Fincastle Winery

I wrote a story for The Roanoke Times about an upcoming wine festival.

“It is well to remember that there are five reasons for drinking: the arrival of a friend; one’s present or future thirst; the excellence of the wine; or any other reason.”

If that old Latin saying holds true for you, well, here’s yet another reason: The 17th annual Roanoke Wine Festival on June 13 at Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke. Who doesn’t want to spend a Saturday relaxing at the park, listening to live music and tasting fabulous wine?

If you think you’ve been there, done that … well, think again. Have you tried Chateau Morrisette’s inaugural fruit wine? Or Virginia Mountain Vineyard’s new Trinity red? Or what about any of the wines from Brooks Mill? Probably not, considering this young winery just opened in December.

Of the 10 wineries that will be pouring at this year’s festival, all of them are bringing something new.

Here’s the rest of it, if you’re interested.

I spent the better half of the past two days dissing “Confessions of a Shopaholic” before I actually saw the movie. In my mind, I ripped the plot to shreds, jumped up and down on the remains and then threw them under the bus.

My mom and I went to see the romantic comedy Friday. Walking in to the theater, I told her she must love me a lot to spend her money on such an awful movie. To which she replied (in that way moms do), “You haven’t even seen it yet. What if you actually like it?” Yeah, that’ll happen.

The cynic in me wants to slam “Confessions” right now, but the girl in me who adores cheesy love connections and feel-good moments is winning out — big time.

“Confessions” is terrible. But in the way that “Clueless” and “Legally Blonde” are terrible. I have seen both of those movies at least three times. I mean, what girl doesn’t adore Cher Horowitz and Elle Woods, at least a little? You with me, ladies?

The same thing happened with Rebecca Bloomwood. Before I knew it, I started to like her. I didn’t expect Australian actress Isla Fisher (“Wedding Crashers”) to charm me the way she did. Her comedic turn here is reminiscent of Debra Messing’s Grace in “Will and Grace.” Innocently stupid with good intentions all over the place.

Rebecca is a 20-something journalist living high on the hog in New York City. Scene after scene, we see Rebecca throwing around her 12 credit cards (“Put $10 on this one, $20 on this one …”) to stuff her wardrobe with Prada, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent.

She comes from a frugal family, played spot-on by John Goodman and Joan Cusack (complete with the bowl of peppermints on their dining room table).
It is Rebecca’s dream to one day work for prominent fashion magazine Allete (Why is it always a fashion magazine? Why not a travel magazine?), but to get there she must accept a job as a columnist at a financial magazine.

OK, here comes the criticism that I just can’t ignore (think of it as a movie montage, only without music):

Do you know how long it takes to become a columnist for any publication? I know journalists who are well into their 40s who haven’t reached that coveted job description yet.

Also, the fact that Rebecca, who is up to her designer sunglasses in debt, would ever land that job in the first place is complete lunacy. But she does, and
she takes the world — yes, the world — by storm with her very first column. And not only that, but she also wins the heart of her editor and son-of-
a-socialite Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy, “Jane Austen Book Club”).

Whew. Much better.

Rebecca’s shopping addiction was played light during the first half of the movie, but then became a defining element of her character by the end.

Rebecca’s good intentions, like all good intentions before hers, eventually crash down in a heap of exposed lies and betrayals, and her demons finally get
the best of her. Like any addict, it takes a trip to rock bottom to finally wake up and smell the Italian leather.

“Confessions” wasn’t as terrible/good as “Legally Blonde,” but it was close. I admit it, I liked it. Rebecca Bloomwood pulled one over on me, and I’m betting
anything that right now Mom is smiling (in that way moms do).

Here’s a post I just wrote on the blog I author for a local seafood restaurant, Awful Arthur’s. It’s a quick-hit interview with the brewmaster.

I could go for a beer right about now. Hmm, that’s not a bad idea.

A movie like “He’s Just Not That Into You” is destined to turn out one of two ways – as a total flop or a pretty decent flick. And this one turned out to be a pretty decent flick, owing much to its all-star cast.

Touted on the official Web site as an anti-romantic comedy, “He’s Just Not That Into You” is based on the book that was inspired by an infamous episode of “Sex and the City” where Carrie’s boyfriend Jack Berger tells Miranda that a guy she’s obsessing over is just not that into her. It was a brilliant episode. I’m not sure about the book because honestly I haven’t read it.

The film weaves its way through the lives of a group of twenty- and thirtysomethings in Baltimore, who are all connected in some way.

First we meet Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), the girl who overanalyzes every sentence out of a guy’s mouth (“Wait, does that mean you’re going to call me? Or am I supposed to call you?”) and sits by the phone waiting for the call that never comes. Every girl has a friend like Gigi (and if you don’t, then maybe you ARE the friend like Gigi). The men in Gigi’s life lose interest in her in record time, including Conor (Kevin Connolly), who will never call Gigi because he’s too hung up on yoga-instructor Anna (Scarlett Johansson). Anna, who is forever stringing Conor along, is totally into Ben (Bradley Cooper), who is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly).

Justin Long is Alex, the movie’s straight-shooting guru on guy code. Alex is the Berger of the movie. He is forever delivering the blows (“If a guy is treating you like he doesn’t give a s***, he genuinely doesn’t give a s***”) to let-down ladies. Gigi becomes the yin to Alex’s yang when she starts calling him for advice on the guys she meets.

Drew Barrymore plays Mary (and also doubles as the narrator), a lonely heart trying to navigate her way through this new age of dating – via text messaging, Myspace and video chats. And, finally, Neil (Ben Affleck) and Beth (Jennifer Aniston), who have been together for seven years but still haven’t tied the knot.

Whew! That’s a lot of people and a lot of plots. But it must be said here that director Ken Kwapis (“License to Wed”) does a decent job keeping us on track given the number of relationships we have to follow. It helps that each segment is given a chapter title.

“HJNTIY” starts out more as a “For Dummies” guide to understanding the mixed signals that men give to women, but evolves into something a little different as it plays out … something a little more like life. I feared the movie would make women look weak and stupid, but aside from some of Gigi’s obsessive antics, it didn’t go that route. Both sets of genders are equally stumped when it comes to the rules of love.

The movie jumps back and forth between light-hearted and serious tones. Alex’s constant cracking of the guy code gets a little tired, although now we know all your secrets, fellas. Gigi is over the top at times. Ben’s infidelity is the heavy plot line here, leaving nothing but smashed-up hearts in its wake. Beth and Neil are a realistic pair and played solid, if not genuine, by Aniston and Affleck. Mary is a little boring. Barrymore’s charm is definitely under utilized in this movie.

And, while it is not supposed to be a typical romantic comedy (there’s even a video on the Web site of the 10 chick flick cliches that you will NOT see in the movie), I still don’t think guys will be flocking to this one.

As the movie plays out, all the guidebook-speak seems to fade into the background and life begins to dictate our characters’ actions … much like reality. The lesson here is that women will forever overanalyze, men will be men and there are no rules when it comes to love.

Chick-flick cliche? Totally.

With this blog I plan to just talk about life off the grid, so to speak. So far, so good. The money is coming in, but that could change at any minute.