Here are some of the things we're talking about in the OMC editorial office this week. Use the Talkback feature to submit your own recommendations or send them to omcrecommends@staff.onmilwaukee.com.
The New Glarus Primrose Winery tour -- This quaint Swiss town southwest of Madison is probably best known for its award-winning brewery, made famous by the deliciously popular Spotted Cow beer (among many, many others).
But, that's not the only local libation worth the two-hour trip from Milwaukee. The small Primrose Winery at 500 First St. offers a wide selection of reds and whites, some dry and traditional, others sweet from the fruit of rhubarb or cranberry. The winery doesn't offer a tour like the brewery does, but it does do an excellent job with its free wine tasting session, where you are welcome to sample one or all 13 varieties -- from red, to white, blush, dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet -- all year round. Owners Bob and Peg Borucki have been making and selling the wine since 1990. -- Julie Lawrence
"A Strange Education" by The Cinematics -- If you put some Killers, The Cure, U2, Gang of Four, Echo and the Bunnymen and a few other cool bands into a music processor, you might come up with a cool CD like this one. You can call these Scots pop-punk-glam or anything you want, but labels are meaningless when the songs are strong. -- Drew Olson
Sites I can't live without -- Everyone has those Web sites that they count on daily and I couldn't get by without some of mine. I do a lot of translating of short blurbs and while Dictionary.com is good English source, there's nothing that beats Garzanti for Italian/English (and reverse) translations. But the site also has verb conjugations, pronunciation features and a false friends guide. I also rely on the Yahoo page for my team to keep up with what Toro is doing on a daily basis. There's more than results, rosters, standings and schedules, there are also daily updates, game reviews and the like. The Guardian lets me keep up on world news and allows me to see what the view from outside America looks like. I'm always curious about the geographic origins of Italian surnames and gens.labo.net searches phone books and shows occurrences and concentrations of names. Although thanks to migrations there are now a lot of once-local names dispersed, you can usually tell the place of origin by the location of the heaviest concentration. Why waste your time with second-hand weather regurgitation from TV news when you can go the source. The National Weather Service has a great page with forecasts, maps of all kinds and more. -- Bobby Tanzilo
Red grapes from MetroMarket -- Maybe I'm just drawn to the "AdvantageCard" discount on the red grapes at Metro Market. It's seemingly lasted for months. But, with or without a price break, red grapes are damn tasty this year. Buy some. -- Jeff Sherman.
Pandora.com -- It's the ultimate music recommendations site/internet radio based on the Music Genome Project. You create your own station by plugging in a song or artist that you would like to hear more of or something like it. Pandora gives you the chance to rate the songs played -- thumbs up or thumbs down -- and it creates your station through your preferences. -- Heather Leszczewicz
"Southern Manners" by The Watson Twins -- The Watson Twins (yes, they are actually Kentucky-bred twins) made a name for themselves when they provided backup vocals for Jenny Lewis's "Rabbit Fur Coat" (Team Love Records) in '06, but now with their self-released eight-song EP -- "Southern Manners" -- smoothly crooning its way into everyone's heart, they'd better get used to the spotlight. Full of dark, beautiful, melodic country ballads, the album instantly feels as worn and loved as your favorite busted up pair of cowboy boots. The four-part harmonies -- with a little help from Ms. Lewis and Aram Arslanian -- will knock you flat. Get this record now. -- J.L.
Glide tape -- I'm a big fan of good oral hygiene. And really, who isn't? You gotta floss, so why not do it with the best stuff out there - Glide Tape. It doesn't shred, has just enough wax on it to get through the tight spots and doesn't have a nasty fake mint flavor. Try it, you'll like it and your dentist will be impressed. Check out http://www.crest.com/glide/tape.jsp -- Jeff Sherman.
"Candyman" by Christina Aguilera -- Maybe I'm just at the age where I could care less what people think of my diverse musical tastes. Or maybe I just like a little Christina Aguilera from time to time. Who knows? I do know that this tune sticks with you. It's old-school pop, sexy and mildly dirty. That's a good combination, don't you agree? Pretty sure that if I had a 14-year-old that I wouldn't want him / her analyzing the lyrics, but I don't -- so I'll keep it on the iPod for a few more weeks until I grow sick of it. - J.S.
