Firefly Fine Wines & Ales…
I don’t know what I’m doing.
When it comes to wine pairings… I don’t have a clue.
My usual practice, is to ask our guests if they would like wine with dinner, and if they say yes… to tell them what we are having for dinner, and ask their preference.
However, those days are behind me, because there is now a store to help folks like me, out.
Firefly Fine Wines and Ales has opened a store in Maple Ridge, and they organize their wine the traditional way (by Country), and also by suggested food pairings (chicken, fish, steak, etc).
They are also refreshingly current in Social Media, being present on Twitter and through their Blog.
Of course, they also have a website… http://www.fireflyfinewinesandales.com/
But, in my mind, what sets these folks apart, is their connection with their customers.
I had been in the Maple Ridge store about three weeks after it first opened, and was there on a bit of a fact finding mission. As regular readers of the BobSongs Blog will know, I like the odd Dram of Scotch, with a predilection for Single Malts.
When I walked in the store, I was struck by the friendly helpful attitude of the staff, and the unique way of organizing the wines.
As I perused the shelves, I was again asked if there was anything they could do to assist me… and as I had almost made my way entirely around the store, I confessed I must have missed the Scotch section, and sure enough, I had… despite being a quite substantial selection.
The lady who guided me suggested that Eliana would be better to assist me, as she knew more about Scotch, and she surely did !
She spent quite a bit of time, asking my likes and dislikes, and discussing with me the different tastes and finishing of some of their selection.
With a lot of information to absorb, I left with my head feeling like I had been drinking, rather than discussing Scotch… but it was a good “buzz” !
A few weeks later, I got this Tweet…
As luck would have it, I was available that evening, and dropped by. The Robert Burns Scotch was relatively “young”, but mature for its age, and Firefly had brought in Michelle, a Representative from Blue Note Wines & Spirits, a Distributor, who was very knowledgeable, and delighted to share her information about many different regions, finishes and the resulting Scotches.
When I left that evening, I brought with me a Welsh Whisky, Penderyn Single Malt, with Madeira finish, which I am enjoying tremendously.
They seem to have events and tastings quite regularly… as I write this, there are three coming up in Maple Ridge, in the next while… January 22nd, 23rd & 24th.
Next time you are wondering what to get, whether it be Wine, Beer or Spirits, I suggest stopping by Firefly Fine Wines and Spirits to see What’s In Store !
For selection, product knowledge, and customer care with that little bit extra… I think they are pretty tough to beat !!!
Firefly Fine Wines and Spirits is located at 21755 Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge.
Check it out, next time you drive by!
Robert B. Parker…
Robert B. Parker died today.
He was the author who wrote a lot of detective books… along with a few Westerns.
His characters include Spencer (Robert Urich played the character on TV’s Spenser: For Hire), Hawk (Avery Brooks had a spin off TV series), Jesse Stone (Played by Tom Selleck in a series of TV movies), and Sunny Randall (He wrote a female character at the request of Helen Hunt, although no Movies or TV shows came from it.)
His Boston-based characters appear to be chiseled from the same stone that his predecessors Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald worked from… but the inclusion of many different ethnic, gay and lesbian characters portrayed without stereotypes, as well as strong intelligent female characters, leaves no doubt of its modern sensibility.
His three western novels were also well received, and one (Appaloosa) was turned into a major motion picture.
Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed Mystery and Detective novels.
Some click, and others, do not.
I grew up on Ellery Queen, and when those were exhausted, graduated to Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe.
When he passed, I turned to Robert B. Parker and, more recently, Robert Crais.
Now, sadly, I must go searching again, trying to find an author who pens a sleuth with an attitude, a sharp eye and a quick wit.
They are a rare breed… and we lost a very good one today.
Lighting A Fire In Our Community…
2010 Olympic Torch
On Monday, February 8th, the Olympic Torch Run will pass through Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, on the way to the Opening Ceremonies on the following Friday.
There will be celebrations held in both communities.
Maple Ridge will “go” first, with their Party running from 6 am to 9 am… (although the exact time the Torch will be arriving is still to be announced).
There will be an official ceremony at Memorial Park, with some entertainment, an Art unveiling, and refreshments.
There will also be a Pancake Breakfast at the Greg Moore Youth Centre.
After Maple Ridge, the Torch will continue to Pitt Meadows, where the party will run from 7 am to 10 am, taking place at Spirit Square, next to City Hall. Similarly, the Pitt Meadows celebration will have entertainment, a Spirit of Wood carving presentation and breakfast.
Different Torchbearers will be carrying the Torch through Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, and onto the Opening Ceremonies on February 12th.
Come on out, and help light up the Town !!!
Ripples, Puddles and Google Analytics…
I’ve just been awoken by Statistical Analysis… Yes, I’ve graduated to a WHOLE new level of web geek.
It’s Monday morning, and a little after 2 am. I’ve been awake for an hour, and, having been unable to get back to sleep, have been trying to look at, review and understand the various statistical breakdowns that are supposed to be critical to a Blog’s success.
I believe that much of the traffic that is drawn to my site, comes from Twitter.
So, I turned to a Twitter Analyzer with the thought that perhaps my Tweets are driving the traffic. I have recently been talking with people about the use of Hashtags (#) as a search device, and so I find it not surprising that 51.9%of my Hashtag comments are #Canucks related, with a further 16.5% being attributed to mentions of #Canada, after the #WJHC(World Junior Hockey Championship) in December, which contributed 4.7%. With the Winter Olympics imminent, and the inherent NHL Break, I expect #Canada to do some serious catching up !
While the Hashtag stats are interesting, I saw nothing there that would give me any aid or guidance, in being a better Blogger… So, moving on.
Google Analytics – Starting from Zero…
Google Analytics tells me that 54% of my traffic comes direct to my site, while 27% gets referred, and 19% from Search Engines. I guess this is a baseline, and I can see what the relative numbers do, going up or down. On an unrelated note, I think it’s interesting that the 5th highest source of visits is Facebook, although I haven’t pushed my Blog there. Hmmm !
Owen Greaves on his Blog, has written a number of thoughtful and insightful articles, and says that he has found that the best time of day to Post a blog is between 5 pm and 10 pm. I’m not able to grasp that level of detail, but there are some revealing stats, and being a bit of a numbers geek, I am looking forward to reviewing this again, sometime soon.
But what has awoken me just recently, is mind-numbing in its simplicity… elegant in its mathematics… and daunting in its implementation.
I think more than anything else, I view my Blog… like one of the science experiments we did in Elementary School. I’ve got a bunch of seeds, (my postings) some get sunshine, (viewers) some don’t… some get more water, more fertilizer (multiple mentions) others not. And at the end, we get to see on a very organic level, what works… and what doesn’t.
I was getting bogged down in minutiae. Stuff that doesn’t matter. So what if I overuse the word “Awesome” in my Tweets, and use the salutation “Cheers” too many times ? (Other than perhaps being minorly annoying… It doesn’t matter !!!)
What DOES matter, is the resonance of your message, and the distance it carries. Thus, the ripple and the puddle analogy.
On Twitter, my account @BobSongs has 750 followers. Owen Greaves has 15,200. Jaff Jarvis has 34,000, and Gary Vaynerchuk has 846,000.
Even if EVERY single one of my followers reads one of my Blogs, I will still get less hits than @GaryVee gets in an hour.
Scale of economy.
This should NOT have been mind blowing to me… except for some reason, I believed something different.
I have a music website, www.BobSongs.com that I don’t tweak or overtly promote… and it smacked me in the face to know I got NO TRAFFIC !!!
In the drop of water that is that puddle, my Music website has no ability to create a ripple.
And similarly, with Google Analytics… I can’t get bogged down in the very fine print… yet.
So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get a bucket, and find a tap… because my puddle needs to be bigger !!!
Cheers !!!
😀
What Goes up…
To my readers who have been following this blog, I’m sorry to report that today’s activities were MOST anti-climatic !
In a posting on December 15th, I related the antics of my wife and I, in the act of installing our oversize Christmas lights and ornaments in the large Maple tree, outside our house.
Out On A Limb… (Out Of My Tree… Out Of My Mind…)
I am pleased to report that although this time, there was a picture taken, there was no wind, and myself AND all Christmas ornaments were retrieved from the tree top, without incident.
For those who were hoping for a follow up article, with similar histrionics… my sincere apologies, you will have to wait for next year.
The closest we came to drama, was when the time came to separate the light sets into individual strands, from the one giant ball of light strands that I had accumulated when removing them from the various trees, bushes and hedges around our property. 43 sets of lights make a fairly substantial Boy Scout knot… but we were able to overcome this modest setback, and proceed with the rest of our day.
It was a gorgeous day here in Maple Ridge, I hope you got a chance to get out, and enjoy the sunshine !
David’s Tea…
For a substantial portion of my life, I ran a Store.
Now, wherever I go, I am blessed and cursed with a hyper-awareness of retail situations.
I’ve prevented shoplifting, gotten assistance for cashiers who were swamped, and written letters of commendation, when exceptional service is given.
One example of an amazing retail experience came this week, when I ventured into the Kitsilano store of David’s Tea.
I am frequently on Twitter, and have had a number of conversations with people about various beverages. In one of those conversations, when the subject was tea, it was recommended that I should find my way to David’s Tea.
So, earlier this week, when I unexpectedly found myself in Vancouver, with a few hours to kill… it struck me that I should search this business out.
Through their website, www.DavidsTea.com I found the store on the corner of 4th and Yew, in Kitsilano. (Although there are locations throughout Ontario, and more locations apparently imminent.)
The store was very tidy, white and bright, with upbeat music playing softly enough to not be intrusive to conversation.
I was greeted politely when I stepped through the door, and the woman behind the counter came to personally greet me, as soon as she had finished with the customer she was serving.
She could doubtlessly tell from my overwhelmed expression that I had not visited them before, and as she handed me a complimentary sample of the Day’s Tea Blend, I confirmed it.
She gave me a tour of the store, explaining first, the various infusers, and then taking me through the vast selection of the Teas themself.
The loose teas are all stored in metal cannisters with sealed lids, and as she gave me their Tea Menu, she explained that their teas are organized into Groupings: Black, Green, Blooming Tea Flowers, Herbal, Maté, Oolong, Rooibis, and White Teas, (as well as various sub-groupings) which are clearly marked on the outside of the tins, with big letters and colour coded by group.
The tea is sold by weight, with prices on the Menu. Smaller batches are sold in resealable bags, and larger amounts can be bought in smaller versions of the store’s tins.
David's Tea - Vancouver Location
(They also sell their products online, through their website.)
The fragrant Blends of Teas all have quite distinct frangrances, and are also available for purchase by the cup… for take-out, or to test a flavour of tea, in advance of a purchase.
There are two counters by the windows, a selection of newspapers, many stools, and a complimentary wireless internet connection available… and I could see that on a busy Saturday morning, you might have to arrive early to stake out your spot !
Whether you are an ardent fan of Tea, or just an occasional sipper, I would advise you to head to West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano, and talk to the folks at David’s Tea. They have the right stuff to fill up your cup, and lots of friendly knowledgeable staff to help you on your Tea journey !
Cheers !!!