Author Archives: laurn larson

Chateau Bel Air Haut-Medoc 2012

9 October 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

W Bel Air.jpgBordeaux Red Blends from Medoc, Bordeaux, France (Domaines Joel Irigaray)

55% cabernet sauvignon

45% merlot

12.5% alcohol

Opened 7 Oct 2017

els 8.9/10

Hailing from the St. Emilion area on the right bank of the Gironde, Chateau Bel Air, Joel Irigaray Domaines, is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  St. Emilion is blessed with wonderful mix of vine growing soils of gravel, clays and limestone, coupled with an oceanic climate of hot summers, and warm autumns, with just the right amount of rain when needed. The vineyards around St. Emilion and the Bordeaux region date back to at least the Roman plantings in the 2nd century AD; proving that good things do last.

A good, solid, dark, purple to ruby-red wine, redolent of cherry fruits, smooth tannins and acidity.  Serve with a juicy rib-eye and enjoy its balanced and long finish.

A good wine.

$13.99

Explorations: 3

8 October 2017 By in Trivia Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The U.S. currently deploys 3 strategic bombers: the B-52 Stratofortress, the B-1B Lancer, and the B-2 Spirit. A new bomber is currently in development, the B-21 Raider.

E B-52H

B-52H Stratofortress –  U.S. Air Force photo

The Boeing B-52 first flew in 1952, and became an active component of the U.S. Air Force in 1955. Eight variants of the bomber where built from 1954 to 1963, B-52A through B-52H, producing a total of 742 aircraft of which 58 are still active with 18 in reserve, and are assigned to either the Barksdale or Minot AFBs in Louisiana and North Dakota respectively.  The 8 jet engine, sub-sonic plane, flight capable from 300 to 50,000 feet, able to deploy nuclear or conventional weapons, flew combat missions in Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, freedom of navigation flights over the South China Sea, and force exercises over the South Korean peninsula.  The plane is projected to be retired in 2040, almost 80 years after the last bomber was manufactured.

Soaring

B-1B Lancer – U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III

The Rockwell, now Boeing, B-1B first flew in 1974, and became operational in 1986, with 100 planes produced between 1983 and 1988, of which 62 are still in active service, are deployed mainly at Dyess AFB, Texas and Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. The 4 engine supra-sonic jet, flight capable of operating from low levels up to 40,000 feet, was originally designed to deploy nuclear and conventional weapons, but since 1994 has carried only conventional weapons. The bomber has flown combat missions in the Gulf Wars, Kosovo, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, and force exercises over the South Korean peninsula. The bomber is projected to serve into the 2030s, reaching their end of service life around 2045.

Over the Pacific

B-2 Spirit – U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III

The Northrop Grumman B-2, made its maiden flight in 1989, and was placed in service in 1997, with only 21 manufactured due to its high per plane cost, and 20 are currently in active service, deployed at Whitman AFB, Missouri and Edwards AFB, California. The 4 engine sub-sonic jet, flight capable from low altitudes to 50,000 feet, is a strategic stealth bomber, able to deploy nuclear and conventional weapons.  The bomber flew combat missions in Kosovo, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Libya, and force exercises over the South Korean peninsula.

E B-21.jpg

B-21 Raider – U.S. Air Force graphic

Northrop Grumman was awarded a development contract for a new long-range, strategic stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, in 2015. The USAF’s current plans call for the acquisition of 100 to 200 bombers, with a highly dubious operational service date of 2025; replacing and retiring all current B-52s, possibly all B-1Bs, and complimenting the existing fleet of B-2s. Program details are very limited but it currently is envisioned as a more stealthier B-2, with conventional and nuclear capabilities.

 

8 x Fast and Furious = 6

6 October 2017 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The original The Fast and the Furious was intended as a motorized take on West Side Story, a star-crossed love story of forbidden fruit, and a remake of Point Break, a story of an undercover FBI agent trying to bust a bunch of surf boarding, bank robbers, but the criminal elements slowly drift into the background as the franchise progresses, leaving bits and pieces of the love and passion popping up sporadically, usually as a distraction, through all 8 movies. The high-speed, adrenalin fueled action is the inducement drawing the audience back, again and again. The franchise grows money from where the rubber meets the asphalt; every buck in production spending, returning over $5 in revenue.

Having spent the last week or so watching the movies, I, pretentiously, offer my rankings, for better or worse, listed in order of good to not so good. The franchise has produced 4 very good movies worth seeing over and over, 2 that are ok, and 2 that I can’t fathom how the series survived their release.

  1. The Fate of the Furious   (2017)  els-6.8/10;  IMDb-6.8/10;  RTC-6.1/10  8
  2. Furious 7  (2015)  els-6.8/10;  IMDb-7.2/10;  RTC-6.6/10  7
  3. Fast Five  (2011)  els-6.6/10;  IMDb-7.3/10;  RTC-6.4/10  5
  4. The Fast and the Furious: The Original (2001)  els-6.0/10;  IMDb-6.7/10;  RTC-5.4/10  1
  5. Fast and Furious  (2009)  els-5.7/10;  IMDb-6.6/10;  RTC-4.5/10  4
  6. Fast and Furious 6   (2013)  els-5.5/10  IMDb-7.1/10;  RTC-6.2/10  6
  7. 2 Fast 2 Furious  (2003)  els-5.4/10;  IMDb-5.9/10;  RTC-4.7/10  2
  8. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift  (2006)  els-5.0/10;  IMDb-6.0/10;  RTC-4.8/10  3

The Fast and the Furious: The Original (2001)

els – 6.0/10M F and F 1

IMDb – 6.7/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 5.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.4/5

Directed by: Rob Cohen

Written by: Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, David Ayer

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, et.al.

Music by: Brian Wayne Transeau

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster

Hijacking 18 wheelers, and the daring theft of their electronic cargo, by street wise, street racing, thrill seeking, loveable gang of incorrigibles, led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel); pursued by a team of FBI agents, including Brian O’Connor (Walker) who is more interested in capturing the heart of Dominic’s sister Mia (Brewster) rather than making a case for arresting the thieves, starts this franchise off on a great set of wheels.

2 Fast 2 Furious  (2003)M F and F 2

els – 5.4/10

IMDb – 5.9/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 4.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.1/5

Directed by: John Singleton

Written by: Gary Scott Thompson, Michael Brandt, Derik Hass

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, et.al.

Music by: David Arnold

Cast: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes

Vin Diesel takes a pass on a tired storyline, leaving Paul Walker with not much of anything. O’Connor (Walker) and Roman Pierce (Gibson) go undercover for the good guys to bust a drug smuggling bad guys in Miami, how original…not.  Amazingly, this movie didn’t kill the franchise.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift  (2006)M F and F 3.jpg

els – 5.0/10

IMDb – 6.0/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 4.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.5/5

Directed by: Justin Lin

Written by: Chris Morgan

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, et.al.

Music by: Brian Tyler

Cast: Lucas Black, Sung Kang

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker take a pass on this film, leaving the franchise, regrettably, with a teenage B movie. Set in Tokyo featuring the underground drift racing circuit; an American teenager makes enemies and friends in the world of fast cars and gangsters.  The racing is fascinating and fun, Han’s (Kang) ‘Cool Hand Luke’ acting is refreshing, but the for the rest of movie, it’s a drag.

Fast and Furious  (2009)M F and F 4

els –  5.7/10

IMDb – 6.6/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 4.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.7/5

Directed by: Justin Lin

Written by: Chris Morgan and Gary Scott Thompson

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell, et.al.

Music by: Brian Tyler

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are back and the excitement comes with them, producing some of the best and glorious car racing, car chasing scenes yet.  Not much new in the story line, good guys chasing bad guys who sell drugs, yawn, but the action is fast and furious.

Fast Five  (2011)M F and F 5.jpg

els – 6.6/10

IMDb – 7.3/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 6.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 4.0/5

Directed by: Justin Lin

Written by: Chris Morgan and Gary Scott Thompson

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell, et.al.

Music by: Brian Tyler

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson joins the franchise, bringing the testosterone level up to 17, as the badass good guy, Luke Hobbs, comes after Toretto (Diesel) and his gang of extraordinary lug-heads, in Brazil, for the alleged murder of federal agents. The Fast and the Furious gang seeks revenge for a job gone bad, going after the most powerful gangster in Rio, with a possible retirement, potential payoff of $100 million.

Fast and Furious 6  (2013)M F and F 6

els – 5.5/10

IMDb – 7.1/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 6.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 4.1/5

Directed by: Justin Lin

Written by: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Clayton Townsend, et.al.

Music by: Lucas Vidal

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson

Hobbs (Johnson) on the heals of dastardly mercenaries, entices the Fast and the Furious speed sportsters to join in on the hunt by promising to clear their criminal records, and re-uniting them with the, back from the dead, Letty (Rodriquez). Letty was always a distraction to the franchise, bringing her back strains the storyline, and plot, to a point of breaking and adds nothing in return to this otherwise most excellent adventure.

Furious 7  (2015)M F and F 7

els – 6.8/10

IMDb – 7.2/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 4.1/5

Directed by: James Wan

Written by: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Clayton Townsend, et.al.

Music by: Lucas Vidal

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell

Living the good life was just not to be for our lovable carsters.  Deckard Shaw (Statham) steps into the franchise to exact retribution for the hurt the hyper-horsepower crew of Fast and Furious inflicted on his brother.  Mr. Nobody (Russell) also jumps in to offer a healthy dose of levity, black-ops, and spy craft.

The Fate of the Furious  (2017)M F and F 8.jpg

els – 7.0/10

IMDb – 6.8/10

Amazon – 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 6.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.8/5

Directed by: F. Gary Gray

Written by: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson

Produced by: Neil H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Chris Morgan, Michael Fottrell, et.al.

Music by: Brian Tyler

Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell

Nefarious Cipher (Theron) compels love struck Toretto (Diesel), to turn his back on his adrenalized gang of acceleration fanatics, ensuing a globe hopping race of speed and mayhem.

Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem 2014

4 October 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

W Bila HautRhone Red Blends from Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Proprietary blend of syrah, grenache, and carignan

14% alcohol

els 9.2/10

Wine Advocate 92

Wilfred Wong 91

Wine Spectator 90

Occultum Lapidem, in Latin, a hidden stone, wine birthed in the valleys and terraces on the northern flanks of the Pyrenees in southern France, about 25-30 miles from Catalan Spain, and 20-25 miles from the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean Sea, near the small villages of Latour and Lesquerde; not far from the path of Hannibal’s army and elephants around 218 BC, marching towards the heart of the Roman Empire. The Pyrenees’ rock layers, jumbled, and thrust together in towering, reaching for the heavens, jagged waves, by the cataclysmic joining of the Iberian peninsula subducting beneath southern France, supply the building blocks for the vineyards’ difficult and cantankerous soils.  The soils, composed of gnarled gneisses, and pressured schists, both from the Devonian (maybe Precambrian gneisses), along with Jurassic chalky carbonates, impart diverse and distinctive, but obviously, as noted below, delicious and enticing flavors to the wines.

This Rhone red blend has a dark garnet color, extolling pleasant aromas of blackberries, cherries and plums, spicy and full-bodied with very balanced tannins and acidity.  Beautiful finish.

An outstanding wine.

$26.99 wine.com

On the Edge

2 October 2017 By in Books Nonfiction Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Winter Soldiers B Winter Solder

Written by:  Richard M. Ketchum

Published by: Doubleday

Copyright:  © 1973

The short, bitterly cold, beginning days of December 1776 were precarious and demoralizing times for the American rebel army.  The heady days of victory over the British at Concord and Lexington by an improvised and ragtag American militia, were all but forgotten with the landing of 30,000 British and Hessian troops, 10,000 British sailors aboard 300 supply ships and 30 battleships, into the New York during the month of July 1776, necessitating General George Washington and his army to retreat to White Plains, quickly followed by successive calamities: defeats at Fort Washington and Fort Lee, the duplicity of General Lee, and further retreats towards Philadelphia; draining the spirit and potential from the nascent revolution; with the civilian militia counting down their days of enlistment, forewarning the ghosting of the army to a mere shadow of itself on New Years day 1777.

Ketchum’s The Winter Soldiers chronicles these early days of the American Revolution, revolving around maddening prospects of the rebel’s embryonic cause and fight, his narrative mirroring and illustrating the first two sentences in Thomas Paine’s, The American Crises (Number 1) pamphlet; read to George Washington’s troops on 23 December 1776, days before the Battles of Trenton and Princeton:

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but “to bind us in all cases whatsoever” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God…

Ketchum’s story is the history of early events in the American Revolutionary War, a history of its armies, a history of its actions and reactions, a history of its participants: George III, General Howe, Admiral Howe, General Washington, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, Charles Lee, winners, losers, ambitious men, gentlemen, moral men and scoundrels, above all, a story of grit, guts and gall.

Vina Real Crianza 2012

1 October 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

W Vina RealOther Red Blends from Rioja, Spain

90% tempranillo

10% garnacha, graciano and mazuela

13.2% alcohol by volume

els 9.0/10

Guia Penin 93

Wine Advocate 92

Compañía Vinícola del Norte del España, CVNE, a family winery and vineyard, was founded in 1879 in the small town of Haro within the wine growing region of Rioja, Spain. The town is renowned for the annual Haro Wine Festival, celebrated on the 29th of June, in honor of the town’s patron saint, San Pedro.  The event is inaugurated each year, with a possibly, somber and sober mass at the Hermitage of San Felices de Bilibio, followed by wine drinking competitions, and drenching thine neighbor with buckets of red wine, producing a population of lovely, glowing, lavender hued, inebriated participants. Songkran take note.

Today the company includes 4 wineries including Vina Real in Laguardia, established in 1920s, near the provincial seat of the Rioja wine district, Logrono; producing some of first oak barrel aged wine in the region.

The vineyards are grown on calcareous soils in the Rioja Alavesa wine sub-region at a few hundred feet above sea level, south of the Cantabrian Mountains, enjoying a calm, continental climate of moderate days in the low 70s, and nights dipping into the low 60s with 2 to 4 inches of rain during the growing season, although 2012 was very dry.

The wine has a clear to brilliant, garnet to ruby-red coloring; a bouquet of blackberries, cherries, plums, and earth. A wonderfully balanced, medium bodied wine with a very nice finish.

An outstanding wine.

$13.99 wine.com

Tenuta di Nozzole Chianti Classico Riserva 2013

26 September 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , Leave a comment

W Nozzole ChiantiSangiovese from Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

100% sangiovese

13.5% alcohol by volume

els 9.1/10

Vinous 93

Wilfred Wong 90

The Italians, Ambrogio, and his son Giovanni, the seventh and eighth generations of wine makers in the Folonari family, acquired the Nozzole Estate in 1971; continuing the family tradition of producing fine Tuscany wines since the 1700s.

The Nozzole Estate, less than 20 miles south of Florence, was known as a producer of fine wines as far back as the 1300s. The immediate proximity of the estate to Florence is prima facie evidence that the winery supplied the city with a significant amount of Nozzole’s output, making a claim to the creative spirit and charm of this city.

Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance in the middle 1300s was known, from historical records, to import, during this time period, 6 to 7 million gallons of wine inside the city walls each year; estimated to have a population of 80,000 to 95,000 citizens; happily providing every person with a bottle of wine every day. It is no coincidence that the Florence of old is synonymous with the creative brilliance, magnificence, patronage of notables like Leonardo, Botticelli, and Medici: paintings, sculpture and money.

Moving into the present, estimates are that the world produces upwards to 36 billion bottles of wine every year, barely enough to give every soul a miserly bottle of wine every 2 or 3 months. It is no coincidence that the world today generates copious amounts of lawyers, guns and…money.

The Nozzole’s vineyards are  222 acres of Sangiovese grapes, grown in the Chianti Classico sub-region of central Tuscany, sunning themselves 1000 feet above sea level on the rolling hills of weathered sandstone and chalky marlstones. Mild nights, temperatures from the low to high 50s, and hot days reaching up into the mid-80s persuade the grapes to give up a full-bodied wine, nudged along with 1.5 to 3 inches of rain per month during the growing season.

This Chianti is a dark, purple to ruby-red, aromas of acidic, dark cherries and raisins, tannins just right for a long, structured finish.

An outstanding wine.

$19.99 wine.com

Bodegas Dios Baco Cream Sherry

24 September 2017 By in Dessert Wine Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

W Dios Baco Sherry.jpgSherry from Jerez, Spain
Blend of palomino and pedro ximénez grapes
18.0% alcohol by volume

els 9.1/10

Wine Enthusiast 90

Bodegas Dios Baco, “The God Bacchus Winery”, dates back to the late 1700s, changing ownership many times over the centuries, eventually being acquired by Jose Paez Morilla in 1992.

This present winery was built in 1848, and was originally part of “The Twelve Disciples”, but today, only 3 remain; Dios Baco plus the Bodegas la Cruz and Pio XII, located in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, less than 10 miles northeast of the Bay of Cadiz.

The vines grow on the open rolling hills, from a chalky soil with the calcium content ranging from 30 to 100%, baking in the mid-year southern Spanish, cloudless skies with temperatures commonly going past 100 degrees with very little, quenching and cooling rain.  The palomino and Pedro Ximenez white grapes thrive in this climate by thrusting their roots deep into soil in search of any remnants of the plentiful autumn and spring rains, striving to survive the rigors of the dry, hot growing season.

This wine has a beautiful clear, mahogany-amber hue, powerful sweet aromas of dried fruit, sweet, deliciously thick and mild, with a begging for more finish. Pair this wine with strong soft cheese and fruit.

A outstanding wine.

$22.99 wine.com

Chateau Carlmagnus 2014

24 September 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , Leave a comment

W Carlmagnus BordeauxBordeaux Red Blend from Fronsac, Bordeaux, France.
Proprietary red blend.
14.5% alcohol by volume

els 9.1/10

Wine Advocate 90-92

Wine Spectator 90

James Suckling 90

Fronsac, a wooded and hilly area, east of the Bordeaux wine region, in southwest France, is located near the northern bank of the Dordogne river, just a few miles west of the small city, Libourne; home of numerous appellations including Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, and of course, Fronsac.

Merlot is the main grape variety harvested here along with a smattering of Cabernet Franc, grown on primarily clayey-limestone soils. The vineyards sit atop a network of limestone caves, serving as the winery’s cellars. The summer climate is mild and sunny with temperatures dipping into the low 50s at night, and the days range from the mid 70s to the low 80s. Rain brings 1 to 2.5 inches of water per month.

Chateau Carlmagnus is a gorgeous dark purple, cherries and plums dance into your nose, slightly acidic but is quickly tamed.  This is a full-bodied, complex but balanced wine.

A outstanding wine.

$17.99 wine.com