Sun, 02 Nov 2008
Kopi Luwak at Cafe Luwak
Now, the Ugly Mug Cafe in Ypsilanti is my Coffee Shop of Record, but I have respect for Cafe Luwak down in Depot Town (and it is nice to have two quality coffee shops within a short bike ride).
To celebrate the birthday of The Mayor of Depot Town, Cafe Luwak had a party and had on hand it's namesake beverage, Kopi Luwak (or Civet Coffee), which are coffee berries that are eaten by the Civet, which digests most of the berries but passes the bean, er, out the other end.
Cat poop coffee, in other words.
The beans are washed and typically are given a light roast. Since such a limited amount of the beans are available each year (on the order of 1000 kilograms) the coffee commands a high price. Cafe Luwak was selling 4 ounce cups for $2.50, which seemed reasonable.
I had two cups, and wrote up some notes afterwards: it had a very mellow taste (which makes sense because of the light roast), and had a very smooth mouth feel. Very subtle flavor, and you must drink it hot — the flavor does not come through when it cools. The very first sip I took gave me a very distinct caramelized sugar aftertaste, and once, just once, very briefly, I got a very powerful taste of something distinct, that seriously reminded me of something I haven't eaten in a long time, but the sensation was so brief I couldn't place the taste, and never could repeat it, even with the second cup. But, the impression of a memory was very powerful.
Posted at: 19:07 | category: /random | Link
Thu, 30 Oct 2008
Collective Nouns I
Whilst working on the Jackson Pollock Memorial Software Extravaganza ("Throw some crap around and see what sticks!") my co-workers and I are naturally inclined to make snarky comments. Today co-worker Steve S. and I were leaving one meeting and I said something to the effect of "Cluster, meet fuck. Fuck, cluster."
Steve mentioned that this wasn't a clusterfuck, it was a whole collection of clusterfucks. Which, naturally, lead us to wonder what the collective noun for clusterfuck is. Eventually, after pulling up some Wikipedia pages ("Lists of Collective Nouns A-M") and throwing out some suggestions, Steve came up with "a Murphy of clusterfucks".
Which just about sums it up.
Posted at: 00:17 | category: /random | Link
Fri, 24 Oct 2008
Instant Toast
I want a hermetically sealed bag with a slice of bread in it, with a tab on the side that I can pull, wait 45 seconds, open the package and pull out a warm slice of toast.
Why doesn't this exist?
Posted at: 20:34 | category: /random | Link
Tue, 21 Oct 2008
Separated?
One of my co-workers is a member of the Dorsai Irregulars, an organization that provides various services to sci-fi, fantasy and related conventions (things like organizational help, security, etc.) He and another co-worker were at Fur Fright, where they came across a gentleman that reminded them of someone they new. Photo composition follows.
Astute readers will recognize the photo on the left as one of me, in full getup after the Institute for Advanced Perpendicular Logic Studies investiture of Dr. David Maxwell of Drake University as an Associate of Perpendicular Logic, circa 1999 if I am dredging up memories properly. The gentleman on the left was walking through the hotel dressed like that (yes, Sgt. Steve maintains, he even just had the fez on). I'm told that the gentleman was stopped, shown the picture on the left, found the similarity striking, and agreed to pose for a similar picture.
The world, it is an interesting place.
Posted at: 23:04 | category: /random | Link
Wed, 28 May 2008
Carpooling to the 2008 Allied Media Conference
I've registered for the 2008 Allied Media Conference. If anyone from the Greater Ypsilanti area wants to carpool, e-mail me: kula@tproa.net.
Posted at: 23:54 | category: /random | Link
Fri, 15 Feb 2008
2008 Coffee House of Record Report
One of the first things I did when I moved to Ypsilanti was to search for my Coffee House of Record — the place that was my coffee house. After some searching, I decided February of last year to make the Ugly Mug my CHoR.
My habbit, since I came with the idea a couple years ago with Stomping Grounds back in Ames was to keep track of everything I spent, and add it up each year. It's interesting to keep track of that, and in any case keeping useless data is my kind of thing.
So, in the year 16 February 2007 until 15 February 2008, I spent a total of $467.29 on 183 different days visiting the Mug. That averages out to just over $2.55 per vist, or just over $8.98 a week. It adds up, but really, most evenings I hang out there, and it's pretty much my default entertainment. $9 a week is pretty cheap entertainment.
Posted at: 21:37 | category: /random | Link
Fri, 25 Jan 2008
Chapwick's Guide
On the walk from the bus stop this evening a random idea started going through my head, which eventually coalesced into the title Chapwick's Field Manual for the Persistently Perplexed, by Cap't C. W. Chapwick (Ret'd.)
Don't know exactly what I'd put in it, but I thought I'd stash the idea here.
Posted at: 21:59 | category: /random | Link
Fri, 04 Aug 2006
The Second Epiphany
This comic, and the fact that it is the 137th comic in that series, clicks in my mind very well.
Posted at: 04:41 | category: /random | Link
Tue, 26 Jul 2005
Devil's Advocates General Office
There are Judge Advocates General, are there Devil's Advocates General?
Posted at: 19:41 | category: /random | Link
Mon, 18 Jul 2005
Meatspace: The Hacker Coffeehouse
Again, with the talking with a friend, the term "Meatspace" came up. I thought that it would be a good name for a hacker coffee shop — the idea being that meatspace refers to "the real world" (or, "the big blue room with the yellow light") and a coffee shop is an ideal location to meet up with people in real life.