Communicative Culture Syncopation

Old Grind Gag

howsoonis08 — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:10:17 +0000

I just thought I’d share a really shitty situation that I found myself in this morning. As many of you who read this know, it’s essay season… I’ve been bombarded, and now am overjoyed to say that I have ONE left! Anyway, continuing with my story…

I stayed up all last night finishing up an essay that was to be handed in at 4:00pm today. The writing was going great…I really enjoy writing essays of sociological theory class…. however, I ran out of coffee beans around 4:00am. I guess I could have started drinking tea… but I decided to instead try to make a shot of espresso from the coffee grinds that don’t quite make it into the portafiliter. I didn’t know how long they had been there for, and knew that it would most likely taste like shit because of the oxidation that would occur quickly after the grinding was done, but I decided to go through with it. This is a bad idea…

Don’t try this… it was disgusting… it literally made me gag. Needless to say, I battled the night with the help of tea instead of coffee.

So I guess…. don’t make shitty espresso from really old grinds… and …. don’t be a jackass and do something you know you shouldn’t…. just drink tea instead.

Ode to the Harmonica.

howsoonis08 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:49:09 +0000

Oh… the harmonica… totally underestimated right? Maybe…. either way, it’s pretty darn neat.

Tones or notes are made by blowing air into or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes (reed chambers) or multiple holes. The pressure caused by blowing or drawing air into the reed chambers causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate up and down creating sound. Each chamber has multiple, variable-tuned brass or bronze reeds which are secured at one end and loose on the other end, the loose end vibrates and creates sound. Reeds are pre-tuned to individual tones. Each tone is determined according to the size of reed. Longer reeds make deep, low sounds and short reeds make higher-pitched sounds. On certain types of harmonica the pre-tuned reed can be changed (bending a note) to another note by blowing or drawing air strongly into the chamber.

The harmonica has made its way into all types of genres of music: folk, blues, rock, jazz, even dance and hip hop, And now, it is making its way into Carnegie Hall!

Check out this gnarly video!

Think your Extreme?

howsoonis08 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:28:13 +0000

So you think you’re extreme? You like danger? Take a look at the cases below… and then reconsider your answer!

Wingsuit flying is much like watching a flying squirrel. The jumpsuit shapes the peoples bodies into an airfoil which can create lift. It was mostly used in skydiving activity, but recently they’ve been playing around with base jumping. It’s one of the most spectacular spectacles I’ve seen for a long time. Although it scares the shit out of me… it is still astounding! The flyer enters freefall wearing both the wing suite and the parachute equipment, and when the all the fun of flying is over, the parachute is deployed in order to get a safe landing. This is pretty amazing stuff… It pretty much allows your to imitate birds… and as you will see below, the experience from flying a wing suit can be compared to the experience of a hawk!

Now this… This is Dan Osman…. Pretty much a pretty damn good definition of extreme. Dan was known for the dangerous sports of free-soloing (climbing without ropes or other safety gear), and rope jumping (a controlled free-fall of around several hundred feet, and then being caught by a safety rope). He was even the record setter for rope jumping…1200 feet of free-fall…. That’s enough to turn my intestines inside out 5 times over! Unfortunately for the climbing world… Dan died on November 23, 1998 at the age of 35 after his rope failed while performing a rope jump in Yosemite National Park. Dan did miscalculate on his last jump. For some reason he moved his jump site. In doing so he crossed the ropes (either on the retrieval line or on the main jump line). When he jumped, the first knot above the one he was tied in with slid down a section of rope several lengths up. The sheath was heavily melted and removed in several sections on this upper part of the rope. The knot that slid down the rope was melted in multiple locations and was melted nearly completely through, deep inside the knot. This knot was not tight, yet others in the system were (this is the one open question that is unresolved as far as I know). He was a pretty amazing person! Check out the video below!

Is Vogue magazine Racially profiling?

howsoonis08 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:06:42 +0000

On the cover of the newest edition of Vogue magazine is an example of racial profiling?

Take a good look at the new cover, and think about some of the emotions and profiles that come in mind… King Kong… primal…. primitive…dangerous…aggressive…powerful…criminal… Aren’t these thing we should be moving away from? Especially on the cover of a magazine that represents ‘high’ society in North America?

“So when you have a cover that reminds people of King Kong and brings those stereotypes to the front, black man wanting white woman, it’s not innocent,”

“Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening reinforce the criminalization of black men.”

Whose standpoint is coming through in these pictures? What is mistakenly being represented? Keep in mind that this is the first black man to ever pose on the cover of Vogue magazine…

I am not taking a side in this argument, what I want is to generate discussion on my post… Pease let me know what you think!

The Battle for Cups

howsoonis08 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:29:15 +0000

Have you ever tried to buy cappuccino or espresso cups before? Why is it that the vast majority of them always have to have a stupid fucking saying like “I love Espresso” or “mmmmmmmm….” I don’t want that shit on my cups… I want a plain, simple, non-jackass looking cup so that I can enjoy my drink without feeling like an asshole! Who buys them anyway?? I guess if there is nothing else to buy then maybe you would have to bight your lip and drink out of a cup that labels itself as “Espresso” or “Cappuccino.” I’ve had better success going to thrift stores to buy my cups… and now I have one nice white cappuccino cup and a nice white latte cup (proper sized… none of this 17oz latte bullshit!). Maybe it’s because I live in such a small city that this is such a pain in the ass… I wish it wasn’t…That is all…

Join the Gun Club!

howsoonis08 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:43:00 +0000

What a great band! Originally I was a little bit frightened by them… but I learned to love. Please check out this link for more information, and check out the videos for music goodness!

Coffee Comedy

howsoonis08 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:25:55 +0000

Sorry for the lazy post today, my stress levels are at an all time school-related high, and I would rather be writing my super sweet essays! (I kid you not, these essays will be some of my best work yet!) So Instead of giving you an entry to expand minds, I instead give you something to bring you back down, calm those senses, and let you enjoy a little chunk of time amongst this ‘end-of-school’ hustle and bustle.

Enjoy the videos!

Coffee that looks to good to Drink!

howsoonis08 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:58:04 +0000

Much like rubbing your tummy and tapping your head, pouring latte art requires that you do two things at the same time. Pour the milk at a consistent and even rate AND shake the pitcher side to side with the even tempo of a metronome. Sounds pretty simple right?

Ever since I got my espresso machine, I’ve wanted to be able to pour latte art [as cheesy as that may sound]. To say the least, it took a lot of trial and error involving steaming the milk properly [which is a much harder task than in sounds like... it has to be velvety and at the right viscosity], finding a decent steaming pitcher, and knowing what to do with the milk when I was ready to pour. Now I’ve got a pretty decent idea of what I’m doing, and recently some have been coming out looking very good!

These are just some examples of what you can do with latte art!

Dancing should get Rad again!

howsoonis08 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:46:39 +0000

People need to do awesome dancing again… dancing like the Charleston… It was popularized in 1923 and developed in African-American communities in the USA. At the time the Charleston was seen as quite a provocative dance… but compared to some the stuff that goes on now, it’s pretty clean! For me, the Charleston never really hit its peak till it was incorporated into American 1930s and 40s swing music.

Anybody know any other rad dances that should come back into fashion?

Man… My grandma taught me how to do the Charleston… just not quite like this!

‘Just Coffee’ Documentary – Striking Back!

howsoonis08 — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:06:08 +0000

Just Coffee takes a look at the different types of certified coffees on the market and assesses the benefits for coffee producers and consumers.

The coffee industry has suffered a crisis in recent years, with the price of raw coffee reaching its lowest price for over a century. There are an estimated 25 million small-scale coffee farmers in the developing world and the drop in price has cost them a staggering $4.5 billion a year. This has had a catastrophic knock-on effect for workers, the local community and the future sustainability of the entire coffee industry.

If you have the time, please watch the documentary and learn how the coffee industry is striking back! Just Coffee takes a look at four of the biggest certification labels on the market: Utz Kapeh, Rainforest Alliance, Organic and Fair Trade. It examines what they offer the consumer and how they benefit the producer. The film talks to large-scale coffee plantations and small-scale cooperatives in Brazil about the differences certification has made to their community and their local environment. It also speaks to coffee roasters, trade officials, labelling organisations and retailers in Europe about what they are doing to develop the certified coffee market.