Showing posts with label Fly on the Wall. Show all posts

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

DO YOU?

I LIKE IT

January 20, 2022

By Don Merlot/Ron Alonzo

Well, I know what they say about good intentions, and since last summer I have been trying to get myself up to date on wines since COVID invaded my world as it has changed my modus operani and I do not recognize myself anymore. Wait a minute, I realize that I will be 80 years old this next June and not only has time and COVID changed me, but I too am also changing, transitioning, and have changed in many ways too. I love the old Spanish expression— Todo Cambia, Nada Cambia; so here I am following an old paradigm. It seems as if my prime objective is to survive and keep dreaming in silk and then I ask the question, survive what? Staying healthy means several things to me: eat correctly, drink wines I like in moderation and correctly, exercise correctly; socialize correctly, seeing the Drs that are monitoring my health; track my Apnea and Parkinson’s and walk with a cane to keep my balance with my replaced hip and avoid situations that will alter my little safe world, not much to ask for a bionic man.

My intention today is to dive into the contemporary wine world of Don Merlot as I have been tasting new, contemporary wines and saving comments on index cards with tasting notes to see what my palate tells me and review my life journey in what I call my Marco Polo jaunt since leaving my birthplace of Mexico City in 1958. I am focusing on what I like and what pleases my palate and not trying to sell anybody anything. It is the old story of seeing the similarities but also appreciating the differences.

Acknowledging my perspectives and respecting the perspectives of others because mine are different than others – mine are mine and not absolutely correct just my perspective.

In visiting several local wine shops and or ordering wine at local restaurant for my study of contemporary wines, I notice several changes to cost controls. There is less selection choices: Customer have to know something about what their wine preferences are or there may be disappointment and expectations will not be met.

Thursday, 12 August 2021

FOOD & WINE — AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

MARCO POLO AKA DON MERLOT

Fly on the wall – by Don Merlot aka – Ron Alonzo Notes & thoughts on food and wine from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot[1]

In June I traveled out of town and left New Orleans for the first time since COVID hit in 2020, and we left on my birthday (and Paul McCartney’s birthday too) – June 18 (1942) – he born in Britain, and I born in Mexico, so we were both 79 on this day; and I say since he was born first that he got first dibs on everything, but as I look back, I cannot complain I have had a great life, great family, great experiences, traveled the world – became a Marco Polo & a Renaissance Man, so no complaints.

We took I-10 and here I was escaping COVID captivity; traveling East to Florida, and on the first day we went as far as Tallahassee. We are on our way to spend some time in Florida: see friends and Denise has a family reunion and I am working and thinking on how to go forward with my wine journey – Fly on the Wall - and taking a 2021 perspective. But first let’s comment on my birthday: we found an OUTBACK in Tallahassee and had some Aussie wine and beef steak from the barbie.

The drinks menu was presented, and my experience of wine from my visits to Australia made me think of my Wine paradigm: and I looked at the wine offering to make the selection: a glass of Chardonnay, a glass of Medium red – Shiraz & a glass of Moscato – which went with dessert, an excellent chocolate cake dessert. It was a good repast & birthday celebration. (This is an escape after the hip replacement, rehabilitation, & physical therapy: re learning how to walk - avoiding a Parkinson’s gait I developed and get out of our COVID stalag encampment, so rather than just flying – ( I flew for 43 years, and now I try to avoid flying & we decided to rent a car and drive to see old chums along the way. “This was easier said than done”… n’est pas? - Cars for rentals are very scarce because rental companies sold their car stock because one could not travel & their useless autos were not rentable; because of the covid shutdown; the foodservice outlets are not at full staff so there is a labor shortage either; but as my famous historical line goes, “other than that Mrs. Lincoln did you enjoy the play?” We laughed it up & muddled through everything…

BROADSTREETREVIEW.COM INDEX

Articles by Richard Carreño
Diego Rivera's ghost in Detroit October 15 2013 The city of Detroit may be broke, but the Detroit Institute of Arts owns $2 billion worth of art works. Its most valued pieces, by the Communist Diego Rivera, portray heroic workers triumphing over stoic managers. In the best capitalist tradition, Rivera’s frescoes are now being held hostage by a pair of union-busting Republican politicians.

Dissecting West’s ‘Death of General Wolfe’ August 06 2013 Benjamin West’s Death of General Wolfe was once a hallowed symbol of British imperialism. Now it’s been hijacked by Canadians, whose supply of national icons is otherwise limited. National Gallery of Canada. 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. www.gallery.ca/en.

Pittsburgh’s culture quest July 24 2012 The Mellons and the steel mills are gone, but Pittsburgh today boasts first-class museums, music, theaters and universities. The trouble is, they’re all in the wrong part of town.

Discovered: La Salle’s unsung art museum November 14 2011 An obscure museum in a North Philadelphia basement houses world-class treasures by masters like Tintoretto, Edouard Vuillard, Rembrandt Peale, Georges Rouault and Joseph Epstein. Most remarkable of all, admission is free. La Salle University Art Museum. Olney Hall, 1900 W. Olney Ave., lower level. (215) 951-1000 or www.lasalle.edu/museum.

Matisse and Barnes: A tale of two museums October 04 2011 Henri Matisse was one of the three great revolutionary artists (with Picaso and Duchamp) of the early 20th Century; Albert Barnes was a brilliant collector of revolutionary art. They made a great team until Barnes’s insufferable personality drove Matisse away, with consequences that still reverberate today.

‘Picasso and the Paris Avant-Garde’ at the Art Museum February 23 2010 Curator Michael Taylor has unveiled, for the first time in recent memory, the astonishing range, depth, and quality of the Art Museum’s Picasso holdings. But his show falls a few bricks short of an Anne d'Harnoncourt blockbuster. “Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris.” Through May 2, 2010 at Philadelphia Museum of Art, Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th St. (215) 763-8100 or http://www.philamuseum.org/.

Antiquity, looters and the Penn Museum November 10 2009 Who are the best stewards of ancient artifacts— enlightened Western curators whose museums stole the loot long ago, or dictators of Third World lands where the treasures were originally found? James Cuno of the Chicago Art Institute (who believes the former) confronts the Penn Museum (which favors the latter). "Iraq’s Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur’s Royal Cemetery." Through Spring 2010 at University of Pennsylvania Museum, 3260 South St. (215) 898-4000 or www.penn.museum/sites/iraq.

‘American Stories' at the Met in New York October 18 2009 “American Stories,” currently at the Met in New York, reveals an indebtedness to Philadelphia's artistic patrimony. Almost the whole show could have been assembled from Philadelphia holdings or works by Philadelphia artists. So why is the Art Museum so modest about its contributions? “American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915.” Through January 24, 2009 at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd St., New York. 212-535-7710 or http://www.metmuseum.org/. Art

Museum’s admission hike June 29 2009 The Art Museum recently raised its admission fees, a fund-raising model that is strictly 20th-Century. Then it hired as its new director Timothy Rub, a successful advocate of the 21st-Century model: free admission. Does the Art Museum’s left hand know what its right hand is doing?

Venice: Nice place to visit, but…. March 31 2009 There’s no place like Venice to jump-start your romantic gene. But before you move there, remember: The plumbing stinks. And try schlepping groceries, or hauling a suitcase, or finding a doctor or a decent restaurant or a neighbor who’s under 50.

Newspapers and the Internet March 03 2009 In the Internet age, what will happen to fact-based journalism as daily newspapers fold? Contrary to what you hear from print journalists, the quality of coverage could improve. Which would you prefer: The Inquirer, or a Philadelphia edition of the New York Times?

Vidocq: Philadelphia's Sherlock Holmes December 20 2008 Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan and Sam Spade are all legendary but fictitious private eyes. But Edgar Allan Poe and Victor Hugo were inspired by a real Philadelphia gumshoe of literary dimensions, as I discovered behind the door of the Vidocq Society in Center City. The Black Tower. By Louis Bayard. William Morrow, 352 pages; $24.95. http://www.louisbayard.com/

Sarah Palin and the ‘C’ word September 13 2008 Thanks to Sarah Palin, the 800-pound gorilla is out of the cage. The 'C' word— class— is the one word in the American lexicon that's even better hidden in polite public discourse than race. And it has little to do with money.

Alfred J. Munnings at Brandywine Museum July 29 2008 A remarkable new show at the Brandywine River museum is a tribute to the great sporting artist Alfred J. Munnings and also to the private collectors of Chester County who’ve accumulated his works without fanfare.“Alfred J. Munnings From Regional Collections.” Through Sept. 1, 2008 at Brandywine River Museum, off U.S. 1, Chadds Ford, Pa. (610) 388-2700 or http://www.brandywinemuseum.org./

The horror of globalization February 16 2008 What is a German discount food chain doing in Philadelphia, pampering its customers and employees alike and otherwise violating cherished local customs? Don’t these foreigners know what we Americans did to the Hessians the last time we got really angry?

George Stubbs paintings at Penn April 17 2007 The English painter George Stubbs is largely forgotten outside racing stables, geezer men’s clubs and faux clubby steakhouses. But he transformed the way artists depicted horses and sporting scenes. Equus Unbound: Fairman Rogers and the Age of the Horse. Through June 15, 2007, at Kamen Gallery, U. of Pennsylvania’s Van-Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 3420 Walnut St., first floor. Free and open to the public; photo ID required. (800) 390-1829.

Christie’s and ‘The Gross Clinic’ January 03 2007 As a leading art auction house, Christie’s well understands the role of a dummy bidder in jacking up the price of a work. In Jefferson University's recent sale of The Gross Clinic, Christie’s consultants apparently found an unwitting dummy in the Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. Has Philadelphia’s art community learned anything from this $68 million lesson?

What price admission to the Barnes? August 12 2006 Hefty admisssion increases are the new order of the day at New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum. Derek Gillman, new chief of the Barnes Foundation, may be tempted to follow suit. Here's one hard-nosed reason why he shouldn't.

THE PHILADELPHIA JUNTO.

Celebrating ....

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

DO YOU?

I LIKE IT

Thursday, 12 August 2021

FOOD & WINE — AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS