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Thursday, July 31, 2008

I'm going to be teaching New Media Tools for Journalism at Boston University


BU Adjunct Professor, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Jeff Pulver just tweeted the news that I'm going to be an adjunct professor at Boston University's College of Communication, Journalism Department, starting in the Fall.

Thanks Jeff.

I'm excited to be teaching New Media Tools for Journalism.

Two classes will be converging in my weekly sessions. I'm going to cover, blogging, reporting from a cell phone, audio and audio podcasting, Audio production, community and conversation, video and viedoblogging, political reporting, live video, crowd sourcing and citizen journalism.

I've already asked, and no, you can't come audit the class because of space restrictions. Sorry.

You will be able to participate though. I'm looking forward to opening up the experience to the world in a few ways.

1. I've started up a community on Ning for the class. I hope you'll join and share your ideas, as I roll out each topic.

JO540 Multimedia Journalism

The first topic is blogging, and after reviewing a history, we'll be looking at ways to find blogs... Join in on the blogging discussion on Ning.

2. I plan on using interactive tools like twitter and Seesmic during the class. The classes will be on Thursdays at 4:00 EST. I'll be interested in seeing how we can include you in the discussions...

I'm heading over to BU next Monday to check out the space and connectivity.

Thanks for joining me in this, I'm looking forward to it.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Good Bostonian, Universal Hub Co-founder Adam Gaffin

Universal Hub

The Weekly Dig compiles a list of Good Bostonians:
"Nine extraordinary human beings who make this city a better place."
The list includes includes my Universal Hub Co-founder Adam Gaffin:
"'What the daily papers can't do very well is cover daily stuff in the neighborhoods,' Gaffin says. 'I hope that what I can do is show people stuff that they're not going to read in the daily papers.'"
I'm quoted.

Here's the full piece I sent in. The parts in bold were included in the article:
Adam Gaffin has stepped in where legacy media has failed.

Early on, Adam realized the benefit of highlighting the writings of Boston area residents online. He has become a trusted source and filter, taking the chaos of the internet, and presenting it daily to Universal Hub readers.

Jakob Nielson recently wrote, "In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action."

Over on Universal Hub, Adam provides a platform for all the lurkers on the web. Don't want to write a blog? You can comment. Don't want to browse the web searching for the good stuff? Adam finds the good stuff for you.

Adam adds his editorial spin to the interesting, news worthy and quirky blog posts he finds on the web. Adam is like Boston's John Stewart
.
Thanks Weekly Dig and writer Ellen Prezepasniak. I sent in an email to ask them to make the [universalhub.com], at the bottom of the article, an active link that goes to the site.

More irony on the web.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Object Not Found

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Object Not Found
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Object Not Found, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog is so NOT a blog. After the episodes were taken off the web, the pages they were on were removed too.

Original links:

Act I, Act II, Act III

If you try to go there you get this message:

------
Object not found!

The requested URL was not found on this server. If you entered the URL manually please check your spelling and try again.

If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster.

Error 404

drhor2.securesites.net
Tue Jul 29 11:59:20 2008
Apache/2.2.8 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.8 OpenSSL/0.9.7m
------
That's so not blog-like. They lost all the value of people linking to those pages, pages I might add that were just video on a web page.

If they were truly blog posts, the pages would still be up like this one.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Act II

If you want to see Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog - Act I FREE on Hulu, start here, on a real blog.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

If you want to see Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog - Act II FREE on Hulu, start here, on a real blog.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Act Three

If you want to see Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog - Act III FREE on Hulu, start here, on a real blog.

Those links will NEVER die AND you can leave comments.

You can also go directly to the FREE Hulu page: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Hulu.

Hey, it's the future of web video. ;-)

Or you can go to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Static web page, where you can buy Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on iTunes. Another indication of where web video is headed. Too bad the iTunes store doesn't allow more people to sell videos.

Monday, July 28, 2008

eddie murphy's giant head on the interstate

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Cars, Don't Stop For Pedestrians!


utterz-image

Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterzreply-count Replies.  mp3

Elusive RARE White Squirrel Spotted at Jamaica Pond

The elusive RARE White Squirrel was spotted at Jamaica Pond in Jamaica Plain. This time, out in the open along the water. You never see that.

"Its an Oriental Tree Squirrel with the scientific name Callosciurus finlaysoni (Callosciurus translates as "beautiful squirrel") found in Thailand and other parts of South East Asia. So if you sighted a white squirrel here in North America outside of captivity, its almost certainly a color variant of one of our many native species of the genus Sciurus"

via White Squirell Institute

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I ate lunch with McCain!

BILD MEETS MCCAIN IN RESTAURANT BEFORE HISTORIC OHIO PRESS CONFERENCE
I ate with McCain!
HE DOWNED 5 SAUERKRAUT-BRATWURST BALLS NEXT TO ME +++ MCCAIN IS FAT +++ HE DIDN’T SWEAT AT ALL

Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant

BY JUDITH EATSKY
As a handful of reporters waited at Schmidt’s Fudge Haus for John McCain's press availability, a BILD reporter met McCain all alone – at Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant in Columbus' German Village neighborhood of Ohio! Here's the incredible account of Judith Eatsky’s meeting…

It's 16:02pm and I’ve been eating lunch at Schmidt's Sausage Haus in Ohio. A man in a suit approaches me and says: "JohnMcCain is about to come and eat ...“ Shortly after half past four and he actually arrives! John McCain is wearing a blue suit, white shirt – and a crooked smile!

"Hi, how’s it going?“ asks McCain in his raspy voice. My heart beats. "Very good, and you?" I say. McCain replies: "Very good, thank you!"

McCain (with weak arms and a tired back) asks the waitress to throw a 78 on the record player with some traditional German music. He hums quietly.

He goes and picks up a pair of Sauerkraut-Bratwurst Balls with left hand and eats. Then, amazingly, he picks up the sausage! Very slowly he lifts it, first 1 bite with his right hand, then 1 bite with his left. He breathes deeply in and out and takes a sip of water from his water glass.

Shortly before five o’clock McCain comes over and sits directly next to me.

McCain says, "It's clear Sen. Obama doesn't understand what's at stake here. It's pretty obvious he's taken this position to secure the nomination of his party"

Then he looks at his watch and says to his bodyguard: “It’s time, let’s go.” Quickly I ask: “Mr. McCain, could I take a photo?”. “Of course!” he answers, before asking my name and coming over to stand next to me.

“My name’s Judith” I reply. "I’m John McCain, nice to meet you!” he says, and puts his arm around my waist. I put my arm around his shoulder – wow, he didn’t even sweat! WHAT A MAN!

This is a parody of the BILD article: I worked out with Obama!

How To: Take a screenshot of your iPhone 2.0

Jason Snell at Macworld.com tells us how, Taking screen shots with iPhone 2.0.

Hold down the HOME button, and briefly press the top button.

The screen shot is saved in your camera roll.

Then you can email it to flickr. (Once you've set up a mail to flickr email address)

Configure your email upload settings here.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Hy-Line Cruises Community


Hy-Line Cruises Community, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

The Hy-Line Cruises Community launches, inspired by my video, "High Speed Ferry To Nantucket."

After I filmed this video I sent it in to Hy-Line.

Betsy Koch, Hy-Line's Assistant Director of Marketing, decided to embrace social media. I advised her to utilize existing social networks and to encourage people to share their own photos and video.

Check out the Hy-Line Cruises Community.

Disclosure: Hy-Line Cruises gave me a round trip fare and parking as a thank you.

Obama in Berlin July 24, 2008 - Panorama by Michael Stoß

Panorama Flash
www.panoramas.dk/2008/flash/Barack-Obama-berlin.html

Panorama QuickTime
www.panoramanews.de/qtvr-barack-obama-in-berlin-2008-1.php

Blog Post
news360.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/barack-obama-fordert-gem...

Barack Obama's Speech in Berlin
my.barackobama.com/page/content/berlinvideo/

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Bike Riders need to follow the rules of the road


utterz-image

Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterzreply-count Replies.  mp3

Video: Barack Obama Berlin Speech



Testing out the new CBS Radio video platform.

Wordle: Barack Obama Berlin Speech: 'A World That Stands As One'

City of Boston Does Not Make it Easy to Pay your Real Estate Taxes Online

The City of Boston does not make it easy to pay your Real Estate Taxes online.

I followed the link from the back page of my Real Estate Tax bill, and was then placed in a maze of web pages that all looked alike. It took me three pages to get to a tax payment screen, and then I had a hard time entering my Parcel ID. Poor documentation on the data entry screen.

When it came time to pay, the only option was to copy down hte information from my checking account. The City of Boston should look into accepting more payment options like Credit Cards and PayPal.

Join me now on a trip through the current state of poor user interface on the City of Boston website. We probably spent thousands to develop this from city hall worker specifications.

City of Boston Online Services

The only web address on the Tax Bill is :

www.cityofboston.gov/trac/

If you go to that page, you can't pay your taxes from it.

It's the "Taxpayer Referral and Assistance Center"

What do you click on to pay your taxes?

"Online Services"

Of course.

City of Boston Taxpayer Referral and Assistance Center

This is where you can pay your City of Boston Tax Bill:

www.cityofboston.gov/online_services/

Well, not yet. You still have to click on "Property Tax"

City of Boston Real Estate Tax payment page

This is the City of Boston Real Estate Tax payment page:

www.cityofboston.gov/realestate/

This Form asks for a "Parcel ID (10-digit number)"

But on the Tax Bill you have:

WARD (2 digits)
PARCEL NO. ( 8 digits with an embedded "-" ).

The form should ask for you to enter your Ward AND Parcel ID.

It should also programatically remove the "-" is people enter it.

Note: The helpful PARCEL ID description is no where near the data entry field.

What to do?

Put this URL on the Real Estate tax bill: www.cityofboston.gov/realestate/

Then you end up on the payment screen for Real Estate Taxes.

Clarify the data entry area for WARD and PARCEL and have the computer allow the "-". Just programatically strip it out.

Allow additional forms of payment.

Allow sign up for automatic deductions from checking or credit cards so you don't have to manually pay. ( The City of Boston Water Department should add this feature too )

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Boston Globe Loses New Media War - Boston.com 0, ABC News 260, TPM 63

The Boston Globe writes about the new John McCain online video contest, The media is in LOVE with Barack, and DOES NOT LINK to the contest, and DOES NOT EMBED the videos. ABC News links to the contest and embeds one video, Talking Points Memo (TPM) links to the contest and embeds both videos.

NO COMMENT
The Globe doesn't allow comments either. The others do. ABC news wins that contest with 263 people commenting on the article, as of this posting.

The Boston Globe continues to disappoint.

Here are the YouTube videos. Easy enough to embed.

Video 1 - Obama Love


Video 2 - Obama Love V2


Take a closer look.

Boston.com - McCain camp says media love Obama
McCain camp says media love Obama

NO LINKS to the contest
NO VIDEO EMBEDS
NO Comments ALLOWED

Article:
www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/23/mccain_cam...

ABC NEWS - McCain Campaign Mocks Media Relationship With Obama
McCain Campaign Targets Media "Love" For Obama In New Videos

ONE Video Embed
LINK to the contest
LINK to NYTIMES article
LINK to ABC News Blog
(263) comments

Article:
blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/mccain-campai-1....

TALKING POINTS MEMO (TPM) - McCain Campaign Targets Media "Love" For Obama In New Videos
McCain Campaign Targets Media "Love" For Obama In New Videos

LINKS to the Contest
EMBEDS BOTH Videos
(63) comments

Article:
tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/mccain_c...

Jerry for President 2008


Jerry for President Button > ItsJerryTime.com | CafePress

Jerry from It's JerryTime! is running for president too. On his blog, Jerry Announces Bid for President!.

Poster for Obama rally in Berlin

Monday, July 21, 2008

Clean Your Weber Grill

Weber



Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterzreply-count Replies.  mp3


UPDATE:
It's not paint! See the comments.

iTunes Separates Video and Audio! Wow!

iTunes Separates Video and Audio! Wow!
iTunes Speparates Video and Audio! Wow!, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

I complained about video being mixed up with audio in the iTunes Store on the Audio vs. Video panel at PodCamp Boston 3 on Saturday and Apple fixed it today!

Well, I read the email frorm the Apple Store, that they fixed it, today. They actually fixed it on Friday. Probably anticipating what I'd be saying on the PodCamp Boston 3 panel.

Great job listening Apple! Too bad it only took a few years for you to do it. ;-)

Creative Commons Photo License Broken, twice in one day!

PodCamp Boston 3 Shirts - Front
PodCamp Boston 3 Shirts - Front by Financial Aid Podcast, on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND

Two sites reposted Christopher Penn's Podcamp Boston T-Shirt photo today and each made an error in following his Creative Commons license.

The above attribution how I think Christopher Penn's photo should be posted on other sites when shared. Christopher doesn't ask for Share Alike which asks to put the same license on the photo when used elsewhere, but there's no harm in adding it, if you like.

First up is the Geek Force Five Blog:

Geek Force Five uses CC BY-NC-ND without Attribution

NO ATTRIBUTION.

I sent Chris Clark at Geek Force Five an email and I'm sure he'll add it. I'm just posting here, to use this as an example of how many very good blogger, don't even realize the correct way to use flickr photos.

Update: Chris Clark fixed it right away. Just forgot to add the text on there when he posted. Thanks!

It's flickr's fault.

Next up is Adam Sell's Boston.com blog, Go To It:

Globe uses CC BY-NC-ND photo Commercially

USED COMMERCIALLY.

He needed to ask Christopher if it was ok to use the photo before using it on a site like Boston.com. Obviously commercial. If he already asked, great, but I tried to comment on the Globe's site and got this error after submitting the comment:

Boston.com Comments are Broken

The I hit the BACK button on my browser and got a Boston.com sign in screen:

Boston.com Requires Login

D'oh!

So I don't know if he asked or not.

It's flickr's fault.

Flickr's photo sharing tools do not make it easy to carry along the license info when you repost a flickr photo.

With Flickr's new SHARE THIS feature they are carrying on the YouTube method that if you click on a photo, you'll end up on the video's original page and be able to see the license info over there. That doesn't follow the SHARE ALIKE CREATIVE COMMONS license.

Many people don't get that and will copy the photo from the Geek Force Five and never even know to give Christopher Penn attribution, and might even give credit to Geek Force Five.

That wouldn't be right.

More info here:
New Feature Request: CC License on Flickr SHARE THIS code

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Boston parking meter


Boston parking meter, originally uploaded by thespottedduck.

New Feature Request: CC License on Flickr SHARE THIS code

I Win
I Win by Kevin Labianco, on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND

Flickr's SHARE THIS embed code needs to be enhanced to include CC LICENSE ATTRIBUTES.

If the person requests attribution, their names should be added below the photo embed.

If the person requests a certain license, that should also be added under the photo like: CC BY-NC-SA

SCREENCAST
Watch an explanation of the New Feature Request: CC License on Flickr SHARE THIS code screencast.

Mark Bernstein on Journalism: Journalists are Working People



Mark Bernstein gave an amazing talk at PodCamp Boston 3, The Intellectual, Artistic, and Sexual Concerns of Wikis, Weblogs, and Linked Media.

i thoroughly enjoyed and and look forward to following Mark on twitter.

After his talk I asked him to recount his thoughts on professional journalism...

We also talked about Dr. Horrible. Mark explained that Act I of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a satire on vlogging. I was wondering why it was overly long... I need to watch that again before it's gone.

With Ken George: BFF


With Ken George: BFF, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Everyone at PodCamp is a cool kid.

Unofficial Podcamp Boston 3 Shirt Competition Winners



Left to right: John Coyne, Steve Garfield, John Herman.

The unofficial Podcamp Boston 3 Shirt Competition selection committee selected this year: WIN: Steve Garfield with the hottest shirt, PLACE: John Coyne with the best pattern, and SHOW: John Herman with the coolest shirt.

Congratulations.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Fox 25 News at 10: A monkey, 3 inches of meat, a dog, a nude guy, and tomatoes are back



Fox 25 News at 10 in Boston just had the best sequence ever. Originally aired on July 17, 2008.

A service monkey named Richard, 'she likes her monkey', a NY man only got 3 Inches of meat in a Subway foot long sub, the other 7 inches was a knife.

The anchors can not get through this story without cracking up. They can't talk about why they find it funny though. That made it even more funny to me.

Then to top it off, they tease the news coming up at Fox 25 News at 11:00. Even more surreal:

Full frontal nude guy on public access, a dog can't go to work, and tomatoes are back, but something else is banned!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Brazilian Diet: Text Message Spam from 310-779-6068

I just filed a complaint with the FCC for getting a spam text message on my cellphone.

Spam:
'The Brazilian Diet: Try our Award Winning, Dr. approved, All Natural Formula FREE. Reply DIET back for details.'

From 310-779-6068.

More info here.

CAN-SPAM: Unwanted Text Messages and E-Mail on Wireless Phones and Other Mobile Devices

FCC Complaint Form

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

John Tobin Political Videoblogger



In this video we see Boston City Councillor John Tobin talk about his experience with videoblogging and see some highlights from past videoblog posts.

Councillor Tobin started videoblogging on February 3, 2005. As far as we know, he was the first US elected official to videoblog.

You can see Councillor Tobin's most recent videos at VoteJohnTobin.com.

Citizen vs Legacy Media: 11 minutes vs 20 seconds

These two videos compare and contrast the time alloted to my mom on her recent appearance on ABC World News.

My behind the scenes video ( 11:38 )


My Mom's portion of the segment on retirement ( 1:32 )


Note: :20 seconds of her actually talking. Watch the full version at ABCNews.com.

You can read more about behind the scenes of an ABC World News report at My Mom's Blog.

A Selection of Political Videoblog Posts

Here's a selection of video blog posts I'll be showing at Northeastern University tonight where I'll be a guest lecturer for Ravi Jain's politics class.

We'll be looking at examples of citizen journalism, political videoblogs and mainstream media coverage...

Here's a video from September of 2004, 150 Feet. Probably my first citizen journalism report on Massachusetts elections and how poll workers are always standing too close to the polling place... It's illegal.

150 Feet


DNC 2004 Convention in Boston
In July of 2004, the Democratic National Convention came to town and credentialed bloggers for the first time. They did not give me credentials. So I decided to file a video report every day the convention was in town. It was very popular.

Blogger's Breakfast


Here's my third DNC video report where I covered the bloggers breakfast. Howard Dean came in and admitted that he didn't read blogs. Dave Winer comments.

Wesley Clark
Here are a couple of videos featuring Welsey Clark:

My Fourth DNC Video Blog Report - Wesley Clark speaking to the veterans.

My Fifth DNC Video Blog Report - Wesley Clark.

The interesting thing about this coverage is that it added to that of other bloggers who were reporting in text. This video enhanced their coverage.

New Hampshire primary 2008
Here's a report by The Uptake on my live video broadcast I did from the 2008 NH primary with a cellphone.

Steve Garfield, Mobile Video Journalist

Steve Garfield, Mobile Video Journalist

JibJab: Time for Some Campaignin'

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Dollhouse Trailer



Joss Whedon's Dollhouse starring Eliza Dushku.

Also: Dollverse, Dollrific, Whedonesque.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

This embedded video is not in HD quality. I think it looks really good though.

In order to watch the HD version of 'Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)' you need to visit Vimeo.

Do you think the HD version looks much better than the embeded version here?

Sunday, July 13, 2008

McCain: Learning to get on the internet himself, Will not email or blog.

McCain sees himself in Teddy Roosevelt mold:
He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs.

"They go on for me," he said. "I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need."

Asked which blogs he read, he said: "Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics."

At that point, Cindy McCain, who had been intensely engaged with her BlackBerry, looked up and chastised her husband. "Meghan's blog!" she said, reminding him of their daughter's blog on his campaign Web site. "Meghan's blog," he said sheepishly.

As he answered questions, sipping a cup of coffee with his tie tight around his neck, his aides stared down at their BlackBerries.

As they tapped, McCain said he did not use a BlackBerry, though he regularly reads messages on those of his aides. "I don't e-mail; I've never felt the particular need to e-mail," McCain said.
There's the confirmation I was looking for.

McCain does not know how to get online.

This leads me to believe that McCain doesn't have a computer either, because getting online only requires opening up a browser.

I am surprised by this.



Back in 2004 I was shocked to find out that the internet candidate, Howard Dean, didn't read blogs online [ My video blog report ], he also had his staff do it for him.

I guess I shouldn't be shocked by these things anymore, but it's been four years...

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Iran missile test, the latest news photo

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

FIX: iPhone camera will not save photos

Vlog Soup on iPhone

After emptying my iPhone camera roll into iPhoto, the iPhone camera refused to save any new pictures for me anymore.

What? It didn't like my composition?

So I Googled for a solution and found this one. It's over on the Apple support message boards where everyone is wondering why there isn't an official response from Apple.

That's what I'd like to know... At least poster yeagz was kind enough to test out all the solutions and post a working one:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Camera will not save pictures to phone ...:
"Streamlined instructions:

1. Make sure your phone has been synchronized in the version of iTunes you are using.
2. Restore your phone. (in itunes in the summary tab click the restore button)
3. After JUST the phone settings are restored, DO NOT restore your personal information from a back-up. It will prompt you for this, don't close this screen just hold off on it for now.
4. Simply take a photo (no need to disconnect). The photo should now appear in the camera roll, as usual.
5. NOW go back to itunes and restore your personal information from a back-up.

Simple and easy. Fixed."
This works on iPhone Software Version 1.1.4

Tested July 9, 2008 at 10:20 PM

Tip: Never delete all your photos from your camera roll on your iPhone.

American Teen



We went to see a preview showing of American Teen at the ICA in Boston last night. It's a fun documentary about "seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques."

The ICA is a nice place to see a movie. Needs a little more leg room, but the sound system more than made up for it.

The movie was beautifully shot, and focused on the lives of four students. At the end of the film, I cared what happened to them, especially Hannah. She was the quirky, artistic girl. I told Carol that Hannah reminded me of a friend. She said Hannah reminded her of ALL my friends... Hmm. Yup. That's right.

The movie was so well done that sometimes you'd forget that it was a documentary, then remember that these kids are real.

Great soundtrack too. Imogen Heap's Frou Frou is in it with Breathe In [ YouTube Video ].

American Teen opens in theaters on July 25th.

Also see: American Teen Poster Inspired by The Breakfast Club.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Wordle Shows What I've Been Blogging About



via [ Amanda ]

Best Bet: Three Great Wineries to Visit in California

Here are three California wineries recommended by Gary Vaynerchuk. We visited them and made reservations beforehand... They are very different than the normal winery experience...

Larkmead Vineyards
1100 Larkmead Lane
Calistoga, CA 94515

Larkmead Vineyards, Calistoga, CA
At this vineyard you can sit outside on a porch, and they bring you wines to sample. It's a very relaxed atmosphere. Unlike some of the crowded, walk up to the bar type sampling rooms.

Call for a reservation at (707) 942-0167 tell them you are a Garfield Groupie. That makes you part of a special club. :-)

They get social media. Say hi to Wine Manager Colin MacPhail for me.

Praduxx Winery
7257 Silverado Trail
Napa Valley, CA 94558

Parduxx

You can sit outside here too. Another very relaxed setting. You get a little cheese and crackers with the wine.

Paraduxx

Make a reservation. 707-945-0890

Barnett Vineyards
4070 Spring Mountain Rd.
St. Helena, CA 94574

Barnett Vineyards
Barnett Vineyards is very unique. It's up on the hillside. You get to sample wines right where the barrels are stored. Afterwards you can take one of hte wines for a walk through thevineyard up to an overlook where, where there are no fires, you get an amazing view.

The road to this vineyard is very windy, up a lot of hills. Just when you think it can't get any narrower, there's a sign that says, Road Narrows. There are two trees on each side of the road. When we were there the next sign said, 'Road becomes one lane.' We were laughing about that one... They had some construction going on... Keep driving up the mountain and you'll get there. They are also doing a lot of work to drill into the mountain side to create a cave for storing wine. That'll be cool when finished.

Barnett Vineyards - Jacquelyn and Carol
Call 707-963-7075 and ask for Jackie St. Martin for an appointment. If you visit, tell her I said hi!