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MOODUNNIT?
PUTTING
SACRED COWS OUT TO PASTURE
Always
trust your research. Only hire someone who has done the job before.
The customer is always right. These are just three of the countless
catchphrases that business people rely on to justify their decision
making. Problem is, these so-called "Sacred Cows"—rules,
standards and formulas perceived to be unassailably true—are
often blindly followed, if for no other reason than "that's the
way it's always been done." 
CORK
SCREWED?
THE
SATISFYING POP OF A CORK IS GIVING WAY TO THE CRINK-CRANK OF A METAL
TOP
From
the tasting rooms of Napa Valley to five-star restaurants—in
fact, wherever wine is quaffed—the satisfying pop of a cork
is giving way to the unglamorous crink-crank of a screw top. That's
upsetting not just to tradition-minded oenophiles, but to environmentalists
as well. Vintners have been sealing their bottles with corks since
at least the 16th century. But corks often have a critical flaw:
they sometimes give the wine a musty, moldy smell and taste. "It's
like wet cardboard," says George M. Taber, author of the recently
released 'To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science and
the Battle for the Wine Bottle' (Simon & Schuster). Depending
on which studies you believe, anywhere from three to 15 percent
of all bottles with cork sealers turn up tainted.
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EDITOR'S
COLUMN
Brace
yourselves, Democrats. The American populace appears poised to elect
another Republican—Arizona Sen. John McCain—as our next
president, this in spite of the public's strong dissatisfaction
with the direction of the country. Of course, if Americans
want to go with John McCain as president, that's their prerogative.
But one can make the argument that the American people will be getting
a McCain that is much different than the one they are bargaining
for.
BOOK
REVIEWS
ON THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
THE GREATEST GAME: THE YANKEES, THE RED SOX, AND THE PLAYOFF OF
'78, by Richard Bradley, Free Press
For
baseball fans in New York and Boston, Bucky Dent's three-run home
run in the seventh inning of the 1978 playoff between the Yankees
and Red Sox is a flashbulb memory. It's the defining moment in what
is arguably the most memorable game in baseball history, when "the
last guy on the ball club you'd expect to hit a home run … hit one
into the screen," said Yankee announcer Bill White.
INSTANT
HISTORY
THE DECLINE
OF POLAROID
It
appears instant film is set to go the way of the VCR and cassette
player—another casualty of the digital revolution. The last
wheeze of instant photography came earlier this month, by way of
an announcement from Polaroid that the company is shutting down
production of almost all of its film manufacturing lines. The decision
to cease production is "due to dramatic technological changes in
the photographic industry," announced the company, "which will see
the organization transitioning from its analog instant film business
into new and innovative digital instant photography technologies."
Hello, and welcome to the 21st century.
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