Two bottles, Four Roses

To celebrate its 120th anniversary, Four Roses distillery released two limited-edition bourbons this year, both bottled at barrel strength. The most recent, Mariage (right), wowed us this past November at Whiskyfest, so we got hold of a bottle to investigate further. (It's a good life.) We also grabbed the earlier 120th Anniversary Single Barrel, a complex 12-year-old that simply roars—it's the sort of whiskey you'd imagine a gunslinger sucking back before a duel. In other words, it's man whiskey—bourbon that should come with a leather recliner and a Faulkner novel. On the third sip, the fire cools to a cozy ember (though of course by the third sip you're drunk, son). The understated Mariage, by contrast, is a soft, caramel blend of two barrels (a 13-year and a 10-year). The stuff is well north of 100-proof, but—next to its single-barrel sibling—seems rather domesticated, not unlike its namesake. Still, there's time for both in any guy's life. And with only approximately 3,000 bottles of each of these well-crafted whiskies in circulation, that time is now.
About $80 for both the Mariage amd the 120th Anniversary Single Barrel, fourroses.us

Film review: 'I Can't Think Straight' a sexy romance

I Can't Think Straight – a sexy romance with a dash of political bite.

Two gorgeous women from different religious and ethnic backgrounds find each other in this sensitive and beautiful film. I think the cinematography, set design, and music are excellent, and the evolving relationship is quite believable. Be aware there are discreet woman-to-woman love scenes which are all handled deftly and with great tact.

The double-meaning of this foreign film’s title came to me a little late. I’m acquainted with several same-sex women (and men) who are married to each other or living in long-term relationships. However, the focus of this movie is somewhat unusual for general audiences.

There are also added political themes about Middle Eastern ethnic and religious divisions. These positions are expressed usually through the musings of an older female character. As an active senior woman, who accepts her own two children who practice different religions from me, I do feel somewhat chagrined. This is stereotyping -- because older women do not necessarily fit into these circumscribed cubbyholes. Even the juxtapositioning of world problems within a very personal romantic film is a bit jarring, but ultimately, I accept it. The movie trailer and other information are here: http://www.icantthinkstraight-themovie.com

I Can't Think Straight opens on Friday, December 12, 2008 at Portland’s Hollywood Theater, and is scheduled to play through Thursday, December 23rd. The theater is located at 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard, Portland, Oregon -- Telephone 503-281-4215‎.

I’m giving this movie a “B” on Ellen’s Entertainment Report Card. The movie has received an MPAA rating of PG-13.

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Movie Synopsis:

Tala, a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian origin, prepares for an elaborate wedding with her Jordanian fiancé, when she encounters a timid Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend Ali.

Tala comes from a spirited Christian family, but Leyla’s strong Muslim upbringing could not be more different from each other but the attraction is immediate between both girls. Tala’s feisty nature provokes Leyla out of her shell and soon both women reveal their feelings for each other.

However, Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made and escapes back to Jordan where her chain-smoking, high-brow mother finishes preparations for her ostentatious wedding. As family members descend and the wedding day approaches, simmering family tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself and she breaks off the wedding.

Meanwhile a heartbroken Leyla relishes her newly found sense of identity and self-respect and moves on with her new life – much to the shock of her parents.

Single again, Tala flies back to London – but it will take more than just a date set up by Ali and Leyla’s sister Zina to win Leyla back.

The international cast headed by Canadian actress Lisa Ray (Deepa Mehta’s Water – which garnered a Best Foreign Picture Academy Award® nomination in 2007). Her performance in Water also earned her the Best Actress Award from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.

Other cast includes: Sheetal Sheth (Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World), comedic actress Nina Wadia (Bend it Like Beckham, Eastenders, Goodness Gracious Me) and Antonia Frering and Rez Kempton (The Mystic Masseur).

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Ellen Kimball is a TV and radio pioneer. She was selected as a co-host of a local, live children's television show at WTVJ-TV, now the NBC affiliate Ch. 4 in Miami, Florida, during her freshman year in college. She has been working in broadcasting for more than five decades. Ellen is one of the first women in the U.S. to host her own daily radio call-in talk shows at AM stations in both Miami and Boston. She and her husband moved to Beaverton, Oregon in 1998. Ellen currently contributes her reviews on films, theater and other entertainment to KGW.com, the website of Ch. 8, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon.

Devices at Vancouver schools not bombs, police say

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Police have determined that two "suspicious devices" reported at schools in Vancouver were not explosives.

Schools were to be taken out of lockdown status Tuesday afternoon, according to officials.

Bomb squads were called out to Vancouver’s Evergreen High School and two other nearby schools put on lockdown after a threat and suspicious devices were found Tuesday.

Police teams said they neutralized a suspicious backpack with a water explosion in the bus parking area just after noon.

That was after an employee found a threatening note in a bathroom at Evergreen, according to Kim Kapp from Vancouver Police. Two other suspicious devices were found in and around the school and bomb squads were checking those out.

Students from Evergreen High School, Legacy High School and Cascade Middle were put on lockdown. Evergreen was evacuated and busses were called in to take the students from the two other school home throughout the afternoon.

Parents were asked not to come to the schools because of the police activity.

Evergreen has about 1,800 students, Legacy 200 and Cascade 900.

On the side of an Oregon road, a lonely postman

Associated Press

SCOTTSBURG, Ore. (AP) -- The Scottsburg post office can be a lonely place. Even -- perhaps, especially -- during the holidays.

While some post offices are bursting with people and parcels, the office here, about the size of a moderately priced Winnebago, is decidedly not bursting with anything of the like.

Damien Valdez, the officer in charge, seems fairly unfazed. The place is decorated. The radio is set to Christmas music.

"Oh, it's a great job," Valdez said. "I just wish there were more people to talk to."

A temporary assignment put Valdez, a resident of Hauser, in charge of the Scottsburg office more than two years ago. "It's been two years and, with the way things move in the Postal Service and because I've been getting a lot of compliments on my work here, there is no end in sight," Valdez said.

Not that he's complaining. But, like he said, a little more company now and again wouldn't hurt.

"I'm on a main highway here and it seems that people on their way to Roseburg or Eugene could stop by on the way and do all their mailing and stamp buying," Valdez said. "I have no lines. It's an easy-in, easy-out location. We have a community bulletin board, a magazine exchange program and I even have dog treats."

The perks have snagged him at least one customer.

Loon Lake resident Jean Casey has a P.O. box in Reedsport, but she likes to stop at Scottsburg. "It's just nicer, friendlier and Damien does all my business ... This is my post office."

Valdez, who has been a postal worker for more than 30 years, said his time up the Umpqua River on state Highway 38 hasn't been a total loss.

"I've gotten to know everyone in town. They all come by to get their mail from their P.O. boxes and I usually know when and what they want," he said.

But the doom-and-gloom economy has edged its way into the office like it has most everywhere else. Post office boxes have been opening up and fewer people are sending packages.

"They used to be stacked so I couldn't move back here," he said. "Now, I may get one or two a day."

Valdez said he has a Santa box, in case he receives any letters from children, but that too is empty.

So what's a guy to do? Some car watching. Some required service reading. Some stamp ordering.

As a sort of joke for the locals, he parks his car as close to the building as humanly possible.

"I started parking closer and closer," he said. "Now, every once in a while, we measure to see how close I can get without taking off a mirror. It gives us something to talk about."

Foto: Corbis

TAHUN baru tinggal dua pekan. Saatnya pria lajang membuat resolusi di tahun 2009. Apa saja?

Menurut psikolog dari Universitas Tarumanegara Jakarta, Henny E Wirawan, semua orang berkesempatan membuat resolusi baru di tahun 2009. Tidak hanya soal karier, tetapi juga menyangkut kebiasaan hidup, ataupun hubungan dengan orang lain.

"Pria lajang pun bisa melakukan resolusi baru yang memberikan manfaat baik untuk masa depannya. Artinya, ada sebuah peningkatan dibandingkan dengan tahun sebelumnya," sebutnya.

Menurut Henny, resolusi pria lajang yang menempati urutan pertama adalah karier. Biasanya, para pria lajang akan berusaha mengejar prestasi, meningkatkan produktivitas, atau menambah penghasilan.

"Menambah penghasilan di sini maksudnya mencari pekerjaan sampingan yang bisa memberikan nilai tambah pada penghasilannya. Biasanya, langkah ini pria lakukan untuk mengejar sebuah impian di tahun mendatang, seperti membeli rumah, mobil, atau ingin menikah dengan pasangan," jelas psikolog murah senyum ini.

Resolusi selanjutnya yang tidak kalah penting dilakukan seorang pria adalah mengubah atau memperbaiki kebiasaan buruk selama ini. Henny mencontohkan, pria bertubuh gemuk biasanya ingin tampil lebih proporsional dengan melakukan fitnes di pusat kebugaran. Atau mereka menghentikan kebiasaan merokok dan mengonsumsi minuman keras.

"Perubahan kebiasaan di sini tidak semata ingin mengejar penampilan yang lebih menarik, tetapi juga karena faktor kesehatan tubuh. Pria yang tampil menarik tentu saja bisa menarik perhatian dari lawan jenisnya," katanya.

Untuk resolusi terakhir, Henny pun menyebut hubungan dengan orang lain. Singkatnya, pria lajang berusaha mendapatkan pasangan baru.

"Tahun baru, kekasih baru. Itulah resolusi pria lajang di tahun 2009," pungkasnya.