Saturday, December 24, 2016

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning.  Up early to read my Bible, Handel's Messiah playing softly in the background.  Such quiet moments as these are precious.  Even the cats are subdued. 




Sunday, December 4, 2016

La Victorio Arduino

I've been reading articles on the internet about history, theology, politics, the human condition.  For hours.  Then I clicked to a page that had this image:



































Something about the picture arrested my attention.  The man appears to be very well heeled, leaning dramatically out of a train that has stopped for a momentary break at a Victorio Arduino Espresso machine.  With cup in one hand, our gentleman holds onto the train with the other hand via a cloth band attached to the ceiling for the purpose of steadying one while moving.  He is leaning precariously out, needing that bright cup of red to be filled with aromatic and potent espresso.  It is a lovely 1920's art deco piece of bright colors set against a black, night colored background of a steam-breathing train on glowing tracks.

If I could, I would find a way to get this print and frame it and hang it in my kitchen.  I love it.  You'd think I'd find something more momentous to write about, but this morning?  This picture says everything I want.

What is a Victoria Arduino Espresso Machine?  Feast your eyes on their web page.

This is coffee porn.  You've heard of auto porn?  There is a show that the BBC cancelled for expression of incorrect political thoughts, so the stars came to the US and have renamed it "The Grand Tour" that is the perfect embodiment of auto porn (it is available on Amazon.com).  Glossy, streamlined, metallic machines with engines that men fantasize about are driven under various conditions by the 3 stars.  Anyway, we're talking about coffee porn.

Look at this:















This is from the Victoria Arduino web site.  It looks like every possible coffee flavoring known to man at a steel countered diner for the rich and coffee addicted.  It is art deco in black and white like a vintage movie with Nick and Nora, except Nick would demand liquor in his coffee.

And then there is this:
















I believe this is their "Venus" line.  They are works of art.  I can only imagine a machine like this in a home with a kitchen that is the size of a normal home, with lots of sleek appliances in black and more than one cooking island.

Feast your eyes and then return to reality.   Victorio Arduino's web site is eye candy and fun to peruse.

On a completely different note, this is what is roosting in my backyard trees at night......












An iguana who is rather large.  How he balances and sleeps on those thin branches at the top I have no idea, but he does survey his "kingdom" rather well.