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You thought over-supply of Australian wine was a problem? Check out this.
"In France, we used to think we were the biggest and best and no-one could touch us,” he said.
Since the French were wrong about wine, a market that they did in fact dominate for a long time, it’s a short leap to conclude that their diplomatic abilities have similar issues.
As a salute to a noble competitor, I’ll drink a toast to those declining French vineyards from one of the two bottles of American and Australian wine in my fridge.....
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 28 at 10:31 AM • permalinkThe Premium Australian Cork-worthy Oenophiles club has looked on the possibility of an Australian wine glut with something approaching unrestrained glee. Or we had, until this global warming business apparently reduced supply. We were really counting on being able to buy, say, a Signature Yolumba for the price of a bottle of Night Train; looks like it ain’t gonna happen now.
So they’re paying people to dump the wine instead of selling it for what they can get for it? How dumb is that?
Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2006 11 28 at 11:22 AM • permalinkAn Aussie wine glut? Not if I can help it! A bottle a day for our Coalition!
Posted by Mr. Bingley on 2006 11 28 at 11:37 AM • permalink"We were really counting on being able to buy, say, a Signature Yolumba for the price of a bottle of Night Train; looks like it ain’t gonna happen now."
I recently purchased 12 bottles of quality Chardonnay for $23.70 Australian (less than $20 US). Australians can no longer even use the term “Chardonnay Socialist” because now everyone can afford to get hammered on it every night. The retailers must be screwing you if you’re paying any more for decent Australian wine than beer, Coca-Cola or bottled water.
Many French vintners blame tougher laws aimed at curbing drinking and driving for the country’s precipitous decline in wine consumption.
I thought they fixed that by setting all the cars on fire. They ought to be able to get as drunk as they like now.
Posted by Paul Zrimsek on 2006 11 28 at 12:12 PM • permalinkHmmm.
*shrug* I used to drink French wines but switched to Australian a couple years ago and don’t plan on switching back. Gotta say I love getting good wine in those 3L boxes. There are few things that irritate me more than having to deal with a bad cork.
Posted by memomachine on 2006 11 28 at 12:45 PM • permalinkGood to see they’re working on reducing the glut of French wine.
Now if they could just reduce the glut of French whining.
Actually, distilling the excess wine into alcohol will create a HUGE demand among Euro muslims. It’s the secret ingredient in the Mohammedov Cocktails they use to clear the French streets of excess automobilage.
Posted by Tex Lovera on 2006 11 28 at 01:42 PM • permalinkSo they’re paying people to dump the wine instead of selling it for what they can get for it? How dumb is that?
Welcome to the European Common Agricultural Policy where it’s deemed unconscionable to let evil market powers handle an excess in supply. Golden handshakes for farmers whose production isn’t needed anymore are the norm here. Now wine growers, too, evidently.
I always thought Aussie wine was a myth. After all, can you actually imagine Oz exporting alcohol?
Posted by nofixedabode on 2006 11 28 at 02:01 PM • permalinkAustralia really makes exceptional Shiraz, while France makes grape juice that tastes like a hooker’s piss. Australian red wines are very big-flavored, full-bodied style wines, higher in alcohol and fruit concetration. French wines are generally tasteless and boring, especially their Pinot Noirs. The Rhone wines are most similar to Australian Shiraz, but they suck much more in style and quality from year to year, (which has a lot to do with the fact that Australia’s weather is more consistent). I therefore tend to enjoy the Aussie style much more (try Hermitage or Amon Ra as fine examples). I will add that inexpensive French wines are horrific and are tasteless or taste like semen, but Aussies seem to manage them very well.
Hell Even Animals Vomit Elsewhere, Not Nearby Our Streets, Essholes.
Posted by Heavennose on 2006 11 28 at 03:08 PM • permalinkGolden handshakes for farmers whose production isn’t needed anymore are the norm here. Now wine growers, too, evidently.
“Golden handshakes” exist in the US as well, but not to the point of subsidizing booze. But a lot of farmers are paid not to farm, although leaving some land fallow helps with erosion control and wildlife habitat improvements, especially on marginal farm land.
And at least we try to use some excess products in alternative forms (e.g., corn is converted into alcohol for use in “gasohol”, or a mixture of gasoline and methyl alcohol), or even as food (or used to....I recall seeing staples such as cheese and peanut butter with “US Department of Agriculture” labels long ago).
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 28 at 03:20 PM • permalink...France makes grape juice that tastes like a hooker’s piss.
Father O’Leary? Is that you?Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2006 11 28 at 03:45 PM • permalinkSceptics say the measure, which cost EU taxpayers 150 million (£100 million) last year alone, is merely a quick fix that does not get to the root of the problem - which is that Europe simply produces too much wine for too few consumers.
As noted by Sonetka’s Mom and PW the usual way of dealing with this sort of problem is simply to cut prices to meet the market. As the Australian wine industry has.
But you can count on the Europeans especially the French to do the right thing. Throw vast amounts of public money at the industry to keep prices artificially inflated.
This is great news for the Australian industry. A tremendous opportunity to grab an even bigger share of the European and global markets. With competitors like these who needs subsidies?
Not mentioned in the article is another possible reason French Whine isn’t selling. They aren’t exporting as much to the US as they used too. Though the boycott was made fun of (I still eat french fries), I believe many Americans still hold a grudge against the French, and sales have been hurt. Why buy French when there are so many other fine wines coming from our allies in Italy and Australia? We can also buy California wine, though their position as an ally is questionable.
I’d post something pithy here about le weasel piss but I gotta go to the liquor store for more Oz booze. Family drank me dry over the holiday weekend, the bastards.
Posted by Gary from Jersey on 2006 11 28 at 05:06 PM • permalinkI can’t see a problem here.
Falling demand in wine can be taken up by booming demand for alcohol-based accelerants.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 28 at 05:08 PM • permalink"In 1980, the French and the Italians each consumed about 5 billion litres of wine a year, according to the European Commission.”
Is it stretching the language a little bit to ask, but did “each” French and Italian have a perpetual hangover?.
Posted by LaVallette on 2006 11 28 at 06:13 PM • permalinkIt’s a disturbing trend. My high school French teacher used to rave on about breakfasts consisting of bread soaked in vin rouge. Plonk, for the Aussies. The problem is declining alcoholism. Watch any sitcom or movie from the 50s-70s and the first thing hubby does when he gets home is pour three fingers of stiff liquor. Can’t do that when you gotta pick up the kids from daycare.
O/T - Does anyone have a good idea what a good place in the city (Sydney) would be for a first date? I have one tonight, and my mind has gone completely blank. At the request of the lady, nothing too ‘special’ - previous b/f started with the whole super special treatment and it lasted 4 days, so she is nervous about starting off too high.
Any advice as to where, considering the above, would be severely appreciated.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 28 at 06:39 PM • permalinkAh - one issue - it will likely be dark by the time we meet after work (7:45 or so). But thanks for the idea Nicholas. Hmmmmm. Maybe the Botanical gardens?
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 28 at 07:07 PM • permalinkNumbat: I prefer to drink my red before dinner. Don’t drink white. Don’t like drinking with food, ruins the taste of the wine and the food.
Stuart: Nicholas’ idea is excellent. Something simple and outdoors - but I think for the evening… hmm… Don’t go anywhere noisy. Tell her to wear something comfortable (you don’t want her dolled up to the nines to sit on the grass… not comfortable)
Somewhere not too dear but good food for dinner, somewhere down the Rocks? Somewhere safe. Oh dear, been so long since I lived in Sydney.
Are there galleries open? Museum? You are trying to get to know eachother.OK enough from me.
Be yourself, Stuart. Have a lovely time!
(just say “Yes, mum”
Yes, the ferry to Manly or something is a great idea. And yeah, I don’t plan to be up forever (it’s a work night for both of us :/)
Thanks, I think I’m onto something here. And there are nice places to eat in Manly without being over the top.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 28 at 07:32 PM • permalink“Golden handshakes” exist in the US as well, but not to the point of subsidizing booze. But a lot of farmers are paid not to farm ...
I know, but that’s generally only the second measure adopted over here. Number 1 (often used for years) is to let them produce and then buy off the excess production on the taxpayer’s dime, as they’re doing in this case. It’s not a new thing either...one of the big (and enduring) 1990s criticisms of the EU’s economic handling was its creation of huge “milk lakes” and “butter mountains” through that process.
Paying farmers not to produce in the first place was actually a huge improvement when they finally introduced it. Anyway, thanks to (mostly) the French influence in the EU, farmers continue to be a group of people whose livelihood must be assured at all costs, hence the runaway agricultural spending. $150m in order to destroy excess wine are a mere drop in the bucket here.
Jesus, PW! 44% of the EU budget to buy excess crops?!?!?!?!?! No wonder you sniff at the US version. My condolences.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 28 at 07:56 PM • permalink#38 Stuart,
Kae is on the right track with the harbourside alfresco dining idea but restaurants at the rocks are rather expensive, straining the “nothing too special” idea. Also, the Circular Quay can be a little intense at the best of times. A trip to Manly would work too, but the lengthy ferry round trip (jostling with commuters on a work night) will take up quite a lot of time and give you no quick escape if things aren’t working out.
I’d suggest the King Street Wharf area of Darling Harbour. Touristy, I know, but that lends a slight holiday ambiance that should help settle the nerves of a first date.
You can take a leisurely stroll along the whole row of quality restaurants, reading the menus out front and discussing preferences as you go. The atmosphere is informal and there’s a mile of outdoor seating that should be sheltered from today’s rather stiff sou’easter. There’s plenty of indoor space as well, and after dinner a slow stroll right around the Darling Harbour foreshore and back across the old bridge chatting and taking in the sights should complete things nicely. There are plenty of bars and spots for a coffee if you want to kick on awhile after that. You really can’t go wrong.
``The Rhone wines are most similar to Australian Shiraz, but they suck much more in style and quality from year to year’’
You should try the South African red called ``Goats do Roam’’. OK, the name is a heavy play on words but it’s basically Rhone, and South Africa (like Australia) has a pretty consistent climate so you know what you’re getting. Haven’t had a bad bottle yet.
Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2006 11 28 at 08:24 PM • permalinkHmmmmmm. I’ll certainly think about the Kings Street Wharf idea. Though I think I might present the Quay/Manly, the Rocks and Kings Street to the lady in question. Now I just have to remember how to get to Darling Harbor from Town Hall if I need to (I only ever worked down next to the Quay, so the rest of the city is rather blank to me).
Oh, and sure, I can make a report on what happened. Assuming that I don’t have a heart attack and die in the middle of the date or anything (I feel like im 16 again, which is rather sad, butterflies in the stomach and all.)
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 28 at 08:29 PM • permalinkalternative to darling harbour is ferry from circ quay to balmain peninsula, only 5-10min journey, taxi or longish walk up darling street to the eateries and awesome view of western side of the city and bridge at night from balmain ferry wharf and restaurants. good range of eateries at reasonable prices. my missus likes ‘Chopsticks’ but i prefer Tuk Tuk Thai for asian.
$10-15 taxi fare back into the city from balmain if ferries aren’t running.
good luck.
Well, when the EU guarantees minimum prices, it will also be guaranteeing supply that exceeds the market clearing (minimum) price, i.e. overproduction. With guaranteed minimum pricing, the only way to increase vinyard/vintner incomes is to invest in additional capacity--more arable land, vines, and fermentation facilities under production.
The guarantee of farm income by means of commodity price floors has resulted in excess production capacity. By interfering in the marketplace, government has created more problems than it has solved.
Bravo!
The King Street Wharf is at the western end of King St. The area is only a few years old and a real surprise if you haven’t been there before. Also it’s closer to Town Hall than Circular Quay. Hit this link for restaurant details, location map etc.
#18 - 3L Boxes? Most Oz wine in the box is sold in 2L or 4L, 3L reserved for special plonk. You must be one of those hoity toity wine snobs.
If you ever have the chance, purchase yourself a 20L box of tawny port. They can usually be found at any country pub collecting dust or attracting the drool of vagrants.
As with most boxed wine, they have the beautiful advantage of providing you with a chrome pillow or in the case of the 20L, a chrome matrass for your resting pleasure after consumption.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 28 at 10:27 PM • permalinkThe comments thread on that article is amusing. Love this little exchange:
Tof, France
haha ! americans will always make me laugh !
Thank you American Mark for that funny sentence.
Maybe one day the people of your country will open up their eyes and see how and why they are hated.
It’s not a question of EU policy or French arrogance.
It’s only business.
US dump its agriculture so do the same the EU because of the low costs in Asia.RodF, Australia
Tof.
America saves your culture from obliteration and you hate them??
Without the United States you would be speaking German in Paris.
And what a silly idea to pay farmers to destroy their stock. Is it any wonder that California produces more GDP than the whole of France with surprise, surprise half the people.
One more comment from TRJ brings up his 4,000. Hope its a good one!
I can’t say if it’s a good one, kaboom, but thanks for the kind words!
But I see that paco is racing to outdo richard mcenroe as top commenter!
Watch out, richard!!!!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 28 at 10:37 PM • permalinkThanks Arbee, Kae and Splice for the advice. I’ll post in the top thread tomorrow about how it went, if you guys want to know :p
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 28 at 10:40 PM • permalink#60 - Entropy, that is the most sensible comments thread in a Euro newspaper ever. Must have been a Blair infiltration.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 28 at 10:45 PM • permalinkI got a radical idea. Just let the wine farmers suffer brutal economic hardship until they figure out they need to go out and get another goddamn job. Something the market is crying out for—like Burkha seamstress.
Posted by Shaky Barnes on 2006 11 28 at 10:53 PM • permalinkOnya Mr Real Jeff and also Kae (2000) and Rebecca H (4000).
BTW The front page of the Sydney Morning Herald website (look down aways) is reporting that: “The minds behind the Iraq invasion are now fingering Bush for the fiasco.”
I have no comment on this development.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 28 at 10:58 PM • permalink#65
Dang, they changed it to something much less interesting.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 28 at 11:03 PM • permalinkVery few countries can claim to be clean skins on the issue of subsidies to farmers. In France it has always been particularly virulent in the way they subsidised the wine industry. The bottom line result was though that the subsidies and lack of investment in new technologies led to the irrelevance of the French as producers (much as it nearly did in Australia to our steel industry in the 60’s). Australia from across the world outsells them in the UK and in the US you pay a premium for Californian wine against the French. This is essentially because Australian and US wines now taste better more reliably.
In the great days of French wines much was made of “vintage” years. The downside of that was that there were many more “non-vintage” than vintage years a problem largely solved in the “new world” through technology. Their “domain” system also led to paralysis through protecting a few producers.
Contrast these experiences with the New Zealand pinot noir growers who were told by their government 2 years ago that there would be an oversupply and that they should pull out their vines. Their reaction was to increase production, lower prices and gain new markets. Anyone who has tasted some of their pinots will be grateful for their capitalist approach.
44% of the EU budget to buy excess crops?!?!?!?!?!
Not strictly...the amount of (also subsidized, via those minimum prices) stuff that’s sold to consumers is definitely a much larger share than the excess production that’s discarded. (We’re not that insane, even in the EU.) Though, one could of course argue that nearly the entire EU agricultural capacity must constitute “excess” if it needs subsidies to compete with the rest of the world, so in that sense you’d be right.
At any rate, it’s certainly fair to say that nearly half of the EU budget goes towards distorting one single market. And it used to be even more. (Over 80% some twenty years ago, IIRC.)
Screw the French and their hooker piss. The item below, is so much more important.
Those of you that do NOT believe Santa Claus has elves that eagerly await finishing making all those toys and gifts...you just cast your eyes right here
At any rate, it’s certainly fair to say that nearly half of the EU budget goes towards distorting one single market. And it used to be even more. (Over 80% some twenty years ago, IIRC.)
Yeah, I see what you mean, PW. But it’s pretty flaky, one way or the other. Thanks for the clarification.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 11 29 at 12:18 AM • permalinkNo info there, EC, but if wikipedia is anything to go by, (look under personal life) he might not be quite as ronery as team america would have us believe - 13 kids outside marriage.
My favourite excerpt:
‘North Korean state media have claimed that Kim “enjoys golf, having shot multiple holes-in-one during his first try at the game. He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course.” They also claimed that Kim has composed six operas.’
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 29 at 01:01 AM • permalink#44- the Horries that hang around the Steyne can bwe a bit bothersome, but there’s some great curry places in Manly. I believe it’s pretty warm in sydney today (can’t be worse than bloody Brisbane though) so I’d opt for somewhere with Gaiea-offending air conditioning. the Pumphouse at Darling Harbour’s not bad, but getting a skinful on the first night out could leave a poor impression. If funds are tight, Harry’s Cafe De Wheels at Wooloomooloo and behind the theatre district provides al fresco dining at budget prices. I don’t know if it opens in the evening, but Doyles at Rose Bay has a cafe/takeaway on the jetty where the ferry docks, and it’s not pricey.
Harbourd Diggers Club north of Manly has a spectaculatr outlook, and didn’t used to be expensive to eat at.Because you couldn’t make this stuff up, I have just discovered the world’s best blog
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 29 at 01:26 AM • permalinkI had no idea of the extent of Bush’s criminality until I looked through these archives
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 29 at 01:40 AM • permalink#68 the CAP is as poisonous to the health of the EU as its unfunded pensions and its unassimilated immigrants. It seems inevitable that these crazy policies will eventually collide. Perhaps they already have, but the impact is in slow motion.
why do the Germans continue to fund French farmers? (at least in the old days they got to use their farms for tank manoeuvres)They have cats in North Korea
Sorry for the OTs, but this website has opened my eyes.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 29 at 01:48 AM • permalink#80: Yes, but what happened to all the dogs?
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 29 at 01:51 AM • permalink#76 & 77
MM, Great site. Who would have ever thought that having traffic lights would directly impact the level of homelessness in a society.
Now it all makes sense!Posted by Hank Reardon on 2006 11 29 at 02:08 AM • permalink#44 Is Le Kiosk still open at Shelly Beach? If so, ferry to Manly, stroll down the Corso then walk around to Shelly, pleasant one course or something at an outside table at Le Kiosk overlooking the beach, slow stroll back, perhaps an ice cream or coffee or something in the Corso, then a boat back to the Quay or taxi or whatever.
Ok. I got back. I went with Kings Street Wharf - we went Thai, sheerly through my missing the Spanish joint on 3 walkthroughs. Dinner went well, though service took forever, as did finally getting the cheque (though it wasn’t too expensive.) Food was ok, though neither of us ate too much.
For me, it seemed kinda wierd, and I thought I was shooting myself in the ass with a 155m G6, but I have a confirmed second date (I think I might go the Manly route this time, with the ferry, on a Saturday afternoon) and a message saying that she enjoyed the night.
Then again, I am slightly scared - she seems like a lady who knows what she wants, and may well have already decided that it is me - at least that is the impression I was getting. And being male, I let all sorts of information slip without getting anything real back. I have to watch my big mouth, or I am gonna get rolled over, I think :p
Anyway, thanks for all the advice, everyone. I survived, and that’s half the battle.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 29 at 09:39 AM • permalinkMy step-dad introduced me to the Black Opal label a few years back and I really enjoyed their Cabernet Sauvignon; very woody, smooth and quite potent. I’ve never cared much for French wine, although my wife still enjoys the occasional vouvray. A Swiss army officer turned me on to a Chardonnay that comes from his french-speaking side of Switzerland, but I can’t remember the name of it for the life of me. It’s the first white wine I had enjoyed in years. Though my favorites are still Italian: Barolo and certain Chianti Riservas. Its been a long, dry year and I am really looking forward to getting back home and helping out the EU wine-glut problem!
A lot of people in this country pooh-pooh Australian table wines. This is a pity as many fine Australian wines appeal not only to the Australian palate but also to the cognoscenti of Great Britain.
Black Stump Bordeaux is rightly praised as a peppermint flavoured Burgundy, whilst a good Sydney Syrup can rank with any of the world’s best sugary wines.
Château Blue, too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and its lingering afterburn.
Old Smokey 1968 has been compared favourably to a Welsh claret, whilst the Australian Wino Society thoroughly recommends a 1970 Coq du Rod Laver, which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: eight bottles of this and you’re really finished. At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour.
Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is Perth Pink. This is a bottle with a message in, and the message is ‘beware’. This is not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.
Another good fighting wine is Melbourne Old-and-Yellow, which is particularly heavy and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.
Quite the reverse is true of Château Chunder, which is an appellation contrôlée, specially grown for those keen on regurgitation; a fine wine which really opens up the sluices at both ends.
Real emetic fans will also go for a Hobart Muddy, and a prize winning Cuivre Reserve Château Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga, which has a bouquet like an aborigine’s armpit.
Why thanks, Paco. Unfortuately, I made a crack about marriage last night, and it didn’t go down too well, so I think I might have to take a rain cheque on that one.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 29 at 08:10 PM • permalinkThe Real JeffS—Sorry, dude, I’m playing with a handicap, my computer’s down at home and I have no access at work, so I’m just doing the best I can.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 11 29 at 09:20 PM • permalinkPaco - yeah, I kinda figured that one out now. Ugh.
Kae - how true. Though I’m far too young for this sort of thing, or perhaps too old.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 29 at 11:16 PM • permalinkWell, I don’t agree with the chasing and catching stuff. If you’re keen on someone why waste time? If you’re not keen, don’t waste their time (or yours).
I’m too old for silly games and have been since I was about 23.Paco’s right. It’s like proposing. Only ask if you know she’ll say yes (that’s what I’ve heard)(and you WANT her to say yes).
Just call me Dear Dorothy.
Hell, Kae, I’m only 22. Though to contextualise about the marriage joke a bit, last Saturday I was the best man at my friends wedding, and the lady in question was the maid of honour. So we were talking about the recent bride and groom, and how they took things slowly, etc. Anyway, then I jumped in and said ‘Don’t worry - I won’t propose until next week.’ Gah. Classy man, am I not? Then I proceeded to laugh at my own humour (I have a rather evil laugh, I’ve been told). But the conversation did recover after some emergency operating, and liberal appliance of the packer-whackers.
But I am really interested in this girl, I just keep on feeling that at some moment she will wake up or something and tell me to rack off, that’s all, as she is far too good for a hopeless scoundrel such as myself, and this thought is making me have nervous fits.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 29 at 11:29 PM • permalink#97 - Does she read your blog or Tim Blair? Careful.
My advice (please remember that it is free and you get what you pay for), you’ll kick yourself more for the things you didn’t do, than the things you did do.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 29 at 11:41 PM • permalinkNo, she doesn’t, fortunately, or otherwise I wouldn’t have asked advice here in the first place, Infidel.
And thanks, kae. Either way, any voice but the one going ‘Stuart’s a tosser, dum dum dum dum-dum, Stuart’s a tosser… ‘ in my head is a good one.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 29 at 11:46 PM • permalink’Tis a pleasant change to be proffering advice on matters of the heart than the best place to strike with a nuclear weapon.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 29 at 11:53 PM • permalink#60
That comments thread in The Scotsman is a real cracker and getting better.
I think it is just so beautiful that discussion on resentment and French military inadequacy can stem from an article on wine.Posted by Hank Reardon on 2006 11 30 at 12:00 AM • permalinkYou know, if this relationship goes on much longer, I’ll have to ask Tim or Andrea to open a special advice thread - everything is so different from when I was a purile teenager, and since most of my relationships between the age of 15 and 21 ended in cataclysm, I can use all the (non-contradictory) advice I can get.
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 30 at 12:02 AM • permalinkIT
Not so; a nuke can be trusted to behave as intended.Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2006 11 30 at 12:06 AM • permalinkRebeccaH - thats true, I do have time, and I should relax. It’s just that I am a master of screw-ups, and I would really prefer to do this right. Especially as I have known this girl for a couple of years, and didn’t realise that she had liked me for a fair part of that until Sunday (another screw-up) - indeed, I thought that she rather didn’t like me. So I worry, though I don’t want to. The funny thing is, a week ago I was completely happy being single, and now that I am not, I am a wreck. Such is life, eh?
Posted by Stuart Lord on 2006 11 30 at 12:26 AM • permalinkSounds like you don’t have much to worry about Stuart.
Your screw-ups are most probably you just acting differently to who you really are to make it “perfect” and ends up changing things for the worse.
I’d just be confident you can just be yourself given she’s admitted that she’s liked you for most of the last two years anyway.
This is significantly different advice to some I remember getting back then but there’s no point me reminiscing when I’ve got work to do.Posted by Hank Reardon on 2006 11 30 at 12:47 AM • permalinkWomen are like buses, Stuart, they convey large numbers of passengers as a useful form of public transport.
No, hang on. There are plenty more buses in the ocean. Nah.
If you miss one, another one will be right along any minute. That’s it.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 30 at 12:54 AM • permalink"Son, a woman is like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you’d step over your own mother just to get one! But you can’t stop at one. You wanna drink another woman!”
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 30 at 12:58 AM • permalink#114 - Yes, they are reduced to walking everywhere.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 11 30 at 01:20 AM • permalinkNow, what was this thread all about again? Ah, yes, wine.
Well, I reckon if you’re gonna take the trouble to pull a cork and get on the sauce, there’s no need to be a bloody snoot about it. All this knob-gobbing about “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée”, “Bouquet” and “Terroir”… no wonder the silly Frogs are struggling to sell the stuff anymore.
All you gotta do is brew up a half-way decent batch of plonk, bottle it up, whack on a label with a kangaroo printed on it and call it something catchy like “Yellow Tail”. And the rest is history, mate. How hard can it be? (Shhh… don’t tell the Americans. I think they’re all asleep now, anyway.)
Stuart, a pennies worth of free advice if you are REALLY serious about the girl: Listen to the young lady. Really listen to what she is saying. Women connect through conversation. Us guys think in individual compartments and focus on one thing at a time, but the ladies are wired like a bowl of spaghetti; each thread connects with many others, so they jump around to several topics simultaneously. If you listen carefully, you’ll see through (what appears to us as chaos) to the things that matter to her. She’ll know you care for her by the level of attention you pay to what she is saying.
As your relationship progresses: Gifts are always good (flowers are my weapon of choice). Write her little notes and leave them where she’ll find them (in her car, in her office, etc.) Send her an email once in a while simply telling her that you are thinking about her right now and hope that her day is going well. Talk much less about yourself, and ask more about her.
Ladies, if I am wrong here, please jump in and say so.Oops. They’re not all asleep. I forgot about America’s bravest, deployed around the world.
Umm, Texas Bob… you’ve already given away the secret formula for Vegemite. Hog hurl… it took years of serious beer drinkin’ to come up with something so simple. But this time, can I ask you to keep the secret of Aussie international wine marketing success safely under your hat?
Texas Bob
Yup.Be yourself. Let her know you enjoy her company, appreciate her. Tell her.
If she gives you butterflies you know how you feel about her. How are those butterflies?
I have been told I missed out on a job because I approach things in a ‘scattergun’ way, and I was assured by the person who told me this that it’s quite normal for a woman, but men don’t understand it. It’s like your spaghetti. Everything is connected.
Stuart, once upon a time there was a young bull and an old bull...Errrr, whatever Texas Bob says.
Posted by Hank Reardon on 2006 11 30 at 05:39 AM • permalinkThis agony aunt stuff is top stuff, and when it comes to
poking our noses in where they are not wanted, affairs of the heart, Timbonauts are freakin’ experts.Say, what about more threads like this, member no 2?
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 11 30 at 07:01 AM • permalinkA bloke was holidaying on the Australian coast. His wife went out for a swim and didn’t come back.
She was missing for a few days. He was understandably distraught.
Some days later the police turned up at his motel door. The old sarge said to him,
“This isn’t easy, but I have bad news, good news and very good news for you.”The holidaymaker said to the sarge “Well, you’d better give it to me straight. What’s the bad news?”
“Well,” said the sarge. “We found your wife, she was wedged in a crevice quite deep. My young constable here recovered her. We’re very sorry.”
“I see. So, what’s the good news?”
“Where she was wedged there’s some really good crays and crabs. Some got caught in her swimming costume and when we pulled her up we got quite a haul. We’ve divvied them up and here’s your share.” He handed the holiday maker a hessian bag full of crays and crabs.
“Oh, thanks. So, what’s the very good news?”
“Well, we wondered what you were doing about eleven o’clock tomorrow, we thought you’d like to come with us, we’re pulling her up again....”
I know there’s some good, decent folk in France. Statistically, there has to be at least a few good ones or “keepers” in all that mess but…
The two most sensible and friendly Frenchmen I’ve talked to on the internet were a satellite telecommunications engineer in his late 20s who’s emigrated to the US years ago and an IT guy who has been working in Finland for more than half a decade. That about sums it up, I think - all the useful French people are already elsewhere.
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It’s likely that declining wine consumption in EU countries is directly linked to their growing Muslim populations.
How long before Ibérico ham is gone as well.