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UKIPO Researches Impact of Social Media Influencers on Counterfeit Goods in the United Kingdom
The UKIPO's latest report examines the effects that social media influencers have on the purchase of counterfeit goods in the UK, aimed at gathering the necessary data to combat this issue
Social media influencers have come under scrutiny from the UKIPO in its recent review of the impact of complicit influencers on the consumption of counterfeit goods. The report is the latest in a series of reports commissioned by the UKIPO aimed at gathering evidence relating to counterfeit goods with the ultimate aim of facilitating behavioural changes in UK consumers.
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has recently published the results of its research into the impact of complicit social media influencers on the consumption of counterfeit goods. Overall, the report found that social media endorsements prompted 10% of participants to purchase counterfeit goods and, at least amongst younger female adults, played a key role in constructing rationalisations that neutralise "residual concerns about personal risks, broader societal harms and perceptions of deviance" surrounding their purchase.
The report concludes with overarching recommendations for reform, predominantly focusing on educating the purchasing public (and particularly the younger purchasing public) and discouraging these practices across the various platforms, recognising that social media influencers may themselves be the best vessel for promoting these messages, using the trust gained by their followers to inform them of these risks and discourage counterfeit purchases.
The UKIPO's Study
The research involved an anonymous online survey of 1,000 participants based in the UK. It used the following definition of 'counterfeit' in order to guide the respondents:
"Counterfeits are items that look identical to a genuine product with or without the official branding/logo, but are not made by the brand and may be of lower quality, for example, a handbag of identical design to a "Chanel" with or without the Chanel logo."
The survey targeted female participants aged 16 to 60 who used social media at least once a week. The report's focus on a younger, female audience sought to maximise the efficiency of the pilot study; existing empirical data suggested that social media influencer marketing is both "highly gendered" and dominated by female influencers and consumers and, more generally, that younger respondents were more likely to purchase counterfeit goods.
The survey asked the participants whether they had purchased counterfeit goods as a result of influencer endorsements at any time in the previous year. Of those surveyed, 17% had knowingly purchased a counterfeit product, although only 3% of these had set out 'proactively seeking' to purchase counterfeit items. Overall, 10% of the participants had been prompted by social media endorsements to buy counterfeit goods and, in the majority of cases, had been aware that the products were counterfeit. Most of these counterfeits related to products in the fashion, accessories, jewellery and beauty product categories.
In line with previous studies in relation to counterfeit goods, younger participants (i.e. those in the 16 to 33 age group) were found to be almost four times more likely to knowingly purchase counterfeits than their 34 to 60 age group counterparts. Overall, 13% of the respondents reported that they had purchased counterfeits either deliberately or by mistake following social media influencer endorsements.
The Four Factors
The report identifies four factors that increase the likelihood of counterfeit purchasing:
being more susceptible to the influence of trusted others;
being less likely to perceive the risks associated with buying counterfeits;
having a higher risk appetite; and
being more likely to construct rationalisations that justify the purchasing behaviour.
The survey found that influencers are five times more successful in marketing to 16-33 year olds than those in the 34-60 age group category. This success led "to a heavily skewed demand profile whereby 17% of knowing counterfeit buyers are young, habitual buyers who generate nearly half the demand for counterfeits (47%)". It also found that there was a higher acceptability by younger respondents towards the purchase of counterfeit goods, with approximately half of those believing it was acceptable to do so where products (particularly those considered 'luxury') were 'overpriced'. The findings indicated that this perception was compounded by the acceptance of counterfeit use by trusted social media influencers who played a key role in constructing rationalisations that neutralised the behaviour.
Overall, younger consumers appeared to be less concerned with the health and safety risks associated with counterfeit purchases or saw the promotion of a product by a social media influencer as an endorsement of its safety (noted as being one of the 'key concerns' behind this issue). There also appeared to be a general lack of awareness of the 'knock-on' effects that these practices were having, with 26% of the younger survey participants not recognising the economic threat (in terms of business damage and potential loss of jobs) associated with the purchase of counterfeit goods.
The report concludes that, when combined, the four factors "area noxious mix that increases the likelihood of deviant purchasing" and recommends adopting policies aimed at educating younger consumers on the risks associated with counterfeit purchases and wider societal harms associated with these practices. It notes that policies should attempt to take a holistic approach, with a focus on the four factors driving counterfeit purchases as well as the role that social media influencers play in promoting them. In particular, the report concludes that social media influencers themselves are particularly well positioned to assist in addressing these issues by educating their followers on the risks involved with purchasing counterfeit goods.
The report recommends engaging in further research in this area by expanding the reach of the study (for example, to also encompass male consumers). It also recommends further research be undertaken to identify the types of policies that would be most effective in dealing with these issues in order to prevent influencers (and their suppliers) from profiting from these illicit activities.
The report comes in the wake of growing concerns over the rise in the production and purchase of counterfeit goods. A rise in the provision and consumption of online content (due, in part, to the covid-19 pandemic) has seen a corresponding spike in infringing behaviour across websites, including social media channels. A recent joint report commissioned by the OECD and the EU Intellectual Property Office, 'Global Trade in Fakes - A Worrying Threat', estimates that global trade in counterfeit goods was worth over €412 billion in 2019 (over 2.5% of world trade).
The UKIPO's report adds useful empirical analysis to a growing body of research aimed at understanding the behaviours that drive the purchase of counterfeit goods. However, raising consumer awareness to reduce demand is just one of a number of strategies aimed at combatting this issue, and implementing policies and tactics that deter the criminals themselves and disrupt illegal supply chains (by way of civil and/or criminal enforcement action) are equally as important. Whilst the report does not touch upon the potential liability of influencers for their endorsement of counterfeit products, in respect of goods that infringe a registered trade mark, for example, such action could lead to criminal liability pursuant to section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, as well as potential civil liability. Holding public figures to account may be the deterrent that they and their follows ultimately need in order for the consequences of these illicit practices to really hit home.
This article was written by Emily Roberts and Chloe Perea Poole and a version first appeared in the IP Litigator in their March/April 2022 edition.
For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Chloe Perea Poole, or your usual IP team contact.
Subscribe to our Concept newsletter and receive the latest intellectual property legal updates, news and event invitations direct to your inbox.
Emily Roberts Partner
+44 (0) 117 902 2793 emily.roberts@burges-salmon.com
Intellectual Property and Media
Intellectual Property Portfolio Protection
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What are contemporary quilts? There has been a lot of discussion in the art quilt world about exactly this. It is generally accepted that these quilts usually are made to hang on the wall as opposed to being on the bed. Frank Zappa, a famous musician commissioned a quilt be made out of the garments that had been thrown on stage during his 1981 tour.
If you are looking for information regarding techniques to use when making your modern/arty quilt then visit Quilting Daily. Here you will find lots of resources to help you design and create your quilts. They have a free membership subscription.
* Access to their blogs, forums, videos, freebies, and more!
With the birth of Pinterest it has made viewing quilts of all styles more accessible across all countries. Quilters especially benefit from its use. I have come across quilting boards titled 'Contemporary'. On these boards you will find a vast range of quilt styles. True eye candy!


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https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160311-history-of-magic-in-north-america-jk-rowling-native-american-stereotypes.html
Photograph by Catherine Karnow, Nat Geo Image Collection
A Navajo spiritual guide meditates before a sweat lodge ceremony in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona.
Native Americans to J.K. Rowling: We're Not Magical
The author has come under fire for equating Navajo religious beliefs with the world of her fictional Harry Potter characters.
By Becky Little
In Peter Pan, Tiger Lilly and her tribe are part of the magical landscape of Neverland. In Twilight, some Quileute people are born with the ability to turn into wolves (just ask anyone on "Team Jacob"). Now, in J.K. Rowling's new digital story collection, History of Magic in North America, Navajo traditions are placed in the same fictional world as Harry Potter.
Rowling's new collection equates "skin walkers"—a Navajo term for people who turn into animals—with Animagi, the type of witches and wizards who morph into animals in her Harry Potter series. These details were first revealed when Rowling released a promotional trailer this week; the entire story collection is now available online.
Immediately, many scholars and fans responded with criticism, just as people did three years ago when Johnny Depp played Tonto in The Lone Ranger, and in past instances when white writers and actors have employed stereotypes of Native Americans in storytelling.
The first issue, says Leanne Howe, a Choctaw Nation citizen and co-editor of Seeing Red—Hollywood's Pixeled Skins, is that Rowling attributes the tradition of skin walkers to all Native Americans of the pre-Columbian era, as though they were a monolithic group with one set of beliefs.
The second problem is that Native American traditions are equated with magic. This is part of a long history of white Americans and Europeans trivializing native beliefs. (Rowling's publisher, Pottermore, told National Geographic that it has no comment on the controversy.)
"I would never, never use the term 'magic' in relation to native practices and belief," Howe says. Native people "simply cannot be respected and given respect in the 21st century" when their history and traditions are trivialized.
Fantasy is an important part of children's literature, but problems arise when a race of people is constantly portrayed as magical, and therefore fictional.
"We are … fighting everyday for the protection of our sacred sites from being destroyed," scholar Adrienne Keene writes on her blog Native Appropriations. "If Indigenous spirituality becomes conflated with fantasy 'magic'—how can we expect lawmakers and the public to be allies in the protection of these spaces?"
There is another, more subtle, layer to the depiction of Native Americans as magical, fictional beings—they end up being portrayed as though they don't exist. Howe refers to this as "the trope of the vanishing Indian."
"The vanishing American Indian is in art, it's in stories—we're the so-called Last of the Mohicans," she says. "We exist in the minds of mainstream America as dead and forgotten because the white Americans won the American West."
When native traditions are constantly depicted as relics, it gives the impression that those traditions—and the more than 5 million native people in the United States—don't exist anymore. Think of the Native American characters you've encountered in books and movies. How many of them were portrayed as characters from the past, and how many of them were depicted as people in the modern world? (Modern characters that are also magical don't count—I'm still looking at you, Twilight.)
On a more basic level, the stereotypes of the "vanishing Indian," the magical medicine man, or even the noble savage dehumanize the people they profess to represent. Children read books to learn, but also to identify with the characters. For native children, this presents a problem if most of the images they see of themselves are otherworldly, long gone, or sports mascots.
"These stereotypes hurt us in terms of our human rights," says Howe. "You cannot have civil rights, you can't really have human rights or be thought of in a significant way, if you are invisible and you're dead. So the trope of the vanishing American Indian is in a way undermining the humanity of native people because the assumption is we're dead, or there's just a few of us left."
Follow Becky Little on Twitter.
Watch Native Americans at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota gather for the Oglala Lakota Nation Pow Wow.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Children's beds come in all shapes and sizes, from bunk beds, beds with desks and storage included. At Beds4Less we offer a wide range of products, all at great value prices. Our children's beds are made with quality materials, so you can be assured your little one is sleeping safe and sound.


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Concerts not to miss in Paris summer 2018
21 May 2018 | #Concerts, Festivals, paris
Its summer, the season for terrace dining, cocktails, leisurely walks by the seine… and concerts! This is a good time to reserve your tickets for the upcoming musical events of your choice. There something for everyone: Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, Lenny Kravitz, Thom Yorke, Beyoncé…
Big pop stars, small intimate concerts, or festivals: don't worry about sourcing all the info or subscribing to all the newsletters, we have compiled a list of the best for you. Get out your calendars!
© Paris Tourist Office – Photographe : Amélie Dupont
Between Roland Garros and studying for finals for some of you, note down some of the key concerts :
May 12th: the Game of Thrones experience. You can re-discover the atmosphere of the series at Paris-Bercy, (renamed "Accord-Hôtel Arena")
From May 13th to 15th: Julien Doré at the Olympia
May 22nd: the group Secteur Ä will be at Paris Bercy
May 23rd through 27th: The Villette Sonique festival at the Villette
May 24th to June 4th, 2018: Jazz Festival at Saint-Germain-des-Prés
May 24th, 25th, and 26th: the duo Brigitte at the Olympia
May 27th: Patrick Fiori at the Olympia
May 29th and 30th: 2 dates to catch Katy Perry (Paris Bercy) and Arctic Monkeys (Zénith)
May 31st : Lorie at the Olympia
June 2nd: Bryan Ferry (Palais des Congrès)
June 2nd and 3rd: Festival "We love Green" at the Bois de Vincennes, with notably Orelsan et Björk!!
June 4th: Demi Lovato (Zénith)
June 4th through 17th: Joan Baez (Olympia)
June 5th and 6th: Calogero (Bercy)
June 8th and 9th: Vianney (Bercy)
June 10th: GOT7 at the Zénith,
June 12th: Thom Yorke (Olympia)
June 13th and 14th: Shakira at Bercy
June 16th: Lara Fabian at the Zénith – Lenny Kravitz at Bercy
June 19th: Angus and Julia Stone (Olympia)
June 21st: Its the Fête de la musique all around Paris, as well as in France at large! Take a look at the program…
June 21st and 22nd: Louane au Zénith
June 22nd, 23rd and 25th: Justin Timberlake at Bercy
June 22nd and 23rd: Julien Doré will be back at the Olympia
June 25th: Nine Inch Nails (Olympia)
June 26th: Scorpions at Bercy
June 29th: Oxmo Puccino (Olympia)
June 30th: Bruno Mars (Stade de France)
© Paris Tourist Office – Photographe : © Sarah Sergent
July 1st and 2nd: Melody Gardot (Olympia)
July 3rd and 4th: Jack White
July 5th: Iron Maiden (Bercy)
July 6th and 7th: Ed Sheeran (Stade de France)
July 7th: Carlos Santana (Bercy), Earth, Wind & Fire (Palais des Congrès)
July 10th: Jack Johnson
July 14th and 15th: Beyoncé (Stade de France)
August 24th: "Paris Summer Jam" at U Arena staring Kendrick Lamar, N.E.R.D et IAM
August 28th and 29th: Britney Spears (Bercy)
Summer ends in beauty with the passage of U2 à Bercy (the 8th, 9th, 12th and 13th of September).
And at the Olympia, its the canadien artist Feist who is on tour to promote his 4th album (Septembre 5th).


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USOC adds sexual orientation to non-discrimination policy ahead of Sochi 2014
By Nick Butler
October 11 - The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has revised its non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation in a move which has been interpreted as a reaction to Russian anti-gay laws which are casting a shadow over preparations for next year's Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
The new policy, in the "commitment to integrity" section of the USOC Charter now reads "the USOC expects you to conduct yourself in an ethical and legal manner as a representative of the USOC.
"This requires you to respect the rights of all individuals to fair treatment and equal opportunity, free from discrimination or harassment of any type, including, without limitation discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin or otherwise."
This follows legislation banning the "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" being introduced into the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in June which duly prompted a series of international protests, including some calls for a boycott of the Games.
However, when announcing the change at the USOC Assembly, chief executive Scott Blackmun insisted that the federation is not trying to influence Russian policy.
"The fact that we do not think it is our role to advocate for a change in the Russian law does not mean that we support the law, and we do not," he said.
Scott Blackmun pictured speaking at the last Winter Olymics in Vancouver in 2010 has insisted that the USOC rule change is not an attempt to put pressure on the Russians
Blackmun also revealed that the USOC is seeking clarity from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on what will and will not be regarded as violations of the rule against using the Olympic stage to make political protests or demonstrations.
"I think everybody has concerns over the uncertainty about where the line will be drawn and how to protect the athletes," he said.
"We strongly believe the athletes need to be free to be themselves.
"That doesn't necessarily need to include dialogue about changing the laws but it clearly includes allowing people to live the lifestyle they live here when they're there."
He described how USOC has given the athletes freedom to express themselves "however they see fit" in the lead-up to the Games.
To illustrate this he pointed to last week's comments from alpine skiing star Bode Miller, who said "I think it's absolutely embarrassing that there's countries and there's people who are that intolerant and that ignorant."
Five time Olympic medal winning alpine skiing star Bode Miller, pictured competing in Sochi in 2012, has been one athlete to be outspoken about the gay rights situation
The measure was passed a week after the USOC President Larry Probst, who was appointed a new member of the IOC last month, said he would support a similar change to the Olympic charter.
Currently the Charter does not mention sexual orientation as a form of discrimination.
"We thought it would be good to take a look at our own code of conduct," he said at the USOC Quarterly Board Meeting.
"It was the appropriate thing for us to do and it's important to us to walk the talk."
Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]
September 2013: Olympic skiing great Miller helps launch Gateway to Gold Paralympic programme
September 2013: Gay rights will not be a problem in Sochi, insists ice hockey star Ovechkin
September 2013: United States delegation pleased with Sochi 2014 preparations following final visit
September 2013: We have no laws directed against persons of non-traditional sexual orientation, insists Putin
August 2013: We won't tolerate gays being treated differently at Sochi 2014, says Obama
Nick Butler Senior Reporter
Follow @nickjmbutler
Since joining insidethegames.biz in 2013, Butler has travelled to a variety of major global sporting events, including the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as the most recent editions of the Asian, European and Pan American Games in Incheon, Baku and Toronto. He has also attended the last four International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sessions and has particularly enjoyed tackling the politics and diplomacy of the Olympic Movement.
Contact Nick
Read more of Nick's articles
Follow @nickjmbutler on Twitter
Tennis greats sorry for "protocol breach" after unveiling anti-Margaret Court banner at Australian Open


Welcome to the family! Depending on whether you are becoming an active duty family, National Guard or Reserve- the transition into a new culture can feel overwhelming!
The military culture is a different community within the American community and just like any other culture, has customs and family dynamics that you will need to assimilate into.
The biggest thing we want you to remember is that you are not alone! The military family as a whole is a tight knit community and there are many who want to mentor you through the process.
This page, can serve as a dashboard of resources that you can come back to or share at any time as you are getting to know this new family. We hope to give you all the tools you need to succeed and if there is anything we are missing you would like to see, please let us know!
The Chaplain spouse has a unique position and lifestyle that can be both exciting and challenging. Each spouse enters into a unique and sometimes completely unfamiliar Army culture and is expected automatically to know how to survive, thrive, and be supportive. This can be daunting but, at the same time,is an opportunity to grow and experience a time of adventure and discovery of the world and of oneself.
In From Reveille to Retreat, the Chaplain spouse authors offer you a glimpse into the world of the Chaplain spouse-- from walking onto post for the first time to retirement. Through their insightful and poignant sharing, they have brought a wealth of knowledge, information,stories, humor, and sage advice. The Chaplain spouse of the Chaplain Corps have shared their hearts with you.
Our nation has been at war for over a decade. This means many active duty military personnel have been in a constant cycle of training, deployments and reintegration. Unfortunately, the stresses and difficulties of being on the job aren't only affecting soldiers but also their spouses and family members. These prolonged and significant pressures are taking a devastating toll on many military marriages. As a relatively new active duty military spouse, Claire walks readers through many of the common trials of active duty life. From assignments, relocation, making friends and reinventing yourself at each new duty station, to the painful moments of the deployment and reintegration, Claire shares her personal struggles to make sense of what it means to be a supportive military spouse and do her part to keep her own heart and marriage mission ready.
Operation We Are Here (OWAH)- "It's Like the Military White & Yellow Pages"


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Atlanta Pride, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival, is a week-long annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) pride festival held in Atlanta, Georgia (United States). Established in 1971, it is one of the oldest and largest pride festivals in the United States. According to the Atlanta Pride Committee, as of 2017, attendance had continually grown to around 300,000. Originally a pride held in June, Atlanta Pride has been held in October every year since 2008, typically on a weekend closest to National Coming Out Day.

Background

The annual pride week began when a group of lesbian, gay men, drag queens, and gender non-conformists joined together. At the time police raids on gay bars were common because homosexual sex was illegal in all but one state in the United States.[3] On June 28, 1969, the police raided a popular gay bar called Stonewall Inn. Everyone was cooperative until the police began to force three drag queens and a lesbian into the back of a police car. The crowd of bystanders began to throw bottles at the police and fight back. This riot later became known as the Stonewall riot. The riot lasted for several days and began one of the first equal rights protests for the LGBT community.[4] That riot was the beginning of the LGBT rights movements and the opportunity and gateway for Atlanta Pride.

In 1970, a year after the Stonewall riots, Atlanta activists handed out literature at an arts festival in Piedmont Park. During the city's first Pride protest march in 1971, activists were not granted a permit to march; the march took place on sidewalks from Downtown to Piedmont Park. In 1972, hundreds of people marched in the parade, which was covered by local television stations. In 1973, some marchers wore paper bags over their heads to hide their identity, protecting themselves from the dangers they may face and to represent how invisible they felt in their communities.[5]

Since 2010, the event has had an annual economic impact of over $25 million for the city.

In 2016, Pride.com named Atlanta Pride one of the eight best LGBT pride events in the nation.

Held in October to coincide with "National Coming Out Day," the Atlanta Pride festival is preceded by a variety of events that begin in June to celebrate the Stonewall riots. Each year, the Atlanta Pride Committee names Grand Marshals, including Stacey Abrams and Feroza Syed in 2019. Atlanta's Out on Film gay film festival offers a weeklong selection of LGBT films by, for, and about the LGBT community. Out on Film runs in conjunction with Atlanta Pride.

Location
Until 2008, it was held in June in Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta. In 2008, large events were banned from Piedmont Park due to drought conditions, so Pride was moved to the Atlanta Civic Center and delayed until October. In 2009, it returned to Piedmont Park, but kept the October date due to more favorable autumn weather and the difficulty to perform adequate fundraising in only nine months.

Atlanta is widely noted as the LGBT capital of the South due to its progressive reputation, highly visible and diverse LGBT community, and vibrant LGBT culture. In 2010, The Advocate named Atlanta the "gayest city in America." In 2019, Realtor.com ranked Atlanta the second best city in America for LGBTQ residents.

Events
"The main mission of the Atlanta Pride Committee is to provide lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender and queer persons with cultural and educational programs and activities which enhance mental and physical health, provide social support, and foster an awareness of the past and present contributions of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender persons, through community activities and services, including an annual Pride event."[1] The events that occur at Atlanta Pride range from speeches about violence against women, race, sexual orientation, gender, immigration, etc. The main event is the pride parade which is a march through the city filled with costumes, music, and banners.[2] It also has marches, market layout and vendors, concerts, dance parties, motorcycle shows, and cultural exhibits.

See also
Atlanta Black Pride
Atlanta Gay Center
Ansley Mall
Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus
Cheshire Bridge Road
Georgia Equality
LGBT rights in Georgia (U.S. state)
My Sister's Room

References

External links
Atlanta Pride — official website

Festivals in Atlanta
Pride parades in Georgia (U.S. state)
LGBT culture in Atlanta
1971 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Recurring events established in 1971

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Back in the fall of 2010, my oldest son started a Parent Morning Out program at Family Preschool. That program was Family Preschool's very first Duckling class! Now, seven years later, my youngest son is finishing up his last weeks at Family Preschool.
It's hard to believe that it's time for him to head off to kindergarten. I've had seven years of fun learning in the classroom as a helping parent, meeting new friends (both those my own age and some pretty special little ones), and building a community. I have to say that when my oldest was "graduating," I wasn't super nostalgic, but now that it's my youngest, I am feeling all the feels and wondering how our time here has come to an end so quickly.
I will miss the morning playground chats and exploring the world through the kids' eyes. Family Preschool has been a truly special place for our whole family. The cooperative model really gave my children a great lesson in what it is like to pull together as a community and create a place where the sum is so much greater than its parts.
I offer much gratitude to all the teachers at Family Preschool for giving my kids a gentle place to learn, play, and grow. As we move on to the next phase of life, I am comforted to know that many friendships will carry forward, so some of this community will always be with us.


This morning I made palmiers for the fourth time. I seem to be getting the knack. They're the easiest of pastries, a child could make them. I guess that's why our French teacher taught us when we were in Form One at South Intermediate. It was a gentle path into the language. Songs, verbs, some words, no text books. A taster, if you will, as opposed to an academic meal. It was fun cooking in the classroom, even if it was just rolling out pastry, spreading it with jam, folding them up so that they look like pastry hearts. That's what I remember them as, 'French pastry hearts'.
When I googled that term looking for simple things to make with my young daughter I came up with 'palmiers or elephant ears'. Maybe we knew them as palmiers at the time but I had forgotten the word. I would never forget a name like elephant ears.
When I made them for the first time since my childhood, I had hoped my daughter would share the magic and wonder of that chaotic day in French class. But she was very uncertain, as were the kids at the late-afternoon soiree where I took those palmiers. They picked them up, looked at them, asked their parents what they were, put them back. I said they were elephant ears hoping to undercut their neo-phobia but the kids (six-year olds and under) were rather distrusting. It wasn't until everything else was gone that the foreign pastries were attempted and devoured.
My daughter, despite a highly evolved sweet-tooth, failed to join the brave ones. I couldn't understand it, but persevered making two more batches which I ate alone while my daughter refused them, even when I cut down the options in her lunch-box. It wasn't until there were only two left of the third batch that I managed to get her to try one. After she ate it, she hunted me down, gave me a big hug on the toilet and said they were 'delicious'.
I made palmiers this morning not to taunt children with my nostalgia (although that may happen), but because there is a funeral at my daughter's school and we've been asked to bring a plate.
My daughter is very excited about going. She thinks funerals are great fun. Her mother had to quell her excited cheering when I said that I could take her. Over the phone I heard her tell her mother that she had been to three, so this would be her fourth. At five, she remembers more funerals than Christmases.
Catering for a funeral is hard. You never really know how many hungry people will show up. It is disheartening throwing out food when you over-cater, like you have over-estimated how much people care.
We learned that lesson with the first funeral. For, the next one, four months later, we got the numbers right but people who talked too long in the sun missed out to those who had loaded up their plates, maybe noticing there was less to be had.
Both those funerals were for my parents. Four months apart. I remember so much but ate no food. I drank wine, delicious wine, slowly, continuously, happy to see people gathered, to feel relief descending, glad of beautiful weather. There was so much to do it was great that my daughter (who was 3 and then 4) was happy to run around with the other kids, fill her plate with whatever she wanted, leaving me to talk to people, to be both amongst it and absent.
Then, a few months after that, an old friend suddenly died. It was a shock and I had to go, taking my daughter with me up to Auckland as her mother was overseas. My daughter was excited. She wore the bright floral dress she wore at her grandparents' funerals. But this was a different flavour. Dad was not going to be standing up the front of everyone talking into the microphone, welcoming them, pointing to the toilets, making calming jokes.
At the end of the service she insisted on viewing the body. This hadn't happened with her grandparents although she had seen plenty of photos (it wasn't deliberate, but a consequence of geography: they were cremated by the time of each service). Quite randomly, I had been given a guitar pick while working in a school hall the day before. I carried it up there in my pocket just as I used to when I played guitar. When we saw Stephen lying there in his suit, I lifted her up and she dropped the grey Jim Dunlop .73mm into his coffin.
It was 25 years since we had played in halls and pubs around the country. He looked so much older.
It was harder than looking at the bodies of my parents.
At the after-match, my girl resorted to form filling her plate in a room full of strangers, checking in with me now and then. There were no other small children but she knew the drill, was happy just to be, squeezing through the press of mourners. What she ate, I do not know. Probably any sweet treats she could recognize.
I made palmiers this morning because of the number four: a random thing to grasp onto. I did not really know the girl who died the other night, but she was in the class next to my daughter, another new entrant. She always gave me a friendly smile.
It tears at me to think of her parents and family. A funeral for a child just seems to be something that should not be.
But in two hours I will go with my daughter and sit in the hall with those from the school and community. To her, a funeral is like Christmas without presents. A party without a cake. That thought used to concern me. Shouldn't I be providing weddings and christenings, celebrations of life?
Parents always fret, no matter what.
If there's something that I've learned to adore in this run of funerals, it's the joy of life. That it is to be cherished, every which way: that its noise belongs everywhere, in all corners of the room.
The kids have been encouraged to wear bright colours, and I shall, too. We will remember Lucy, even those who did not know her.
I may cry and my daughter will hug me. She will have a lot of fun.
This entry was posted in Blogs, Food, Memoir and tagged baking, bring a plate, food, funerals, memoir, music, palmiers, parenting, philosohpy on August 22, 2013 by Kambl.


The Good The Asus Zenbook UX32VD has features usually missing from ultrabooks, including a 1080p display and Nvidia GPU.
The Bad The UX32VD is expensive, it's thicker and heavier than most ultrabooks, and it has a less-than-stellar touch pad.
The Bottom Line With a Core i7 CPU, discrete graphics, and a full HD screen, the Asus Zenbook UX23VD is pretty close to being the ultrabook that has it all, but you'll pay for all those features.
Laptop shopping is always about making compromises, trading computing power for battery life or reducing size and weight at the cost of extra features. For ultrabooks or other ultrathin laptops, this is especially true, and nearly every slim 13-inch laptop we've reviewed has had one or more cut corners and missing features that remind you of the inevitable trade-offs required.
The 13-inch Asus Zenbook UX32VD comes alluringly close to being an ultrabook without compromises. For $1,299 it includes an Intel Core i7 CPU, a full HD 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution display, and a discrete Nvida 620M GPU. Most laptops of a similar size, including Apple's genre-leading MacBook Air, lack all three of those features (although a Core i7 option is available on the Air for $1,599).
That makes this the closest hybrid of a 13-inch ultrabook and a full-power mainstream laptop to date, and might be the answer to occasional reader questions I get about superthin laptops with GPUs and high-res screens. Acer also has a few larger ultrabooks with GPUs, but they have other issues, including low screen resolutions.
It's not all perfect, however. $1,299 is still a lot to pay for any laptop, especially when other ultrabooks are $800 or less. It has both a hard drive and a solid-state drive (SSD), adding weight and heat, and the Nvidia 620M GPU is pretty low-end. The design is very MacBook-like, but still not as elegant or ergonomic. And, finally, the touch pad isn't as responsive as it should be, even after a late software update from Asus.
Despite these shortcomings, the UX32VD is great for on-the-go gaming or situations where you really need a full HD screen. Asus makes several UX variations, including the UX31A and UX32A, which swap in different CPUs, screens, and hard drives. The UX31 is a more upscale design variant, thinner with a more unibody chassis. Neither has a component set as attention-grabbing as the UX31VD, though. If your ultrabook needs are more basic, there are many other worthwhile options out there to consider.
The Zenbook line launched in late 2011 as both an early entry in the then-new ultrabook market and a direct competitor to the MacBook Air. The design, aluminum, tapered, and minimalist, was the most Air-like of the early ultrabooks, at least until the Dell XPS 13 came along. But it also had a few design miscues. The lid on the original Zenbook was notoriously hard to open. The UX32VD doesn't have that problem, and the touch pad also feels more responsive than the older models', especially after a last-minute software update from Asus, although it's still one of the system's weak points.
The original Zenbook was thinner and lighter than this version, which is packed with much more powerful hardware, but both the more tapered Zenbooks (such as the current UX31A) and this one have a sharp front lip that can be murder on the heels of your hands, depending on your typing style. Ergonomics aside, the solid-feeling aluminum body is not as streamlined in its construction as a MacBook, but the parts fit together well, with minimal screws and seams.
The keyboard was a weak point on the original Zenbook, with shallow, clacky keys. The body of the UX32VD is actually slightly thicker and heavier, and that extra depth lets the keyboard have a little more space. Compared with the UX31, the feel of the keystrokes here is more like what you get on a standard laptop. The keyboard is also backlit, a must-have feature on any ultrabook (and something that really stands out now when missing).
The large but finicky clickpad on the first UX31 was one of our main problems. Out of the box, the version on this system was similarly annoying, with what felt like muted sensitivity and unreliable multitouch gestures. Asus sent over an updated touch-pad driver package, which the company says will be available via Asus Live Update by the time you read this.
I was dubious, but the new drivers (version 1.0.26) did make a reasonable improvement, and the touch pad went from frustrating to usable. It still feels a bit jumpy sometimes, and under-responsive at other times. There is, however, a decent set of multitouch gestures, demoed and controlled by the Asus Smart Gesture application. It's nowhere near as intuitive or responsive as a MacBook touch pad, but that's a Windows-wide problem. One nice touch -- you can set a two-finger tap to indicate a right-click, a very Mac-like move that I've seen popping up a few Windows laptops lately.
In another change from the previous generation of Zenbook laptops, the display is now an IPS screen in full HD, with a 1,920x1,080-pixel native resolution. That will be a major selling point to some, but it's also a polarizing choice. Most 13-inch laptops, including some very expensive ones, have 1,366x768 screens. That's fine for $800 or so, but once you get past $1,000, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect a 1,600x900 display. In fact, to my eyes, that's the sweet spot for a high-end 13-inch laptop.
The 1,920x1,080 display here can make text very small and hard to read at times. Still, it depends on what you want to do with it. For playing 1080p video content or cranking video games up to their highest laptop resolution, it's an important feature, and one some shoppers actively seek. Note that the relatively low-end GPU may not be the best at pushing more-recent games at that full 1,920x1,080 resolution. The screen itself looked decent, and was not excessively glossy, but there was some light bleed visible at the very bottom edge from the backlights during dark scenes of movies and games.
Audio through a speaker grille at the very top of the keyboard tray was predictably thin, despite the Bang & Olufsen ICE Power branding. Audio volume controls are mapped to alternate F-key functions, so you'll need to hit, for example, Fn+F10 to mute the sound.
With dual video outputs and three USB 3.0 jacks, the UX32VD makes good use of its slightly thicker body to fit in more ports. Ethernet is still relegated to an external dongle.


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Departure from the hotel via the oriental road of the Coast towards the Axarquia. After travelling through some beautiful areas, we will visit Frigiliana, considered to be one of the most charming villages in Spain. Then we will continue towards Nerja, situated at the foot of the Almijara Mountain and...
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Pick up from the different meeting points along the Costa Del Sol towards Algeciras or Tarifa where we will embark to reach Tangier. Upon arrival, we will enjoy an extensive tour of the city accompanied by a local guide. Lunch will be served in a typical restaurant. Departure from the port of Tangier will be...
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I may have a set Andy.
I'll check and let you know.
Beware of those "storage facilities". I'd double check that the police are covering the cost as I've heard of victims being charged an exorbitant amount for release of the vehicle, with the threat of crushing said vehicle if it is not paid in full.
Thanks Andy. If you have just PM me on here. Fair price and postage. Always a bit dubious of some of the EBay copies. Looks like it might be difficult to remove the old switch if snap off bolts securing it, found an old post on here. Impressed how helpful and active you guys are on this forum. I have made him aware that the storage charges can be high. Looks like the wires have been pulled out of the seitch and shorted. Under the seat to nick the tool kit. Could be worse. Thanks for the advice.


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Top Ten Political Screw Ups by UK Politicians in 2014
AuthorMedia DiversifiedPosted on January 1, 2015 April 24, 2016 CategoriesLabour Party, Politics, Taimour Fazlani, Top/WTFs 2014, Tory Party, UKIPTagsBoris Johnson, Daily Politics, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, European Union, Labour Party (UK), London Mayor, Nigel Farage, Tony Blair, UK Independence Party, UKIP
by Taimour Fazlani Follow @talkativebeard
In an ideal world no public servant would suffer from fallibility, as those privileged positions would be dispensed amongst only the most capable, judicious and moral of us. However in reality this is rarely the case. Some politicians (that's all politicians to the sceptics amongst us like Russell Brand) do fail and do screw-up. In November the Daily Mirror looked at every UK election over the last 750 years, and found that over half of UK constituencies have ALWAYS had a white man in power since the 13th century. Could there be a correlation between that and the seeming impunity of the majority of politicians on this list? Tell us in the comments after reading 2014's roundup of the top 10 worst screw-ups by politicians within the UK.
Blame the Poles
What list of political scandals wouldn't include leader of the gaffe prone UKIP party. In an incredulous move Nigel Farage, Esq. blamed his late arrival at a Port Talbot conference on immigrants. I hope you'll agree this is probably the worst excuse used by a politician in all of history. On the Daily Politics show Farage obtained heights of satire that a Thick of It scriptwriter would covet when he stated that traffic on the M4 was the culprit for his tardiness. 'It took me six hours and 15 minutes in the car to get here. It should have taken three and a half to four,' he later said. 'That has nothing to do with professionalism. What it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof, chiefly because of open-door immigration' (because surely that's the road used by all immigrants during the course of their day when they go out to take jobs from us!). Having paid £25 for the pleasure attendees of the conference were left dismayed by the no-show 'Poundland Enoch Powell".
Love for the candy
Tory MP Nigel Mills got into hot water just for doing what comes naturally to most iPad users: playing Candy Crush. I wonder if he purchases more lives or swaps favours on Facebook… Mr. Mills, MP for Amber Valley, admitted to 'probably having had a game or two' during a committee meeting of the Works and Pensions Committee. In an era where politicians are being hounded for their commitments to the public, it was not a wise move. Nevertheless what followed was a number of schoolboy apologies, ranging from 'It was a long meeting on pension reforms, which is an important issue that I take very seriously' to 'I shall try not to do it again in the future'. Mr. Mills seems to have forgotten that a certain section of the population doesn't expect much from him or his party so at least next time pretend like you care!
The mysterious Lord Redesdale
Mr. Resedale, the former Lib Dem energy spokesman, was asked to apologise to the House of Lords after it was found that he failed to declare his links to private companies (well, there's a relationship you rarely see with politicians). Mr. Resedale failed to mention or register seven directorships with business and academic institutions. He also failed to mention a further six roles. One particularly interesting position Mr. Resedale held is his directorship of the Carbon Management Company (Qatar) Ltd — a company supposedly 'set up to undertake work for the government of Qatar as part of a climate change meeting in Doha'. Making him a very mysterious Lord indeed.
Kerry Smith, who's quite the racist
Lame excuses are not the only things that UKIP are good at; they also do xenophobia, sexism and racism quite well too. One member paticularly well versed in such topics is Kerry Smith. The party candidate in South Basildon and East Thurrock, Kerry Smith referred to a woman with a Chinese name as a 'chinky' and called gay people 'fucking disgusting old poofters'. After issuing an apology the candidate and member said he was 'completely wrong and my comments were fuelled by frustrations'. More comically Mr. Smith's prescription sedatives were blamed for hid racism and discrimination, the official statement being that 'while he was on sedatives by his own account, not really speaking [or] thinking rationally'. All I want to know is which sedative is it exactly that makes you a racist? Answers on a postcard.
Blair's legacy
Not necessarily a political screw-up but the 'The Global Legacy' award given to Tony Blair is an incident worthy of notice. Save the Children, a respected and well known charity decided to present Mr. Blair with a global legacy award for his 'commitment to Africa'. I'm not exactly sure as to which commitment towards Africa Mr. Blair was being recognised for — however, the backlash towards Save the Children from the public and employees alike was one that the organisation will never forget. With petitions circulating internally and the public petition amassing 120,000 plus signatures, I can only say that this time Blair went down, but he also took Save the Children down with him.
Miliband, the boy who just wants some attention
Poor Ed, in an effort to appease everyone within the vicinity decided that it would be a great idea to pose with the The Sun's special edition which was sent to millions of readers to mark the start of the World Cup. Apart from The Sun being a sensationalist piece of garbage in my humble opinion, what dear old Ed forgot was that The Sun has long been criticised for its reporting on the Hillsborough disaster. The outrage was so explosive that Miliband's own Labour councillor to Liverpool stated, 'Seeing Ed promoting the Sun has rocked me to my core'. Word to the wise Ed: we know your poll ratings are down but you're not helping your case.
UKIP's at it again
Jane Collins, the UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and Lincolnnshire had to apologise to Mark Russell after she called him a pedophile on twitter. Russell, who is the head of the Church Army charity and also a Labour party member, was not only called a pedophile by Collins but moreover during the exchange she tweeted, 'Yes because we'd soon stop your criminal activity. Paedos leave our kids alone. #Ukip.' Why did she call him a pedophile? Well that's not clear but eventually Collins, who admitted herself that she can be a 'bit hot headed', tweeted 'I apologise for associating you with paedophiles but you're still supporting a party that has failed our children badly.' Well Ms. Collins, if Mark Russell belongs to a supposed 'pedophile' party then god knows what UKIP should be branded.
Mr. Mayor, the police station is closed?
Though this particular screw up didn't make the national news, that doesn't mean it doesn't have to make mine. Boris had to apologise to the residents of Waltham Forest over the lack of communication offered to locals once it was decided that the police station in Leytonstone was to be shut down. Having felt the anger of locals concerning the length of time it may take the police to get to an incident Mr. Johnson apologised stating that 'if there was an oversight' in the communications process, then he duly apologises. However many members of the Labour London Assembly remain skeptical, one member even stating that 'I am deeply concerned that this conditional apology not only suggests that he wasn't aware of the situation at Waltham House, but also fails to grasp the seriousness of the situation' . You're right, Labour member; we also don't think he knows what's going on in Leytonstone let alone London.
Lord Freud and the minimum wage
Our welfare reform minister Lord Freud has certain ideas when it comes to disabled workers. He believes that some disabled workers are 'not worth' minimum wage. Although a very pathetic apology was made (as is usually the case with politicians) the issue brought to light many of Mr. Freud's ideas when it comes to disabled people, with suggestions from him that disabled workers could be paid as little as 2 pounds per hour for their labour. Given that Freud was previously an investment banker, such statements from the privileged concerning the poor isn't even a bit surprising.
The damnable impunity of Boris Johnson
It seems that being a mayor is not the only thing Boris Johnson has a poor record in. The 'flamboyant' Mr. Johnson had to apologise to a nine year old boy after sending him to the floor during a very aggressive tackle at a children's match designed to promote the new health report. When asked about his seemingly aggressive tackle Mr. Johnson replied, 'To be honest, I'm a rugby player. I was always getting penalised for fouling when I played football.'
Never short of scandal but always short of a comeuppance Channel 4 dedicated an exclusive report to him in November. 'Boris Johnson is under fire over his handling of a £1bn deal for a Chinese firm to redevelop a huge site on London's historic Royal Albert Dock.' At the same time there were also questions over donations to the Conservative Party.
'In May 2013 the Greater London Authority granted Advanced Business Park – known as ABP – the tender to develop the 35-acre site at the Royal Albert Dock, a derelict site opposite London's City Airport. The development was hailed by Boris Johnson as "a beacon for investors".'
The long and short of it is Boris not only didn't look into the human rights record of the Chinese company ABP (it's abysmal) but it turns out that they are a defacto subsidary of his own agency. ABP have shared offices in Beijing with London and Partners, Boris Johnson's taxpayer-funded agency set up to attract foreign investment to London since March 2012.
One of the company's employees is married to the Home office minister Lord Bate. She not only pushed for the deal but has made large contributions to the Tory party.
'Between 2010 and 2012 Xuelin Black gave donations which total at least £162,000 to the Conservative Party. Since ABP won the contract these big donations have dried up… her donations are now about £5,000 a year, not enough to appear on the Electoral Commission's public register of party donations.'
With the seemingly overwhelming amount of evidence dug up by Channel 4 against Boris, he takes our top spot. Don't fret though, he (almost) always gets away with it.
Taimour Fazlani is an activist with with a keen interest in subject matters, ranging from metaphysics to economic systems. Born and raised in Karachi he has since lived in Glasgow and London. A book addict with a passion for documenting injustices encompassing the whole globe. When not at a protest, demonstration or social events, he can be found training in Muay Thai. @talkativebeard Website Taimour Fazlani
This piece was edited by Samantha Asumadu.
Our White Curiosities (mediadiversified.org)
Ain't no black in the UKIP pack? (mediadiversified.org)
Top Ten Books I've Read this Year – A Feminist Perspective (mediadiversified.org)
One thought on "Top Ten Political Screw Ups by UK Politicians in 2014"
The introduction to this article is just dim. For most of the last 750 years, women didn't have the vote and couldn't stand for parliament. Indeed, for most of that time hardly anyone had the vote. The idea that those historical facts have any bearing on the racial makeup of the people (you have chosen to put) on this list is frankly laughable. It is simply racist to suggest that someone's race has anything to do with their moral character.
I'd also like to point out that you have wholly missed the point of what Lord Freud said. As this controversy was covered in quite a lot of detail in the press, I can only imagine that you didn't read it or didnt understand it. Freud's point was that the work that some disabled people do is not worth the national minimum wage to a company. As a result, these people are made unemployable by the minimum wage. He was discussing whether it would be better in these limited circumstances to allow an exception to the min wage so that these people could enjoy the experience of being able to work purposefully and productively.
← 10 Poets of Colour we Discovered (or Rediscovered) in 2014
Four Athletes Who Could Change The Game In 2015 →


China devalued its tightly controlled currency on Tuesday, causing the currency's biggest one day loss in over two decades.
This move is another indication of China's growing worry about its slowing economy, at a time when other efforts to boost the economy haven't been successful.
Yuan per dollar (one year out). Graph: MetalMiner analysis of Yahoo Finance data.
The currency not only had its biggest one-day loss, but it's also breaking a three-year support level as we can see in the next graph. This has never happened ever since the yuan renminbi started to appreciate back in 2005.
Yuan per dollar breaking three-year support. Graph: MetalMiner analysis of Yahoo Finance data.
A weaker currency makes imports more expensive and helps China's exports. This year, trying to offset weak domestic demand, China already encouraged its refined commodities producers to increase exports.
A weaker currency will likely help prop up exports of metals such as steel and aluminum products, potentially hurting prices around the globe. Moreover, a weaker currency will likely translate into weaker demand for internationally produced commodities.
American Iron and Steel Institute President and CEO Thomas Gibson said the US government needed to intervene to fight what is sure to be a tide of Chinese imports due to the devalued currency.
Gibson also noted that Treasury Department again, in its April report on exchange rate policies, confirmed that the yuan remains "significantly undervalued" but did not officially declare China a currency manipulator at that time.
We suspect that this will only add to the bearish momentum we are seeing in commodity markets, putting more pressure on industrial metal prices that can't catch a break from falling markets.


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Judgment of Paris (wine)
1976 wine competition in Paris
Find sources: "Judgment of Paris" wine – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
A collage of several producers who competed in the 1976 Judgement of Paris wine tasting event. From top left row-by-row: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (Note SLV not Cask 23 was the Paris Winner) (California), Chateau Montelena (California), Château Haut-Brion (Bordeaux), Château Mouton-Rothschild (Bordeaux), Château Montrose (Bordeaux), Château Léoville-Las Cases (Bordeaux). Note: With the exception of the Chateau Montelena image, the actual wines tasted were from different vintages and/or series.
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines (Bordeaux wines from France and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California).[1] A Californian wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.[2]
The event's informal name "Judgment of Paris" is an allusion to the ancient Greek myth.
1 The wines
2 The judges
4 The results
4.1 White wines
4.2 Red wines
4.2.1 Breakdown by judge
5 Controversies
5.1 Subjectivity of taste
5.2 Statistical interpretation
5.3 Tasting replications
5.3.1 San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978
5.3.2 French Culinary Institute Tasting of 1986
5.3.3 Wine Spectator Tasting of 1986
5.3.4 30th anniversary
6 Implications in the wine industry
7 In the media
The wines[edit]
Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Ridge's Monte Bello vineyard.
California Cabernet Sauvignon
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970
Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 Château Montrose 1970
Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard 1970 Château Haut-Brion 1970
Clos Du Val Winery 1972 Château Leoville Las Cases 1971
Mayacamas Vineyards 1971
Freemark Abbey Winery 1969
A bottle of 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the white wine competition.
California Chardonnay
Burgundies
Chateau Montelena 1973 Meursault Charmes Roulot 1973
Chalone Vineyard 1974 Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973
Spring Mountain Vineyard 1973 Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon 1973
Freemark Abbey Winery 1972 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive 1972
Veedercrest Vineyards 1972
David Bruce Winery 1973
The judges[edit]
When the results were announced French judge Odette Kahn demanded her ballot back and later criticized the Paris tasting.
The eleven judges were (in alphabetical order):
Pierre Brejoux (French) of the Institute of Appellations of Origin
Claude Dubois-Millot (French) (Substitute to Christian Millau)
Michel Dovaz (French) of the Wine Institute of France
Patricia Gallagher (American) of l'Academie du Vin
Odette Kahn (French) Editor of La Revue du vin de France
Raymond Oliver (French) of the restaurant Le Grand Véfour
Steven Spurrier (British)
Pierre Tari (French) of Chateau Giscours
Christian Vanneque (French) the sommelier of Tour D'Argent
Aubert de Villaine (French) of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Jean-Claude Vrinat (French) of the Restaurant Taillevent
Method[edit]
Blind tasting was performed and the judges were asked to grade each wine out of 20 points. No specific grading framework was given, leaving the judges free to grade according to their own criteria.
Rankings of the wines preferred by individual judges were based on the grades they individually attributed.
An overall ranking of the wines preferred by the jury was also established in averaging the sum of each judge's individual grades (arithmetic mean). However, grades of Patricia Gallagher and Steven Spurrier were not taken into account, thus counting only grades of French judges.[3]
The results[edit]
White wines[edit]
California Chardonnays vs. Burgundy Chardonnays
Average Original grades: out of 20 points.
1. Chateau Montelena 1973 USA
2. Meursault Charmes Roulot 1973 France
3. Chalone Vineyard 1974 USA
4. Spring Mountain Vineyard 1973 USA
5. Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973 France
6. Freemark Abbey Winery 1972 USA
7. Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon 1973 France
8. Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive 1972 France
9. Veedercrest Vineyards 1972 USA
10. David Bruce Winery 1973 USA
Red wines[edit]
California Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Bordeaux
Official Jury Results:
1. 127.5 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 USA
2. 126 Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970 France
3. 125.5 Château Haut-Brion 1970 France
4. 122 Château Montrose 1970 France
5. 105.5 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 USA
6. 97 Château Leoville Las Cases 1971 France
7. 89.5 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 USA
8. 87.5 Clos Du Val Winery 1972 USA
9. 84.5 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard 1970 USA
10. 78 Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 USA
1. 14.14 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 USA
2. 14.09 Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970 France
3. 13.64 Château Montrose 1970 France
4. 13.23 Château Haut-Brion 1970 France
5. 12.14 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 USA
6. 11.18 Château Leoville Las Cases 1971 France
7. 10.36 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard 1970 USA
8. 10.14 Clos Du Val Winery 1972 USA
9. 9.95 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 USA
10. 9.45 Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 USA
Breakdown by judge[edit]
The original grades (out of 20 points) are shown, in alphabetical order by judge.
Château Haut-Brion was judge Pierre Brejoux's highest ranking red wine selection.
Pierre Brejoux Original grades: out of 20 points.
1. 17 Château Haut-Brion 1970 France
2. 16 Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970 France
3. 14 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 USA
3. 14 Clos Du Val Winery 1972 USA
5. 13 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 USA
6. 12 Château Montrose 1970 France
6. 12 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard 1970 USA
9. 7 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 USA
10. 5 Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 USA
Château Montrose was judge Claude Dubois-Millot's highest ranking red wine.
Claude Dubois-Millot Original grades: out of 20 points.
4. 13.5 Château Haut-Brion 1970 France
6. 9.5 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 USA
7. 9 Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 USA
7. 9 Clos Du Val Winery 1972 USA
9. 8 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard 1970 USA
10. 7 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 USA
Chateau Mouton Rothschild was judge Michel Dovaz's highest ranking red wine.
Michel Dovaz Original grades: out of 20 points.
1. 15 Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 USA
10. 8 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 USA
Patricia Gallagher Original grades: out of 20 points.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was judge Odette Kahn's highest ranking red wine.
Odette Kahn Original grades: out of 20 points.
2. 13 Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 USA
7. 7 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 USA
Raymond Oliver Original grades: out of 20 points.
Steven Spurrier Original grades: out of 20 points.
10. 8 Château Haut-Brion 1970 France
Paul Draper was the winemaker who created the Ridge Monte Bello wine that was judge Pierre Tari's highest rated red.
Pierre Tari Original grades: out of 20 points.
10. 11 Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970 France
Judge Christian Vanneque was head sommelier at the Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent when he participated in the tasting.
Christian Vanneque Original grades: out of 20 points.
2. 16.5 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 USA
5. 15.5 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971 USA
8. 8 Château Leoville Las Cases 1971 France
Château Haut-Brion was judge Aubert de Villaine's second highest red after Chateau Montrose.
Aubert de Villaine Original grades: out of 20 points.
10. 5 Clos Du Val Winery 1972 USA
Jean-Claude Vrinat Original grades: out of 20 points.
Controversies[edit]
Subjectivity of taste[edit]
Criticism of the event suggested that wine tastings lacked scientific validity due to the subjectivity of taste in human beings. Indeed, the organizer of the competition, Steven Spurrier, said, "The results of a blind tasting cannot be predicted and will not even be reproduced the next day by the same panel tasting the same wines."[4] In one case it was reported that a "side-by-side chart of best-to-worst rankings of 18 wines by a roster of experienced tasters showed about as much consistency as a table of random numbers."[5][6]
Statistical interpretation[edit]
Without calling into question the abilities of the tasters, scientific concerns have been raised about the methodology used by individual judges as well as the validity of any statistical interpretation. The heterogeneity of the grades given by individual judges was seen as a consequence of the lack of a common grading system among tasters, and the data sample was deemed too small for meaningful statistical interpretation. Steven Spurrier, the organizer of the tasting, acknowledged in Decanter in August 1996 that he tallied the winners by "adding the judges' marks and dividing this by nine (which I was told later was statistically meaningless)."
Orley Ashenfelter and Richard E. Quandt analyzed the results of all 11 judges instead of only nine and proposed a slightly different ranking (see below). They also stated that only the scores of the first two wines in their ranking were statistically valid, and that the seven other wines could not be differentiated statistically.[4]
USA Stag's Leap Wine Cellars '73
France Montrose '70
France Mouton '70
France Haut Brion '70
USA Ridge Monte Bello '71
USA Heitz Martha's '70
France Leoville-las-cases '71
USA Freemark Abbey '69
USA Mayacamas '71
USA Clos du Val '72
Tasting replications[edit]
Some critics[7] argued that French red wines would age better than the California reds, so this was tested.
San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978[edit]
The San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was conducted 20 months after the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Steven Spurrier flew in from Paris to participate in the evaluations, which were held at the Vintners Club.[8][3]
On 11 January 1978, evaluators blind-tasted the same Chardonnays tasted earlier in Paris.
USA – 1974 Chalone Winery
USA – 1973 Chateau Montelena
USA – 1973 Spring Mountain Vineyard
France – 1972 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive.
Ranking lower were Meursault Charmes Roulot 1973, Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973, and Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon 1973.
On 12 January 1978, evaluators blind-tasted the same Cabernet Sauvignons tasted earlier in Paris.
USA – 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
USA – 1970 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's vineyard
USA – 1971 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello
France – 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild.
Ranking lower were Château Montrose 1970, Château Haut-Brion 1970, and Château Leoville Las Cases 1971.
French Culinary Institute Tasting of 1986[edit]
Two tastings were conducted by the French Culinary Institute (now called the International Culinary Center) on the tenth anniversary of the original Paris Wine Tasting. White wines were not evaluated in the belief that they were past their prime.[citation needed]
Steven Spurrier, who organized the original 1976 wine competition, assisted in the anniversary tasting.[citation needed] Eight judges blind tasted nine of the ten wines evaluated. The evaluation resulted in the following ranking[citation needed]
Rank Wine
USA – Clos Du Val Winery 1972
USA – Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello
France – Château Montrose
France – Château Leoville Las Cases 1971
France – Château Mouton Rothschild 1970
USA – Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973
USA – Heitz Wine Cellars 1970
USA – Mayacamas Vineyards 1971
France – Château Haut-Brion
Wine Spectator Tasting of 1986[edit]
Four of the judges were experts from Wine Spectator and two were outsiders. All tasted the wines blind.
France – Château Montrose 1970
USA – Freemark Abbey Winery 1969
France – Château Haut-Brion 1970
30th anniversary[edit]
A 30th anniversary re-tasting on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was organized by Steven Spurrier in 2006. As The Times reported "Despite the French tasters, many of whom had taken part in the original tasting, 'expecting the downfall' of the American vineyards, they had to admit that the harmony of the Californian cabernets had beaten them again. Judges on both continents gave top honors to a 1971 Ridge Monte Bello cabernet. Four Californian reds occupied the next placings before the highest-ranked Bordeaux, a 1970 Château Mouton-Rothschild, came in at sixth."[9]
The Tasting that Changed the Wine World: 'The Judgment of Paris' 30th Anniversary was conducted on 24 May 2006.[10]
The 30th anniversary was held simultaneously at the museum Copia in Napa, California, and in London at Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain's oldest wine merchant, in association with Steven Spurrier, who created the original Paris event.
The panel of nine wine experts at Copia consisted of Dan Berger, Anthony Dias Blue, Stephen Brook, Wilfred Jaeger, Peter Marks MW, Paul Roberts MS, Andrea Immer Robinson MS, Jean-Michel Valette MW and Christian Vanneque, one of the original judges from the 1976 tasting.
The panel of nine experts at Berry Bros. & Rudd consisted of Michel Bettane, Michael Broadbent MW, Michel Dovaz, Hugh Johnson, Matthew Jukes, Jane MacQuitty, Jasper Morris MW, Jancis Robinson OBE MW and Brian St. Pierre.[10]
The results showed that additional panels of experts again preferred the California wines over their French competitors.[11]
USA – Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971
USA – Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 (tie)
USA – Heitz Wine Cellars 'Martha's Vineyard' 1970 (tie)
France – Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970
Three of the Bordeaux wines in the competition were from the 1970 vintage, identified by the Conseil Interprofessionel du Vin de Bordeaux as among the four best vintages in the past 45 years or more. The fourth Bordeaux was a 1971, described by the Conseil as "very good". Another official French authority, the Office Interprofessionnel des Vins, rates the 1971 vintage as "excellent".[12]
The French wine producers had many years' experience making wine, whereas the California producers typically had only a few years' experience; the 1972 vintage was Clos Du Val's very first, yet it performed better than any of its French competitors.
Implications in the wine industry[edit]
Although Spurrier had invited many reporters to the original 1976 tasting, the only reporter to attend was George M. Taber from Time, who promptly revealed the results to the world.[13] The horrified and enraged leaders of the French wine industry then banned Spurrier from the nation's prestigious wine-tasting tour for a year, apparently as punishment for the damage his tasting had done to its former image of superiority.[2] The tasting was not covered by the French press, who almost ignored the story. After nearly three months, Le Figaro published an article titled "Did the war of the cru take place?" describing the results as "laughable", and said they "cannot be taken seriously".[3] Six months after the tasting, Le Monde wrote a similarly toned article.[3]
The New York Times reported that several earlier tastings had occurred in the U.S., with American chardonnays judged ahead of their French rivals. One such tasting occurred in New York just six months before the Paris tasting, but "champions of the French wines argued that the tasters were Americans with possible bias toward American wines. What is more, they said, there was always the possibility that the Burgundies had been mistreated during the long trip from the (French) wineries." The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 had a revolutionary impact on expanding the production and prestige of wine in the New World.[2] It also "gave the French a valuable incentive to review traditions that were sometimes more accumulations of habit and expediency, and to reexamine convictions that were little more than myths taken on trust."[3]
In the media[edit]
Bottle Shock, a feature film starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine, dramatized the 1976 wine tasting and debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. A second film (Judgment of Paris, based on George Taber's book of the same name) was in production, and there has been controversy between the makers of the two films with allegations of defamation and misrepresentation.[14]
Modern Marvels (S:13, E:54 – "How Wine is Made".[15][16]) Discussion of the event is summarized in this History channel show.
A. W. Baxter
Mike Grgich
Warren Winiarski
^ "The Paris Tasting". National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
^ a b c Peterson, Thane (8 May 2001). "The Day California Wines Came of Age: Much to France's Chagrin: a Blind Taste Test 25 Years Ago in Paris inadvertently launched California's fine wine industry". Business Week. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2006.
^ a b c d e Taber, George M Judgment of Paris: California vs France and the Historic Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-9732-6.
^ a b Orley Ashenfelter and Richard E. Quandt Analyzing a Wine Tasting Statistically
^ Roger Downey Wine snob scandal Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Seattle Weekly
^ Frédéric Brochet Tasting. A study of the chemical representations in the field of consciousness Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ Murphy, Linda (25 May 2006). "California wines beat the French – again Taste-off proves California wines age best, too". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
^ http://www.vintnersclub.org Archived 10 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ Hamilton, Alan; Sanderson, David (25 May 2006). "California reds win by a nose in tasting rematch". The Times.
^ a b "Judgment of Paris: 1976 France v US winetasting duel to be recreated on 30th anniversary". Finfacts.com. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
^ Linda Murphy, Chronicle wine editor (25 May 2006). "California wines beat the French – again / Even after 30 years of aging, state's Cabernets still tops". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
^ "Vins de France | Wines of France | Weine Aus Frankreich | Vinos de Francia". Vins-france.com. Retrieved 27 April 2012. [permanent dead link]
^ "Modern Living: Judgment of Paris, 7 June 1976". Time. 7 June 1976. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
^ Willsher, Kate (1 August 2007). "Hollywood goes nose to nose over French wine's darkest moment". The Guardian.
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLCaqhZ67zI
^ https://www.history.com/shows/modern-marvels/season-12/episode-36
Asher, P. The Judgment of Paris. In Reichl, Ruth (Ed.) History in a Bottle. NY: Modern Library, 2006.
Hinkle, Richard Paul. The Paris tasting revisited. Wines & Vines, August 1996, 77(8), 32–34.
Hulkower, Neal D. The Judgment of Paris According to Borda. Journal of Wine Research, 2009, 20(3), 171–182.
McCoy, E. The Emperor of Wine. NY: harperCollins, 2005
Peterson, Thane. The Day California Wines Came of Age: Much to France's Chagrin: a Blind Taste Test 25 Years Ago in Paris inadvertently launched California's fine wine industry. Business Week, 8 May 2001.
Prial, Frank J. Wine talk: California labels outdo French in blind test. The New York Times, 9 June 1976.
Prial, Frank J. The day California shook the world: 4 May 1976, blind tasting in Paris with U.S. winning highest scores. The New York Times, 9 May 2001.
Rice, William. Those winning American wines. The Washington Post, 13 June 1976.
Taber, George M. Judgment of Paris. NY: Scribner, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7432-4751-1.
Winiarski, Warren. Zut alors! The French like California wine. Wines & Vines, April 1991. 72(4), 28.
Rose, Anthony. Thirty years after a shock defeat, French wines lose again to Californians in the great taste test. Belfast Telegraph, 25 May 2006.
Finfacts Team. Judgment of Paris: 1976 France v US winetasting duel to be recreated on 30th anniversary. 24 May 2006, 09:49. finfacts.com
Murphy, Linda (25 May 2006). "California wines beat the French – again: Even after 30 years of aging, state's Cabernets still tops". San Francisco Chronicle.
Yadegaran, Jessica. Do the French grow old gracefully? Contra Costa Times, 17 May 2006.
Yadegaran, Jessica. Napa v. Bordeaux, Round Two: Vintners re-enact famous '76 tasting. Contra Costa Times, 25 May 2006
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947719,00.html TIME Magazine: Modern Living: Judgement of Paris, 7 June 1976] by George M. Taber
Bottle Shock on IMDb
30th anniversary tasting
Paris tasting recreated for 30th anniversary
"The Judgment of Paris: What the French didn't learn from the legendary wine-tasting." 30th anniversary article from Slate.com.
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