Category: Past

Good Wine – A Matter of Taste or Perception?

Past, Psychology3 Comments

Last week a group of twelve wine executives from France were found guilty of fraud when they substituted the more expensive grapes typically found in Pinot Noir for a cheaper variety. Their label – Red Bicyclette – is a fairly popular brand in North America and the worry is that following this conviction, their deception will be detrimental to the wine industry, particular in the Languedoc region of France where the company is based.

The thing I find interesting about this case, and wine in general, is that the consumers of Red Bicyclette didn’t seem to notice the difference between the expensive grapes and the cheaper ones. There were no notable customer complaints and no one is saying that the wine didn’t taste pretty much the same as it would have if they’d done things properly. The fraud was uncovered during an audit when it was found that the company could not have been turning over as much profit if they were also spending money on the expensive grapes.

Even though consumers couldn’t tell the difference (or at least, if they did it wasn’t significant enough to report), there is almost no doubt that there will be a retaliation against the wine industry from Languedoc. Research suggests that a good deal of our decisions about which wine to drink is actually based on abstract psychological reactions and cultural context rather than on a genuine ability to discern superior grapes by taste. Two examples:

  • After the film Sideways was released, Merlot sales in the US dropped by 2%, while Pinot Noir sales increased by 16%, presumably as a response to the character Miles’ appreciation of one and denigration of the other. (via Wikipedia)
  • “Restaurant owners will often price the wine they buy cheapest at wholesale as the second-cheapest wine on the menu. Why? Because people generally don’t order the cheapest wine and thus often turn to the second cheapest.” Presto – either because consumers don’t want to appear cheap or because we imagine the cheapest option will have the worst taste, we predictably buy the second-cheapest. (via Lone Gunman)

How many of you can really tell the difference between a good wine and a mediocre one?

Rocket Bar Wine image by Mr. T. in DC

Unorthodox Ships of War

History, Past1 Comment

Concrete Ships forming the Kiptopeke Breakwater

During the First World War, steel shortages forced President Wilson to commission the construction of 24 cement war ships. The war ended less than a year later, at which time the first 12 ships were still under construction. These were eventually completed and sold to private companies. Many of them can now be seen slowly decaying off the coast of the U.S., and one has even been converted to a 10 room hotel off the coast of Cuba.

Almost 25 years later, Geoffrey Pyke recommended the construction of a huge aircraft carrier – the equivalent of a floating island – made from ice and wood pulp, during the Second World War. The material, dubbed Pykrete, possesses incredible tensile strength – more than concrete – at less than half the density. The project, named Habakkuk after a biblical quote (“I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe“), underwent a number of prototypes and tests, from secret lairs under Smithfield Market in London, to Lake Louise in Canada, but was never fully realised due to a number of engineering and cost concerns.

Wikipedia recounts an entertaining anecdote about a demonstration of Pykrete’s strength:

… at the Quebec Conference of 1943, Lord Mountbatten brought a block of Pykrete along to demonstrate its potential to the bevy of admirals and generals who had come along with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mountbatten entered the project meeting with two blocks and placed them on the ground. One was a normal ice block and the other was Pykrete. He then drew his service pistol and shot at the first block. It shattered and splintered. Next, he fired at the Pykrete to give an idea of the resistance of that kind of ice to projectiles. The bullet ricocheted off the block, grazing the trouser leg of Admiral Ernest King and ended up in the wall.

World’s Smallest Postal Service

Art, PastLeave a comment

handful

I am a bit obsessed with miniatures, and this idea is lovely:

The World’s Smallest Postal Service (WSPS) is a teeny tiny transcription service and roaming post office based in the San Francisco Bay Area and also available online.

Lea Redmond is the Postmaster, setting up her tiny mobile office in cafes and shops where passers-by can write a letter and have it turned into a “world’s smallest letter.” The letter is transcribed on a miniature desk in the tiniest of script, sealed with a miniscule wax seal with the sender’s intial pressed into it, packaged up with a magnifying glass in a glassine envelope, and finished off with a large wax seal (see above). It is a double delight: for both the sender and the recipient, and the WSPS is very happy to provide this important service to the world.

Beautiful.

Handful image from the World’s Smallest Postal Service

Passion for the Pong

Past, Sport1 Comment

marty

Last year a group of youngish New York hispsters (and actress Susan Sarandon) opened what appears to be the world’s first nightclub devoted to the sport of ping pong. SPiN, located in Manhattan, ensures exclusivity by having a niche group of members who pay $650 per year individually or $900 for a family to be afforded access to the club during special member-only nights. Non-members can also book tables and use the club during weekly open-house hours. According to their website,

SPiN New York is a 13,000 square foot table tennis social club on Park Avenue in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The club offers unparalleled table tennis courts with Olympic quality cushioned flooring and 13 individual tables, including a stadium-like center court. In addition, SPIN New York houses a pro shop, lounge, bar, private room … and over a dozen internationally known professional coaches and players who are available for private and group instruction.

One of these coaches is Wally Green – a 20 something, freestyle rapper and ping pong savant. He is one example of how the profile of ping pong has evolved from that of the bow tie wearing Forrest Gump to a new breed of young, hip urbanite. Although some of the old pros like Marty Reisman (pictured above) still chew up the tables, you are more likely to run into the likes of the Beastie Boys or model Verionica Webb tossing back a martini while hitting the ball back and forth in their Vans and Manolos (respectively).

Image of Marty Reisman (table tennis champion) by Tyler Askew of Maround.com.

Dear Donna – How a Pin Up Girl Joined the Anti-War Movement

Culture, History, PastLeave a comment

donnareed

Donna Reed was a beautiful American actress who was probably best known for her role as Mary Bailey, the long suffering wife of George in It’s a Wonderful Life. During World War II, she became a very popular pin-up for soldiers overseas – she visited army bases overseas a number of times and corresponded regularly with soldiers on active duty. Although her daughter said she never spoke of the letters she received, when she passed away of cancer in 1986 at age 64, her family found hundreds of these letters stored in her attic:

All told, Ms. Reed held on to 341 letters, some typed but many written in the kind of elegant … method cursive script rarely seen today. Taken as a whole, the correspondence offers a candid glimpse of a vanished era, a time when six hard-bitten Marine sergeants could write that “we think you’re swell” and mean it in something other than an ironic sense … Gauging the impact that the letters had on Ms. Reed is difficult. “I knew she had feelings about her country and participating as a concerned citizen,” Ms. Owen said. But, she added, her mother did not talk about the letters. Ms. Reed lamented to a female pen pal in 1942 that “my effort to win the war hasn’t amounted to much” and “I wish I could find more to do.” (source)

Later in life, and perhaps because of the impact the war and these soldiers in particular had on her, Reed became active in the anti-war movement as a prominent member of the group Another Mother for Peace (AMP). The group is still very active active and shares information such as the recent United Nations report Silence is Violence, End the Abuse of Women in Afghanistan (PDF), encouraging members to act speak, write and act out to encourage peace.

AMP’s Pax Mantra has been a cornerstone for women protesting against war in the United States for decades, including when Reed was a member. This simple, but powerful statement ends, “they shall not send my son to fight another mother’s son. For now, forever, there is no mother who is enemy to another mother.”

Donna Reed image by BooBooGB