Category: It Pays To Read

Posted on

Wine, Song & Marilyn Merlot… or am I repeating myself?

Odd Wines from around the world!

Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape by  Peter F. May  is a wonderful little book simply about interesting wines from around the world with… unusual names. Marilyn Merlot by  Napa Wine Company  is a “…leggy red offer(ing) blackberry, chocolate, and smokey toast flavors.” ‘Negociant’ David Wright’s “The Naked Grape” is a ‘collection’ of hand picked wines from various vintners. Peter’s Book is packed with interesting stories, illustrations and reviews…  a great read.

The  “Goats do Roam”  story is an amusing one as is their ever present label here in America. However, I can see why the folks producing  “Cotes du Rhone”  tried to get the label banned in France. In California, we have our own local favorite, a blended star, entitled “Cotes du Robles” (38% Mourvedre, 35% Syrah & 27% Grenache) by Eberle Winery ( one snobbish reviewer said it would be ‘great with a pizza’… but then, I say, so is Margaux).

The Goats du Roam family of various wines does house a ‘red’ with a familiar blend of Shiraz (90%), Pinotage (6.5%) and Mourvedre (3.5%).

Peter’s book contains quite a few wines that I would love to serve for the shock value alone. Not much is left to the imagination with names like: Truck Stop Girl, Under the Table, Dancing Monkey, French Kiss, Big Ass Red …. and lastly d’Vine! ( stop! I have been PUN-ished enough!)

Buy the book … it’s great with Margaux and Pizza!

Roger Freberg

PS. Peter’s Book is pictured above next to my Concord Grapes — which the ‘experts’ say can’t grow in this part of the world.

Posted on

Harry Potter Survives and Thrives!!!? (maybe)

hmmmm.... is it too good to be true?

If you are a Harry Potter Fan, then the release of Book 7 has been anticipated for a long time. Supposedly the conclusion was developed back in 1999 and from the ‘leaks’ the ending should thrill the fans… and probably draw Snapish snarls from the critics. However, as with some forces of nature, critics might want to step aside or risk losing it all.

We have five books coming to our home — 2 deluxe editions, 2 standard from Scholastic ( the US Publisher) and one copy from the UK (Bloomsberry)… unfortunately… alas… none of them signed. However, I can see no one doing anything this weekend but reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

I won’t pass along the leaks… but they are out there along with a bunch of hints. The  New York Times came out with a tantalizing review  if you want some hints without the truth. But if you can’t stand it… the info is out there… plus a lot of false leads.

We’ll see if it comes true on Saturday!

Roger Freberg

PS… my wife Laura was right — if true — about Ron & Hermione… that’s all I am going to say!

Posted on

“Snakes in Suits”… are everywhere!

Snakes in Suits... are in education, tooFor a long time, many people have followed the corporate disasters of “Eron” and the many ‘lapses in judgment’ in the corporate arena and wondered — not always silently — why these folks weren’t behind bars?

Publisher’s Weekly offers a candid review of the effort… and here is an excerpt:

“Psychopaths are described as incapable of empathy, guilt, or loyalty to anyone but themselves; still, spotting a psychopath isn’t easy. Babiak, an industrial and organizational psychologist, and Hare (Without Conscience), creator of the standard tool for diagnosing psychopathology, present a study of the psychopath in the corporate landscape. A common description of psychopathology states that subjects “know the words but not the music;” Babiak and Hare state that “a clever psychopath can present such a well-rounded picture of a perfect job candidate that even seasoned interviewers” can be fooled.”

 You can purchase a copy rather inexpensively on  Amazon.com.

Personally, I have noticed that psychopaths tend to be attracted to money, power and the control over other lives to benefit themselves. This covers a lot of ground — an in my humble opinion — the corporate environs are not the only hallowed halls that are infected with self serving psychopaths. One only has to look into academia itself… following the university president who takes his entire staff on a holiday cruise to the Mediterranean and there is much much more… but then I am sure that would be a subject of another book.

worth reading,

 Roger Freberg

PS. other interesting books on related topics : the Sociopath next door, Psychopath: emotion and the brain; Emotional Vampires

Posted on

when ENTJ’s and INTJ’s World’s collide!

Laura the INTJFor anyone who has enjoyed studying personality or taking the variety of tests available, have you ever wondered if personality and political affiliation are related? Well, there is a certain amount of  correlational data  to support this idea.

Hmmmm… I wasn’t surprised that my wife’s personality type skewed to the right. She is an INTJ …and 43% of all INTJ’s report themselves as either ‘Republican or Conservative’ …. this is the 2nd highest percentage on the right of all 17 personality categories (only 14% of the INTJ’s said they were ‘not political’) 

From these same researchers, allow me share some of the highlights of what they had to say about  INTJ’s:

“…When under a great deal of stress, the INTJ may become obsessed with mindless repetitive, Sensate activities, such as over-drinking…. Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ…. They may see them as aloof and reserved… INTJs tend to blame misunderstandings on the limitations of the other party, rather than on their own difficulty in expressing themselves…”

Here I am the ENTJ working to develope a harmonious relationship with my spouse

Poor, poor INTJ’s… by contrast…  ENTJ’s are quite different:

“As an ENTJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things rationally and logically…. ENTJs are natural born leaders…. which is well-served by their quickness to grasp complexities, their ability to absorb a large amount of impersonal information, and their quick and decisive judgments. They are “take charge” people….The ENTJ has a tremendous amount of personal power and presence which will work for them as a force towards achieving their goals….They’re likely to place much emphasis on their children being well-educated and structured, to desire a congenial and devoted relationship with their spouse.”

Okay…Okay, I pulled a ‘Dan Rather’, I picked out what I wanted to say about both personality types for selfish reasons… believe me, INTJ’s are really quite interesting people. The hard truth is that for every individual — regardless of personality type — there exists specific challenges that must be met in order to be happy in life….. they just may be different types of challenges. ENTJ’s (Me), for example, must refrain from being overly absorbed in their career… or life and love passes them by.

By the way, I am an ENTJ, and we — as a group — tend to be a little less politically active than the norm with 25% of us saying we are ‘not political.’ However, the largest segment of ENTJ’s  describe themselves as either Democrat or liberal (45%).

After this ‘revelation’, Laura now looks at me with a ‘cautious eye.’ However, from what I can tell… when ENTJ’s (me) and INTJ’s get together… ENTJ’s (me) think they are in charge… but INTJ’s eventually get their way.

Roger Freberg

Posted on

“Rainbow Cuisine” Cookbook from South Africa — Yummy!

Karen sent me on a nice journey to find this cookbook!

In our family, we all share an appreciation for the wonders of good food. That is the curse for what my  psychologist wife  refers to as  “super tasters”…  a physiological distinction where some people just experience more from their taste of food. I wouldn’t want to be any different.

This is why “Jenny Craig” comes in so handy at times!

However, during those times of planned indulgence, the right food can be fully appreciated! South African recipes and portions are quite in line with a healthy lifestyle. A particular  South African recipe book  was recommended to my daughter “Chef” Karen that — unfortunately — she couldn’t find anywhere in South Africa and was out of print, so she asked me to find one! Finally, after a bit of searching, I found one (and only one) in England and it’s on it’s way to me! I can’t wait! 

It all looks so good!

Roger Freberg

Karen has blogged about another one of the  author’s cook books  and here is a  LINK to Karen’s blog  on the subject.