The Daily Muddle

I admit, I’m a late-comer to the Amazon MP3 game, but since there is no better way to purchase music I figure the “Bestselling MP3 Albums of 2009″ from Amazon.com is pretty good indication of what the general populace is listening to.  At the very least…it’s interesting.

Really enjoyed this xkcd webcomic.

Going to be tough for an album to derail this one from being my album of the year. It’s amazing through and through. It’s $5 at Amazon right now – well worth the price of lunch.  This is their tiny desk concert at NPR. They preform Janglin, Home (5:10 mark), and 40 Day Dream (10:15 mark). I’m dying to see these guys in concert. Enjoy.

World Cup 2010 and ESPN's Intl Soccer Power Rankings

I visit ESPN.com everyday. I stay pretty current on sports and related news stories…a lot of it has to do with keeping my knowledge up-to-date for fantasy sports….yeah. Anyways, something I really enjoy about ESPN are their power ranking articles. These articles are fluid rankings of professional/college teams against each other. Check out the NFL page, for instance.  As I visited ESPN today I was excited to see that they have added International Soccer to their power rankings roster.  As the 2010 World Cup is approaching, it will be fun to monitor these rankings (although I don’t suspect they will change much).  If you’re into soccer and/or the World Cup, definitely check out this page as they have information and shorts blurbs about all of the teams, along with keeping you up-to-date on who has qualified.

**UPDATE** So as I was perusing the power rankings a couple things jumped out at me.  Chile at #9 and US at #14.  Is Chile really that good?  And if so…really?  As far as the US goes, I think they have been over-ranked for years.  I personally think there are several teams rated below the US that could handle them easily (Cameroon, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic to name a few).  People agree…disagree with me?

As a devoted HTC customer I was exalted to see a commercial for the company during the World Series tonight – mostly because I have never seen any advertising for HTC (at least not at this level).  They make wonderful products and most people have never heard of them and they really should (hence the ‘Quietly Brilliant’ slogan?). I was even more excited that I liked the commercial….a lot….and have to love Nina Simone as the choice for background music.  Enjoy.

Sutton Cellar's Merlot

…and I am willing to venture a guess that you haven’t….still. Yes, even 5 years after one line in Sideways maligned the grape, Merlot sales are still lagging (up 2% in 2008 in comparison to Pinot Noir’s 16%).  I’m not gonna lie – I had not purchased a bottle of Merlot in years until a couple of months ago.  I bought another one the other evening and I’m here to say you should too.

Let me first say, I certainly do not consider myself a wine connoisseur nor do I have a palate that is distinctly defined.  I do enjoy it though and drink enough to have some sort of an informed opinion – nothing beyond that though!  Anyways, onto to the Merlot grape and the bottles I purchased.  The first bottle I purchased because it was from one of my favorite producers, Sutton Cellars.  I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Carl Sutton, like a few of my friends, but apparently he is quite an interesting guy…..and he makes fantastic wine.  So, when I saw this Sonoma County bottle by him, I grabbed it.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Paso Creek's Merlot

I hadn’t had a Merlot in a long time and thoroughly enjoyed the bottle.  Unfortunately, it was some time ago and I can’t give you a description of it, but I do remember enjoying it a lot.  The second Merlot was by Paso Creek, which is a producer I had not heard of before.  They are located in Paso Robles, which is part of the central coast wine growing region of California and is the southern most region.  It was definitely a BIG wine and had a plummy taste/smell to it that Merlot’s are known for.  This bottle reminded me a lot of a Cabernet Sauvignon, which isn’t surprising because the two are blended often.  I wasn’t eating a red meat at the time, but it would have gone very well with it.  Both of these bottles were around $14 range, which is a target price for me – I think you can find a lot of value in the $13 – $17 price range.  So there it is – my recent experiences with Merlot and I’m happy to say they’ve been good ones.  Next time you see a bottle – pick it up – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Also, for fun – check out Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk’s episode on this topic.

When I began this blog, I had visions of writing posts on my amateur view of the equity market – it hasn’t happened yet, but I haven’t lost faith. In the meantime, let’s go with this. I stumbled upon this “story” today and thought it was interesting / humorous (in a depressing kind of way). Enjoy.
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It is the month of August, on the shores of the Black Sea. It is raining and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt and everybody lives on credit.

A rich tourist comes to town.

He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 euro note on the reception counter and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the 100 euro note and runs to pay his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the 100 euro note and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town’s prostitute who, in these hard times, gave her services on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel and pays off her debt with the 100 euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 euro note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms and takes his 100 euro note, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms and leaves town.

No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Europe and North America are doing business today.

Otter Creek Beer Mustards

I love mustard.  It goes hand-in-hand with the fact that I eat A LOT of sandwiches.  Because of this I have tried almost every mustard imaginable.  I’m always picking up a different brand or type at the supermarket every time I go (at this point, it’s usually brand because I’ve tried most types).  Well, thanks to my friend Zach and his wedding golf tournament gift this summer, I received some of the best mustard I’ve had in awhile.  Otter Creek beer mustard is fantastic.  I currently have the Hickory Smoked in my refrigerator and can’t get enough of it.  The flavoring is delicious, probably in part due to their phenomenal beer – this mustard is made with their Hickory Switch Smoked Amber Ale.  I can’t say I’ve had this, but would love to try it (if I could find it somewhere).  The mustard also has a nice spice too it, but is not over the top, where it becomes overwhelming.  I’ve had it on sandwiches and as a dipper for pretzels or crackers.  I’m too the point now where I’m using it conservatively because I don’t want to run out.  If you like mustard, you owe yourself this treat.

Maybe this is cooler for me more than anyone else, but I wanted to share.  One of my best friends from college (Elliot Seguin), who I swam with, has always been obsessed with air racing….if you got him talking about it in school you wouldn’t get a word in for at least 15 minutes.  Well, he’s now a race pilot…..and well…..head to the 5:30 mark of the video.  Well done, you crazy motherfu******

If this set of pictures doesn’t make you want to visit Germany…..I don’t know what will.  Looks like an amazing time (Thanks to Zach for sharing these with me)

Oktoberfest - Munich, Germany