Caffeinated Thoughts - Four Barrel Coffee

            A week ago I went to Four Barrel Coffee, located in the Mission District of San Francisco, for the first time. My parent and I took the trip down, after I had mentioned it to my dad, and he was willing to go try it. I’ve had Four Barrel before, at esteemed cafés such as Jane and the Réveille Coffee Truck, two of the best cups in the city. It’s safe to say that I had high expectations for the Roaster itself.

            Sadly, I was a little disappointed. To be fair, the place was packed. The line was huge, all of the seats were taken. It’s a relatively large space, way bigger than any of the Blue Bottle storefronts, and most other cafes. That didn’t start it off very well. I went to a shelf to go look at the coffees they were selling, and the people were more than happy to help me make a decision. Sadly, while they had a vast selection of different origins, I couldn’t see any discernable marking to differentiate suggested preparation methods or how the coffee was processed. One coffee may not stand up to espresso as well as it does to drip, and visa versa. That being said, I don’t think I’ll be purchasing the coffee I was recommended again.

            It took a little while to get to the front of the line, but it didn’t take too long to actually get the cup. They have a nice little two-sided coffee bar system going on that works really well. People who order on the left get their coffee from the left, and people who order on the right order from the right. This streamlines process and allows for a smooth acquisition of your caffeinated beverage.   

            The coffee itself is where it really fell flat in my opinion. As I said before, the place was packed, which may have contributed to the quality. That being said, it wasn’t the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. In fact, it wasn’t even the best cup of Four Barrel Coffee I’ve had. It was something about the flavor of the coffee, mixed with the slightly too cold temperature, it really didn’t win me over. It was definitely a little more sour than I would have liked. While I would still go with a friend or two if they really wanted to check it out, I don’t think I would go back on my own accord. 

Learning From my Mother

So this is a super short entry about something cool that I did today. One of many cool things I did today

For the longest time, my mom has made these composition books that are super sweet. She takes your normal composition books and decorates with all sorts of paper goods, such as tickets, business cards or postcards. All you need is some packing tape, paper goods and a composition book. Simply place the decorations on the notebook and tape over them a couple of times. This sort of mimics laminating things to the front of your composition book, as the it now has a sort of pouch-like, plastic texture. The end product is really cool and allows a canvas to make a one-of-a-kind notebook.

I decided to use some of the many trading cards I have sitting around my room and make some speech balloons out of printer paper. I quite like the end product.

 

This Video is Beyond Awesome

So I had to pull the following videoclip from one of my favorite blogs, IndieGames. A great website for anyone of those interested in the little odd games that indipendent developers make, they recently had a post involving the Off Book Arts series that PBS is producing. The series focuses on Art subcultures that may not get as much recoginition as traditional mediums. One of the most recent episodes of the series focused on the Video game community, and the video is most certaintly worth your time. 

Off Book: Video Games from PBS Arts on Vimeo.

 

iPhone Reflections

So I'm doing this post from my iPhone, which is why it's going to be a chunk of text, rather than neat, little paragraphs. I was asked stay back at the work studio today, instead of getting delicious ice cream with the kids at Smitten Ice Cream in Hayes Valley. It's not like I got in trouble, someone just needed to stay behind to receive the other camps returning from their various field trips. That someone is me.

This leads me to my main point: amusing one' self when bored. Normally, I would turn to comics, but I didn't have the foresight to bring any with me. So right now it'a me and
My little pocket computer, my iPhone. It really is an amazing device. It can make calls, surf the Internet and so much more.

A large part of my iPhone usage consists of playing games. Lots and lots of games. I think many people dint consider the iPhone a serious gaming utility, not yet in the realm of the "hardcore gamer." 5 minutes of playing Angry Birds on the bus is much different than sinking 70+ hours into a JRPG or you're Modern Warfare 2 XBL account.

Daily Issues - Avengers #13

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Penciled by Chris Bachalo

            I should preface this by saying I love Brian Bendis. The book that got me into the world of Comics was Ultimate Spider-Man, so it should be no surprise if I gush over his work. While I don’t adore all of his stuff (sorry Scarlet), I like most of it.

            His run on the new of volume of Avengers has run hot and cold for me. Some issues, its awesome. Some issues, not so much. The artists he attracts easily help make the book a huge success *cough*JRJR*cough*. Avengers #13 definitely lies on the positive side of the Avenger’s quality spectrum. A majority of the book is done like a reality TV-show interview, where the character speaks to some off camera presence. I enjoyed this. It felt like a good post-event issue, where characters needed to unwind, address their feelings and pin-down what it means to be an Avenger. The tone quickly changes as the characters begin to address Blitzkrieg USA, the Red Skulls assault on the Nation’s capital. This is the first issue of Avengers addressing the Fear Itself event, and I thought it was very tastefully done. The issue serves as a bookend for the incomplete event, and highlights both the hopelessness of the conflict and how profoundly it will affect the Avengers.

            The highlight of the issue is easily the back and forth between Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel about Spider-Woman’s burgeoning relationships with everyone’s favorite sharpshooter, Hawkeye. Throw in a little bit of smarm from the man in purple, and some worrying from his ex-wife, Mockingbird, and the issue has all of the drama a superhero book needs.

            If you’re not reading this book, I highly recommend you pick this issue up (if you can find it), as it not only serves as a great jumping on point and introduction to Fear Itself, but is also a great story by itself, and can be read as a stand alone issue.