112 Replies to “The Past and the Future”

1. @wilburrox

   You know what though? We’ll still get a kick outa riding our old steel frames but something tells me that there’s not gonna be a lotta sentimental yeehah jumping on a 30 yr old carbon Tarmac. That line about style and function having it at each other is pretty good. Early 60’s Strat comes to mind. Cheers all…

   I’ll raise a glass to that.

2. @wiscot

   Did they take their caps off at least? (If they were wearing them) That’s another thing that irks me – going into an eatery and seeing boys/men wearing goddamn caps. And while I’m ranting, it also irks me to see guys going on dates where the lady has made some effort to look attractive (wash hair, apply make-up, wear something clean and nice) while the guy rolls in wearing whatever didn’t smell too bad in the laundry basket. And a fucking baseball cap.

   I wore a ball cap about EVERY day in undergrad. In grad school I had a prof look at me and say, “take your hat off indoors”. I thought, cool. It is probably a top five lesson I learned in grad school and carry with me. I remember it like it was yesterday. Strange the things we learn in the damnedest of places or times that stick with us.

3. @frank

   …it forces you to spend a little bit of time focusing on the simple task at hand.

   There is much pleasure to be found in this perspective. And the extra little kicker is that you get better “objective” results in the end.

4. Pencils and quality stationary are one of lifes small and simple pleasures. I too use a Moleskine notebook – along with their over-sized carpenters pencils. Special cap & sharpener included. At work my love of pencils is well known and I have generously been given more quality pencils than I will ever use. Unfortunately my handwriting is shite – definitely an area of self-improvement for 2015.

   There is a lot to enjoy in the analogue world.

   Well done @PeakinTwoYears.

5. @Barracuda

   @brett

   I hate the future.

   Yep, it scares the shit outta me.  My kids are 7 and 3 and Im already worried !

   It doesn’t scare me because I’ll be dead in the future, and I purposely didn’t bring any kids into the world because, fuck, that would be a bit unfair to them. What we are leaving them is bleak.

6. @brett

   @Barracuda

   @brett

   I hate the future.

   Yep, it scares the shit outta me.  My kids are 7 and 3 and Im already worried !

   It doesn’t scare me because I’ll be dead in the future, and I purposely didn’t bring any kids into the world because, fuck, that would be a bit unfair to them. What we are leaving them is bleak.

   Logically you should have left the fuck out to achieve that.

7. @Ccos

   “I’ll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash you got in the box…”

   RE-PEEEEEAT O-FENDER.

8. @Julez

   Wait, the “youth of today” category is everyone under 25?

   But…that includes me!

   I’m married, I don’t have an iPad generic tablet device, I will make a phone call rather than texting if at all possible, I own vinyl records, I get genuinely excited at the cinema when projecting from celluloid (not digital), and I have recently designed and specced a ground-up bike build from a vintage Bianchi frameset.

   Does this make me psychologically older or more mature or something? I don’t want to be One Of Those Kids.

   (Those Kids scare me…)

   Would you please reassure us that you do not have a Ned Kelly beard and skinny jeans.

9. @PeakInTwoYears

   @pistard

   There are scientific studies that suggest writing cursive has significant benefits on learning and cognitive development. Something about fine motor skills and activating specific parts of the brain. Even the ability to read cursive is being lost. I’ve heard of young post grad scholars being completely flummoxed when confronted with hand-written manuscripts of works they are otherwise intimately familiar with.

   Intentionally writing a readable cursive is enjoyable and meditative. There must be reasons that calligraphy is a zen thing.

   Exactly. And reading cursive is similarly transcendent: if a letter from my mother in her inimitable, perfect script conveys her timbre and accent, reading an author in their own hand might allow a reader some insight into that writer’s world. (Yeah, I know, post-structuralism, primacy, intent, whatever…)

10. @pistard

    Exactly. And reading cursive is similarly transcendent: if a letter from my mother in her inimitable, perfect script conveys her timbre and accent, reading an author in their own hand might allow a reader some insight into that writer’s world. (Yeah, I know, post-structuralism, primacy, intent, whatever…)

    Lovely.

    I don’t know what your relationship is to post-structuralist theory, and I’ve been out of all that for a while, but we can think of handwriting as “tracks,” scratches on surfaces, the way any animal lays down tracks. It’s not really about authorial intent. We move through the world leaving traces of our existence. That’s all.

11. @PeakInTwoYears

    @frank

    …it forces you to spend a little bit of time focusing on the simple task at hand.

    There is much pleasure to be found in this perspective. And the extra little kicker is that you get better “objective” results in the end.

    Yes. This. I’m baffled by how, on the one hand, the ability to multitask (Ugh…) is considered a very important quality to possess – while on the other hand, fortunes are being spent on courses in ‘Mindfulness’!? (More Ugh…) Concentrate on what you are doing right here, right now. Focus on doing as good a job of it as you can. The rest will follow.

12. @ErikdR

    I’m baffled by how, on the one hand, the ability to multitask (Ugh…) is considered a very important quality to possess – while on the other hand, fortunes are being spent on courses in ‘Mindfulness’!? (More Ugh…) Concentrate on what you are doing right here, right now. Focus on doing as good a job of it as you can. The rest will follow.

    I’m in complete sympathy, but I want to defend the practice of “mindfulness.” There are old and established practices of mindfulness that are, in my experience at least, very beneficial. But they require regular (near-daily) practice instead of buying a seat in a course. 

13. @PeakInTwoYears

    Good point – and perhaps I should have stressed that my second ‘Ugh’ was aimed more at the phenomenon of (crash) courses in mindfulness, than at the concept of mindfulness as such. I see enormous value in that concept, but I have this nagging feeling that it is in the process of being usurped, for lack of a better word – and (often) heralded as yet another ‘quick fix’.

    I’ll gladly confess, at the risk of being labelled an incurable hippie (too late, I know; who am I kidding?), that I try to integrate a degree of ‘mindfulness’ into my everyday life and work.

    The funny thing is: Quite often, it’s as if my bike rides, all by themselves, turn into long sessions of an almost meditative state of ‘just being’ – a state that I very much associate with mindfulness.

14. @wilburrox

    @wiscot

    Did they take their caps off at least? (If they were wearing them) That’s another thing that irks me – going into an eatery and seeing boys/men wearing goddamn caps. And while I’m ranting, it also irks me to see guys going on dates where the lady has made some effort to look attractive (wash hair, apply make-up, wear something clean and nice) while the guy rolls in wearing whatever didn’t smell too bad in the laundry basket. And a fucking baseball cap.

    I wore a ball cap about EVERY day in undergrad. In grad school I had a prof look at me and say, “take your hat off indoors”. I thought, cool. It is probably a top five lesson I learned in grad school and carry with me. I remember it like it was yesterday. Strange the things we learn in the damnedest of places or times that stick with us.

    I accidentally called a senior lecturer a cunt directly to his face when I was in my first year of university.

    You win.

15. @RobSandy

    @wilburrox

    @wiscot

    Did they take their caps off at least? (If they were wearing them) That’s another thing that irks me – going into an eatery and seeing boys/men wearing goddamn caps. And while I’m ranting, it also irks me to see guys going on dates where the lady has made some effort to look attractive (wash hair, apply make-up, wear something clean and nice) while the guy rolls in wearing whatever didn’t smell too bad in the laundry basket. And a fucking baseball cap.

    I wore a ball cap about EVERY day in undergrad. In grad school I had a prof look at me and say, “take your hat off indoors”. I thought, cool. It is probably a top five lesson I learned in grad school and carry with me. I remember it like it was yesterday. Strange the things we learn in the damnedest of places or times that stick with us.

    I accidentally called a senior lecturer a cunt directly to his face when I was in my first year of university.

    You win.

    FFS, I get to Level 1 with that comment?!

16. @Teocalli

    @wilburrox

    You know what though? We’ll still get a kick outa riding our old steel frames but something tells me that there’s not gonna be a lotta sentimental yeehah jumping on a 30 yr old carbon Tarmac. That line about style and function having it at each other is pretty good. Early 60’s Strat comes to mind. Cheers all…

    I’ll raise a glass to that.

    Seconded, cheers.  Some things don’t need improvement, and get better with age when loved.  Other things are designed for the dumpster.

17. @ErikdR

    @PeakInTwoYears

    Good point – and perhaps I should have stressed that my second ‘Ugh’ was aimed more at the phenomenon of (crash) courses in mindfulness, than at the concept of mindfulness as such. I see enormous value in that concept, but I have this nagging feeling that it is in the process of being usurped, for lack of a better word – and (often) heralded as yet another ‘quick fix’.

    Concur.  I suppose a little bit is better than naught, though.  Single-serving mindfulness.

    I’ll gladly confess, at the risk of being labelled an incurable hippie (too late, I know; who am I kidding?), that I try to integrate a degree of ‘mindfulness’ into my everyday life and work.

    The funny thing is: Quite often, it’s as if my bike rides, all by themselves, turn into long sessions of an almost meditative state of ‘just being’ – a state that I very much associate with mindfulness.

    This ++.  It’s one of the biggest reasons why I ride, and why I so often ride solo.  Just being, no agenda, just observing, critical faculties shut down.  Then again, I too am an unrepentant longhaired hippie.  I have a socialist agenda and some Birkenstocks in the closet, too.

18. @Ccos

    @frank

    @ChrissyOne

    And when there was no crawdad, we ate sand.

    You’re from Mississippi?

    Nope, their school system may suck, but someone from Mississippi knows one eats a crawfish not a crawdad (though they be the same thing).

    “I’ll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash you got in the box…”

    Ooohhh . . . is that a nice little Raising Arizona reference you’ve slipped in there?

19. The juxtaposition of waxing nostalgic here vs. the hipster bashing in the previous thread is amusing to me – especially all the Moleskine love. I’m a center-stager here (28) and I think much of my generation (the core segment of aforementioned hipsters) wrestles with essentially growing up half-digital, as opposed to (damn) kids these days who are digital native and the (old) people who are older than us who have adopted and adapted to digital living.

    A big part of ‘hipsterism’ is nostalgia/minimalism: farm-to-table, vinyl, Moleskines. When I don’t have a (well-kept) seasonal beard, I shave using a brush and razor (4-blades. No safety razor for me) because it simply does a better job. Same thing with quality of sound from vinyl. But it’s also this kind of shit that people hate hipsters for. With a beard, I well fit in to that Lumbersexual category. I own a lot of plaid (I’ve always loved it), wear skinny jeans (but with my guns, all jeans are skinny…yeah…) and even have some nice boots that I wear often. I also love the shit out of my iPhone. It makes my life easier. And I haven’t written in cursive in years.

    As for the younger generation. A lot of that is training/upbringing. I was taught to take my hat off when coming inside (any building. Restaurant, house, mall, whatever). When I have kids, they’ll be taught the same thing. Pay attention to the people your with, not those elsewhere. It’s just fucking manners and it can still be taught.

20. @PeakInTwoYears

    @ErikdR

    I’m baffled by how, on the one hand, the ability to multitask (Ugh…) is considered a very important quality to possess – while on the other hand, fortunes are being spent on courses in ‘Mindfulness’!? (More Ugh…) Concentrate on what you are doing right here, right now. Focus on doing as good a job of it as you can. The rest will follow.

    I’m in complete sympathy, but I want to defend the practice of “mindfulness.” There are old and established practices of mindfulness that are, in my experience at least, very beneficial. But they require regular (near-daily) practice instead of buying a seat in a course.

    I spent five days in a Buddhist monastary in Thailand at one time, and let me say I’ve never felt more mindful. They practiced walking meditation so every step you took, you stopped and thought about that step for a little bit, so to speak. It was an amazing experience.

21. @frank

    @PeakInTwoYears

    @ErikdR

    Charcoal and goose quills, ya youngsters! * shuffles back to stone slab and chisel*

    I have cut my own quill pens. Quill pens suck. Certain types of objects found the apogee of their design in the early 20th century. Pens and shaving equipment fall into this category.

    I was given a safety razor (with beautiful stand, soap cup if that’s what its called, and brush) for Christmas. I find it very similar to gluing tubulars; its harder and takes more time, but it forces you to spend a little bit of time focusing on the simple task at hand. In the case of tubs, its gluing it on nice and straight; in the case of shaving it’s getting yourself ready to look your best.

    I have to say, after the fear of slitting my own throat subsided, I am a massive fan.

    Its fun to need a tub of glue to set a tire, and its fun to need a sharps container to shave.

    I will not, however, use the safety razor on The Guns. If I miss a patch on my face, that’s just my coworkers who have to suffer. If I miss a patch on my legs, I’m bound to notice just as my head frops as The V is escaping my body.

    After you get used to the safety razor (they really are just as safe as the cheap ones) sit down and do the math. I was amazed at how much cheaper they turn out to be compared to the HYPER TURBO MACH EIGHTEEN SUPER FAST ULTRA whatever

22. @SamFromTex

    After you get used to the safety razor (they really are just as safe as the cheap ones) sit down and do the math. I was amazed at how much cheaper they turn out to be compared to the HYPER TURBO MACH EIGHTEEN SUPER FAST ULTRA whatever

    Then you get to spend that money on kit and tires and single malt. And why? Because you’re shaving like a mindful human being not some monkey-minded flunky, that’s why. It’s a total win. 

23. @SamV

    The juxtaposition of waxing nostalgic here vs. the hipster bashing in the previous thread is amusing to me – especially all the Moleskine love. I’m a center-stager here (28) and I think much of my generation (the core segment of aforementioned hipsters) wrestles with essentially growing up half-digital, as opposed to (damn) kids these days who are digital native and the (old) people who are older than us who have adopted and adapted to digital living.

    A big part of ‘hipsterism’ is nostalgia/minimalism: farm-to-table, vinyl, Moleskines. When I don’t have a (well-kept) seasonal beard, I shave using a brush and razor (4-blades. No safety razor for me) because it simply does a better job. Same thing with quality of sound from vinyl. But it’s also this kind of shit that people hate hipsters for. With a beard, I well fit in to that Lumbersexual category. I own a lot of plaid (I’ve always loved it), wear skinny jeans (but with my guns, all jeans are skinny…yeah…) and even have some nice boots that I wear often. I also love the shit out of my iPhone. It makes my life easier. And I haven’t written in cursive in years.

    As for the younger generation. A lot of that is training/upbringing. I was taught to take my hat off when coming inside (any building. Restaurant, house, mall, whatever). When I have kids, they’ll be taught the same thing. Pay attention to the people your with, not those elsewhere. It’s just fucking manners and it can still be taught.

    Maybe we can replicate this post in the other thread.  Very well put.  I think the safety razor is partly down to skin/hair type.  I hack the shit out of my face if I use anything less than 3 blades, but on the guns pretty much anything works, but the hair on the guns is much finer than what comes out of my face/neck.

24. @VeloVita – Done. I’ve never had a request before. Part of it has to do with convenience. I personally have no problem with using technology to my advantage. Four blades saves some time (and my face)…Rule #33…compliance issues…I do know from getting a couple tattoos on my shin/calf that four blades work well there. And if I were to go full-compliance, my legs would be fucking smooth.

25. Ah, hipsterism involves minimalism. This explains the odd species I see wearing eyeglasses with no lenses.

26. My small future has finally arrived.

    

    The Narrative Clip is a tiny, automatic camera and app that gives you a searchable and shareable photographic memory.

27. @wiscot

    @Ccos

    @frank

    @ChrissyOne

    And when there was no crawdad, we ate sand.

    You’re from Mississippi?

    Nope, their school system may suck, but someone from Mississippi knows one eats a crawfish not a crawdad (though they be the same thing).

    “I’ll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash you got in the box…”

    Ooohhh . . . is that a nice little Raising Arizona reference you’ve slipped in there?

    ChrissyOne gets the genius grant for starting that one.

28. I don’t know – they were jammies! They had Yodas ‘n’ shit on ’em!

29. @Ron

    Cuts right across all levels of intelligence. My acetate frames have prescription lenses. My own experience, having spent a good chunk of my college career in the art department, much of the minimalism is the result of being broke (as a result of the high price of art supplies/booze/drugs). Now I have no money because it all goes to bike-related stuff.

30. @wiscot

    +1

31. this sport needs more of the stage left and center crowd.

32. @SamFromTex

    @frank

    @PeakInTwoYears

    @ErikdR

    Charcoal and goose quills, ya youngsters! * shuffles back to stone slab and chisel*

    I have cut my own quill pens. Quill pens suck. Certain types of objects found the apogee of their design in the early 20th century. Pens and shaving equipment fall into this category.

    I was given a safety razor (with beautiful stand, soap cup if that’s what its called, and brush) for Christmas. I find it very similar to gluing tubulars; its harder and takes more time, but it forces you to spend a little bit of time focusing on the simple task at hand. In the case of tubs, its gluing it on nice and straight; in the case of shaving it’s getting yourself ready to look your best.

    I have to say, after the fear of slitting my own throat subsided, I am a massive fan.

    Its fun to need a tub of glue to set a tire, and its fun to need a sharps container to shave.

    I will not, however, use the safety razor on The Guns. If I miss a patch on my face, that’s just my coworkers who have to suffer. If I miss a patch on my legs, I’m bound to notice just as my head frops as The V is escaping my body.

    After you get used to the safety razor (they really are just as safe as the cheap ones) sit down and do the math. I was amazed at how much cheaper they turn out to be compared to the HYPER TURBO MACH EIGHTEEN SUPER FAST ULTRA whatever

    If these razors get any more high tech n turbo we’ll be riding them to work

33. @SamFromTex

    @frank

    @PeakInTwoYears

    @ErikdR

    Charcoal and goose quills, ya youngsters! * shuffles back to stone slab and chisel*

    I have cut my own quill pens. Quill pens suck. Certain types of objects found the apogee of their design in the early 20th century. Pens and shaving equipment fall into this category.

    I was given a safety razor (with beautiful stand, soap cup if that’s what its called, and brush) for Christmas. I find it very similar to gluing tubulars; its harder and takes more time, but it forces you to spend a little bit of time focusing on the simple task at hand. In the case of tubs, its gluing it on nice and straight; in the case of shaving it’s getting yourself ready to look your best.

    I have to say, after the fear of slitting my own throat subsided, I am a massive fan.

    Its fun to need a tub of glue to set a tire, and its fun to need a sharps container to shave.

    I will not, however, use the safety razor on The Guns. If I miss a patch on my face, that’s just my coworkers who have to suffer. If I miss a patch on my legs, I’m bound to notice just as my head frops as The V is escaping my body.

    After you get used to the safety razor (they really are just as safe as the cheap ones) sit down and do the math. I was amazed at how much cheaper they turn out to be compared to the HYPER TURBO MACH EIGHTEEN SUPER FAST ULTRA whatever

    @PeakinTwoYears couldn’t agree more. I liken it to making espresso. I used to have a beautiful little Francis X1 and a burr grinder. Bought my beans from a cool place that roast every Friday morning and that hadn’t had a refit since 1965. It took me 8 or 9 minutes each morning to make an espresso. It wasn’t perfect every day; sometimes I over tamped, sometimes under, but when I got it right it was like angels dancing on my tongue. Then I had kids and 8 or 9 minutes in the morning felt like a lifetime. I sold out… Bought a Nespresso machine, discovered the Dharkan espresso pod which is  rated 11, just like the amp in Spinal Tap! My machine makes wonderful espresso every time, but…it is soulless. I don’t love it like I truly loved my X1. We find pleasure in life by things not being easy, “if it’s easy it ain’t worth having” just like in cycling. I love a fast descent, but shit as I am at climbing, it’s where I find pleasure. The pleasure is in the difficulty and the challenge. The Nespresso is going on ebay!!

34. 

35. @gilly

    Would want this in my future too.

36. Friends.

    I hope you’re roasting your own fucking coffee.

37. Seriously. No bullshit. It makes more aesthetic and economic sense than using a safety razor. Way more.

38. @PeakInTwoYears

    Seriously. No bullshit. It makes more aesthetic and economic sense than using a safety razor. Way more.

    I’ve had quite a bit of wine and whisky (note no E) tonight but I’m sure I fail to work out how roasting your own coffee makes more sense that using a safety razor.

39. @gilly

    @SamFromTex

    @frank

    @PeakInTwoYears

    @ErikdR

    Charcoal and goose quills, ya youngsters! * shuffles back to stone slab and chisel*

    I have cut my own quill pens. Quill pens suck. Certain types of objects found the apogee of their design in the early 20th century. Pens and shaving equipment fall into this category.

    I was given a safety razor (with beautiful stand, soap cup if that’s what its called, and brush) for Christmas. I find it very similar to gluing tubulars; its harder and takes more time, but it forces you to spend a little bit of time focusing on the simple task at hand. In the case of tubs, its gluing it on nice and straight; in the case of shaving it’s getting yourself ready to look your best.

    I have to say, after the fear of slitting my own throat subsided, I am a massive fan.

    Its fun to need a tub of glue to set a tire, and its fun to need a sharps container to shave.

    I will not, however, use the safety razor on The Guns. If I miss a patch on my face, that’s just my coworkers who have to suffer. If I miss a patch on my legs, I’m bound to notice just as my head frops as The V is escaping my body.

    After you get used to the safety razor (they really are just as safe as the cheap ones) sit down and do the math. I was amazed at how much cheaper they turn out to be compared to the HYPER TURBO MACH EIGHTEEN SUPER FAST ULTRA whatever

    @PeakinTwoYears couldn’t agree more. I liken it to making espresso. I used to have a beautiful little Francis X1 and a burr grinder. Bought my beans from a cool place that roast every Friday morning and that hadn’t had a refit since 1965. It took me 8 or 9 minutes each morning to make an espresso. It wasn’t perfect every day; sometimes I over tamped, sometimes under, but when I got it right it was like angels dancing on my tongue. Then I had kids and 8 or 9 minutes in the morning felt like a lifetime. I sold out… Bought a Nespresso machine, discovered the Dharkan espresso pod which is  rated 11, just like the amp in Spinal Tap! My machine makes wonderful espresso every time, but…it is soulless. I don’t love it like I truly loved my X1. We find pleasure in life by things not being easy, “if it’s easy it ain’t worth having” just like in cycling. I love a fast descent, but shit as I am at climbing, it’s where I find pleasure. The pleasure is in the difficulty and the challenge. The Nespresso is going on ebay!!

    There’s a great quote in It Might Get Loud by Jack White; he says something to the effect that technology makes life easier, but it doesn’t make someone a more creative person. I love that sentiment; the implication that a fight makes you want something more and when you want something more you try harder. He then goes on to talk about the eighties and engineers spending weeks getting the perfect gate on a snare drum mic instead of musicians focussing on playing music.

    Then you figure into that the engineers talking about recording Stevie Ray Vaughan; they stopped trying to have the band play in separate rooms and overdubbing and all that to get a cleaner recording; the simple fact was that whenever Stevie played with headphones, he’d get into the music and start wandering around the room as he played and trip over the cables. It was worth having some bleed just to have the band play from the heart and finish without someone falling over.

40. @unversio

    @gilly

    Would want this in my future too.

    She is a beauty. Had her but I let her go…

41. I’m old. I remember the 80’s, and steel frames, the first time around.  But I think any complaint about youth should start and end with this:

    “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

    — Socrates

    I think Frank’s piece was great because it embraced the beauty of history as well as the wonder of the new.

    Cycling by its nature has a close relationship with engineering. Engineering almost always gets better over time.

    But engineering isn’t everything. I still remember being burnt off on a climb by someone on a beautiful 60’s celeste Bianchi, straight cut cogs and all.

    But at the same time I’m glad I don’t have to worry about my standard chainset (no other choice!) chipping the paint on my chainstay every time I sprinted – and not because I was a strong sprinter.

42. @Teocalli

    I’ve had quite a bit of wine and whisky (note no E) tonight but I’m sure I fail to work out how roasting your own coffee makes more sense that using a safety razor.

    It’s a long time since I’ve been asked to show my work on a maths problem.

    Enjoying your shave

    Getting a closer shave

    + Saving a bit of money

    “”””””””””””””””””””

    24

    Drinking the freshest coffee possible

    Finely controlling the color and flavor of every batch

    + Saving forty US dollars every single month

    “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

    42

43. @PeakInTwoYears

    @Teocalli

    I’ve had quite a bit of wine and whisky (note no E) tonight but I’m sure I fail to work out how roasting your own coffee makes more sense that using a safety razor.

    It’s a long time since I’ve been asked to show my work on a maths problem.

    Enjoying your shave

    Getting a closer shave

    + Saving a bit of money

    “”””””””””””””””””””

    24

    Drinking the freshest coffee possible

    Finely controlling the color and flavor of every batch

    + Saving forty US dollars every single month

    “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

    42

    Maths would not have been my strong point last night………………….

44. @SamV

    The juxtaposition of waxing nostalgic here vs. the hipster bashing in the previous thread is amusing to me – especially all the Moleskine love. I’m a center-stager here (28) and I think much of my generation (the core segment of aforementioned hipsters) wrestles with essentially growing up half-digital, as opposed to (damn) kids these days who are digital native and the (old) people who are older than us who have adopted and adapted to digital living.

    A big part of ‘hipsterism’ is nostalgia/minimalism: farm-to-table, vinyl, Moleskines. When I don’t have a (well-kept) seasonal beard, I shave using a brush and razor (4-blades. No safety razor for me) because it simply does a better job. Same thing with quality of sound from vinyl. But it’s also this kind of shit that people hate hipsters for. With a beard, I well fit in to that Lumbersexual category. I own a lot of plaid (I’ve always loved it), wear skinny jeans (but with my guns, all jeans are skinny…yeah…) and even have some nice boots that I wear often. I also love the shit out of my iPhone. It makes my life easier. And I haven’t written in cursive in years.

    As for the younger generation. A lot of that is training/upbringing. I was taught to take my hat off when coming inside (any building. Restaurant, house, mall, whatever). When I have kids, they’ll be taught the same thing. Pay attention to the people your with, not those elsewhere. It’s just fucking manners and it can still be taught.

    Pretty much. I’m solidly in the center stage crowd, too. I don’t understand all the hate directed to people who use technology native (maybe a lot of get off my lawn going around, and not just on this site), although I do wish students would knock it off in class. As for the whole farm-to-table organic thing, I’d just rather support my local businesses. If I would rather buy from the LBS than Nashbar, why not from the farmers market rather than the Safeway? But, yeah. dbags that insist on wearing their ballcaps at the table next to me drive me bananas, especially when they’re coupled with dbag tshirts and in a nice restaurant. Don’t even get me started on not holding doors for people.

45. @gilly

    

    Oooh, lovely.We use a Gaggia Classic, the VMH used to pull espresso for a living and the Gaggia won a lengthy comparison test – hit her sweet spot as far as pressure/durability/price.

46. @gilly

    @PeakinTwoYears couldn’t agree more. I liken it to making espresso. I used to have a beautiful little Francis X1 and a burr grinder. Bought my beans from a cool place that roast every Friday morning and that hadn’t had a refit since 1965. It took me 8 or 9 minutes each morning to make an espresso. It wasn’t perfect every day; sometimes I over tamped, sometimes under, but when I got it right it was like angels dancing on my tongue. Then I had kids and 8 or 9 minutes in the morning felt like a lifetime. I sold out… Bought a Nespresso machine, discovered the Dharkan espresso pod which is  rated 11, just like the amp in Spinal Tap! My machine makes wonderful espresso every time, but…it is soulless. I don’t love it like I truly loved my X1. We find pleasure in life by things not being easy, “if it’s easy it ain’t worth having” just like in cycling. I love a fast descent, but shit as I am at climbing, it’s where I find pleasure. The pleasure is in the difficulty and the challenge. The Nespresso is going on ebay!!

    I love my Nespresso machine dearly, I can make my double espresso at the same time as the porridge and while hassling the kids to get dressed, organised and fed. It’s the one time of the day when multi tasking is acceptable. If I didn’t I’d have to get up 20 minutes earlier and good deep sleep has way more soul than any coffee known to man.

    Besides, my second double espresso of the day come from here, is infinitely more awesome than any thing that I could make at home and the guy who makes it gets to worry about financing and cleaning the coffee machine.

47. @frank

    Some great thoughts there.  I really enjoyed ItMightGetLoud for all those small quotes and insights. Also am a  longtime SRV fan and used to love turning his records up loud (Couldn’t Stand the Weather was one of the first albums I bought…waaaayy back then..)  so you could hear all the background between takes.  Sometimes you could hear the amp buzzing.

    When it comes to the ultimate and most covetable espresso machine, it has to be a Rocket doesn’t it?

    http://www.rocket-espresso.com/domestic/

48. @PT

    @frank

    Some great thoughts there.  I really enjoyed ItMightGetLoud for all those small quotes and insights. Also am a  longtime SRV fan and used to love turning his records up loud (Couldn’t Stand the Weather was one of the first albums I bought…waaaayy back then..)  so you could hear all the background between takes.  Sometimes you could hear the amp buzzing.

    When it comes to the ultimate and most covetable espresso machine, it has to be a Rocket doesn’t it?

    http://www.rocket-espresso.com/domestic/

    This Rocket Giotto in particular, tho at 1500GBP, a bit rich for most

    

49. Dammit, here’s the link…http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/rocket-espresso-machine/product/REM01

50. Or, combine the 2 greatest things in life with this

    http://www.velopresso.cc/

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