Blind tasting is a very strange activity. Contrary to what many people imagine, it has nothing to do with blindfolds. It involves tasting a wine without seeing the label and it can deliver shocking surprises. I tasted seven champagnes (香槟) blind with a group of professionals recently. There was a shock when they discovered the wine most of them preferred carried a label they regarded as their least favorite. That sort of result is especially common with champagne, the most image-driven rather than quality-driven wine of all. But it happens all the time when wine is tasted blind.

    Because I'm interested in how wines really taste instead of how I think they should, I taste wine blind as often as I can, especially when assessing similar young wines. But blind tasting when you know absolutely nothing about the wine in front of you is something completely different. The most difficult Master of Wine exams include three sessions during which you have a dozen glasses in front of you and nothing more helpful than a printed exam paper asking you to identify each wine as closely as possible, and assess its quality.

    Now that the MW is behind me, I taste wine completely blind only very rarely, and never in public. So my blind tastings these days are round the dinner table with good friends and once a year when I act as a judge, with Hugh Johnson, in the Oxford vs Cambridge wine-tasting competition. This is the most extraordinary match, always held before the Boat Race but taken just as seriously nowadays. This year's taste-off took place at the end of last month, as usual in the Oxford and Cambridge Club on Pall Mall in London.  

    Two men were sitting together in a plane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a businessman. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said, “Let's do something to pass the time.”

     “What do you want to do?” the businessman asked. “We can ask each other riddles.” The farmer said, “You start.” “Let's make the rules first,” the businessman said. “That's not fair. You are a businessman with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer.”

    “That's true.” The businessman said. “What do you want we should do?” “If you don't know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $50.” The farmer said. The businessman thought about this, then he said, “OK. That's fair. Who will go first?”

    “I will,” The farmer said. “Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” The business man repeated the riddle, “What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that's a good one. I'm afraid I don't know the answer.” He gave the farmer $100, then said, “Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” “I don't know.” The farmer said and gave him $50.

    Going green seems to be fad(时尚)for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can't really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.

    On April 22,2011,we decided to be green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different things to do and this was no easy task.

    With the idea of going green every single day a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.

    Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyles. We now shop at organic(有机的) stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don't need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.

    Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planets.

    We always knew our daughter Kendall was going to be a performer of some sort. She entertained people in our small town by putting on shows on our front porch when she was only three or four. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and beautiful, she sang like a little angel.

    When Kendall was five, we began to notice that she was blinking a lot and clearing her throat frequently. We took her to our local children's hospital where she was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome.

    It was pretty devastating（毁灭性的）because other children constantly made fun of her, and sadly, even a teacher teased her. Through all this, Kendall continued to sing and entertain. Remarkably, her tics disappeared when she sang.

    In 2005 when Kendall was sixteen, we thought she was pretty much out of the woods -- or at least heading in that direction. However, a freak accident happened.

    At a birthday party, Kendall hopped on a friend for a piggyback ride. Kendall flew over his back and landed on the cement floor -- on her neck. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital where she spent the next week, paralyzed from the neck down. Ironically, her biggest concern wasn't whether she would walk again, but whether she would be able to audition（试唱）for American Idol.

    Doctors said Kendall had central cord syndrome. Sometimes the pain was so unbearable that she had to bite down on a toothbrush to take her mind off it. As the days dragged on, we didn't know for sure how much of her movement would ever come back.

    I believe Kendall wanted the American Idol audition so much that she willed herself to move again. One of her friends brought a microphone to the hospital and put it on her bed. Every day, Kendall tried hard to pick it up with her right hand. It was more important for her to pick up that microphone than a spoon or fork.

    Sometimes we all cried because of the pain we witnessed. But on the day Kendall walked into the stadium to audition for American Idol – a mere three months after her accident -- we cried tears of joy. And our tears turned into shouts when she was given a golden ticket to Hollywood.

    Kendall is eighteen now, living every day to its fullest. She's recorded a CD with some of John Mellencamp's band members. I'm absolutely sure she's going to make it big some day. Kendall just puts it all in God's hands.

    When she was a little girl trying hard to be strong, she looked up at me, her big eyes brimming with tears, and asked me why she had to have Tourette's Syndrome. My heart ached to make the word right for my child. But I looked right back at her and told her the truth as I see it.

    “Kendall, God gave you a pure heart, an angelic voice, a strong mind, and a beautiful presence. With all of that, he had to make it fair for everyone else.”

    When was the last time you used plastic plates? Next time, why not try some edible ones? You'll help the environment and your guests won't go hungry. "I used to work in school catering and saw a lot of money being thrown away. I thought that was criminal, so I decided to do something about it," said Italian school chef Tiziano Vicentini.

    Now, Vicentini has an amazing range of edible plates for schools. The plates are made out of bread dough, so you can eat them afterwards. "These dishes cost a few pennies each and are either eaten by the kids, or go into recycling bins for animal food," explained Vicentini, 50, of Milan. But now other companies are developing edible plates, too. The Edible-Plate Company offers edible plates, bowls, trays and cups. Their products are environmentally-friendly, 100% biodegradable and can be used for all types of catering and home use. And they're made from a natural plant. After use, they can be fed to animals or left to degrade naturally.

    They also have a range of cutlery（餐具） made from corn and potato starch（淀粉）. These plates will also help reduce the amount of plastic; we create. Waste from plastic causes a lot of damage to the environment, as well as costing governments millions m waste management. Plastic bags often end up in landfill sites or on the street. And the burning of plastic waste causes toxic gases that pollute the air. In response to this, governments around the world are introducing tough recycling regulations. And many shops are offering biodegradable plastic bags and eco-safe packaging on their products. To help matters, the International Organization for Standardization (the ISO) has also developed a system to evaluate the biodegradability of products, with a certification and logo scheme, Meanwhile, how about a nice plate for lunch?

    My friend Jason and I wanted to do something to help other people who are less lucky and help us grow at the same time. After we decided that we would volunteer in Nepal, I did some surveys on the Internet and I found an organization called Volunteer(志愿者) Nepal and felt strongly that it was the right choice for us.

    While making our plans, Jason and I realized that others might like the chance to be a part of our experience. So before leaving for Nepal, we asked the people we know whether they would be interested in donating(捐赠) money or goods to Nepal Orphans Home.

    One friend, whose family owns a shop called Drake Supermarket, told others about it. Many people wanted to donate something. We received donations that filled 29 boxes with sporting goods, toys, coloring books, pencils, children's books, and more, The boxes were later taken to Drake's warehouse(仓库) where I prepared them for shipment. Drake agreed to ship them to Nepal for free .

    The boxes had arrived at the Volunteer House when we arrived there. The next day, Jason and I opened the boxes. The children from the orphanages(孤儿院) stood in a line and were able to choose a gift. This took about an hour, but the looks on their faces and the happiness that we saw in their eyes made it one of the best days of our life.

    We visited the orphanages there in the following days. Being with the children at the orphanages was both sad and wonderful. I'm sure that anyone who has volunteered will understand what I mean by that. My experience as a volunteer was very useful. It has changed me as a person and the way I viewed life in the past.