Dick Cranwell is the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia and was the Democratic Leader in the House of Delegates during his 3 decade stint in the General Assembly. So if he plans on running for statewide office, like many people are currently speculating, it’s a very big deal.
Two of the biggest bloggers in the commonwealth, Lowell […]

Win Points for McCain! – washingtonpost.com – McCain encouraging both of his supporters to astroturf blogs with cut and paste comments, thereby proving that even he knows his supporters are incapable of original thought.

For the past week, we’ve been traveling in upstate New York and New Hampshire to visit family. We got home late last night after a 12 hour drive from NH. Here are 10 things I learned while on the road:1. If you are driving to New York City or points …

The Annual Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair is the oldest continuous running agricultural fair in the Nation. After 270 years the fair added a “beer garden” to the venue this year. The Free Lance-Star reported that fairgoers could “choose from a select…

From The Journal:
Seventeen indictments have been issued as a result of a large drug bust in Westmoreland in the Colonial Beach and the Oak Grove areas of the county. It involved 100 officers in a task force which had been in operation for the past four months.
That operation which culminated in the arrests, started Thursday […]

The answer to the question above is yes, but only a little bit. You have probably heard this before from anybody who has traveled to Ireland – that Guinness here is mediocre but fantastic in Ireland. Why would this be the case? People will tell you that Guinness doesn’t travel well, but that’s wrong. I know this because I can tell no difference between Guinness in London and Guinness in Fredericksburg, and London is much closer to Dublin. My theory is that the domestic recipe is slightly different, or perhaps they use higher quality ingredients, but the bigger explanation is Context. Context is very important with wine and beer but usually ignored.

I often have people tell me about how they just can’t find this wine they had in France/Italy/Spain or wherever, but it was so amazing. I’m sure the wine was good, but probably not that good. Part of how a wine tastes has to do with where we are. If you are in a bar in Paris or near the beach in Barcelona, you want that wine to taste good. How you feel will actually affect the flavor. You might think Sherry is gross, but if you’re on the beach in southern Spain, the Mediterranean breeze hitting your face, that salty Sherry will taste like the beautiful sea itself. This is what elevates wine and beer (whiskey too, I suppose) above other beverages – it is an experience, not just a drink. That’s why wine has this ability sometimes to bring back memories or transport us to another place. It’s the beauty of the beverage. When you’re in a cozy pub in Ireland, on vacation, chatting away with a friendly Irishman, of course that Guinness is going to taste better than the can you had at home.

Remember context the next time you search out a wine or beer you had on vacation – you will probably be disappointed. But the good news is that the European wines and beers you get here are just good as those in Europe. They will only seem not as good, at least at first. I never had a beer in England better than the J.W. Lees beers available right here. And California wine tastes exactly the same in London as it does in Napa as it does in Fredericksburg.

So the next time you are deciding whether you like a wine/beer or not, remember the context in which you are trying it. Guinness tastes better in Ireland, Scotch tastes better in Edinburgh, Chianti tastes better in Tuscany, and nowhere does Virginia wine taste better than in Virginia.

Watch the Olympics Online – Wired How-To Wiki –

Well, my day is pretty much shot after reading this. Thanks Don.The family that took in this severely abused little girl should be be nominated for Sainthood. Her natural mother should be tied to post in the Everglades and left there to slowly starve to death until she becomes a snack for the vultures. […]

During my recent trip to Denver I joined a friend for beer and dinner at Pint’s Pub. Pint’s Pub is a “traditional British brew pub” that brews a couple of cask conditioned British ales. In addition to the cask ales, they offer a number of other house b…

February17th [1863] Will received a written notice from Mr. McGruder yesterday to leave at the end of the month. It is a great surprise and mortification to us. We have had no falling out, no difficulty with him or cousin Hite — or any on…