OK! We’re talking California reds here. Not France, Spain, or Italy. Just good old California red wine.

Don’t let the names Ferrari and Provenance side-track you.  Somewhere on the label, front or back, it is going to say California. Of course, you might have spotted the words,  Napa Valley, clearly printed on the label in the second photo and most folks would recognize Napa Valley as part of California, but Alexander Valley is another story. Actually, it’s another valley. Still in California, though. And as long as they’re both in California, it doesn’t matter to the problem at hand, which is - how do you decide between them?

SPECIAL NOTE: Regardless of where on this planet these two grape varieties have been harvested and turned into red, alcoholic grape juice, the Cab is going to be more mouth-puckering, more tannic, and the Mer is going to be less mouth-puckering and less tannic. Do you want the insides of your mouth ripped apart by tannins or gently caressed by subtle smoothness? The food you select should guide you, but the decision is still yours.

So the next time you go out to dinner and you want to try a red wine with whatever dead creature part you’ve chosen to ingest, all you have to remember is what you’ve just read above.

Or you could trust the waiter to decide for you.

Maybe.

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According to Mandelbrot, B.B. (1982). The Fractal Geometry of Nature. W.H. Freeman and Company.. ISBN 0-7167-1186-9, a fractal is “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole.”

But the real question is do you like ‘em? Find ‘em intriguing? Or are they just so much fluff? In other words, would you put a four-foot by six-foot painting of one on your living room wall?

I would.

If I had more than one living room.

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Okay, so times are tough. But times have been tough before. Everything runs in cycles. Give it some time. Things will get better.

Eventually.

So is stooping over a dingy floor mopping up street dirt really better than scooping competitive reporters on the latest and hottest story? Is the old phrase “inquiring people want to know“out of sync with modern times? Is journalism out and are retail stores in? Depends on who you listen to and “who you trust.”

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Will either make a difference? It is important to make a difference. Nothing is 100%. Improvement is always necessary and always around the corner even when things look bright and rosy. And these days things do not look all that bright and rosy, do they?

In terms of their generations, their views, and their philosophies, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden both bring to their respective running mates what those running mates lack. And in a presidential horse race that is still neck-and-neck, the question that remains is whether either will bring enough oomph! to their potential administrations to result in a significant difference in the future of our lives, regardless of who wins the race.

Sarah Palin brings youth, conservatism, and new-style Alaskan politics to the presidential arena. A sort of new-frontierswoman type of politics. Did someone say a female version of Davy Crockett? “Daaveeee, Daaaavy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.” Like Davy, Sarah Palin is a person who can “kick some Washington butt” and get things done. Well, of course! She’s a Mom, after all. And we all know how tough and relentless Moms can be. And caring. And mindful of the needs of others. She provides a good balance to John McCain’s battle-seasoned soldier image. Sarah Palin and John McCain work well together.

On the other hand, her youth brings with it a “lack of experience in the field.” Being a Mom, and a mayor of a town, and a governor of a state apparently do not count as much as being a junior senator from Illinois. Nor is she a graduate of Harvard University. Nor is she a man. Perhaps if she had been a male senator as long as Ted Kennedy or, even better, if she had already been president, like Bill Clinton, then perhaps she would be qualified to be president of the United States. I say “perhaps” because I cannot seem to recall the official list of qualifications an American citizen must have before running for vice-president or president. I keep thinking of Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan and their particular list of qualifications. The former was a haberdasher and the latter an actor. Did you know that U.S. scholars consider Truman one of the ten best presidents the United States ever had? Amazing!

And what about Joe Biden? Well, he brings old age, liberalism, and old-style Washington politics to the presidential arena. He has been around Washington, D.C. longer than John McCain. He knows the ropes, perhaps even better than Ted Kennedy. He can advise Barack Obama on foreign policy issues and the “tricks of the trade” in the nation’s capital. Such as the tricks involved in first trying to “bail out” our nation’s economy and, after that failed, now trying to “rescue” it.

And his experience surplus can balance out Barack Obama’s experience deficit in other areas as well. But Joe Biden may not be all that interested in actually changing the type of Washington politics with which he has grown and prospered all these years. This could present a problem for a Democratic administration because this is the same Washington politics that Barack Obama has promised to fix through change. Is it possible Joe Biden and Barack Obama will not work well together? Is it possible they might actually be at odds with each other?

Who can tell? But these are just some of the facts we must consider “long before” the day comes when we cast our votes for the next president of the United States. And “long before” is just about to end. The leaves have already begun to fall in New England.

Perhaps the debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden can give us a clue as to how we should vote this November.

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Decisions. Decisions. What to do? For whom should we vote? Who is the better man for the job? Who will guide us along the path to a better future?

Did you know that some people are so upset about the current state of politics in this country that they plan to protest by not voting at all? I think every citizen of our great country should exercise his or her right to vote. But only in a dictatorship would citizens be forced to vote. And for only one candidate. “When there is only one candidate, there can be only one choice.” So I suppose it is just as much our right not to vote.

Trouble is that not voting can lead to dictatorships. Military rule. Nasty stuff. And there is plenty of that around the globe. Fortunately for us, we have a democracy with built-in safeguards to prevent that kind of thing from happening. Don’t we? You know, like the safeguards we have to protect our economy and keep banks afloat if they get greedy in their gambling and start losing our money.

The truth is that democracies require vigilance. The freedoms we enjoy today can make us vulnerable to attack tomorrow. Attack from individuals who cannot conceive of free people making free choices. Our current way of life frightens them. And that fear grows in them constantly and breeds a hatred for us that we cannot really understand. Many such people exist all over the world, and many are living in this country right now waiting and watching us for signs of weakness.

They do this for two reasons: first, to prove to themselves that they are right about what they think of us and, second, to plan actions they feel are appropriate to change our way of life to more closely resemble their way of life, thereby reducing their fears.

This is why we have to be very careful how we cast our votes for our next president. We must choose wisely. We cannot afford to choose poorly.

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Which of the two pans above makes the healthier (and safer) meal for you and your family?

The shiny-looking pan has a stainless steel cooking surface. The dark-surfaced pan has a non-stick coating glued or stuck or melted or somehow “fused” onto the metal below it. Both are professional cookware pans. And sometimes, food sticks more to the cookware surface on the left and makes it harder to clean than the one on the right. But is the convenience of “easy to clean cookware” worth the risk of poisoning yourself and your family? What a question!

Of course it is not. And if you actually believed it would make the food cooked on it dangerous for you and your family, you would not use it, would you? But you do not believe it is dangerous because you see it being sold everywhere and you say to yourself, “How could something that is being sold everywhere really be dangerous?” “Surely, some regulatory agency would have put a stop to it if that were the case.” And you wind up buying it and using it, totally convinced that it is safe and that you and your family have nothing to worry about.

But is it really safe? Do you really have nothing to worry about? Below are two links that might help you make a more informed decision. Take a look. You may be surprised by what you find.

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Which do you use to hold up your trousers? And does it really matter?

Well, yes it does matter because it concerns your health. A belt cinched around your waist constricts your internal organs as well as veins and arteries in the surrounding area. Why is such constriction bad for you? It slows down processes in your body that should be moving along at a pace that is natural for you. And natural means - no constriction. So, not only does wearing a belt increase your chances of getting indigestion, it can also lead to a host of circulatory and other diseases.

Suspenders to the rescue!

After all, belts are a relative newcomer compared to the tried-and-true suspenders (or braces, as the British refer to them). One caveat on getting suspenders, however. Get the ones with the button holes and make sure your trousers have buttons in the right places to match the suspenders’ button holes. Claw-type grippers on suspenders damage trouser material so avoid them and demand ones with button holes.

Like the ones above, at Springhill Mercantile or the slightly more expensive ones that can be found at Trafalgar Leathergoods or at other clothing stores that carry them.

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P.S. - If you wear a belt just for decoration because your trousers fit perfectly when you first put them on, remember that trousers tighten up when you sit. And if they fit perfectly when you are sitting, they will be too loose when you stand.

Wow, is this ad old or what! That little girl must be a great-grandma by now. How embarrassing! But enough about her plight. The message is clear. Clothing prevents getting a tan.

Strange word, tan. “Darkening of the skin” is more descriptive of what actually occurs after a certain amount of UV (ultraviolet) light lands on your skin. Unless too much lands on it and you get a “burn” instead. But it takes six syllables to get that whole darkening thing out of your mouth while “tan” or “burn” requires only a miserly one. Certainly more efficient. And what if your skin is coal black or you’re an albino? The answer to that is pretty easy. No tan for you - although you can still get the burn. UV does not discriminate. But for those of us who are not coal black or albino, we have to consider whether a tan is a good thing or a bad thing. How do we resolve such a weighty dilemma?

Is it just a matter of aesthetics? Do we feel we look better with darker skin or lighter skin? (But that’s for another post, so let’s not get distracted here. Let’s forget about aesthetics for the moment.) Is there a health benefit - or detriment - to exposure to ultraviolet light? Now, there’s a topic with two clear sides to it.

On the one side, there are those who would have us believe UV light is very dangerous. They are represented by sites such as www.SkinCancer.org which take a dim view of sunlight. [Don’t you just love it when a word fits in like that?]

And on the other side, there are those who would have us believe UV light is beneficial to the point of curing and/or preventing certain diseases including various forms of cancer. They are represented by sites such as www.VitaminDCouncil.org which take a brighter view of sunlight. [Two in a row!]

How are we to decide between the two? Who (or Whom) can we trust? [Shades of Johnny, that one.] Aye, there’s the rub. [And Willie.] And speaking of rubbing, make sure you rub in that sunscreen. Oops, that too has to wait for another post - on whether or not sunscreens themselves cause cancer. Let’s stick to the topic. Is tanning a good thing or not?

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Do you bake cookies and muffins? Or at least, eat some once in a while?

Then you use, or are eating, baking soda or baking powder or both. And both have tons of sodium and no potassium. That’s bad! Especially for your heart. Very bad!

According to the USDA and most health practitioners, the body needs about twice as much potassium as sodium. And it’s really easy to get the sodium. It’s in thousands of foods. Not so with potassium. Plus, the body has no way to store potassium. What a bummer! That means you need to take in about 4,700 mg of potassium every day. That’s a lot of potassium. Where are you going to get it? With sodium, all you need is about 2300 mg (maximum) per day and no sweat if you don’t have access to salt crystals - unless you’re a desert nomad.

What’s even worse is that the more sodium you put in your body, the faster your body gets rid of whatever potassium it’s getting. Unless you’ve got problems with your kidneys that prevent them from dumping excess potassium, you need to lower your sodium intake and increase your potassium intake, big time. Good kidneys will even it all out.

So we’re back to the old story that salt (sodium chloride) is a bad thing. But now, avoiding salt isn’t enough. Sodium is the real problem. It’s in nearly everything we eat! But it doesn’t have to be. Cookie-wise and muffin-wise, at least.

Just dump the old baking sodas and baking powders and use ones containing potassium and low sodium. The ones below from ener-g.com and hainpurefoods.com haven’t got any sodium at all. But you’re not likely to find them in your local store. They’re nearly as hard to find as hen’s teeth. If you can’t or don’t want to bake your own, find someone who’ll do it for you.

Entrepreneurs take note: heart healthy cookies and muffins could be very profitable.

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Ok. You’re probably not going to dunk a doughnut into a cup of tea. But that in itself doesn’t make coffee better. Or does it?

Dunkin’ Donuts, after all, has been around a long time. I guess the real question has to do with what you’re looking for. A taste treat, a quick pick-me-up, or a health drink? Or maybe all three. So even if you missed the Coffee Tea and Me EXPO last October, there are other places you can find the latest word on the intriguing coffee vs. tea debate. The links below will lead you to a few.

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Special Notes:

1. If you choose coffee, try to roast your own. Or at least try to grind your own. And then use a French Press to brew it.

2. If you choose tea, white tea has the most anti-oxidants, followed by green tea, and then black.

3. Or do like the British, drink both!

Certified Black Angus? Black Angus? Angus? Or how about just plain Hereford?

Hey, I love a nice juicy steak, but I like to know what I’m paying for. Turns out labels like “Certified Black Angus” don’t really mean all that much. What counts is whether that Black Angus beef is Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, or Commercial. When was the last time you saw any of those words on a label in your local supermarket or on the menu at your favorite restaurant?

Well, the way I see it, supermarkets and restaurants want to sell you the cheapest beef they can get at the highest prices they can get. Why not? That’s their business. To make the best profit they can. So they put a fancy label on their beef and try to razzle-dazzle you into paying extra for it.

At least the folks over at CelebrityFoodsBeef.com give you enough information to ask the right questions. Next time you go to your local supermarket or restaurant, ask them outright what kind of beef you’re getting for your money.

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At 480 horsepower, a top speed close to 200 mph, and a price tag of $136,000 this turbo should be “better than a typical roadster” even with the top down.

Of course, it is a Porsche. And as Laurence M. Paul’s article in today’s New York Times states, this beauty is, “Not for the faint of heart or thin of wallet.”

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Apparently, higher oil prices are better than lower oil prices - if you happen to be a U. S. corn farmer.

According to a Reuters article by Karl Plume, as oil prices rise so does the demand for alternative fuels such as corn-based ethanol.

“Prior to the ethanol and biodiesel build-out it could only be a negative for them through higher input costs. But today they get some gain as well because $100 a barrel oil implies much higher gasoline and ethanol prices,” said Michael Swanson, an agricultural economist at Wells Fargo.

“The corn market has rallied on the prospect of that ethanol demand being solid going forward. Every bushel of corn, whether it goes into ethanol or not, is getting that premium tacked onto it,” he said.

Bully for the farmers!

As Ed Norton once said about Ralph Kramden’s indulgent eating habits in an episode of the 1955-6 television show, The Honeymooners, Ralph’s waiting a couple of hours to eat wouldn’t hurt him very much, but it sure was going to hurt the farmers!

Well, it’s nice to know the farmers will be doing so well with higher oil prices. But what about the rest of us? Can anyone figure out how higher oil prices are going to help US?

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Given a choice of two puzzles, one easy and one hard, which is better?

“Seven lost explorers, low on food and water, set up camp in a cold, wilderness area. Placing their hopes on a weather-beaten but still effective hunter’s compass along with an equally timeworn pedometer, three of them plan a short scouting trip with the expectation of discovering where they are. They decide to travel due south for two miles, then due east for two more miles, then due north for yet another two miles, and finally due west for the last two miles. As they believe this eight-mile journey will return them to their campsite, they consider this a safe bet and leave their four companions by the fire.

Five and a half miles into their journey they see a faint light in the distance. As they approach the light, they believe they see another campsite. Quickening their pace, they hurry toward the light only to discover that it is their own campfire with their four companions surrounding it. Knowing their instruments are not faulty, they cannot initially understand how they could have managed an eight mile trip after having traveled only six miles. After a short while, however, they realize what has happened and are happy to know they are no longer lost.”

Easy puzzle: What one place on this Earth could be the location where these seven explorers set up camp?

Hard puzzle: What three other places on this Earth could also be the location where these seven explorers setup camp?

Variations of this puzzle, along with the answers, exist all over the world. But which is the better puzzle? The easy one or the hard one? Much like a magic illusion, once the secret is revealed interest disappears. And yet, how long can an individual ponder a problem before frustration also causes interest to disappear? Perhaps a puzzle should neither be too easy nor too hard. Like the soup in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, perhaps it should be “just right.” (Above picture courtesy of AceExplorers.)

Is a beer really better than a woman? Well, that sort of depends, doesn’t it. On the beer. On the woman. On who’s asking the question and who’s doing the answering. And also on how serious you are about the whole thing. Too many variables for my liking. But if you’d like a framed poster of the above from allposters.com, click this LINK. You’ll be treated to quips like, “A beer won’t get upset if you come home with another beer” and “Beer is happy to ride in the trunk of your car.” A great conversation starter for your recreation room. Yes? No?