Barry's Life in Napa Blog

The top story this morning is that you can stick a fork in Rudy "Did I mention 9-11?" Guiliani because he's done. Rudy will back McCain now, the latter having won handily in Florida. All that is the latest news, but it's a development from earlier in the week that still has me thinking. The question is this: is an endorsement from Ted Kennedy a good thing, or a bad thing? The editorial page piece by Caroline Kennedy caught my eye on Sunday. She says Obama could be a "President like my father." Lots of people like to try to project a JFK quality, and some will invoke his name, but not too many get the real deal, the blessing of the family. Big positive for Obama, you'd think, to have the daughter of a legend say outright that BO is the real change agent, is inspiring, and whatnot. You can just feel Hillary frowning. On the heels of this comes the endorsement by Ted Kennedy. I'm not sure if it matters what rabid right wingers think, since they won...

Being Friday and all, and having had my fill of being serious for the week, it's time for something completely different. The San Francisco Chronicle article turned me on to the sleeveface phenomenon, and I think it's worth sharing. A sleevface is "one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion." Here's an example: There are over 700 sleevefaces posted on Flickr. Lots of them are very direct like this one, but you'll also find increasingly creative, and sometimes disturbing efforts like this one from sleeveface.com: I won't spoil the fun by posting too many here (but if you send me one, I will certainly feature it.) Go see for yourself. The three main places you can peruse these are in the sleeveface pool on Flickr , www.sleevface.com , and Facebook (but you have to be a Facebook user to see those.) Notice how many of these shots appear to have been taken in record shops. A whole new ...

I don't usually punish myself by watching Presidential candidates debating, at least not this early in the race. The sight of them soundbiting a circuitous route around the questions causes my eyes to roll in such a wide arc as to make me think they will get stuck. So it was more out of happenstance than planning that led me to watch the Dems debate on CNN Monday - but I'm glad I was tuned in because it was a real laugh riot. OK, perhaps "laugh riot" is not the best description, but it was tons of fun. They started out with a contest to see who could mention "Dr. King" the most times in their first minute (since it was MLK day and all) and I think John Edwards won that segment. Then the moment Obama threw the barb at Hillary about being a corporate lawyer for Wal Mart - snap! - the gloves came off. Next thing, she says BO worked for a slumlord. Then he accused her of ordering the hit on Vince Foster. She told him he should go back to Africa where he belongs....

Yesterday was a big day in little old Napa. We had the long-awaited opening of Whole Foods, and Bill Clinton was in town. I made the scene at both events, and personally speaking, the former was more exciting than the latter. It's Whole Foods 25th store in California, and it's been a long time coming. For years there have been stores in towns 25, 30, 40 miles away, and Napa had yet to feel the love and was developing an inferiority complex. (For those who aren't acquainted, Whole Foods is like a Wal Mart Super Center for patchouli-soaked people who wear Birkenstocks AND for tennis-playing second wives who drive a Lexus. Kind of a big deal.) So apparently we finally got the hippie-yuppie balance just right now, enough to bring the WF circus to town, and a foodie frenzy is underway. This new store is gigantic - a combination drug store, grocery store, wine shop, bakery, cafe, deli, coffee shop, even a music section. There's probably some aisle in there that has medicina...

The Year of the Beard rolls on! After a full week back at work, I think I am past the point of people asking "Are you growing a beard?" I want that question to stop, because I won't have to resist coming back with "No, I am just showing up at work unshaven day after day because I am a loser." So far the most honest remark I've heard was from my friend Doug who asked "Do you realize how much older it makes you look?" I told him I was tired of getting carded at bars all the time anyway. I wasn't really aware that there was a "grow-a-beard-until-the-writer's-strike-is-over" thing going on when I entered whisker initiation mode. And so the answer to the question is no, I am not unshaven in solidarity with the writers, although I imagine their cause is just. The two most high profile people with writer's strike-related new beards of late have been David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. But Dave got a shave a week ago, so his YOB is...

He's made some of the best movies in modern history. The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II alone qualify him for placement on a pedestal, and then there's Apocalypse Now and The Conversation , so he might have 4 films in my personal top 25 all time list. On top of being a bona fide artist with film, the man is audacious and bold, going broke and hitting jackpots with frequency. He had the huevos to go big time into the Napa wine business, buying properties to reunite the former glory of the Niebaum estate, which had been broken up and pillaged by philistine business interests over the years. Once he had the grand structure in hand, he poured a huge sum into restoration. I once watched a master carpenter working by hand to rebuild the massive staircase that you can see today at Rubicon Estate (formerly Niebaum-Coppola, formerly Inglenook.) That's the Coppola style - spend the money to do it right, or don't do it at all. The man lives large, takes big risks, dreams ...

It's easy to see why we love a Presidential election year - there's more ups and downs than college football on a muddy field. To wit, just a few weeks ago, Hilary was a mortal lock for the Democratic nomination, sitting on a huge bankroll, the presumptive nominee. Today, as the New Hampshire primary takes place and she is likely to take another beating, there are rumors afoot that she's preparing to drop out of the race. I don't think she'll really cave that fast, but I also don't think there's much chance that she will rally later, as her hubby Bill has suggested. Back when he ran in the primaries he was a relative unknown - there was time to lose a few at the start and then make a run. Hilary is just the opposite - too well known - and if people don't like her now there's no reason they'll like her more in February. So if she gets drubbed again today, she'll have a long row to hoe. Meanwhile, there's the crying thing. Speaking to a gro...

It's official. I have proclaimed 2008 to be the Year of the Beard. So shall it be written, so shall it be done. I have had some prodigious beards in the past, including the bushy bastard that earned me the nickname Grizzly in my freshman year of college. ( Grizzly Adams was a popular TV show at the time and he sported a big bushy bastard beard as well.) And I have also featured my share of goatees (long before they became required) as well as some sideburns that threatened to become mutton chops and more than one cheesy mustache. But it's been a lot of years since I last committed to any facial hair - so long I can't remember that last time. So I guess it's time. Having a couple weeks off work I have, of course, avoided shaving as much as possible, so at this point I have a good week invested in Beard '08. Early indications are that the portions of earlier beards that came in so very red are now so very gray. Fitting for a man of my advanced age. I think this new f...