Category Archives: Blog

Blog entries from Bryan about life, the universe, and everything.

Review: ECM Tamper Station, the Espresso Accessory You Didn’t Know You Needed

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Check out the ECM Tamper Station, an espresso accessory I had no idea I needed until I saw it (on IG Reels, FWIW). It is my second favorite espresso accessory after the Asso Dosing Funnel I reviewed last week because it makes every tamped puck easier and faster to do. I’ll tell you why! I Love my ECM Tamper Station This device, made in Germany, is an aluminum cylinder with a notch for your portafilter handle. It’s designed to hold your portafilter, giving you a stable and level platform on which to level and tamp your puck. And, it’s the Continue Reading →

Review: Asso Dosing Funnel, Your Magnetic Espresso Grinder Savior

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The Asso Dosing Funnel sitting on a bottomless portafilter

I have a favorite accessory for my espresso setup, and I’m here to apologize for not telling you about it earlier. It’s official name is the Asso Dosing Funnel (Asso being the brand), but in case that doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s a collar that fits on your portafilter to keep your ground espresso beans from going all of the places. And, it’s held on by magnets. This thing works well, is easy to use, washable, and it has made a major difference in keeping my espresso station tidy. It’s US$55 from iDrinkCoffee.com, which is where I got it. Continue Reading →

Happy New Year!

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My last post was a…well, a wee bit acerbic might be polite. But hey, let’s get 2023 off to a good start with some well wishes! I noted on Post.news (which I really like) that the last few years have set a low bar, but 2023 is going to be good on a new level. It’s time to kick butt and not let any bullshit get in your way. Be positive and do the right thing. Be kind to people, both your loved ones and strangers. Work on those things you’ve been putting off, get the toxic people out of Continue Reading →

May You Live in Interesting Times

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May you live in interesting times

Firstly, according to Wikipedia, the titular phrase of this post has never been traced back to a Chinese source, but it’s apt nonetheless. We live in interesting times. And it sucks. So yay us! In no particular order, it turns out that Elon Musk is really, really weird. And a massive hypocrite. I mean, I’ve long thought he was a hypocrite when it came to business, but said hypocrisy is also showing when it comes to philosophy intersecting with business. The free speech absolutist has been banning left-leaning accounts while letting the fascists, racists, and homophobes run loose. He’s been banning Continue Reading →

The Context Machine and Other Updates

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Looks like a couple of things have happened since my last post. There was the ongoing pandemic. An insurrection. A massive spike in homophobia and transphobia. Book banning (which always works out well). Putin’s bullshit. I moved back to the possibly haunted townhome. My point is that it’s been a while since I posted, and I wanted to make note of a couple of things. You might have caught that Dave Hamilton and I sold The Mac Observer. It’s still weird, but also still wonderful to see our baby in good hands. In a related note, Jeff Gamet is once Continue Reading →

People

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I love people. I mean, sure, “people” can be trying, exasperating, infuriating…but screw that. I love people. People are lovely, funny, delightful, inspiring, amazing, talented, surprising, and sometimes even awesome. I’m not just talking about my family, friends, and loved ones. I’m talking about people everywhere. From those little, tiny acts of kindness strangers pay to one another to amazing art painted on the side of a building.

Then There Was the Mayoral Candidate Who Listed Being “White” as a Qualification

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Kimberley Paige Burnette - not very good at blowing racist dog whistles

I can’t even…I mean…fuck me running, I so want to go low on this one. I so want to heap ad hominem attacks on this creature like an elephant keeper piling up poop at the end of a circus parade. A long circus parade. But I won’t. I’m going to take Michelle Obama’s guidance, and I’m going to go high. Or at least a midway-point on the height chart. So instead, let’s deconstruct this racist bullshit like adults. I’m talking about one Kimberley Paige Barnette, would-be mayoral candidate for the truly lovely city of Charlotte, NC. Ms. Barnette recently posted Continue Reading →

Mason Truman Is on Twitter, and So Is GeekTells

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Mason Truman has a Tweet

Check this out. Mason Truman is on Twitter. @MasonTrumanPI. Yeah, I know. He’s the   main character of my first novel, and sure, he was born…err…will be born in 2087, but there he is tweeting up a steady diet of algae-strained coffee, eagles, and life in the Dawdle. Bleh. AIs, combines, and writers. Literally the banes of my existence. https://t.co/GMGJL8T6MJ — Mason Truman, PI (@masontrumanpi) April 25, 2017

It’s Time for Rich Flat Earthers Like Shaq to Prove the Earth Isn’t a Globe

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The Big Blue Marble, as seen from space in 1972

Flat Earthers. This is somehow a thing. Today. It’s a fucking thing. There are people who fucking think the goddamned fucking Earth is fucking flat. In 2017. And while this exemplary expression of Idiocracy no doubt wallows broadly in the intellectual wasteland of climate change denial, creationism, and other anti-science, anti-elite ignorance, it has some relatively high profile adherents. Specifically, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and retired NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Adherents can also claim Tila Tequila and B.o.B. Flat Earth Mr. Irving infamously said a few years ago, “This is not even a conspiracy theory…The Earth is flat. The Earth Continue Reading →

And Then I Fell Into a Cauldron of Sealing Wax

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Wax Seal Test Stamps

When I was a kid, my Big Sis™ had a sealing wax kit. It was this Hallmark affair with one color of wax—red—one handle, and 40 or so stamps. It had one for each letter, one each for the Zodiac symbols, and maybe numbers, too. I don’t remember for sure. I coveted it. In fact—and don’t tell my sister—I plotted how to convert it from “her sealing wax kit” to “my sealing wax kit.” The joke was on me, however, because I’m fairly certain it was sacrificed in one of mom’s periodic purges-of-everyone-else’s-stuff. I went looking for an example for Continue Reading →