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WTO, Yes or No? (Budweiser)

The AP reported (leaked) a story from Brussels that the WTO will publish a decision in March that will uphold the "EU system which says only foods produced in their original region can carry certain well-known labels...while clarifying that products from outside the 25-nation bloc could also apply for similar protection." US producer's hailed the decision, claiming that their trademarked product names will be globally protected, aiding Florida orange growers, Idaho potatoe and Vidalia onion growers, and, oddly, Anheuser-Busch in maintaining the integrity of the origins of their products. After all, you wouldn't want to eat a Florida orange that was not grown in Florida, would you?

Now children, there has been a rift for some time between Anheuser-Busch and Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar NP over the rights to the name, "Budweiser" and "Bud". Anheuser-Busch has been brewing "Budweiser" in the US since 1876. Budejovicky Budvar was founded in 1895 in a town called Budweis by the German-speaking people that lived in the area at the time.(1) The city is called Budweis, in German and Ceské Budejovice, in Czech. In German, the word 'Budweiser' is the adjectival form of proper noun 'Budweis', meaning 'of or from Budweis'. In Czech, the word 'Budejovicky' is the adjectival form of the propor noun 'Budejovice', meaning 'of or from Budejovice'.(2) Most of the courts in the world are siding with Anheuser-Busch, since they were using the name first, and consistent with trademark laws. However, the Czechs have been brewing this type of beer (a Pilsner, which means "from Plzen, Czechoslovakia) for over 700 years. Sure, the Czechs could change the name of their beer to St. Louisicky, meaning 'of or from St. Louis', but that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, would it?

The EU and WTO have agreed that products with protected regional names could exist alongside previously trademark protected names. Hmm, makes sense but I'm sure there will be some resistance from trademark holders. We're talking in-ter-nation-al corporations here. You know, the ones that tell you what to wear, eat, drink, drive. OBTW, the Czech's Bud is IMHO one of the finest beers in the world, a head-spinning departure from good ole American Bud (or any other "Pilsner" rip-off brewed in the US). Perhaps this is the moral of the story (you saw this coming, didn't you), why don't we all just sit down and have ourselves an old-fashioned taste test. Maybe after a few "Buds" we can see these things a little more clearly (dare I say it... like the Europeans do?).

(1) Source, "St. Louis Business Journal", 29June04.

(2) Source, "World Patent and Trademark News (TM)", Vol 4, Issue 6.

Weather Report...

Not a Duck Report...since we have weather, but no ducks. 30mph winds today with gusts over 40mph, but no ducks. It was 56 degF yesterday, Dec 18! Okay, there are ducks here, local ducks that have been shot at since mid October, so they're wise. The show up 10 minutes after shootin' time and take off 30 min before shootin' time. There's not been a cold front to push the less wised up northern ducks down this way, so what we've got here is poor hunting. Not a great end to Buster's hunting career.

Texas/Oklahoma trip...

This trip was over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Rhonda and I flew from Seattle to Austin and spent that week at Steve and Shea's new house (see photo below, open Nov archive if it's not there). Danny and Donna, Jeff and Deana, Laney and Casey, Dad and Kit and a few other folks were there. There was way too much food, we had a turkey and all the trimmin's, plus Donna made a pepper turkey, and I made bran rolls (my Mom's recipe). Brock kept everybody entertained for most of the day and we had a really great time.
[Click on "Continue reading "Texas/Oklahoma trip..."" for more pics and stories.]

Brock is dancin' and puttin' the moves on the girls... Laney and Casey have taught him to dance to Ramstein's "We are living in America..." (I don't know the actual title to the song), and he just couldn't get enough of it.
Click on the links below to see more of "the King" (and some of his court).
Ramstein Fan !
Steve and Brock
Rhonda and Brock




Steve and Shea (and Brock, and another unidentified passenger) drove Rhonda and me up to Tulsa to see Grandma. She's doing really great and was very happy to see all of us. Dad and Kit drove up in another car and stayed with Grant and Betty. We had a nice visit and dinner at her "home". Rhonda and I flew out of Tulsa back home.

Rhonda's new Honda...

Wow! Look at Rhonda go! She's got wheels! And style! She's ready to cruise the English roadways! I think she ought to slow down a bit though, don't you? Hey, did I just clock her at 85? No, I don't think so.
This is Rhonda's new (to her) 2003 Honda Metropolitan I. This beauty boasts 49cc's and will has a road wrenching top speed of 40 mph. It's got an automatic transmission, electric or kick start, a large storage compartment under the seat (really, you could fit a large watermelon in there) and is street legal, complete with lights, turn signals, mirrors and license plate. It gets 80 mpg, and with my multiple car discount, cost me a mere $6.29 per month to insure, at least here in the states. And doesn't she look great on it? Whasa matta? Too blurry? Read on.... (hint, more pics)

More Fun with Movable Type...

This is fun. Notice how the text is wrapped around the pictures now? See the caption under the cat's photo? Ha! This just keeps getting better all the time. (Thanks in a large part to Elise's "Learning Movable Type" blogpage. Thanks, Elise! )

Trimmin' the house...

We put up the lights on our house, had a little help...

The house looks nice, my Mom sent a pretty balsam wreath that we put over the garage. There are other houses around that have a lot more lights and are more beautiful, but we used all the lights that we had between us and since we're moving to England where the voltage is 240VAC, we didn't buy any more. The lights we have will stay here with the house for my tennants to use.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Well, we've put up our Christmas Tree.
Rhonda tried to convince me that an artificial tree was good enough, but after one look at Wal-Mart I decided to go get a real one.

The cheapest artificial tree was around $40, so I figured I could get a real one for around that. We went to Henry's Christmas Tree Farm on Boon Rd. and picked out a really nice one. We cut it down ourselves and hauled it to the truck. Henry's wife served us some hot apple cider and we had a nice chat. They only wanted $20 for the tree, but I made her take $25. We brought it home and decorated it, that was yesterday. It looks really pretty with a lot of lights and a bunch of decorations. Rhonda had a bunch and I had a lot, too. Sheilah had given me about a dozen really nice ornaments that were glass figures all painted up, similar to the old fashioned kind that had mercury inside, if you're familiar with those. Henry's wife gave us a leaflet that the Boy Scouts had left, where if you call them before the 6th of Jan, they'll come to the house and haul your tree away for a donation. I thought that was pretty cool, I used to be a Boy Scout when I was a kid and I'd rather give them some money for disposal than have to take it to the dump myself (and pay for disposal, too).