Wine of the Year: Saxum, James Berry Paso Robles 2007

I believe it is the first time since I know it-- though it might well be first time ever--that Wine Spectator's top 10 is dominated by New World wines. The winner is Saxum, James Berry Vineyard Paso Robles 2007, "[a]n amazing wine, dense, rich and layered, offering a mix of power and finesse, with concentrated dark berry fruit, mineral, sage, herb and cedar notes that are pure, intense, focused and persistent. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Drink now through 2018" . So we shall!

All in all, there are 5 Californian and 2 Australian wines in top 10, while the old wine powers  (Italy, Portugal, France) have representatives relegated only to places 8-10. I have not tried to date any of WS's 2010 top 10 choices, but this set is so intriguing that I am gonna start getting hold of these wines right now. Remarkable as well is the fact that the French wine selected, a Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is-- you will hardly believe-- a white, from 2009 (which costs precisely 100 bucks a bottle). That is what I call success of this brand: recall that the 2007 wine of the year was a Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape '05; moreover one of my favourite wines ever (arguably, influenced by the ambiance and entourage in the place where I have tried it last) was an egoist  Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape '06. All reds: high time we tried their top white, indeed.

Finally, two more brief notes: a) in the full top 100 for 2010, there is a splendid Hungarian wine, which I have tasted a couple of times-- and I am glad the WS editors have eventually discovered it-- a Royal Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos red label from 2006, on position 28-- if you're passing through Budapest, do not leave without it;  b) one of the only two wines in top 100 to obtain the absolute 100 tasting points (the overall ranking is established on more than pure taste assessment-- what I do not particularly like, but well...) is the Dow Vintage Port 2007 (14/100). Now, people who know me well will be able to confirm that I am the biggest fan of Dow's 1994 vintage, hence if the '07 is acclaimed by WS as "[t]he greatest Dow ever made", I look forward for a touch of the sublime, no less.

Albert Einstein Bizottság: Szerelem

I don't think it has occured to any of you that simulated maximum likelihood OX programs, which often take days to converge (given I do not--yet!-- have the parallel computing power I would love to possess...), run much faster if in the meantime one listens to Albert Einstein Committee's brilliant music. Without any doubt, this is the best ever Hungarian band (where I 200% agree with the master of all good Hungarian music, wisest Daniel); and-- as conjecture-- probably the best Eastern-Central European band of the 80's (this should be as clear as-- to switch areas for a second-- the best movie of the same time, same region, being the Polish film "Seksmisja"; unfortunately no time to go in that direction today). Had they sung also in English, they could have been as popular as, dare I say, the Beatles (ok, I said it), two decades earlier; in any case, a band with a similar fate (extremely popular among domestic intelligentsia, but without too much exposure outside, mainly because of the language barrier) , about the same period, but in Western Europe, is for instance the Dutch band Doe Maar. In Romania, the closest to A.E. Bizottság is probably Timpuri Noi (though their top work came out in mid/late 90's).

A subset of my favourite A.E. Bizottság pieces: "Szerelem" (perfect; if you make an effort to understand the lyrics, you will fully agree); "Kamikaze"; "Már megint ez a depresszió "; "Konyhagyeplő" ; "Putty Putty"; "Egy lány kéne nékem" (oh well, I see this one comes with a striptease session in the youtube clip; depending on your tastes/orientation that might be a plus or a minus :-)); finally (update) listen to/see this if you want the total fun part. You will enjoy all of it!

PS. Check out some other excellent/interesting Hungarian music I mentioned earlier on this blog: here, here, here, here, or here. Blame YouTube if clips are not available any longer (though, tip: you can still find them, if you search carefully, under different links).

The hard road to Transylvania

4 hours inside a KLM/Malev plane that just wouldn't take off at Schiphol (after 2 extra hours of waiting for the-- eventually, wrong-- plane to arrive); a (involuntary, for a change) night spent in beautiful but frozen Budapest (helped by the fact that my friend Balint was very inspired for the dinner suggestion; even the house white wine was very decent!-- though nothing like my favourite Hungarian white); quality time the next day (inter alia, absolutely great mushroom soup and venison with juniper berries, for lunch!) spent with my good old friend, master of all things Budapest, Daniel, while waiting for the uncertainty concerning trains towards Cluj to be resolved; and partly resolved it was after endless hours, although they forgot to provide a 1st class (they were considerate enough to give me a full 2nd class compartment instead, all the >8 hours long trip...enough time to go through quite a few Econometrica articles, tons of coffee, and a number of jazz and classical music albums...); but, finally, Transylvania it is, for the last couple of days: great feeling to be home. All nice and well, for the rest; among other things, my Xmas present arrived just in time, with compliments from the EU Commission.

Oh, and not to forget: You Baffle Me... (by the one and only female equivalent of Yann Tiersen out there, Shannon Wright; e.g. Shannon can also do this, or this, or this, or this.., and much much more, check out for instance all her wonderful Let in the Light album; plus, naturally, she had to collaborate on a fantastic album with Tiersen : for instance, this and this are simply perfect).

Klausenburg, anno 1865

WHEN you leave Szamos Ujvár, the road passes straight over a plain, with little or nothing to relieve the monotony. A Hungarian village or two, a nobleman's mansion with the surrounding farm-buildings,-that is all, until the tall spire and the various towers of Klausenburg rise before you. The town takes you by surprise, entering it from the north; the main street is broad, with many stately buildings in it, and the square with the Catholic church in the centre, seems to belong to a larger town than Klausenburg really is. Though it has but 25,000 inhabitants, which is less than the population of Kronstadt, its general appearance makes it seem the more considerable town of the two. The capital of the Barzenland is neat and compact, the houses are none of them high; and owing to its position among the hills, which gives it such enviable beauty, there is no possibility of broad streets and an open square in the centre of the town, as is the case in Klausenburg. Here there is plenty of room and to spare, and it would seem as if the Saxon founders-liking spacious dwellings, and needing them probably for their families and servants--had determined to make use of it.

All the old buildings are essentially German in their architecture and arrangements. The ironwork before the windows, the balconies, railings, the spouts for the water running from the gutters of the roof,-each bears its own unmistakable impress; the hand and skill of the German handicraftsman is everywhere to be recognized. Those first settlers were evidently well to do in the world,-comfortable citizens, who, if they did not care for luxury, valued at its full a good substantial dwelling, giving evidence that its possessor was also a man of substance.

The above is a fragment from Chapter XXVII of Charles Boner's "Transylvania. Its Products and Its People", published in London, in 1865. The whole book is available online, part of a very welcome research project at DXARTS/CARTAH, University of Washington-- which collects, inter alia, a bunch of other, old(er), books/translations about Romania et al, in digital format.

Budapest redux, with a Cserszegi Fűszeres flavour

My whereabouts: returning to Aarhus after a couple of days in wonderful Budapest, where, inter alia, I had a poster presentation in an interesting 'Wages, Firms and LEED data' workshop, at CEU. The highlight this time was a well organized wine tasting evening at the Szabadság Kávéház (certainly worth a visit if you are around); pity that Ady Endre had to watch but couldn't join in... With this occasion, I have discovered that I just adore the Cserszegi Fűszeres varietal when it comes to white Hungarian wines.

PS. The Danube cruise & dinner went on for somewhat too long this time, relative to a similar event about a year ago : however, I wouldn't mind at all having that every year :-). And wrapping up such an evening with further drinks in Instant should be the rule (thanks to Daniel for the tip!).

Tánc a hóban

Aside (several) superlative classical and jazz concerts I have recently attended in Amsterdam and London (might come back with an overview later on), this one masterpiece by the Hungarian band Ghymes (official, wiki) is something I am literally obsessed with, lately. In particular, it is one of those pieces that would/should! be an instantaneous international success (at least among the connoisseurs), should someone manage a suitable English translation of the lyrics-- which is, tragically, almost always impossible. If you look for a perfect folk-urban fusion (my attempt to a catch-all term, though this folk-urban fusion is highly different than this one, with Eastern Europe as a whole pioneering/developing/enriching the genre nonetheless :-)), look no further. YouTube comes to help again: you can listen to the (full) version of "Tánc a hóban" from the very interesting/highly recommended "Rege" album, and I've also found part of it performed live by Szarka Tamás and the rest of the band. If you're interested, the lyrics of the song, plus some Italian (great!) and English (very approximative...) mot-à-mot translations, can be found here. The last two verses, in absolute harmony with the instrumental background, are nothing less than briliant. Enough reason to learn some Hungarian? :-).

[...]
Jobbra lassan, balra lassan,
Ritmus halkan, ring a hajban,
Újra kavarog a -
Végre csikorog a -
Mégis mosolyog a -
Napra hunyorog a -


Tánc a ködben, tánc a jégen,
Tánc a hóban, tánc a fagyban,
Tánc a ködben, tánc a jégen,
Tánc a hóban, tánc a fagyban,
Tánc a ködben, tánc a jégen,
Tánc a hóban, tánc a fagyban.
Tánc.

Gone southeastwards

...though only as far as Budapest, which I am enjoying (as always; I love this city!) since yesterday evening. Among other things, I'll be presenting two papers (one is here, the other one available only as abstract for now on this page or in this conference handbook) at the Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data (CAED) conference, cruise the Danube, drink top Tokaji wines and admire the beautiful Hungarian women around :-). This also means that I would be less active with blogging these days, but I'll catch up later.

Today's musical piece: "Varjú", by Másfél

The musical (re)treat for today is "Varjú" ("Crow") by one of my favourite funk & acid jazz & psychedelic rock & drum n bass bands, the Hungarian group Másfél (wiki in Hungarian, official site). This piece is from their 2003 album, "Ballast". See also a shorter version of the live performance clip from above, as a funny (& very well done!) cartoon videoclip. On their official site you can listen to (very few) other excellent Másfél pieces. YouTube also does not have, unfortunately, most of them-- e.g. entire albums are missing (see here their entire discography)--, but you can also find some pieces, particularly more recent ones, there. From those, I particularly recommend: Piezzo (album Ballast, 2003), Lengyel (En Garde!, 2005), Angyaltojás (Angyaltojás, 2000).

Credits go to my good old friend Daniel :-), for introducing me to Másfél (as, after all, to other excellent Hungarian bands, some of which I've praised before on this blog, e.g. here or here).

Song of the day: Quimby's "The Ballad of Jerry"

My good old friend Daniel is in the top league inasmuch musical tastes are concerned (meaning, he's got tastes similar to mine, of course, you shouldn't think further than that, excellence is already guaranteed :-))- and that goes particularly for (Hungarian) classical or "underground" genres (pretty much the same, ain't it? :-)), although he is doing a PhD in Harvard in another field than music :-). Inter alia, I got to first listen to 'Anima Sound System', live, at the Sziget 1999 festival, because of Daniel: and as I made it clear in an older post on this blog, I never regretted getting to know them. Quite recently (why only now?!- that makes me feel horribly ignorant...) he's recommended to me this excellent underground Hungarian band, Quimby, and I testify that, after listening to all their pieces I could find online, I find this band awesome! Here's the bit I found in English on their biography, informative enough for a start:

"Quimby is one of the most known underground music artists in Hungary. The group was born in 1991. In the beginning their music was mostly influenced by artists like Tom Waits. Later they made their own style, making their music more particular."

Check out Quimby's official website or another site with more information (unfortunately only in Hungarian, for now...). You can follow the link on their official website to a collection of representative videoclips, both from their early (Tom Waits- like) and from their most recent period (clips in .wmv format). Most these videoclips were also on YouTube at some point, but right now quite a few of them seem to have been removed due to copyright claims (the eternal and most annoying story about clips from YouTube!). Hence, I'll place links to the .vmv files in what follows, but you can also check out some of the clips from YouTube here - certainly it goes faster with playing them in YouTube rather than downloading them via the site first.

Despite the fact that Tom Waits's influence is omnipresent in their early work, I still like a lot some of those pieces, particularly several from the "Jerrycan Dance" album of 1995. I think that Quimby adds an original touch and several of those pieces are true masterpieces. One of my favourites and my choice as song of the day is "The Ballad of Jerry" (lyrics here), which has a superb melodic line (you won't find this clip at all on YouTube, unfortunately, so you do need to download the .vmv file if you want to listen to it); this song apparently used to be quite a hit among adolescents (and other 'underground' party lovers, of any age) in Hungary, back in the 90's. Other pieces that I consider excellent (and, btw, all of them have very good videoclips- at some point I should make the new top of videoclips, after the one I've posted a while ago), in chronological order of the albums, are: "Finale", "Party in my bones", both also from the 1995 album, as the song of the day; "Rések" (sensational instrumental part!), from the 1996 "Majom-tangó" album; "Hol volt hol nem volt", "Parafenomén", both from the 1997 "Diligramm" album; "Androidő", from the 1999 album "Ékszerelmére"; "Most múlik pontosan" (very interesting, both as song- with the reservation that I cannot fully follow the lyrics- and as videoclip; a 100% change from their previous work, I'd say, but a succesful change), "Autó egy szerpentinen" (also very interesting, a clear break with the earlier style, again excellent diversification, I'd say), both from their (most recent) 2005 album "Kilégzés". In any case I shall definitely try to get hold of all Quimby's albums. Enjoy!

Today's song: '68 by Anima Sound System

Anima Sound System (they have an excellent website, btw- you can also listen to many of their musical pieces there) is one of my favourite Hungarian bands (if not THE favourite). I saw them performing live in 1999, at the Sziget Festival (then it was called Pepsi Sziget...) in Budapest- Daniel, are you reading this :-) ? - and I tried to follow their musical development since then (see here a short info section on the band's evolution - inter alia, with complete discography - focusing on their latest album, from last year). I would say that their comparative advantage lies in the ability to combine Eastern European (with focus on Hungary) folk motives and modern electronic rhythms, but this band is also amazingly dynamic and adaptive to other styles, as you'll also see from the examples. I'll use again YouTube to select some great musical pieces performed by them (some are remixes of older songs that sound, however, much better in the Anima Sound System version!). The first selection is the song of the day for today, the excellent " '68" (with its original video). Another great piece and perhaps their most famous - even today- is "Mariguana Cha Cha Cha". Other songs from them that you should not miss are "Csango" (a perfect example for the combination Hungarian folk+electronic jazz) or "Legyen igy" (great music, great clip). Of course we should also look at one of their latest pieces. Revolution- from the succesful album released in June 2006, 'We Strike'!- is one that I consider extremely good- and one that comes also with a new style.

Analize economice a la "The Money Channel" & "RGN"

Postul urmator e chiar banal, dar nu ma pot abtine...

Realizez ca singurul motiv pentru care nu ma dezabonez deocamdata de la stirile zilnice ale Romanian Global News e pentru ca nu as mai avea acces la o sursa atat de sigura si constanta de umor. Daca nu il produc ei insisi, stiu exact unde sa-l gaseasca... Una dintre poantele recente ale redactorilor de la RGN este "Economia Romaniei, mai performanta ca cea a Ungariei", titlu care nu poate sa nu-ti sara in ochi imediat. Preluat ad literam de pe The Money Channel, care se anunta o alta echipa cu mult simt al umorului si doar economisti de top. Reproduc textul si mai jos in caz ca link-urile de mai sus nu ar mai fi functionale in timp:

Economia Romaniei a devenit mai performanta decat cea a Ungariei. Potrivit datelor furnizate de biroul european de statistica Eurostat, tara noastra a urcat o pozitie in topul tarilor europene realizat in functie de Produsul Intern Brut, ajungand pe locul 17, transmite The Money Channel. Cu un PIB de 97 de miliarde de euro, fata de 89 de miliarde cat au vecinii nostri, Romania se poate declara multumita. Unii analisti spun chiar ca tara noastra ar putea adopta moneda unica europeana inaintea Ungariei daca performantele economice bune se mentin si in urmatorii ani. Doar trei state din Uniune au reusit in 2006 sa promoveze in acest top, cu cate un loc fiecare: Polonia, de pe 10 pe 9, Romania, de pe 18 pe 17 si Letonia, de pe 25 pe 24.

Economistii nostri ajung la concluzia ca "economia Romaniei e mai performanta decat a Ungariei" comparand PIB-ul unei tari cu peste 22 de milioane de locuitori, cu PIB-ul unei tari cu mai putin de 10 milioane de locuitori, vecine atat din punct de vedere geografic cat si istoric, politic, economic (relativ la restul lumii)... Fara a intra in detalii tinand de alti indicatori economici fara de care nu poti vorbi de evaluare a "performantei" economice relative (rapid, doar doua exemple: Ungaria a eradicat complet saracia, conform definitiei saraciei pentru Europa de Est a Bancii Mondiale, Romania mai are probleme din acest punct de vedere- deci Ungaria e mai "performanta" momentan la capitolul asta- am mai scris putin despre asta si cu alta ocazie; pe de alta parte, Romania a avut o crestere economica impresionanta in ultimii cativa ani si inca accelereaza- e asteptat avand in vedere baza de la care a pornit- in timp ce Ungaria a decelerat si se pare ca incetineste in continuare, deci Romania e mai performanta momentan din acest punct de vedere), daca vrem sa comparam totusi economiile in baza PIB-ului, ne intereseaza PIB-ul pe cap de locuitor (vezi mai jos) ca termen de comparatie si nu PIB-ul ca valoare absoluta. Desigur, se poate face un "top" ilustrativ, bazat pe PIB-ul general, pentru a indica schimbari de pozitie etc., dar in nici un caz nu e vorba de a folosi acest top pentru inferenta directa privind "performanta" unei economii fata de alta economie, ignorand orice alte caracteristici ale economiilor din context. De fapt articolul Eurostat-ului , de unde The Money Channel "traduce" stirea ( a propos de stirile preluate si prezentate in mass-media romaneasca- exemplu elocvent) vorbeste intr-adevar de "batalia PIB-urilor", nu de performanta relativa a economiilor- si partea relevanta pentru Romania este alta: pentru prima data PIB-ul unei tari cu populatie dubla comparat cu Ungaria, vecina cu Ungaria, reuseste sa intre in 'normalitate', adica sa fie, conform asteptarilor, mai mare decat cel al Ungariei. Articolul original prezinta (desigur) si PIB-urile per capita (ajustate conform paritatii puterii de cumparare). Nu ar trebui sa fie foarte greu de dedus sensul inegalitatii: 8800 euro PIB/cap de locuitor - noi, 15600 euro PIB/cap de locuitor - ei. Putine motive sa ma declar deja "multumit", cum ma indeamna amicii de la The Money Channel...LOL.

Magyarorszag: The Song, The Style, The Women...

This entry is supposed to somewhat complement my previous post on Diskoteka Boom and Romanian 'comparative advantages' in such products, bringing up fundamental differences in marketing and branding strategies in Romania and respectively, Hungary.

To have more a clear idea of what I am talking about, compare this Romanian very popular (well marketed...) clip (could not find a full version of Diskoteka Boom, except some 'freaky fun' of 25 secs, freaky indeed) with this Hungarian one (increasingly popular as well) (thanks to Tihi- very unfortunately, my Hungarian has not yet evolved enough for me to understand Tihi's own opinion about the clips there- but that is second to my goal here). I'll tell you in advance my opinion of 'Magyarorszag' and I'll let you guess what I think about 'Iubirea mea suprema' (btw, who the f... is this Carmen Serban- neither voice, nor compensatory qualities) one : I think our Hungarian friends have style and talent: the melody and setup are superb (forget for a moment the political intro in the clip above, I do not think the essence is - or should be- about that or any other political issue)- and the lyrics (see an English translation- both versions found by Dan) are good as well, particularly considering the title of the song and what could have been its content (yep, Hungarians do as well have their extreme types (political characters in particular), just as we do, I am not so sure though who has more...) and just imagining what a similar idea in Romania would turn into (and I really but really want somebody to prove me wrong here). And on a very personal note (perhaps not so personal, as some of my readers can testify :-)), they do have some of the most beautiful women in the world, certainly the highest population average in terms of female beauty, for all I can tell (I confess I didn't necessarily need this videoclip to get a confirmation of an opinion I hold for a very long time now). Anyway, do all the comparisons and then come back and talk to me about 'de gustibus' if you feel like it.

More: the artist who sings the original version of the song (see here a 'live' version, here a videoclip), Olah Ibolya , has an amazing voice that more than compensates for her English (mis)pronunciation (I also thought this duet was great).

Maybe my Romanian people will understand that marketing Adrian 'the Wunderkind' and Carmen Serban is a loss in the long run (I think it is a loss at any moment, btw), as the market will prove. So it's time to think about something else. I suggest you try- in this context- with (only mass, leave the 'elitist' for now, since Dan might get angry) products such as Vama Veche or Paula Selling (Phoenix worked pretty well until recently, at least in the Eastern European space, at least among the ones slighly knowledgeable). And if you want somewhat more (or better: another alternative), you might want to listen to the Balanescu Quartet or Ada Milea- or better, package them together (and don't throw me that elitist critique again, I do not think there was anything at all about elitism throughout this whole post...). Goes without saying, this is de gustibus, but certainly I am the one person most open to suggestions. It's not so difficult to do much better than 'Diskoteka Boom' or 'Iubirea mea suprema', we've got plenty of talent. The point is to use it!


P.S.1. Anybody who knows of any Hungarian 'music' genre that would drive me nuts such as the Romanian 'neomanele' do? I am very curious. I am mostly aware of music that I find close to amazing, such as, for instance, that of Anima Sound System.

P.S.2. I have a time allocation explanation à la Gary Becker for the fact that the 'manele' are so popular relative to other genres, despite that they sound... like they sound. But about that, with another occasion.