An audience of two

Thursday December 18, 2008

Rock Album Trivia part 2
As promised, here's the second part of my album trivia contest. I'll post the answers next week. Please pass the word on. I thought the hardest one would be the top left corner, but Mark Anenberg got it easily. So far the rest of the top row has proved more difficult than I expected.

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Wednesday December 17, 2008

Rock Album Trivia part 1
Here's a trivia test for you, to while away a few moments of pre-Christmas inactivity. Can you name the 16 album covers along with the artists in the image below? Note that the snippet I've taken is from the same location on the original sleeve.
Click on the image for a larger version. I'll post part two tomorrow, and the answers next week; if you want to know before then, send me a message on Twitter. Feel free to forward this on. Spoiler alert: people are leaving their guesses in the comments.

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Monday December 15, 2008

What am I drinking for Christmas?
With Christmas coming I thought I'd make a note of what I expect to be drinking over the break in case anyone is interested.

I don't tend to drink much European stuff, but I've been enjoying the Juan Gil Jumilla from Spain as I've mentioned before - $12 from Costco. I've also enjoyed a Peter Lehman Barossa Shiraz (about $15) and a Rolf Binder "Halliwell" Shiraz-Grenache which I *thought* cost $10 but seems to have been closer to $15. I've had a few good Argentinian Malbecs over the past year or so, including Kaiken Ultra ($15) and will be on the look out for Catena ($17) and Terrazas de Los Andes Riserva (~$12) which are reliably good. I've yet to find any under $10 that I cared for though. From Chile I'll be looking out for my usual favourites - Casa Lapostelle Cuvee Alexandre, Marquis de Casa Concha and Montes Alpha - and might try anything else that looks interesting. There's one called "Root 1" that goes for less than $10 and is worth the money.

For white wines I'll be loading up on Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc - a killer value from New Zealand at around $13. I'm considering getting a case of Rosemount Show Reserve Chardonnay - it's only $6 a bottle but I object to paying almost half as much again in tax and shipping, so I'm keeping my eyes open for a local source. Whole Foods or Trader Joes might carry it - they have in the past.

Locally I've found the 2005 Avalon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to be a terrific value at $11 from several retailers, including K&L. I've grabbed a few local whites - including a Calera Chardonnay that I haven't tried before; their Pinots have a very austere mineral character that I don't really care for, but in a white that would be interesting.

For sweet wines I'll be relying on my existing stocks of Sauternes. The 2005s are supposed to be very good, but the price is around 25% to 50% over what the 01s and 03s typically cost so I'm just not bothering, especially with the recession and all that. If I see any decent closeouts I may buy (I picked up half bottles of Lamothe Guignard and d'Arche for around $10 each in previous years) and I might be tempted to pick up a 2003 Tokaj - the Royal Tokaj Red Label was under $30 in Costco. I don't drink much port, but usually keep a bottle of Graham's Six Grapes in the house.
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Sunday December 14, 2008

The auto bailout
So the big 3 auto manufacturers want the government to lend them more money than their entire market value. Why don't they just do a rights issue? Instead of "lending" them billions, why doesn't the government offer to buy the equivalent amount of newly issued stock? That way the existing shareholders get to vote on whether they want to go ahead with it - after all, it's a significant dilution and they already have money committed, but if the companies really are on the verge of bankruptcy then they shouldn't take much convincing. Other investors can get in on the deal if they want to, so it won't necessarily cost the taxpayer as much. There's the opportunity for reward if the bailout works with no greater risk of losing the taxpayers' money if the companies fail. Seems like a win-win to me.
Of course like any investor I'd want to see a decent, coherent business plan from the companies before investing.
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Tags: auto bailout chrysler ford gm