Yes, I am a speed freak.

www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com


What a day! A busy day with the open wheel racing for about 5 hours worth (Indy 500 & Monte Carlo Grand Prix), sorry, I am not a NASCAR fan.

I hope you guys watched this 500 race because it was the 2nd closest finish in history with the margin of .06 second where Sam Hornish Jr. passed Marco Andretti to take the checker flag.

I have not watched the 500 since the CART split, now with IRL and Champ car, each took a different type of racings (oval vs. road course). When I heard Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr, and Eddie Cheever Jr came out of their retirements to race, and I was not about to pass this 500.

There were some spectacular crashes early on, but the thrill came in with about 20 laps to go. Each corner is usually wide enough for one car to go through safely at 200+ MPH, but as the 2005 winner Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan were fighting for the position, they overtook a slower car as three of them going through the turn together!

I really thought Michael Andretti was going to win it, with just a few laps to go under the yellow caution flag, but he fell back as the race went under the green again. Michael’ son Marco took the lead from there to the final turn of the race, but he didn’t have the speed to top Sam Hornish Jr.’s late charge, and finished in second place. What a race!

Now it is time to watch the Monte Carlo Grand Prix that I taped. It is going to be easy to watch because I already know that the sensational Spaniard Alonso had won.

Dwell Time.

P1000975.jpg
Originally uploaded by dwelltimester.

Nick B. is a barista at the famous Caffe Artigiano in Vancouver, Canada. His latte art skill is awesome, and his has a blog called Dwell Time. Check it out!

2006 World Barista Championship Standings.

1st. Denmark
2nd. Canada
3rd. U.S.A.
4th. Sweden
5th. England
6th. Iceland

Oh yeah, game on baby!

Sammy and Matt
Originally uploaded by CoffeeGeek.

6 WBC finalists:

U.S.A. (Matt, center)
Canada (Sammy, left)
England (James, right)
Sweden
Denmark
Iceland

Clover.

The Clover at the Stumptown Annex
Originally uploaded by Stephen @ The Stump.

Clover, for those who don’t know what it is, Clover has a new technology to brew a cup of coffee. This coffee brewing machine is adjustable for the brewing temperature, time, and size of the cup to best suit each coffee or varietal’s characteristics. A cup can be brewed in less than a minute versus a typical 4 minute steep time for the French Press, of which is a very simple way to achieve an extremely rich and robust cup of coffee.

I got a free cup of Guatemala El Cuervo from an urn with my weekly coffee purchase last week, and it was noticeable heavier (no, I don’t mean as in weight, but in body or mouth feel) than the El Cuervo by Clover sometimes before that. I wasn’t too sure why.

On the other day, I ordered a cup of Ethiopia Yergacheffe brewed by the Clover, and to my surprise, it was not the same as I remember it from a year or two ago. In both cases, the body of the coffee brewed by Clover was thinner than those with more traditional brewing methods. The best way I can describe it is broth versus stew (well, not that extreme, but I hope that you get the idea). Of course there is nothing wrong with whichever the brewing method.

See Clover in action, click here.

Oh yes, World Barista Championship is happening in Berne, Switzerland this weekend. You can read Mark’s road reports at coffeegeek.com, and his pictures at Flickr. James Hoffmann (jimseven) is also there, but as a competitor. Click here to read his blog.

BTW, I read this on MSNBC.com, Coffee or the Web? Half would give up the java. Of course, who drinks the office coffee anyway? : )

Happy Mother's Day.

by Jim Borgman.

This sure puts everything in perspective.

A few links...

Barista goes cup-to-cup with best coffee makers in world. Matt is famous! He was on FOX news a couple of weeks ago, and now he is on ABC news.

Anywoo, there are some little information about this clip.

This clip is taken at Intelligentsia’s downtown store.

At the beginning (5 second mark), across the street in the background is the famous Chicago Theater, and Conan is doing his late night show in Chicago this week. Intelligentsia’s Millennium Park store is 2 ½ blocks away.

At 44 second mark, right next to Matt is Andy, who can pull great shots as well.

Look out Starbucks, JavaVoo is out there! Java what?? No thank you…

Hybrid! Everything is the hybrid nowadays. Espresso machines, automobiles, and yes, bears!

Why the World Doesn't Need Hi-Def DVD's. Read this before you run out and buy yourself a HD DVD player.

Chicago Prepares For Olympic Bid Meeting

A great news came out this morning about Chicago could be representing US to compete with other cities around the world for hosting the 2016 summer games. It will be a fantastic way to showcase our city on the international stage. The last time we had anything remotely such as this was the World Cup in 1994.

What can you do in less than 20 seconds?

Google Video.
Originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.

You can pour a rosetta.

Intelly 3.

Intelly 3.
Originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.

After Intelly’s grand opening for its 3rd store last Friday, I have been eager to go back. I went home after work and quickly changed for this unseasonably warm Wednesday afternoon, four blocks later I had arrived I-3. The first and only familiar face I saw was Ellie, we shoot some breeze about her recent USBC trip to Charlotte, NC, and the good time I had totally missed out on. Ellie was in the middle of a training session with a new employee, so I didn’t want to bother her too much. I ordered myself a cup of El Cuervo from Guatemala on Clover.

This coffee from Central America was fantastic! From the bottom of the cup, I can see the grind setting is rather finer than I would with the French Press at home. I will have to French Press the same coffee to see if I am able to tell the difference between the two brewing methods.

It is pretty cool to have a Intelly so close to me.


Interesting links…

First and foremost, to all Jennifer Aniston fans out there….A rare commercial clip .

Add these famous landmarks in 3D to your Google Map.

Berry to Bartiroma re: Bernanke: Big Burn, You Blew It. Bimbo or Market-mover, you decide...(I used to work in front of S&P 100 index options pit on the floor of Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Whenever a market moving news hits the wire, the pit with everyone in it erupted into a controlled chaos. Definitely an adrenaline rush!)

Swedish Businessman To Stand Trial In Ferrari Case. Finally we can put an end to this fiasco.

Going a Short Way to Make a Point. Well. Well. Well…How come I am not surprised??