Topic 1: Art and Culture

Adrian: I loved going to the art museum as a kid. It was so exciting to see beautiful pictures by famous artists. But I remember when I walked into the modern art wing of the museum and saw a row of Campbell’s Soup cans for the first time. It was utterly shocking. This couldn’t be art! It can’t be! I have been a Warhol fan ever since. I can’t think of anything that has changed my perception of art as completely as that. You were passionate about Jackson Pollock like I was about Warhol. What is the lasting impact that your studies of Pollock have had on you?

Jason: I think the ‘all-over composition’ is the lasting lesson learned from studying Pollock. But that’s just technique. Nuts and bolts. There’s no ‘why’ in there.

A large misunderstanding about reality has made it so that I sincerely insist that real art is not something that should be made or chosen to match a couch. Why does that statement get anywhere near my lips?

Its a problem with what I see as fine art’s arrogance. I think its revisionist history. I think the long list of well known artists are obviously the artists that were commercial-savvy or there was somebody that found their work and saw the commercial potential. They were working artists that got paid to make things that others liked to look at. And the names that we celebrate from the past are those that were the most successful. No art expert would debate that but somehow they overlook what that says about what art is.

Maybe I sincerely believe that ‘real art’ shouldn’t be chosen because it matches a couch, but the reality is that that attitude is self-important and false. The reality is that artists should recognize the truth behind the nostalgia for art history: ARTISTS ARE MAKING ART TO ADORN HOME WALLS, SIT ON TABLES, MATCH COUCHES AND SIT NEXT TO BUSHES IN GARDENS. Art doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Seeing a painting on a large white wall in an art museum is no different than seeing a tiger in a cage at a zoo. Only an idiot would think that that is its natural habitat. That the zoo is its destiny. And yet that’s what ‘fine art’ teaches people. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to put my beautiful painting next to an ugly couch.

Adrian: I never thought of it that way, but I like that analogy. But doesn’t it bother you to think of a Pollock hanging on a wall across the room from a screen that plays Dr. Phil all day? And given the choice between the two, Dr. Phil will get more eyeball time. I am not sure the home is the natural habitat for art, either.

Jason: No, it wouldn’t bother me to see a Pollock in a living room. I don’t think art should be treated like a sacred artifact. In this Dr. Phil-living-room case, the Pollock would be a decoration for the wall. A great decoration for that wall. Boy, I wish I had a Pollock to hang in my living room! My walls are bare right now because I don’t have any hand-made art to hang and I simply won’t hang some cheap mass-produced image there. Mass-produced furniture? Okay, well, I can’t afford/don’t have the time to make anything better. Mass-produced art? It’s not for me. Unless it’s a screen print. Or a lighograph. Wait, why isn’t mass-produced art good enough for my walls again? Well, however the art is produced (even, gasp, offset printing), if the image has been seen a million times or is not very good I have no interest in hanging it on my wall. There. Now it sounds like I know what I’m doing…

It’s no wonder contemporary ‘fine art’ is irrelevant in our culture. Graphic design/interior design/industrial design/architecture will be the most important artistic artifacts of society. Those are the things people pay for in our society.

Adrian: Society also pays for things like American Idol and liposuction. I sure hope that’s not what the history books are talking about when they write about our times. I completely agree, however, that our culture is shaped by the artists. Whether it is advertising, fashion, movies, music, architecture, the artists are the one’s that push the culture forward.

I just had a scary thought. I am almost certain that if Andy Warhol were still alive he would most likely be a judge on American Idol. Then he could actually hand out fame to people in almost exact 15 minute increments. And Jackson Pollock would make great reality television. What has this world come to?

Jason: In the words of the immortal Tupac Shakur: It’s strictly business, baby. Strictly business.

And I don’t find that offensive in relationship to all of art history as we know it. The fact that this is nothing new does leave a bad taste in my ideological mouth though. I do so want everybody in the world to get along and spend their time doing meaningful things.

This conversation will most likely continue on Adrian’s website. I’ll provide a link when that happens.

Topic 2: Talent in the Workplace

Adrian: My first job out of college was working at a Costco. At the time I desperately wanted to be a designer, and I hated that job. The funny thing is that sometimes I daydream about the days working in a warehouse. I worked with a guy named Paul who was as creative and interesting as anyone I have met in the design world. I remember you used to have a mentality that you could be as happy working as a janitor (actually I can’t remember the exact occupation you used, but you get the idea) as you would be as an artist. Do you still feel that way, and what (if any) is the relationship between a person’s creativity and their occupation?

Jason: Actually, my current job is at least 50% non-design. Some of what I do could be called ‘designing workflows’. EXAMPLE: We have a task to complete every issue, how do we do it efficiently and have documentation so that we can prove when and how it was done?

Other things that I do are copy editing (a necessary skill for any good designer), project management, production, write documentation, office technical support, web coding (HTML,CSS,Javascript,Server-Side Stuff) and video editing.

Anyway, I’m not sure I’d be happy as a janitor necessarily, but I could do a variety of jobs and BE HAPPY as long as it involved some sort of problem solving on a regular basis. Graphic design and studio art work are definitely things that I approach as problems/puzzles.

The more I get to know about my own capabilities the more apparent it is that my artistic abilities are secondary abilities. These secondary abilities are birthed from a more primary skill: compulsive problem solving or a compulsive necessity to make something that is incomplete complete or improved, better.

Adrian: It isn’t that hard to add some visual polish to a crappy concept. If that is the “art” part of being a designer I am not at all interested. People that think that is what I do don’t realize how insulting that is. The fun part (and the real value) of a designer is that they can improve the end product. If you want frosting, hire a baker. If you want me to help make your project successful, let’s talk about design.

Jason: I guess that could be a description of ‘artistic abilities’, but I find myself quite delighted in doing many things that are not at all ‘artistic’.

What really bothers me is the measure of importance of what I do. I’m not a snob, but it seems to me that I’ve been given a lot of capabilities that the majority of people don’t seem to have. I can be egotistic about it, but I really shouldn’t. The older I get, the more humble I am about my talents. The talents are not something I created. They are things that I’ve been given, gifts. Sometimes it bothers me that I’m not doing something more important with these gifts.

Adrian: I will confess to being a little snobbish in that regard. For example, I am amazed how often I write a quick “fake” headline for a web comp and those words end up on the finished website. I can’t believe someone who has known about a company for 20 minutes can burp up a better headline than the president of that company. But copywriting isn’t really one of my gifts. Design might be. And it is in the moments when I do produce something truly good for an irrelevant product or company that I ask myself, “am I wasting my talent?” Should I be working on things that are more important?

Jason: What ‘more important’ means is elusive though. It could mean better paying, something that makes you famous or something that helps people. I definitely lean towards helping people. A weekly magazine about country music stars doesn’t seem very important, but I think there’s a micro and a macro option here. In what I think follows a Lutheran approach to life I’ve focused on the micro. What can I do to help the people in my immediate vicinity?

Adrian: I think it’s interesting to think of that as a Lutheran characteristic. The work I do isn’t world-changing and the chances of fame knocking on my door based on the design I do for a local business is really slim. But if I work hard and have a positive impact on the people I work with makes the work feel a little more important. Is that what you mean by “micro?”

Jason: Well, it’s possible that calling that ‘Lutheran’ is a ridiculous. I have a tendency to be ridiculous and wrong.

Yes, that’s what I mean by ‘micro’. I like to think that a lot of ‘micro’ effort is the only way to produce ‘macro’ results. Maybe it’s a matter of improving the morale of your workplace. Maybe it’s a simple matter of providing assistance to those that need it.

But back to the main topic: it’s problem solving that’s important for having job satisfaction. At least for me. And problem solving in a design-y environment involves a lot more than putting polish on a crappy idea. I’m in agreement with you there. I don’t know if it’s insulting, but thinking that designers merely ‘make things pretty’ is certainly a misguided concept about what designers do. Okay, maybe that misguided concept IS insulting.

Primary Fermentation

I’m using the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast that came with the Sauv. Blanc kit. Primary Fermentation Mixed all ingredients according to recipe on Gooseberry can and let sit overnight. Rather than using a damp cloth I am just covering the bucket with the lid and airlock but not snapping it tight. (My concern is that my cats will jump on top of the bucket and ruin the whole thing!) Added yeast the next morning. Leaving the primary fermenter upstairs this time to meet the 70 – 80°F instructions. Also, every morning I am gently stirring the must. The recipe on the G-berry can says to be careful not to disturb the settlement at the bottom. Doesn’t make any sense, if you ask me.

Secondary Fermentation

Pulled the fruit out of the wine and racked the wine into a carboy for secondary fermentation. Ended up pulling over a little more of the lees than I wanted to, but not too concerned. There wasn’t as much lees as I normally see with the red wines anyway.

Primary Fermentation

Wine base + Yeast (Lalvin K1-V1116) + Sugar were $49.84. Primary Fermentation Mixed all ingredients according to recipe on Gooseberry can and let sit overnight. Added yeast the next morning. Leaving the primary fermenter upstairs this time to meet the 70 – 80°F instructions. Also, every morning I am gently stirring the top portion of the must. Note that I wasn’t informed about needing a straining sack for the fruit-stuff, so the fruit is freely distributed in the must. I don’t think this will affect the wine, but it will be a pain to remove the fruit-stuff when the time comes.

Secondary Fermentation

I was mostly successful at straining the fruit skins & stuff from the wine using my new straining bag and a slotted spoon. During racking I watched the siphon hose, and particles didn’t really start flowing through the hose until the last half gallon. The wine in the carboy doesn’t seem too messy. Might have to clear the remaining cruft from the top of the carboy slowly over the next few days.  Fermentation appears to have started back up and lees has already begun to form toward the bottom of the carboy. . . spoke with Juanita’s dad and he recommend I poor it back into the primary fermenter through the filter bag to get the wine clean sooner rather than later. I did this by way of a colander suspended at the brim of the bucket with the straining bag draped over it. This worked very well. Then racked the wine back into the clean carboy. Not seeing as much initial fermentation activity, but will check in a few hours. Hopefully the additional filtering didn’t disrupt the fermentation process completely… Nope. Within a few hours fermentation was bubbling away. 2010-01-30: Still bubbling away, occasionally building up a half-inch of bubbles on the surface. 2010-02-06: Still bubbling away, though with a little less aggression. 2010-02-06: Still bubbling away, though with a little less aggression. 2010-02-13: There is STILL a very light bit of fermentation going on. Something unexpected happened yesterday: the wine, though still fermenting, has started to clear! Throughout the process the wine/must has been a cloudy, faint yellow. Now the cloudiness is diminishing throughout and even more so toward the bottom. 2010-02-25: STILL fermenting, though it continues to be of a lower and lower amount. Seems like wine continues to be clearing a little more. This weekend it will have been 5 weeks of secondary fermentation! 2010-03-06: Still a light bit of fermentation going on. I added some potassium sorbate in attempt to stop the fermentation and hopefully begin some serious clearing.

Clearing

So, I guess my Secondary Fermentation and my Primary Clearing kind of melded into one simultaneous event. There has been a large amount of lees at the bottom for several weeks now, but at the same time it has also continued to ferment very lightly. This morning it seemed to be a bit clearer but still cloudy and still lightly fermenting.

Two nights ago I used my wine thief to take a sample and it really tasted quite good. I wonder if all white wines will be as drinkable with little or no aging? It didn’t have any of the off-tastes like the young red wines I have made. It was just a slight bit cloudy. Not quite presentable yet.

For the sake of experimentation, I have changed my plans of using this entire batch for my white-port. I now plan to sweeten the whole batch just a little to taste and then bottle two bottles of straight gooseberry wine. Once those are bottled I will then mix in the brandy according to my port recipe. The only side effect of this should be a slightly higher alcohol content in the port.

Anyway, since it was looking pretty clear today I figured it was about time to rack the wine off of the initial lees. Since I have only one 3-gallon carboy (and a borrowed one at that) I first racked the wine into my primary fermenter. Then I washed and sanitized the carboy and racked the wine back into the carboy and topped-up with filtered water. I am curious to see if any additional fermentation will occur.

Primary Fermentation

Not much to report.

Secondary Fermentation

Not much to report. Smells great so far.

Clearing

The wine, while stirring, produced a lot of foam. Very foamy. Topped-up with Leese Fitch Cabernet Sauvignon.

Secondary Clearing

Added some Campden tablets after racking into a clean carboy. Lots of foam was produced after the tablet powder was poured into the wine. Topped up with my own Shiraz from 2009.

Tertiary Clearing

Ryan’s not quite done with the label (some final tweaks) and I figured an extra week or two of clearing could only do it some good. I racked the wine again. It will probably make the bottling experience a bit more simple with very little or no lees on the bottom of the carboy. I guess that same characteristic might also mean that it will yield an additional bottle due to topping it up (with other wines) each time I pull it off of the lees.

Needless to say, my character chart now includes decimal and hexadecimal/Unicode references for the characters in the Polish alphabet.

HTML CHARACTER CODES

INGREDIENTS

• 96 oz     Gooseberry fruit wine base product (1 can)
• 2.6 gal   Warm Water (3.5 cans)
• 7 lbs     White Table Sugar
• 1 tsp     Acid Blend
• 1 tsp     Yeast Nutrient
• 1 tsp     Pectic Enzyme
• 3         Campden Tablets (crushed) [Sodium Bisulfite]

• 1 pkg     Wine Yeast (Lalvin K1-V1116)

• 6 tsp     Bisulfite Solution
• 1.5 tsp   Potassium Sorbate
• 5 lbs     White Table Sugar
• 1.75L     Brandy 40% ABV/80 proof (e.g. Paul Masson V.S.O.P. Brandy)

NOTES:

BISULFITE SOLUTION: Dissolve 5 teaspoons of sodium bisulphite in 1 cup (8 ounces) of water to make bisulphite solution. For Campden Tablets see label for instructions.

BRANDY: Any kind of brandy can be used according to your preference. If you use a brandy of a different ABV than above the final percentage of alcohol will need to be recalculated.

INSTRUCTIONS

Preparation

1. Sanitize all equipment and utensils with bisulphite solution (rinse-less sanitizer/bisulfite solution).
2. Put straining bag in primary fermenter, add fruit and tie off bag.
3. Add first set of ingredients (those preceding Wine Yeast) into the primary fermenter. Stir solution well to make sure sugar is dissolved. Specific Gravity of this solution should be between 1.085 and 1.095 at 65 – 70°F, which will yield 12% alcohol.
4. Cover with a damp cloth or fine mesh fabric and let sit over night to allow Sodium Bisulfite (SO2) to be released.

Fermentation and Clearing

1. In the morning sprinkle yeast on top of must. Air temperature should be between 70-80°F. Cover with primary fermenter lid and airlock.
2. Next day, gently stir must. Repeat daily until specific gravity lowers to 1.040 (4 or 5 days).
3. When gravity reads 1.040, remove bag of fruit. Press and strain juice from pulp and discard pulp. Rack must into secondary vessel, top up with water to minimize air space. Attach airlock.
4. Rack wine again (3 to 4 weeks) when gravity reads 1.010 to 1.000. Add 1 tsp. bisulphite solution per gallon of must to preserve wine for extended storage.

Finish and Bottling

1. After wine is clear (1 to 3 months) rack wine back into sanitized primary fermenter.
2. Add Potassium Sorbate to stabilize (prevent renewed fermentation) and stir well.
3. Add Brandy and stir well.
4. Sweeten to taste with additional Sugar.
5. Bottle. Age at least 6 months to one year before drinking.

Actually Using This Recipe

1. Gooseberry Port 2010- –

Primary Fermentation

Primary Fermentation setup was the usual. Fermentation took a full two days to really get started. I’m sure this is due to the low temperatures currently present in the basement. At 52°F the fluid was much colder than I had realized, but fermentation seems to be happening so I’m curious how this will affect the resulting wine.

Secondary Fermentation

There were a lot of bubbles arriving at the surface throughout the secondary fermentation. A solid ring of bubbles along the glass and toward the end bubble clusters appeared in the center of the must as well.

Clearing

Nothing too unusual. I topped-up with Mirrasou Cabernet Sauvignon and added some crushed Campden tablets for preservation. Plan to store this one for at least 6 months, maybe longer.

Secondary Clearing

Wine looks quite clear, but much more dense than the two cheaper kits. Taste is also more complex even now. Transferred to new carboy successfully, topped up with my 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bottling

Wine is very clear but very dense and dark in color. Much darker than the previous two red wine kits. The taste had the usual ‘yeasty’ flavor of what I know to be young wines, but there seems to be more depth or structure present. I’m hoping to find that aging will produce a wine much more similar to a commercial dry red. The cheaper kits certainly didn’t accomplish that, though they were still drinkable. Produced 32 bottles.

Primary Fermentation

Primary fermentation was executed with bucket lid and air lock this time. 2009-11-04: Check SG, It has been cool weather with chilly nights since beginning the fermentation.

Secondary Fermentation

Not much to report.

Clearing

SG was two points higher than the instructions, but it hadn’t changed in three days. I think some plastic shavings came off of the handle and into the wine during the stirring process. Not concerned that it will affect taste, but hope the shavings will float to the top and be easy to skim out of the wine before bottling.

Secondary Clearing

A little bit early, but with the very cool basement and a firm quantity of lees at the bottom (again, about 1.25”) I went ahead and racked for the second clearing/bulk aging. Collected some of the near-lees wine into a pitcher to clear off most of lees by chilling. Will add cleared wine back to carboy and top-up carboy with filtered water later today. Wine seems to have a lot of character with a heavy fruit smell.

Bottling

.25” of lees on the bottom of the carboy. Followed same procedure as last time. Didn’t text specific gravity. Wine appeared to be very clear.

Primary Fermentation

Primary fermentation was executed with bucket only covered loosely by the lid and thin cloth. This may prove to be problematic for the end product. The specific gravity measurements show that within eight days all of the sugar had been converted to alcohol. According to the instructions the SG should have been just above 1.0 at the start of secondary fermentation. They also suggest that the clearing should happen with SG at 0.0995. So after the first seven days this batch is 10 days ahead of schedule. After speaking with Juanita’s dad about it there is some concern about the wine being over-oxidized.

Clearing

Didn’t check the SG, but simple instructions of aggressive stirring appeared to work fine. Shortly after the stirring and the addition of Potassium Sorbate, Potassium Metabisulfate and Chitosan the solids were certainly on their way to settling out.

Secondary Clearing

After 14 days of clearing per the instructions the carboy had about 1.25” of lees on the bottom. I was prepared for bottling, but the taste test had a ‘yeasty’ flavor. After some discussion with Tim I purchased a second carboy and racked the wine into it, leaving off all of the lees that I could see. Wine now appears to be very near completely clear. I plan on leaving it to clear another 14 days.

3 days after racking into second carboy there is more settled lees visible (.25” at least). I am optimistic that this additional lees settling is a sign that the taste of the wine is still improving.

Bottling

14 days after racking into second carboy. No tests. Tastes fine. Technically it’s been bulk aged for 2 weeks at this point. 6 gallon carboy yields 30 + 1.5 bottles. Placed plastic wrap over bottle tops after they were cleaned. This plastic also worked well to cover the wine-filled bottles, allowing for corking all bottles after filling was done.

Tasting 2009-11-27

The wine is very clear with a nice dark red color and no sediment. I’m quite happy with those attributes because I think they suggest that my methods are good. The wine seems to have quite a high amount of alcohol which can probably be attributed to the additional sugar Tim and I added at primary fermentation. Seems a bit strong. Probably won’t add sugar to future kits. The bouquet seems to still have a bit of the ‘yeasty’ smell, but it’s very faint. The flavor so far is light (thin) but pleasant and does not include the ‘yeasty’ characteristic. The flavor is so light that I can’t say it is distinctly Cabernet Sauvignon. Juanita found the wine pleasant enough to drink but not particularly memorable.

Tasting 2009-12-14

Flavor seems to be more pronounced. With a bit of decanting it tastes pretty good. I’m thinking spending a bit more on the juice kit would yield better flavor.

Tasting 2010-02-05

It’s actually tasting quite good at this point, but it’s still too thin and lacking in after taste to truly resemble a commercial cabernet. Still a bit of the ‘yeasty’ smell, though it’s quite faint. Some friends remarked a few weeks ago of it tasting ‘acid’. Not too familiar with that description, but am curious if bottle was stored properly on its side. Perhaps the wine had become ‘corked’? Or my wine tasting skills are just not that sophisticated.