Last night, The Score was sitting on my doorstep as I walked in. I could not recollect why I would have chosen this movie to see on my netflix queue. Until I had read the short blurb, and also popped the movie into the player, that it dawned on me. I like Ed Norton and Robert De Niro, and I had not seen this movie, so in a flash of brilliance couple of months ago, I had put this on the queue.

The movie is really watchably cool and extremely well cast. Ed Norton really pulls it off superbly, as a retard that cleans floors and also the cunning thief. There is something about his contenance that carries this duallity so dang well! The other movie where he plays this dual kind of role is in Primal Fear. I think it was last year, when I watched Primal Fear, that I really wanted to see Ed Norton's movies. Of course, Robert De Niro plays his role as aging thief who finally partners up with Ed Norton to steal a sceptre from Montreal customs offices. The plan goes great until Ed Norton decides to mess around with Robert De Niro to steal it all for himself. Hmmmm... sounds like the Italian Job, where Ed Norton steals the gold from his partners. Goes to show most movies are made from mish-mash of earlier movies or not. Anyways, it is like I said, watchably cool.

Coste-Caumartin Pommard, 2005 (Pommard, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France)
		Producer: Jerome Sordet Domaine: Coste-Caumartin is located in northern end of Pommard, between Petits Epenots and Beaune’s Clos des Mouches. About 1.83 hectares of Clos des Boucherottes, has belonged to the Sordet family since late eighteenth century. Notes from Bermans: The wine is especially deep and dark for a red Burgundy with lots of glycerin and concentration. On the palate the wine is voluptuous and creamy with lovely flavors of raspberries, cherries, oriental spices with fine, silty tannins. Grape/Varietal composition: 100% Pinot Noir. My notes: I could not wait to try this one, at my previous wine tasting I had the Borgougne from Coste Caumartin (click here and see number 3 in the list) and it was well received by most. Of course at that tasting I was extremely partial to the Chateauneuf, so, I was biased there. For this tasting, I held out tasting all the other four, until we (and the wine) was ready to taste. I jumped at the chance as soon as it was being poured, and god! It was awesome! Very deep red, very solid, very full, had hints of spice, hints of earthiness. Just very very smooth and by god, yummy! Buy Factor: If I have the spare budget! YEAH! Cost: $39.99 (reg. $49.99) a bottle.

Manzone Barbera D’Alba, 2005 (Alba, Piedmont, Italy)
		Notes from Bermans: Most successful in Italy's Piedmont region, where it makes such wines as Barbera d'Asti, Barbera di Monferato and Barbera di Alba. Its wines are characterized by a high level of acidity (meaning brightness and crispness), deep ruby color and full body, with low tannin levels; flavors are berrylike. However, plantings have declined sharply in the United States. A few wineries still produce it as a varietal wine, but those numbers too are dwindling. Its main attribute as a blending wine is its ability to maintain a naturally high acidity even in hot climates. The wine has more potential than is currently realized and may stage a modest comeback as Italian-style wines gain popularity. Additional descriptions: "Lovely blackberry and raspberry aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, with good acidity and a plum, lemon and chocolate aftertaste" Grape/Varietal composition: 100% Barbera. My notes: It was beautiful ruby red color, quite grapey with hints of mixed berries. But, on the whole a very table wine, quite non-memorable. Although, at the wine tasting there were couple of fans. Buy Factor: I don't think I was too impressed with this one. Nah! Wasn't too jazzed with it. Cost: $17.99 a bottle.

Chablis Domaine Long-Depaquit. 2005 (Chablis, Burgundy, France)
	pic coming soon	Producer: Albert Bichot Domaine Long-Depaquit  this is one of several Chateau and Domaines owned by Albert Bichot, Notes from Bermans: Good Chablis from a top Domaine can be one of the most exquisite Chardonnay/white Burgundy experiences that one can have. The crisp minerality, subtle complexity pure, bracing flavors, that are distinct from each vineyard site, places Chablis' near the top of my white wine preferences. And compared with white Burgundies from further south they are down right bargains. And that's not to mention new world wine chardonnays. Domaine Long- Depaquit is renowned for their vineyard sites and the quality of the Chablis' they produce. This wine, from the great 2005 vintage, was described by Allen Meadows, "the Burghound" as having, "A classic green fruit and oyster shell nose (which) leads to admirably rich and rather fruity flavors that are naturally sweet and impressively concentrated. This is a big Villages (wine) with solid minerality and plenty of personality." Grape/Varietal composition: 100% Chardonnay. My notes: I had tasted this wine before and my notes stay as: Rich dry wines, citrus and mineral fruits along with lime and white blossoms (flowers). Good body, quite lively and fresh. However, showing this wine second over the Gewurtztraminer, did not fair well.   Buy Factor: Might consider this one as a good dry white with seafood. Cost: $19.99 a bottle.

Marcel Hugg Gewürztraminer (Bergheim, Alsace, France)
		Notes from Bermans: Gewürztraminer can yield magnificent wines, as is best demonstrated in Alsace, France, where it is made in to a variety of styles from dry to off-dry to sweet. The grape needs a cool climate that allows it to get ripe. It's a temperamental grape to grow and vinify, as its potent spiciness can be overbearing when unchecked. At its best, it produces a floral and refreshing wine with crisp acidity that pairs well with spicy dishes. When left for late harvest, it's uncommonly rich and complex, a tremendous dessert wine.. Grape/Varietal composition: 100% Gewürztraminer. My notes: I had not tried it before the wine tasting at my company, it showed tremendously well. It was very smooth, floral and sweet. For me, it is almost the definition of a Gewürztraminer. I could not help comparing it with the Trimbach and Gisselbrecht. Thus far have not been impressed with Trimbach, while Marcel Hugg and Gisselbrecht are comparably great alsace wines.  Buy Factor: Anytime, absolutely. Of the four for the wine tasting, we opened two, and one was snapped up by my colleague right at the wine tasting. Of course, I am hoarding the last one from the set. Cost: $19.99 a bottle.

Wine tasting at the company, yes, finally we have it. I have been planning this for a while (try last October) and finally I got to organize the wine tasting at the company. We had only ten of possible hundred that could have shown up, but the election, the weather, the falling sick, the cost, and not it town got in the way for several people. But, it was a good group that got together this evening to taste three wines from France and one from Italy.

From the left to the right the wines: Marcel Hugg Gewürztraminer (Alsace, France) Tasting results: Loved by majority of the people. 2005 Chablis Domaine Long-Depaquit (Chablis, France) Tasting results: Did not show well after the Gewurtz, but I think I loved its crisp acidity.  Manzone Barbera D’Alba (Piedmont, Italy) Tasting results: Most people liked this one. This wine also gathered one or two fans. 2005 Pommard Coste-Caumartin (Pommard, Cote de Beaune, Burgundy France) Tasting results: Some liked this some didn't. I liked it. I think I left the tasting notes in my office cupboard, and I am home, so the above results are simply overall impressions and not the actual votes. I will edit to write those in too in a couple of days.

Since coming back from New York, I have been keeping busy living life, rather than blogging about it or may be I was being just a tad lazy about penning (typing) down what was happening. Either way, nothing got written down for a while. So, what has been happening? Loads of stuff that was on-going, well, has continued to be on-going, loads of new stuff got started, loads of stuff got done, and all along loads of fun was up for grabs.

Work front, all well that works well.

Entertainment front: Movies. Thanks to Netflix (door delivery), Netflix online and Hulu.com sites, I have caught up with several items from the queue

Shattered Glass: All about seeing Hayden Christensen in a role which nothing to do with Darth Vadar. I did get drawn into the movie as it dealt with the ethics. The movie is about a journalist, who has dreams about grandeur and he goes about getting it by fabricating his stories. It reminds me people who love to talk, love to hear themselves talk and all the while are saying nothing or are simply lying.

Arsenic and Old Lace: After the heavy dose of ethics, this one comes with Cary Grant in one of the most hilarious roles as a newly wed with aunts that have a sordid passion of killing gentlemen callers and burying them in the basement. The two aunts go about killing and burying as it was the most normal pasttime ever. It is great!

The Pianist: Holy molly, loved and hated this movie at the same time. Cannot believe I did not go to see this at the theaters.

Prime Suspect 1 and 2: I really do like Helen Mirren's role as DCI Tennyson.

And Then There Were None: As a kid I have remember reading this book, with 10 people murdered on a island, and no one could have gotten to the island and no one left. Since then I have been on the lookout for the book. Couple of months back as I was browsing through tones of used books for sale, I spotted it and bought it. It was great to re-read the book. I couldn't wait for the movie. Hmmm! Quite certain that there was a movie, I searched, found, and moved it to the top of my queue on Netflix. I must say, I was dissappointed, arghh! The suspense was there, the thrill was there, and the ending was horrid. I could believe my ears (or eyes for that matter). How dare they change the ending!

House M.D. (playing catup with season 4... I think): Hugh Laurie is really really cool. The brilliant but caustic doctor and his team as they battle the weirder of the medical problems.

Crochet Conquered! Finally, I have conquered the dopey one needle in one hand and yarn in the other craft. Yes! It has been a personal ghoul to couquer. I could knit, I could embroider, I could pick up almost any other craft, but the whole crocheting business drove me bananas. I could never manage the whole yarn and single needle thing. Conquering this thing has led me down the path of doing a sampler which is almost 50inches in square and also started on an ambitious shawl. Hmmm! I wonder if conquering a craft has lead me down the obsessive crafting path. Time will tell, but this may be a passing phase or a lasting entertainment. My very own accomplishment.

Domaine Cauhapé, Chant Des Vignes, 2005 (France)
		Producer: Henri Ramonteu. Website: Domaine Cauhape Notes from the producer: Enchanting, the aroma evokes an aromatic polyphony which resonates with fresh and delicate notes: grapefruit, grapes, peach and spring flowers. It is full, rich and concentrated. Subtle but voluptuous. The finish is long and elegant with incredible lingering fruit flavours. Grape/Varietal composition: 100% Gros Manseng. My notes: I opened it, I sniffed it, let it stand for 30 mins and fell in love with it. It is indeed so elegant and bursting with fresh grapefruit and spring flowers. It felt like fresh rain over parched soil wine. Absolutely stunning. I have had the 2003 and 2005 continues to amaze me. Buy Factor: Anytime, I have had this just myself couple of times, and also shared with fellow wine tasters. It has been widely loved and accepted. Also taken a bottle for my sister. Cost: $19.99 a bottle.

I am back in the hometown after a brief visit to see how the 'other' half lives. The 'other' half being the married-with-children-with-varied-schedules people. This married with children folks that I had the privilege to live with is my sister's family. She has two kids; one 7.5 year old that goes to second grade school and one 3.5 year old that goes to daycare. She goes to yet another school to teach a bunch of high-schoolers. After a week, I must say, Wow! Yep! a simple Wow!

All together, there appeared to be bursts of activity during the morning and evening hours with a peaceful dead-zone (for me, not for my sister) in between. It is a peaceful 5 AM to wake up to, no kitties jumping over me (hmm, I kind of missed that) to wake me up. Just past six am, my sister is up and about, shortly there after the kids are woken up. I have observed that all little ones crave mummy-time in the morning. Mummy-time is something similar to kitty-time. My kitties, simply jump on the bed (if they haven't been hanging out there already) squat on me or near my head, purring their head off. The next 15-20 minutes are completely dedicated to them, to tickle their bellies, scratch their heads, hold them and hug them. My two nephews needed exactly that.. mummy-time. By and by, breakfast, milk, coffee got made, breakfast got eaten, morning ablutions wrapped, kids got yelled, kids crying wrapped, kids got their crankiness out, kids dressed, everyone else dressed, everyone tumbled out to do drop offs.

I dropped the older one to school and my sister dropped off the little one and we switched the pickups. The school doors open at 8:25 AM. A late pass needs to be issued if the child is not inside the school doors by 8:45 AM. It is 20 mins of complete chaos in front of a school. The school buses unloading their cargos and going off to gather another cartload of kids. Parents, guardians and people like me, dropping off kids. Of course, all drivers want to park right in front of school, right at the door, probably at the classroom door! duh! What is the harm in parking a block away, getting out, walking ten (or more) steps to get to the school door. Perhaps I am beating up the droppers a bit too much. After I dropped off, I was heading home, while most people there were heading to work, trying to get there by 9:00 AM. I should really cut them some slack; after all, they were the ones that were on a more stringent timeline.

I spent most of the morning, lunch time and afternoon blissfully clickity-clicking on my computer getting work done, receiving emails, responding to emails, writing up instructions, doing demos, talking on phone and communicating on instant messenger. While I was happily typing on my computer, my sister is at her school handling lessons, reviews, talkative kids, grades, homework, teaching, doing demos and running around. Somewhere in all that she has her packed lunch and I have my bowl(s) of cereal, chips and soup.

... all was back to normal working day until 3:20 PM.

Around 3:15 PM outlook reminded me to pick the little one from daycare. Work went on hold for the next hour, whilst, I drove off to pick the little one. Picking a kid from day care was (is) not a matter of getting to the daycare, bundling the little one and driving back. 'It' is not a bag of potatoes or carton of milk that one drives to the store, purchases and drives back. It entails, spending 10-15 mins with the little one at the daycare, before the little one is prepared to head out. No sense in forcing a kid to drop their current train of thought, current book, current chat with friends, current fight, current crying or anything for that matter. I found myself enjoying my 15 minutes of hanging out with 'my' (my is in single quotes, because it my sisters little one, so indirectly mine) little one at the day care. Interestingly, if you hang around chitter-chattering with 'your' kid, random other kids gravitate towards you. One kid wanted something from other kid, and was not getting it, so was crying his head off. I happened to be around, and patted him saying: "There, there, play with something else". The next moment (to my utter astonishment), this bawling kid clung to me and cried even more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the teacher(s) laughing heartily. All I could do was hug the crying one, which led to others coming over. Hug-Magnets, I say. By and by, everyone was sorted and I and 'my' little one were on our way home.

Back home, the little one was happy to be playing around until mummy brought the other one, and then everyone was home, exchanging news of the day. Over coffee, milk, snacks, and homework for kids, I was happily reunited with my computer to continue clicking meaningful sequences of alphabets and numbers and some odd special characters.

Almost 12 hours since we have been up, the family sits down for dinner with work for the day wrapped up, homework done, and computer shut down. In the next couple of hours, the kids have play time, reading time, fighting time, crying time, bath time, and bed time. The bed-time always came last, but all the other 'times' were in random order and many times repeated over in the same evening.

Around 9:00 PM, peace reigns once more, whence my sister goes to pack lunches, clear dishes, complete her work for the next day. Who knows when she does sleep, I am already in dream world, when she finally gets to bed.

All in all, at the end of the week, my sentiments are exactly as they were when I started the drop off and pick up schedule. A simple, WOW!

A perfectly gorgeous day finds me driving down to New York to my sisters place. I will be camped out at her house for a week. It is going to be a working week, since there are way too many things to get done for work. I have couple of deadlines to meet and couple of things to wrap up before we move onwards to other bigger items. But then that is work.

I have always wondered how do families manage two working careers and kids, and their schedules, drop offs and pick ups, homework and playtime and everything in between. I am about to embark on a week long introduction to drop offs and pick ups. I think it will be loads of fun, from new driving routes, one or more kids in the back seat, getting to school, getting to daycare, remembering access codes to drop offs, the procedure for pick ups. Wow! Already I have had the first day of pick up round with my sister navigating and me driving to do the pickups of one child from school and the other from day care. Earlier in the morning, I did a drop off for my brother-in-law at the train stop, which is near his college. In between all this drop off and pick up, we have all the ducks in the row for one deadline tomorrow. Awesome! This is wicked cool. But, of course, this is the first day. Talk me at the end of the week and I may be singing a completely different tune. But for now, life is good.....

Domaine René Bouvier, Le Chapitre Bourgogne Rouge, 2005 (France)
Picture coming soon!		Producer: Domaine René Bouvier. Notes: (From the internet! Sorry, forgotten where) The Bouvier family has owned vineyards in the village of Marsannay at the northernmost boundary of the Cote de Nuits for four generations. Over the years, each succeeding generation has added to the holdings that now comprise approximately 12 hectares spread over 15 "lieudits" situated in 6 different villages. The domaine is now managed by Bernard Bouvier, a thoughtful yet dynamic young man in his early thirties who is dedicated to marrying the traditions of Burgundy to the benefits of modern viticulture and vinification. Grape/Varietal composition: 100% Pinot Noir. My notes: This was my pick for celebrating the 2005 burgundy! Gosh, I could have picked almost anything from the options provided. 2005 (as they say) has been an incredibly great year for burgundy, bordeaux and others. I did not want to be left out, so I picked up 1/2 a case. Last year I opened this bottle and I was filled with joy at my choice. This is a deep ruby red, smooth (decant it!), well balanced and has loads and loads of strong berry fruits. (read somewhere: red-blue blueberries, raspberries, cherry etc). I loved this one and happy with it. Buy Factor: I am beginning to like what Rene Bouvier produces. I have no idea where you can get this one as I bought it as a wine future (that is paid for it about six months before it was actually bottled and shipped). Cost: $22 a bottle (roughly).