re: Who is really cheering the sale of Erath?

Like I said....not necessarily a positive impression...you were most memorable.

ALT-K is for overdose in potassium?

Well obviously not Ian, with his well known gallicisms ;-))))))

Er, yes, I did the translation, I was rewarded "en liquide", if you know what I mean... ;-)

- Mike Tommasi - Six Fours, France email link

"Mike Tommasi" (in all modesty wrote) ....

Oh yes, we get your drift !!!

Great job, Mike !

Now you're getting bitter. Too much potassium does that to people. :)

David

Tsk tsk, another person who can't handle the truth?

If you have proof to the contrary of what Dick is saying, then by all means, please share it with the group. We're waiting. If that comment this lands me in your "kill-file" as well, it's fine by me.

Since use of language has become paramount to any exchanges with you, I thought I might try to bring you up to speed on 21st century Webspeak. "Kill-file" is so 20th Century. Most users today prefer the term "blacklisting", a more inclusive reference to the use of auto-filtering and prebuilt lists, and which can be employed at both the client end, or preconfigured/uploaded to the server hosting the domain's mailserver.

In any case, all that blacklisting accomplishes is to exclude you from another person's conversations, not the other way round. Don't you see

-- the person you're blacklisting will still see your posts to the group, especially if they use Google Groups to read the threads. Besides, that person probably doesn't care to take part in your exchanges anyway, since you obviously don't care to in theirs.

Ultimately, blacklisting is merely a way for you to hide from discussions in this group. We'll still be here, talking about the things you're talking about. You'll just not necessarily have the means to say anything in response.

David

David, that's not bad however. That means I can talk about him, behind his back...by his choice :-)

I would imagine his third grade school teacher probably said in a progress report to his parents something like this. "Ian is a very smart little boy. Far advanced vs. many others. But Ian has a tendency to have to demonstrate he is vastly superior to others in his play group. When he does not get his way, he simply takes his ball, and goes home so others cannot play either. He does not play well with others." (This is a parody for those not understanding such)

Not much appears to have changed.

If I recall you have spent a lot if time in France, and perhaps your wife's family is French. So when they start their talking foreign around you, you likely can stand your own anyway...but they don't know that. :-)

Keep up the good post...maybe Ian will come back with his ball and play again at a later date. I never asked him to take it and go home. :-)

Salut/Hi Emery Davis,

le/on Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:13:41 +0200, tu disais/you said:-

A question that I've quite often asked myself. Actually, I think this is partly because of France's late entry into the www. For years they had Minitel, and it was hard for them to realise and accept that it wasn't going to sweep the world. So although more and more people here now have broadband (Pres Chirac has said that he wants 100% broadband availability by the end of 2006 - or 2007, it's somewhat obscure), I don't think the country _as a whole_ has yet woken up to the possibilities. I also think that many small businessmen are reluctant to make the commitment of time needed to read emails daily.

I also think that the there are a load of cowboys out there making bad web sites for a lot of money, and that many small businessmen have been ripped off, which makes others reluctant to risk it. Actually, if you look at most large companies French websites as compared with their American or British homologues, you'll find they're often remarkable poor in information. I sometimes wonder what they think they're there for.

As to what could be done, I genuinely don't know. Maybe if more people were to phone winemakers, asking for their website addresses, and feigning astonishment when they don't have them (and comparing them unfavourably to most other countries) that might get them to budge(t).

I certainly didn't mean to imply it was a bad thing... just find it humorous whenever someone threatens to block, killfile, or the like... I say go ahead, as that person is likely disrupting my thread anyway... :)

Unless you work to make it change.

Speaking of change, there are lot of new wineries here actively trying to break down the cultural barriers and snobbishness traditionally associated with wine. So far they're doing a great job. It just takes a lot of work. Same goes for newsgroups... you simply have to get enough new people interested in it to see any lasting changes. Otherwise, it can sink back into a "good old boys club" that turns off so many potential posters.

Scanning some of the posts here about pushing French wineries to get their own Web sites, it all seems a bit... ignorant... to me, as if these people don't really understand the business decisions behind wineries when it comes to (improperly) promoting their business. Much of the time, it simply boils down to the fact that some wineries are poor marketers, and are much better at growing grapes than selling them. It is a problem found throughout the global wine industry, and was blindingly apparent to us years ago, and is in part why we built our site to begin with.

However, it apprently is a fresh topic to some people on this newsgroup, which makes me question whether this is really a "newsgroup" at all, and not simply an "oldsgroup"... to change things, this list needs more fresh blood. After all, if wineries can do it, so can newgroups.

Yes, I can stand my own in French, especially after the third glass of Syrah. Admittedly a bit rusty behind the keyboard. Wife and I are both West Coasters, lived and studied in Europe... got engaged in Paris... now have business partners throughout the EU... travel there often, visit good French friends who own a lettuce farm in Almeria, Spain, etc etc... if doing all that still makes me an ignorant Yank, so be it. I for one welcome that kind of ignorance every day. :)

David

p.s. Keep up the humorous posts. I'm still waiting to hear more about your WA trip (and not just about how the wineries shuddered when you mentioned Ian!)

David Anderson" wrote ..........

My thread is it Mr. Anderson - MY THREAD !

Arrogance - thy name is Anderson !

If that is the case, why are you making such a big deal about an insignificant outfit like Erath being taken over anyhow?

Um David, wineries are buildings; viticulturalists grow grapes - so that winemakers can make wine.

Wineries do not grow grapes - unless you have some really clever and mobile wineries in Oregon.

And isn't the global wine industry so grateful that you did!

Perhaps you could list your credentials that you can analyse the global wine industry with such authority.

So far YOUR thread has run to 80 odd posts (with you making nearly alf!!! - I suppose because it is YOUR thread!!!!!)

And I have seen nothing whatsoever which indicates that your interest and or experience gives any indication that you are a global authority.

So much for your lovely kill-file. Guess that was just another idle threat too, eh?

David

Suddenly I find myself missing Scarpitti...

Mike, that is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.