Its Alive

The Chocolate Factory is born. I'm putting together a team now. Its weird; but, this is the first time where the team I'm trying to achieve includes marketing and customer care. Its also nice to see some of the best people in the company ask to be on the team. This is going to be fun.

Intelligent Design

Pizza and beer.

Imagine That

336/400, this makes you extremely progressive.

For a person who feels that nationalism is universally a force of evil in the world, who could have imagined?

Random Stuff Happening

Lots of stuff going on at the Wilde abode.

Leia finally has her teeth coming out. They move so slowly. Alisa has eight teeth and she's starting to spring out some more. Leia has only recently had her first two teeth sprout and they seemed to stall as soon as they broke the surface of the gum. Poor girl, she wants to eat solid food so badly but just isn't getting any teeth.

On the flip side, Leia is starting to walk! She still needs prodding by pulling her forward a little bit; but, she clearly lifts one foot at a time and sets it in front of the other. She walked about three meters today. Alisa hasn't made any progress on this front.

At work, it looks like The Chocolate Factory project is really taking off. After a few months of evangelizing I'm starting to hear my own words being passed down to me from the CEO and other executives. OF COURSE, its their idea now; but, who cares. Its my wording and goals and it getting real traction. The best part is I'll be responsible for implementing it. Funding is also lining up; but, in this tough economic environment that funding is certainly at risk. This is going to be so cool!

Annoying

Its very annoying that the only Miyazaki collections available are English-only. Watching the Japanese with subtitles is very different. Even the script is different, and with some shows its much better as subtitles.

To Be King for a Day

Put on delusions of grandeur and imagine you were sworn in as POTUS. What song would you have play at the inauguration?

My goal would be to cause Conservatives to go spastic as much as possible. So probably "Back in the U.S.S.R." by the Beatles. All those conservatives who used to secretly be hippies would have flashbacks to bad trips.

Scotch Blogging: The Peat Monster

I need a little diversion between meetings with India, and I definitely need something to bolster me through the next meeting with the India management team in 45 minutes. This calls for another Scotch Blog.

Tonight we're drifting a little bit from the intended wares. This is not a single malt. No, its a double malt. That is, there are two malt vintages in this bottle. An Isley and a Speyside. But with a name like Peat Monster, how could I not give it a try?

The color is very pale for a scotch, suggesting that there isn't a lot of age to this liquor. Bringing the glass up to the nose you cannot miss the smoke. Smoky. Very smoky. Hot dogs over a campfire smoky. Underneath is a little leather and a hint of citrus. Not much could cut through this smoke, though. Plus, I've got a cold and my nose is out of whack tonight.

The taste: peat. And more peat. Yes, this little number earns its name. Its not so monstrous if you're used to peaty Isleys like Laphroig; but, this one isn't for the scotch newbie. Share it only with friends who appreciate such stuff. Beneath the peat is a strong smokiness and the leather comes through in the aftertaste. The smoke and peat stay with you a good couple of minutes after swallowing. And the youth of the scotch is just as evident in the taste as in the color. Its not harsh by any means, just a little nibble on the palate. I'd guess that the average age of the two malts is less than 15 years.

The verdict: 2 glasses. I would prefer a run-of-the-mill older Glenfiddich; but, if you're into the heavy peat and smoke you may give this as much as a 3.5. If you do buy a bottle save it for scotch lovers, who will appreciate the novelty. Those who prefer bourbon or other liquors should probably just give it a pass.



Update: This scotch has given me hankering for another Bruichladdich. So I went to check out the Bruichladdich web site. You gotta love a place that lets you buy your own cask.