St. Paddy's day, beer, gay senators, and brewers

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday yesterday. Katie and I had a good time. Started out at Halliday's right across from Zaffiro's. Sat out in their beer garden, it was almost too hot in the sun. Then we decided to move over to Paddy's but couldn't find a cab. The situation demanded we stop in Jamo's for a quick beer while we call a cab and wait. Then we made it over to paddy's, pounded a $10 corned beef sandwich. Then we walked on over to champion's and finished the night off at county clare. Good times were had and Katie and I actually called it an early night. Made some corned beef last night and I'm about to slice some of that up for lunch today. It was a good day.

In other news, I saw a couple interesting documentaries the other day. One was about the enormous amount of closeted gay politicians in Washington. These guys are so ashamed of themselves and so committed to the lies it's hilarious. It'd be awesome if I could remember what it was called so you could watch it yourself. Ok I looked it up, it's called "outrage." Check out www.blogactive.com if you are interested.

The other documentary I watched was about how the beer industry's success is a result of strict marketing and not consumer preference. They poured miller lite, coors light, and bud light into three unlabeled glasses and had people guess what they were drinking. They all failed. I tried it for myself the other night... failed, but Katie owned it. Pretty funny how everyone is selling the same crap beer but we all convince ourselves that we have various preferences.

They also had a little blip on how the big three -- bud, coors, miller, destroy any semblance of micro competition. DRINK MILLER!

Brewers? Not quite yet. I got to see what they do with their pitching situation first. Also, any sort of sports excitement expressed by me on this blog has been crushed with the worst possible outcomes. I'm seriously terrified to say anything. I apparently know absolutely nothing about sports. I am always wrong, on everything. So with that said, Brewers, 88 wins this year... Battling for the wild card.

a post!

Something really pisses me off. Oprah claimed on her show that it's not necessary to tip on wine in restaurants. Women everywhere are listening. I want someone to make an argument with me on this. Here's my thinking. Wine service is the most involved task that I'm required to do with a table. Going from recommending a bottle, presentation, and constant filling of the glasses. Anyone can put a plate of food in front of someone.

Let me tell you how this business works. The servers are required to claim a percentage of their sales as their income tax. If they sell a $1200 bottle of wine, they're being taxed on it. So you're not only shorting them on the tip, but you're making them claim a larger uncompensated income tax. Servers are also required to tip the bar based on their bar sales at the end of the night, you're screwed out of that percentage as well. Oprah, #%$^ you!

On a lighter note, Katie and I returned from our work trip to California. Learned a lot. Kind of think Napa Valley is boring and repetitive. Nothing but the same big cab by every vintner. Then they all have their cute little bordeaux blends. Personally I thought they all tasted the same. The fun vineyards are found on the side road appellations. I recommend everyone check out Howell Mountain on the northwest outskirts of Napa County.

Sonoma had the best stuff. Much more laid back, less corporate. What a lot of people don't get is that these wine makers are nothing but very successful farmers. Half the tastings were done in some barn in the middle of a farm. We came home with some fantastic stuff.

I'll talk about the brewers tomorrow, I got to shower and get ready for work early now so I can watch as much as this spring training game as possible. Rock on!