Timothy C. Hobbs's Blog, page 7

Sexy Wine Lables

As Valentines day quickly approaches and considering my hubby pulled out a bottle of The Watchers from Fetish Wines for tonight, this post was a given. Hmmm . . . I wonder what he has planned this evening?

Let’s face it, we’re all suckers for a sexy wine label whether it’s the name of the wine or the picture on front. I can’t argue with all the articles I’ve read today, sex sells! And so I searched the Internet for the best of the best of the sexy wine labels and here are just a few that I found.

This is about the funniest one I’ve found today. I’m assuming they’re talking about the way the grapes hang on the vine, right?

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I’ve seen this label everywhere. Who doesn’t appreciate pin up girls?

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Gentlemen, I’d be a little careful of what this ladies got between her legs.

My passion for pulp fiction would have me snatching this one off the shelf.

And just in case you’re not stimulating enough of your senses while watching porn.

I could go on all night with this post, but we’re almost finished with the Fetish wine and I’m getting the, “are you done with that post yet” look from the hubby. I’m off to put on a pair of boots similar to the ones on this label.

But before I zip up the boots, I’d like to include one sexy beer label for Blaze McRob. Considering all the hard work he does for the Press, I think he deserves a screaming Double Wench tonight.

I’d like to recognize a few of the websites that did a much better job than me, talking about these wines and beers. I suggest you check out these articles for more of the saucy labels:

Sexy Wine Labels on Snooth
Is it Finally Sexy Time for Wine? New Import Portfolio Goes Straight for the Crotch
These Vinos Will Get You In The Mood…For Love AND Lovin’!
6 Seductive Sparkling Wines for Valentine’s Day
Sexiest Beer Labels

Is It Ever Too Early for Wine??

This is going to be a short post this week, because I want to hear from your instead.

I had spent most of today editing The Courier and other Visionary Press authors, which was a bit tiring, so I opened a bottle at 4:00 today. As I twisted the stelvin closure of the 2008, The Footbolt Shiraz by d’Arenberg, I remembered it’s Wine Wednesday and next thought, what to write about.

We try really hard to wait until 5:00 P.M. to open the wine, but some days . . . . I’m sure you understand what I’m saying. So I’m opening this up to all the readers this week.

From special events to stressful events,

share your stories about the times
you’ve opened the bottle early.

Any liquor type applies to this one. I’ll add mine to the comments as well. No surprise, quite a few come to mind right off the bat.

By the way, the wine I’m drinking tonight won a gold metal at the 2010 China Wine Challenge. It’s definitely worthy.

 

Blogs on the Go

Recently I posted that I cleaned up my NetNewsWire feed on my Mac. I had subscribed to way to many blogs that I wasn’t reading, and half of them were not being kept up by bloggers anymore. My buddy Blaze McRob joined the discussion and it got me to thinking. Why not move my blog reading experience to my phone and Nook.

I went out to do a Google search for RSS readers for Android phones, my cell phone preference. I’m not surprised that most of the readers were related to Google Reader. Well, there’s a reason I use NetNewsWire. I hate the Google Reader and really don’t want to go back to maintaining it. Never the less, I checked out the various mobile Google Readers for phones and found that the only one available that I might consider, PressReader, is not compatible with my phone’s Android version. *SIGH* I happened to have lunch with a friend that day and she suggested Zite, also incompatible with my phone. **SIGH**

So I looked instead for reader apps for the Nook and found two: Pulse and Taptu. I then found out they are both available for Android phones including my Android version. YAY! I installed them both on both devices and was pretty happy with what I saw . . . at first.

What I love most is that both readers started me out with a whole bunch of news feeds based on a wide variety of categories. I then added and deleted a few feeds easily enough. I was happy to find that they sync up between my phone and Nook. And they both integrate with social media quite nicely. What I wasn’t sure about was which interface I prefer. So I spent some time playing around with both and comparing the two:

Both segregate feeds into categories. Pulse has a main page with a menu that lists all your categories. You have to select a category to see the articles. Taptu opens to shelves of categories with the latest articles under each. You have to scroll up/down and left/right to see all the content. Personally I prefer the menu list of categories, so Pulse won this one. Besides that, managing and merging the categories on Taptu is frustrating, because new sources/feeds I added wouldn’t always merge into categories for various reasons. Managing categories is a bit frustrating on both. I’ll get over it as I better learn navigaton. I want more flexibility to manage and name my own categories though, like I have in NetNewsWire.
Viewing feeds is completely different on both. This is where I had the hardest time deciding which viewer to choose. When you select a category on Pulse, it opens a page with rows for each individual news source that links to the latest articles. The pages are easily manipulated and you can order the news sources from top to bottom however you like, big plus. On Taptu, like I was saying about the categories, you scroll up and down and side to side through merged news sources on the main page. Articles are ordered according to publication date and viewing settings are limited. In my opinion, both need to evolve to allow toggling between each view type, because I can’t say I like one more than the other. I found that when I’m mobile and looking for quick reads, I go to Taptu. When I’m at home and leisurely reading, prefer to I browse Pulse.
Reading an article is slightly different on each. Pulse displays most of an article’s content for you, and if it doesn’t, it has a built in browser to go to the source’s website. I like this! Taptu sends you to the device’s default web browser. Don’t like this. Also, some blog posts on Taptu have all the text merged into one giant paragraph. A bug I’ll have to report.
Managing settings on Pulse is a bit less frustrating than on Taptu. Pulse is buggy on the Nook though. I quickly gave up and manage all the settings on my phone instead. Nice thing is changing settings on one device changes it on the other device. Although this can be a drawback as well.

So which one did I choose? I don’t know. I’m still not sure which I prefer to read blogs on, or if I’ll even read blogs on either reader. I’m off to check out a few of the Google Reader apps. Yes, you heard me right.

Keldane the Cursed Blog Tour

 

We are going to be taking Keldane the Cursed on a blog tour!

Yes, Keldane will finally be getting out of his father’s laboratory and

Barnabas and his friends will be coming along. If you are a blogger and would

like to do a book review for the tour, let us know and we will provide a review

copy. Jeffrey is available for interviews. Some fun ideas would also be to

interview Keldane, Kelimbor, Barnabas or one of his friends.

 

To join, just add your blog to the inlinkz link below. I

will contact you about which day you want to do your post. The hope is to have

Keldane visiting a different blog each day of the month, several blogs a day

would be exciting. Keldane hasn’t seen much outside of his father’s lab and the

Royal Academy of Magic, so this will be a fun experience.

 

*Warning* Keldane is prone to accidents, occasionally fatal.

Please insure your blog is fire proof, acid resistant and that all sharp

objects are securely stowed.

Tinkering Around by W. J. Howard

Linda heard baby Sammy crying in the adjoining room. Her instincts told her Malory was responsible yet again. She threw the dish towel she’d been using to dry baby bottles over her shoulder and sighed. “Malory!” she called out slowly, then pivoted around to face the narrow archway leading into the living room. “What are you doing to your little brother now?”

As she approached her children, she saw that Malory had built a Tinkertoy cage around Sammy where he lay on a blanket on the floor. Linda shook her head as she lifted her hands and rested them on her hips. She thought the cage was brilliantly constructed for a four-year-old; on the other hand, Sammy was helpless to escape the prison. “Must you torture your brother?” she said.

“Sammy’s a monkey, Mommy. He has to go back to the zoo.” Malory looked up at her mother with purposeful innocence and the smile of a Cheshire cat.

“He is not a monkey.” Linda dropped to her knees beside Sammy. She thought how tired of Malory’s jealousy she was. Surely her daughter would grow out of this stage soon, wouldn’t she? Linda pulled apart the Tinkertoy structure and said, “Listen to your brother crying. He doesn’t want to be in a cage.”

Malory ran from the room crying, “You . . . stupid!”

* * *

Malory peeked around the corner and saw that her brother was alone, sleeping in his bouncy chair. She tip toed to his side. For a few seconds, she looked over the restful babe; how absurd he looked sucking on his tongue. He was nothing more than a nuisance and no longer welcome in her family.

A space ship would take him away nicely. Her imagination could clearly see his skin turning green. He was an alien; after all, and she would have to send him back to his home planet.

She went to work, connecting the long Tinkertoy rods to the spools and placing them around her brother to erect the space ship walls. Then, she coupled the crest of the ship above the bouncy chair, and was glad she had finished the construction without waking the alien inside.

Malory took two steps back to admire the space ship. The house would be quiet again and her mother would have more time to play with her once it took off.

“Malory,” her mother whispered through a clenched jaw so as not to wake the baby.

Startled, Malory jumped then turned.

“I told you not to cage your brother.”

“But, Mommy, he needs to go back to his planet.”

“Seriously? Your brother is not a Martian. All he wants is to sleep in peace.” Linda took ahold of Malory’s hand. “I think it’s time for you to take a nap too, young lady.”

“I’m not tired.” The little girl let out a mewling cry as she fought to get loose.

“I don’t care. You are taking a nap!” Linda picked up her daughter and delivered her to her bed, the whole while Malory kicking and screaming.

“I’m too old for a nap,” Malory complained, tears streaming down her cheeks. But it was too late. Her mother had already shut her in her room.

This is Sammy’s fault, she thought. There had to be some way to get rid of her new brother. Make her mother love her like she used to.

“There is,” an unfamiliar voice in Malory’s head interrupted. “If you really want to send your brother away, you’re playing with the wrong toys. You need your mommy’s toys. The ones in the kitchen. The ones she plays with when she cuts the meat.”

Malory grinned from ear to ear.

Back to Reading Blogs

Last year I not only neglected my own blogs, but reading the many blogs I’ve subscribed to over the past several years using  my preferred viewer, NetNewsWire.

I opened NetNewsWire for the first time in months and what a mess. I had no idea who most of the blogs belonged to. More than half of the bloggers hadn’t posted in months themselves. So I did a little house cleaning and unsubscribed to 90% of the blogs.

Then I thought, Why did I do that?

I’m now searching for new blogs to read. Got any suggestions?

 

 

Wine & Cookies

Welcome to my kitchen. Yes, this is the spacious counter where I spend countless hours cooking and baking. In fact, it’s one of my most favorite places in the world, especially when the family gathers around to talk, eat, drink and celebrate.

I lost all motivation to write or edit this afternoon, so I made cookies instead. Gluten-free, sugar cookies with sprinkles on the first dozen and sliced almonds on the second dozen.

See the bottle of wine in the middle of it all? Well that’s the wine we drank last night. I left it there because I wasn’t sure if it was on our wine rating list. When I turned away from the oven, I laughed when I noticed it among all the baking stuff. How could I not take a picture of the setting?

At 2:00 P.M., I really wanted to open another bottle of wine to dip my cookies in instead of milk . . . but I didn’t. I was good. Won’t stop me from indulging later, after dinner. Will it be a dessert wine or finish up tonight’s white selection with a few cookies I’ll have to share with the dogs. If they were chocolate cookies, the decision would be easy . . . Port. I’m just not sure what to drink tonight.

You got a favorite wine to drink with sugar cookies?

Oh, and by the way, the cookies I baked are not from scratch. I learned over the Christmas holiday that the Betty Crocker gluten free cake mixes double as a base for cookies. Thanks, Betty, for making it even easier for me to pack on extra pounds. If you’re gluten free like me, visit the Betty Crocker website, search for ‘gluten free cookies,’ and find all the yummy treats you can make. Besides the sugar cookies, I’ve made the Cookie-Brownie Bars and they’re delish!

WTF Director Lars von Trier

During the last couple months, I’ve watched two movies by Director Lars von Trier and didn’t realize he’d directed them both until now. I had to look into this director after watching Antichrist. I finished watching this movie feeling sick to my stomach. Here’s what it’s about.

A grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse. –IMDB

Having such a physical reaction to a movie, how could I not seek out more information about the person who made it. Turns out he also directed Melancholia, a film I watched back in December. After viewing it, I had stared into space for several minutes, my brain full of questions. Here’s what this one is about.

Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with the Earth. –IMDB

I love movies that leave you a bit angry, traumatized and/or confused! Lars von Trier has quite a talent for doing this to viewers. People either love him or hate him, and this lady loves him. Check him out and let me know your thoughts. If you like his movies, recommend something else to me. Or, confess your hatred for his movies.

The Psychosis of a Horror Writer

By Lisa McCourt Hollar

This was originally printed by Rebecca Treadway on her blog, RL. Treadways inc.

When people ask me what I do for a living and I answer that I am an author, this generally perks their interest… until they ask what I write. When I respond horror, I usually get a variety of looks. I have been told I don’t look like a horror writer and I wonder what a horror author is supposed to look like. I imagine they expect someone that looks like Charles Manson, or whatever the female version of Manson would be. They aren’t expecting a middle aged, frumpy looking housewife.  But read the news… housewives are insane and there is a certain psychosis that goes with horror writing, especially if you have kids.

Screams of “Mom, make him stop,” or “I need you to do this,” echo around me when I write, followed by the occasional crash and hurried drives to the emergency room. Okay, maybe I exaggerate… MAYBE… but trying to write when you are potty training a toddler, cooking, cleaning… when I get to it and dealing with a clueless husband is not always easy. It also gives me some insight into the psychosis of a horror writer.

I think some people, not all, but some think that horror writers are crazy. I write about cannibals, zombies and vampires… not all in one story, but that might actually be fun.  I also have a very bent sense of humor that at times has insulted people. I wrote a story once about a woman that found out her father-in-law was dying of pancreatic cancer. It started off as you would expect, shock… how did this happen. The trying to come to terms with what you have just been told and then laughter. She… and her husband were whooping it up. “It’s about time; I thought he would never die!” I got a hate review. According to the reader, I was immoral and should never write this kind of junk again. Cancer is a horrible thing and you should never wish it on anyone.

Apparently that includes made up people. The thing is I live in the real world and I have been surrounded the last several years by cancer that has affected my family. I know how devastating cancer can be. My grandfather died of pancreatic cancer… before I ever wrote said story. I loved him and I never would wish something so horrible on anyone, but the world is an insane place to live. Bad things happen and for me, writing about it, even mocking the horror that surrounds me, is therapeutic. I don’t need a counselor, I just need a pen and paper and a lot of sleepless nights.

You read in the paper all the time about murders, rape, and child molestation…neighbors shooting each other over things like the color that they painted their house.  That’s crazy. My kids start arguing with each other, my husband says something that makes me mad, (happens quite often when he’s out of smokes,) my neighbor wakes me up in the middle  of the night fighting with his wife, I feel a little crazy too, maybe even feel like murdering someone. Most often that’s what I do, I kill, violently, sometimes it is a blood bath, but always on paper. The world is my inspiration. People do things to each other that are way scarier than what you read in fiction.

My daughter once asked me why I kill off kids in my stories, (not all of them, but I have noticed that there is a fair amount of infacide in some of them,) and I said, “Because I can’t kill them in real life.”  Are horror writers psychotic? Probably… just a little bit. Bit compared to the rest of the world we may be the sanest people out there.

Leftover Wine

CHEERS!!

Welcome Back to Wendy’s Wine Fest!

HOORAY!

One of my resolutions for 2013 is more blogging about fun stuff. So, how could I not bring back my wine reviews? I want to do more than just reviews this year. I’ll be writing about wine festivals, wine & cooking classes, and generally anything else related to wine.

Wine and cooking are two of my greatest escapes from the stresses of writing, editing and managing a publishing co-op as well as two indulgences I can’t live without. If I weren’t a author, I’d probably be a professional chef in my third career. It must run in the family because my youngest son starts culinary school this year. In fact, he and I attended a recreational cooking classes last night. We were both dismissed from Knife Skills class with all our digits, although half of what I learned is that I’ve been cutting 95% wrong.

This week I’m touching on leftover wine. I chose this topic because I found two bottles of white wine in the refrigerator this evening. Both bottles had been there since Christmas: one we had partially drank and one had been an ingredient in the lobster mac & cheese my son prepares annually. Then there’s last night, when we drank a bottle of red that had sat on the counter in a cool corner of the kitchen for at least a week longer. An open bottle of wine hardly ever has a life this long in our house.

How long are you willing to keep an open bottle of wine?

One reason I enjoy writing these weekly posts is because I’m no wine expert. Sure, I’ve tried well over 500 varietals, but each new winery and type is like a whole new experience. And some things about wine I just don’t think about including wine storage, at least until tonight. Not to mention–confessions of a wine lush–we rarely drink less than a full bottle in one evening.

On those rare occasions we drink leftover wine, we’d take a sip to determine if the wine is still good and throw it away if it’s not. In this case, both our leftover bottles of white were perfectly fine. The red last night was better.

Frankly, I don’t know anything about storing open bottles of wine outside of common sense food storage. If it’s white, it goes back in the fridge; if it’s red it’s corked and put on the counter for a day or two until we usually drink it. Again, if it’s bad, it’s spit in the trash and disposed of.

I had to consult an expert, and according to The Wine Doctor in his lesson on Preserving Opened Wine, I’ve still got a lot to learn about wine storage. I’ve been lazy in regards to wine care.  So . . . now that I’m completely embarrassed about my lack of knowledge, I’m off for a lesson or two on decanting, vacuuming and nitrogen to preserve wine.

More later . . . .