btw, did you guys read the blog itself? unfortunately, there’s no way to link directly to it. hafta click your way through from the home page. top left.

I don’t think I’m tall enough either

good e-mailing with you, bob.

I’m too close to the trade ’cause I’m in the trade. By that fact alone, I’m biased. For what it’s worth, I’ve always appreciated the critical comment on our industry from this blog exactly because it’s a third-party viewpoint. Our own coffee media fails to deliver on critical coverage so I’m looking for perspective.

And true, I’m always hesitant to write about the trade on my blog because the trade isn’t my life. Coffee allows me to have a life but, unlike many of my colleagues, it isn’t “my life.” The blog is my focus on what I find fascinating and important in the world - and coffee industry bullshit just isn’t that important when you get right down to it.

zoka’s wasn’t shabby. but the street stand i frequented fell short of serving the kind of sublimity vivace and stumptown gave (talking maccs here).

there’s now zoka brew in charleston, s.c. by the way. so when you come to visit me next month, you can stop by. ahem.

no, seriously. part of being an outsider is NOT tuning into every insider drama. indeed, i intend to ignore more of them. they’re irrelevant to the real world, and recent debates show that my attempt at reasoned viewpoint doesn’t budge the intelligentsia anyway. pun not intended.

after being literally without internet for weeks, on a long and awesome sabbatical, i came back to an e-mail tip that the usual suspects were in the middle of it again. very deliberately, i walked the other way. why? because rabble-rousing from the inside still loses the connection to real people and real life.

in some hack, two-bit way, this blog has always been about excellent brew in the real world. this includes satire and mockery of insiders — but sometimes it means ignoring them and carrying on with the good life.

eh?

Or has the outsider become the insider and is now willing to give all the bullshit a pass so as not to anger the self-appointed coffee deities?

While we’re on the subject, who you pulling for in the Euros?

Say what you want, comment as you wish, but do have the balls to stand up for what you say and what you comment. The Rod Lazar site is just anonymous bashing.

It’s completely different to bash anonymously. And let’s be clear: Rod Lazar.com is an anonymous bash.

I’ll be the first one to admit that I have been publicly made fun of and satirized on ChemicallyImbalanced.com. It was humorous and funny - but most importantly, it came from a traceable source.

The Onion is satire and parody perhaps at its’ finest, but you too can check out the contact page and see the people publishing The Onion.

Neither of the two examples are equal to the anonymous bashing that is this Lazar.com shit.

You want to satirize and parody someone, go ahead - but have the balls to put your name to it and stand up for your actions. I’m out here in Copenhagen and have already seen a member of the SCAA Board of Directors proudly wearing a Rod Lazar shirt - and it’s the same person who claimed not to have been behind it on another website.

How about some people in this “community” grow some fucking balls and stand up for themselves?

Once you can’t joke about an issue or yourself, then you’re really in trouble, friends!

I wan’t my helmet now!