Food and Wine Show

My daughter and I attended the Food and Wine Show today in Madison, WI, at the Alliant Energy Center exhibition hall.

Some people think that these kind of events are for rich people, which isn't true. Most of the wine costs about $10 to $20 a bottle. And the beer is even less espensive.

Once we paid the fee at the door, everything else was free. And the best way to find out which wine you like is to sample many different kinds. My wife and I have discovered that we like the sweeter wines. And I tend to like either the lighter beers or the very dark beers.

My favorite was the Blueberry Mead at the White Winter Winery booth. My second favorite drink was the pumpkin spice coffee at the Cameron's Coffee booth.

There was a variety of things to drink and eat at the show: different kinds of cheese, wine, beer, pizza, barbecue sauce, and more. And there was a chef's cook off and cooking demonstrations. Some grocery stores and restaurants had samples and exhibits.

My daughter and I had a lot of fun at this show on this rainy day in Madison.

Some people at the Food and Wine show today. 

This very nice lady was selling a kind of cord necklace you could put your wine glass into and hang the glass around your neck. 

I had great pumpkin spice coffee at this booth with a shot of caramel in it. 

I sampled the barbecue sauce at this booth and it was excellent. The brand is called Saz's. 

Great metal art by Steve Combronne. See more at stevecambronne.com I especially liked the Tiki Bar piece. 

Great beer from a Canadian brewery. I liked the Original Dark. The story of this brewery is interesting and can be found at sleeman.com under the section called Our Story. Basically, the brewery was shut down during prohibition and then started back up in 1988. 

I really liked these wine glasses. They're even more attractive than the photo shows. 

The sample of mustard I tried was very good. 

We had some excellent mead at this booth. I especially liked the blueberry mead and the sweet mead. 

Cheese sculptures. 

A chef cook off was part of the fun at the Food and Wine show in Madison. 

2nd Annual Trip To Help the Homeless

I received an E-mail from Sue stating that her church group will be going down to Chicago from Zion on December 16th to give aid to the homeless.

This wonderful group from Zion Revival Center is once again taking a busload of stuff down to the homeless in Chicago. Hot soup and clothing are passed out.

I went last year and enjoyed it immensely. It really is great to help people, especially at Christmas. I'd like to thank Sue, Ken, and their group for inviting me along.

Movies and TV may be Doomed

A friend came into town and wanted to go see the movie "Doom." So, from the beginning, I knew this movie wouldn't win any academy awards. And I was right but not in a way I expected.

It started while I was waiting for the movie to start. I had to sit through a couple of commercials, and in the movie theater, you don't have a remote control so that you can fast forward through the commercials.

Then the movie started. I was restless and impatient throughout the movie. Why? I play video games on a regular basis. In a video game, you are the soldier, basketball player, airplane pilot or whatever. In a video game, you are responsible for cleaning out the aliens, winning the basketball game, or flying the airplane.

In a movie, you watch someone else fight the aliens, play basketball, or fly the plane. And in certain movies, like "Doom," that can be boring.

So, in other words, because of video games, movies are becoming less appealing to me. And from what I read, this is especially true for kids that grew up with video games. Television ratings are down. Movie ticket sales were down for the summer.

I don't think TV or movies are going to go away soon, but they have some real competition now from video games.

The movie "Doom" isn't that great but it's not the worst movie I've ever seen either.

Hollywood needs to wake up and smell the joysticks. And now I'm off to save the princess, fly my spaceship, and terminate some aliens. (Just so you know, I only terminate bad or evil aliens, not the cute ones.)

The city gave us a new recycle bin (see photo below). So, we had to make room in the garage for it. During the summer we had the bin by the side of the house. Well, with winter and snow coming, there was no way that we could lift or drag the bin over a snow bank. So, we ended up buying a shed. So, basically, the city of Madison has cost me about $350. Thanks. 

This is the recycle bin that caused all the trouble. 

I believe everyone in the family knows that Manuel's daughter, Barbara, is in Thailand doing missionary work. Barbara sent this photo showing us part of her journey. We're proud of her and wish her well. 

Joss Whedon is Serene

I saw the movie "Serenity" yesterday. It was a fun movie and just what I would expect from director Joss Whedon.

Whedon created the TV series "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer." I loved that show but disliked the name. "Buffy" had great dialogue, great fight scenes, but not so great plots. And I miss Buffy.

The movie "Serenity" is an outer space version of "Buffy": great dialogue, great fight scenes, and an ok plot. Also the special effects were pretty good.

In "Serenity," a spaceship captain takes on a difficult passenger, River, and her brother, Simon. River is the product of a brain washing experiment gone bad. The Alliance, the current government of a solar system (think George Bush) far out into space brainwashes its citizens when they get too rebellious. A a result of several experiments gone bad and a civil war, there are monsters in outer space who are in great need of a massive anger management program. How the creatures can be insane and fly spaceships is beyond me.

It's strange that this movie came out now. This is really a summer, popcorn movie. It's not a serious drama but just a fun movie. If you like director Joss Whedon, you'll like this movie.

NOTE: this movie is not for children.

A History of Bad Writing

Have you ever been to a restaurant where the service was good but the food was terrible? That's what watching the movie "A History of Violence" was like for me.

This movie is the story of Tom Stall, the owner of a small town diner, whose life takes an unexpected turn. Tom is busy serving pie and coffee when two small time robbers decide to not only rob his diner but also kill a few innocent people for fun. Like a superhero, Tom suddenly becomes a killing machine and takes out the two robbers in five seconds or less. So, it's obvious from the beginning that Tom has been hiding a past that must have included twenty years of martial arts training and ten years as a hitman. This revelation obviously surprises his wife, family, and neighbors. Tom becomes famous, which attracts the attention of more bad guys.

So, why is this movie like a restaurant with good service but bad food? Director David Cronenberg put together a slick, seamless movie. The acting by everyone was right on. But the plot and the script of this movie is so bad that you will have indigestion for weeks.

Viggo Mortenson has become one of my favorite actors: he had roles in "Lord of the Rings" and "Hidalgo." Mortenson is great as Tom Stall: he is able to project a quiet menace that most actors can't pull off convincingly.

Ed Harris is absolutely great as one of the bad guys. Harris has such great range as an actor. I've enjoyed his performances many times.

And what a surprise, William Hurt was fantastic as the head bad guy. Hurt, who has been in a real mix of bad and good movies during his long career, had the best lines and the best scene of the whole movie. Hurt may have started a whole new career with this role.

But the plot was so bad. So, terrible. So, unbelievable. I could not believe that a ruthless killer, Tom Stall, could settle down in a small town and become a model citizen. I can believe a person can learn to be a killer but I can't believe a killer can become a model citizen: people just aren't wired that way. And the reaction from the police and neighbors is like: hey, guess what? Good old Tom, you know the guy who owns the diner, is really a killer. And it looks like rain tonight.

And without revealing anything, the movie's ending took the easy way out and again was bad, bad, bad.

This movie is rated R and isn't worth the price of a trip to the video store.

Octavian enjoying his birthday cake. Looks like fun. 

My wife and I attended the Grape Stomp Festival at Wollersheim winery in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, this weekend. There was good fun, food, music, and wine. Wollersheim Winery is about 20 minutes west of Madison. 

Official Festival T-Shirt 

Some people practicing their grape stomping. 

Free music at the Grape Stomp Festival. 

Cork tossing contest. 

Closeup of grill. 

Fancy grill at Wollersheim's winery. 

Grape Stomp Festival cookie. 

Inside barrel room at Wollersheim. 

Entrance to Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.