Rites of Spring #13 - Food safe shout out and bones to pick · Friday May 7, 2010 by colin newell
Although I am by no means a germ junkie or bug fanatic, I do appreciate restaurants that, at least, pay some lip service to sound food safe practices.
And a big shout out to Eugene’s Greek Deli that so takes this issue seriously that they have a wash basin right by the POS (Point of Sale) cash register.
They have a star rating on the CRD-VIHA Health Inspection agency web-site – check it out for yourself.
So. I not only get to enjoy some great Greek grub, but also, I do not need to worry about paying some mysterious price later on the next day with tummy troubles.
And as much as I would love to rat out my favorite ice cream parlor in downtown Victoria that is only open in the Summer time… and their virtually non-existent food safe policy…
“Go on Colin”, you ask?
Well. OK. There is an ice cream parlor downtown… and the owner handles fists full of cash and never washes his hands as he shuttles between ice cream cones and money. It is so disgusting that I am almost tempted to go have a fake ice cream at the Beacon Drive In… ain’t there yet.
Anyway. If you know who I am talking about, go check it out for yourself.
Any place that handles money and food… there has to be a splash interval between those 2 activities. Check out the diagram above.
Happy Friday everyone!
Rites of Spring #12b - Espresso, you wicked mistress-2 · Tuesday May 4, 2010 by colin newell
Espresso machines. Why do they trouble me so? Why? WHY?!?
It all started one dark day a few years ago when a friend (Jak) of mine showed up at my door – something of a John Locke doppelganger from the hit TV show Lost – waving 500 dollars in small bills in my face.
“Colin, I understand your frustration with espresso… and you have taken your Silvia as far as any mortal man can. Trust me, Colin… I know about mortality. Seriously…”
As Jak slipped his hunting knife back into his man-bag after slicing off a healthy serving of pineapple… and scratching his tell-tale scar above his left eye he continued…
“Just think what you could do with 500 extra smackers this weekend Colin? Just think…”
Before I knew it, my Silvia was gone and my wallet was unfoldable in that George Costanza kind of way.
Money. But no espresso machine.
And I knew.
I had just cursed myself… to a life time of espresso misery.
Sure I try and break out of it… a Giotto here, an Oscar there, a Rocket Cellini here…
Oh, who am I fooling?
So. After getting the Red Dragon back from a long term loan… and firing it up… and burning through lord knows how much coffee trying to squeeze out that elusive shot…
I knew I was done for. Time for that machine to go.
Think you are worthy? Send me an e-mail telling me why this espresso machine must be yours. Espresso machine will include a tamper and some instructions on its use.
UPDATE – We gave away this machine several weeks ago – thanks for all your entries!
And may the lord of the bean have mercy on your soul.
Disclaimer – All espresso machines are evil. This one in particular? Look at the color!
The Red Dragon Espresso machine was hand re-built by Colin Newell of Coffeecrew.com and powder-coated fire engine red under the watchful eye of tamper-meister Reg Barber. It is the only espresso machine on the Planet Earth with creation input from Reg Barber. And it could be yours.
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Rites of Spring #12 - Espresso, you wicked mistress · Monday May 3, 2010 by colin newell
Someone once said… “Teach a man to make coffee and he will be happy every day… teach him to make espresso and he will be frustrated for a lifetime.”
Truer words were never spoken.
Me, I have been out of the espresso game for almost a year.
I love my french press and drip. And I think I am pretty good at it.
(And) When I get a hankering for an espresso, I leave it to the pro’s – like any of the folks at Discovery Coffee, or Habit Coffee and Culture, or if I absolutely positively without question have to have the closest-thing-to-religious-experience espresso… well then I make the pilgrimage to Drumroaster coffee on the Island highway – somewhere near Cobble Hill at the highway turnoff to Cowichan Bay. It’s worth it.
Because when you are in the company of Geir or Carsen Oglend or Tristan Mapstone or are nibbling some wonderful brioche created by Patricia Oglend… well, the coffee angels are whispering in your ears.
For me, self produced espresso can be a mixed bag. As you can see from the shot above, I can make a mean espresso. But I screw up a lot. And I don’t take it well.
I am currently playing with an espresso machine that I call the Red Dragon. It is the only rebuilt and custom espresso machine on the planet that has had Reg Barber participate in the production phase. (I will review it soon on coffeecrew.com)
And then, because it has crossed me once (produced bad espresso because I was not on the ball…) I am giving it away.
That’s right folks – a one of a kind pump driven espresso machine. Brass boiler. Fire engine powder coat red… and it can make killer espresso.
But it’s got to go. That is just the way I am.
I’m a drip that loves my drip coffee.
And I speak a bit of French as well.
So stay tuned.
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Rites of Spring #11 - eschewing crap made in capitalist China · Saturday May 1, 2010 by colin newell
On a sidewalk bordering Beacon Hill Park in Victoria B.C. Canada, Four men with radios and headphones circle the block in the vicinity of Quadra and Southgate. A gentle rain falls but some blue sky is poking through.
Photo at right – cheap CFL’s made in China can save you coins but cost you your life or your peace of mind. Two of mine melted down recently.
We are all walking in separate directions but occasionally meet up near a utility pole to compare notes and look over each others receiving equipment.
One of my mates is listening to CBC 690khz – one of the most reliable AM signals into the city. There are probably thousands of folks within a kilometer of where we are standing that regularly listen to this station – if they are not tuned in continuously that is.
We listen to the Saturday morning programming but note something somewhat unwelcome on the channel. It is the raw, buzz saw, humming and thrumming of some kind of unidentified digital appliance that is either malfunctioning or poorly designed.
In fact, the digital electronic buzz cuts a swath through the entire radio dial – and beyond. So for those folks, who live in Victoria, who enjoy listening to CKWX or CKNW in Vancouver or KARI in Blaine – if you lived within 100 yards of where we isolated, at least, the building in question – well, then you would be out of luck.
There was a time, in the old days (the 70’s and 80’s) when TV was largely analog that the reception was highly susceptible to interference like this. Now imagine your 72” Plasma TV getting reduced to a wall-hanging by some hard-to-find interference source.
It’s possible, plausible and highly likely I am afraid to say. This is the important part of this blog: The fact that your $3000 home entertainment system might be rendered useless by some mysterious appliance plugged in within 1/2 km of your swanky suburban home.
So. What’s the culprit in this case? Inconclusive at this point. We will probably bring in Industry Canada to sniff around. We tracked the source down to the utility poles serving an apartment building.
Suspects: Could be a broadband internet over powerline adapter (that we have seen being sold at CostCo). Maybe. Doesn’t sound right. Could be an alien craft buried, where it crash landed, under Beacon Hill Park – doubt that. Could also be a exercise treadmill made in mainland China. No, not the country of Taiwan. But Red China. As long as the device is plugged in, the computer processor on the poorly constructed and engineered appliance (made in China) and sold at Sears… as long as it’s on, it is transmitting a broad swatch of loud noise across an entire radio spectrum – rendering that entire neighborhood jammed.
Why is watching for this kind of radio interference important? When that expected Earthquake arrives, you are not going to be listening to emergency instructions on the internet radio. No, you will be on an AM – FM radio, provided that is, that your reception is not being jammed by some junk manufactured in China.
Check out the compact fluorescent lamp above – I used to buy these lamps without checking the country of origin – until 2 of them practically melted down and burst into flames in my bathroom. Nice. And made in China no less.
So. Do your family a favor and avoid manufactured goods from this country.
Because they simply do not care.
Colin Newell lives and writes in Victoria B.C. Canada – is an electronics technician and ham radio operator – if you see him in your neighborhood with a radio and headphones… just ignore him.
June 2011 Update – B.C. Hydro has since become involved in The search for mystery radio signal and has had no success pinning it down. To hear for yourself, drive within 1/2 km of Quadra and Soutgate (near Beacon Hill Park) any day of the week and tune your radio to 690Khz or anywhere on the AM dial for that matter – and listen to what sounds like a combination of alien technology and a Kraftwerk B-side. What do you think it is?
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