music

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There’s Buzz in the Air

Greetings from Austin, Texas! I’m here for the annual Austin City Limits festival, Texas BBQ and to celebrate the bachelor party for one of my dearest and oldest friends.

Currently I’m having a glass of Cava on the patio at the Hotel San Jose, a swanky take on the classic mid-century motor lodge. There’s a band rehearsing in one of the nearby rooms, and the patio’s packed with hipsters here forbthe festival. Judging by their conversations, a lot of them come from Los Angeles– or so it seems.

Stay tuned for BBQ updates…

Below: the American Apparel store in Austin’s S. Congress district is next door to a gun shop. I guess that’s how Texas hipsters roll…

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Welcome to Spume

Late to the blog game, or well sort of. Anyway, here’s the first post to Spume, where I hope to talk about the things I don’t usually get to cover at Wine & Spirits, which besides wine can sometimes include things like music, politics and shoes. And maybe bikes. But mostly this will be about wine. And it will start to look better, too, once I better familiarize myself with all these fancy features on wordpress.

Will it get more specific that that? Probably. Being the Italian wine critic for W&S, there will certainly be a lot of space devoted to things vinous from up and down Italy. But I’m based in San Francisco which means that as far as wine goes, there’s plenty else to say.

I guess this is also the space where I’m supposed to put my manifesto. Or whatever. But like most aquarians, I’m reluctant to pin myself down with rules. So I leave it with this: I strongly believe that wine is one of the few natural connections that human society has left to this planet, and as the trappings of technology increasingly distance us from nature, the serious enjoyment of wine, perhaps oddly, perhaps not, seems that much more important. It’s a direct link to something that results from the combination of nature, earth and the efforts of man and woman, and it’s something that’s been with us humans longer than any religion that exists today. And it promotes sharing! And I guess that’s the other reason I’m doing this, to share my experiences with whomever wants to know about them.

Cheers!