Rites of Spring #26 From Seed to Cup fundraiser - Black Stilt · Thursday May 27, 2010 by colin newell
On Thursday, June 3 The Black Stilt Coffeehouse will host an event to help
raise awareness of, and funds for, coffee farm families and, in particular,
sport and education programs for the children. Funds raised will be
distributed through the Oughtred Coffee Trust.
Black Stilt will offer special fundraising purchases which will include its
photo-journal book, From Seed-to-Cup: A portrait of great coffee and its
limited-edition Rio Negro coffee.
One free cup of Rio Negro coffee will be offered to everyone who purchases a
product fundraising item.
Hillside location: 1633 Hillside Avenue Hours: 7:00am-8:00pm (250)
370-2077
Jubilee location: 1769 Fort Street Hours: 7:00am-6:00pm (250)
590-8230
“We want to make a positive impact in the lives of the people who work so
hard to bring us our wonderful coffee,” says Dave Crothall, Black Stilt’s
owner and barista.
“We traveled to Costa Rica to learn all we could about our coffee and came
away with new-found knowledge about the people. It strengthened our
commitment to be a leader in promoting and educating our customers about
ethical coffee.”
To this end, The Black Stilt, in conjunction with Oughtred Coffee and Tea,
has written and produced a high quality photo-journal book. It tells the
story of the process and the people in ethical coffee’s remarkable
seed-to-cup journey. The book has been manufactured with wind power and
100% post-consumer waste recycled paper (FSC certified).
Rio Negro – of which there are only 80 lbs available – is a Rainforest
Alliance coffee of which Crothall is particularly proud. “It’s a first for a
barista like me to be able to share personal stories with customers about
every step of this ethical coffee’s seed-to-cup journey, and how it has
helped, not harmed its farmers and its environment.”
“The third wave of coffee has been around for awhile,” explains Crothall.
“Now people want to know that they coffee they are drinking is positively
impacting the countries of origin.”
The Black Stilt Coffeehouse, established in 2005, is a triple-bottom-line,
carbon-neutral company that leads by example with what is needed to create
healthy, sustainable communities. Additional information can be found at their website –
www.theblackstilt.com
Rites of Spring #25 - Pecha Kucha Night Number Two Tonight · Thursday May 27, 2010 by colin newell
Pecha Kucha (ペチャクチャ?), usually pronounced in three syllables as “pe-chak-cha”, is the onomatopoeic Japanese word for the sound of conversation. The equivalent English term is “chit-chat”.
Click on photo at left for a bigger, better, sharper view…
And the Victoria Event Center welcomes the 2nd ever Pecha Kucha night on May 27, 2010. Events coordinator, Elisa Yon has been in touch with me about doing a presentation…
On what I ask? Have to think about that.
Anyway. Going tonight to check it out.
So. What is Pecha Kucha anyway?
Pecha Kucha Night was devised in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo’s Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa), as a way to attract people to Super Deluxe, their experimental event space in Roppongi, a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous as home to the rich Roppongi Hills area and an active night club scene..
Pecha Kucha Night events consist of around a dozen presentations, each presenter having 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds.
Each presenter has just 6 minutes 40 seconds to explain their ideas before the next presenter takes the stage.
6 minutes and 40 seconds. I could humiliate myself in seconds if I apply myself.
Conceived as a venue through which young designers could meet, show their work, exchange ideas, and network, the format keeps presentations concise, fast-paced and entertaining.
Young designers? That is a scratch for me. I was young about 30 years ago.
In 2004 PKN began running in a few cities in Europe, and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, now running in more than 260 cities in almost every corner of the globe. Now it is in Victoria Canada – the last event had over 200 in the audience. Click on the above photo for the big picture.
See you there!
Rites of Spring #23 West Jet flight credits watch your dates · Wednesday May 26, 2010 by colin newell
Andrea and I had a trip we had to cancel a year ago that was the result of a family illness – that ultimately resulted in the loss of a loved one.
We ended up with a West Jet credit of $1500.
And once things settled down we were planning on taking a short trip south of the border… to San Francisco to visit friends, or Los Angeles… or Portland, Oregon.
Alas, I misread the dates on the credit. I had a year from the date of cancellation – not a year from the flight.
And so I discovered when I called West Jet a week or so after the credit actually ran out.
“Mister Newell, your account shows zero dollars…”
No apology. No “we’re sorry…”
$1500 down the drain.
I would have even humored a “read the fine print you doofus..”
I would like to ask West Jet… where does that money go?
I could have paid $10 to extend it another year.
So why not take $10 of value off of the voucher and leave me with $1490. No, that would not make sense.
Bummer. Thanks West Jet. In the air you are loads of fun.
On the ground you are no fun whatsoever.
Note to self: Always read the fine print… always.
Comment [2]
Rites of Spring #22 Two Old Goats reviewed on Flotsam Jetsam · Tuesday May 25, 2010 by colin newell
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Fun CD review over on Cheryl DeWolfe’s Flotsam and Jetsam blog.
You can also click on the above photo for the same effect.
Either way… Thanks. Humbled.
