Geeks rule the world!

Wine of the Week:
Ninth Island Pinot Noir 2010 - For an everyday Pinot Noir, this one is hard to go past. It has the beautiful Pinot nose that you get plus the clean palete as opposed to the really bad Pinot Noirs that have that dirty, gritty feel. Generally, you look for cold climates to give you a good Pinot - start at Victoria and work your way down from there. Ninth Island is from Tasmania and delivers on that general rule. Trish and I look towards a Pinot at those times when we feel like red but the weather is warm or we don't want too heavy a red. As we are getting closer to summer, Pinots will be high on the agenda...especially if duck or turkey is on the menu. Check out more on the Ninth Island here Ninth Island Pinot Noir

Last week, the news came through that Steve Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer. He will go down in history as one of the legends of Silicon Valley; up there with the likes of Bill Hewlett and David Packard. In fact, one article this week told of how a young Jobs approached Bill Hewlett for spare parts to help him with a school project; which in turn led to a summer job at Hewlett-Packard. It was at HP that he met Steve Wozinak and well...you know the rest.

Whatever your opinion of Jobs, his vision and drive to execute on that vision changed the way people not only use but view technology. He not only made Apple a successful, paradigm changing business but one that evoked that all encompassing, magic word...cool. As I twittered on the day, look at a crowded train carriage and you see the impact that Jobs' second coming at Apple has made. The majority of people carrying a device (irrespective of the manufacturer) either checking their email, listening to music or doing both at the same time - not to mention taking phone calls as well.

Working in the industry, his death was always going to be big news. What has absolutely astounded me was the reaction across the board. Twitter provided a platform for politicians, celebrities and your everyday man or woman to stop and pay tribute to a man that they hadn't met but they felt changed their lives for ever. It was both astonishing and weird all at the same time. 

What was even more bizarre was the need that many, many people felt to hold vigils the night that Jobs died. That in itself wasn't the bizarre part. What was bizarre was the need to download an app which had a single candlestick burning brightly to their iPad or iPhone and wave in tribute amongst the masses in the darkness. That app is now the 5th most popular free app from the App Store (I checked that on my iPad this evening....)

Which leads us to a question that has been debated, written and talked about for the days since Jobs' death. What is his legacy? Many believe it is those devices which have transformed our listening and communication habits. 

Some also believe that it is his drive and determination to execute on his vision and do so with unwavering and at times, offending determination; in other words don't let anything stand in the way of your vision because YOU can make it a reality. 

For me, it could be way more simpler than that. Seek to embrace your inner geek. They get the money, fame and gorgeous men or women by their sides...sometimes both.

In short; geeks are cool...or so my iPad tells me anyway.

Parties have their downside too...

Wine of the Week:
Pol Roger Reserve Brut Champagne - I have veered from the red theme for no other reason as this is my favourite Champagne and I have had it twice in the space of four days; once during a work function and second to celebrate Little Ballerinas being named a finalist in the Sutherland Shire Business Awards.

I have to blame/credit my mate Matthew for Trish and mine's love of Pol Roger. We went to Singapore for a holiday a few years ago and Matt arranged for us to attend a Pol Roger lunch at a restaurant in Holland Village. We tasted about five vintages of Pol Roger and have not looked back. 

From the moment that the cork bursts from the bottle, seeing the streams of small continuous bubbles floating up the glass and having that first sip which is smooth, the fruity nose and a taste that is addictive. If we had the means, it would be our drink of choice but it is brought out for special occasions...or if it is on special, which it was yesterday at Dan Murphys for $74 (normally around $98)

I have decided that party politics has a lot to answer for. Irrespective of what party you may support, it seems to me that towing the party line seems to stifle intelligent, compassionate and thoughtful debate.  

This may have been a universal truth that everyone knows and I have just been oblivious or worst case naive about the situation. Just seems that once a politican has left the womb of the party machine or has taken a seat towards the back of the party bus; they are willing to share more of their true opinions, make a stand and perhaps (and just maybe) give an insight as to why they sought political office in the first place.

The recent example of this is the former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally. In the last couple of weeks, the former Premier (hair extensions and all) has made a number of public appearances on shows such as 'The Nation' and 'Q&A'. During these appearances, she has won many admirers from both side of the political fence; with her intelligent, compassionate and common sense debate particularly when it comes to the asylum seeker debate. 

In addition to that, Kristina Keneally has also started to be an active Twitter user and is using it to answer questions and connect with the public and all of it with (at times) a self-deprecating sense of humour. 

Same thing happened when former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. In the years after he left the nation's top job, he won many new supporters with his work with Care International and other charitable organisations and his willingness to put up an alternative and personal point of view when it came to our involvement in Iraq and our policies on asylum seekers (for the record, Fraser led his Government to develop a policy of increasing Australia's acceptance of refugees on humanitarian grounds). Free from the shackles of party room politics, Fraser demonstrated a compassion and a statesmanship that enhanced rather than detracted from his status as a former leader of our nation...which isn't always the case with our former leaders. 

Where I am going with this I am not sure but maybe it is just a warning sign to us that we need to look at our leaders deeper and finding out what they truly believe. And we should definitely start questioning the two major parties more about what they stand for; rather having them try to hug the middle of the road not risking to lose the popular vote. 

If we did, maybe we wouldn't have the Parliament we have at the moment...

The emptiness that is...September

Wine of the Week:
Vasse Felix Cabernet Merlot 2008 - I have always liked wines coming from Vasse Felix Vasse Felix wines comes from the Margaret River in WA; one of Australia's major wine districts. This one was a Cabernet Merlot and has a fruity taste, is full bodied and is slightly dry; which is the Cabernet coming to the fore. Would suggest you give this one a decanting and some time as breathing allows it to get better and better. Have something to eat with it - perhaps a strong blue cheese...followed up by a steak. Just make sure you have enough to last for both!

Last year I wrote about the joys that September can bring when the St George-Illawarra won the NRL Premiership http://ramblingsoverared.blogspot.com/2010/10/we-are-champions-my-friends.html It was a time of great anticipation, drama, excitement and ultimately the elation of victory. This year is a different story.

In case you didn't know, the Dragons were eliminated from the finals series on Saturday after a golden point victory by Brisbane. After a year of season of riding the highs and the most recent lows, getting into the finals and being so close to progressing to the next stage; the result on Saturday has left me with a sort of empty feeling. 

Don't get me wrong, the team played the game of their life. It was nailbiting stuff and they left nothing out of the tank. However, like many fans have found once their teams have been eliminated out of the finals the question that is asked is "What happens next?". 

You are left in a sort of limbo really. You want to follow the remainder of the final series but you ask yourself who should you follow? Do you put your weight behind the team that kicked you out? Or do you take the moral high ground and put on your hat of impartiality and hope that the game is the winner? 

Or do you just walk away, pretend you didn't make eye contact and come back after your own off season break; fresh and ready to do it all over again the following season?

These are the questions that I am wrestling with at the moment dear friends. However, one thing is for certain. Being involved in the business end of the season is far far better than sitting around, watching the TV and wishing your team was there.

A day that changed the world

Wine of the Week:
2010 La Syrah - this was the second wine that I picked up as part of my visit to The Oak Barrel. This wine is part of the Harem Series by Jamsheed Wines and turned out to be an excellent everyday drinking wine. It has a rich and dark appearance with a slight peppery nose with some chocolate on the taste. The good thing was that as it had more time to breathe, it started to get a bit more smoother with every taste. It would be perfect with pizza but also perhaps a pasta with a ragu sauce.

Apart from the footy finals occupying TV and press coverage this weekend, the other event that grabbed attention is of course the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11th, 2001. For a minute, I did contemplate writing about something else tonight but it is an event that does require some comment. Reason being is that it is something that changed all of our lives for ever.

History shows that there is one, maybe two events that shape a generation for better or for worse. A world war, the blast of a nuclear weapon, a natural disaster. What happened that day is one of those events. 

While the attacks happened on mainland America, the impact was felt right across the world. At the time when we were glued to our televisions, pc's and newspapers trying to understand the gravity of what happened and coming to terms with the massive loss of innocent lives, we knew that this was something that would change the world but we didn't know quite how.

To me, what has resulted is that we now live in a world that is more fearful, more suspicious of one another and more security conscious than ever before. 

We also learnt that anything is possible; both good and horrific. That is what happens when innocence is lost.

As you may know, we went to NYC earlier this year and it was truly the city that never sleeps. It was vibrant, alive and above all welcoming. It was also a testimony to the resilience of the city and it's people; that while 9/11 was something that can never be forgotten, the city's spirit can be restored. 

I can not imagine what it was like to be there at the time but after reading some of the coverage over the last few days, this link to the New York Times gives a good insight. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/sept-11-reckoning/comments-that-day.html

Definitely better than I could ever do...

A wine and some memories...

Wine of the Week:

2009 Pirathon by Kalleske - so a couple of weeks ago I went to my favourite bottle shop in the city, The Oak Barrel with the view to try something new, something different and something worth writing about. Had a chat to one of the team there who suggested a couple of wines. The Pirathon was one of these wines. 

It is a Shiraz made by Kalleske Wines from the Barossa Valley. It had a fruity and chocolately taste which mixed well with peppery nose that you would expect from a Shiraz; only not as strong as you would get from a Hunter Valley Shiraz...which isn't a bad thing. At less than $25, the recommendation was that it was a special with pizza; a recommendation that I can definitely pass on but try it with a pizza shop pizza. www.pirathon.com

Some of you may know that in May this year, my Aunt Valerie (who was known by all as Aunty Bobby) passed away. While it was a sad time for us as a family it also marked the end of her suffering as she had dementia and she had reached the final stages of the disease a lot quicker then anyone had expected. 

When she died, I didn't make any specific comment or do a specific post. I guess it was because it was all too raw, too recent and in a way it still is. However, last Wednesday (August 31st) was Aunty Bobby's birthday so it was a day to stop and remember and of course wish her happy birthday. She would have been 74. 

So, I would like to take this time to perhaps share with you some of what I shared at the time of her service. I do this not in a melancholic way but to share with you what my Aunty was like and someone who meant a lot to her friends and family. 

"Aunty Bobby loved to cook. Not only did Aunty Bobby love to cook but we ALL loved the fact that she loved to cook. That’s because she was very good at it.Friends and family alike enjoyed Aunty Bobby’s cooking. Friends that Lynne and I brought over to Bridge Street were often forced to eat themselves to a standstill as they were asked the question “surely, you haven’t had enough to eat?”  Ask anyone who went to Lynne or my twenty first birthday parties and they will always mention the food!

It wasn’t just at home either. For most of the time in Australia, Val worked as a cook at Belgrave Nursing Home and there she won many fans with her cooking.  At the annual fete,  she would have her corner stall where she would sell her curry rolls all day long; based on the minced curry that would keep family and friends alike happy – apart for me anyway, I always found her curry too hot!

There were her lamingtons; lamingtons that the famous Australian actress Queenie Ashton claimed were the best she ever tasted. The fact that Queenie lived until she was 96 tells me that she tasted a lot of lamingtons! And her potato salad for which she had a standing order from her friend Annette every Christmas.

Aunty Bobby also had the largest collection of Mills & Boon books that one had ever seen...She spent a lot of time reading and many a time Lynne or I would stumble into the house in the early hours of the morning to find the light on underneath her door as she was reading into the night…which invariably was followed the morning after by her telling us how much noise we were making while coming into the house. 

Aunty Bobby liked having an opinion and wasn’t shy of sharing it. A classic example of this would be when she picked me up from playing cricket on Saturdays and would ask me how many runs I scored.  Invariably, it wouldn’t be much and rather than her replying with a “better luck next time” or “there is always next game”, it was more along the lines of “well…that’s not much is it?”

You always knew what Aunty Bobby thought and she always honest with her opinions. It is a quality that many of her friends admired of her; friends that stayed with her for life and her with them. While it may have annoyed you sometimes, particularly growing up and thinking that you know it all, it showed strength of her character –a strength illustrated by her and her sisters raising two children, Lynne and I and buying a house by themselves in the mid seventies; that after moving to a new country in the middle of their lives.

The one thing that didn’t diminish because of her illness was the love she shared with all of her nieces and nephews. She was always there to help out where she could, always there to provide her advice (wanted or unwanted) and was always there to push and challenge us; which always meant we ended up doing our best.  This extended not only to the cousins in Australia but also those back in South Africa. And as we all started to find our own partners and build our own lives and families, she shared that love with them as well."

Happy birthday Aunty Bobby...miss you greatly.

More questions than answers...

Wine of the Week:
Meerea Park Terracotta Shiraz 2006 - Let me preface by saying that I have never had a bad wine from Meerea Park. From the XYZ through to the Alexander Munro, it starts off at good and graduates to excellent. 

Being in the Hunter, Meerea Park specialise in the Hunter classics - Shiraz and Semillon. This particular Shiraz is the mid-range one and if it was a meal, you would call it hearty. Right from the nose, you can pick up the typical Hunter pepperiness that comes from the very good Shiraz from there. It has plenty of body so it is one that will keep you warm if the weather isn't and would be perfect with a casserole just out of the slow cooker or a roast lamb or beef. 

If you are visiting the Hunter, just note that Meerea Park doesn't have a standard cellar door but you can find them at the Boutique Wine Centre on Broke Road. http://www.meereapark.com.au

This week has been very interesting to say the least. To be honest, I have been struggling to think about what to focus on for this week's topic to ramble about. I would go down one road then divert to another. It seemed that the week provided more questions than answers, which I thought I would share with you. At least that way if you can answer them it would put me (and anyone else) out of their misery.

1. We all would have seen the literally unbelievable scenes coming out of England where riots were breaking out all over the country. The initial outbreak in the capital seemed to be against the alleged shooting by police of a local man but then the unrest took on a life of it's own as it started to extend for days and to other cities as people seemed to be rioting just for the sake of it. Hence the obvious question being...why? That and is there a possiblity of it happening here in Australia?

2. Are rugby league players plain stupid or just don't care? Over the last week, we had the three Roosters players breaking a team imposed alcohol ban, one of which being Todd Carney who was described in one of the papers as the game's most well known alcoholic. We also had Michael Jennings turning up to Penrith training drunk which at least resulted in one of the most unique punishments; that of walking around the ground at half time on Friday giving out 2000 tickets to supporters that he had paid for himself. 

Players may grumble that they are entitled to a life and be able to do normal things. What they also need to remember that you don't get paid the big mah-moo without needing to make some sacrifices. This includes having some self disicipline and responsibility for their actions. But hey, what would I know? I haven't played first grade footy!

3. There was a story today in one of the Sunday papers on the former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and the fallout from one of the biggest news stories over the last couple of weeks...her new hairdo. See the former Premier has decided to go with hair extensions and this seemed to grab the attention of not only the media but also the State Parliament (our new Premier included). 

Again, why? And has there been a more reported about set of hair extensions?

4. Has there been a more beloved sportsman of recent date than Cadel Evans? Le Tour winner arrived in Melbourne for a whistle stop trip to do a ride of the CBD before arriving at Federation Square for a victory celebration. In the past, Evans has been known for being prickly at times but during this year's tour and all his post-interviews he has been consumate professional and a humble winner...which ticks all the boxes for most Aussie sports followers. 

What he has also demonstrated is a very cool sense of humour. During an interview on 'The 7pm Report' he was asked how he felt about calls from Jeff Kennett to rename the Westgate Bridge after him to which he replied "You can't cycle on the Westgate can you?". Brilliant!!!

5. Finally, after losing four straight games can we now say that the Dragons are officially in a form slump? Unfortunately, I think I know the answer to that one.

Yes, I am a Tweet!

Wine of the Week:
Dog Ridge 'The Pup' Cabernet Merlot 2009 - At the same time that I visited the bottle shop to purchase last week's wine, I also asked the shop assistant for a recommendation on something else to try; something that would go with a bit of an home made antipasto plate with some cheese, breads and cured meats (I didn't tell him that it was cabanossi). 

The wine was a 50% Cab, 50% Merlot and it definitely had more body and flavour than our froggy friend from last week; not a great surprise as it comes from McLaren Vale. The depth of the Cab coming on strong first up then the smoothness and roundness of the Merlot giving it a nice feel and after taste. At around $20 a bottle, it is definitely worth giving a go.

It was during a conference last December that I started to jump in and explore the world of social media and rather than just dipping my toe. This morning as I was contemplating the weekend's victory that was on everyone's lips (Kate's win on Masterchef of course), I realised that I have become somewhat addicted to Twitter.

This has come as a complete surprise to me because when the whole Twitter thing started, I had wondered what the value would be to people other than to celebrities who wanted to keep their fans abreast of every and I mean every thing that they do. Now, it has started to provide tangible benefits to all; consumers, businesses and celebrities alike. 

What businesses have started to realise is that Twitter has provided a means to make a connection to their customers and facilitate two way conversations that in the past, may have taken weeks to develop. Many companies have created official Twitter accounts; purely to assist their customer service activities by both monitoring conversations or streams as well as answering direct questions or complaints from customers.

What has also changed is that Twitter is now prevalent on a number of devices. No longer do you need your PC or laptop but there is a version of Twitter for any device - meaning that one can comment wherever and whenever they may be.

You may have also noticed that a number of TV shows have started to incorporate Twitter as a integral part to extend the audience participation to outside the studio and in a strange sort of way create mini communities that attach and detach on a regular basis. I have to admit that this is where I have become quite addicted. Not with one of the more highbrow shows such as the ABC show 'Q&A' but for me, it was the #masterchef hashtag that started my regular twittering. It also added to the viewing experience as I laughed at the commentary from fellow viewers including the Fairfax journalists that wrote the episode summaries after key eliminations and challenges (and hence coming across the legendary nickname for Dani that was "Legohead").

I did mention earlier that previously, Twitter was very much the realm of celebrities starting to promote themselves in another way. What it has also done is provide a way for us normal folk to engage with said celebrities and maybe, just maybe getting some recognition. In the past, we have been happy for a autograph and maybe a photo. Now, we are after a direct reply, a retweet or better yet have them follow you! 

So far, my Twitter highlight has been the fact that I was re-tweeted by Melissa Doyle from Sunrise last week...to all of her 27,000+ followers. Being followed by Max Walker has come a very close second. 

While my use has been purely personal and at times frivolous, it has provided an great insight into how people are wanting to get information, communicate with companies and at times with each other. And as long as we don't get to a stage where people are twittering to each other sitting side by side on the train - I will be happy. 

PS: For those who are a part of the Twitter-arti, you can follow me @BrettMoorgas 

Please note: This blog reflects my personal opinions only and are not reflective of those of my employer.