Plumber's Friend.

Coffee: Why change a good thang? Colombian Supremeo, Full City roast.

Mug: This is a double-walled, stainless-steel, French Press travel mug. Dump in the coffee, pour in the just off boiling water, wait a few minutes and depress the plunger. Damn good (and damn hot) coffee results.

Notes: The "mug" itself gets too hot to handle, so I have a variety of "koozies" to keep my fingerprints intact (should the FBI ever come looking for me again).

The mug itself came from Restoration Hardware a few years ago (as did a Scalectrix slot-car track and a box of rhythm instruments... cruelly labelled "Family Band") back in the days before Resto Hdwr became a prime habitat for "men without children".

Coffee Mug Potty Humor

Mug: Early Starbucks travel mug.

Coffee: Empty.

Note: When you turn this mug upside down (and especially if you place a stack of 3X5 cards on top), this mug looks a lot like a toilet.

P.S. Don't try this with coffee in the mug. Your cup will runneth under.

Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!

Coffee: Juan Valdez's

Mug: The last in the series of four Texas History Movies Sesquicentennial mugs. Chinese promo-mug of a non-offensive design. Two-finger handle design. This is the final mug in my Texas History Month series of coffee mugs.

Note: The Battle of San Jacinto was one of history's (and especially American history's) most decisive battles. The entire political shape of the North American continent was changed in less than an hour by this conflict between roughly 2,000 armed men. It was a battle with mythic elements that are true nonetheless:

Extreme bravery and courage (Texian general Sam Houston was shot off his horse while leading the attack, one of only 30 Texians hit by enemy fire),

Brutality (as Mexican soldier's pleaded for their lives by pleading "Me no Alamo! Me no Goliad", they were ruthlessly slaughtered by men who were drunk with vengeance... over 600 Mexican soldiers died in the battle),

Cowardice (General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna put on a private's tunic and hid in the weeds until captured), and...

Chivalry (Houston received the captured the General and spared his life from those who would have shown Santa Anna the same mercy he showed to Col. Fannin and his men at La Bahia... execution).

These are the things of myth, but being mythical does not always mean it is untrue.

Tube o' joe.

Coffee: The Colombian Base (a little too strong this morning... I'm still struggling with the settings on the burr grinder).

Mug: A pleasing Chinese promo-mug from Antique Electronic Supply in Tempe, Arizona. Of the generic promo-mug (gimmie-mug?) shape, this style is my favorite Nice handle that's large enough for my fat fingers, with a pleasing bow to the handle shape. The mug cyclinder itself is of a nice thickness (neither too thin nor too thick), the white glaze is WHITE (not the yellow white I see too often on Chinese coffee mugs). When I place the mug in the microwave to heat water (a ritual I do to preheat a mug for my wife's coffee, and to provide hot water for my travel mug's pre-heating), the handle stays comfortable to the touch.

Notes: Antique Electronic Supply sells parts for old tube radios and tube P.A. amplifiers. They have various grill cloths for different radios and amps, knobs, fabric amp coverings, switches, potentiometers, and tubes. I got this mug to signify my tentative exploration of the world of Hi-Fidelity tube amplification. I found an old H.H. Scott Stereomaster 299-D amp from 1964. I've cleaned it up, refinished the wood cabinet, and replaced a tube and two knobs (from Antique Electronic Supply... the knobs are virtually identical, and are sold as replacement knobs for old Marshall amps). A new adventure.

We interrupt this regulary scheduled blogcast...

Glass: Chinese made, styled after the typical "pint" glass (which is really only 3/4 pint for us Murikins).

Beer: Pearl Lager.

Note: Pabst (who now owns Pearl) has a whole slew of new marketing items for Pearl, all featuring a return to the traditional logo. Could Pabst be on the verge of actually promoting Pearl beer? Hope springs eternal from the Country of 1100 Springs.

...and now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

T.G.I.G.F.

Coffee: "It's the Colombian, stupid."

Mug: Handmade pottery mug from Italy. Many "imperfections and irregularities" in it's shape, it is "rustic", I suppose. Black outer glaze with a blood-red inner glaze.

Note: Matthew 27:4-8, NIV

"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.