Fall Colors Canadian Style - what did we do to Halloween · Thursday October 30, 2008 by colin newell
Here is an excerpt from my journal entry dated November 1, 1971…
went out for Halloween last night with younger sister. last time ever I am pretty sure. at 12 years old… it must be time. weather was perfect. cold and foggy. the ground was musty with fallen leaves and rot. dressed as a gypsy. mom and sisters creation. no idea what a gypsy is. firecrackers and fireworks everywhere. pipe bomb exploded about 100 feet away from me. wow. cool. got home at around 8. went back out for long walk because this was the last one for me. feeling grown up.
In 2008 no one lets a 12 year old out with his 8 year old sister to trick or treat. At least not in this urban jungle. And I wonder why. Is it really that dangerous out there? It was way more dangerous in the late sixties when I was a kid… and I was taking myself out trick or treating by the time I was 7 or 8. And I guess I was pretty savvy by the time I was 8. On Halloween one knew where and what to avoid. The houses that felt dark and creepy were to be avoided. We knew who the creeps were – and there were not a lot of them. Even in the 60’s we knew enough not to accept anything that was not wrapped – yes, even then. Now I think we are too cautious and too concerned about threats that do not actually exist.
And I am not suggesting that you send your children out alone – we should`nt have been out alone – there should have been an adult or a teen with us – but they were slightly different times.
Now kids are paraded through malls stopping in individual stores to collect treats! What happened to meeting the neighbors? What happened to original costumes created from imaginative minds. When I was 12 I went out in an outfit that my older sister and mother cooked up. At 11 I was a greaser from the 50`s. That was a stretch! At 10 I was a vampire. At 9 I was a ghost… and yea, there was a sheet involved. Complex or not, we did something creative with homegrown ingredients. Now people shop at Walmart for togs made in China that contain enough melamine to kill a horse… made by children that have never heard of Halloween.
I cannot believe I have actually reached the point in my life when I am using the phrase… “When I was 12…”
Happy Halloween. Be safe.
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Fall Colors - shades of cool and great coffee at Street Level Espresso · Saturday October 25, 2008 by colin newell
Ken Gorden, owner and chief barista at Street Level Espresso on Fort Street, Victoria B.C. Canada leads me down a winding and mysterious staircase into a catacomb underneath the city. Life in the Victoria underworld is a semi-connected circuit of storage areas, utility wiring, plumbing, tunnels… and intrigue.
In Ken`s case, it is his storage locker for Street Level Espresso – the latest addition to the modest collection of great cafes in Victoria. I have lived in Victoria a long time and if memory serves me correctly, I have never been down there – it was cool and fitting for a first impression of this new cafe and the sacred ground it sits on.
Ken Gordon is well known in Victoria B.C. coffee circles as master class espresso brewer who previously held court at Cafe Fantastico and Habit Cafe. But when you are as good at the coffee game as Ken is, there is no cafe that is going to hold him back – unless it`s his own.
Street Level Espresso is the creation of Ken Gordon. At less than 400 square feet, it packs more caffeine sex appeal per square inch than any place I have been to recently. But how does he do it? Ken takes the best practices he has learned in some of Victoria`s hottest joints – added his own design ideas… and then plunked it as close to Victoria`s own Ground Zero (Douglas and Yates). At 2 blocks away from the cities center, Street Level Espresso could arguably be called Espresso Central.
In the 40 minutes that my wife, Andrea, and I were there (near closing time actually), there was an endless parade (no, pageant) of hyper beautiful people – Apparently Ken has some interest and connections to the arts and music scene and it shows – all his friends and admirers were all coming in at once… and were they hot!
Well. Add me to that list. His coffee (Origins from Vancouver) is prepared to perfection. He knows how to pull a wicked espresso and is a great story teller. His interest in cafe culture and coffee history is thorough. So be prepared to talk story while he prepares your favorite drink.
I am a pretty harsh coffee critic (at times) and I give Street Level Espresso top marks for knocking the ball out of the park in short order.
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Fall Colors - Cafe Artigiano comes to Victoria · Wednesday October 22, 2008 by colin newell
People tell me that the cafe market in saturated in Victoria B.C. Canada. Nonsense! I keep saying that there is a lot more room for coffee in Victoria. And with that…
Caffè Artigiano President Willlie Mounzer has announced the opening
of its first Victoria location – 1140 Government Street.
The Piccolo family created Caffè Artigiano which opened in Vancouver, BC in December 1999 – their branding included “Latte art” on their sidewalk signs. On some level, few people took much notice. It was the actual quality and consistency of the beverages that sold Vancouver residents.
Like the Girl next door that we do not always pick up on right away, Artigiano slowly built a following looking for quality joe, a comfortable environment with a bite of sass built in. In my many trips to Vancouver in the first part of the 21st Century, a stop at an arti used to be absolutely necessary.
Within the last two years, the Piccolo brothers sold off the enterprise to Earl`s creator, Willie Mounzer – and with that, speculation that the success and sexiness of Arti would tank. Did it? Not for me to judge. I still pop in from time to time when I am in Van – and yes, some of the jive is off the vine – and that could possibly be a psychological effect of something beloved being tarted up and branded out – Mini-Starbucks style. I mean, this is what Starbucks used to be; sexy and tasty.
Anyhow – Cafe Artigiano is finally coming to the city of Victoria B.C. – and yes, we might be some of the first caffeine-addled in line – if only to criticize what we had come to love – Caffè Artigiano will be located on Government Street – Victoria… in the lobby of the Bedford Hotel. They will be brewing premium cups of joe with the Clover single cup brewer and churning out at least some of the energy that has taken Vancouver by storm.
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Canadian Color - Mousse abuse self-help clinic · Tuesday October 21, 2008 by colin newell
Popped by the Chris and Steven show webpage – linked here.
The CoffeeCrew maven of all things caffeinated, Sara Lee Spector, did a really nice spot on their show and the video is now online. How to find it?
-Head over to the Steven and Chris page here
-Click on Watch more Videos over on the right.
-Click on All Video Clips under categories
-Click on Shopping as a category
-Click on The Smart Shopper Coffee Episode
Yea. Sara is hot and turns up the heat on great coffee.
When it was originally telecast a month ago, we were shocked and dismayed that there was no credit for Sara, her cafe roastery or the CoffeeCrew website. They fixed this oversight and we thank them. My faith in the CBC has been, at least, partially restored.
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