Good times were had.  Stogies were smoked.

The quintessential hipster who plays a Mac in Apple’s hilarious Mac & PC ads was chilling outside the Striphouse Steakhouse near Union Square, being all hipster-y with a young lady.  Was that a new (as of yet unreleased) iPhone in his pocket?

I spotted this character actor having dinner at Dallas BBQ near St. Marks Place.  He looked just as shady in person as he does in all of his movies. 

Here are the pictures (and video!) from Lauren and Anthony’s wedding last weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Lauren & Anthony were showing off some fancy moves for their first dance! (video)

Lauren and her Dad were also shaking it on the dance floor. Can you spot Rod Stewart in this video? (video)

Beringer White Zinfandel, 2006, California
Having been drinking some pretty heavyweight wines recently, I decided to mix it up a little bit this week with a White Zinfandel. After carefully focusing on subtle flavors for so long, the White Zin almost feels like an assault on the senses. But after taking a moment to remind myself that, no, I am *not* yet that big of a wine snob, I sit back and enjoy this sweet and refreshing beverage.

Although White Zins are a pretty pink color, Zinfandel is actually a type of red grape that thrives in California. White Zinfandel as we know it was first created by accident in the 1970s; Sutter Home, a winery that specialized in red zinfandels was using a technique of separating some juice from their red zinfandel grapes before fermentation to create a more concentrated red wine. The excess juice from the red zinfandel grapes was later fermented into a cheap white wine. However, a mistake in the fermentation process left Sutter Home with a sweet pink wine that actually tasted pretty good! They sold it as White Zinfandel and a new wine was born.

Today Sutter Home and Berringer are the two major producers of White Zinfandel, a California wine that accounts for 10% of all wine sold in the United States, despite being mostly dismissed by serious wine coinsures. It’s sweet, it’s unpretentious, and you can buy a bottle for under $6. Is it any wonder people love it so?

Edna Valley Chardonnay, 2005, San Luis Obispo, CA
The first bottle of Chardonnay I tried was a big dissapointment, so I was wary of trying another. But I decided it was time to give Chardonnay another try, so I selected this bottle from Edna Valley, a vintner that I would later discover specializes in Chardonnay. Wow, what a difference! This Chardonnay was delicious — full of flavor, with a pleseant sweetness. One of the best wines I’ve tried.

Photos from my trip to Paris. What a wonderful trip it was!

Mähler-Besse, Cheval Noir, 2002, Saint-Emilion (France) and many, many others!
When one is trying to become a wine snob, there is certainly no finer place to go than France. So it was rather spectacular timing that I had the opportunity to visit Paris, France just at the same time that I have come to discover wine. Wine is an institution in France. It is served at every restaurant and cafe and enjoyed with nearly every meal — as soda is to Americans, wine is to the French. I tried to make the most of my visit by having a glass of wine every night with dinner. I admit, I was mostly clueless about what I was actually ordering — the French appellation system continues to be way over my head — so I just picked something that looked good or sounded different. What I ended up with was a broad selection that varied from being very good to very, very bad and everywhere in between. What struck me most was that every glass was distinct in taste from nearly every other wine I’ve tried. I have yet to experience this great variety of flavors with the wine I’ve purchased in the US. Amongst the best wines were some strong and peppery reds and a delightfully refreshing rose. But I also had what was easily the worst wine I’d every tried. I decided to buy a bottle of cheap Bordeaux from a local shop near my hotel, figuring that even cheap wine in Paris was probably good wine. At 4 Euros what I got was nearly undrinkable! A sobering surprise that, even in France, you get what you pay for.

Photoshoped photos of people kissing themselves. Odd. Hard to look away.

This series of photographs poses families from around the world with the food they would eat in a week. It is a wonderful set of photographs that both fascinates and startles. Although the food ultimately attracts the most attention, be sure to pay notice the family homes, clothing and other details as well.