Of all the processes each bottle of sparkling wine goes through, the one that intrigues me most is the daily quarter-rotation of the bottle. If you haven't before toured one of Napa Valley's champagne houses, it's hard to imagine what 50,000 bottles of aging wine look like. Keep in mind that still wine (i.e., not champagne) can be aged in large barrels (fine wineries typically use oak barrels), but the double fermentation process for making champagne calls for each bottle to be aged individually -- and rotated on a daily basis. Cheaper sparkling wines are rotated by machine, but the thought of workers turning thousands of finer champagne bottles a quarter-turn a day amazes me.

When you pop open the champagne come New Year's Eve, don't take for granted all that bottle has gone through to make it to your hands. I sure won't.

Have a great week, and happy December. (Let the millennium countdown begin!)

-Gabe

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Bird, a former Stanford law school professor and the first woman cabinet member in California history, was named chief justice by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in March 1977. From the day of her appointment, her tenure was marked by intense controversy.

Ultimately, the perception of her as an unrelenting opponent of the death penalty led to her political downfall. Every major Republican office holder and candidate in the state -- former Govs. George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson -- are two good examples -- used her as a lightning rod to build popular support. Just last year, GOP gubernatorial contender Dan Lungren invoked memories of Bird to tar his Democratic rival Gray Davis, whose marriage ceremony was performed by Bird. Lungren, who most political observers agree ran an inept campaign, failed; Davis won overwhelmingly. Perhaps that was due, in part, to the fact that many younger voters had never heard of Rose Bird. When she stood for statewide confirmation a year after her appointment, she was the focus of another controversy, which stemmed from questionable newspaper allegations that her court deliberately delayed announcing a decision on a critical issue in order to protect her confirmation chances at the polls. After interminable hearings, the court's role was essentially vindicated. But the political stain remained.

Her role in death penalty cases and a famous rape case in which the court ruled that "great bodily injury" meant physical injury above and beyond the injury of the rape itself tarnished her in the eyes of law-and-order advocates.

Moreover, critics contended that Bird sought to turn the court into an improper agent of advocacy for political purposes. Bird's personality and her management style gave those critics potent ammunition.

Bird, as the top administrative officer of the courts, shook up the structure of the state's judiciary, causing resentment among many who had worked for years in the judicial system. She could be contemptuous of those who crossed her, and she had a remarkable ability to make large numbers of enemies quickly.

Wilson and many others believed Bird, a former public defender, to be unqualified to serve as chief justice and the drumbeat of criticism they leveled at her was unrelenting.

Finally, she was removed from office in 1986 by a vote of the people, and she promptly disappeared from view. Living on her $1,000-a-month pension, she never held a full-time job again, according to published accounts. She traveled, taught law, worked in legal clinics and settled in Palo Alto. Even many she worked with were unaware that Bird, who suffered from recurring bouts of breast cancer since the mid-1970s, had once been the state chief justice. It was breast cancer that killed her at the age of 63.

In the end, her greatest personal anger was directed at the media, which she believed misrepresented her to the public and distorted the image of her public service.

Interesting article you have about news coverage (http://www.capenq.com/newsletter/archives/1999/nov99/0321.html). Another example was the terrible cyclone that hit India, the same day the Egypt Airline crash happened. The plane crash killed a couple hundred people. In India about 10,000 were killed, and millions affected by the disaster. It had little coverage and the airline crash has been a major item.

Yes, the media in general have, for most of [their] existence, had the idea that [their] job is to be the "merchants of chaos." They have taken [it] upon themselves to make sure people are kept in fear of

their environment -- through sensationalized coverage, and always creating conflict. If there's no conflict, it's not newsworthy -- apparently. As you say, there are some very good reporters out there. Unfortunately, they are in the minority.

Want to feel better about life? Stop reading the newspaper for three weeks. Then pick one up again and read it for a few days and see the difference.

- Marc Ferreira
Sunnyvale, CA

This handy directory lists alphabetically all agency and department-level organizations, most division and branch level offices. Names and titles of state offices and officials, with addresses, phone and fax numbers. Where a vacancy exists the position is listed without a name. Convenient 4" x 9" fits in your briefcase or on your desk. With the election of a Democratic Governor, major shifts are occurring in personnel and state agency structure. Order now at: http://www.capenq.com/order or fax (916) 442-1260.

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