drunk.com

I did manage to get up in time for the ANZAC Dawn Memorial, and I’m really glad I did. I was half expecting it to be largely veterans and their families, but was pleased to see a healthy cross-section of the population. I actually did a big write-up for someone I know in the US to give him my impressions, so I’m a little burnt out on writing about it, but I think getting into the habit of cutting and pasting between this blog and the rest of my life would be a bad idea. Let me just say it was beautiful, yet understated, which I found both surprising and delightful.

But I think I’m ahead of myself. I should introduce this lovely beverage I have at hand, Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir 2004. It’s not rare or expensive by any means, but I like it both for its delicate taste and the memories I have of drinking it with someone special. But I digress…

One thing that is worth noting about the wine is the back label. I like back labels, even if I don’t always like what I read on them. As far as I’m concerned, there are more wineries out there than I will ever know, and I frequently find myself faced with an unfamiliar bottle. Being a gentleman, the first thing I do is introduce myself, and I appreciate it when a bottle provides some reciprocation on the label. Front labels often contain a great deal more information than is obvious, but even still I appreciate some detail on the back for the uninitiated, which typically includes myself. I’m on this topic because the back label on the Pegasus Bay bottle indicates that when their grapes are harvested they “are gently de-stemmed into small open vats and cuvasion is long.”

Now, I know pretty much nothing about wine making, so I figured ‘cuvasion’ to be a technical term having to do with what happens to bunches of grapes between being de-stemmed and when wine comes out at the other end. I checked Google and two things jumped out at me - there’s a winery somewhere in California named Cuvaison (note the ‘i’ on the opposite side of the ’s’) and that the term in French has to do with the skins of the grapes being in contact with the juice/wine during fermentation. So either they spell the term differently in New Zealand, there’s a typo, or it’s a completely different word. I had never heard of it in either form, so I’ve learned something new in any case. I’m just not exactly clear what that is.

Yes, that certainly was fascinating. If by chance anyone has ever read anything written here, I’m sure they’re long gone by now, so with that I’ll go. But first, the musical reference is to do with the ceremony this morning, which at this late hour seems as though it was ages ago. I heard for the first time the Australian national anthem and had a lyric sheet in front of me. The one line that strikes me is “For those who’ve come across the seas / We’ve boundless plains to share”. I know it would be easy to make a cynical comment and reference some recent refugee issue, but really just on the face of it, it’s one of the nicest sentiments I’ve seen in a national anthem. So good on them.

Tonight I’m on the first of what isn’t likely to be more than a couple of Coopers Brewery Original Pale Ale. It’s been a long day, really a long week when I get down to it, and I should be asleep already. The thing is, it’s not all that late, and even though it’s an early start, mentally I have a hard time going to bed before midnight. So here I am, not up to anything particularly useful.

The project that I mentioned a post or two ago that hadn’t really gelled was presented today to an underwhelmed audience. I think pretty much everyone on the team was disappointed with the end result, and individually with what they each had accomplished. On the plus side, people weren’t disappointed with each other’s work. So for instance, one of the team members wasn’t happy with the end result of what he did and felt like he let down the team, but I thought his stuff was fine. At the same time I thought my work was pretty rubbish but other people told me it was good. But truth be told, in the end stuff just didn’t work, so for all the good pieces they never came together as a project.

We have a new project assignment now and I’m working with one person from the last team. I like him personally, but our differences were a problem (at least as far as I’m concerned) in the last project. I hope we come to some understanding for this next one, as neither of us want a repeat.

So tomorrow is ANZAC Day, and part of the reason I have an early start is that I have intentions of attending a sunrise ceremony. I’ve never been to one, and it’s the type of event I typically enjoy. The closest I’ve been to something similar was the dedication of the New Zealand Memorial in London on 11 November 2006. To be honest, I should get to bed now so be awake for it.

Anyway, there hasn’t been a heck of a lot of music in my life over the last few days, with the exception of the new Maximo Park CD which has been keeping me happy since it was released. I saw them in San Francisco in a place called 330 Ritch Street almost two years ago when the only song of theirs that I knew was “Graffiti” and went there on a chance. I didn’t especially like that single, but it was a venue I really liked but to which I hadn’t been in a long time. It was a great gig, I immediately bought their first CD, and I’ve seen them a few times since then. With their latest CD, I am starting to think they can do no wrong.

Tonight my tipple is Tiro, a lightly carbonated grapefruit drink over ice, with a generous portion of 42 Below vodka, making something akin to a greyhound, appropriate considering the other night I watched a DVD of a film called The Castle, which in fact features greyhounds (the four-legged variety). It’s not half bad - actually much better than at first sip when it wasn’t properly mixed. The film was good as well.

At present there are two bits of decent news. The first is that I finished the final part of the course I was required to take to get my learners permit for motorbikes. Not a big accomplishment by any means, given that all ten in my class passed the mini-test at the end of the session, but still satisfying. The second is that I’ll be finished with a project tomorrow night, and I can’t wait. The group for this project hasn’t completely gelled and as a result neither has the actual spec. Ah, creative differences. But tomorrow evening, it will be done, and it might be better than I feared.

So the motorbike thing - I’ve moved in the past few months and it’s a bit of a fresh start. I had a decent scooter where I last lived, but I never tested for a proper license. I took the intro course, the written test, but never got around to finishing the process. So here I am in a new place and I’ve decided to do things by the book. I can ride a 50cc scooter with a regular automobile license, so I’m on a little Vespa at the moment, but as of Monday when I turn in my paperwork I’ll be able to ride anything up to 250cc and a handful of relatively low powered vehicles over 250ccc. In the next year I’ll go in for a test and at that point I’ll be sorted (assuming I pass). The thing is the test will be conducted on a motorbike with manual gears, while the little Vespa is twist and go, so riding around on it between now and the test isn’t going to do me much good.

This is exactly the type of problem I like to have, in that it’s an excuse to buy a bike. The only question is what should I buy? On the one hand, I do like scooters, so I could get a vintage scooter with manual gear shifting which would be useful for passing the test. On the other hand, I already have a scooter, so I could instead get a vintage motorbike and use that for practice. I really don’t have time right now to put too much thought into it, but I expect to spend a fair amount of time checking out vintage bikes over the next week. The big problem with old bikes of course is that you need to be comfortable getting your hands dirty to keep them running, and my mechanic skill rating is very low. I’m good with software, but don’t know much about combustion engines.

Anyway, I’m listening to Ash as the moment, and while I still like them without Charolette Hatherly, they’re a bit like XFM without Lauren Lavern: excellent music, but missing something essential. Oh well, I’ll still listen to Ash and XFM, but I’m still keen to hear what Lauren and Charolette are up to on their own.

Well tonight it’s a bottle or two of Little Creatures Pilsner at hand as I unwind from a long day. It’s been one of those days where I can’t clearly remember the morning. I’m fairly certain I woke up early feeling terrible, but then couldn’t get back to sleep and so wasted a couple of hours in bed trying to convince myself to get up. Then it’s a bit of a blur, some meetings in the afternoon, and then a long night in the office.

Ah, I just remembered something that has brought the day back into focus. My boss offered me a lead role for a new project, after I’ve only been here a couple of months. (To be fair, the whole team has only been together a couple of months.) I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m flattered that he picked me. Also, it’s a project with a new set of clients, and if I do well with it, more projects could potentially come our way. On the other hand, I’m not personally interested in this type of project in a general sense, and even less interested in the particulars of this one.

I’m going to sleep on it, but I think I’m going to accept. Someone needs to do it, I think I’m capable, and it’s only through November, at which point I hope to have gained some measure of good will sufficient for me to have some say on my next project. We’ll see.

I want to say something about there being value in being able to do a good job on a project that doesn’t interest you, but I’d feel like a complete hypocrite, so nevermind.

Anyway, it’s late, I’m tired, and I can’t get the Klaxons out of my head. I just read the lyric sheet for Gratity’s Rainbow and now see why I couldn’t understand most of what they were singing. Fortunately though, it hasn’t taken away from how much I’ve been enjoying Myths of the Near Future.

So here I am at home, drinking a glass of The Footbolt 2004 from d’Arenberg and enjoying the fact that there is a magic coincidence of both getting broadband at home and this site online in the same week. The former is attributable to a recent change of address, and the latter to a lack of initiative. But both are now safely behind me, and here I am.

First off, it’s really great to be here. I should probably start with a bit about me. As I said, I’ve recently moved, and with that a great number of things in my life have changed suddenly. I’m seeing that as a good thing, after three years of not a whole lot changing. Also, I enjoy a good drink now and again, with “now” being the operative word for the purposes of this site. While I’m not promising that I’ll be completely plastered every time I post, I aim to only write when I have a glass or bottle at hand.

And I would like to start by just stating for the record that there isn’t any point to this site. To paraphrase the Rakes (who translated and covered Serge Gainsbourg), I’m just a man with a blog. Nothing I write will change your life, but to be honest if you’re headed to a site called drunk.com to have your life changed, you have problems. I suggest contacting one of the well-meaning people who want this site to be dedicated to helping those with alcohol-related issues.

That’s it for tonight. Comments are welcome, but this site is really about me. If you have something you want people to see, get your own site.

Installation seems to have worked, but I’m far too sober to write anything useful. More to come, that’s for certain.