An Afternoon With Friends! Oh, And Wine!

Did You Know? - “Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read.” ― Francis Bacon

Did You Know? - To make a wine glass sing, you will need the following materials:

• wine glass - a crystal, thin-walled one works best
• separate glass of water
• wet fingertip

To make the wine glass sing, do the following:

Hold the empty wine glass on a tabletop at the base of the stem with one hand.

Wet the index or middle finger of your other hand with some water.

Lightly rub your wet finger along the rim of the glass.

As you rub the glass, you will hear the "singing" sound of the glass. You may have to re-wet your finger periodically and/or adjust the pressure of your finger on the rim of the glass to keep producing the sound.

You can change the pitch of the sound by adding water to the glass.

Every material (such as glass, steel, concrete) has a natural frequency at which it vibrates, called a resonant frequency. If you put energy into the substance at its resonant frequency, you will force it to vibrate or resonate (resonance is a forced vibration). In the case of the wine glass, your finger slides and sticks along the surface of the glass as you rub the rim (a wet fingertip has no oil and makes a better contact with the glass). The rubbing imparts energy to the glass molecules and causes them to resonate. The motion of your hand sets up a wave of vibration traveling through the glass. The vibrating glass causes air molecules to vibrate at the same frequency. The vibrating air molecules are the sound wave that you hear (the frequency or pitch of the sound wave is the same as the resonant frequency of the glass).

So, how does the water change the pitch of the singing wine glass? As the resonant wave moves around the glass, it drags the water molecules with it, creating a wave of water that you can see near the edge of the glass. The dragging water molecules effectively increase the mass (both the water and the glass molecules) and reduce the energy of the wave traveling through the glass. When the energy is reduced, so is the frequency of the wave in the glass, which is reflected in the pitch of the sound wave that you hear.

Did You Know? - The apron was traditionally viewed as an essential garment for anyone doing housework. Cheaper clothes and washing machines made aprons less common beginning in the mid-1960s in some countries such as the United States. However, the practice of wearing aprons remains strong in many places.

Today, the apron has enjoyed a minor renaissance in terms of both women and men now wearing them when performing household chores. For instance, an article in the Wall Street Journal claimed in 2005 that the apron is "enjoying a renaissance as a retro-chic fashion accessory" in the United States.

However, it still is not as prevalent as it was prior to the 1960s.

Did You Know? - Villa Nova in Newport sold for $6 million

In a restaurant auction that lasted a heart-stopping 22 minutes, the old guard bid farewell to a coveted coastal property while its hipster successor waited eagerly in the wings.

Capping a 20-year run as owner of Villa Nova, Andy Crean sold the premium property along Mariner's Mile last week in an auction that came down to a nail-biting bidding war in the final minutes. In the end, Newport Beach resident Mike Moshayedi, who owns the Joe's Crab Shack property nearby, snagged the landmark location for $6 million.

Moshayedi said he will entertain offers to bring a new restaurant to the site. So far, his top choice is The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar, a contemporary fine-dining restaurant in Tustin.