Movin' On

Tonight, the New York Rangers beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 to take game 4 of a best of 7 series. In doing so, they wrapped up the sweep and won their first playoff series since 1997. Hopefully this is the start of something good!

Down (the hatch) With Whitey

More wines today... I haven't posted much for a while, so I feel I'm due for some stuff to go up here. I thought I would start with the wines and move on from there. Firstly, we've got a bottle of Tacora Chardonnay Reserva 2006, Curico Valley Chile. This was a selection from the Wine of the Month Club in February. Out of the 2 bottles of white I've gotten, this is the superior one (more on the other in a bit). When we first opened it, I wasn't too happy with it and it made me get a little disappointed with the club (only 1 good one so far). However, the next night, it tasted fantastic. I think the change had more to do with the food pairing than anything else. Now I'm very happy with this wine. It's pretty devoid of any oaky-ness and is more fruit-forward with more tropical fruit tastes than anything else. Overall, a nice wine.
The other white I got from the Wine Club was Le Causse Sauvignon Blanc Vin de Pays d'Oc 2005, France. I had been really excited to try this one since we loved the first bottle of red we opened from the club (this bottle was the white selection from month 1 - January). Unfortunately this one wasn't all that great. It tasted sandy to me. That's the best way I can describe it. Now it wasn't terrible. It just wasn't great. I've kept it around for cooking purposes, but we could never bring ourselves to have another glass.
I'm going to finish up today's post with a wine that I didn't get from the club. In fact, this is something I bought myself on the recommendation from the wine guy at Cellar 72. I bought this a while ago when we had some friends over for tapas. We never broke into this bottle and it had been sitting in the cellar waiting to be opened. It's Condes de Albarei Albarino 2005, Spain. Overall, it's a nice white with some citrus flavors and an overall "niceness." I feel like saying it has a nice personality. You know.. not a looker, but you could have some fun with it if you gave it a chance.

NP: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, The Beatles

Portman

The other day I went by work to drop off some paperwork I needed to get done (I actually didn't have to work that day). Since I was taking care of our son, I thought I would swing by my wife's office to say hi (she and I work in the same place of business, but different departments). Anyway, who happened to be there working with the kids? Natalie Portman. She was helping kids paint these huge flower-decal things that are going to get put on cabs in NYC to promote something-or-other.
Anyway, Natalie Portman is one of those celebrities who looks exactly like she does in person as she does on film. I was surprised how tiny she is, but other than that all I have to say is that she's a beautiful woman.

NP: Secrets, Van Halen

Litigation

I've never been one to love lawsuits. Overall, I find people who sue to be annoying do-nothings who are looking for a quick buck (there are a few exceptions - like the poor family who were undergoing fertility treatments and mom was inseminated with the wrong man's sperm). I just read in the Daily News that this woman is being allowed to sue the New York City Department of Education because she got hit in the eye by another child while they were in kindergarten twenty-three years ago.

"He used to pick on me," Bowles, now 29, told the Daily News. "I learned to forgive, but I'll never forget what he did to me."

The reason why they're going to let her go through with the case is because it was originally filed back in 1985. I just think this is going to open the door for a whole slew of crazy cases. At least she's not suing the man who threw something in her eye all those years ago. Sure, they say he's not remorseful even now, but to make it okay to sue you for something you did when you were 5 would just be insane.
This case revolves around the claim that the Department of Education knew that this boy had "issues" and should have been removed from class to protect the other children, and now the woman has suffered continued and prolonged damage because of the incident. If they win, this is going to cause havoc in the education system. Every child who displays any kind of aggression or laughs the wrong way will be removed from class. Either they'll get lumped into a class for the "mentally distressed" and receive a crappy education, or they'll have to stay at home and get home-schooled (and although I know there are parents out there who are more than qualified to perform home-schooling, the majority of this country is not).
If you want to read the article, go here.