BAD MONEY &THE DECISION TREE

BAD MONEY
Big money in politics is wrong.  Wrong
whether it comes from billionaires, 
corporations, labor unions or any other
form of special interest.
The so called Super PAC's have
revealed who their backers are
and this renewed my fervor.
Regardless, it is a kind of buying of favors.
We will not see a significant improvement
in the quality of governance in the U.S.
until we take big money out of 
electoral politics.
Too much time and effort is spent on raising
money and with the money comes expectations.
The big dollar game of politics today
makes the comment from the old
cynic and iconoclast H.L. Mencken
all the more true.
"Every election is a sort of advance auction
sale of stolen goods."


FACES OF THE DECISION TREE

     Over the mountain, in the Paso Robles wine region

a tree stands as a reminder of the day we decided to move

to California. We call it the "Decision Tree."

     We had made several trips to the area, weighing all of the
factors that would be engaged in such a decision. Moving
across the country to an area where we knew no one, selling and buying a home, leaving friends and family and starting over combined to create multiple questions and all of them lead to the big one-should we do it?

     We had spent several days exploring, thinking, talking 
and knew it was time for a resolution.  We packed a picnic
lunch, drove to see Marc and Maggie, who we had been
introduced to by a mutual friend.  We visited their winery
and drove to a spot along a vineyard, stopped, picnicked under an old tree as we looked over wine country.  Lana and I love old trees and we reasoned this would be a good a place to decide as any.  

     And, so it was here we made the decision to make the move.  Since, we've called it our decision tree.  Well,
a few months ago as we were chatting with Marc and Maggie, who have become friends, we learned that as they debated
weather or not to leave Southern California and buy land to 
create winery, they did the same thing- picnicked under the same tree, what they told us they call their decision tree.

     There's a good view from the decision tree.  Wisdom seems to abound here. Clarity happens and the future seems bright.

See you down the trail.

DECEMBER IN WINE COUNTRY & HUGO

A QUIET REST

An odd and even difficult year for

the Paso Robles appellation is nearing an end.

A late frost and bad weather conditions

has generally lowered the yield of

wine growers, but most say

the quality of the fruit and eventually

the wine will be very good.

But for now the vineyards offer

scenes of quiet, color and a meditative peace.

 Wine pick ups offer the beginning of seasonal feasts.

 A sunny afternoon and the honey display at 

Pipestone, made me feel like a kid.

 A noisy goose and quiet duck-

an animal variation of sweet and sour.  
No menu options intended!

Even vines deserve a rest.

REEL THOUGHTS

HUGO

We loved it from the first frame.  Full disclosure here-

I'm a Martin Scorsese fan.  Still this is a masterful work and in 3D-his first use of the tools.  It's a wonderful
story, perfect for the Christmas season and a very
old fashioned film in the best sense.
Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield as 
Hugo and Chloe Grace Mortez as his friend are all
superb. The visual look and texture is pure magic, and
enhanced by the 3D optics.  But there is even more
to this Scorsese cinema art, and it is a tribute to
film itself.  Without giving away too much,
there is a brilliant celebration of the films
of George Melies, an early and experimental French film maker.  For that that element of the film alone
Scorcese deserves the gratitude of all film fans everywhere.
It is marvelous and enchanting. Brian Selznick's book gave Scorsese a chance to go where he has never gone before as a film maker, and we are the beneficiaries. 
Want to enjoy a film like you did when younger
and less world wise?  This is the ticket.

See you down the trail.

VINES AND STEEL

A VIEW WITH A ROOM

(Paso Robles Appellation)  Aside from the generally excellent wine, a visit to the Denner Winery is enjoyable because of the excellent view.

Approaching from Vineyard you are taken in by the

interaction of steel, vineyard setting and artistry of

architecture.

When owner Ron Denner built his tasting room, he hired San Luis Obispo Architect John R. Mitchell.
Mitchell created a spectacular building, with equally spectacular views.
Denner is a excellent spot to watch the play between
structure and nature, steel and vines.

Even the skies over the vineyard are framed by

the modern structure.

Cheers!
See you down the trail.

GOOD NEWS IN WINE COUNTRY

PASO SHINES

IN ALL SEASONS

Living in the Paso Robles Appellation has its

obvious advantages, but it also has made us

partisans, or provincials.  

We love the beauty of the area, certainly

enjoy the outstanding wine and

we love to share it with friends.

We are also excited when the wine

or the image of area wins awards.

As is the case in the Wine Spectator video contest that you can read about by linking here.

The producer/director is Dina Mande of Juice.

Though it is not my favorite of her work

here's a link to her most recent video which is 

a lot of fun.

After watching this on YouTube, you 

can also access her award winning video

plus her other work.

Congrats to Dina, Christopher Taranato and cheers to all

in the Paso wine district.

See you down the trail.