We here at Second Glass are huge wine enthusiasts and always eager to learn more, so in the spirit of wine education we’ve expanded our weekly Friday meeting (previously focused on company projects and metrics) to include an informal wine presentation given by one member of our team. It’s an awesome way to research a favorite place or grape and share those stories, plus getting together to drink delicious wine at 5 p.m. is a hell of a way to kick off the weekend.

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At our recent event, Muscadet, Shuck Yeah we wanted the focus to be on the delicious pairing of the crisp French wine Muscadet with oysters and New England style seafood. At Second Glass we also love all things ridiculously awesome. We hatched the plan to have an ice sculpture after seeing a mockup of one on Brookline Ice and Coal's website. We needed this. As the planning for the event started to kick up into high gear, and we began to understand the details of the ice sculpture, it became clear we needed more of a plan. What happens when you suddenly have 500lbs of melting ice you need to dispose of? We could easily have left it out on the street for the world to admire as it slowly sank back into earth OR we could make it someone else's problem. Not to be harsh, but it certainly would be nice for someone to take care of this for us. This is where Craigslist came into account. After events, people sometime post their 'disposable' items for free pickup, and this seemed like a fabulous plan. The posting went as follows: Lightly used 500 lbs ice sculpture (well by then it might be like 450 lbs). We are using this to serve oysters and look generally badass at an event but at 11pm on May 14th it will turn into a giant icy pumpkin. We COULD A. leave this on the street B. hack it up with an ice pick C. Sneak it into the New England Aquarium OR You could pick it up and throw an impromptu party with the most badass ice sculpture you have ever SEEN! You will look so shucking cool. Here are the things people will think of you. -you are a total baller -you have enough money to spend on totally stupid things -you are 10x sexier than normal -this party you throw will be the most epic party anyone has ever been to (by default) THE RULES

• You must pick this up between 10:30 and 11:00pm on Saturday May 14th at the Villa Victoria center for the Arts
• You must be ready and willing to have a fabulous time and send us pictures
• You must have a way to transport this, remember, it weighs a whole bunch and is made of ice.

Thanks so much! The photo below is a sample of a similar ice sculpture but our will be different and holding bottles of wine (I KNOW) So this is where it became the most fun. Almost immediately upon posting this, the responses began pouring in! I have enclosed a few of my favorite responses Sorry, I'm probably gonna be too hammered to use this... I'm going to be at this Wine Riot event that is being held really close by, although the timing sounds good so I might get a second wind and use the octopus to head up an impromptu conga line back to my place... via the commuter rail of course. I really like this one because little does this guy know he will be at the original event for the octopus. haha! Someone else started harassing me for this! Sorry if this seems desperate, but my girlfriend was VERY excited about this sculpture when I told her about it.  This may be too much to disclose, but I missed her birthday last year because I was in Iraq and really want to do something special this year.  I would be willing to pay $300, but only if it has the hectocotylus arm.  PLEASE let me know. It should be mentioned that the hectocotylus arm is a male octopus' sex organ.... and that this later turned out to be  a prank! The 'winner' as it were, was a group of guys throwing some sort of house party in Allston. So I live in a collective house/showspace in Allston. We have a huge live music/DJ event on this Saturday, and this would be INCREDIBLE to have in the house that night. We will have a ton of people there, a professional photographer, and would totally take awesome pictures for you. We have several cars and are totally capable of transporting it. We live at House (of 1,000 Smiles) in Allston. We don’t do facebooks for events, but here’s a description: Witch House, Ghost Drone, and Dark Wave+ night @ House (of 1000 Smiles), Live acts Journey to the Center of the Collon, Black Adonis, Ming Ming, and Negative Time. Plus DJs, Baltimoroder (Basstown/Heartthrob), El Poser (Cult/Harrum Scarrum), Punketta Dollie (Redtail), and 1000th Smile (House of 1000 Smiles). Plus, dubstep, techno, minimal, EBM, industrial, chill wave & more! Right now I’m just scrambling to find a car that I am 100%  sure is large enough to hold this. Our cars are all passenger cars of various sizes, and I’m concerned that even with the seats down, it may not fit. #win. These guys were rockstars showing up and taking the melting slippery beast off our hands and off to party the night away. Other responses kept pouring in and Second Glass staff found that their friends were seeing this post circulating at work. It was turning out to be a pretty good day. I've discussed this with my friends. We are more than willing to take this. And we will have a good time. Ideas have ranged from the most epic ice luge of all time... to taking it to a shooting range and ceremoniously destroying the icy cephalopod with various weapons on high-speed camera (don't ask why we have a high-speed camera). Either way, it'll be a good time. Do you have a number where we can reach you? We were already pretty attached to the octopus so seeing it shot to bits was less than ideal. This was a pretty good proposal, but without a car, we doubted their success. We need that sculpture: here is our plan Phase 1.  Bring 8ish people to your place Phase 2.  Use 6 of those people to carry the sculpture on a large stretcher (we will provide) to the nearest T stop Phase 3.  Attempt to get the Octopus onto the T Phase 4.  Use the 2 non-carrying people to document the attempt and the reactions of people around them. Phase 5.  Ride the T, with the Octopus, to the Summit Ave T stop. Phase 6.  See how far we can get the Octopus up Summit Ave. Phase 7.  Send you the photos as a token of gratitude. Alternate plan if there is a failure in Phase 3: Put the stretcher on skateboards and walk it to Brookline, making friends along the way. Please advise People were very happy to even have such a thing be possible! All I have to say is… BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Best Craigslist post EVER! Epic and well worded. Now that I got that out. I have no use for it and its more work than it’s worth. But thanks for the laugh… And this one I can't do this but thought I would tell you I think you are really something to be so funny and give away something for someone else to enjoy immensely.........Good fun to the lucky getter!!!!!!!!!!!!! When the sculpture was installed, the artist came with a huge crank capable of lifting it up and was very careful and professional about the whole thing. All this preparation and equipment made us nervous for our Allston Party guys, but the whole point was that this was now their task. They came prepared and pulled it off! They at least got it in their car and since we didn't see any headlines of "Student crushed by Ice Sculpture" everyone is probably safe! If you're out there octopus ice sculpture owners, send us pictures!

Here is a video by Founder and President, Tyler Balliet on why we created Wine Riot and the staff behind it!

Methuselah, not just a guy in the Bible! While everyone was attending church on Sunday, September 27th, The Second Glass staff was also paying homage to an Old Testament patriarch … by drinking a Methuselah of Taittinger Champagne. Claiming the title of being the oldest dude who ever lived, Methuselah shares his name with a 6-liter bottle that provided our staff with an abundance of fuzzy relaxation! In the early afternoon, The Second Glass sauntered into Eastern Standard for a delicious brunch, a Wine Riot recap and, of course, our badass Methuselah. Couple of favorite Wine Riot moments… While the Riot may have caused some of the staff to pull out their own hair, everybody had some ridiculous memories to share at the brunch table: Silly messages over the walkie-talkies, infamous photo booth shots, elevator woes, meeting wine superstars … that couple making out in a phone booth on third floor! Share in our gallivanting... By the end of brunch, with a nearly 25-pound bone dry bottle behind us, nobody was ready to throw in the towel just yet. Full of bubbles, warm breakfast chow and fuzzy feelings, The Second Glass crew spilled out of the banquet room and continued celebrating. All in all, we pretty much took over the Eastern Standard bar. You shoulda been there!

It's the Thursday before the 4th of July and all we can think about is getting out of here. But so much wine to drink before we go! Work comes first!