Axis & Allies....which side are you on?

So Marcus...I think you are wrong...

Get you Chadder's on...

A tale of things to come.

So in the coming weeks I intend to post reviews of the various coffee shop's of Salt Lake City. Now I know you are saying to yourself "But Mike, Utah is full of Mor(m)on's." Now while you might be correct, Salt Lake City is full of local culture.

There are a ton of local Coffee shop's that range from drive throughs for those on thier way to take care of various tasks. To the hang out spot for those that choose not to contribute to the GDP! There is the ever elitest local shop where the coffee is fantastic but pricey, to the philanthropically oriented mainstay of the downtown strip. Lastly you have the college hang out spot that seems to invite collegate studiers to the under 18 late night hang out spot.

So Salt Lake City offer's a ton of local coffee shop's and while it may take me a while to get through all of them, I fully intend to visit the many coffee shop's of Salt Lake City.

Now in order to undertake such a venture one has to have a standardized methodology with which to measure each of the fine establishments. For starters, espresso is a standard. While we all enjoy a good mocha from time to time, the very ingredient that makes a Mocha a Mocha (namely: Chocolate) is more than capable of hiding the very thing I will set out to judge. So, a Mocha is off the list. Next, the latte is the gold standard of any self respecting espresso shop. The first time I visit any new Espresso shop I always order a latte in order to adequately judge the quality or the establishment. Now for me...the true tell of a quality espresso shop is the Cappuccino. Now the problem with a cappuccino is that it varies so much from shop to shop. While a Latte is espresso and steamed milk, the Cappuccino is an artform.

To be fair any slackass can make a latte, however one's ability as a barista can be the final stop in the long chain of variables that end up in your cup. The quality of the raw bean that specific year, the quality of the individual beans as they are roasted, the final blend that makes each shop's signature "espresso blend" and lastly the abilities of the individual Barista to control the extraction process of the espresso. Espresso is not a simple task, but rather requires a passion for the art. This is ultimately what ends up in your beverage for your enjoyment.

So, since I have finished that diatribe I have an important decision to make. Which beverage will I use to judge the many coffee shops of Salt Lake City. Well, ultimately I believe that the Latte is the best beverage to judge both the quality of the espresso as well as the skill of the barista at each specific shop. So, while the beverage is the simple task, there is more to be decided. All beverages come in various sizes. 8 oz, 12 oz, 16 oz and in some cases 20 oz and in the rare case a 24 oz!! I believe that the best beverage to use as a benchmark is a double shot of espresso in a 12 oz. latte.

There is a whole other catagory of factors that one can use to judge an espresso shop by. The cheerfullness of the baristas, the tangible skill of the baristas, the artfull abilities of the barista, the clenliness of each espresso shop, the thoughtfull ness of the marketing and the menu. The overall impression of the establishment and one could even go so far as to judge a shop by the quality of thier retail products and selection of music.

For this first round of judgement we will focus not on the overall quality of the establishment but rather the quality of the beverage in the cup. The test begins.....now...

Come on y'all let's take a ride....

If I were a package....and I had not arrived.....lets say I was being sent rather than received...what would my day look like?
Well you can't start out the day wiout a trip to Starbucks!

Then it's off to the office....

and to finish my day off I head for the a local UPS shipment center. Whew...what a full day!! It's off to Washington D.C. to my good friend Ted.

Tickets go on sale Saturday....be there..

Me likey indie rock!!

Songs for Saturday Mornings....

1. The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
2. Alexi Murdoch - Love you More
3. Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake
4. Iron & Wine - Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)
5. Spoon - Don't You Evah
6. Down the Line

enjoy!!

What do you think?

Click on the picture above to see more!!

It Has Arrived...

Hello Citycreek...

The Way I See It...

Mmmm....dinner.

Imagine me and you....and you and me...

Oh what a night...

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Brain Veaman!!

Oh what a night....

Would you like to touch my monkey?

The Way I See It...

Songs for Saturday Mornings....

1. Mason Jennings - Nothing
2. The Counting Crows - Millers Angels
3. Ben Folds - Fred Jones Pt.2
4. Belle & Sebastian - Wrapped up in Books
5. Beth Orton - Couldn't Cause Me Harm
6. Coldplay - Green Eyes


So, how do you classify a slow Saturday morning?

In all fairness

So in the never ending hunt for a new home, I have requested that my readers give me thier opinion on which home they liked better, and then to defend them selves. I would like to go on record publicly to thank everyone for thier positive....negative...and confusing words. In light of this new series, I now have a second poll I would like to put out before the voting public.

Of the two homes that I previously posted, it seems that home #1 is the more popular house. Thank you to Dirty for posting the links to the homes, and if you took the opportunity to look into the two homes, you will see that they are rather different homes. There are unfortunately not enough photos on the website for this home...so I will be establishing a photo album of the home soon.

What I would like to ask here is, what is a fair price for this home?
- To Give a little history, this house was first listed in October of 2007 for $450,000.00

- It was then dropped over a series of just short of 6 months to $398,000.00. This was when we located it.

- While we were looking at the property it was relsited at $375,000.00.

Here are the stats for the home -

built in 1909

2112 square ft.

4 bedroom

1.75 bath (one full bath & one shower)

2 car garage - disconnected from house

Formal Dining room

Renovated kitchen

.18 Acre lot near the 9th & 9th area

updated electrical in the home

So....what do we know?

The housing market is in the toiliet, with inventories rising daily.

Houses have been listed on the market for longer than they have been for almost 10 years.

Ben Bernanke will probobly lower Fed rate again when the reserve board meets on 3.18.08.

There are no comp's in the area to value this home against.

Loan rates continue to remain stagnant, but have come up almost 3/4% since January.

Housing prices are on the decline after the steep increases in home values over the last 3-5 years.

So with all that being said, what would be a fair offer on this home, and what would you pay for it?

Did I do that?...uh,..yeah...you did.

So Dirk Nowitzki is a douche bag. As you may have read in a previous post....Nowitzki took Kerilinko down on the hardwood the other night like a sack of potatos. The entire "DELTA" center exploded in outrage...and yet, no foul. Kirilenko sat out for the remainder of the game and took X-rays to make sure he didn't break anything, turns out he had a "Strained Hip".

UPDATE!!

Nowitzki suspended one game for flagrant foul on Utah's Kirilenko

Yeah Dirk....you Douche bag...you did do that!

Cappuccino...Raaahhh!

Well....its Wednesday....time for a Cappuccinio!

Bzzzzz....zzzzzzzzz

It has arrived...

Which house should I buy?

Option 1:

Option 2:

Please tell me why you like either house?

Welcome to Utah.....Dirk!

So tonight Marcus and I went to a Utah Jazz game, and watched them wrap up thier 16th consecutive home game win again the Dallas Mavericks! What a night. Dirk Nowitzki took Kirilenko to the floor hard in the first quarter, putting him for the remainder of the game. Let hope our boy is still up to a strong remainder of the season!

I passed my exam for "The Firm"

Cocoa Caffe...and Studying..yum!

Well T-minus 24 hours to test time, so I am studying away for the exam that I have to take for "The Firm" tommorow. I am studying at Cocoa Cafe and wanted to take a break and make a brief blog post.

I am at Cocoa Cafe....having...

Yum!!

Espresso Conundrum - Volume II

So after triaging the espresso machine for a few days, the water tank finally showed up...and we were able to enjoy a great breakfast with a round of mocha's! Marcus wanted to try some new Special Dark Hershey's chocolate for the Espresso's, and I must say...Bravo!

I installed the water tank this morning and am now off to study the day away. I have a huge exam for "The Firm" that I must pass in order to maintain my employment, so I figured....why not spend some time studying for it? As much as I hate paying taxes...I love having paychecks.

So the Espresso machine is a go! And everyone is happy!

It has arrived...

Important Paper...

So I would like to take a quick survey to see what the consensus is. Now, please feel free to defend yourself in the comments. There are no right or wrong answers, just stupid ones. So once again....please indulge me.

Which of the following is correct?

Option 1: Option 2:

VOTE OR DIE!!!

Are you Hardcore?

Are you Hardcore? Because this guy sure as hell is. Last night I went to my first hardcore show in a while. I have a buddy that is in a local SLC Harcore band by the name of Clifton. We went to thier show, and while we were there I snapped a few picutres. I set up camp just outside the mosh pit during thier set, and saw this huge dude in the pit that I was ble to snap a few photos of. What a beast....something tells me he is on his way to Wendy's for a frosty.

Here are a few follow up pictures of the same self respecting gentleman....how charming!

The Show was a great show, it was nice to connect with an old friend who is chasing his dream. He is a damn great guitarist who is awsome a what he does. It was a great show!

Chapter 2: The Aftermath -

So after a reminicent late night trip to the Village Inn on 4th, I dropped my friend off at his house.

As I was leaving his house, there was a truck heading my way with it's headlights off. I flashed my lights...then honked my horn, but he didnt acknowledge me whatsover. Now typically this would be normal, however this road is damn near one lane wide, so to recieve no response is a bit bizare. I brought my car to a stop to let this car pass....and as it passed, I noticed a trail of sparks.....and then a piece of rope.....attached to the truck.....and then...a piece of railing. Now I know, your asking yourself..."A railing"? What could that mean?

To which I reply....

Yes....a railing.

So yes, this guy had a rope tied from his truck to this house....and ripped the railing off. Now...you may say, "what a dick!" Worse yet...as he drug the railing down the street, his trail of debris also struck another car....and destroyed its tire!

So ..me..being the pillar of social responsibility that I am, I spoke to the homeowner that the car was parked in front of. The car was not thiers, but thier neighbors....so I gave them my name and number, then as I exited the neighborhood I located an officer and made them aware of the scene that just unfolded as I made my trip home.

Wow! What a night...

Another one bites the dust..dun..dun...dun..

An Ode to the Bachelor....

Last night was awesome! Our buddy Dr. Brain Veaman is getting married, so we had a Bachelor party for him over at our buddy Shad's house. We started the night playing some poker,

And then went on to drinking some Yeager....

and then played some Rockband! Over all it was a great night, Congratulations Dr. Veaman.

We look forward to the wedding!