CUT and DRY: September 2009

Fall Glow

There is a calm that descends over the garden this time of year.

Soon leaves will begin to fall. Nature rebirth.

As Fall is also a perfect time for planting with its cool temperatures

and increased moisture. So lovely grapes!. Sweet and juicy.

Olives are harvested in the fall. The olive is the symbol of peace,

wisdom, glory, fertility, power, and pureness.

I love olives. Do you ?

xxx

(Photos by B.M.)

A Taste of the New

Emile, a fifty year old wine maker, Isabelle's father-one of my

   uncle's friends was in charge then, but he has now handed over
   his daughter Isabelle, who is continuing to make excellent wines.
   I think in matters of wine and taste, the French generally contrive
   to give an impression of effortless self-sufficiency.

   While my uncle Peter and I were planning a trip to France
   - long ago-we decided that we would begin with a visit
   to the vineyards of Alsace. It was my first time in my entire life
   that I visited a winery.

   Alsace is one of France's most appealing wine regions. It is
   scenically beautiful and its climate is reliably mild.
   It is a delight for the gastronome (it has more Michelin stars than
   any other part of France).

   Alsace wines are sold in a tall, slender, green bottle, known
   as a flute .
   Most are vinified dry and have respectable levels of alcohol,
   making them excellent partners for food.

   I have very fond memories of my visit to the Wines' Road,
   in Alsace.
   I was impressed not only by the pretty villages but by the
   openness and enthusiasm of the producers.
   The Alsace Wine Route runs through small towns and villages,
   one of which is Dambach la Ville where the winery is.
   Dambach la Ville is a traditional village with half-timbered houses,
   narrow streets and flower-decked-balconies.

My uncle's friends, Emile, his daughter Isabelle and her husband
Jacques gave me a wonderful welcome during my visit to the

small village of Dambach la Ville.

The winery is housed in a charming old butter factory

and they produce a dry, food-friendly white wine of the Pinot Gris

grape variety.

It's fun reading Masters of Wine's description on the bottles.

...flowery, fruity, spicy, smoky, stylish, fragrant, racy...

   As I relaxed over a glass of their excellent and elegant wine
   I wondered if I would be able to resist wine living so close
   to a winery. xx

(Photos by B.M.)

Leisure Squatters

   There was a lot of wind this morning. Think it rained all last night. The wind lulled
   finally at noon. It is hot. While walking down a not so often traveled pavement
   I noticed these leisure cats at the head of the stairs. If this is not a surprise!
   Lying on their back or face down.
   Slumbering away a warm afternoon. Napping, napping...That means languor!
   Homeless cats took possession of that stairway.
   Rightful owners. It looks like they shouldn't give an account of that.
   It was worth taking a couple of shots. I think this is a rare picture, and a scenically
   beautiful one.

Aren't they gorgeous? . Find another darling here.

Hope you have a fabulous time! xx

(Photos by B.M.)

Happy Friday+The Pulsing Life of the City

I ' m so glad today. After the repairs my computer works like

a charm.

All my thanks go out to my bloggy friends for their kind and

encouraging comments.

I think my computer took revenge on me of what I've done.

Experience is the mother of wisdom.

I 've decided on getting out more often. Yesterday, I spent

a lot of time on meeting friends and visiting downtown old

bookshops and cozy stores. Nothing better than a walk

downtown on a Fall's day.

While walking around and as I zig zagged across streets

I found myself on a street where a few cute stores were situated.

I thought I'd take a few shots.

I think they reflect the life pulsing through the lens.

What lovely dresses and shop-windows!

Don't just like this gray blouse below? And I spotted this fabulous

black dress.

I love the old bookshops. They are so cozy and charming!

Cafe's and places to eat out and almost every taste is catered for.

And finally there are also some other things that I love. xx

(Photos by B.M.)

The Richest Aspect of My Life

I begrudgingly got up early this morning. The clouds drove across

   the sky.
                              I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at my office, in front of
   my computer.
                               I am surrounded with stacks of books and piles of papers
                              which I accumulate in my little office.
   I'm in a rethinking mood today.
                              Subversive thoughts crossed my mind. I think I have been
                               so accustomed  to a computing environment. Definitely it has
                              become habit forming. Actually I have become dependent on
                               seeing the world through my lap top. I'm highly involved with
                               my computer. I realized that I filter out the subtleties
                               of conversation and the colours of human voice using e-mail
                               or Internet improvidently. I consider that eventually I will

eliminate normal human communications and the real world
around me.

So I've decided that today will be the decisive day to give the alarm.

To reconsider some of my habits, and set priorities. How you

choose to spend your time radiates what's truly important in your

life.

After all, the richest aspect of my life is the real world.

How Are Bonnie and Clyde Related to Economics

Game Saturday! Well, I would like to refer to the importance of "game theory" and the economics of cooperation.
There are various problems that people (firms/individuals) face when cooperation is desirable but difficult. Game theory is the study of how people behave in strategic situations.

By "Strategic" in Micro-economics we mean a situation in which each person, in deciding what actions to take, must consider how others might respond to that action.
A particularly important "game" is called the prisoner's dilemma. This game provides insight into the difficulty of maintaining cooperation. Many times in life, people fail to cooperate with one another even when cooperation would make them all better off.

The story of the prisoner's dilemma, is a story about two criminals who have been captured by the police.
Let's call them Bonnie and Clyde. The police have enough evidence to convict Bonnie and Clyde of the minor crime of carrying an unregistered gun, so that each would spend a year in jail.
The police also suspect that the two criminals have committed a bank robbery together, but they lack hard evidence to convict them of this major crime.

The police question Bonnie and Clyde in separate rooms, and they offer each of them the following deal:
"Right now, we can lock you up for 1 year. If you confess to the bank robbery and implicate your partner, however, we'll give you immunity, and you can go free. Your partner will get 20 years in jail. But if you both confess to the crime, we won't need your testimony and we can avoid the cost of a trial, so you will each get an intermediate sentence of 8 years."

If Bonnie and Clyde, bank robbers that they are, care only about their own sentences, what would you expect them to do? Would they confess or remain silent? Each prisoner has two strategies: confess or remain silent. The sentence each prisoner gets depends on the strategy he or she chooses and the strategy chosen by his or her partner in crime.
Consider first Bonnie's decision. She reasons as follows: "I don't know what Clyde is going to do. If he remains silent, my best strategy is to confess, since then I'll go free rather than spending a year in jail. If he confesses, my best strategy is still to confess, since then I'll spend 8 years in jail rather than 20.
So, regardless of what Clyde does, I am better off confessing."

In the language of game theory, a strategy is called a dominant strategy, if it's the best strategy for a player to follow regardless of the strategies pursued by other players.
In this case, confessing is a dominant strategy for Bonnie. xx

A Treat in Store

Now that the summer is over it is a good time to think about recipes which include dried ingredients from the store cupboard.

Cherries, figs, plums, apricots. I really love apricots.

I really like that honeyed glow in dried apricots, both in their looks and taste. I definitely have a sweet tooth.

Are you a dessert fan?

I remember when I was little would love to dip my finger into that tempting glass jar; As I recall, it was great fun for me. Each to his own taste!

I have to confess, I'm ashamed to admit it, I still do it. Oh well, this is one of my vices. There, I said it.

My mother owns a nice little place in the country. I really think of planting a garden with apricot trees instead of planting rose-bushes.
No, I do not aspire to become a glorious apricot planter. I think I'm suited for an apricot eater! xx