I can't believe that came from your mouth!
Virginia
Linden Winery Still Making Top Chardonnay
Aug 19th
The Washington Post decided to hold their own version of “Judgement of Paris,” the famous 1976 taste test that put California Wines on the map. They based BottleShock on this tasting. Now WaPo has pitted Virginia Wines against some of the best California and French Wines. Virginia didn’t come in first. But they came in third and fourth.
From the WaPo here:
Where California was in the 1970s — underappreciated for its quality — Virginia is today. So when we decided to hold our own Judgment of Washington, it wasn’t just to see whether the United States would best France today. It was to see whether local wines might surprise the judges now as much as Napa Valley bottles did more than three decades ago.
When the scores were totaled and the wines unveiled, a California wine narrowly edged out a French rival for the top spot in each category. But Virginia was nipping at their heels.
In third and fourth place came two Virginia chardonnays: Linden Vineyards 2006 Hardscrabble and the Michael Shaps 2007. Fewer than 1.25 points separated the first four chardonnays, two of them from Virginia. The judges were unanimous in thinking the Shaps was from Burgundy. The Linden was mistaken for French by three of the judges, while the others suspected the West Coast.
What conclusions can we draw from our exercise? That U.S. wines are the equal of the French is no longer the surprise it was in 1976. We cannot ignore that wines produced within a two-hour drive of Washington stood toe-to-toe with highly touted competitors from California and France.
I do like the Linden wines. In fact, both of the wines that won in this competition topped the list of wines by Travel and Leisure magazine. I wrote about that here in 2007. But atop the next mountain over from Linden is Fox Meadow Vineyards, which I may be partial to since I have had so much of their wine with friends over the past few years. But I think its even better. Thanks to Mary for the tip on this article!
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Loading ...Don’t Touch That Valve!
Aug 8th
We went to Algonkian park today. It has a pretty awesome water park that is geared for little kids, including this big wading pool with a giant tipping bucket. Cartney had lots of fun on the water slides and is really beginning to be a great swimmer if you can catch him long enough to strap a life jacket onto him.
Snapped this shot right as the giant bucket was tipping. With Cartney’s hand on the valve it looks a little like he was the cause of this water display.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Riding the Fish
Aug 2nd
We went to the 4H fair at Frying Pan Park today. The weather was drizzly, but there were carnival rides and lots of yummy carnival food so we stuck around and had a great time. Cartney even got to solo on his first carnival ride today. He liked this ride, “Willy the Whale” the best and every time it ended he would say “Fish Again! Fish Again!”
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Morning in Natural Bridge
Jul 26th
Fog sits on the mountain above Natural Bridge. What a great way to spend a weekend!
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...Giddyap Lil Raptor
Jul 26th
We had to go rescue my SSR from Roanoke so we stopped at Natural Bridge VA for a quickee mini vacation. This cowboy is outside of the giftshop and seems a bit incongruous with the surrounding mountains.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Best BBQ in Louden County
Jul 2nd
We were out shopping for the holiday weekend, and we were hungry so we pulled into Pappa Duke’s BBQ, which is basically a diner cart in some guy’s backyard at the corner of Cascades and Woodland road in Sterling.
Pappa Duke piled up a plate of ribs for me and half a smoked chicken for Jess and a good side of home made potato chips. OMG it was so good!
The ribs were succulent and falling off the bone and the chicken was the most flavorful, juiciest chicken ever. I’m definitely going back soon. The website is here.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Vick May Have Suspension Extended
Jun 30th
Roger Goodell may extend Michael Vick’s suspension, along with an indefinite suspension of Plaxico Burress.
From the DailyPress here:
Yahoo Sports reports that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is “leaning toward” extending MIchael Vick’s suspension and also handing down an indefinite suspension to Plaxico Burress. The online report cites “three sources with knowledge of the situation” but does not identify them.
Vick, the star quarterback from Newport News, is currently serving the last three weeks of his federal prison sentence on home confinement in Hampton. He pleaded guilty to charges related to a dogfighting ring run out of his property in Surry County. The Atlanta Falcons have cut ties with Vick, but he hopes to play again with another team.
Vick was suspended indefinitely by the league in August 2007.
Does anyone think its time for Vick to play ball again, or should he continue with his suspension?
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Toddler Horrors of Aeronautics
Jun 20th
These are two photos you never want to see if you are an astronaut or a pilot. First up is my boy in the co-pilot’s chair of a MD-80. This was on display at the Hampton Air and Space Museum, which the family stopped at on the way to the Outer Banks for a much needed weeklong vacation. Seriously, if the pilot drops dead and no one is left to land the plane, this is the last person you want to see as you pass the cockpit:
Also, if you are at Mission Control, this is the last view you would see of the Mars Rover. Cartney snuck under the barricade and assaulted either the mockup model of the Rover or maybe a beta version of the vehicle. Thankfully no one was looking as he was slapping the solar panels:
He kept shaking it and no martians fell out. Oh by the way, Cartney turned two years old today, and in case you were wondering, yes, the “terrible twos” have started already- he got a head start on that a few weeks ago.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Chillin’ in A-Town
Jun 13th
Awesome rap song about Arlington, Virginia along the Orange line. Yeah, what is up with all the brown flip-flops? Thanks to Dan for the link!
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Obama Aborts His Hope and Change Plans
Jun 11th
Obama went to a Denny’s in Manassas, VA, the Redneck capitol of Northern Virginia, and realized there is no way he can accomplish his grandiose plans. He emerged “Visibly Shaken” from an impromptu townhall.
I make fun of Manassas, but it sadly is the only place in Northern Virginia with a Redneck Feast Triple Threat: It has a Sonics, a Checker’s and the best of all, a Cracker Barrel.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Margaret Thomas’ Cool Garden and Tumble-Down Barn
May 23rd
One of Fairfax County’s real treasures is Margaret Thomas’ Garden. I wrote about it a couple of years ago on this post here. We stopped by today to check out all of her beautiful blooming irises, roses and peonies.
One of the original homes on Lawyers Road, this house along with her garden has become a county and national cultural landscape landmark.
This barn is still in use to house containers and gardening materials. It is a favorite subject of painters and photographers in the area.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Who Let the Dog Out? Vick Walks Out of Prison
May 20th
Michael Vick walked out of his prison at Ft. Leavenworth today to return to his modest home in Hampton Virginia to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
From WMAL here:
A person familiar with the release details said suspended NFL star Michael Vick left a Kansas prison Wednesday for home confinement in Virginia, the latest step on a journey that he hopes will lead to his return to the NFL. Vick left the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth before dawn, evading cameras and reporters who had staked out the building ahead of his expected released this week.
Vick had been serving a 23-month sentence for financing a dogfighting ring. He will spend the last two months of the term on electronic monitoring at his five-bedroom home in Hampton, Va.
The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback is expected to be released from federal custody July 20, but he will be on probation for three years. He hopes to persuade NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to reinstate him.
Vick, once the NFL’s highest-paid player, will be allowed to leave his house to work a $10-an-hour job as a laborer for a construction company and for other limited purposes approved by his probation officer. He will be handed a new set of rules when he begins serving three years of probation after his release from federal custody.
So he’s going to be paving roads I suppose. I really hope he doesn’t play in the NFL again, but you know he will, perhaps a couple of years as a bench warmer. But I doubt he will ever get the major endorsements he once had.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Why Do Cherubs Have to Pee So Badly?
May 17th
Yesterday my wife and I ventured north of Leesburg to the small village of Lucketts, Virginia to visit the totally cool Lucketts Store to score some antiques and knick-nacks. Check out their website here. We came away with a cool stained-glass transom window that we mounted over our fireplace. It looks cool, but that’s not what this blog post is about.
I’m writing to inform everyone that cherubs- you know, those chubby baby angels with wings, apparently have to pee all of the time. Its as if, in the heirarchy of angels, you have the archangels like Michael, lots of other angels that do various jobs, and somewhere near the bottom, below the surly teenager angel that broods about wishing he was never born with wings, is the cherub baby angel, who’s sole job is to urinate frequently, if not constantly. This fact is reflected in the art, imagry and statuary over the past few centuries, and Lucketts had several iron-cast cherubs who were holding their tiny weiners with both hands, to- get this- piss on a frog.
Even if I could come to grips with cherubs who have chronic bladder issues, which is okay in a bizarre sort of way, what is the deal with cherubs relieving themselves on frogs? And not just a frog who was maybe a bit too dry and could use an angelic golden shower to keep his warty skin all moist, no! The cherubs at Lucketts are eagerly enjoying the cherub’s pee with gaping open mouths! Eeeeewwww!
The picture above was off of Luckett’s website. I didn’t have a camera to help capture the look of glee in the frog’s eye as the impish cherub was draining the tiny holy lizard, but believe me when I say the frog was really into it. And when I was looking for this photo, I found other pictures of statues of peeing cherubs, some of which featured frogs, so I can only assume that this is some type of angelic meme, which perhaps explains why frogs are always wet.
Here is one in bronze with the little cherub ready to give someone a high five for having good aim:
And if you want a peeing cherub for your own garden, there are statues and fountains available. Just add your own frog and you’re all set.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Virginia Prescription Monitoring Database Hacked
May 7th
So I think it works this way- The state government collects personally identifiable information on everyone who goes to a doctor to get a prescription drug, thus violating any doctor-patient confidentiality- in order to monitor for drug abuse. And then the government refuses to properly secure the database that holds all of this confidential information? A hacker has broken into the prescription monitoring program’s database via the web and has stolen the 8.5 million records there. If the state doesn’t cough up 10 Million bucks, the hacker will expose the data.
You are Pwn3d! Pay me 10 Meeeeellion Dullars!
From NBCWashington here via Drudge:
The FBI is on the trail of hackers who claim to have accessed the personal information of millions of Virginians. They’re holding the information hostage, and are threatening to dispurse the sensitive data on the Internet if they don’t receive a $10 million ransom.
The hacker or hackers posted the ransom note on “Wikileaks,” a Web site that allows for anonymous tips about leaks of government information. The note claims that the personal information came from a raid on a state agency’s computer database, and that the hackers are now in possession of 8 million patients’ records, as well as 35 million prescription records. Those records may include Social Security numbers.
Investigators have reason to believe the threats from hackers may be credible; The Virginia Department of Health Professions has confirmed that there was an incident last Thursday where a hacker may have breached system servers.
The Virginia Department of Health Professions has the responsibility of licensing 300,000 healthcare professionals. The agency’s database includes prescription information, as part of a drug monitoring program to help prevent people from abusing prescription drugs.
The agency’s computers are still down, as investigators slowly go through every computer file, looking for a breach.
If the state can’t take the time to properly secure a patient database, then they have no business whatsoever being in the patient monitoring business. What are the risks of a few citizens abusing prescription drugs? Negligible compared to the risk of exposing personal data of 8.5 million people. Dumbasses.
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...Shocker! Pizza Delivery to Hampton University Goes Badly
Apr 26th
When I was young, I had the sad misfortune to deliver pizzas to the so-called “students” that inhabit the campus of the all-black Hampton University in my hometown of Hampton, Virginia. In the two years of delivering pizzas to those thugs and animals, I had been robbed several times and accumulated 37 cents in tips, which I got only because I didn’t have enough coins to give back to the customer- I lied and told him I had the change in the car, and when I got to the car I hauled ass.
All of the delivery drivers in all of the pizza shops in all of the city of Hampton who have to deliver to the HU campus would gladly rather deliver pizzas to the following list of customers than to have to deliver to HU:
- Crazy Cat ladies and their 96 cats
- Cuban refugees on a raft floating off Strawberry Banks
- The city jail
- A troupe of hungry cannibals
- A zombie-infested city morgue
And this is not a matter of racism- When I began to manage a pizza shop that delivered to HU, my black drivers would threaten to quit because they would get robbed and gipped on tips too.
So it was not a shock to me at all when I read in the news that a pizza driver was shot delivering to the seventh circle of pizza delivery hell, also known as Harkness Hall. From the AP here:
A former Hampton University student armed with three guns followed a pizza delivery man into the student’s former dorm early Sunday, shot the delivery man and a dorm monitor, then turned the gun on himself, university officials said. All three survived.
No current students were injured and both victims and the alleged shooter were expected to recover. Officials could offer no motive for the shooting.
The 18-year-old former student, who is from New York City, parked his car off campus to avoid a vehicle checkpoint at Hampton’s main gate, then followed the pizza delivery man on foot and inside a freshman dormitory, Harkness Hall. Once inside, he shot the pizza man and entered the monitor’s office and fired three shots at him, then shot himself, Hampton University Police Chief Leroy Crosby said.
Students were playing music and video games in the all-male freshman dormitory when they heard a fire alarm sound early Sunday. As they left their rooms, they saw the delivery man shot in the neck and stomach outside the monitor’s office. Police were applying pressure to his wounds, he said.
The gunman was so inept he couldn’t even kill himself with his own handgun. He must have been holding it sideways. Crime statistics are required to be collected in Virginia’s colleges. Here is the shocking stats of rape, robbery and larceny at HU. It is likely many victims are pizza delivery guys:
| GENERAL CRIMES – HAMPTON UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS | |||||
|
Offense Type
|
Year
|
On-Campus
|
Residence Hall
|
Non-Campus Building or Property
|
Public Property
|
| Forcible Sex Offenses | 2007 |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| 2006 |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
| 2005 |
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
| Non-Forcible Sex Offenses | 2007 |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| 2006 |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
| 2005 |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
| Robbery | 2007 |
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| 2006 |
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
| 2005 |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
| Aggravated Assault | 2007 |
7
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
| 2006 |
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
|
| 2005 |
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
| Larceny | 2007 |
114
|
28
|
12
|
1
|
| 2006 |
118
|
21
|
3
|
2
|
|
| 2005 |
116
|
24
|
0
|
0
|
|
| Burglary | 2007 |
52
|
28
|
4
|
0
|
| 2006 |
69
|
42
|
1
|
0
|
|
| 2005 |
50
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
|
Now compare this to another regional college- William and Mary, another school that I delivered to, which nothing bad ever happened- A fraction of the crime.
HU’s police laughably advise the campus residents to walk quickly, with a buddy and act tough to prevent becoming a statistic-
- Avoid walking alone unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.
- It is always best to let someone know where you are going and when you are expected back.
- Avoid walking in dark, isolated areas.
- Walk with confidence! Whenever possible, know where you are going
Check out a review by a former student of HU here. Here is another story of a pizza run gone sideways.
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Is the Time Right for Drive-In Movies?
Apr 6th
For the past few years I have talked with friends about what a cool idea it would be to bring back the Drive-In Theater. I remember with fondness how Mom and Dad would dress us in PJ’s at 7 PM and we would go to the local Drive-In in the station wagon to see a double feature- typically a kid’s Disney-type movie (I remember Hawmps) followed by something more geared for the grown-ups.
Back then the sound for the movie was piped into the car by a lame metal box that you hung on the inside of the driver’s window. There was no such thing as stereo sound and sometimes the box crackled and hissed which made the movie hard to hear.
But now with local FM broadcasting methods, you could easily pipe surround sound into a car radio over the FM band. Concessions could be handled by the central kiosk or by waitresses called up by SMS text messaging. Once you solve the sound problem and work out a good way to get fresh concessions to the guests, all you need a is big plot of land and a giant movie screen.
A couple in Virginia have decided to go for it. From WTOP here:
A couple of Virginia entrepreneurs say they’re planning to open a drive-in movie theater this summer.
John Heidel says he and his wife have been dreaming about opening a drive-in for years and finally decided to go for it.
Heidel says the Goochland Drive-In will open in June or July on a 10-acre site just off Interstate 64 in Hadensville.
Heidel says the theater will have about 340 parking spaces and will play first-run movies on a 90-foot screen. Viewers will be able to tune in the sound on their FM radios.
The Heidels plan to start nightly double features at dusk. They haven’t set prices yet, though Heidel says tickets will be $6 to $7 for adults and about $3 for children.
Thanks to Dan for the story. For my readers- do you have memories of Drive-In theaters, or do you think this is a good idea? Anyone still have Drive-In movies in their area?
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...Some Critters in the Neighborhood
Mar 7th
My wife took a snapshot of this fox sitting in a patch of snow-free grass behind our house. He has long black feet and a long snout. I have seen other foxes stalking the nearby area, but some of them looked pretty mangy. This one looks rather healthy, and hopefully it will keep some of the rodent population down.
We have been on travel for the past few days to see my parents in the Hampton Roads region. While there, we saw the funniest looking chicken at the BlueBird Gap Farm near the Coliseum.
I think this goofy bird is trying to steal satellite TV.
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(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...Tow Truck Drivers are Scumbags
Dec 10th
As I have said before, tow truck drivers can be real heroes when helping out stranded motorists. Quite a few have helped me out over the years. But they can also be predatory scumbags with no scruples, who are essentially licensed by the state to steal cars and hold them for ransom. This post is not about the tow truck drivers who are heroes.
Imagine the horror of having your two-year-old kidnapped by a scumbag tow truck driver. It happened here in Virginia. From Fox5 here:
Two Fredericksburg-area tow truck employees have been charged with felonies after towing a vehicle with a small child inside.
Police said 25-year-old Jason Bryant of Spotsylvania and 21-year-old Derek Miller of Stafford were charged with child endangerment.
The Patriot Towing employees didn’t realize the mistake until getting back to the business shortly after with the car. The 2-year-old girl was unharmed and was returned to her mother.
Police said the men were on the lookout for improperly parked vehicles at a housing complex and saw the woman’s car double parked Sunday.
The mother told police she ran into the home to talk to some people and left the car running and unlocked with the girl in a car seat. When she returned five minutes later, the car was gone.
Predatory bastards. How terrified must that child have been? I’m surprised the assholes returned the kid without making the mom pay a “storage fee.” And notice the story says they returned the kid, but not the car?
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(No Ratings Yet. Rate It!) Loading ...Democrat Jim Moran of Virginia, Pissed Because People Want to Keep Their Wealth
Nov 4th
He vows to end the evil tradition of the American way of life that those with wealth feel the entitlement to keep it and are against having it redistributed. This is what you Democrats are voting for, and this is certainly Barack Obama’s opinion too.
Thanks to Sweetness and Light for the video.
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(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 6) Loading ...I Voted and Redistributed Cookies
Nov 4th
I voted for the candidate that isn’t Jesus- the one whose followers weren’t humping my leg and trying to geesh hope and change all over my good jeans.
I noticed that Virginia reverted to the 1840′s as far as voting technology went for this election. They reintroduced the paper ballot. One side of the voting room was reserved for normal people who believe in technology and wanted to use the touch screens. The other side, you filled in a bubble sheet, showed it to a campaign worker, who fed it into an optical scanner. When I was there, hardly anyone was using the paper ballots. News reports today said that the paper ballots were getting jammed in the scanners because they were wet. Nice technology you have there.
On the way out, I noticed that the democrat booth had all kinds of cookies and snacks set up at a table. The republican booth had nothing. I went up to the democrat booth and stuffed my pockets full of yummy chocolate chip cookies and tasty oatmeal raisin cookies. When one of them kindly asked that I try to save some for the other voters, I told them that I was redistributing the wealth of the cookies, and walked away. And just like the government, I didn’t really give the cookies to anyone else, just consumed them myself.
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(2 votes, average: 6.00 out of 6) Loading ...
