Here Comes the Bear.

I wish this post doesn’t make me appear to be as a cheerleader for the bad news, quite contrary, I am not. I believe in good, I always try to find the positives in any adverse situations, and my glass is always half full.

About 2 weeks before that Frenchy dropped the Financial bomb, and that caused the panic selling around the global equity markets, a trader friend of mine already painted a bleak picture; a devastating plunge in US equity indices. Well, it happened, and the scary part is that we are not done yet! In the immediate future, we could see at least another 1,000 point drop in Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is currently at 12,552.24 after closed up 178.83 for today.

Well, I am not a financial planner, and I am not qualified to give any financial advices. But if you want to know what financial vehicles that will increase in value during the down market, because they have the inverse relationships (short) with their counterparts. Here is the list. I don’t mean to alarm you, and maybe I am totally wrong about the impending doom. I also heard that the market could bottom out by mid March, and I guess that is the bright side.

Here is a simple list;
DOG (Dow 30) 62.80
SH (S&P 500), 65.22
PSQ (QQQQ), 61.68

Food Pairing: Coffee and Food.

Another great find by James. This is a nice online reference for those with the adventurous mind or the inspiring baristi who are searching for their next tasty signature drink ideas.

Starbucks Sirena – BMW Designed Espresso Machine.

BMW has joined other car makers to design its espresso machine. Starbucks is now offering Sirena designed by BMW (actually based on a Saeco machine) on its website for about US$600.00. So, among BMW, Audi, and Lamborghini, I have to pick the Italian, unless Ferrari joins the race...

Catchy...Love IT!

Spotted this picture here.

Hi Tech Refrigerators.

One thinks it is a "barista", and the other is a Mr Par-tay. I like the later better.

Your Girlfriend Better Likes Coffee.

An amusing find by James.

Surfs Up!

Some guys at o2m8 built a coffee machine that can be controlled via the internet. The only problem with this machine, KRUPS XN2005, is designed to brew one coffee capsule at a time. The next challenge for them is, as one reader commented, to build a capsule magazine. As for me, I make my own drinks…

500 Horsepower Club - AMG CLK63 "Black Edition"

Pictures from autoblog.com.


A quick snap from Edmunds Inside Line:

"the CLK63 AMG Black Series is modeled on the company's F1 safety car. It is distinguished from the standard CLK63 AMG launched late last year, by an aggressive new lightweight carbon-fiber body kit. It consists of a deep front spoiler, heavily flared wheel arches, additional ducts in the front fenders, new side sills underneath the doors and a reprofiled rear bumper and trunk lid lip spoiler. It's powered by a 500-horsepower version of Mercedes-Benz's 6.2-liter V8....Drive goes to the rear wheels via Mercedes-Benz's seven-speed 7G-Tronic automatic transmission, with remote shift paddles on the steering wheel.

Mercedes-Benz claims a 0-60-mph time of 4.1 seconds, a good half-second faster than the standard CLK63 AMG, with top speed limited to 186 mph."

Dang, I would love to drive this car!

Let Me See The Light.

I have been trying to locate the faulty part on my espresso machine for the last two days, the stupid part that mercilessly took away my daily espresso/cappuccino enjoyment.

From my friend Mike with his own experience, and somebody else who had the same nightmare, we think he thinks (I have no clue) the most likely culprit is the “Thermal Fuse”. I will disconnect this little menace and have Mike to give it a test.

the coffee studio

Miguel, Lee, and I share something in common, to be the owner of an espresso bar that commits and offers the ultimate espresso experience. Their the coffee studio is due to open this spring, and if you are in the city, please visit and support them!

Something Old & Something New.

Something New!

I am not quite sure what to make of it. It is a new dosing tool developed by the 2003 World Barista Champion, Paul Bassett. I guess each unit is to decrease certain grams of grounds from the portafilter. Interesting nonetheless. If anybody cares, my dosing technique is first overfilling the portafilter, then tab it on the fork and level the grounds with my index finger.










Now, something old (Well, not really).

This espresso map will guide you to some awesome coffee houses near you or when traveling in North America. I have not been to all of the places, but most of those I had visited are included.

COFFEECUPPERS.COM

Jim Schulman is a coffee guru and an excellent coffee cupper. I’ve met Jim in person on a few occasions; he is authoritative, friendly, and just an awesome guy. I just discovered his website called COFFEECUPPERS.COM. If you are looking for some great coffee to enjoy, start with his website first.

Da Man. Da Blog...

Tamping
Originally uploaded by CoffeeGeek.

Matt is one of my favorite baristi. He is cool, friendly, and he is one of the good guys. He has a blog called, “one year. one life.” Make sure that you take a look…

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!

"ALLEY 24" from t o n x . o r g

t o n x . o r g
Tonx from Victrola gives us an exclusive preview of the new Espresso Vivace. Nice place!

The norwegian barista championship

This is the newest entry from Thomas Gauperaa’s an espresso lover's blog. He sure got some nice pictures from this competition, especially my hero Luigi Lupi! (Pay a special attention to the steamed milk, and how the foam coats the inside pitcher wall. AWESOME!)

Waiters/Waitresses Behaving Badly.

I caught a segment about the bad behavior in the restaurants on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now yesterday afternoon, a re-run from 12/29/05. That portion uncovered the devilments behind your smiling waiters and waitresses.

If you are not nice to your waiter and you later complaint to him about how your steak is not done right, he might just take it back to the kitchen, drop it on the floor, re-plate it and give it back to you. Yikes!

I always believe in treating people in the way as how I would like to be treated, but I can’t say the same about some of my friends, and I wonder what was severed on their plates. That segment went on with a few more unappetizing "incidents".

To be fair, there are also countless episodes involve the awful customers with their insulting tips. There was a customer leaving $2.00 tip and a coupon for cranberry juice. Geeez, how cheap can you be?? I consider myself an average tipper. I don’t throw money around like if I own a bank, but I never under tip anyone even the service is sub-par. 15~20 % sounds right to me.

The links below are the website mentioned on CNN, go check them out...

bitterwaitress

The stained apron

Waiter Rant

Shameless Restaurants