Notes From The Zeitgeist

Confessions of A Coffee Snob

2012-01-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

So I remember when this started, and at the time, I was just a wee lad drinking coffee made in a machine. I was still getting my tolerance for the drug and would spend many a day nervous and angry. Aside from having to finish 5 term papers in 2 days, why on earth does this beverage exist?

Then a caring friend bought me a ceramic drip cup maker and some beans. It started innocuously enough, a bladed grinder and a dripper. Admittedly the coffee tasted different but took far more effort. Aside from how good it tastes, why on earth would I spend all this time making this beverage?

Then I went to Portland for a bachelor party. Man those Portland strippers are hot, but I digress. Perhaps it was the severity of the hangover, or perhaps it was the the superb graphic design, but this cup of Stumptown coffee was somehow the best thing I've ever had. But aside from being meticulously hand-crafted, why on earth should I invest in yet more coffee making equipement?

Then something happened in San Francisco. Something called Blue Bottle. Sure, this stuff is good, and sure it's got an even roast, a balanced flavor, and consistent quality. But really? Long lines, tight pants, thick-rimmed glasses, and tattoos at the coffee stands; it seems that coffee had become the new fixed gear. Why on earth would I want to deal with the levels of snobbery required to enjoy this stuff?

Two Chemex pots, a Hario V-60, and a hand burr grinder, later, I have somehow arrived at a level of coffee snobdom that I'd rather not talk about. I even took my coffee making apparati with me on vacation to Pennsylvania to make sure I'd not go without my cup of therapeutically made coffee. If you're ever in Philly, do find the Rival Bros. coffee truck, they know what's up.

Ok fine, I have a coffee budget, I don't drink Starbucks, and have gotten my coffee making process down to a science. I'm measured, timed, and, yes I will admit this, come to enjoy the activity of being late for work for my coffee. I'm now showing deep signs of addiction, not just physically, but mentally, a day does not start until the coffee is made.

Still, while the heights of coffee snobbery have nearly jumped the shark in SF, you can still get a great cup of coffee for $2. And unlike the $20 you'll need to eat a "food truck" here, good coffee can still be a sustainable habit. Even our premium roasters, like Sightglass and Four Barrel, have great bags of beans that won't cost you more than what you'll pay for a bag of beans at Starbucks.

So now that I've outed myself, let me get to the situation at hand. A couple months ago, a coffee snob friend of mine is jawing on about this coffee subscription he's getting from LA. I mean, I know they drink coffee in LA, but it's no SF. Intellegencia and Lamill are pretty good, but coffee from LA? He says it's from these two dudes doing the indie roasting thing. As an SF coffee drinker, I believe in getting beans roasted locally, I also love the Sightglass location in SOMA. Around 3p the afternoon sun turns the building across the street into a big soft box that makes for just a beautiful atmosphere for having a cup of coffee.

But I digress, it finally dawns on me that I know of a coffee subscription. Sure enough, my friend's getting these beans from the one and only, TONX coffee. I've wanted to try TONX's coffee, especially since I remember when this started. But at the time I wasn't confident I knew enough about coffee to really understand how good it was. Well, yesterday I get this box in the mail.

Immediately I recognize the name, emblazoned in Strangelove, T-O-N-X. I don't remember signing up for this? But I do remember telling Santa I like coffee! I can only guess he got my email, and let me just say, FUCK YES. I've yet to make a cup as I just got my beans for the week, but I sure am excited for next week. Updates to follow...

A note about the package. Un-boxing your TONX coffee is about as much fun as making it, great details make a great package and there are no shortage of great details here. If you're into a subscription addiction, check out tonx.org.

Cool Story

2012-01-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

Amps

2012-01-18T22:49:00.001-08:00

2x Ken

2012-01-16T22:41:00.001-08:00

In the Square

2012-01-10T09:58:00.001-08:00

Quality Foods

2012-01-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

2012-01-04T22:48:00.001-08:00

Pin It

2012-01-04T22:43:00.001-08:00

2012-01-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Designation

2012-01-01T18:38:00.001-08:00

Ciocc World 77

2011-12-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

I picked up a 1986 Ciocc World 77 on craigslist. It was in decent shape, totally complete, and, most importantly, my size! I typically like to assemble my own drivetrain so I can gear it soft for the hills. This one is geared very aggressively, chainrings: 42-52 and sprockets: 13-14-15-16-17-19-21.b This means I ride it mostly as a single speed in its lowest gear and never go uphill. Since it had a little rust and hard oxidation holes in the paint I feel okay about riding it for errands and commuting. Kinda makes me feel less bad about thrashing it in normal use.

I also did a little clean up just for the hobby of it. I prepped the big rust spot by sanding off rust with fine grit paper. You can also use steel wool, brass wool, or some crumpled aluminum foil depending on how much abrasiveness you need. I try to stick just to the spot, I don't mind a visible ridge of paint where it's chipped. Keeping the area you need to paint to a minimum is key, big spots are easier to see, especially if you don't mix your color right. I clean thoroughly with a damp cloth and make sure the site is free of debris or oils.

It took me a bit to get the color just right and hand-fill the broken decal. I touched up the big rust hole with a hand-mixed enamel, Testor's Dark Blue and Testor's Black for the body, and Testor's Steel for the decal lettering. Of course it looks better in this photo than close up IRL, but still better than a gapping rust spot. I ended up re-dinging that spot and more oxidized paint chips fell off so I had to paint it again. I'm getting a lot of practice hand lettering the bottom of the W and the O.

The brakes were stiff but could stop okay. Changing the cables and cable housing did the trick, this bike can now skid like hell out of control when you don't modulate the rear brake.

New leather straps:

Fresh hoods, new tape, a slightly more aggressive road bar for short hops, and my 77 is ready for a trip to work.

Coming Soon

2011-12-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon

2011-12-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon

2011-12-05T20:20:00.001-08:00

SSCXWC Recap

2011-12-05T19:08:00.001-08:00

Filmmaker Chris Leavell captures the unique atmosphere of the 2011 Single Speed Cyclo-Cross World Championships. From Peleton.

What I Did this Weekend

2011-12-04T22:39:00.001-08:00

We broke our records: 201 riders, 7,990 lbs. of food, $9,652 in donations.
http://supermarketstreetsweep.blogspot.com/

2011-11-25T23:01:00.001-08:00

2011-11-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

Theater

2011-11-25T21:45:00.001-08:00

2011-11-25T01:24:00.000-08:00

2011-11-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

Wallpaper vs Wallpaper

2011-11-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

Ray asked for some wallpaper.

Remember

2011-11-24T21:39:00.001-08:00

Revolution

2011-11-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Gaining Entry

2011-11-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

I'm honored to have gained entry into Jon Halperin's amazing art collection. Though perhaps the greatest honor is having him make a more permanent decision about my work:

Jon writes, "I've always had a extreme fondness for the muppets. A kermit graced my bed growing up. I am 42, and spent a day on the Sesame Street set in 1972. I am marrying my mexican girlfriend in November of 2012.....so a sugar skull kermit tattoo on the back of my leg just made sense."

The work was done by Dan Smith, singer and tattoo artist featured on TLC's television reality show, LA Ink.

>=C

2011-11-14T16:08:00.001-08:00

Ampersand

2011-11-10T22:52:00.000-08:00

Round 3

2011-11-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

Process

2011-11-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I like to play:

2011-11-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the J

2011-11-08T10:46:00.001-08:00

Process

2011-11-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

A Good Name for a Bicycle Builder

2011-11-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Cleaver Bikes.

Celebrate the Dead with Sugarfree Shipping

2011-10-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

While you rot your teeth on your Halloween haul, save some sugar on shipping. I've got just a few prints left and if you get one before November 2, 2011, I'll ship it for free. Get your sugar.

Supermarket Street Sweep

2011-10-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

This year I designed our poster with Jenny's Occupy theme idea:

The 6th Annual Supermarket Street Sweep: Dollars for Dinners

2011-10-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

The 'Sweep is on again this year! Again we've got a ton of generous sponsors and a pile of amazing prizes. We're also, for the second year, running a fundraising contest from now until race day. The winning fundraiser will win a $500 coupon from our friends at Xtracycle. Visit the blog to see how you participate in the fundraiser, or make a donation on my donor page at Firstgiving.com.

Otherwise, if you're in SF on December 3, come out and ride with us! As always, high-noon at the Bow and Arrow. See you there! More on our blog, http://supermarketstreetsweep.blogspot.com/.

More Thanks

2011-10-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

A quick note of thanks again to Stephen Weeks for another donation to Give2Asia Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund for his recent Tetsugar Blind acquisition. Again, I have a small number of blinds left and 100% of proceeds will be donated to Give2Asia to support the relief effort. Please contact me for more information.

Cookiexperiment, Healthy

2011-10-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with lo-sugar, butterless cookies recently. I am learning about different binders and substitutes for butter and eggs. This recipe uses bananas and has no butter, sugar, or eggs. Good for your vegan frenz, if you have vegan frenz. So far my most successful experiment. The cookies end up savory and not super sweet. If you want something sweeter, use slightly overripe bananas and sweeter chocolate.

Since I've got a tiny kitchen and a tiny oven, I make half batches (also good to not have 3 dozen cookies lying around).

My recipe as shown:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk in a mixing bowl:
1 cup rolled oats
5 tbs. almond meal (I grind up raw unsalted almonds in my old bladed coffee grinder)
5 tbs. raw unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix in another bowl:
2 ripe bananas, fork mashed
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbs. olive oil

Mix wet ingredients into dry and fold in:
3 oz. 90% cocoa chocolate, broken into chunks

Spoon into 2 tsp flattened balls about an inch apart (they won't spread much) and sprinkle a few grains of coarse sea salt on each.

Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown (I was experimenting with 2 tbs globs that ended up taking 45 minutes to fully cook). Cool for about 5 minutes before you nom.

A Moment of Visual Silence

2011-10-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to Stephen Weeks, Wendy Nakao from the Zen Center of Los Angeles, and Jason Morrow, for purchasing blinds in my auction to raise money for the Give2Asia Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund. If you're still interested, I have a small number of blinds available, and 100% of proceeds from the sale of these blinds will be donated to the relief effort.

Stephen and Wendy, I think a good way to preserve the visual silence is with a large white matte. If you have a companion here's what that might look like side by side:

Thank you again!

I also have a few more prints from the second series still available. Get them while they last here.

About Give2Asia

Give2Asia is a US 501 (c) (3) public charity, to which contributions are tax deductible (Federal Employer Identification #94-3373670). In accordance with federal law, Give2Asia has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.

Sugar Too is Nigh!

2011-09-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last series of sugar skulls but I'm glad to report that the next series is ready. Each print is hand-pressed on The Cranky Pressman's classic Vandercook, with vegetable based ink on Crane & Co.'s Lettra line of letterpress-specific paper stock. With magnesium plates and 110lb. 100% cotton paper this series is faithful to the first so if you have a print from my first series, these 12" x 12" prints will fit right in. This is a limited edition, five designs, 50 prints per design, hand-numbered and signed.

If you got a print in the presale, thank you! More importantly, your print is in the mail. Please let me know how your print arrived, I put more into packaging after seeing how the post office handled the last series.

Prototype:

Production:

About Series 2

This time around I'm working again from my childhood icons, but this time with a focus on my Japanese upbringing. While these icons might not be as popular in the US, some of them have influenced my aesthetic from very early on. Others, like the Domokun, are a nod to the continuing influence of the Japanese kawaii-cuteness in the modern dialect of commercial symbols and this thing called the Internet.

The artwork for the first skulls in this series were done just after I sold the last and after getting the illustration work to The Cranky Pressman, Japan was struck with the most devastating natural disaster in its history. I decided to add five blinds of each design as a visual moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives in the event. A blind deboss is a pressing without ink, the result is an impression in the paper but no inked surfaces. These blinds will be auctioned as a part of this series, each signed and numbered in an edition of 5 per design, with 100% of the proceeds going to the relief effort in Japan.

Previously on the web:
Wareground: This Ain't Daddy's Sugar Skull

USA Today: Sugar Skull Art, So Yummy!

Craftzine: Sugar Skull Art, So Yummy!

OMG Posters: Pop-Culture Calavera Prints by Jonathan Koshi

Monoscope: Jonathan Koshi: Sugar Skulls

BoingBoing: Dia de los Muertos skulls of Kermit the Frog, Alien, Pac-man, etc.

WIRED: Sugar Skull Prints Put Day-of-the-Dead Spin on Geeky Icons

Circular

2011-09-11T02:21:00.000-07:00

Permanent Sugar Pellet

2011-09-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

My sugar has been showing up a lot on the internet, and a lot of the hides of a few brave sugar fans! Thanks TaTaR FreAK.

Dear Mr. Postman

2011-08-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Postman,

Thank you for folding my stay-flat mailers and leaving my artwork in the snow. Your spirited deliveries of my work have taught me a lesson about your service-oriented perspective. Since you're not always compelled to care about the items you're carrying, I've decided to help you out by revamping my art packaging for my next print sale.

Thanks,
Koshi.

The Plan:

The Plan in action:

/me fingers crossed

Looking into Space

2011-07-31T19:32:00.001-07:00

The Shining

2011-07-04T20:53:00.001-07:00

/

2011-06-06T14:41:00.001-07:00

17

2011-06-03T18:33:00.001-07:00

On this day 17 years ago, I graduated from Moanalua High School. GO MENES.

The Mission

2011-05-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

No Regrets Sugar

2011-04-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

A Slave to Sound

2011-04-24T03:08:00.001-07:00

Fuel

2011-04-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Good Tiled

2011-04-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.uberkraaft.co.uk/

Robot or Real?

2011-04-06T23:16:00.001-07:00

"you can do a cr mp with say ryu into hadouken in 1 release

so you cr mp, hold mp while doing the QCF and release, bit of timing required.
---
Shoryuken!"

"My reason for asking is that i can see myself (being a gumpy ****) attempting to ultra, only to whiff something else instead because i was scrappy on the input. (eg. Abels c.fp -> ultra, but instead of ultra, i would end up with a whiffed falling sky)"

"I have no idea whether one is more lenient than the other, because I never got to play SFIV at the arcade. I do have a habit of getting Seismo Hammer or Yoga Teleport instead of Burst Time or Yoga Catastrophe every so often, so it might well be something to watch out for.
---
I won through basic science; face conducts fist."

Robot or real?

It seems like it could really be a conversation. I think the robots are getting smarter.

Sugarkun

2011-03-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Tetsugar

2011-03-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Sugar Plumber

2011-03-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Darumasugar

2011-03-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ultrasugar

2011-03-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

I Can See Your Feet

2011-03-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Pictoplasma Festival 2011 Opener from Pictoplasma on Vimeo.

It's still pretty cool despite the feet.

Sugar the Cat

2011-03-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

Get Your Sugar Too

2011-03-11T11:22:00.001-08:00

Sugar Fans, First off, thank you for supporting my work and for your patience while I got this series together.

In this series there are 50 prints in each edition, hand-signed and numbered. There are a limited number of prints still remaining from the presale. Each print is individually hand-packaged and shipped via USPS (and many trips on my bicycle).

I've designed your package so you can touch your print to feel the bite of the deboss without getting finger grease on it! Prints are still on Crane & Co.'s 100% cotton Lettra line of papers, made specifically for letterpress and still printed by the artful craftsman Keith at The Cranky Pressman. If you have a print from the first series, these are exactly the same size, 12" x 12" square, color, and on the same paper so they will match your first sugar if you have one.

For Japan

The artwork for the first skulls in this series were done just after I sold the last and after getting the illustration work to The Cranky Pressman, Japan was struck with the most devastating natural disaster in its history. There are five blinds of each design as a visual moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives in the event. Four of each of these blinds will be auctioned as a part of this series, each signed and numbered in an edition of 5 per design, with 100% of the proceeds going to the relief effort in Japan. All proceeds to benefit Give2Asia.org.

Each print ships individually. International orders are welcome.

Darumasugar

Modeled after the original Zen master, Bodhidharma, this ubiquitous symbol for luck, perseverance, and encouragement isn't just for kids anymore. $85