Thai Robusta
January 30, 2005
On my way to my mom's house one Christmas, I stopped by Maravonda coffee shop in Minneapolis for a much-needed fortifying espresso. Jim O'Hura, roaster and owner, was working the shop, and we chatted awhile. On my way out, he passed me a bag of Thai robusta. "Tell me what you think," he said.
There are a few species of coffee, but most often you'll hear people talking about Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta (Coffea canephora). Arabica beans are what you'll almost always find in specialty coffee shops, as their flavor is more refined and delicate. They are correspondingly difficult to grow, being sensitive to light, pests, and elevation. Robusta coffees, a hardier plant, are by far more widespread and are the primary component of your typical grocery store canned brands. Robustas taste harsh and rubbery, and have about twice the caffeine that arabicas do. In the world of specialty coffee, at least in the US, to even utter the "R" word is anathema.
Yet they have their uses. Italian roasters are known for including a small percentage of robustas in their espresso, perhaps 10%, to round out the flavor and to add body & mouthfeel that you just cannot get from arabicas alone. Maravonda espresso had a lingering roundness to the mouthfeel that I had tried unsuccessfully to duplicate or even approach in my own arabica-only blends. Someone once told me that Jim had been trained by an Italian roaster, so I had long suspected that he used robustas in his top-secret blend. His pushing a bag of it across the counter confirmed that suspicion for me. Then again, being a coffee roaster affords the opportunity to taste a wide variety of coffees just because you can, so there's no saying that's not why he had it on hand.
So what did it taste like? It was wild, harsh, a bit vegetal. Sure enough, it had the characteristic robusta fullness, but without the richness to fill it out that you'll find in arabicas. The flavor just stopped dead at a certain point instead of fading out. It was like there was a hole dead center in the flavor profile, like a doughnut. Not a pleasant coffee to drink on its own, but it would add character to a blend. Say, an espresso.
All of which means nothing to you. How would I describe the flavor? My friend Adam put it best: "You know when you walk into a room where a lot of pot has just been smoked? You know that smell? That is what this coffee tastes like."
Thus bringing it full circle for those of you who thought I meant something else entirely by "a bag of Thai robusta."
del.icio.us
January 29, 2005
I finally got the hang of del.icio.us and have been using it with a vengeance. Not too good at remember to tag entries, though. Now I can build that list of blogmarks, b-links, whatever you want to call it. I'm not sure whether I'll create a separate list or build it into the day's posting à la kottke, but either way it will be better than saving up a long list of quick links to post here, and much better than sending bookmarks back and forth between work and home.
And I still have too much to read.
Owen discovers ska
January 29, 2005
It turns out that Owen likes ska. In particular, a local ska band, Umbrella Bed, which you used to see playing in places like the Turf Club (they may still play there, I don't know — it's been a long time since I've been to the Turf Club). Once upon the time I knew the band's French horn player. Somehow Owen managed to find one of their CDs, and it wasn't long before he was dancing around. Which would be fun, if the music weren't just a trifle repetitive.
I was a bit concerned when "King Harold" started playing. Oops. But from the refrain, "You fucking ruled, Harold!" he didn't start repeating what I expected. Instead he asked, "Who is Harold?" A fine opportunity for a history lesson. I'd share the track with you, but iTunes freezes up when it plays the CD. I'll take that as a sign.
That, and the fact that Owen's been throwing up all day. But don't take that as an editorial comment.
Poor kid.
The Current
January 28, 2005
I know that Matt and thousands of other St. Olaf grads are probably angry about it, but let me just say that Minnesota Public Radio's new station kicks ass. I don't normally listen to music on the radio, but I've been listening to this station all week and loving it.
I imagine that the transition from the classical format went something like the first episode of WKRP: a loud screech as the DJ scrapes the needle over the record and screams into (gasp!) rock and roll. I've been playing that scene in my head over and over again, giggling like a madman.
Where is he from?
January 20, 2005
I was talking with a coworker today and a couple times he couldn't understand me.
Me: … I'd be part of QA.
Him: Huh?
Me: QA
Him: ???
Me (carefully): Q. A.
Him: Oh, I thought you'd say "key way"
Yeah. Not notable, except that at dinner tonight, I pronounced a word strangely, so I related that story to Kiara.
Me: … I'd be part of QA.
Her: Huh?
Me: QA
Her: ???
Me (carefully): Q. A.
Her: Oh, I thought you'd say "key way"
Oh, great.
Then she tells me that I sound really strange on my appearance on First Crack. While listening to it, she kept thinking, "geez, where is this guy from?"
Funny thing is, not an hour before I that was recorded, I was consciously trying to get my accent under control. I'd just been listening to LugRadio and found, while talking to myself, that I had adopted their accent. (Accents, really, but who's counting?)
The real reason I've lived in Minnesota my whole life? I couldn't stand to listen to myself if I lived anywhere else. I'm too damn linguistically impressionable. It doesn't take long before I begin to adopt the accent and speech mannerisms of whoever I'm talking with. Honestly, I don't mind this much, but it tends to annoy the people around me.
Update: for clarification, I do not sound like the LugRadio guys in my conversation on First Crack. I'd at least got that much under control.
A Terrible Thing to Waste
January 20, 2005
Coleman quotes an article by Stephen Prothero in its entirety, well worth reading. His introduction is spot on:
I've often noted that much of what I learned in seminary I should already have known. Our pews are often full of well-educated professionals whose corresponding level of Christian education is that of kindergartners; thus we should not be surprised when this results in our churches being mired in childlike debates. How can congregants move past beliefs in, for example, biblical inerrancy or dispensationalism or understand what the Bible really says about poverty and violence if they have not been provided with solid instruction in biblical interpretation and theology, let alone interact responsibly with people of other religions? If this doesn't happen, their beliefs will be - and, in fact, are formed by the Christian bookstore - a scary thing.
A Unitarian minister once described her experiences in the ecumenical association in which she participated in White Bear Lake. New priests and ministers, fresh out of seminary, were often the most religiously conservative and resistant to genuine ecumenism, whereas the older ministers were quite willing to openly discuss new ideas and to bridge the gap beyond religious dogma. Her impression was that just starting out in their careers, young ministers were worried about offending their congregations by sharing modern scholarship and thinking about the Bible — what they had just learned in preparation for the ministry. So much for challenging the spirit.
Not that I'm one to talk.
Eclipse Projects
January 20, 2005
Simon Willison mentions a prototype Eclipse download page, which is a serious improvement over the current one. The new page exposes projects I didn't know about but that look very interesting and useful, such as Web Tools (which includes Web Standard Tools and J2EE Standard Tools), Web Service Validation Tools, Eclipse Modeling Framework, and UML2. I knew about EMF because I'd seen a book, but everyone I mention it to is surprised to hear of it.
Here's hoping that new page goes into production soon.
Do you really need a portal?
January 19, 2005
Janus Boye on CMS Watch: Portal Software: Passing Fad or Real Value?
A few years ago vendors were touting personalization software. A major buzzword of the dot-com age, personalization would ostensibly solve a series of business problems and enable a new IT paradigm. Many personalization projects failed due to lack of adoption, long implementation times, problems with the technology, lack of clearly defined business goals, integration and testing difficulties, and cost overruns.
Today many companies are experiencing the exact same difficulties with a new breed of enterprise software called portal software.
…
Most visitors of local government sites don't want to rearrange their own pages and portlets. They just want to know when the next garbage collection will be or what times the local swimming pool opens. If my local council proposed offering me a portal, I would tell them to spend the money on a decent search engine. Forget about the personalized portal experience — just show me the right content and show it to me quickly.
I'm not saying a thing.
Update: I fixed the URL to the article. And no, I'm still not saying a thing except to those who know where to look. I'm not sure why: eventually I'm going to burst out in a huge rant, I might as well just get it over with.
I'm not used to this.
January 18, 2005
This has been floating around the back of my brain for months and is just dying to get out. Please do not consider it Microsoft bashing: it's just funny.
During a bit of a crisis last fall, a few of our network and server admins were gathered around the phone on a support call with Microsoft.
"Sorry if we don't do this right," I heard one of them say. "We've been a Novell shop for 20 years and never had to call tech support."
Local podcasting
January 18, 2005
I knew it was coming but I didn't expect it on the front page: Julio Ojeda-Zapata's article about podcasting in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press (registration required for archived version).
Signing with your kids
January 17, 2005
Eric Meyer writes about using sign language with his daughter. We have also signed with Owen from an early age, and I, too, cannot recommend it enough. Controlling speech muscles is hard: it requires a level of coordination that just plain takes a while to develop. Children are able to use sign language long before they are physically able to speak. Why not give them a way to express themselves?
I don't think it fair to credit Owen's remarkable language skills to early exposure to ASL because I know plenty of parents who used sign whose kids are barely verbal at the same age, but I have no doubt that being able to communicate at an early age has helped him in many ways. The "terrible twos" are due in no small part to a toddler's inability to voice her desires and frustrations. Using sign language at an early age can help alleviate some of that. And what a thrill, watching him sign with other kids!
I'm not such a fan of the Baby Signs book, though it is a classic and landmark in the field. I just don't accept that signs need to be modified or made up, which is something that the authors have done. Still, a fine book.
Once you're willing to let a child watch TV, the Signing Time videos are fantastic. I'm a big fan. They're paced well, they address multiple learning styles, they're engaging for children and adults, and they do a good job of introducing key signs right away. What I like most, I think, is that we see lots of different kids signing, so you can see for yourself that there's a range and variety in how kids sign. You don't need to worry if you or your child doesn't immediately "do it right": there's still some dexterity involved and lots of practice. Years of practice. Signing Time makes it fun. Really. It's one of the few things we let him watch, and he loves it.
We don't sign with Owen as much anymore, probably because he's so freakishly verbal, but we all still have fun with sign language and I'd like to keep with it. Maybe I'll take classes at Saint Paul College, which has a well-respected ASL program.
Vinyl Podcast
January 16, 2005
Cody on vinyl podcast plays music from his out-of-print vinyl collection, which is a Good Thing for any number of reasons, not the least of which is the amazing music he shares. Case in point: an outstanding rendition of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Gladys Knight and the Pips. No, really: go listen to it now.
You didn't, did you? Sigh. I'm serious.
… waiting …
There. See what I mean?
Now, wouldn't the world be a better place (not to mention safer for intellectual property) if this were locked in a vault for another several decades?
(tip o' the hat to Garrick for pointing this one out)
Interview on First Crack
January 15, 2005
Garrick Van Buren interviews me on First Crack Podcast.
We met the other night for coffee, and when he suggested recording a podcast I was willing (obviously!) but unsure how on earth our conversation would be interesting enough. What I didn't know at the time is what a skilled interviewer Garrick is. I am not a scintillating conversationalist, yet he smoothy managed to keep me talking.
You can hear how being a model introvert comes out in my speech: long pauses, slow speech as it takes a long time to dredge up memories, lots of false starts and starting in the middle of a thought. Heck, I'll stop talking in the middle of a thought, unaware that I've done so. I think Garrick edited out the worst of it (as well as my longish rants about Java :).
He's got a cool little setup: a basic clip-on microphone, a nice little pre-amp, piping to Garage Band, where he edits the audio before exporting to iTunes.
A correction: the San Franciscan sample roaster that I mentioned does not cost $1000. It's more like $3500 or $5000, depending on whether you get electric or gas — and again, that was 10 years ago. I don't even know whether the company that made it is still in business. It was a smart little roaster to work on, though. I think that you can still see it at White Rock, which is at the same location the Roastery was.
Now maybe science teachers can teach science.
January 14, 2005
Via Matt, a judge has ruled that textbook disclaimers that caution students against believing evolution are unconstitutional. These are the same disclaimer stickers that inspired the cutting counter-disclaimers from Swarthmore that I have posted on my wall at work. The debate is far from over, but it's a good step.
My favorite comment so far is from Mainstream Baptist:
Theocrats need to stop trying to force their medieval scientific beliefs on public school children and start focusing on sharing the gospel with whoever they can get to voluntarily attend their churches.
Unfortunately, as Swarthmore's Colin Purrington points out, this entire debacle will serve not only to inspire uninformed debate, but also to bring financial strife to the school district:
But it's really too bad the Cobb County school district, the loser in the decision, now has to pay the rather large legal fees, sucking valuable assets away from school budgets. To cover the expected revenue shortfall, and to avoid tax increases in Cobb County, perhaps Marjorie Rogers (the Creationist who started the whole mess) can extract donations from the 2,300 supporters who signed her original petition that objected to evolution instruction. Just an idea.
Something tells me that I'd really like knowing Professor Purrington, whose gift ideas for science teachers include body armor ("Great for making presentations to backwards school boards, but light enough for daily use in the classroom.") and unprotected sex ("If your kid's teacher is single, set him or her up with another clear-thinking breeder and tell them to have lots of kids").
RSS in unexpected places that make sense.
January 12, 2005
The Seattle Public Library is replacing its catalog with a system that offers RSS feeds. Keep track of your items out or keep on top of your favorite authors. Excellent. I've been considering putting together something like this for my Hennepin County Library account but have been too lazybusy. If I lived in Seattle, I wouldn't have to! (via Digital Web)
Not sure where I learned this, but isbn.nu offers RSS for its catalog entries. Let's say you're keeping an eye on prices for Andy Hertzfeld's new book, which has the URL http://isbn.nu/0596007191. Tack on ".xml" to that URL and you've got yourself an RSS feed.
Word of the Day
January 10, 2005
An explanation of why that's my word for the day will have to wait a bit.
Church and State
January 08, 2005
I just heard two coworkers bitching and moaning about complaints against Tom DeLay's reading at a Congressional prayer service. In particular, they were decrying the notion of separation of church and state, which they say is nowhere in the Constitution. Ah, literalists. It's not quite that simple. And it totally misses the point.
It hit me that this may just be something we hear a lot more: an attack on the very notion of the separation of church and state because it "isn't in the Constitution."
The Norm is Back
January 06, 2005
Faithful readers of The Norm will have noticed that it disappeared from newspapers a few months back. Michael Jantze, the strip's creator, decided to call it quits. It was a sad day.
But he's back! Jantze is making The Norm available on his web site to subscribers. Beyond my excitement about being able to read new strips, I'll be interested to see how this business model works out.
Christmas Questionnaire
January 03, 2005
Rather than do gift lists for Christmas this year, my mom had us all do questionnaires. Here is mine.
- Three words you would like Christmas to be :
- Quiet wintry night
- Favorite comfort foods :
- Good cheese (say, English cheddars), espresso, Indian food, pizza.
- Favorite beverages :
- Coffee (Guatemalans. Mmmm…), tea, beer (Summit Winter Ale. Mmmm…), water, tawny port.
- If I won the lottery today the first three things I would do :
- Pay off mortgage. Go to Quebec. Sleep.
- My favorite activity on a rainy day:
- Reading, watching the rain.
- My hobbies, interests, collections etc.
- Reading, watching the rain. Seriously, hobbies? Am I supposed to have hobbies? Other than what I get paid to do? Uh, reclaiming Christianity from the far right, which is damn funny for someone who isn't Christian. Long walks by the river. Hangin' with Owen and Kiara. Compulsively reading everything in sight.
- Favorite colors :
- Most of them.
- Favorite reading material
- Most anything in sight. Weblogs. Programming magazines. Comics & graphic novels. And strangely, teen fiction (e.g. by Garth Nix).
- Favorite simple pleasures:
- Owen's laugh. The hush of falling snow.
- I've always wanted to learn how to:
- Complete questionnaires like these. Read Hebrew.
- Clothing sizes:
- shirts: XLT, 17 x 34 or thereabouts
pants: 36W x 34L
shoes: 13½ medium, except that no one makes 13½ anymore, so 13 it is. - In the coming year I am facing the following challenges
- Sleeping enough.
Grokking Java instead of just knowing it well enough to get by.
Getting more fun time with Kiara and Owen. - If I had it to do over again I would be
- Done with the degree.
- My dream vacation would be
- Doing basically what I do at home, but in Quebec.
- Favorite movies :
- Hero, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Gattaca, Tai Chi Master.
- The 3 gifts I would like to receive this Christmas :
- Karen Armstrong's memoirs. Warm socks. Other books.
- If I were to join a CD club I would order the following artists/titles :
- I have absolutely no idea.
- Things I like but seldom buy for myself :
- Wine.
- The Christmas rituals I enjoy the most.
- Rice pudding. (My mom traditionally makes rice pudding on Christmas morning, topped with heavy cream.)
Sitting up late at night with all the lights off except for the Christmas tree.
I liked doing this. I think we all did. Reading out responses, we all learned something about each other. My mom has us do this in an effort to simplify Christmas, and although I don't know whether it had that effect this year, it sparked a discussion that means it might just do so in years to come. Kiara's already starting work on a questionnaire for next year.
Campus Crusade
January 03, 2005
Campus Crusade for Christ paid a visit the other day. I'm still trying to calm down. That they told Owen that he's a sinner is enough to make me scream and punch something. Hard.
Kiara skipped a couple details. The Crusaders gave Owen a bracelet with colored beads: this bead is for God's love, they said. That's when is when they said that God loves him more than his mommy and daddy do. This bead stands for sin. That's when they told him he was a sinner. This bead is for the blood of Christ: "Christ died for us, he died for our sins, isn't that wonderful?"
You are a sinner. Your mommy and daddy don't love you as much as you think. Christ died for you. These are not things you say to a two-year-old. It is absolutely not something you say to a stranger's child when you're "spreading God's word."
Stay the hell away from my son.
