Smeagol is Free!

iFunny

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:56:00 +0000

I'm blatantly borrowing this from my brother, since it's too funny not to share:

If I was working for Apple, I'd suggest the following products. I doubt they will ever be brought to market but you never know. Let's go, Steve Jobs, get on it...

• iBall – Good for throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing and rolling but tends to turn red and have that “glazed” look when exposed to marijuana smoke.

• iDrops – For use on the iBall after being exposed to marijuana smoke to combat redness and the glazed look.

• iLid – Used to cover the iBall, especially in “sleep” mode. Also enables "wink" and "blink" functions.

• iLash – Add-on accessory for the iLid, it helps keep dust and debris away from the iBall. Extensions available.

• iShadow – Optional color schemes for the iLid.

• iLiner – Used to accent the iBall for a sexier look. For use primarily by females, rock stars and actors.

• iBrow – Generally attached above the iLid for aesthetic purposes but can be plucked or waxed to adjust shape. Use in conjuction with iBrowpencil.

• iGlasses – Helps to keep the iBall in focus, especially as it gets older.

• iContacts – An advanced version of the iGlasses, it attaches itself directly to the iBall, eliminating the need for an external frame.

• iDunno – For use by kids (my nephew has been field testing this for a while now) to answer adult’s questions when they know they’ve screwed up but can’t think of a good excuse when confronted. Other variations include “iCantremember” and “iDontrecall.”

• iRate – For use by adults when stupid kids use the iDunno too frequently.

• iSlapyourhead – For use by adults on stupid kids when the iRate just doesn’t seem to be working. Definitely one of the most underused products today.

• iKickyour@$$ - For use when iSlapyourhead is not effective. Not necessarily for everyday use but if it must be utilized, apply liberally.

Roasting Excerpt

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:17:00 +0000

Here's an excerpt from the "Wednesday Morning Cup" post that I wrote about the Kenya Kirinyaga AA we pressed here in the office:

For those of you curious about the roasting details, this was roasted on Sunday night to roughly a City to City+ roast. First crack occurred somewhere after 11 minutes (I don't have my roast notes on me, so this is just from memory), and the total roast time was about 14:30. The idea was to drop the heat just before it hit first crack and let the roast coast a little as it went through the roast development stage, lingering very gently so as to let first crack fade a little toward the end. I've done this more and more with this year's Kenyas and I've gotten results that I've loved. The acidity isn't quite so sharp, giving a slightly more balanced cup, which I feel allows more of the sweetness and delicate characteristics of each coffee to shine through.

Unfortunately, the Prima Coffee site isn't live yet, so even though I'm going to link to the full post here, it's still not accessible for most of you. Oops.

I Suited Up

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:46:00 +0000

Gotta love what Lang did with these...

Word

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:23:00 +0000

Psalm 119:11
Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

All too often, I find that my thoughts are not of the LORD. In those times, should my eyes look toward Him, I feel disinclined to gaze overly long, lest I feel the sting of conviction and displeasure. I'm reminded of my younger nephews -- or even my older ones -- when they are disobedient. Their body language changes; gone is the carefree, unblushing excitement and curiosity, replaced by a shirking, dodging attitude. They stand there, looking anywhere but into the eyes of the adult speaking to them.

I feel like I'm looking into the eyes of my Father when I sin. I know what is right and what is wrong; regarding that, I have no excuse. Yet, what do His eyes desire? That I not sin against Him? Yes. But what do they require? Absolute obedience? Absolutely. And has Christ done that? Yes. And has He given me Christ, His Word Incarnate? Yes. So, although He has given His word as a means to obey Him, He has also given His Word as a means to know Him, to be one with Him.

In the Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:35:00 +0000

Glen's bid for a cup of coffee this morning was quite entertaining, even if it went a bit awry.

Glenjamin: good morning
John: top o' the mornin' to ye
Glenjamin: have you ever heard the jingle ♪ the best part of waking up is latodo in your cup! ♫
John: um
no
I've not
Glenjamin: well. it's running through my head for some reason
John: hmmmm
who's latodo?
Glenjamin: that...and songs from Beaches...the movie
you.
I spelled it wrong didn't i.
John: quite
Glenjamin: how is it spelled.
John: letoto
Glenjamin: darn.

Good Morning, Window

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0000

The view from my kitchen window this morning.

Espresso 101: Syllabus

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Required reading.

For Crist's Sake

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Regarding the injury to Notre Dame's 2nd-string quarterback, Dayne Crist, the following forum thread appeared today:

Anyone hear the severity of Christ's injury? [NT]

And the reply that takes the wit award:

Large gaping wounds to hands, feet...

...Should be OK in about three days.

A Letter

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:41:00 +0000

Dear Shelby Park Denizens,

I apologize if my after-sunset habit of standing at my window whilst wearing a head lamp alarms you. I assure you, my Petzl head lamp is not one of my normal fashion accessories -- unless I am backpacking and/or camping -- but it is a most helpful tool in culling out the defective beans from a batch of freshly-roasted coffee. Since the batch of Grade 3 Yirgacheffe was greatly lacking in uniformity and seemed to abound in defects, both of the quaker and tipping/facing varieties, I felt compelled to simply stand at my window so as to be able to toss out those defects with greater ease. This, however, put me in quite a conspicuous position, as those of you walking in the park were able to see yours truly standing at his kitchen window with a head lamp gracing his head. Quite the odd spectacle, I expect. I truly hope this will not deter you from enjoying your delightful walks around our beloved and endearing park during this wonderful Fall season.

Sincerely,

Your Coffee-Loving, Petzl Head Lamp-Toting Neighbor

From Ryan Fullerton

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Just got home to see a little treat from Ryan in my inbox:

Luke - "What are those Dad?"
Dad - "They're cuff-links, do you know what those are?"
Luke - "Yes I do, Mr. John Letoto has them..."
Luke - "I didn't think you had them Dad."

I'm gonna laugh about that one for a long, long time... ;)

Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:47:00 +0000

For you coffee nuts...

My Twitter coffee list.

Drinking vs. Tasting

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:09:00 +0000

Today, I posted a little something over on the work blog. Take a gander.

Being Awesome Instead

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:45:00 +0000

Sometimes, I can get really, really bored with awesome coffees. Lame, isn't it? Still, for all its lameness, that doesn't make that sad fact any less true. So what do I do when I get bored? Well, I channel a little Barney Stinson and tell myself, "Stop being lame and be awesome instead!" Aaaaannd what precisely does this awesome agenda entail? In tonight's instance of boredom, that meant that I decided I would roast up a batch of the Ethiopia Beloya Selection 8...for espresso. This intensely fruited coffee was sourced by the wonderful folks over at PT's, and believe me, I'm very grateful for all of their hard work, as it means that I get to try to do justice in giving this coffee its penultimate -- roasted -- form.

Judging by the roast development stage that came in at just around four and a half minutes, I think I nailed it. *Crossing fingers*.

An Observation

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:45:00 +0000

I am a perfectionist. Seriously. The problem with that lies in the fact that I am also picky, and that picky nature extends to my choosing -- quite pickily -- what I desire to be perfect in. Added to this dangerous personality cocktail are the massive bouts of laziness I seem to be prone to, and I very likely I tend to drive those around me to inane levels of confusion.

Think...empty pizza boxes and empty ice cream containers heaped around the mounds of clothing and books in my apartment, all while I furiously edit and re-edit the notes and blog posts I write about the latest coffee I've roasted and cupped. *Sigh*...yep, that's pretty accurate...

Re: Today's Game

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:25:00 +0000

I need to read my previous post. Over and over and over again. 'Cause I hate losing to Southern Cal. A lot.

So...close.

For the record, I called the 2nd and 3rd down plays. They went to Kyle Rudolph, and they threw a quick slant. The throw to Rudolph made sense because he's Kyle Rudolph, and he's ridiculous on jump-ball type plays. The quick slant made sense because if it's incomplete, you still have time left for one more play.

*Sigh*...

My Self...ish

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Late last night, in between roasting and reading and pondering, I concluded something: I'm easily the most selfish person I know. That's not one of those statements that is tossed out there as bait for pity, nor is it one that can be refuted, as I said that I'm easily the most selfish person I know.

I had been reading a blog post at some late hour. It was incredibly sad and joyful all at once, so much so that it shocked me into a far more sober state of heart. I don't know the Pipers, nor do they know me. In a sense, I suppose their family gains some sort of mild Christian rock-star status (I'm being sarcastic here, people) by simply being related to John Piper. That clearly doesn't exempt them from grief. Nor, on the other hand, does it automatically grant them joy.

I think I was on the second or third roast of the night, and as the machine went through its cooling and pre-heat cycle, I sat and reflected on my own life, my own heart. I meant what I said about my own selfishness; it's hideous. I can say that without reservation not because I don't give, but because of what I don't give out of what I've been given. It's that old thought that Scott and I have tossed back and forth over the years: an honest assessment of our gifts and talents leads us to believe that we can't be lazy about using them, about using them to love and care for others, as we've been given...well...much.

Tears fall as I think about the death of that precious little one. It was really odd for me to look at the picture of the date on that tombstone -- date, not dates. "What? Just one date? Where's the othe...r...one. Oh." Yeah. "Oh." Just like that, life became far more fleeting, far more important than the coffee that was cooling in the tray.

There's this tendency I have to push away love, to not receive it; it's very selfish of me. If you know me and your bibles well, I think you'll understand very quickly what I'm getting at. *Sigh*. It's not often that I lack for words, especially when I feel the need to write as I do now, but my finite heart and mind are too inadequate to convey the love of God. And that is precisely what is silencing me, I think, because as I sit here and type, I'm reminded of those that love me with the love of Christ. Furthermore, I'm reminded very, very keenly of how one-sided that love often is; that, my friends, is incredibly selfish of me, of anyone.

He Made My Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:55:00 +0000

An unedited tweet from Mr. Michael Elvin, concerning the Kenya Ndaro-ini I had roasted for single-origin espresso:

"yes! it totally rocked. ment to write you straight away... now I have to remember my notes. myself and my people loved it!"

More on this later. (I've been saying that a lot lately, haven't I?)

Thirty-Three

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:37:00 +0000

The other night, Makana was counting backwards for me: "Thiwty-nine, thiwty-eight, thiwty-seven, thiwty-siiiix, thiwty-fiiive, thiwty-fouw, thiwty-thwee..."

Thiwty-thwee is definitely the cutest.

Dwell Time

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:06:00 +0000

Coffee. Coffee products. Tasting coffee. Coffee brewing methods. Coffee tasting. Brewing parameters for coffee products. Coffee.

And that's just at work...

Setting the Table

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Very soon, I'll return to continue posting my thoughts on coffee, Seattle and Chicago and otherwise. I may even have some nice things to say.

Imagine that.

Standing During the Stands

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:41:00 +0000

"...a goal-line stand that has to match up with the greatest in school history, the Irish survived 8 plays of do-or-die football..."

"...any time a group can manage three goal line stands in a game, credit must be given. In the many years I've been a fan, I have absolutely never seen an Irish team do that...hell, I don't remember seeing any team do that..."

"...despite all the areas for improvement, the defense did something incredible - three goal line stands in one game..."

"The boys had some bend but don't break moments but damned if they didn't buckle down, strap the lids on and win the damn game! Hats off and pouring some out for every kid that took the field on the Irish defense today. The goal line stands were absolutely unbelievable!"

"Since 1972, my standard for greatest goal-line stands (plural) I had seen in a football game was when Ohio State made two against Michigan in a 14-11 Buckeye victory that year. After 37 years, that changed yesterday."

"All three of the goal line stands were remarkable. The double goal line stand was unbelievable."

"Those moments were in a game that will now be legendary and included in the discussion of some of the greatest games in Notre Dame Stadium history. I don't care who the opponent was."

All of those quotes were collected from around the web from folks describing the game -- specifically, the goal line stands the Notre Dame defense somehow managed to gut out -- this past Saturday in South Bend. While Moisan and I were standing there in the stands as the fourth quarter wound down and ND sealed the deal in overtime, all I could think about was the game itself: Down and distance, formations, personnel groupings, matchups, time on the clock, etc. What didn't come to mind was where this would rank in the annals of Notre Dame lore; more personally, how awesome it was that we were there, in person, standing in the stands near the south end zone where the Irish defense pulled off its double stand at the goal line.

As a seemingly life-long Irish fan, there are some epic games that I, along with many others, remember far more than others: Penn State in '92, Florida State in '93, USC in '05. While I was too young to clearly remember details from games in prior seasons without having to consult Google, I easily remember where I was for each of those games I listed. I remember agonizing over the games, hating the outcome against the Trojans in '05, and still thinking back fondly over each game in the years to come. And now, when I think about that crazy contest in the rain against the Huskies, I'll remember exactly where I was...

...standing near the south end zone, yelling myself hoarse as the Irish did the unbelievable.

Washington's Head Coach, Steve Sarkisian, said it well, even in defeat: ""It was a great college football game...for all the things that happened in this ball game, I think as a fan, everybody loved it."

We Were There!

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Notre Dame only needed one overtime against Washington to pull out the win, and I'm quite glad that was the case. I'm not certain my old heart could take any more of it, you know?

Moisan and I were going nuts in our section near the south end zone. Well, everyone was going nuts, Huskies fans included...they were just much quieter about it. As you can tell from the video, we had a blast. (You will probably want to turn down your speakers since the sound that was picked up by my iPod nano came through as ridiculously loud static.)

Go Irish!

For the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Today, I'm thinking about a post I wrote back in 2007. It can be found in its entirety here, but this is an excerpt from it:

"I was immediately taken to Revelation 19 when first reading this psalm. There we find ourselves with John as he envisions the marriage supper of the Lamb, that glorious event where all the saved saints of God, who collectively are the bride of Christ, are presented to her Bridegroom, the Lamb of God. It is a presentation where we are shown to be clean, pure, and righteous! What saint, struggling with sin, longing to be free of the real yet deceptive burdens of this world, does not long for this day? What saint, a sinner saved by grace, a sinner whose sins were washed white as snow by the shed blood of the precious Lamb of God, cannot help but ache to see the Savior in all His glory, nevermore to grieve His Spirit, forevermore to praise Him unashamedly? Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your godly ones sing for joy."

Back Again

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:42:00 +0000

Back from South Bend and Chicago. What a game! I think I'm done traveling for now.

Think.

Seattle Visuals: Day 4

noreply@blogger.com (Bolo) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:19:00 +0000