As a former barista (that's a coffee maker if you didn't know - and no, I made real coffees, not Starbucks mass produced crap) I can appreciate this
competition of coffee art. Although I never tried my hand at what they call Latte Art (design is created by the
pouring technique), I did do alot of etching (dragging knife, thermometer needle, etc through the foam / choc powder/sauce) Many simple etching designs are really easy and quick to do, and totally wow the customer ... this usually makes for better tips ;) Of course, this is all dependant on having
great foam as a base. Most of this can be done with a fairly cheap espresso machine, but of course, the better your coffee geek gear, the better the foam!
December 11th, 2005
Whoever paid $609 for the Virgin Mary
funyun really got there money's worth! Jealous!! Not only did they win the bid on the miraculous (possibly even weeping?) chip AND baby Jesus, they also got a holy manger! wow. I'm so _whelmed. There must be some very sick people out there on Ebay. Wonder how much my '
tortured penis of the emasculated prophet' would sell for?
December 11th, 2005
George Monbiot posts about the
difficulties being faced by the European Union as there is more and more push by the governments there for people to use alternative forms of energy - specifically biodiesel. It seems that the use of biodiesel in Europe has far surpassed the usage in the United States - while those in the US still relegate biodiesel as a hobbyist's fuel, the Europeans have already gotten deep into the thick of things with crops now
being planted and harvested for this specific fuel source. Monbiot brings to light some very serious concerns about immediately damage to environments where companies are scurrying to make profit from this alternative fuel, but are deforesting and worse to do so. I imagine finding our way out of the Fossil Era will be full of difficult issues such as these, and many more that we won't even realize damaged the Earth till decades later.
December 11th, 2005