grilled cheese

After four years of daily service my Baratza Virtuoso Preciso (now I think it's just called the Preciso?) failed me for the first time. It's letting forth a high pitched scream as if the burrs are seized--no grinding occurs. I can't say I've been particularly diligent about cleaning, and use has been heavy, typically 2x per day. I may try and diagnose and DIY it, otherwise I'm going to send it in for servicing (heard Baratza are very good about this). If anybody has any quick thoughts, I'd appreciate them. 

On the plus side, I made a wonderful pourover this morning using my Hario Skerton (unmodded, with Kalita Wave). It was a nice reminder of how good of a grinder that little thing can be when properly dialed in. 

In other news, I agree that it's interesting to see the brew temps on the Aeropress championship recipes. For a couple of years now--after accidentally brewing an excellent cup--I've been using 175-180F water. I guess I was on to something... I haven't followed the link, but I've had best results using the traditional paper filter over the Abledisk or other metal filters at these lower temps. 

I'm never going to get used to "speed" boots. If anything, I'm going the opposite direction--I'm getting some "heritage" Mizuno Morelias (for above $300 and from Japan, it is worth mentioning).

Still injured with stress fractures in the pelvis--getting an Exogen this week to help aid in the healing process.  

Been bumming with an injury for the past month. First, I though I had a groin pull. Then I was certain I had a sports hernia. Finally, and MRI revealed a stress fracture in my pelvis. It is apparently a chronic stress injury from playing a lot on hard surfaces. The only way for it to heal is to do nothing--and I've broken this rule twice and been reinjured twice. So I'm just completely inactive and putting in weight, although I've stayed busy by running my club's training sessions (working on my coaching license).

On another note, I find it interesting that Nike has reintroduced the Tiempo 94, with many color combos and styles for street wear no less.

Grilled Cheese - Boukhari has insane individual talent but the videos out there looks like he's probably playing at an amateur state level. Would really like to see him against professional competition, and I wonder if any of the pro teams have considered signing him on. Anyway, at the end of the day teamwork is still where it's at!

 

 Quiver, I'm with you... I generally enjoy the precision/speed passing dynamic of futsal the most. But sometimes it's just fun to watch someone with ridiculous individual skill that can't be dispossessed. I have no idea where Boukhari actually plays--some Moroccan guys on my club put me on to him.

@Rob060, ice those knees, brother! I'm interested in the game from the referee's perspective--it's something entirely foreign to me. I have great sympathy for refs, and don't give them a hard time, but I have a difficult time imagining the game through their lens.

@ROYALEFATALE, I still love Puma Kings. I use the moldeds for the two times a year when I play on grass soft enough to warrant them, but more often I use the King Turfs. The King Turfs are actually a really unique shoe. The upper is the "heritage" style king, but it has a more modern EVO midsole and turf outsole that make it much less of a throwback boot than other kings. I give them my highest recommendation. They are great on a variety of surfaces from grass (I use them on grass more than moldeds) to the old-school "astro" turf and everything in between.  

Quiver, great video. falcao is a beast, obviously. also check out some videos of ricardinho or mourad boukhari--both well worth watching...

i'm still playing 3x a week at 35, and i find that injury prevention is critical. i ice bath my ankles, ice my knees, use compression socks, and stretch my hamstrings and calves religiously after every playing session. i could probably play once a week without doing all of the extra stuff, but if i want to play more i have to take care of my body. 

Copped a pair of Munich Grescas for futsal season. All red joints--I'm going to be looking good.

bpm and jibril,

keep us posted with how things go. 

in more pedestrian football matters, my club has a friendly with a group of salvadoran farm workers this weekend. we are going all out with the coronas, bbq'ed meat, and partying afterward. it should be a great time--maybe i'll post a photo or two if i feel motivated. 

i'm battling a bit of achilles tendinitis at the moment--too many 2 hour street sessions. the foam roller has been my friend and i'm on the road to recovery. play beautiful, my friends. 

jibril,

that's very cool. i'm from the us, and an avid fan of the game, so i've heard of the glory and watched them on tv once or twice for a few minutes at 3am, but obviously don't follow the a-league all that closely. are you trying to get picked back up by perth or another a-league team? keep living the dream, man. 

Cool article on the the US' distinct culture of pickup soccer.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130419/us-national-team-pickup-soccer/

Yea he will help them make a strong push for top 4. Shore up the defense. I really like fellaini, want to see him continue his awesome form from the first half. i could see tottenham falling a few spots, how long can they really go on with only defoe scoring?

Only Defoe scoring? I can't remember the last time Defoe bagged a goal--maybe December. He had a nice start to the season but hasn't done much of anything recently despite shooting every time he touches the ball. Dempsey, on the other hand, has five goals in his last five games. I don't disagree with the general point that Spurs have some issues, but for me there are two sets of issues far larger than anything related to their front line: 1) Sandro's injury really hurt them and their midfield hasn't been the same since (and despite all his fans Parker has had some really poor outings recently); and 2) The back line play has been really poor. Again, in the last five matches they've let in some horrible goals, with Caulker, Naughton, and Assou-Ekotto (who I've always liked but he's looked horrible) looking particularly bad.

Thanks. Seems like the best spot around but a little far, so I'm going to try to check it out if time permits. Hoping to find some places around Harvard Square / Cambridge ?

You're probably best off checking out Dwelltime. It's a (pleasant) 10-15 minute walk from the center of the square and it's much more suited to the presence of humans than Barismo's main location. FYI, Dwelltime is Barismo's cafe--the other location in Arlington is their roasting/lab location.

nice! pantofola d'oros have been of major interest to me. i'd love to hear from somebody who has played in them. they are second on my desired list if i can't find the made-in-japan morelias or if they somehow don't work.

Turf version of the ones you showed:

which nikes were you thinking about. these?

I just played full-sided soccer for a couple of hours, after having played nothing but futsal and street for months. it felt absolutely luxurious to be able to have so much time and space. i felt like friggin xavi--i think i maybe gave the ball away once...

bpm,

welcome--you sound like a player. i'd be curious to see if anyone with experience playing in japan might ever join the conversation--from what i know futsal (and other small sided games) seems much more popular than 11 v 11. with all due respect, those pumas are really ugly. i'm sure they're functional and feel wonderful on the feet though... i have a very different taste in boots having grown up with copa mundials, puma kings, etc, and tend to value form as much as function...

it's really interesting the differences between futsal and "regular" soccer. right now my futsal team is struggling toward the bottom half of the table while probably possessing the best "regular" soccer talent in the league. in part this is because we have a goalkeeper that is still learning the position, but mostly it's because none of our players (aside from myself) have played futsal before and we are simply getting outwitted by more savvy teams that have played together for years. in a nutshell, our movement is static and immature, with people trying to play too many through balls and ball down the wings (like regular soccer), and we have no set plays or defensive shape. but aside from that we are awesome. at least we have the best uniforms in the league...

thank you, WOW, for that brew methods link--i know i'd come across it before sometime in my coffee obsessing but failed to bookmark it. very useful site, and in fact i just used it to try the "2012 NW Aeropress Champ" method to really outstanding results with semi-stale coffee (just came home from traveling). so good, in fact, that i made two cups back to back.

the only thing i didn't use was the able disk (i'm scoping this closely though--ever used one?). i used the standard paper filter and was amazed at the improvement in body afforded by letting the coffee steep in the inverted method.

i've been doing v60 pourovers almost exclusively for the past year or more and gotten VERY good at them. but early results from this little aeropress have me thinking i could potentially get a better cup using it. plans to take this thing to my office are now on hold.

Classic shoes. Intense debates used to rage over which was better: the copa indoor or the samba k...

playing / training late tomorrow afternoon outside. nothing like a late afternoon practice in 30 degree december weather in new england. should be exhilarating and invigorating to the lungs and spirit.

PS--if anyone cares, got my luz e sombra gear a few weeks back. two jerseys (both very nice, one made in japan and one made in china), and shorts (made in china). i like them a lot and get lots of compliments on them and i wear them hard in training. quality seems good; slightly better than adidas' and umbro's best stuff, with nicer materials, and a far superior cut. price is expensive, but not too far out there. sizing is standard for japan--order one size up from your US size and you will be perfect.

received an aeropress for christmas. only made two cups so far (regular--not inverted--method) but must say that so far i am quite impressed. i can see myself using this thing a lot in the coming years--quite useful. good gift.

these are still available. some interest--i just haven't been on here a lot recently.

Where do you guys live?

PM'ed you mis.

On another note, I've been snooping around Rakuten to see if I could find some interesting soccer gear. A cursory search under "futsal" reveals some brands that I'd never encountered before, i.e. Goleador, Svolme, and Luz e Sombra. I was hoping to find the soccer analogue to Gyakusou, but it appears that doesn't exist yet--but I have no doubt that it will soon. Of all the brands Luz e Sombra seems the most intriguing. There's some typical weird Japanese genre fusion going on at the margins (soccer, streetwear, breaking, outdoor gear), but the classic soccer uniform / training gear has some promise. I may order a couple of things and report back. In the meantime, check out the following for the vibe.

got some gyakusou shorts but they are the first runnin shorts i've had without mesh/elastic material built in to prevent ball chafe etc. any rec's for stuff to wear under them (not full length tights)

These are what you need:

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-capilene-1-stretch-boxer-briefs-underwear?p=32470-0-602

I use them for running, soccer, hiking--anything active. They are flawless.

Nice man! I love hearing stories of wonderful goals scored by normal people.

My position is a good question--I'm still trying to figure it out a bit. In my past in 11 v 11 world I would play as a defensive midfielder and then later as a winger. When I play 11 v 11 now I typically try and play on the wing and do a lot of drifting inside. In futsal I particularly enjoy playing in the left channel--it's a perfect for combining with teammates or cutting inside on my right foot for a shot. In 5 v 5 games you end up rotating all over the place, but I love receiving the ball on the left wing and then running at people going inside or out.

Re: the fight, in my opinion, one of the tragedies of playing as an adult is that there are so few games you can play in where dudes just relax and have fun playing. Why bark at the ref incessantly? Why slide tackle me from behind in a non-competitive game? Why talk endless shit and start fights? All that stuff saps the enjoyment of the game for me. I don't have the answer, because there are assholes everywhere--even in over 50 co-ed 5-a-side leagues. I deal with enough conflict in the real world, so when I'm playing I'd much rather concentrate on finding the perfectly weighted ball that unlocks a defense or finding the right moment for a beautiful turn.

What are you rocking for shoes? These days I play almost exclusively in Nike Lunar Gatos for street and court use.

They aren't the most durable of all time, but the lunar sole helps my knees a lot when playing on the hard court. I definitely feel it when I play in other shoes (regular Gatos or Gazelles). The Lunar Gatos come highly recommended--I have a couple pairs. For turf and grass I play in old school Puma Kings--I have molded and turf versions. No studs these days. And once the turf Kings wear out, I'm on a mega-hunt for these:

The above get me wondering about what else there might be to discover in the world of made-in-japan soccer gear...

this thread is dedicated to the joys, pains, triumphs and heartaches of playing the beautiful game. please keep all other football/soccer-related discussion (particularly vitriolic discussion of professional teams) in the following thread: http://supertalk.sup...beautiful-game/

i play three to four times per week, pretty much exclusively small sided games. in the summer, or actually anytime when there isn't snow and I can get people to play with me, i play street soccer on a street hockey court/rink twice per week. the surface is beautiful and perfect for such a game. we essentially play futsal without a goalkeeper, and use a low-bounce street ball (Calle ball). when it gets cold, I play in a couple of futsal leagues. and while I miss the warmth of the sunshine and the flow of the street soccer game, i relish half-volleying bullet-like shots at a hapless keeper from eight yards out.

i'm old now--in my mid-30s, and didn't play for well over a decade due to a traumatic break-up with the sport after a promising youth career hit the rocks in part thanks to a bully coach that robbed me of my confidence and love for the game. but at this point in my life, I simply can't imagine not playing. if you are reading this, you might understand why.

in any case, i see there being lots to talk about, including:

* clothes that you play in (this is superfuture after all)

* shoes (recent research has led me on a search for mizuno morelias, made in japan--as if i don't have enough financial problems with rakuten and proxies)

* styling teams (chinatown soccer club, gastown fc, etc. and what they're up to)

* injuries (i'm icing my left ankle right now)

* war stories and tales of great goals

* the sociology and power dynamics of your local pickup games

* designing uniforms / crests, etc.

to those of you still playing--even if you aren't playing with and in style--i salute you.

Also, I don't know if it's just me, but how Spain plays sort of pisses me off now. They pass the ball around a lot, and particularly when not playing with a striker, don't create that many clear chances. The other team doesn't touch the ball so they don't create chances either. It lends itself to pretty boring matches for me. I'm kind of in the same boat. I'm not rooting for any team really, but don't want Spain to win.

It's not just you. I don't care who wins the Euro, so I won't root against Spain, but it really is amazing that through some inversion/perversion of reality Spain has become the new Italy, at least in the sense that they are incredibly boring to watch. Of course this applies mainly to their 4-6 formation they've been playing in this tournament. I still love Iniesta, though. If I ruled the world, I'd drop Alonso or Busquets from the team and play with only one holding mid, let Fabregas stay in this false nine, and give Llorente a run out as a true targetman.

just wanted to report that i tried the pourover ice coffee method that wayoutwest posted above, and it's fucking magic, particularly in this ball dripping heat we've been dealt up in the northeast united states. i'm an ill coffee snob, and i was blown away by how well the method worked.

question - what do you guys think of kona coffee (100%)? is it the most legit shit you ever tasted?

If you scroll up a bit you'll see that I just had some Hula Daddy (100% Kona). I was also on the big island for a piece, and was able to check out a bunch of the other Kona growers, including Greenwell, Kona Le'a, Mountain Thunder, etc. I would say that Hula Daddy is among the best of the Kona producers, and probably the best.

It's hard to say that Kona is the most legit shit I ever tasted. It is very good--in some cases extremely good--but it's really hard for me to justify the price (aside from the fact that it uses US labor and production inputs, something almost all other coffee on the world market does not). The Hula Daddy in the picture above cost north of $40 per 16oz bag. The genetics of Kona coffee are essentially (Guatemalan) typica (often via Brazil), with a far smaller number of bourbons mixed in (frequently not recognized by many of the growers themselves). So the anomalous Hawaiian climate and soil is what makes Kona coffee special. In my experience Kona beans will frequently be larger than their Central American counterparts when genetics are controlled for. I have no idea how this correlates with Kona's characteristic smoothness.

Before dhopz's post, I wasn't really aware of people's preference for peaberry Kona. Given that peaberries are comparatively rare it makes sense that these coffees would be even more rare/expensive. I've tried Hula Daddy's Kona Sweet, which I have to say was a fantastically original and interesting coffee. It was fruity beyond your imagination of what coffee can be like. It's cool that somebody makes a coffee like this, but I couldn't drink it everyday if cost weren't a factor--and it costs $60/lb.

Conclusion: Kona coffee is awesome, but ridiculously expensive.