Tag Archives: coffee

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Ulyana Sergeenko is a Russian designer with an incredible collection. The dresses, particularly the short ones, are fantastic. The shoe pairings are abysmal, though. (Courtesy: Russian Vogue, via Not Couture)

* The existence of halal cosmetics, and their attractiveness for vegetarians/vegans. (Courtesy: can’t remember, but The New Inquiry)

* Charlie Chaplin’s birth is shrouded in mystery and government absurdity. (Courtesy: New York Times)

* The term “bistro” may have developed from the Russian occupation of Paris in the early 19th century, when Russian soldiers would shout “быстро!” (quickly!). There is an alternative etymology, though, that involves coffee. (Courtesy: New Inquiry)

* “Roman writers subscribed to the idea of imitatio: they viewed their role as emulating and reworking earlier masterpieces. It wasn’t until the Romantic era, which introduced the notion of the author as solitary genius, that originality came to be viewed as the paramount literary virtue.” (Courtesy: New Yorker)

The Last Coffee Crisis

Coffee futures continue to rise without an end in sight, meaning we are due for our own coffee crisis (my local coffeeshop has already stopped selling two origins). Not among the many coffee crises of the past about which I did know, I just learned of one in East Germany during the late 1970s. From the decade-old-Wikipedia entry on the history of East Germany:

Due to the strong German tradition of drinking coffee, coffee imports were one of the most important for consumers. A massive rise in coffee prices in 1976/77 led to a quadrupling of the annual costs of importing coffee compared to 1972-75. This caused severe financial problems for the GDR, which perennially lacked hard currency.

As a result, in the summer of 1977 the Politburo withdrew most cheaper brands of coffee from sale, limited use in restaurants, and effectively withdrew its provision in public offices and state enterprises. In addition, an infamous new type of coffee was introduced, Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), which was 51% coffee and 49% a range of filler including chicory, rye, and sugar beet.

Unsurprisingly, the new coffee was generally detested for its awful taste, and the whole episode is informally known as the “coffee crisis”. The crisis passed after 1978 as world coffee prices began to fall again, as well as increased supply through an agreement between the GDR and Vietnam – the latter becoming one of the world’s largest coffee producers in the 1990s. However, the episode vividly illustrated the structural economic and financial problems of the GDR.

You can find more information in footnote 17 on page 15 of Hans-Werner Hess’ Collapse of a Closed Society: The End of East Germany. I have not found more solid sources or information in my quick searches thus far.

Demolition Derby: Mod Session 5

We’re done! This fifth mod session was the last one, and we finished everything. Now to worry about everything else…

Today’s work was simple, allowing for coffee, beer, and chill-out time. Among the things we worked on and finished:

(1) Draining the coolant system and replacing it with water.
(2) Snipping some loose wires.
(3) Cleaning remaining glass.
(4) Removing the hubcaps and wheel weights (thanks CC!).
(5) Applying additional coats of paint to corporate partner logos.
(6) RP and PF adding their own pieces to the contributors-only roof.

And, of course, we buzzed around the neighborhood.

With the mod sessions behind us, the effort focuses on:
(1) Streaming the derby to the Web (PMS w/ the assist).
(2) Towing the car to the derby (JV w/ the assist).
(3) The pre-event party (Palantir Technologies providing the pizza!).

Each of these items are doable, it’s just a matter of turning the focus to them and finishing them.

Thanks again for the awesome help provided by RP and PF!