Beer

Brokematt Mountain:
Days of Wine and Ramen

For those who want to check out my notes during unemployment...
I'll clean 'em up when I have a sec...

"All real Americans love the sting of battle."
- George C. Scott in Patton

"It's all a part of life's rich pageant, you know."
- Jacques Clouseau

Have the occasional evening beer to unwind.
Instead of buying more Heineken and Guinness, decided to plunder the growing collection of wine.
1/2 bottle from Bordeaux - Chateau Haut Nivelle - 2002 (from Summer 2005 vacation)
1/2 bottle from Australia - Penfolds - Koonunga Hill - Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon - 1996 (don't even remember how that one came into my hands)
Coppola - 1999 Claret
Coppola - 1999 Merlot
R.H. Phillips - 1993 Sauvignon Blanc (Night Harvest) - dumped, seemed... watery, lacked "kick" (picked up at a party sometime along the way)
Chateau Bel Air - 1997 - Haut Medoc/S.C. Domaines Henri Martin (from Diageo)

Additional purchases:
Chateau Barreyres (Haut-Medoc) - 2001 Red Bordeaux Wine
Red Bicyclette - 2004 Syrah (3 bottles), 2004 Merlot (3 bottles) - redbicyclette.com
Domaine de Valmoissine - 2003 Pinot Noir

Stood upright on the kitchen table or stashed away on their side in the fridge, waiting for a special occasion that as yet to materialize.

Sip wine, lap up Top Ramen, next to the warmth of a Crackleflame log.

Books read:
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Devil's Cup by Stewart Lee Allen
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Factotum by Charles Bukowski (a quick read, ironically after I got a full-time job)

In progress:
The Magic of Heineken by M.G.P.A. Jacobs & W.H.G. Maas
The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Mattopia Bureau of Statistics (MBS): most frequently-used word during this period not starting with the letter "F": Pinhead (typically preceded by a word starting with the letter "F")
The Whoop Ass! situation: large stockpile now that I no longer have to deal with idiotic customers and arrogant sofware developers and egotistical IT people; more mellow, but war has come home: parents' neighbors, my sister

Coincidentally, the title of this journal coincides with my picking up the Pink Panther DVD collection of Peter Sellers' classic comedies. Yeah, the new Steve Martin version was finally released in theatres, which is what got me thinking about Sellers and how his movies made me laugh... and that I was in dire need for a good laugh. One evening, while sipping wine and eating Ramen as a Panther movie graced the LCD TV, the title popped into my head.

Ahh... as it turns out, Blake Edwards, the director of the Pink Panther flicks, also made a movie based on a play entitled The Days of Wine and Roses, a title I had heard of, but never put the two together!
The irony of it all.

The phrase "days of wine and roses" is originally from the poem "Vitae Summa Brevis" by the English writer Ernest Dowson (1867-1900).
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes,
Within a dream.
Contributed by Alan Pert, Sydney, Australia
Another Van-list member suggests that Van may be referring to the 1962 motion picture of the same name, about an alcoholic couple and how the bottle dominates and ultimately destroys their lives. On A Night in San Francisco, Van uses the line "Lead me through the days of wine and roses, one sweet day at a time" - which combines the line with the recovering alcoholic's mantra, perhaps strengthening that interpretation.

Divorce Court (uplifting TV), People's Court (Marilyn, saw in person in NYC), Judge Mathis (hip), Judge Joe Brown (Jacque Kessler is hot), Judge Hatchett (paternity cases), Judge Alex (newbie)

171 Resumes sent as of 5/26/06
Tales from Excel spreadsheet; 24K, $10/hr, psychos, lack of enthusiasm by managers (Starz, On Command - both owned by Liberty Media)

Blake Edwards and Clouseau: The 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not give up.

Anti-establishment Mondays: English muffins for breakfast? Nah. Ramen for breakfast.

I thought American Idol was scary television (never sat through a show; the endless third-party coverage is enough), but by far the most terrifying show on the boob tube is Starting Over. Holy Cow. Touchy feely to the max.

Nigerian scams, money laundering scams, CraigsList scams (including a "stalker" who apparently wanted me bad; like Woody Allen said, I'd never want to be in a club that would allow a person like me to be a member)... Backstabbing at Gambro during marathon 3-hour interview... DBA jobs paying $24K... Opportunities to do the exact same work I was doing, at half the pay (logic test... surely this is not the desired result!)... Placement agencies putting their own pocketbooks ahead of my personal needs...

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