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from Photographers Blog:
The water of life, the spirit of Scotland
Craigellachie, Scotland
By David Moir
Scotch whisky is big business. With sales well over 5 billion pounds per year it’s an industry that has gripped the growing middle classes around the world. Including in countries where sales previously struggled and with drinks industry companies eager to quench that thirst with huge modern computer run distilleries being built around the globe producing more and more of the liquid.
But one thing still remains true in its production, oak casks.
Whisky isn’t Scotch Whisky unless it has been distilled in Scotland and matured for a minimum of three years in an oak cask which comes in various capacities from a Pin to a Butt. ‘Cooper’s’ are the tradesmen who build and repair the oak casks and barrels, their skills passed down from generations show no signs of entering the hi-tech world. They use tools such as a dowelling stock, flagging iron, inside shave and a hollowing knife to name a few.
I visited the Speyside Cooperage which started as a family business in 1947, in the small village of Craigellachie in northern Scotland, or the Malt Whisky Trail as it is also lovingly known. There they repair and build up to 150,000 oak casks a year, with each ‘cooper’ still being paid per cask, working on 20-30 per day like it always has been. The hardest workers can earn up to 60,000 pounds.
It’s a very, very busy working environment, there is no room for small talk or lazing about. ‘Cooper’s’ earn their crust from the moment they roll a cask to workspace, begin taking it apart, hammering the lid, metal hoops and inspecting the wooden staves, making any repairs and then putting it back together again. It's pretty much “perpetual motion”, a phrase used by Andrew Russell, the general manager of the cooperage.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Are these the missing links?
Blog Guy, I want to order one of those elaborate fantasy photos you set up for your readers. You know, the really strange stuff, like that hotel suite with chocolate furniture, and like Sylvester Stallone's bathroom, and...
What did you have in mind?
Brace yourself. Mine involves a gigantic electromagnet, Justin Bieber, Mount Rushmore, the...
from Oddly Enough Blog:
$2,250? You’re off your trolley!
Blog Guy, has your Thanksgiving Williams-Sonoma catalog arrived yet? I can't wait to see what expensive specialty gadgets we need to help us prepare the most traditional meal of all.
Indeed it did arrive, but I confess I stopped at the massive holiday cocktail section and got no further.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Bear number four, step up and growl…
Here's something you don't find every day. My Washington Post tells me a guy drove his car off a road and into a canal here in the nation's capital. The man, who was charged with driving under the influence, told police he had seen a bear.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mr. Johnson, we're gonna have to ask you some questions. It's just routine.
But Offisher, I'm cold and wet and I've had a few...
Now, Mr. Johnson, you say you saw a bear and then you drove into the canal. Can you describe it?
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Well, time to slap the old vodka bottle!
Blog Guy, I know you're an expert on other cultures, and I have a question.
I just heard an Eastern European expression, "slapping the old vodka bottle." Jeez, I'm really hoping that's not a euphemism for...
No, it's not. Relax. In some countries, they open a bottle of vodka by slapping the bottom until the cork comes out.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
What’s better than camping out drunk?
Congratulate me, Blog Guy! I'm going to Oktoberfest this year! It's a life-long dream come true!
Hey, that sounds nice. Where will you be staying?
I'm not totally sure, but I'm paying about $80 a night, so I'm guessing it will be very, very swanky. Maybe like a suite or something.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Honey, I’m on my way!
Blog Guy, you know that place in Siberia you say is the goofiest place on earth? I think you call it Wackytown, and you organize tours there.
Sure. Krasnoyarsk. There's no other place like it. You should come with us. What are you looking for?
from Oddly Enough Blog:
This gunman goes into a bar, see…
I'm not sure when our state lawmakers began competing to pass the most wacky weapons laws, but it's getting pretty hard to keep up with them.
To recap, in recent days we've seen both Utah and Arizona vote to create official state firearms. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Maine voted to legalize switchblade knives, but only for one-armed residents.
from The Great Debate:
Why does Warren Buffett hate oenophiles?
By David White
The opinions expressed are his own.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway recently purchased Tennessee's largest alcoholic beverage distributor. This move comes just months after Berkshire Hathaway also acquired liquor distributors in Georgia and North Carolina.
This is a bad sign for consumers. It's yet more proof that America's anachronistic system of alcohol distribution is here to stay. This system -- which exists only because of government regulations -- stifles consumer choice and keeps prices artificially high.
from Oddly Enough Blog:
Out on a limb with Lindsay Lohan?
Why me, Lord, why ME?
Okay, film production staff, as you know, we signed Lindsay Lohan to a huge three-movie deal and we're about to begin production. Then, yesterday, a judge ruled that she has to wear this big black butt-ugly alcohol monitoring device on her ankle, 24/7, to make sure she doesn't drink any booze. It NEVER comes off.
So Lamar, hand me those three scripts she's supposed to start shooting next week. I'm hoping this bracelet device won't interfere with the story-lines.
