;-)
Posted on 07/16/2008 1:35:23 AM PDT by Oyarsa
Christopher Lee offers his voice for Smaug… won’t go back to NZ. July 13th, 2008 by Compa_Mighty
In a bittersweet note, forummer DiveTwin reports this note that appeared in Cinematical:
(Excerpt) Read more at theonering.net ...
We should let this be another lesson to us all: never, ever trust the media...
> We should let this be another lesson to us all: never, ever trust the media...
AMEN to that! And mea culpa: as somebody who has been misquoted in the media, I should have known better.
;-)
I live just down the road from Sapich Bros. Vineyard of "Purple Death" fame, made infamous worldwide by visiting USAF Pilots.
Sapich makes a Chenin Blanc that is just amazing, and a very good Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. If you make it to NZ, we shall have to go try a few samples.
#500 Lodge of the Liberal Arts meets 5 times per year on third Monday in March, May, July, September and November at 4 PM sharp.
My fave Sav Blanc from New Zealand is Jackson Estate. Great “grassy” aftertaste that goes surprisingly well with lobster.
Christopher Lee’s greatest role, IMHO, was as the a powerful lawyer/Gay outlaw biker gang leader in Martin Mull’s “Serial.” Great sendup of Bay Area culture.
Just out of curiosity, is the US Navy allowed to port in New Zealand, or are you still playing “Nuclear Free Zone” like you were in the Cold War?
> Just out of curiosity, is the US Navy allowed to port in New Zealand, or are you still playing “Nuclear Free Zone” like you were in the Cold War?
As I understand the situation, the US Navy has always been welcome in New Zealand waters, providing that they were willing to assure the NZ Government that no nuclear weapons or propulsion was deployed or in use on the vessels visiting our shores. The US Navy has had (sensibly) a policy of neither confirming nor denying the nuclear capabilities of its vessels. Ergo, because they will not play the game, they aren’t allowed in.
It is bucket-headed stupidity, and for that we can thank the French, mostly. The Anti-nuclear push in NZ was a result of French nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll, and the US copped the backlash unwittingly.
(Plus there was the small matter of the US bombing the Hell out of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, but that happened long before the nuclear ban).
If I had to guess, I’d speculate that the NZ Gov’t wishes the issue could go away, but the anti-nuclear thing has by now become so ingrained in the national psyche they cannot be seen to “back down” on it.
My electricity bill for June was over $600. It is a matter of time before nuclear generation becomes seriously debated. When that happens, the anti-nuclear thing will come to a head, and hopefully go away. I don’t know many people who can afford water-or-coal-generated electricity at that price on a sustained basis. Something has got to give!
> My fave Sav Blanc from New Zealand is Jackson Estate. Great “grassy” aftertaste that goes surprisingly well with lobster.
An excellent choice. I do prefer the wines from West Auckland over Marlborough, Bay of Plenty or Central Otago — call it a parochial “thing” if you like. West Auckland is where the NZ Wine industry started, with the immigration of Serbs, Croats, and Dalmatians from the Balkans in the early part of the 19th Century.
I tend to favor the Sapich wines: maybe because it is a short pleasant stroll down the road to Mike’s place, and he has a lovely tasting shed, and he’s good company and the wine flows readily. The vineyard has been in the Sapich family for generations. And it really is very nice wine: made in small batches so he is unable to supply the large wine shops. What you get, you buy from his tasting shed or off the Internet. The quality goes into the wine in the bottle, rather than into the labeling and distribution.
Sapich also makes a decent port and a very nice sherry. But white wine is what he does best. Chenin Blanc: delicious!
http://www.sapich.co.nz — recommended!
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