Sep 17, 2002, 11:40am

This is going to be a catch all "rant", or as close to a blog as I get.

First up, and before I forget it: even though Lance Arthur isn't quite "back" yet in terms of posting much more frequently, his latest Today, 2002 article is almost entirely about a subject near and dear to my heart - coffee. I wonder if Lance would post the article as a guest column over at CoffeeGeek... :)

Which makes me think of other websites I like(d) to visit most days. Seems the thrill is just... gone, for many. For example, Derek has entirely ditched his old blog and diary over at www.powazek.com. Zannah used to update her usr/bin/ thing several times a day, but I think she has two updates in a month now. Lance has abandoned his Life Serial some time ago. MonkeyBoy, aka David has dropped off the radar somewhere around 2001. Some personal sites I used to visit have disapeared entirely. Gone is Benjamin, Kyra and Andrew Chan's site, which I always enjoyed for his humourous anti-rice-boy rants.

I know many have been discouraged and disgusted by the path the "web" has taken in the past few years - aka, "gone corporate". But to those who quit updating or making the web a personal experience because they think it has gone too far corporate or they get too many cranks emailing them complaint letters, remember this: by quitting, you're adding to these problems, not removing them.

Mom News

I've gotten a lot of support emails and people asking how my Mom is doing. It's not very good news. She's still going through chemo, and is back in the hospital after her last session because she can't keep anything down. They've rescheduled her operation for mid-October, but who knows what will happen then. She's getting more information on platelets and diets and such, but we don't know what the result will be. Everyone hopes for the best.

Travel News

I have a ton of travelling ahead of me in the next few weeks. First, I'm driving down to Portland early Friday morning (early as in 4:30am) to attend a trade show (yeah, on Coffee) and also to TRY and have a micro-vacation. Jeanette's coming, which I'm very happy about. Because she's decided to make the trip, I went a bit swank with the hotel arrangements, getting one of the most expensive rooms in the new Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland, just a block or so away from Pioneer Square.

We get back next Monday... then I have three days to prep myself for a Thursday flight to Boston. I'm going to Boston as a guest of the SCAA, to discuss a variety of things and get involved in their fall meeting. The SCAA wants to establish a new membership category, and they want my input.

I leave those meetings on Sunday, and flight to... Ottawa, to take some time with my Mom. I'll be in Ottawa until the following Thursday, then I fly back to Vancouver.

BTW, I really, really hate flying, so this is gonna be, uh, fun. Not.

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Mixelania

Photos from Algonquin Park
Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers.

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Making Snow for the Fortress
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iPod and iTunes Offline

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Most Recent Songs

Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido

With arms open wide by Creed

truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band

In the News

Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.

St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines

AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided

NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders

Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!

The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara

Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer

NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.

NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.

USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.

WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.

Reuters Interview
Interview with Reuters, Jan 2 - this is the USA Today version.

My Other Stuff

CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.

CoffeeKid Website
It's all new, as of March, 2002. My personal coffee obsession site.

WebMotif Services
My company's site - needs an update!

Amazon WishList
Hey, if you feel the need to buy me something, check here!

Daily Visits

enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.

Google News
This is how I get my daily news fix.

DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.

Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!

Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.

MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.

Friends and Family Plan

Beata Blog
Beata's got her own blog! She updates it most days.

Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly

Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr

Recent Acquisitions

Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.

Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.

Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography

Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.

Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D

Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs

28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography

Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.

Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.

Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D