Banana Cake

Science and Opinions

Remember when tomatoes were toxic and would kill you? Violently?

A comment on a Facebook thread, made by a friend of mine I now admire that much more

It is not your cheese

Quando Parla la Santanche

Today's Lessons

Spanish - conjunctions. Ella come pan cuando quiere. Obviously.

European Paintings:

1. Naples after Caravaggio (di Ribera and Preti)
2. Guido Reni
3. Poussin and Claude Lorrain

Translate your work

Business is booming.

The world is large and diverse and if it isn't happening in your own backyard, you can rest assured it is happening elsewhere. You can reach those markets through your website, social media, remote communications and outsourced assistance. That's the easy part.

What's missing?

Language.

Outsource your translation. 

You want one good reason? Let me give you three:

1. It is cheaper than hiring in house
2. It is faster than hiring in house
3. It will be done better by spreading across a network of translators 

Wait a second: is this a shameless plug? You bet it is.

Acahi Translations is what you need. A centrally managed network of freelance translators - each one interviewed and personally vetted - to handle all your business language needs. Acahi manages the relationships between translators and clients, leaving the language professionals to focus solely on the job at hand and meaning you don't pay for time spent in administrative tasks.

What does Acahi translate?
Technical and Legal material, Business correspondence, Marketing collateral, Books and Literature, Articles and Essays.

Between which languages?
English, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Korean.  Need more languages? Contact us to inquire.

Today's Lessons

(in my efforts to keep better track of my many so-called hobbies)

European Paintings: Titian (yes, I am way way behind)
French: adjectives 1 (study a language you already know: guaranteed straight As)
Spanish: review of lessons so far. Eventually I must learn the past tense. Which is almost the same as the passato remoto in Italian, which is only used in literature and Tuscany, so I should be ok.

Bocce Victory

First Bocce game = first Bocce victory.

Start in glory, it's all downhill from here.

Katherine - Anya Seton

My review on Goodreads:

The characters make for an interesting story, and I do not fault the prose in this book, but the character development I found to be deeply flawed.

John of Gaunt is portrayed in one way, while described in another at various times. But more grating is the portrayal of Katherine. The author appears to want us to sympathize with her as a pious and humble woman who is caught up in a love affair she can not control. On the other hand, her actions (those historical ones we can account for), do not bely this character description. As the novel progresses I find myself more and more frustrated with this fictionalized character who comes across as dishonest.

Preferring, as I do, a more historical description of events, I would be inclined to suggest Alison Weir's version of this story instead. If, however, story-telling is preferred by the reader then do consider this Seton book.

US Wine Lesson 1

Self-taught, with general guidance provided.

California and Oregon wines.

My contributions:

Kenneth Volk - Malvasia Bianca 2012
Grape: Malvasia Bianca is one of the oldest cultivated wine grapes with over forty different grape varieties. The grape is thought to come from a Venetian territory in ancient Greece, hence the Italianate name. It was grown in ancient times throughout the southern mediterranean. Highly floral, the Bianca is from the Muscat family.

Bottle: Kenneth Volk bottles this as a dry aromatic varietal table wine. Regularly voted a top wine of its region, note in particular the 2011 bottle. Volk is located in the southern part of the Salinas Valley in Monterey, California, one of the largest AVAs.

Glass: Floral and tropical fruit aromas. Some pear nectar and citrus fruits. Compared to Rieslings, Gewürtztraminner and moscato.

and

Patricia Green - Pinot Noir Reserve 2013
Grape: A classic French grape, known to grow well in colder climates. Classically associated with Burgundy, the Oregon Willamette Valley has gained a high reputation for Pinot Noir varietals. This part of Oregon has a high rainfall but is mainly dry and sunny during the growing season, with ocean winds.

Bottle: A classic Oregon Pinot. Patricia Green is a small but classic producer, and their 2013 reserve is sold as a great representative of their wine production, expected to age well but full bodied enough to be drunk even now.

Glass: Note ripe berry fruits and light spice. Good acidity and low tannins.

Coca-Cola, original design

See more at the High.

Business lessons

Learned at yesterday's round table:

1. Keep a word jar
2. Be a chicken seller. Build your business plan. Substitute "chicken" with "your product/service"
3. When building your strategic plan, question all your assumptions. Build and alternate plan based on the opposite being true.

Wine and Knowledge

Two of my favourite things, interacting:

Thank You MG!

Aperitivo

Now available in Atlanta too

Gilda Suprema: Rigoletto at #TheAtlantaOpera

Another great night at Atlanta Opera for their production of Rigoletto. The most tragic moment, in my opinion, is Rigoletto's entrance on stage in Act II, "La la, la la, la la, la la". Pathos to the max, so to speak. And a beautiful job was done of the emotionally complex quartet of Act III.
Serra as Gilda was a voice from heaven, as surely no human can produce such a perfect sound. 

Rigoletto - Todd Thomas
Gilda - Nadine Serra
Duca - Scott Quinn
Sparafucile - Morris Robinson
Maddalena - Krysty Swann

Art in Bloom, High Museum

Art in Bloom lecture series, High Museum

Margot Shaw, founder of Flower Magazine. Knowing not a thing about flower arranging and almost nil about flowers, everything she said was a lesson.

Main lesson learned: pause. Look around. Find the beauty. Use it.

You make me social

Thank you Sam for making me organise birthday drinks and thank you to all who came and thank you to Sam and Annie for this gem: