our fearless leader and self-denial

[Ken Gargett]

yes, two concepts you never thought to see in the same sentence.

anyway, it seems that the good old days where rob would come for a review and next day, i'd have three empties (and know i'd had less than half a bottle) are long gone. i can live with that but complete abstinence is not good for you. even most vaguely sane religions (another first seeing that oxymoron but no matter) allow drinking.

rob coming around monday for another review (hurry up, greg, too many in the can) and bringing a really top cigar. as he should. i was keen to crack something special to go with it but prohibition pete is off grog. and not quite the same thing, drinking on your own (not that i am against that but...).

so, perhaps this, from the Times, will make him reconsider.

 

Red or white, drinking wine is an ideal workout for the grey matter

Ben Hoyle, Los Angeles

April 5 2017, 12:01am, The Times

 

Wine engages more of our brain than any other activity, according to a top neuroscientist.

The next time you reach for that chilled bottle of sauvignon blanc or pour an extra glass of pinot noir, take a moment to congratulate yourself: research suggests that your mind could not be working harder.

Drinking wine “engages more of our brain than any other human behaviour”, according to a leading neuroscientist whose decades of work have helped to redefine our understanding of how the brain processes flavour.

Encouragingly for those who hate to waste a drop, Gordon Shepherd, a professor of neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, also argues that spitting wine out during a tasting session prevents the drinker from fully appreciating it.

Swallowing is one of the key processes, he claims in his book Neuroenology: How The Brain Creates The Taste of Wine. It is vital “for obtaining the most information possible about the quality of a wine”.

Dr Shepherd has been instrumental in carving out an emerging branch of science known as “neurogastronomy”, a term that he coined in 2006.

His work has shown that our psychological, sensory and physical response to food and drink combine to create what we think of as flavour in objects that do not inherently possess it.

Our understanding of how this works and what is means has been expanded through detailed scientific research by Dr Shepherd and other scientists and through the practical experiments of chefs such as Heston Blumenthal, at the Fat Duck in Bray, and Ferran Adrià of the El Bulli restaurant in Spain.

In Neuroenology, Dr Shepherd is advocating a new approach to wine along similar lines “that can be summed up in the phrase: the taste is not in the wine; the taste is created by the brain of the wine taster”.

Where other wine-tasting books focus on the wine, Dr Shepherd is much more interested in the drinker. He has the data to show that they are engaged in a series of operations more elaborate than listening to music or solving a difficult maths problem.

“The molecules in wine don’t have taste or flavour, but when they stimulate our brains, the brain creates flavour the same way it creates colour” [by responding to the effects produced when light hits the objects that we see, which are actually inherently colourless] he told National Public Radio in the US.

Sniffing that pinot in advance requires “exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body” while moving it inside the mouth engages the intricate muscles that control the tongue as well as stimulating thousands of taste and odour receptors.

This explosion of mental information is then processed through a frame of reference that is “heavily dependent on our own memories and emotions and those of our companions” at the time, as well as additional factors like the composition of our saliva and our age and gender. Dr Shepherd does however caution against overdoing the pursuit of pleasure. Often he observes that after a few sips “people are just downing the stuff. If you take too large a sip, you’ve saturated your system.”

At which point the brain may recognise the possibility of another complex phenomenon: the hangover.

What happens after each sip

● Taste is an illusion. The perception of wine is formed in the brain, not in the mouth. Smell plays the key role.

● Two movements activate the brain to create flavour perception: the movement of the wine through the mouth and the movement of air through the throat and nose

● The most important contribution from our sense of smell comes not from sniffing the wine in advance but from molecules released in the mouth when we breathe out.

 

 

[El Presidente]

If only you could have seen me Friday night ....and Saturday 

I have set aside two days a month on the turps. They are "GOLD". 

After the FBC comp I will move that to 4 days a month. 

"Moderation in all things" has never been a personal mantra. I am doing well in 2017 to date 

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, El Presidente said:

If only you could have seen me Friday night ....and Saturday 

I have set aside two days a month on the turps. They are "GOLD". 

After the FBC comp I will move that to 4 days a month. 

"Moderation in all things" has never been a personal mantra. I am doing well in 2017 to date 

that is so weak, you could play for the reds.

binge drinking at your age? have you no shame? when you finally come to your senses, there must be a punishment. you will be met by warm sauv blanc served in vegemite jars while i crack a top champers or perhaps the appleton 21 year old. you can watch.

[polarbear]

I go off the turps at least 4 times a year
Its usually for the waist line more than anything else. After 4-6 weeks off I tend to only drink during the weekends and then that morphs into drinking during the week AND weekends and then the cycle starts all over again

I commend anyone who doesn't drink (especially if they work in customer service or retail) as they're stronger souls than I

I've always found alcohol is a balancing act. Its nice to be able to reach for that fine bottle of wine on a night when its pissing down rain but at the same time, you don't want to be one of those guys who comes home from work every night and drinks 8 beers just out of habit

Everything in moderation...including moderation

[99call]

As they say in 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest' "Sometimes the man drinks out of the bottle,.........Sometimes the bottle drinks out of the man".     Upon hearing this, I basically just try to avoid drinking out of bottles.

[Texwrangler]

just think if Rob gave up cigars too.....OH THE HORROR 

[CigarAsh]

7 hours ago, polarbear said:

Everything in moderation...including moderation

Words of brilliance to live by. How can one truly measure, understand or appreciate moderation without the occasional excess?  

[Colt45]

17 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

prohibition pete is off grog.

I mean really, the damage is done - why bother?

[awkwardPause]

I wise man in Nicargua once slurred this saying to me on the ferry ride to Ometepe...

"A day without a buzz is a day that never was."

Had a good chuckle at that one. ?
Still, I commend the efforts of our host here.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[SignalJoe]

I'll share you with the words of Dean Martin who said - "I feel sorry people who don't drink.  When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."

[Ken Gargett]

2 minutes ago, SignalJoe said:

I'll share you with the words of Dean Martin who said - "I feel sorry people who don't drink.  When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."

it is a great quote but i've seen it attributed to sinatra more often than deano. also wc fields, churchill, robert mitchum, jack lemmon. i poked around and there is also a suggestion it was some bloke called phil harris on the johnny carson show.

but it is a great quote. fearless leader, take note.

[Smokin Joe]

On 04/05/2017 at 3:39 PM, Ken Gargett said:

that is so weak, you could play for the reds.

This is simply not true. Keeping the faith while waiting for a championship to arrive once a decade takes more strength than you know.

[Ken Gargett]

i come from a time when the reds were considered the greatest provincial rugby side in the world. when we expected to, and did, beat a full strength all black side. when nsw was sent packing home every year, despite the iniquities of the wallaby selection panel.

names like loane, mclean, slack, gould, moon, shaw, shaw, handy, pilecki, dunstan, hall, grigg, batch and subsequently eales, horan, little, lynagh, kefu, and so many more.

now, we aspire to be lite beer.

[99call]

19 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

i come from a time when the reds were considered the greatest provincial rugby side in the world. when we expected to, and did, beat a full strength all black side. when nsw was sent packing home every year, despite the iniquities of the wallaby selection panel.

names like loane, mclean, slack, gould, moon, shaw, shaw, handy, pilecki, dunstan, hall, grigg, batch and subsequently eales, horan, little, lynagh, kefu, and so many more.

now, we aspire to be lite beer.

Ken,

Be interested to hear you opinion on the upcoming 2017 Lions tour. Considering it was probably the worst Wallaby side for a long long time, do you think the 2013 series win has put the Lions in a dangerous place of thinking they might have a chance against the AB's?

Also, do you think its odd, that the refereeing of rugby and how it evolves always seems to originate and react to,  how the AB's and their regional super rugby sides want to play the game. By this I mean, they're always playing around with the fringes of the laws of the game, the referee's step in line with the way they want to play. 

In short (having played in the front row) I'm worried that things like scrum dominance and mauling are effectively being outlawed, because the AB's don't like it, as if they need any additional help?  Effectively they've turned the 15 man game into 7s, but have been allowed to do so, and supported by the ref's

 

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, 99call said:

Ken,

Be interested to hear you opinion on the upcoming 2017 Lions tour. Considering it was probably the worst Wallaby side for a long long time, do you think the 2013 series win has put the Lions in a dangerous place of thinking they might have a chance against the AB's?

Also, do you think its odd, that the refereeing of rugby and how it evolves always seems to originate and react to,  how the AB's and their regional super rugby sides want to play the game. By this I mean, they're always playing around with the fringes of the laws of the game, the referee's step in line with the way they want to play. 

In short (having played in the front row) I'm worried that things like scrum dominance and mauling are effectively being outlawed, because the AB's don't like it, as if they need any additional help?  Effectively they've turned the 15 man game into 7s, but have been allowed to do so, and supported by the ref's

 

i am on deadline for several things and i am sure there'll be many posts on this series, which should be a cracker, but yes, a horror wallaby team. the lions do have a chance but they'll have to be absolutely top of their game all 80 minutes. the rules are there for all - the kiwis are very good at bending them, even breaking them, but the ref should clamp down. if i captained the lions, i'd be in the ref's ear till he was having nightmares about me decades later.

but i would be very wary about underestimating the strength of the all black forwards. that would guarantee the lions came unstuck.

[Smokin Joe]

I dont think we every recovered from leaving Ballymore. It was a simpler time watching Lynagh pull off an impossible kick and chase while the crowd on the hill thought of interesting ways to question David Knox's paternity.

[99call]

On the topic of regional teams beating the AB's. Check this out when your less busy, great little doco. Especially if your a Scarlets fan such as I

 

[mnmlst]

On 4/4/2017 at 9:07 PM, Ken Gargett said:

Where other wine-tasting books focus on the wine, Dr Shepherd is much more interested in the drinker. He has the data to show that they are engaged in a series of operations more elaborate than listening to music or solving a difficult maths problem.

 

On 4/4/2017 at 9:07 PM, Ken Gargett said:

“The molecules in wine don’t have taste or flavour, but when they stimulate our brains, the brain creates flavour the same way it creates colour” [by responding to the effects produced when light hits the objects that we see, which are actually inherently colourless] he told National Public Radio in the US.

Hmmm. Surely it must be the same or similar for the cigar smoker. 

[Zigatoh]

On 05/04/2017 at 6:39 AM, Ken Gargett said:

that is so weak, you could play for the reds.

binge drinking at your age? have you no shame? when you finally come to your senses, there must be a punishment. you will be met by warm sauv blanc served in vegemite jars while i crack a top champers or perhaps the appleton 21 year old. you can watch.

How is the Appleton 21? Their standard offerings are decent imo.

[Ken Gargett]

1 hour ago, Zigatoh said:

How is the Appleton 21? Their standard offerings are decent imo.

fabulous. comes across as less sweet than say the zacapa equivalents. but i love them both.

[MPfit]

Appleton 12 and reserve are both good. Haven't had the 21. Zacapa 23 is always one of the bests in my opinion. 

[Zigatoh]

13 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

fabulous. comes across as less sweet than say the zacapa equivalents. but i love them both.

Might have to give it a whirl,  especially as I tend to find zacappa a bit too sweet, cheers!