The Devil's Cellar

I cannot extol enough, the virtues of the fine red that is Casillero Del Diablo - Pinot Noir.

I have a bottle with me in the studio right now and am in danger of drinking the lot if my beloved Jasmin doesn't collar me for a due share. She's a one-woman frenzy of activity as I write, preparing for the South West Jumble on Sunday. The flat is her workshop and I'm consigned to the computer table where I can do no harm nor obstruct. This suits me just fine. This wine is absolutely gorgeous. The review on Oddbins has the following tasting notes: : Aromas of strawberries and toasty oak precede a medium-bodied palate with good structure and lengthy finish. http://www.oddbins.com/products/productDetail.asp?productcode=75208

Which is fair enough. I don't have the nose nor the buds to taste any strawberries in it, but I can taste the oakiness a mile away. naturally once the idea of strawberries is suggested, I can taste them more and more with every sip. Typical wine buffs, they're all hypnotists I tell you!

Uber Junkies

With Eminem's 'Not afraid' doing it's thing in the charts right now, it got me to thinking about uber junkies again. Mega stars with prescription addictions are nothing new; Elvis and Judy Garland come to mind and I suppose laudanum-heads like Byron and Shelly are earlier examples still. So why is it, after all these scandals and overdoses, the likes of Eminem and Michael Jackson have so recently fallen into the Rx pit, when they should have and could have known better?

I understand the need for painkillers for performers and athletes, because the show must go on. I assume that the doctors near these stars must issue the necessary drugs to their customers to get the job done, otherwise some other, less scrupulous medic would take thier place and garner the kudos and fees they command.

So is that how the slippery slope starts? A pill here or a shot there, gets the job done. Then a course of pills to take on tour for that ongoing ache. Then a whole slew of different drugs for different ailments real or imagined?

Take Heath Ledger for example, no less than 6 different drugs in his system at the time of death. Diazepam AND Tamazepam among them. No wonder some thought that was suicide, that's just a mental drop!

I can understand maybe celebs getting on the Rx carousel to avoid the scandal of getting nicked for traditional illegal highs. The Doherty method is not for everyone. But seriously, Rx highs have to pale in comparison to a good spliff or a nice uncontaminated E or two.

That's what gets me; all that money and they get addicted to pharmaceutical company products, bah, it's just not rock'n'roll is it?