Now I’m not one to push a product, that’s of course if it doesn’t come in a 750 ML bottle. But for Christmas, Eva brought home the most neatest of gifts. Wine drinkers who take the steps forward into the fine world of wine appreciation eventually come across the right and wrong ways to aerate a glass of wine. We all go through it. How much should I swirl a glass of wine. Should I open the bottle and let it sit for a while in order for it to “rest”. To decant or not to decant? Is that the real question? Well, now its time for a real good wine story. Back to Eva’s Christmas gift. It turns out there is a lady who works three cubicles down from her who’s neighbor has invented a sweet little device which takes care of all the bullshit of waiting, swirling and decanting. This brainiac engineer put together a device made of plastic and rubber which you pour your wine into and out comes the perfectly aerated glass of wine. Its called the Vinturi. Through all the slurpping and sucking sounds which comes out of this little magic thingy, the wines bouquet and taste is instantly improved. It was really amazing the first time I tried it. It made my glass of ordinary 2005 Osborne Solaz smell really really nice. It works with whites too. I had a glass of 2005 Santa Barbara Winery Chardonnay and did the with Vinturi, without Vinturi test. Trust me it works. I highly recommend procuring one for yourself . It makes a great wine geeky type of gift. Heck, I’m enjoying a perfectly aerated glass of Ménage à Trois as I write this…

So one night I was working on an iMovie project when I drifted and found myself on YouTube again. I started to look for more videos such as the last posting of videos of Morante de la Puebla. I typed in El Fandi for the hell of it. I’m not a huge fan of El Fandi. I think he has great physical abilities, is the best Matador banderillero in the world at this moment, and is coming around with the muleta. I do however think he is too athletic and the absence of clase really affects his talent to torerar. The results of my Fandi search brought on a huge surprise. It seems they’re about the release a documentary on El Fandi. Its a behind the scenes view of a popular matador’s struggle to become the best Matador in Spain. Most of the documentary was shot in 2005 and the footage from the trailer looks top quality with a cinemaphotographic knowledge of the subject. I immediately contacted the filmmaker Steven Higgins and asked for permission to post the trailer here. The funny thing is I went to the films website and surfed it for a while. To my surprise, guess who I discovered was a consultant on the film. Just a pen pal I have from Mundo Taurino (see 9/24/06 posting). Too funny, but I’m sure the film will reach beyond my pen pals knowledge! This guy is always trying to blast DBB. Whatever! Oh, BTW I finally finished the iMovie I was working on. It is a small review of this summers trip to España. I borrowed some clips from my friend Joe Fee’s video he had sent me, mixed it with some pix I took and put in a couple of nice Flamenco tracks.

Simply put, there is no finer Matador de Toros today than José Antonio Morante Camacho “Morante de la Puebla”. A couple of Sundays ago Morante brought his art to the Mexican capital and turned in the kind of performance he has been doing for two great seasons. This past July I had the pleasure of seeing Morante perform in Alicante and Tijuana. In both corridas he was sublime and displayed the kind of Toreo which comes from the heart and soul of the Torero. Morante also suffers from depression, which caused him to retire early two seasons ago and seek treatment for his problem. Emerging from this state, Morante had a truer understanding of his mortality, his existence, as well as his purpose and goals in the ring. What has transpired is a Torero who bonds with the toros he faces, and creates beauty, stands his ground and wraps the toro around his body. Different aspects of Morante’s Toreo have evolved into the finest interpretations of Veronicas, Chicuelinas, Trincherazos and Pases de Pecho today. I acquired a couple of videos from mi amigo Pedro’s postings and Tendido Cero. Pedro has a website which is dedicated to Morante. I had wondered why Pedro would do this, but as I see more and more of Morante I now understand his enthusiasm Take a look at the collection video which I’ve posted below. First is the Tendido Cero mini docu-interview of Morante explaining his affliction and how it affected him and his art during his 2005 temporada. The second is a compilations of highlights of his 2006 Spanish Campaign, and the third his recent corrida in Plaza Mexico.