Jun 28, 2001, 11:10pm

So I just bought myself a new kite.

Damn you Monkey Boy! :-)

I bought an Alpha Plus from a local kite shop for way too much money, but there's a lot put into this kite, I guess.

Naw, I'm just kidding with the tone. I'm happy I bought it, and the Monkey Boy recommended it as probably the best value in kites today. Nice construction, all carbon fibre struts and bars, very lightweight but strong sails, and a huge wind range - it can be flown in wind as low as 3 miles an hour (barely a breeze), and as strong as 25 miles an hour. It's also huge, with a 7 foot wingspan stretched out.

I've been out flying with it on 3 occasions so far. Once was a very low wind day, and while it was tricky keeping it up in the air, I was able to practice a lot of "stall" tricks, which was cool. The other two days were pretty windy, and the bloody kite has so much traction it was almost dragging my fat ass across the field. I doubt Jean, who probably weighs half of what I do could handle it on those days... it'd be funny to see her being dragged along with the kite. :-)

In the next few days we're gonna video some of my lame ass stunt work and try to get them up on this site.

Hey, I've been mulling some thoughts on the Net and Flash, but I'll save it for another time.

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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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Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

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

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

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

Google News
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DPReview Forums`
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Daily Zen
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Jalopnik
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MoCo Loco
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Riddla on Flickr
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Irdy Photos
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Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
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Canon 5D
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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
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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