Order any 2006 Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley area of Oregon.

Pinot Noir, 2006, Willamette.

Not kidding. It works. Especially if you’re willing to cough up an extra $20 – $30. This one from Ponzi Vineyards kicks serious butt, should you be so lucky as to find it.

(Why 2006? Has to do with the weather that year. Although some sites are claiming 2008 was/will be even better.)

Second question about France, after “eat any good food?”, is typically “drink any good wine?”

Yes. Every glass of it was from the local region, Domaine Ventoux, which I’m assured we won’t be able to find in the US. But it wasn’t anything crazy anyway. Just pleasant.

Now I did have a particularly agonizing wine experience. With two kids in the car, I set off for the Theatre Antique in Orange. (The theater is, oh, maybe 1,900 years old. Cool. See pic, taken on my iPhone. They still perform opera there, but mostly it’s a museum. – We have a corner cupboard in our house that’s called an ’antique’ because it’s 100 years old. Yeesh.)

Anyhoo, the drive from Sault to Orange was both amazing and harrowing. We drove along the back side of Mont Ventoux on twisty roads cut into the steep hillside, with little or no protective railing. Went through several picturesque villages. Then out of the mountains and down into what turned out to be the Rhone river valley. Vineyards on both sides, far as the eye could see.

I’m still largely an ignoramous about French wine, but I do recognize Cote du Rhone as a famous wine region. And now that I’m back and looking through a wine atlas, I see that Orange is maybe 15 minutes north of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, an area that gained international appeal due to the influence of Robert Parker. You can almost definitely find Chateauneuf-du-Pape in your local wine store (and probably pay a good bit for the privilege).

So there I was, driving past sign after sign for “Degustation” — free tastings at each local vineyard’s shop.

If ever I get back to the Cote du Rhone and Chateauneuf-du-Pape, there will be no children in the car!

Ted Danson. New series Bored to Death with Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore) on HBO. Ted’s aging well. Striking looks work particularly well for this character, who’s dumb as a bag of hammers. Very funny.

Which brings to mind fond memories of…

Bill Pullman in Ruthless People. Mentally three or four scenes behind at all times. “This could very well be the dumbest person on the face of the Earth. Perhaps we should shoot him.”

George Clooney, O Brother.

Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading. It’s amazing what chewing gum does to your IQ.

What makes it fun is that the character has to think he’s pretty smart. It takes a genuinely smart actor to do it well.

7. The Hummer

6. Email. I get 300 messages per day – on a quiet day.

5. Thrash politics. IMHO we should just tune out anybody whose discussions focus on the other group (“the liberals”, “right-wing nutjobs” etc) rather than on issues and solutions.

4. The Exchange French

3. Usury. 40% interest cards – these guys must have the most powerful political lobbyists in the world.

2. Lady Gaga

1. tie: Infomercials / NASCAR