You know, we’re both so incredibly busy that getting back to blogging just seems like a chore. Hardly a good time or reason to keep the thing going. We’ve decided to keep the site up though, for reference, for kicks, and so links from Google stay alive. And also to document a lot of the work we did for a few years over a crucial point in both of our careers.

Do stay in touch! Both of us are on Instagram and Twitter at @JakeSkakun & @KurtisKolt.

Thanks so much for reading, commenting and cheering us on over the years.

Best to all!

KK/JS

The brilliant and talented Frank Ocean releases a video for Pyramids. Amazing, as always (and NSFW.)

A third of my Holy Trinity of favourite contemporary authors (rounded out by Lethem and Eggers,) the mighty Michael Chabon has not only just released Telegraph Avenue, arguably the most anticipated book of the year, but he’ll be making a ridiculously-rare Vancouver appearance on September 26th (tickets here.)

Winning the Pulitzer for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay in 2001, narrowly beating his pal Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, the guy can make a simple sentence into its own mini-novel and rocks out rich, layered stories that often read cinematically.

Wonder Boys, based on his novel of the same name, translated quite well to the screen:

In fact, with both his cinematic writing skill (The Yiddish Policemen’s Union is becoming, oh-so-appropriately, a Coen Brothers film,) and his fondness for superheroes — he’d been tapped to pen Spider-Man 2, only to have his role reduced (although Eggers’ McSweeney’s did publish his complete version in pdf form, a small nugget of which is still online.)

I am SO STOKED to see him later this month! He’ll have plenty to talk about.

Oh, and incidentally, it’s pronounced “SHAY-bon.” I spent many years callin’ the guy Michael “sha-BONE!”

Probably a fair assumption that there’s a little inspiration from the wildly successful Old Spice campaign (“I’m on a horse,”) Paso Robles Wine Country releases one of the most punchy, effective wine marketing videos I’ve seen!

Well done!

(via BM)

Tired of repeatedly buying the same bottle of wine because you’re intimidated by the vast selection on liquor store shelves? Know someone who laments their minimal wine knowledge, looking to step it up?

This November I’m teaching two introductory four-week wine courses via the AMS Mini-School at UBC, and it’s just $85 (or $65 for UBC students!) for the whole she-bang!

Available Monday or Thursday nights, you can get more information at the UBC AMS website right here. Come on out and get your swirl on!

A fantastic piece just published by the New York Times features two of the most notable brilliant minds of our generation; Zadie Smith (whose new novel NW just came out)  goes for dinner with Jay-Z, writing about the experience and his career.

Cool stuff!

Tired of your room-mate/spouse/friends/drunken-self getting into your the stuff? Franmara comes to the rescue with their new Wine Bottle Lock! For just $14.49 you can enjoy the peace of mind that only the combination-holder will be able to pop that cork! (via HuffPo)

(Just in case there’s any confusion, I’m not seriously endorsing this. I think it’s stupid.)

Always a classic. I was born in a very funky year.

On September 17th, we’ll see the forth studio album from Brooklyn indie rock band Grizzly Bear. I’ve been listening to the single ‘Yet Again’ on repeat and can’t get it out of my head. It’s a more upbeat of a sound than I’m used to from these guys and I’m excited to hear the rest of the album. They’re also hitting the road in September with dates in both Vancouver and Toronto. Convenient for whichever city you’ll be in…

A heads up for anyone looking for professional wine storage at a great price. Pull those dusty boxes from your much too warm and slightly too dry bedroom closet and give those bottles a fighting chance to age. I’ve just handed over some of my wine and I don’t think there’s a better price in town.

Rob Van Westen tending his Naramata Cabernet Franc

This website began in 2008 as Jake & I were taking the Intro to Winemaking course through UC Davis and were looking to get a little hands-on winery experience. Our friends Tammi & Rob of Van Westen Vineyards were very hospitable in having us to their home and winery, Rob showing us every step of the winemaking progress along the way. Some photos of our antics are here.

Rob and Tammi are wonderful folks who are also cherry farmers, which ended up being quite the rough go this year.

The story of what has happened to them over the last few weeks is pretty tragic and important to me, so I shared it in this week’s Westender:

After his annual hiring of over a dozen farmhands to aid in the cherry harvest this year, the unexpected happened. A glut of American cherries flooded our market, resulting in the pendulum of supply and demand swinging the other way. Prices plummeted and the local co-op was unable to fairly compensate farmers for their fruit, leaving Rob and many colleagues in a tough spot.

The price they began to receive from the co-op wouldn’t even cover their labour, never mind other costs. The harvesting of this fruit had already put them in debt, being paid a mere five per cent of what they’d spent in labour alone for one week’s harvest. With tears and hugs from Rob and his wife Tammi, the workers (many hired annually, almost extended family) had to be laid off, with acres of trees still full of fruit.

You can read my whole column here…

While I do feel bad for the poor guy just trying to get back to his seat, I love this spontaneous choreography to Kanye’s Runaway by his dancers that was posted on Stereogum last week.