Read the story at the above link, then come back here for intellectual discussion. Go ahead - I'll wait.
The column thus:
An Okanagan rancher has discovered that feeding wine to cows produces meat that is tastier than your usual sirloin. It also produces livestock that lose their inhibitions and wind up yakking with their sisters all night about how traumatic the delivery of their calf was ten years ago.
I have a beef with this. The meatiest of my many concerns regards etiquette at wine tastings. Cows are new to wine - they don't know about spittoons or what the bread is for or anything. They just drink till they're tipsy and then slobber and whiz all over the place. Kind of like Australians, come to think of it.
I'm kidding, of course. I mean Edmontonians.
In my opinion, bingeing bovines need much more tasting. Testing, I mean.
We need to provide twelve-hoof programs for these downtrodden beasts. For that matter, where will AA meetings be held? Church basements don’t usually allow cows on the premises, live Christmas crèche scenes excepted (and won’t it be amusing to have plastered cows picking fights with the other animals and barfing their Vin de Cud all over the manger once per year?).
From a business perspective, will this feeding trend create a new sector of the local economy, catering to the cattle tourist? Will we see more wineries with names like Longhorn Creek or Hereford Hills? If it leads to wider aisles in china shops and wine stores then I’m all for it. Well done!
Burning questions remain, however, particularly for restaurant patrons. Do you want a bottle of Charolais Chardonnay with your meal? How about a Red Angus Reisling?
Are you prepared to accept the pairing opinion of a Simmental Sommelier at your local eatery? Do you really think he’ll recommend the mouth-watering steak when it happens to be his cousin? “This wine is a terrific accompaniment to…fish,” he’ll say. Every time. That is what is at steak. Stake – excuse me.
This being BC, wine-fed beef will inevitably lead to dope-raised chickens. Mellow yet plucky hens, fed a daily supplement of ‘grow-op grain’, will soon be the rage among chefs. There they'll be (the chickens), loafing about their free ranges, stoned out of their beaks, staring at the clouds, thinking deep chicken thoughts, chief among them "What are the enormous white things that come out of my cooter every morning?"
Restaurants will serve ‘Baked, baked chicken, with special brownie stuffing.’ They’ll just lay on your plate, grinning in their own chickeny way. Wow, man.
I’m telling you, this wine-feeding scourge must be stomped out. Put the entire idea out to pasture, where it belongs. Wine is for humans, not animals (NHL players excepted). I think authorities should give this rancher a good grilling.
The ruminants of society must know this is wrong.
We need to preserve our region’s brand as a grade ‘A’ tourist destination and make our visitors welcome, not herd them like cattle through the chutes of monetary gain, into the silos of history, never to return to our granary of democracy.
“Waiter! I’ll have the half-baked metaphors done medium-well for an appetizer, and the ’96 Chateau Hoof de T-Bone as the main course. I’d like some moo wine too, please.”
Piracy is a growing concern in the world as we all know from the news.It is a threat that is not limited to ships off the coast of Somalia.
I called the local police detachment to investigate this growing menace…
“RCMP Constable Hornblower speaking.”
“This is David Crawford of the Daily Courier newspaper”
“Oh no. I thought we had a restraining order against you.”
“It expired yesterday.Tell me – can you comment on the growing threat of piracy in local waters?”
“The what?There is no piracy here.You’re a lunatic.Go away”
“Is it true that pirates thrive in unstable political climates and are therefore holed up on the west side of OkanaganLake somewhere?Or maybe on RattlesnakeIsland?”
“I’m going to call the judge to reinstate the order right now.Please stop calling us pretending to be a reporter.I’ve got work to do.”
“I see a lot of boats pulling anti-terrorist devices behind them.Are these devices effective?”
“Those are inner tubes they are pulling you idiot.They are for fun.Go away or I’ll call the co…I’ll call myself on you.”
“Is it true the Navy is establishing a crack anti-piracy force called the Naval Emergency Response Force – or NERF – to counter this threat to sea commerce and public safety?”
“I’m hanging up – I’ve got a press conference – with REAL press – in an hour.And stop making up acronyms – that’s our job.”
“What about ransoms of millions of dollars being paid to the owners of hijacked ships by dropping the money from airplanes – do you know anything about that?”
“This is a lake you fool, there are no pirates here – now shoo!Stop wasting my time.”
“Aha!A conspiracy!You probably know all about the ransom schemes!So tell me – how does a guy get one of those boats anyway? Do I need a license or anything?”
“You have reached the voicemail of Constable Hornblower.Beeeeep.”
“I know you’re still there. You know, a fellow in a small craft could hide under the new bridge and no one would be able to see him until it was too late.So when is the RCMP boat hitting the water anyway Constable?The public has a right to know, just for curiosity sake.”
“The RCMP Anti-Piracy vess…jeez now you have me thinking about pirates…the RCMP boat will resume its normal summer patrol activity in a few days.”
“Can you say ARRR like a pirate?”
“ARR… hey now cut that out!”
“How many dramatic pirate takedowns do you anticipate happening on the lake this year Constable?”
“None!What am I doing answering your stupid questions?Go away.I’m hanging up now.”
“Wait!Supplemental question!Where do you stand on the subject of music piracy then sir?”
“We only care about music if someone is playing it too loud on their boat.Now buzz off!”
“So you‘re condoning the active piracy of music on LakeOkanagan?Stop the presses!!”
“I’m not going to grace that idiotic remark with an answer.You’ve wasted enough of my time for one day Mr. Crawford.You’re obviously off your meds again and we will not tolerate this any longer.I’m just going to wait on the line here until our officers get to your location.Then we’ll explain what harassment means, in no uncertain terms. Sir?”
*dial tone*
“Charlie 51 to base…he was calling from a payphone at the beach again…the receiver was just dangling here…no sign of him.Over.”
“Roger that.Be on the lookout for a goofy looking guy wearing a fedora with a “Press” card in the front.Possibly armed with an old flash camera.Actually, scratch that.He’s probably wearing a pirate outfit now.Approach with caution – he’s really weird.”
The columns here (generally the longer posts) have appeared in the Kelowna Daily Courier, Penticton Herald, Medicine Hat News and other newspapers. My column is called Something Like That, and has won America's Funniest Humor Writing contest four times (I think the judges were drinking).
If you are here because we met on a wine tour, thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed yourself! Feel free to drop me a line anytime - your comments are most welcome. Email me at funnycolumn@gmail.com. Or - join me on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=650188412
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