fish bits, and other flavorings.  So, opinion will vary as to whether this was a welcome addition to the swag bag, but it's hard to argue against its authenticity. 

And if you grow tired of waiting in line for the elevator or getting smacked in the shoulder when the guy with the huge wooden sword turns around to take a picture with the Totoro mascot, there are other surprises lurking.  Everyone's favorite Dr. You-Know-Who might be waiting for you at the Manga Reading Room....

c:_:

The Glassware-That-Must-Not-Be-Named

 

So, does it make a difference if you drink wine from the same glass each time? Do you need a fishbowl to down some Burgundy?  A flute for Champagne? Most people would say no, but I was told that there was a class offered each year at Cook's of Crocus Hill that would change my mind.  I arrived with a healthy amount of skepticism.

This particular class was hawking a particular line of glassware that you've probably seen even in a Target store, but the tasting mat was full of legal jargon warning everyone not to take pictures and that no one would be served who arrived already intoxicated, no one was implored to finish everything that was poured, etc.  First rule of Wine Club - no one talks about Wine Club.  I really wondered if this was going to be as fun as advertised.  Why the secrecy? 

First up was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough variety.  Independent "boutique" winery of origin.  Served in its corresponding vessel which is taller and less bowl-like, with a narrow lip.  It sipped like grapefruit juice, which was strange, because Sauvignon is typically more grass-and-gooseberry.  There had to be something different about the wine itself.

We then poured it into the other glasses, and the room started buzzing as the grapefruit disappeared.  The plastic dixie cup did its job - turned it into 3-Buck-Chuck.  The Bordeaux and Burgundy bowls still made the wine palatable, but the grapefruit simply wasn't there in the nose or the sip.  Looking around the room, you'd think the guests were watching a Copperfield show.  "Where did it go?"

Over the course of the evening, we learned that the amount of space in the bowl and the distance from stem to lip makes the wine breathe differently and hit the tongue in a particular way.   Larger bowls favor older wines because there's more breathing required to get rid of the barnyard gas from the aging process.  Whites don't typically need to breathe so much, which is why they're served in narrower versions.  There are literally as many different glass designs as there are potholes on Lake Street, and you could go mad purchasing a different glass for each wine.

Though I was impressed with the Sauvignon Blanc magic show, it wasn't entirely convincing.  The glass did make a difference for the Pinot and the Sauvignon, but not the Chardonnay or the Cabernet.  Pouring them into different glasses only made them taste flatter, not entirely different.  The takeaway is that it's probably best to have a couple of good red burgundy bowls around if you have a really special older bottle of red that's waiting to be uncorked, but not essential to own stock in the Glassware-That-Must-Not-Be-Named in order to enjoy your wine.

While I didn't walk away a born-again Glassist, I did appreciate that there was a logic behind the design and I did get to take home my own set of grape-specific glassware.  If I ever have a need to keep a room full of people entertained for twenty minutes, I may have to revisit the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc idea again.

c:_:

Krabby Easter

I wasn't sure if this was social commentary given the week we've all had at the office, or if my co-worker simply knows where to get the good stuff, but I found this on my desk today in a little basket with some Easter chocolates.  Krusty spring greetings to you and yours!

c:_:

Improv as Blood Sport

Never thought you could see someone die laughing?  Think again!  I spent an evening watching the showcase set of Comedy Sportz this weekend - a free offering that serves as graduation for the folks in the third level of Improv Comedy training.  There is a component of audience participation, but it's rare to be invited on stage to be a part of the action....and I learned why as I watched a family member get knocked in the nose and nearly off her chair during "Fly in My Soup." 

Even if you're not a fan of comedy as contact sport, Comedy Sportz is a longstanding Twin Cities entertainment tradition that's worth checking out. It's also a national franchise, but I remember going to the professional sets in the early 90's when they were in a small theater in Uptown and when I was young enough that getting downtown was an adventure, Wayne and Garth style.  They have a censored and non-censored version, so if you're more into adult humor, you may want to check out the 18+ show at 10:30. They have training classes and an amateur rec league that offer shows on a monthly/quarterly basis and it's convenient to all the usual hot spots on Lake Street/Calhoun Square.  Something different.  All Comedy.  30% Sport. 

 

Your friendly referee tracks the score, takes audience suggestions, and calls the fouls.

 

 

The Red Team pondering the meaning of life and lucrative jag-you-ares.

 

c:_:

 

End of Winter Warm-Up : Wine Reads

I've had a couple of houseguests this winter.  James May and Oz Clarke have been frequently entertaining me on cold winter evenings with their 3-season tv series on wine and spirits.  If you haven't had a chance to catch their "Big Wine Adventure" series either on tv, dvd, or internet - make haste and find it, my friends.  Part fish-out-of-water odd-couple comedy, part BBC documentary, they go through the major wine regions of France and California, visiting real-life vignerons and serendipitously teaching the viewer about how wine is made along the way.  The third series sees them traveling in a camping trailer through the UK on a quest to find the beer, whiskey, or wine that "speaks" for their home country.

Oz and James are also prolific authors in their respective fields (Oz for wine, James for cars and "manliness"), and it's through the tv series that I've added a few new books to my home library over the winter.  With Daylight Savings approaching, I thought I'd share my thoughts on several of the wine-related books (from various authors) that I've found the most enlightening and would recommend to the neophyte looking to study up before the local vineyards open for tours this spring.  Scroll down for the list.


Oz and James' Big Wine Adventure Episode 4 - Alsace (Give it 5 minutes, you'll be hooked!)

"Grapes and Wines" Oz Clarke & Margaret Rand.  2010.  Sterling Epicure. 320 pages.

One of the most reader-friendly formats I've come across thus far.  Rather than drag you through the history of wine and over-complicating the information by listing it by wine regions, it devotes a chapter to each of the major grapes and then leads you through what the world's regions have done (or not done) with that grape over time.  Best way to answer the age-old question : "What does that wine taste like?" without having to lift a glass.

"Secrets of the Sommeliers : How to Think and Drink Like the World's Top Wine Professionals" Rajat Parr, Jordan Mackay, Ed Anderson.  2010.  Ten Speed Press.  240 pages.

This is the story of wine as a service and a product moreso than a volume praising how wine is made.  It follows the career path of a top Sommelier, from humble beginnings to virtual superstardom (in wine terms).  Endless tastings, academic study, and more tastings.  For many of us, the goal is to simply be able to choose something interesting to go with dinner or to know a thing or two about where a particular wine comes from, but the wine professional quite literally breathes wine culture.  To be able to pin down an unknown wine to place, year, and vineyard isn't a talent that can be wholly learned.  You have to be born with a gifted palate and the drive to develop it.  If you've ever secretly wondered what it would take to be the ultimate wine geek, this is a book you want to read.

"Judgement of Paris : California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine" George M. Taber.  2006.  Scribner.  352 pages.

The true story that inspired the nice, but campy film "Bottle Shock," this is the account of the rise of California wine's prominence on the world stage.  Get the book to learn about the tasting, where the over-confident French judges were sure they'd pick a French wine as their top choice, only to find they'd given their votes to small California producers.  Don't be suprised, however, if you find yourself enjoying the book for what it doesn't mention about the 1976 event.  This is a history of California winemaking told in refreshingly readable narrative detail: the Polish immigrant who gives up a comfortable midwestern teaching career and uproots his young family to become an apprentice winemaker, the old-school dreamer who hung on to his vines during Prohibition, the first futile attempts to graft grapes to rootstock - you'll soon forget you picked up the book to read about the Grand Tasting.  The process of "being" a winemaker is described in such detail, you'll begin to feel like it's something you might be able to do yourself, if you weren't stuck indoors during a snowstorm...

"Wine Bites: 64 Simple Nibbles That Pair Perfectly with Wine" Barbara Scott-Goodman.  2011.  Chronicle Books LLC.  160 pages.

This was part of a charity basket I won at auction last fall, and it's full of inspiring small-plate selections and suggestions for pairing them with wine.  Sure, it's one in an ocean of similarly-themed books, but it keeps things simple, and the photography is inspiring.  I've tried the onion "tart"/flatbread recipe, and as soon as the ground thaws out, I plan to try more of the recipes for quick dinners and entertaining friends.  Though it's geared toward having things prepared to serve with a wine-focused party, the recipes would be fine with beer or different types of tea.  Don't let the title stifle your creativity.

On my Spring reading list:

"How to Land an A330 Airbus: And Other Vital Skills for the Modern Man"  James May. 2012.  Sourcebooks, Incorporated.

Not at all related to wine, but an extension of the "Man" that is James May.  He waxes philosophic about nine essential skills every man must know in order to get by in modern times.  If you've ever seen his tv series "Man Lab," you'll understand this book's potential appeal for the general reader.

Enjoy the last vestiges of winter, and let the experts entertain you as you plan your warm-weather travels for 2013!

c:_: