The thing we desperately need is to face the way it is.
-Theresa Mancuso
- MsMr
Hurricane - Tristan Prettyman
I Was Gonna Marry You - The Violet Burning
Blind
Archive for December, 2008
Happy New Year
December 31st, 2008Worthwhile
December 31st, 2008It was the morning of November 9th, and I woke up feeling really down. The depression came on as I was feeling really unworthy in life and love, specifically in relationships with people and relationships with God. I was keenly aware of not being on anyones lists of ideal outcomes, and it had me in down state.
So I got up and went to church and had one of those moments, where its obvious that part of a sermon is directly relating to me. It was a little dissappointing that my favorite regular pastor wasn’t preaching, however Doug2 was preaching on 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12. He kept talking about us being worthy. That we are worthwhile. At the moment, I was still too wrapped up in my own thoughts and emotions and going-ons to fully wrap myself in the message God was directing at me. However, I did take mental note that this was one of those moments — when God had something direct for me to hear — and in that I felt at least a bit happier.
11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
Fortune Fives
December 31st, 2008I ate chinese food the night before my knee surgery. For an unknown reason, be it nostalgia or vulnerability, I decided to hang onto the two fortunes. Both fortunes included my favorite number on them, and both were hopeful messages. Well, after I snide them, I can throw them away.
You will soon witness a miracle.
5 14 19 26 40 42You will enjoy doing something different this coming weekend.
1 5 13 16 35 42
It’s A Magical World, There Is Treasure Everywhere.
December 23rd, 2008
Oh What A Finish – Hulk
December 23rd, 2008Oh What a Finish – Wayne Rooney
December 22nd, 2008In this past weekend’s club world cup game, Manchester Utd won 1-0 over the Ecuadorian team LDU Quito.
Throw Me A Rope
December 22nd, 2008Cause everything’s easier when you’re beside me,
Come back and find me cause I feel alone.
-KT Tunstall
Moooove
December 21st, 2008There are other versions of this guy out there on the internet, but all of them that I could find were .wmv files…yuck.
They Say Chivalry’s Dead, But I Think You’re Making A Pretty Strong Case For Its Revival
December 21st, 2008Warning: This video contains swearing.
St. Jakobi – Shiraz
December 19th, 2008
Lisa and I visited Capri Blue this past week for a dinner and a glass of wine. When we arrived we found out that it was half price wine bottle night. We ordered a 2003 Shiraz from the Barossa Valley of Austraila named St. Jakobi. This wine hailed from the Dutschke winery. The wine retailed at the restraunt for approx $64, we paid $32. You can purchase it online currently for $27.
Our Thoughts:
I thought it had a pepper and oaky smell to it. It appeared to have a some legs. I asked lisa what it tasted like and she said “it tastes like good wine.” She also thought it had a hint of honey in the taste. It held a strong yet not complex finish. The wine was a nice purple/lavendar hue. There was a taste of some sort of berry that we could not recognize–a btbnl (berry to be named later). We gave this wine an 8 out of 10, and we would definetly order it again.
Winery Thoughts:
In 1934 my Grandfather, Oscar Semmler purchased the vineyard and grazing property across the road from where he and his brothers grew up. The property is located at Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley, along side of the “St. Jakobi” Lutheran church and school. It is in the St Jakobi Church where my great grandparents, grandparents, parents and now Brenda and myself have all been married.
The Shiraz grapes for “St. Jakobi” come from this family vineyard, from vines planted in 1975 by Oscar’s son Ken Semmler (my uncle).
We’ve been blessed by having “great dirt”, and a vineyard that consistently produces fruit each year that shows elegance, richness in spice, plum and chocolate like characters.
This 2003 “St Jakobi” Shiraz is made using the same techniques I started with back in 1998.
We harvest the vineyard on 2 or sometimes 3 occasions, picking across the flavour spectrum, ferment in open fermenters and age the wine in a combination of both French and American oak hogsheads, purchased from 9 different coopers. This allows me to combine the wines from those better barrels to make a more interesting wine showing the full potential of the Shiraz fruit.
Winemaker: Wayne Dutschke
Vineyard: Ken Semmler’s Lyndoch Vineyard
Region: Lyndoch, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Harvest Date: 27th February and 7th March 2003
Alcohol: 14.5%
Oak Maturaton: 24 months in New and Older French and American Hogsheads
Cellaring potential: 5-8 years
Scores
91 pts, WineSpectator, December 05
88 pts., WineFront Monthly May 2005
92 pts, Tyson Stelzer “Wine Press”
94 pts, James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2007