Grand Opening

BlackBerry 9000

…of a fine vintage of Madeira, on opening night of the Rosewood Sand Hill.

I have been watching the construction across the street for a while now. Glad to have a good restaurant nearby!

When this liquid time capsule was produced, the world looked very different than it does today. For example, back then, 94% of Americans were born at home, without a telephone, and never graduated high school. Most (over 86%) did not have a bathtub or reliable access to electricity.

Consider how technology has changed the fabric of society and cultural norms, and consider that an equivalent amount of tech innovation as seen in the past century, will occur in the next 20 years (per Kurzweil).

13 responses to “Grand Opening”

heet_myser

Apr 9, 2009 at 4:06 am

See, and this is one of the great failings of the Interweb. I can thrill to your rocket launches and stew in envy at your electric car cruises, but I have no way to relate to the wonders of this glass of heaven. Maybe it’s not a failing after all…. Cheers, Steve.

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!MimosaMicheMichelle!

Apr 9, 2009 at 4:07 am

In fact, quite a lot of new technology is just a few years old so you could have made an impressive comparison with a time 10-20 years ago.

So now, you will be having a taste on occasion! I would love to know about the menu. You could show us photos of your meals.

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▓▒░JASE░▒▓

Apr 9, 2009 at 4:10 am

In 20 years wine will still be wine.

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Todd Huffman

Apr 9, 2009 at 4:15 am

I used to have a roommate who was born that year! (He lost a leg, and I rented the second floor of his house).

He grew up without refrigeration. At the beginning of the winter they’d slaughter a cow and put it in a 55 gallon drum on the porch. They’d hack off chunks of meat with a hatchet. His farm blew away in the Dust Bowl.

His daughter bought him a computer, and asked me to teach him how to use it. I showed him, then left for work. When I came back, all the icons were scooted to the top of the page. He’d position the mouse over an icon, and slightly disengage his hand while he clicked… sufficient to pick up and drop the icon up a few pixels without opening it.

The basic skills of the generations are amazingly different.

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jitze

Apr 9, 2009 at 8:43 am

Madeira always reminds me of the young maiden who was tempted…

Have some madeira, m’dear
You really have nothing to fear
I’m not trying to tempt you, that wouldn’t be right
You shouldn’t drink spirits at this time of night
Have some madeira, m’dear
It’s really much nicer than beer
I don’t care for sherry, one cannot drink stout
And port is a wine I can well do without
It’s simply a case of chacun a son gout
Have some madeira, m’dear

The whole ballad, performed by the authors, may be enjoyed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_zi8n4HDQ

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Ramones Karaoke

Apr 9, 2009 at 9:38 am

In 1959 it was like that in Sheffield …

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Cavutto

Apr 9, 2009 at 12:46 pm

Uch, I wouldn’t drink anything from 1907.

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TomiTapio

Apr 9, 2009 at 1:06 pm

Me neither. Nice composition on the pic. Not so many decades to go until regeneration drugs…

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tonyjurvetson

Apr 9, 2009 at 5:23 pm

1907, a lot of parallels with today, maybe the right vintage to celebrate with. Does Moore’s Law apply to panics?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aobgyOW_S_U

http://www.bos.frb.org/about/pubs/panicof1.pdf

Other notable events in 1907:

http://www.brainyhistory.com/years/1907.html

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biotron

Apr 9, 2009 at 5:29 pm

jitze – marvellous! 🙂

ramones – indeed…

cavutto / tomi – really? i’d leap at the chance for properly bottled and stored vintage booze of such vintage…

note, however, the date of the photograph. this is probably Dr Pepper or Tizer or something *

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RizzoTees

Apr 9, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Let’s DRINK!

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benjiman

Apr 9, 2009 at 8:17 pm

pure velvet

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NYCArthur

Apr 11, 2009 at 12:36 pm

Love that poem above.

enjoy!

although the lettering on the bottle makes it look like something:
"TOXIC – DO NOT DRINK"

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Grand Opening

13 responses to “Grand Opening”

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