This year however I shocked myself at how much I enjoyed watching each event, male or female, indoor or outdoor. I blame it all on the television networks and their ability to make everyone of the American athletes the good ‘ol american boy/girl next door. Before each of their runs there would be a little storyline that would make you feel like you are cheering on one of your friends.

The olympics also led our country to form a unified nationalistic tone where we would boo at other countries and pray for a mistake, a fall or a slip. Time warner cable also jumped on the band wagon by creating a special feature on everyone’s sets where if they pushed a button, anyone could have the Olympics on demand. Along with coke, McDonalds and nike, the search engine Google had a hand in showing there love for the Olympics. While not only having almost 300 billion results when typing in 2006 Winter Olympics their homepage also featured the letters google and turning the letter o into a luge or so on. It was a great past few weeks were we had many wins and many loses, but all and all it makes me a true fan once again.

Not only is it played in churches, community centers, classrooms and in school gymnasiums but there is also a huge market online like almost everything else in the world. It is a form of legalized gambling that is generally used for “charity” but in my opinion it just helps some gamblers get their fix.

I was shocked to learn that the game of bingo originated in Europe around 1530. It was originally called Lo Giocco del Lotto D’ Italia (no idea what that means). After making its way around Europe the trend finally hit the United States. It was originally played in fairs and was called beano. The caller would pull numbers 1-90 and people would use beans to mark their card and yell beano when the won. Once Edwin S. Lowe, a toy salesman, heard someone accidentally yell out Bingo instead and hired a math professor to help increase the number of cards you use. He then took his new game to a bunch of his wealthy friends in New York and the game took on from there. This is the game that we have come to know and love.

I recently went to bingo with my mother and it was nothing like I had expected. It might be one of the toughest crowds I’ve ever seen. I’ve been to a Yankee vs. Red Socks game and I think the crowed at bingo was a much harsher group to deal with. The ladies will start swearing at the caller and ripping up their cards before anyone even calls bingo. Like a sixth sense they’ve acquired, they can tell if someone is going to hit just by how many B’s or N’s are called. And you can forget about if you are a new player and you yell bingo more than once. I won two small pots and they were yelling for me to leave. I couldn’t believe it yet I was oddly entertained by it. If you ever want to learn more information about the game you can visit the www.bignoguidebook.com.

I recently took a trip to the Fingerlakes where I went on a wine tour. I found the whole experience to be absolutely surreal. Actually being in the place where wine you have bought at the store around the corner from your house, was actually made processed and bottled. Our group visited 5 different New York wineries which gave me a little bit of New York pride.

The first winery we went to was one I have never heard of but soon learned was one of the most praised vineyards. Dr. Konstantin Frank vinifera wine cellars have been around for three generations, and have won medals nationally and internationally for their wines. They have the largest selection of rootstock which has grown for thirty years in sub-zero temperatures. Dr. Frank received his PH.D. upon writing his thesis on the pioneering of growth for the vitis vinifera in the cold eastern climate. (Vitis Vinifera is a grape that is generally home to Europe).

They had told us that the European grape was allowed use by Dr. Frank when he developed a fertilizer that helped kill the bacteria that was eating away at all of Europe’s grapes. When he gave them the fertilizer they allowed him to use their grapes and graph them with some Americas own. Together they have helped to create many gold medal wines. You can even purchase these wines online at www.drfrankwines.com.

The best part of the whole trip was the fact that the towns surrounding these vineyards are so quaint and relaxing. You stay at bed and breakfasts where there are no locks on the doors and everyone leaves their keys in their ignitions. It was an excellent experience that I had the pleasure to enjoy and if you ever need more information on booking your own trip you can contact www.fingerlakeswinetours.com.

For many, this lack of snow is more of a blessing than anything else. Not having to worry about alternate side parking or black ice. Instead they have just had to deal with the colds they’ve developed from the constant changing from frigid cold to then almost spring like weather.

As mentioned in the Times Union many annual events have had to adapt to the unseasonably warm weather. Such as in the Grafton Lakes Winter Festival, which usual stars horses pulling sleighs across the fresh powdery snow, now will be attached to carriages pulled across pavement. It kind of takes away from the trademark winter ideals for the upstate region. So in the end I wonder if it is a fluke of warmth or is it rather a change that will consistently chage?