Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:
Extreme temperatures, little rain, an unseasonably warm late winter / early spring followed by multiple frosts all have made 2012 a tough year for Ohio farmers.
One of the few bright spots is that it could lead to some interesting, complex wines from Ohio producers.
While talking with Donniella Winchell of the Ohio Wine Producers Association to preview this weekend's Vintage Ohio festival in Kirtland, she said the unseasonable weather could be a boon for the state's wineries.
The warm weather made the primary grape buds bloom early, and many of those primary buds were destroyed by the frosts that followed. That pattern decimated crops for farmers whose produce is used for grape juice, she said. However, grape vines also have secondary and tertiary buds.
''In mother nature's wisdom, the fruit that grows from those buds, if it ripens, is more complex and intense in its flavors and components,'' Winchell said.
Because the frost came and went so early, those buds will have more time to mature. And the looser bunches of grapes from those secondary buds and the hot weather means there is less chance of disease and/or mildew destroying the crop.
If nothing else, farmers may have some quality vino to help drown their sorrows.
Jerry Garcia's 70th birthday would have been on Wednesday, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has several activities planned to mark the occasion.
Bill Kreutzmann, one of the Grateful Dead's drummers, will be interviewed in the Rock Hall's Foster Theater at 5:30 p.m. Friday. That event is sold out, but tickets ($15) still are available for a concert by Kreutzmann's band 7 Walkers at 8 p.m. Friday.
Howard Kramer, curator of the Grateful Dead exhibition on display on the fifth and sixth floors of the museum, will be available to answer questions and walk visitors through the exhibit on Friday and Saturday.
Screenings of the Dead films ''Dead Ahead'' and ''Anthem to Beauty'' and footage from ''Move Me Brightly'' will be shown in the Foster Theater on Saturday and Sunday, and a drum circles are planned Saturday and Sunday
Except for the concert, admission to the events is free with admission to the Rock Hall.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is changing things up for this year's holiday tour. For the first time, TSO will be performing its 2004 concept album ''The Lost Christmas Eve'' in its entirety instead of ''Christmas Eve and Other Stories,'' the recording that launched Paul O'Neill's rock/classical fusion.
The second half of the show will include favorites from ''Christmas Eve'' as well as tracks from an upcoming EP.
One thing not included in Wednesday's announcement was a tour itinerary, so there's no word yet on whether TSO will be coming back to the Covelli Centre in 2012 after skipping Youngstown last Christmas season. Expect a tour schedule soon because presales for fan club members are scheduled the first week of September.
Andy Gray is the entertainment writer for the Tribune Chronicle. Write to him at grayareas@
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