A fun coffee blog for caffeine fiends (and bold coffee lovers)...

Mackenzie Shieck of the online newspaper, Seattle Post Intelligencer, has a fun blog that deals with her experiences as a former bearista for a major chain of coffee shops... Let's see: Seattle, coffee, bearistas...

Gosh, do you think she could possibly be talking about her days at Starbucks?

Here's the link to her blog, It's Just the Caffeine Talking:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/caffeinetalking/

Photo of a Starbucks in Portland, OR: flickr (cafemama). Sure I could have used a pic of a Starbucks in Seattle, but that would have been too predictable, don't ya think?

Driving the New Defender...

(The year is 2430 in the Great Central Government Territory.)

Nancy Sundusky was excited about taking delivery of her new 16-speed transport vehicle known as a Great Central Government (GCG) Defender. Of course, before she could travel anywhere, she would have to take the vehicle into the nearest GCG office to activate its multiple programs. Each Defender came equipped with 18 video screens, the largest of which enabled drivers to keep track of their speed, and estimated time of arrival at the selected destination. Each small screen had an intended purpose...

When activated, Nancy would be able to literally see anything happening in the GCG Territory. No activity was too small or large to escape broadcast: she could look in on the local School Control Board meeting or observe the GCG armies invading the properties formerly known as The Asian Lands. At this time the islands labeled as Japan in the unavailable-to-citizens reference books were being shelled.

The Defender's screens and programs in return enabled the GCG to observe every action, every activity, and each and every movement of citizens such as Nancy. As soon as she entered data into the auto transport drive, the officials would know from where she departed, to where she was moving and what path points would take her there. The officials could even, in cases of suspected activity disloyal to the GCG, make the Defender inoperable, or set the time of its self-destruction feature.

Nancy often thought about using a Defender to take her to one of the underground hotels where she could dream freely without medications and controls, and read information smuggled in from outside of the GCG Territory. But she knew this was far too dangerous... As soon as she was seen docking the Defender within a kilometer of a suspected underground facility, she'd be stopped and questioned. Or perhaps, she'd have a single night of unmanaged sleep and be arrested once she returned to street level.

One could never know which persons were true agents of the rebel underground and which were GCG officials; the latter were richly rewarded for their success in apprehending those disloyal to the GCG. Capture five rebels and a GCG official was awarded a 90-day period of unmonitored activity. Capture ten, and the GCG official would be free to travel unmonitored for a quarter of a year, and to visit the restricted libraries of information from the past (this reward was known as a history pass).

Nancy knew she had to put this dangerous thought out of her mind. At that moment, the text message arrived on the slender communicator device strapped to her wrist...

(To be continued...)

Photo: flickr (Mr Wabu)

How to Search This Blog... (or any blogspot site)

Friends have asked me how to search for particular articles - such as book or music reviews - within this blog. I had no idea until about a week ago when a fellow blogger explained it to me.

In the upper left corner of this sample blog page, you'll see a blank white rectangular box. This is where you can enter a search term phrase or keywords such as: bob dylan, dave mason, small faces, jenny dalton, green day, great central government, munchy, peet's, starbucks, bold coffee or some other topic and then click on Search Blog (earlier Search This Blog). The multiple results for these topics will then appear as one long web page. Pretty cool.

I feel like I should keep writing except there is nothing more to say, it's as simple as this.

Early Warning: An upcoming release from two of rock's Super-stars...

On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, a two-CD live music concert set Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood: Live from Madison Square Garden will be released. The concert, which is also being released on DVD, features songs originally recorded by Blind Faith, Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, and the Buddy Miles Band; as well as songs off of Clapton's and Winwood's solo efforts.

I'm looking forward with excitement to hearing the live versions of Traffic classics like Pearly Queen and Dear Mr. Fantasy. Winwood's live version of Split Decision is also included on this 21-track collection, which closes out with Clapton's high energy anthem Cocaine.

On the 19th, we'll be able to truly say that there's good rockin' tonight!

a flight too far...

A Flight Too Far
by Joseph

I departed from Sacramento Intergalactic Spaceport
But my flight was delayed and diverted...
It landed in Morro Bay and it was 1956
My father picked me up in his beige Buick Special

I thought you were gone, I said
No, he replied, we're never away
we're always waiting, just waiting...

Waiting for you to arrive, waiting to escort you
Into the great beyond; making sure you arrive at
The right gate


Photo: flickr (vgm8383)

Twitter: Doing 140 just right (a poem by The Web Laureate)

Unfrequently heard type,
Complexitudes the gripe,
Streaming in the pipe,
At twittering so snipe,
With words kept contrite,
Still 140 just right,
Structured more tight,
Usefulness more or slight?

Notes: The cute cat pictured above is Chihiro Chan who has his own Twitter account at http://twitter.com/chihirochan. And don't forget to visit us at http://twitter.com/troybear07! Munchy says "Yeowk!" to Chihiro Chan.

Photo: flickr (fofurasfelines)

A Munchy-certified bookstore in the East Bay, No. California...

Munchy and I require just three things to recommend an independent bookstore. The staff should be friendly, the staff should be knowledgable and - a factor that adds a whole lot of bonus points - the store should have a working animal (such as a cat, dog or bird) to make the customers feel welcome.

Mrs. Bear and his Munchyness saw that these standards were met during a recent trip to a bookstore in Orinda, in the East Bay section of northern California. This bookstore is Orinda Books.

Mrs. Bear was looking for a copy of the book Inside the Not So Big House, and it was in stock; she also asked for a book for me, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation. This book has just been released in paperback, and since the store did not have this edition they sold Mrs. Bear the hardbound version for the paper price. Very nice!

According to the Orinda Books website you can, "Come in and relax - there's plenty of comfortable seating inside. Browse our 14,000+ titles and don't hesitate to ask our well-read staff to help with recommendations for all ages and tastes. ... However, if it is (just) a friendly cat you want to stroke, Ginger is here too and will always greet you with her welcoming meow. We look forward to seeing you soon."

Ah, yes, Ginger... As you can see from the photographs above, Ginger was occupying a couch during her mid-afternoon break but was still performing her essential duties of greeting vistors and posing for photographs. Munchy thinks she's cute.

So the next time you're in the East Bay, think about stopping in at Orinda Books, which has been in business at its current location for 33 years. Orinda Books is located at 276 Village Square, Orinda CA 94563;(925) 254-7606. The store is open seven days a week, and possibly eight if Munchy is visiting.

Orinda Books - It's Munchy-certified! Yeowk!

http://www.orindabooks.com

Photos: Munchy Archives (cat-alogued)