So, you find yourself having been invited to a dinner party and decided to bring the host a bottle of wine. But which type of wine should you buy? I am sure you have seen people seemingly bewildered in front of the wine shelves at the local grocery or liquor store. You have seen them, staring dumbly with no idea what wine to pick out. After you read this article, you can be assured you will never be one of those people.

Choosing a wine can be a tricky decision. You want your selection to please as many people as possible including your host. If you know ahead what is on the menu, the choice becomes easier. The general guidelines are as follows:

- Light-bodied wines complement light food.

- Full-bodied wines are needed when pairing with hearty food.

However, in the situation where you do not know the menu, it is ok as there are a few other key items to consider.

Host Preference

It is very important to consider the host. If you know the host well, you may want to select a bottle that suits his or her individual preferences. If you’re less familiar with your host’s favorites, select a popular wine variety such as Chardonnay or Merlot.

You can further customize the choice by selecting a wine that matches the recipient

I have always believed in the right of free expression. People should be able to express an opinion without being punished for it. The exceptions to that rule are using an opinion to defame without cause, slander or attack the ethnicity of a person. That goes far beyond the fair expression of an opinion. Could the current slump in movie ticket sales be the result of some actors having gone to far in their political expressions?

Many of this year’s films feature some of Hollywood’s most liberal and outspoken actors. Many of the plots, it can be argued, have a decidedly liberal and even anti-conservative slant. It may be that liberals were encouraged with the financial success of Michael Moore’s film, Fahrenheit 9/11. However, that was during an election year when people were hungry to hear both sides of the issue. That hunger, it seems, has subsided.

Can be it that the liberals in Hollywood have become so philosophically disconnected from the average American that they no longer care about what their audiences really want to see? Almost every film released features characters that are divorced, separated or single with children. Traditional mothers, fathers and couples are portrayed as bored, worn out, soulless people who live meaningless lives. Today’s villains are the heads of greedy corporations. Didn’t anyone in Tinsel Town notice the popularity of The Apprentice?

I have been on this Earth for forty some years. During that time, many things have changed. The one thing that has not is that people go to the movies to escape. They don’t want their superheroes trying to teach them a series of liberal social values. They do not want The Godfather trying to save the whales. They don’t want every coming of age film to automatically include a gay or lesbian character. They want to be entertained. When films become dreary morality lessons and cease to entertain, people stop going to the movies.

With America going in a decidedly conservative direction, it does not seem unreasonable to ask for more films where people who don’t leave, get a sex change operation or reveal they are gay get some credit. There are a lot of moms and dads out there working very hard to keep their family together. Many of them do not see their lives are empty, wasted or meaningless. Not all teenagers are joyriding, smoking pot or having relations with everything that moves. Some actually have some respect for themselves and know better.

There was a time when many Americans allowed Hollywood liberals to tell them how to think. They made the films and we were expected to simply show up at theaters because entertainment choices were limited. That’s no longer the case. With a zillion cable channels, an ever-growing volume of independent conservative films and portable media that fits in our pocket, we can now select our own entertainment.

One would have thought that this year’s lackluster ratings for The Academy Awards television broadcast would have sent a strong message to liberal filmmakers. With the vast majority of nominations having gone to dreary films that extol the perceived benefits of a liberal utopia, millions of viewers tuned out. They just didn’t watch. Now, it seems, the same thing is happening at the box office. People aren’t watching by the millions. Those who do can’t stomach the morality lessons enough for a second viewing.

What will it all come to? King Kong gets a non-traditional marriage to Godzilla and adopts Mothra who saves the whales from Republican fishermen? Liberals have every right to share their vision of what America should be. It’s no crime and never should be for them to express their frustration at prejudice faced by those living in non-traditional situations. It’s also just as fair for those who beg to differ with their views to avoid entertainment venues that extol liberal values.

Bill Knell
billknell@cox.net
http://www.billknell.com

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A native New Yorker now living in Arizona, Bill Knell is a forty-something guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He’s written hundreds of articles offer advice on a wide variety of subjects. A popular Speaker, Bill Knell presents seminars on a number of topics that entertain, train and teach. A popular radio and television show Guest, you’ve heard Bill on thousands of top-rated shows in all formats and seen him on local, national and international television programs.

THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980) 25th Anniversary Edition reminds one how quickly time passes.

This improbable musical of a movie still sucks for plot and character but shines on music, and especially the set-pieces at the baptist church (James Brown), diner (Aretha Franklin) and Ray’s Music Store (Ray Charles).

I don’t believe Aretha Franklin was ever that majestic as when she is hollering “Freeedom!” while swinging her hips and absolutely dominating the screen God bless.

The dances are as fantastic as the plot is contrived and cheap.

However, this is also the movie to see if you enjoy the Mother of All Car Crashes. How did they manage to have those dozens of police cars pile up on top of each other while flying at neck break speed (100 miles per hour as John Landis informs during the director’s commentary) and how they did not have anyone killed after those two crash scenes, is beyond me.

Must see for all lovers of non-Delta Northern-white-bread R&B lovers.

MAN OF THE YEAR (Homem Do Ano, 2003) is a funky Brazilian movie that watches almost like a Tarantino flick, with most of the bloodshed but none of the humor. A man becomes a killer for hire almost by dumb luck and he can’t get out of the vicious cycle.

The plot is cool but we have no idea who this character is. We never know where he is coming from. We never understand why he is doing what he is doing except for a slight dip into homophobia. The scene where he, a bloody killer, mourns his roasted pig is just too obvious and symbolically lame. What’s really scary is to think that some of this stuff actually does happen in today’s (or did happen in yesterday’s) Brazil.

Good entertainment but only a 7 on Tarantino scale.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (2004), really interesting is all I can say. But as a cinematic experience it sucks. It for example nowhere has the sophistication of Donnie Darko. This Alternative Universes plot goes back and forth in time with too many flashbacks to count, pulling us through the harrowing consequences of our actions.

Logically the whole premise is flawed because it assumes that the consequences of our actions changes only us but neither the other people around us nor our surroundings. That’s why when the lead guy (Ashton Kutcher) returns to his childhood over and over he finds all the conditions exactly the same.

The only thing to change is his response to the tragic situation. But the mini-episodes where he ends up in jail and loses his arms are testimony to the writer’s creativity.

A convoluted movie bungled up with endless flashbacks and contrived mechanisms (reading his diary hurls the hero back in time). Take two aspirins after watching.

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases and hi-tech documentation.

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