Beth Mann sent me a couple links to interesting articles regarding chemical pesticide use in the wine industry found here and here.

First was about a study done on chemicals found in wines produced from European vineyards and the other regarding the types and am… Read full post »

Pizza is not hard to make. However, since it is so easy to buy already made, either at your favorite nearby joint or those frozen abominations at the grocery, it may not actually enter your consciousness to give it a try. But should you put forth the effort it is… Read full post »

My friend Greg and I went to Europe in 1989. Kind of a last hurrah after college graduation and before beginning our working lives.

There are many stories to tell about that trip, but the one that sticks in my mind at the moment is the day we were stopped at the Du… Read full post »

I have the good fortune of being friendly with a couple of vintners who own a nearby winery. These men, their families and employees tend about 30 acres of vines and produce about 5,000 cases of wine a year. That may sound like a lot but compared with the big domestic… Read full post »

Visting a winery is more than just going out and buying a bottle or two of wine. As anyone who's been to a good one knows, it's not just the taste of the wine that sticks with you, although that is most important for deciding what you like.

If… Read full post »

I was visiting a friend last night; he and his fiancée live in the old steel town of Coatesville, PA. It's been in the news around the Philadelphia area but it's made national news too: There has been an arsonist(s) setting fire to people's homes at an alarming pac… Read full post »

And that of my brother Daniel, who is only 40.

Tip your stovepipe hat in memory of our 16th president. Happy birthday, Mr. Lincoln (and Dan). Read full post »

I'm sure many people remember the infamous case of eminent domain in New London, Connecticut that made all the papers a few years ago. Briefly, the town of New London wanted to condemn property through the use of eminent domain in order to bolster what they believed would be econo… Read full post »

 Hack?

Dude, chill. I just read a critique of Billy Joel's music on Slate. Read it here if you're interested: http://www.slate.com/id/2209526/

So you don't like Billy Joel. His music is an assault on your aural passages. He oozes self pity and has, in your view, a misogynist's view… Read full post »

 ...or Why I No Longer Fear the Bush Administration

Either Brian Williams or Tom Brokaw, I can't remember which, made an uncharacteristically brilliant observation yesterday. During the inauguration ceremonies, one of them said that Dick Cheney was looking a little like Dr.… Read full post »

Benny's Scarecrow

My family moved to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in 1976 when I was a kid and I lived there until I went to college in 1985. There during the summers to hang with friends and get into trouble and back again after graduation, I've lived in and around that place fo… Read full post »

I lost the post I was working on yesterday. My internet service crapped out and what I had been writing disappeared without a trace...I'll give it another shot though I assure what I wrote yesterday was much better than what follows here.

The remake movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still"… Read full post »

This is my first post...I signed up for Open Salon a couple weeks ago and have been browsing posts by other members and trying to get the feel for this. It seems the topics range a huge spectrum, so perhaps there is a place here for a few pointless missives from me.… Read full post »