Now might be the time to take a quick look back at some of your New Year’s resolutions. Remember any of them? You should either have check marks along most, or at least be about 50% complete. Or maybe you can’t find the list, or don’t believe in resolutions anyways.

Either way, we’re pretty much done with the first half of 2009, and onto the back 26 weeks.

In the middle of this heat wave here in the valley, I begin to appreciate little things again, like water. And more water. And a beer or two – except we ran out, and need to do another Trader Joe’s run.

I didn’t help that I forgot sunscreen yesterday on our visit with Karl Wente and the Wente estates. It didn’t take long to develop a nice red layer of pop to my skin. Olive this is not. One of my favorite moments from yesterday, and there are so many, was hanging out on Karl’s front porch enjoying a bottle of Wente Riesling, overlooking the vineyards, Karl strumming his guitar. A laid back, Livermore moment I will never forget. We’ve got over 8GB of video. The most I think we’ve shot on one location. The servers are crunching the information, and Chris is helping out with some processing. So stay tuned for some more fun, behind the scenes, winery adventures courtesy of Wente.

Next week we’ll be in Sonoma at Kaz Winery in Kenwood. It will be a meet-up full of food, wine and Loreto Bay neighbors. Later in the month we’ll be back again to Sonoma for three days at the Wine Blogger’s Conference.

Don’t forget you can follow us on Twitter: @lonikaostark, @clintonstark.

Inspired Living

• Bionic knee: My story by Jane Lurie

Bhutan Adventures: A special series by Carl Orthlieb

• Bhutan 2009: San Francisco -> Hong Kong -> Bangkok

Film, Stage, The Arts

• Is Loni’s next car La Katrina?
• Does Tom Sizemore need to audition? Interview conclusion with film director Jeffrey Goodman
• Bay Area theater summer news and updates

All Things Wine

• The Grapevine, Willow Glen: Aromas of tobacco, grapefruit… and cat pee?
• Internet wine TV: The golden age of basement oenophiles, fast talkers and future stars?
• An update from Destination Riesling on Germany’s star grape
• 2005 Tin Roof Cellars Merlot, California North Coast (89 pts, $7.49)

Vegetable Gardening

• Paul B’s vegetable planter box for refreshing cucumber salads
• Container gardening inspirations from Murrieta’s Well Winery

Gadgets and Tech

• Gateway enters netbook market with first 11.6-inch display

Heat Wave Supplies

• Alfa Dutch beer: Refreshments for a sunny San Jose day

Loreto, Baja, Mexico

• San Jose to Loreto, BCS: Hot on the trails of a FedEx package
• Loreto Live TV: Sampling desserts at La Mision along the Malecon
• Loreto Live TV: Fresh Sushi at Makia in Loreto, Baja California Sur
• A special message for Loreto Bay home owners by Dia Morales
• Mexico begins marketing efforts to restore $13B tourism industry

News and Editorial

• Michael Jackson, the early guy was the one I remember

Clinton Stark

Clint writes about new media, arts, wine, indie film, and tech (including his trusty Droid). An aging ice hockey player, he tries in vain to direct Loni in SSC videos. He's held executive marketing roles at tech companies including Cisco, EMC and Salesforce.com. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, he now lives in Silicon Valley. More »

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