Entertainment

You can tell someone is cooking as soon as you enter the house. Everything smells amazing, and there are serious noises coming from the kitchen. What’s this? A personal chef? You look around wildly, and start to pinch yourself. You must be dreaming…

That’s right, we’re in fantasy land today. Imagine a beautifully set table, and a chef preparing a fabulous dinner for you and any company you choose. Wine is ready to be poured, the glasses are sparkling in the sunlight. All you need is a guest list, and the fascinating conversation that will follow.

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, who would it be? Famous or not, alive or not, people you have met before…or not! Would your table be filled with celebrities? Musicians? Writers? Politicians? Or would you go back further and choose from philosophers, or people who have made a place for themselves in their countries’ legacies?

Would you choose that friend you lost touch with in school? That person in school you wish you had gotten to know, and didn’t? People who have been a part of your life but are no longer?

I am always so curious how people come up with answers to this game. I picture a table and think, what kind of conversations would happen if we could actually get the wine flowing at a table with Barack Obama, Drew Barrymore, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Jack Nicholson, George Clooney, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Julia Roberts and Diane Keaton around a table? Add a few of my closest friends and, of course, me and ring the dinner bell. I’d love to watch and listen.

So what about you? This is just a random list off the top of my head. I could think of so many more that would be interesting to talk to, to listen to. If you could make any guest list, choose anyone to attend, living or dead, who would you invite? Who would you break bread with? Who do you think would be interesting and would create conversations worth listening to?

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Few things in the world fascinate me as much as wine. I worked in the wine industry years ago, so have a special affection for the grape and all it can become. Plenty of other beverages may refresh you or please your palate, but no other offers that as well as exposure to different languages, geography, and so much social interaction.

When I’m shopping for wine, I get to take a small step into my imagination and experience a bit of the language, and possibly learn a little about the country it’s from. When I go looking for a tasty California Cabernet or Petite Sirah, a French Bordeaux, an Italian Nebbiolo or Chianti or even an Argentinean Malbec it allows my mind to wander to those places. It’s a welcome escape and a pleasant addition to my day. And if you pick your wine shop carefully, they even have tastings!

And to me, wine sets a certain stage that another drink just cannot. Call me crazy, but when I decide to have a perfect quiet night in, I select a tempting looking bottle and prepare a small plate of fresh bread and just the right old cheddar cheese…well, there’s nothing better. It feels like a treat, a small spread of goodness just for me.

Yet, the last dinner party we had had nothing in common with the quiet moment I describe above. Everyone was to bring a bottle of wine they had never tried before, and we put them all out on the table with steaks fresh off the barbeque, roast potatoes, bread and a big salad. We all sampled all the different wines, talked about the choices we made and why we made them, and basically ate and drank and laughed ourselves out of our chairs enjoying our wine and dinner. We’re already planning our next wine dinner!

So…what place does wine hold in your life? Is it a treat, a quiet glass after the kiddies go to bed? Does it take centre stage at dinner parties? What do you like to drink, what are your favourite brands, grapes, styles, regions? Do you buy the same wine time after time, or do you like to experiment? How do you choose your wines? We want to know it all, and I’m looking forward to investigating your favourites, so list them all below!

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Look over your shoulder. Okay, the coast is clear. And it’s a good thing too, because today we are talking about lists. No, not your grocery list. Not your to-do list. Your LIST.

Oh come on, you know what I’m talking about. The list of 5 (or however many) famous people who are considered, ahem, your free throws. The lists you and your partner have of celebrity crushes who you will never meet so it’s okay to lust after them from a distance.

Now maybe I’m assuming too much. After all, I don’t even know if I’m supposed to have a list, I’ve never really called it that with Matt Damon, sorry, my husband. And Chace Crawford, sorry, my husband has never mentioned a list, although there are a few actresses he’ll admit are attractive. So maybe I shouldn’t have a list after all. After all, I wouldn’t want to hurt Jake Gyllenhaal’s, sorry, my husband’s feelings.

But we all know that the lists exist and most of us have some form of it or another. Maybe to you it’s a list of celebrity crushes, famous people you think you’d be tongue-tied around, or that you can’t help but think are hot. Maybe it’s a list of people you will pretty much watch in any movie they make because you find them totally charismatic.

But just to be on the safe side, if Johnny Depp, sorry, my husband asks, I don’t have a list.

So? What kind of list do you have? And who’s on it? Who in Hollywood really does it for you? Musicians, athletes, the game is wide open. And does your partner know who your crushes are? Do they tease you? Get a little jealous? Have a list of their own? Hmm…now that’s interesting, wonder if Hugh Jackman, sorry, my husband has a list?

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For me it’s a mixed answer. I find I watch much less tv in the summer, perhaps a few more movies in the evenings. However, a little channel called HBO happens to be the home of a show called True Blood. I got sucked into it midway through last year, and admit to getting a little bit hooked. Well, the third season just started, and while I’m busy mainlining seasons 1 and 2 on DVD in order to get caught up, many people I know are already watching the new shows. Mine are taping on my PVR and will be carefully guarded.

I figure I have the time to sneak it in, guilt-free, because my other shows have ended for the year. I can’t believe, with how busy I feel, the number of shows I wanted to watch this year. Thank goodness for the PVR! I watched Brothers & Sisters, Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, a bit of Parenthood, Glee, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. And I feel almost ridiculous about how much tv that is, yet many people I know watch these plus reality shows, sitcoms, you name it.

What shows did you watch all year? And now that they are done, what will you be watching? Or do you cancel your cable during the summer and would rather just head outside?

(And okay, I really want to know who else is watching True Blood! But no spoilers please!)

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