I love coffee. I drink more than I should. I’m not an addict, I mean, I could totally quit if I wanted to, but I don’t.

I drink enough coffee that the economics of getting it by the cup from a barista is impractical. I buy by the pound. That’s why I love Peet’s. They love coffee, too. So every time the grounds run low, I take a walk down to Montgomery street, into Peets, past the line, to the back, where Dave or Brook, or whoever is behind the counter tell me about their beans.

Something stronger than the Ethiopian beans I got last time, but not as strong as an Italian roast? Maybe a blend of pacific and latin american beans. Mmm. These guys can talk about beans for days.

Yah, it sounds like I’m shilling for a corp, but these guys talk coffee like sommeliers. I love it.

Trademarks? LLCs? Lawsuits? This is the counterculture?

I first heard of Burning Man sometime around the time of Mosaic 2.0, when I was working for some friends who had started an ISP. One of them would make an annual trek to a performance art event in the Nevada desert, where he would take food and other services in exchange for giving the barterer the opportunity to fire stuffed animals out of a full-sized 1-inch cannon. And people got naked and danced. It sounded pretty cool to me.

Now Burning Man is huge. Said friend stopped going years ago because the event lost whatever magic it held for him. But more people attend each year. And, at least in theory, no spectators. Is there an upper bound? Is Burning Man still subversive? Was it ever? What does it mean that its founders are falling back on mainstream institutions (civil court) to resolve a dispute about their counter-cultural utopian experiment?

What would happen, as the above article postulates, if a mainstream company were to use a public-domained Burning Man trademark? A Burning Man iPod? Would that be a pollution? Or would it be a subversion of an institution worthy of Burning Man’s cacophonous roots?

Now that the armory will be occupied, I wonder if its new owners will give tours?

(see also the SFGate article on the acquisition.)

The year the expo extends back into both North and South halls of Moscone center. Recently confined to just one hall, the last few years’ expos could just have easily been called “iPod World,” considering the ubiquity of the device and the overwhelming number of accessories for it being hawked on the floor. With 1.6 million Macs sold last quarter — the highest quarterly mark ever — and rampant rumors of an Apple audio/video/phone, there will likely be a lot to chat about at those parties I linked to above.

My big plans? Look for a computer bag and discounts on O’Reilly books. And marvel at all the people still doing print. And laugh at smug hipster bandwagoneers. Ah, that old-time religion.

The dome arching above the San Francisco Centre is decorated for the holidays. The dome was built in 1908 but was blacked from during World War II and was poorly maintained until the reopening of the centre in September. Its 500,000 pounds of iron arch 98 feet above the fourth floor of the Centre.

I happened to be in the Centre this evening with some friends who wanted to buy some Bose headphones and get some dinner. In the Bose store, we got sucked into an entertaining, if a bit overly-dramatic theatre demo. Suffice it to say, if you don’t have the Bose Lifestyle home entertainment system, you are wallowing in a world without depth or color, shuffling the gray, muted corridors of a wasting, wanting existence. And then came the hard sell. The lights came up and the salesman who introduced the presentation asked each of us (five in the room) personally, “wouldn’t you like to take this system home? How about you?” Well, of course I would like to. It sounded great. I just don’t see the point in dropping $4K on any audio system. I love music, but for that much money I could buy a really nice guitar. My friend Fred, who was there to buy a pair of headphones, said it was as though the entire staff at the store had been trained without even considering that someone might actually come to the store to buy something they actually know and want, rather than have to be dazzled and cajoled into dropping the dough.

Put off by the hard sell, I stepped outside and snapped a couple of pics of the dome. There are a lot of reflective and illuminated surfaces inside the Centre. If I were a real photographer and not just some dude with a point-and-shoot, I would have stayed a bit longer to line up pics of the escalators, shoppers, and architecture.

There will be a neighborhood hearing held at the De Avila school at 7PM on Thursday Nov 30 so that residents can comment and find out more.

(more opinion after the jump)

I’ve already received a couple of emails from concerned friends who live in the area, and here’s a repost of their concerns:

If you have a car and live in LOWER/MIDDLE/UPPER HAIGHT, COLE VALLEY, UCSF, and PANHANDLE neighborhoods, it’s imperative you attend this hearing on Thursday night, 11/30 at 7pm.

The subject will be City College’s plans to relocate John Adams Community College to the DeAvila school on Waller between Masonic and Central.

The move will add 2000 students and 150 faculty to our neighborhood. The college plans to have them park in a lot at Hayes and Masonic, then take a shuttle bus to DeAvila. Realistically though, how many of them do you expect will do this?

Even if according to the article below, 70% of the student body takes public transit to school – that leaves 30% -or- 716 students and teachers who will still require parking spots. If you want to preserve the scarce parking in our neighborhood, you need to act quickly.

Some things you can do:

1. Attend the hearing at 7pm on Thursday, November 30 at DeAvila School.
2. Notify Sup. Mirkarimi’s office that you will be attending the meeting by phoning his legislative aide, Boris Delepine at 554-6758
3. If you can’t make it, write an email to Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org indicating your opposition to the project. Emails must be received by 5pm on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Some points to include:

• Parking in the area is already in critically short supply
• Very few residents of Waller or Central Streets have garages
• HANC does not represent the residents of this area and was not authorized to approve this project
• Residents of the area were NEVER formally notified of this project in any way, shape, or form.
• We do not believe that the parking shuttle will be used by students, faculty, or staff
• We want the project STOPPED until these issues are resolved.

Drive carefully, everyone.

Many people heard the screams and were in the halls and stairs going down to the front door. When we got outside, there was a woman sitting on the curb in front of the door, disheveled and badly shaken. A crushed can of energy drink lay splashed on the sidewalk, leaking into the gutter. Several people from the studio were already looking around and asking her questions. Another woman was on the phone with 911. Tina saw what she could do to help.

The woman had parked directly in front of the studios, a large warehouse with controlled entry, fifteen feet from the front door. She was either just getting out of her car or already at the studio door when a man came up behind her, told her he had a gun and to give her everything. That’s when she started screaming. Then he grabbed her briefcase. She didn’t let go. He headed for a waiting car, which had pulled up. He got in, and she still had not let go. The car started to take off, and she got dragged for a short distance before she finally let go and the car sped off.

That’s as best as I can make out what happened based on what she was telling people, and what others saw as they looked out windows to the street below. Other than badly scraped knees and being extremely shaken, she seemed to be alright. Oakland Police arrived five minutes after the call, and that’s when we left, having nothing more to contribute — we really didn’t see anything, just the aftermath. A couple people saw the car as it sped away, but couldn’t decide if it was red, black or blue, or whether it was an Eclipse or late-model Camaro. “Something sporty,” one guy said. The woman said her assailant was black. Obviously he had an accomplice. It’s so vague, I don’t how you can do anything more but call it random violence.

Rehearsal spaces are naturally found in places where people wouldn’t otherwise want to be, especially late at night. Talk turned to the wisdom of carrying mace or tazers. People come and go all the time from the studio, and it seems that whoever did this just waited for the weakest person they could find. Fuckheads. From now on, we’re walking everyone to their cars.

• 1-California
• 3-Jackson
• 4-Sutter
• 5-Fulton
• 6-Parnassus
• 7-Haight
• 14-Mission
• 21-Hayes
• 30-Stockton
• 31-Balboa
• 41-Union
• 45-Union/Stockton
• 49-Van Ness/Mission
• 59-Powell-Mason Cable Car
• 60-Powell-Hyde Cable Car
• 61-California Cable Car

They’re not on the NextMuni main index; you simply have to link to them directly. This isn’t an official addition (yet).

If you don’t already know, NextMuni tells you when the next bus or train will arrive at your stop. It is especially handy if you’ve got a web-enabled mobile phone. You simply load the URL (bookmarking comes in handy here) of the line you want and the direction you’re heading, and you get a prediction for when the bus or train will arrive. Most or all of the buses have GPS units and NextMuni uses them to track them.