My New Electric Train

It has been years since I have had an electric train. So I got this one during the Boxing Day sales.







The price was right: 99 cents.

Chateauneuf du Pape? Chat-En-Oeuf? What’s in a name?

Wine names are becoming increasingly amusing as people who are far from being wine cognescenti enjoy taking a few jabs at the wine snobs of the world. Last year I mentioned a pleasant Sauvignon Blanc called Cat’s Pee on Gooseberry Bush, which delighted us with its name as much as what was in the bottle.

This year we saw (and tried) this wine,

which is clearly a poke at the crooked bottles (and others) of Chateauneuf du Pape. I love the name, “Chat-En-Oeuf”. I wasn’t quite as pleased with the wine, itself, but Ms. Eclectic and friends thought it was just fine.

Here’s more:

An egg shaped label, with an illustration of a cat (chat in French) sitting on an egg (oeuf in French)

And when you say the name, it sound suspiciously like the famous and expensive French Chateauneuf wine from the Rhone.

We… have seen the South Africans punning French wine names with Goats do Roam and Goat Rotie — and the French government has tried to get those names banned. Now here is a French wine doing the same. If you can’t beat them…..

This is a pleasant blend of old vine Grenache and Syrah, made in a fruit forward modern way. Purr – fect

I guess they liked it better than I did.

Chateauneuf du Pape? Chat-En-Oeuf? What’s in a name?

Wine names are becoming increasingly amusing as people who are far from being wine cognescenti enjoy taking a few jabs at the wine snobs of the world. Last year I mentioned a pleasant Sauvignon Blanc called Cat’s Pee on Gooseberry Bush, which delighted us with its name as much as what was in the bottle.

This year we saw (and tried) this wine,

which is clearly a poke at the crooked bottles (and others) of Chateauneuf du Pape. I love the name, “Chat-En-Oeuf”. I wasn’t quite as pleased with the wine, itself, but Ms. Eclectic and friends thought it was just fine.

Here’s more:

An egg shaped label, with an illustration of a cat (chat in French) sitting on an egg (oeuf in French)

And when you say the name, it sound suspiciously like the famous and expensive French Chateauneuf wine from the Rhone.

We… have seen the South Africans punning French wine names with Goats do Roam and Goat Rotie — and the French government has tried to get those names banned. Now here is a French wine doing the same. If you can’t beat them…..

This is a pleasant blend of old vine Grenache and Syrah, made in a fruit forward modern way. Purr – fect

I guess they liked it better than I did.

Chateauneuf du Pape? Chat-En-Oeuf? What’s in a name?

Wine names are becoming increasingly amusing as people who are far from being wine cognescenti enjoy taking a few jabs at the wine snobs of the world. Last year I mentioned a pleasant Sauvignon Blanc called Cat’s Pee on Gooseberry Bush, which delighted us with its name as much as what was in the bottle.

This year we saw (and tried) this wine,

which is clearly a poke at the crooked bottles (and others) of Chateauneuf du Pape. I love the name, “Chat-En-Oeuf”. I wasn’t quite as pleased with the wine, itself, but Ms. Eclectic and friends thought it was just fine.

Here’s more:

An egg shaped label, with an illustration of a cat (chat in French) sitting on an egg (oeuf in French)

And when you say the name, it sound suspiciously like the famous and expensive French Chateauneuf wine from the Rhone.

We… have seen the South Africans punning French wine names with Goats do Roam and Goat Rotie — and the French government has tried to get those names banned. Now here is a French wine doing the same. If you can’t beat them…..

This is a pleasant blend of old vine Grenache and Syrah, made in a fruit forward modern way. Purr – fect

I guess they liked it better than I did.

Jones Soda’s Holiday Pack: the bottles

On Christmas Day, I posted about the worst tasting soda pop I had ever tasted — the Jones Soda Holiday Pack. Here are the empties (click on the photo to read the labels more easily):

Jones Soda’s Holiday Pack: the bottles

On Christmas Day, I posted about the worst tasting soda pop I had ever tasted — the Jones Soda Holiday Pack. Here are the empties (click on the photo to read the labels more easily):

Jones Soda’s Holiday Pack: the bottles

On Christmas Day, I posted about the worst tasting soda pop I had ever tasted — the Jones Soda Holiday Pack. Here are the empties (click on the photo to read the labels more easily):

I Will Not Submit

Who is producing the t-shirts?







This graphic is from Michelle Malkin’s blog:

The above phrase in Arabic is “lan astaslem.” It means “I will not surrender/I will not submit.” (Thanks to Rusty, Laura, and Daveed for translation help.) This is the last line of my 9/11 column and it’s my 9/11 anniversary message to the convert-or-die jihadists.

Also see this.

My Favourite Job Interview Question

I am on the hiring committee for our department this year, which means I will be interviewing very smart graduate school students next week at the ASSA convention in Chicago (between trips foraging for Chicago-style pizza with Sparky and others).



During these interviews, we will ask the usual questions, such as:

• Tell us about your dissertation.
• How does your work fit in with _____? and
• What would you like to know about us?

One question I like to insert somewhere between the first two is:

How would you explain your dissertation to a reasonably bright high school graduate?

Note to prospective interviewees: I consider it smug and arrogant to say,

I wouldn’t. This stuff is too esoteric and difficult for them to understand.

The Ultimate Substitution of Capital for Labour?

None of my friends was willing to post this link, not even as a prime example of the substitution of capital for labour. Probably with good reason [warning: adult themes].