To much of my reader's dismay, there will unfortunately be no posts this weekend. (Take a  moment to get a hold of yourself.)  While you're sitting on the couch in your boxers, munching on sour cream 'n onion chips and surfing the web, I'll be partaking in debauchery-fueled shenanigans back in my college town. I call it, reliving the glory days of my youth. AKA getting blackout drunk and making an ass of myself.

I'll be down in the 904 of Jacksonville, reminding myself of how much I wish I was still 20 years old. Look for my beautiful mug on Sunday Night Football, I'll be the guy in the Roethisberger jersey getting intimate with a foam vagina (see the video above for mental image.) Hopefully I'll be reporting back with tales of mostly shit I can't remember and another victory for the black and gold. Either way, enjoy your sports en fused weekend without my witty anecdotes. Don't lie to yourself, you know you're going to miss me.

Weekend Picks:(Sorry, these are the only games I care about)

Florida State over Miami: No more orange bowl, no more number one ranked defense. Shit, if North Carolina can go into Dolphin stadium and get the W, FSU damn well better.

Rays over White Sox: Two home runs in his first post season debut! Look for Evan Longoria to put at least one more in the rafters. I'm sure he's already taken Erin Andrews up there and shown her his personal "Tropicana."

Steelers over Jags: These picks might be a little biased, I really don't care. If you picked up Mewelde Moore in fantasy this week (which is what I did) , start him for this game. He's going to light it up Sunday night. Steelers may have lost the last four against the Jags, but hey! At least no more players can get hurt right?  Side note, if Byron Leftwich gets in at any point, I might shit my pants.

edunn

Why do we fear color so much? I venture into unknown only to get inspired and explode in the bouquet of color.

fun candy sweet style

< get complete credits - jump! >

Sometimes it's great to take yourself into the unknown and find something like this great Smile Tee from '4Eva GuTta' (yeah a Women's, so what!) It was certainly the starting place for this fun style and I was quite pleased how I was able to pull it off.

Argrace's Hunting Cap set to white and MADesigns SOUL eyes in Blue 7 were the base for this colorful outift.

The 'Pink' pants are the creation of color guru Meriken Co. (another great place to start a colorful look) and some Kari High Tops in the 'Sail Away Bitch!' motif tied in with the Blue Tee perfectly. A few great color accessories on this one, the messenger bag or 'crate digger' bag from Kari, and Vintage Wear Fabulous Shades with Lemon-Lime Lenses, a wither watch in Turqoise and a freebie Cherries Jubilee Pin from Ingenue.

Hooray for color!

Please visit Designer Directory for store locations.

BODY

Skin: Belleza ~ Ewan tan 7 bald

Hair: ARGRACE ~ Hunting - Natural Wavy-White

Eyes: MADesigns ~ SOUL eyes Blue 7

OUTFIT

Pants: Meriken-Co ~ pants Pink

T-Shirt: 904.~ iL3 - FT

Shoes: Kari ~ Sail away bitch! High tops

Glasses: (VW) Fabulous Shades ~ Plain - Lemon-Lime Lens

Watch: wither ~ turquoise watch M

Accessorie: Ingenue ~ Cherries Jubilee Pin ~ Freebie!, Kari ~ Crate digger bag

Style/Model: Volcom Praga

Photography: Aldero Akami ]]> http://pgbla.wordpress.com/?p=147 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:52:06 +0000 pgbla http://pgbla.it.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/ubuntu-904-si-chiamera-jaunty-jackalope/ La versione 8.10 di Ubuntu è attesa per il mese di ottobre, ma per Canonical è già ora di parlare della futura major release che vedrà la luce nel corso dell'aprile 2009. Il nomignolo scelto per la futura Ubuntu 9.04 è Jaunty Jackalope, un animale immaginario frutto del folklore statunitense con le sembianze di una lepre cornuta.

Per la prossima edizione di Ubuntu, Canonical ha posto un obiettivo piuttosto ambizioso: fornire un'esperienza di utilizzo paragonabile a quella offerta da Windows e Mac OS X. Al fine di raggiungere questa meta, gli sviluppatori lavoreranno non solo sul miglioramento dell'interfaccia e sull'integrazione delle web application, ma tenteranno di ridurre i tempi di avvio del sistema operativo.

Mark Shuttleworth, CEO di Canonical, ha inoltre dichiarato che la compagnia sta cercando nuovo personale: "Il free software ha bisogno della stessa immediatezza ed eleganza anche nel settore Desktop, e questa è un'area dove Canonical spera di dare un contributo significativo: stiamo assumendo nuovi designer, esperti dell'usabilità e visionari dell'interazione che non miglioreranno solo i  prodotti di Canonical, ma contribuiranno anche ad altri importanti progetti come GNOME, KDE ed altri".

di Fabio Gozzo

http://www.hwupgrade.it/

È di qualche giorno fa l'annuncio del nome per la prossima versione di Ubuntu 9.04: Jaunty Jackalope (spavalda lepre cornuta - animale immagginario, incrocio tra una lepre ed un'anitope), solito nome strano che non ricorderò mai... . È stato lo stesso Mark Shuttleworth a dare la notizia con un messaggio sulla mailinglist (antiquato...fallo un wiki o un blog...). Il CEO di Canonical parla anche degli obiettivi principali della prossima release che sono la riduzione dei tempi di boot (da qui probabilmente il nome Jackalope) e un'ulteriore miglioramento dell'interfaccia, che insieme ad una maggiore integrazione tra web application e desktop (l'utente non dovrebbe più fare alcuna distinzione tra applicazione locale o remota), dovrebbe permettere a Canonical di reggere il confronto con Microsoft ed Apple.

check out this article from ZDNet Australia

By Renai LeMay ZDNet Australia
Posted on ZDNet News: Sep 09, 2008 9:21:10 AM

The Ubuntu project has detailed plans for the April 2009 version of its Linux distribution, continuing its habit of naming its software after animals by dubbing Ubuntu 9.04 "The Jaunty Jackalope."

The news comes as the project last week made available an advance testing version of its Linux distribution, Ubuntu 8.10, the "Intrepid Ibex," which is scheduled for release in late October.

"As we approach the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, it's time to create space for future plans... [Jaunty] will be the focus of our efforts from November through to April next year," wrote the project's founder and patron Mark Shuttleworth in an email to developers this morning.

Shuttleworth said Ubuntu 9.04 would focus on improving boot time and blurring the line between desktop applications and the incoming wave of web-based software.

"The Jackalope is known for being so fast that it's extremely hard to catch, and breeds only when lightning flashes," wrote Shuttleworth. "Let's see if we can make booting or resuming Ubuntu blindingly quick." Operating system rival Microsoft has also recently stated it wanted to make boot times one of its priorities for its incoming Windows 7 operating system, which has not yet been formally named.

On web application integration, Shuttleworth wrote: "Is it a deer? Is it a bunny? Or is it a weblication: a desktop application that seamlessly integrates the web? This hare has legs, and horns, and we'll be exploring it in much more detail for Jaunty."

The 9.04 release will also see Ubuntu's entire code repository moved into the project's Bazaar version control system, to make it easier for developers to work with the software. "For the first time, any developer will be able to branch any Ubuntu package with a single bzr command, publish their changes, and perhaps even publish builds of that package in their own package archive," wrote Shuttleworth.

Shuttleworth said the project would be planning the 9.04 release in much more detail at its Ubuntu Developer Summit, to be held in Google's Mountain View campus from 8-12 December this year.

Shuttleworth said 2009 would see Ubuntu compete strongly with its commercial rivals. "The warrior rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of the traditional big [software vendors]: Microsoft and Apple," he wrote.

"The bar is set very high, and we have been given the opportunity to leap over it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shine, and we want to make sure that the very best thinking across the whole open-source ecosystem is reflected in Ubuntu, because many people will judge free software as a whole by what we do."

We are, for the time being, not offering literature or the suggested offer. We are to state at the doors that due to recent events we are not engaging in our regular work, we are offering comfort where needed from the Bible to help cope with the tragedy. We are to read Isaiah 61:1, 2; 1 Peter 5: 7; and Phil. 4:6, 7. --Lynn Torchia

"They are so majestic, these buildings. They kind of show the power of the world is right there. And now it's not there . . . It's just rubble." --Wes Schultz, recent Edmontonian visitor

"The World Trade Center buildings in New York . . . had bigger purpose than just to provide room for tenants. The World Trade Center is a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace." --Minoru Yamasaki, architect of the World Trade Center

Mal sehen wie die Version wird.

Ubuntu 9.04 heißt "Jaunty Jackalope" › Ikhaya › ubuntuusers.de.

Cuando falta poco más de un mes para la salida de Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex, Mark Shuttleworth, anunció hoy el nombre de quien será su sucesora en el mes de abril del 2009, Jaunty Jackalope, contílope confianzudo o vivaz, mezcla de antílope y conejo, en fin, lo importante, lo que se espera de esta versión.

Entre las metas específicas que se propone están reducir el tiempo de arranque del sistema y también reducir las diferencias entre aplicaciones de escritorio y servicios web.

En cuanto a los desarrolladores anuncia que por primera vez cualquier desarrollador podrá crear una variación (rama) de un paquete de Ubuntu con un simple comando bzr, publicar los cambios que le realizó y si lo desea publicar compilaciones de ése paquete en su propio Archivo de Paquetes. También anuncia que se crearán nuevos roles en la estructura de desarrollo asegurando que más personas se sumen al desarrollo de Ubuntu.

Shuttleworth está convencido de que el próximo Ubuntu será un competidor mucho mejor de Windows y Mac OS en 2009 de lo que lo ha sido hasta ahora, con varios millones de dispositivos de consumo, desde netbook a PCs de sobremesa corriendo sobre él.

Fuentes: The Inquirer ,  Blog de Marcelo Ramos

El Jackalope es un animal de fábula, algo así como una liebre con cuernos de antílope. Y la palabra Jaunty se puede traducir desde alegre, hasta elegante, así que lo podríamos traducir como el Conejoantílope o liebrenado elegante o alegre. Liebrenado es un personaje de un corto de Pixar, que representa a uno de estos conejos 'cornudos' ;)

Dejando de lado el nombre, lo más interesante de esta primera versión del 2009 de Ubuntu (recordemos que en Octubre de este año saldrá la Intrepid Ibex - 8.10, que en estos días anda por la beta 5), serán los intentos de reducir significativamente los tiempos de arranque del sistema, así como integrar las aplicaciones de escritorio con las de tipo servicio web.

Además se va a dar la posibilidad de que los desarrolladores hagan sus propias versiones de los paquetes de Ubuntu más fácilmente y que estas versiones sean integrables dentro de la distribución.

Mark Shuttleworth ha inaugurado hace unas horas la nueva versión 9.04 (que se lanzará tras la inminente Intrepid Ibex, en el mes de Abril del 2009).

Que es Jaunty Jackalope ? Bueno, Jaunty es algo así como vivaz, alegre. Jackalope, es un producto del folklore norteamericano. Una especie de mezcla entre una liebre (jackrabbit) y antilope (antelope), de ahí su nombre. O sea, una liebre con cuernos.

A mi por lo menos el animal me trae un poco sin cuidado, me interesa más la noticia que se ha comentado acerca de que entre las metas específicas que se propone están reducir el tiempo de arranque del sistema y también reducir las diferencias entre aplicaciones de escritorio y servicios web.

En cuanto a los desarrolladores anuncia que por primera vez cualquier desarrollador podrá crear una variación (rama) de un paquete de Ubuntu con un simple comando bzr, publicar los cambios que le realizó y si lo desea publicar compilaciones de ése paquete en su propio Archivo de Paquetes. También anuncia que se crearán nuevos roles en la estructura de desarrollo asegurando que más personas se sumen al desarrollo de Ubuntu

As we approach the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, it's time to create space for
future plans, and so I'm writing to introduce you to The Jaunty Jackalope.

Jaunty, the code name for what will most likely become Ubuntu 9.04, will
be the focus of our efforts from November through to April next year. We
will be gathering forces in Mountain View on 8th - 12th December to
survey the upstream landscape and finalize Jaunty plans, enjoying the
excellent hospitality of Google and Silicon Valley's abundance of talent
and innovation. The Ubuntu Developer Summit is the social and strategic
highlight of each release cycle and it would be a great pleasure to
welcome you there. Jono Bacon has written up a
http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=1278 guide to sponsorship for those who
would have a substantial amount to offer at the Summit.

The Warrior Rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we can
reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to
consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be
comparable to those of the traditional big OSV's - Microsoft and Apple.
The bar is set very high, and we have been given the opportunity to leap
over it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shine, and we want to make
sure that the very best thinking across the whole open source ecosystem
is reflected in Ubuntu, because many people will judge free software as
a whole by what we do.

There are some specific goals that we need to meet in Jaunty. One of
them is boot time. We want Ubuntu to boot as fast as possible - both in
the standard case, and especially when it is being tailored to a
specific device. The Jackalope is known for being so fast that it's
extremely hard to catch, and breeds only when lightning flashes. Let's
see if we can make booting or resuming Ubuntu blindingly quick.

Another goal is the the blurring of web services and desktop
applications. "Is it a deer? Is it a bunny? Or is it a weblication - a
desktop application that seamlessly integrates the web!" This hare has
legs - and horns - and we'll be exploring it in much more detail for
Jaunty. We have already laid some foundations for weblications in the
online services discussions that took place in Prague, but since we
fully expect those services to ship in 9.04 the discussion will be that
much more intense in Mountain View.

Those bizarre-but-fearsome antlers might well remind one of the
intricate pattern of collaboration between developers in a distributed
version control system. So it's fitting that Jaunty will see us move all
of Ubuntu into Bazaar. For the first time, any developer will be able to
branch any Ubuntu package with a single bzr command, publish their
changes, and perhaps even publish builds of that package in their own
Package Archive. We will also make the developer community structure of
Ubuntu much richer - in addition to MOTU and core-dev, we are
introducing ways for developers to participate in specific applications,
either at the package-upload level or at the version-control level.
Whatever your level and specialisation of interest, we'll make sure that
you can participate accordingly.

December's UDS is likely to be packed full of interesting people and
ideas. I very much look forward to seeing everyone there. "There he
goes! That way!"

Mark

Acaba de hacerse público el nombre que tendrá la versión 9.04 (que se lanzará tras la inminente Intrepid Ibex, en el mes de Abril del 2009).

La traducción de Jaunty Jackalope es bastante rara aqui en España al menos e imagino que en toda Europa ya que el Jackalope es un animal americano: Una especie de mezcla entre una liebre (jackrabbit) y antilope (antelope), de ahí su nombre. O sea, una liebre con cuernos.

A mi por lo menos el animal me trae un poco sin cuidado, me interesa más la noticia que se ha comentado acerca de que entre las metas específicas que se propone están reducir el tiempo de arranque del sistema y también reducir las diferencias entre aplicaciones de escritorio y servicios web.

En cuanto a los desarrolladores anuncia que por primera vez cualquier desarrollador podrá crear una variación (rama) de un paquete de Ubuntu con un simple comando bzr, publicar los cambios que le realizó y si lo desea publicar compilaciones de ése paquete en su propio Archivo de Paquetes. También anuncia que se crearán nuevos roles en la estructura de desarrollo asegurando que más personas se sumen al desarrollo de Ubuntu.

Fuente: El Blog de Marcelo Ramos

Un saludo

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Source

Milwaukee (AP) - A worsening shortage of Roman Catholic priests will result in fewer Masses, more priestless parishes and deacons leading worship services, a study says.

The nation's Catholic bishops this week held their first extended public discussion of the problem, which was highlighted by the release of the two-year study.

"Awareness of the reality is impacting us more and more. We decided we had to take a good hard look at it," said Bishop Richard Hanifen of Colorado Springs, Colo.

Hanifen led the study for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is meeting in Milwaukee through today.

In 1965, there were 58,132 priests serving 46.6 million parishioners in the United States. Today there are 20 percent fewer priests and nearly a third more parishioners, the study said.

Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark, N.J., said 20 years from now his diocese expects to have 192 parish priests, compared with 540 today. And Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry reported that immigration has swollen some parishes in the Los Angeles archdiocese to 18,000 households.

"The problems are simply enormous," he said.

Fewer than 60 percent of the priests are active in parish work, and more than a quarter of Catholic parishes currently lack a full-time priest.

The situation is expected to worsen due to the rising average age of priests - currently 57 for those assigned by dioceses - and resulting retirements and deaths, the study said.

The only functions limited to priests are celebration of Mass and granting absolution from sins. But in practice, Catholics expect priests to preside at baptisms, marriages and funerals and to participate in other parish functions.

Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Calif., summarized the findings of 18 focus groups with priests around the country.

"Many say they feel inadequate, stressed and exhausted," he said.

He quoted one priest as saying, "There are just too many expectations, too much paperwork and not enough ministry."

Priests also expressed concern about "increased isolation" and less mentoring from fellow priests.

Two liberal groups, Call to Action of Chicago and the Cleveland-based FutureChurch, issued a statement repeating their call for married priests and women priests. Pope John Paul won't consider those changes.

"We're delighted that the U.S. bishops are finally beginning to talk about the critical shortage of priests, but the solutions they are proposing won't solve the problem," said the Rev. Lou Trivison, co-founder of FutureChurch.

The study also pointed to a shortage of replacements. Currently about 3,500 candidates are studying in graduatelevel seminaries, down more than 50 percent from 1965. But enrollments have crept upward the past three years, the study said.

One-fourth of the seminarians are foreign born. In the host Milwaukee archdiocese, for instance, the sole priest ordained this year is from Spain.

Major archdioceses like Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are all ordaining fewer than 10 new priests this year.

Personnel shortages are most severe in the West, where the Catholic population has grown the fastest. Nationwide the church has one priest for every 1,200 members, but in the West there is one per 1,750 members.

Team BroadBased was one of five agencies featured in the May/June 2008 issue of Jacksonville Magazine's 904 Magazine, Northeast Florida's Business and Executive Life Authority. The article, titled The Image Makers (page 72), gave agencies an opportunity to stage a photo shoot however we wished, as long as the setting said something about our company.

Our theme, thought it may sound cliche, was that "the sum of the parts really does equal the whole" at BroadBased Communications. The success of an organization of our size relies on good coaching and a dedicated team. With our concept, we were hoping to illustrate what a winning team looks like. For some reason, the team was thrilled at the prospect of dumping gallons of ice water on the coach's well-coiffed head. Yes, it was real and there was no Photoshopping involved. Like the true pro he is, photographer Brad Stookey captured the moment in one take. : )

Pictured clockwise from the lower left: Jan Korb, Joy Jarrell, Harrison Hardaway, Carolyn Audije, Jenny Soucek and Maria Coppola.

Here's the more generic version from the album "Yakko's World" . . . one that interestingly doesn't mention the Rodney King riots and the early 90s recession . . .

[audio http://myadversaria.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/quake-animaniacs.mp3]

"A Quake" (Animaniacs)
Yakko: It's a quiet, peaceful night
The moon is shining bright
Giving not a hint of what's in store
A few hours before morning
Without a single warning
Something strange begins to move the floor

Yakko: A quake, a quake
It's time to pull up stake
Dot : The worst is over
Y+W : We don't buy it
We're fed up
We can't deny it
We just want some peace and quiet
YW+D : So we're moving to Beirut!

Eh già...ogni volta a rompervi l'anima (se non qualcos'altro) con annunci di future versioni di Linux...ma stavolta la notizia è grossa: Ubuntu 9.04 abbandonerà Gnome e si munirà di KDE 4 (ecco il motivo di KDE 4 in Kubuntu 8.04). Non disperate amanti di Gnome! Dovrete soltanto limitarvi ad abbandonare il classico "ubuntu" per il nuovo "Gubuntu" (ovviamente la G sta per Gnome). In questo modo non esisterà più una sostanziale divisione tra Ubuntu e Kubuntu e quindi si pensa che rimarrà un unica distribuzione, appunto Ubuntu (kde) con l'alternativa di Gubuntu. A questo punto è lecito chiedersi se il progetto xubuntu rimarrà in vita,ma questo lo potremo scoprire nelle prossime puntate...

fonte : tuxepino

During the holiday season The Spanish Table always puts together some special gift box assortments of Spanish wines.  We have several multi-bottle gift packs to choose from this year as well as some very exclusive single bottles in magnums and splits presented in attractive wooden cases.  Mature vintage Riojas, rare 30 year old VORS Sherry, both red and white late harvest sweet wines as well as older Vintage and Tawny Ports all make excellent gifts and can be combined in an endless range of variety and flavor. Some of these hard-to-find wines only make an appearance during the Holiday Season so even if your gift list is complete you will want to check out the current selections to see if anything appeals to your personal taste.

For those of you with extra time on your hands (Ha! Who am I kidding?)…For those of you with thirsty guests to satisfy, here is a seasonal version of Sangria for your next holiday get-together.

Blood Orange and Cranberry Sangria

(adapted from The Spanish Table Cookbook by Steve “El Jefe” Winston)

Serves 4

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 lb. whole fresh cranberries

3 Moro Blood oranges, sliced into rounds

1 bottle (750ml) Raventos Perfum de Vi Blanc (or other aromatic Spanish white wine)

1 12 oz. can Limon Kas (or other lemon-lime soda)

1 0z.  Spanish brandy

Put water, sugar and cranberries in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove cranberries from heat and cool to room temperature.

Combine cranberry mixture with sliced blood oranges and brandy in a 1-1/2 liter open topped pitcher and let the mixed fruit macerate for an hour or two.

Right before serving, add the wine and the Limon Kas to the pitcher, stir to mix and pour into tumblers filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of the orange and a few extra cranberries.

Lan Gift Pack $42.99 Bodegas Lan, located in the Rioja wine town of Fuenmayor, craft some of our most popular red wines. This sampler includes one of each of their primary brands. The Lan Crianza 2004 is bright and lively. It is one of my favorite wines to serve with Paella. The Lan Reserva 2001, from a superlative vintage is silky and smooth. Serve it with wintery soups and stews. The Lan Gran Reserva 1998 is mature and elegant. Serve this wine with cured meats and aged cheeses. The Lan Gift Pack is priced a little bit more than 10% off of regular retail for these items.

Rioja Alta Gift Pack $97.00 La Rioja Alta was established in 1890 in the little town of Labastida and maintains traditional Rioja winemaking practices while also embracing many of the latest technological advances. La Rioja Alta own 750 acres of vineyards from which they can source top quality grapes, resulting in excellent fruit and richness throughout their wines. The Vina Alberdi Reserva 2000 is a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Mazuelo. Medium ruby in color, it exhibits a nicely developed and expressive nose of cedar, spice, and red currants. This wine is aged in new oak for one year followed by several more years in second use barrels before bottling; creating a wine that is light to medium-bodied, seamless, elegant, and ripe. Viña Ardanza Reserva 1999 is traditionally the richest and most expressively fruity of La Rioja Alta’s wines, with 20% Garnacha in the blend. The wine is aged in American oak for three years and then for a further two before release. With a brilliant deep cherry color and a terracotta rim, the wine has notes of ripe berry fruit, with hints of cinnamon, spice and vanilla.  The rare  1995 Gran Reserva 904, composed of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, displays ruby color with a brick red tint. Earthy mineral aromas intermixed with smoky tobacco, scorched earth, red currants, sweet cherries, and spice box jump from the glass of this complex, nuanced red. The Rioja Alta Gift Pack is priced a little bit more than 10% off of regular retail for these items.

Faustino Gift Pack $399.00 The most prestigious of our boxed sets is this vertical of Faustino’s amazing Gran Reserva Riojas. Bodegas Faustino is the largest exporter of Gran Reserva wines from Rioja, accounting for more than one third of Gran Reserva wine exports from the region. Bodegas Faustino is a proud custodian of the Rioja region’s traditional winemaking style and has earned a well deserved reputation as a source of truly world-class fine wines. Included in this sampler are 4 bottles of Faustino Gran Reserva (1964, 1970, 1982, and 1994) as well as a lovely crystal decanter embossed with the Faustino logo. A truly unique gift.

Les Terrasses 2004 Magnum $80.00 (1.5 Liter) Alvaro Palacios is one of the most celebrated of Spanish winemakers. He was instrumental in the rejuvenation and subsequent popularity of wines from the Priorat region. Les Terrasses is a Priorat wine that is made from 60% Cariñena, 30% Garnacha, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for one year in a combination of used French and American oak. This dark, opulent wine would make a perfect match with a hearty, slow cooked winter stew. The big bottle makes a wonderful gift (packaged in its own wooden case) for someone who loves to entertain and has a big crowd to feed.

Maestro Sierra VORS Oloroso 1/14 $81.00 (375ml) The Maestro Sierra story is fascinating. Maestro Sierra was founded in 1832 by Jose Antonio Sierra, who, as a master carpenter, was responsible for building barrels for all the major Sherry bodegas. Recognized as one of the top coopers in the area, he longed to become involved in the Sherry trade itself. As this business was dominated by the nobility, a start-up such as his was not very welcome. After many hardships he was able to establish and grow his business becoming one of the top Almacenistas (stockholders) of high quality Jerez wines. Poking fun at his struggle, the label depicts an allegorical fox hunt with the “Nobles” hunting the fox (Maestro Sierra).

Pilar Pla Pechovierto currently owns Maestro Sierra. Doña Pilar is a widow whose husband was a direct descendent of the Sierra family. She respected her husband’s wish that the winery remain in operation after his death and over the last thirty years she has kept the winery open, selling very limited stocks of wine to a few of the large bodegas. Because the wines have virtually remained unmoved due to the almost non existent business, the stocks at Maestro Sierra are some of the oldest in Jerez. The soleras at the winery are easily over 60 years old and some maybe close to 100 years old. The Oloroso 1/14 is so named because it is drawn from the final barrel of a 14 barrel solera (a solera is the group of barrels traditionally used to age Jerez wines). This wine is categorized as a VORS wine indicating at least 30 years of age. The actual age of this solera here is very hard to determine as the wines have been here for as long as anyone can remember. The 14 butts of this wine have spent at least 50 years in the solera system. Each year a new vintage is added to the solera and a portion of the solera is drawn off for bottling.

Oloroso 1/14 is medium amber colored, with slight raisin-like sweetness, complex flavors of burnt sugar and butterscotch and outstanding length.

Domecq 51-1a VORS Amontillado $88.00

Domecq Sibarita VORS Oloroso $88.00

Domecq Venerable VORS PX $88.00

The House of Domecq has spent almost three centuries pleasing sherry-drinkers of every stripe, including the royalty of Spain and England. In the bodega Domecq has an incredible advantage: an ancient lineage of soleras. Their oldest solera, used in making the Sibarita Palo Cortado, was founded in 1792, and other Sherries are aged in soleras dating from 1830, 1902, and 1919. Great age gives their Sherries depth and power, and Domecq has been careful to insure that the añada (the new wine being added at the top of the solera) is high quality, since compromising such a legacy would be a great waste. To do so they have invested in state-of-the-art facilities in the winery. The 51-1a Amontillado is named after its solera. A complex combination of fruits (raisins and figs, primarily) and savory components such as chestnuts, dark bread, and baking spices are accented with a delicate briny note. This sherry unwinds into a long, warm finish. The Sibarita Oloroso is medium-bodied, with aromas of fruitcake, prunes, and dates.  This Oloroso maintains the Domecq family traits of power and intensity framed with cleansing acidity. From a solera founded in 1792, only 370 cases are withdrawn and released each year. The Venerable PX offers a rich blend of dark chocolate, molasses, and figs. This dark, sweet wine is round, big, and elegant in the mouth, demonstrating just how spectacular these mature wines can be.