Curious Pages: Recommended Inappropriate Boooks for Kids

Ah, blogs. Those tireless chroniclers of the esoteric. Whatever your fancy, you can rest assured it's being thoroughly documented on a web log of some sort. And sure, you have your politic blogs and your headline news. You've got celeb gossip and tech tips coverage. But at the end of the day, most of us just want to kick our legs up and read a slightly inappropriate children's book. Right? Of course we do. Which is we love Curious Pages, archivers of "the offbeat, the abstract, the unusual, the surreal, the macabre, the inappropriate, the subversive and the funky." In books for kids. A blog in which:

• We find Shel Silverstein none-too-subtly encouraging youngsters to smash open their parents' television sets to reveal the magical elves that live inside, to pee their pants rather than risk falling into the toilet, and to forget about ever going to the Land of Oz or meeting Santa Claus (neither are real, apparently). He does, however, suggest a trip to Detroit.

• We discover a book detailing various cocktails easy enough for a toddler to make, without all the hassle of sending your baby to after-school mixology classes.

• We acquire some rather effective nightmare fodder in the form of a marionette named Captain Jeff.

• We learn that Dr. Seuss wrote a series of books entitled Boners, More Boners, and Still More Boners.

In conclusion:
Is this blog a must read? Of course not.

Is this blog as wonderful, hilarious, and endlessly amusing as anything else on the internet? Are ponies awesome? Absolutely.      

Shel Silverstein's Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book

(click to view larger. Be prepared to R O the F L'ing)

 

Captain Jeff and the Squeeze Box

Fashion Blog Focus: Nerd Boyfriend and The Sartorialist

Fashion is intimidating; its runways overrun with rail-thin waifs flaunting sunglasses the color and size of a pomelo and outrageously oversized collars hewn from some combination of beaver pelts and tablecloths which threaten to swallow the wearer whole. Ensemble after impractical ensemble, the question is begged: Who would actually wear that; that outfit which would be out of place at even the most lavish of galas? In most of the especially outlandish cases, the short answer is that no one would. Despite the admirable efforts of Project Runway to enlighten the unwashed masses, much of high fashion remains a purely artistic and aesthetic endeavor, as impractical as a John Cage composition or Jackson Pollock painting, though potentially as powerful.

But while the rarefied world of fashion may be inapplicable to everyday life, style is ambient. For better or worse, you've got to wear clothes. And while we often fancy the romantic notion that one aught live wholly free of concern for what others might think, a more thorough examination shows this to be rather rude behavior. We care what others think just as we hope that others might value our own thoughts and opinions and, like it or not, our outfits inevitably reflect certain inward aspects of ourselves. Call it shallow if you must, but there's a lot to be said for looking good. The every-day fashinistas of The Sartorialist and the smartly-dressed celebrities of Nerd Boyfriend strike a comfortable balance between the aspirational and the attainable. While the former blog tempers the often elaborate ensembles of its subjects with the simple fact that they are found not on the catwalk but on the sidewalk: quite literally the People Who Actually Wear That. On the other hand, the latter web log captures the timelessly keen styles of various classy and well-known men, from Albert Einstein to Jack Kerouac to Conan O'Brien. It also thoughtfully provides links to purchase comparable ensembles, ostensibly to aid in the process of dressing a real-life boyfriend as such.

Nerd Boyfriend:

 

Reader Question: Rain Report

We received a question on the blog this week from Amber Share of Native Food & Wine, asking “Did you guys have to deal with heavy rain last week?”

We went straight to the source by asking Firestone Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg, for his take on the weather in recent weeks, and what it means for the grapes.

“We received just under 2 inches of rain from the storm at Firestone Vineyard, which started last Monday night and lasted until Wednesday morning. We didn't receive any more rain throughout the week and the ground and remaining grape clusters have been drying out quite rapidly.

Rain can always be a concern for winemakers and vineyard managers. The question is always whether to pick fruit before or after the rain. Many variables, like the specific conditions and soundness of the grapes, come into play in making that decision.

At Firestone Vineyard, we saw the rain coming and picked grapes that were fully ripened, then left the grapes that weren't until after the rain. Fortunately we knew we had open vine canopies, allowing for better airflow and drying in the fruiting zone once the rain stopped. Also, the grapes remaining on the vine had skins that were in tact and thicker – the more loosely clustered Bordeaux red varieties, which can weather at least a rain storm like this without botrytis (mold) concerns that can be problematic for thinner skinned, more densely clustered varieties. We also knew the weather forecast was for conditions to dry out fairly quickly after the rain.

We haven't had any noticeable rot, and any diluted affects of the water have now respired from the grapes. We will be looking to pick some of the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot starting later this week, and the flavors and tannin textures in the skins are much improved even today than before the rain. They should be optimal by the end of the week. In this case, it was better for us to wait out the rain for better flavors and textures than to pick prior to the rain with unripe flavors and textures. Speaking for our Estate Vineyard, we will have some very concentrated Cabs coming out of this vintage despite the rain!"