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Bloggle

Archive for June, 2008


Posted on June 30, 2008 - by deCadmus

June 30, 2008

  • Mercedes: No More Gas Cars
  • Barismo: In Defense of Drip
  • Awesome Martian Skies [via]

Posted on June 26, 2008 - by deCadmus

June 26, 2008

  • George Carlin’s Last Interview
  • New meme: Ecomodding
  • Who Moved My Cow?

Posted on June 25, 2008 - by deCadmus

June 25, 2008

  • Top ten home cooking mistakes.
  • Never take a knife to a gunfight.
  • Lit 101 in three lines or less.

Posted on June 25, 2008 - by deCadmus

I Can’t Hear You!

I Can’t Hear You!

It reads like an episode of The Office. Turns out, it’s your government at work. From the New York Times:

“The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week.

“The document, which ended up in e-mail limbo, without official status, was the E.P.A.’s answer to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that required it to determine whether greenhouse gases represent a danger to health or the environment, the officials said.”

Let’s make sure we’re  perfectly clear on this. After years of foot-dragging on the part of the Environmental Protection Agency, the frickin’ Supreme Court orders the EPA to fish or cut bait, by making an agency-level determination whether greenhouse gases are, or are not, dangerous to our health and environment. Having exhausted its available “do-nothing” options, the EPA finally, reluctantly, sends its court-ordered findings to the White House where the Bush administration — in a fit of pique that would rival a three-year-old stickin’ his fingers in his ears and squealing “I can’t hear you!”  — refuses to open the email.

This, my friends, is your government at work.

January 20, 2009 cannot arrive quickly enough.

  • Hat tip: to Making Light, which you may want to visit to see the fireworks that occur in response to this development.
  • Update: Don’t miss the fun conversation happening over at Scalzi’s place, where the trolls are in full throat and Scalzi’s whackin’ em like so many moles in an arcade game.

Posted on June 23, 2008 - by deCadmus

Happy Birthday, Bro

Donnie’s First Birthday
Lo those many (many!) years ago, Donald Neil was loosed on the world.

(I can’t be certain that’s his coffee cup, however…)


Posted on June 23, 2008 - by deCadmus

Is Cream a Coffee Pollutant?

Pouring a Cappa - Or Polluting Coffee? (credit: NY Times)
There are millions who wouldn’t think of coffee without abundant cream and sugar. (Hello, New England!) And there are a precious, precocious few who would consider condiments of *any* sort anathema to the coffee experience. For them, the NYTimes offers this point of view:

Coffee purists would never, ever add dairy to their coffee, and they would sooner drink General Foods International’s instant Hazelnut Belgian Café than add soy milk. After all, we’re now in the age of microlot coffee, when beans are harvested and handled with the same care that goes into making wine, and the flavors of an exceptional cup of coffee can be as layered and complex as a glass of pinot noir. Cream would just ruin it.

If it sounds snobby, consider this: would you dab a Peter Luger porterhouse with ketchup? A slab of well-aged beef needs nothing more than salt, pepper and a good char. There’s nothing arrogant about leaving the Heinz out of it.

Firstly, never is a very  long time. To say that one might never add cream — or any dairy — is to rule out the little slice of heaven that is the espresso macchiato, or the more bountiful coffee and dairy expression that is the cappuccino. And that would be wrong.

Secondly, Peter who? Oh… yeah. I guess it’s a New York thing. Sorry, if you want to make a purist’s analogy between coffee and aged beef, maybe you should refer to a purist’s steakhouse, and those are in Kansas City. Yes, both of them.

Thirdly, hey… check out that photo! That’s an old-school alt.coffee regular in the picture! Neat. ;)

And fourthly, if you think this isn’t an issue near and dear to the hearts of many, note that the original Times piece has more than 100 comments on it, which is to say, this may be a greater issue than Global Climate Change and FISA, combined.


Posted on June 22, 2008 - by deCadmus

Congrats to the World Barista Champion!

Congratulations to Stephen Morrissey, who’s taken top honors at the WBC in Copenhagen!

Stephen Morrissey - World Barista Champion

The news is all kinds of awesome… couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. ‘Course, it’s nothing but great news, too, for Square Mile Coffee, the much anticipated partnership between Stephen and the 2007 WBC winner, James Hoffman. Honestly, I’m going to have to make a trip ‘cross the pond just to try their coffee.

Update:

Jason at Texas Coffee People puts Stephen’s triumph in perspective:

He trained James Hoffmann for last year’s WBC.  He trained Kyle Glanville for the USBC, which he went on to win.  He won the Irish Triple Crown of the Irish Latte Art championships, the Irish Cup-Tasting championships, and the Irish Barista Championships.  And now, in his first ever appearance in a World Barista Championship, he was crowned the World Barista Champion.  This man is unstoppable.

Nice. ;)


Posted on June 17, 2008 - by deCadmus

June 17, 2008

  • If you like this, then you’ll love these. (via)
  • Firefox 3.0 rocks. In so many ways.
  • How to Nap. No, really. (via)

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