Sushi and Coffee - A Perfect Meal

Happy 300th blog post! This is how Blogger greeted me today - somewhat accusatorily, somewhat smugly, as if to say "300? Just 300? WOW. That's really, uuhh ..... so, 300 huh?"

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any environmental subject that I really felt like writing about for the 3-0-0 edition of Pandoyssey, Not Really Even a Panda Blog Anymore. Well, except for this disturbing NYT article on mercury laden tuna sushi, which just made me want to cry because they (the NYT and Rutgers U) tested some of the best sushi restaurants in Manhattan and still came up mercury positive. Way positive. As in, these mercury levels are so high, the EPA could step in and halt US tuna consumption today on grounds of public health concerns. (heh heh, not to worry though - today's EPA is business friendly, and thus completely un-concerned with such small matters like public health and safety). If mercury levels are off the charts in these nice Manhattan establishments, I don't even want to think about the mercury that could be in the sushi I eat every Friday night at that hole in the wall down the street. And....mercury?? Where the heck does all this mercury come from anyway? Are there thermometer manufacturers all over the world, just heaving and chucking old-school thermometers into the ocean by the boatloads? Argh. So so depressing, I can hardly stand it.

No, it's probably best to dwell on cheerier topics like COFFEE! Ummmm, coffee, arghhhhh... Check out this slide show on the $20,000 coffee machine. It's pretty crazy. Looking something like a homegrown meth lab, this apparatus purportedly makes the most incredible cup o' joe on the planet. This is not for novices folks! In fact, the Japanese hand carve their own bamboo paddles (used to stir the grounds) to achieve a perfect fit with the palm of the hand and ensuring proper stirrage. Coooooool.

Drowning my sushi sorrows in coffee. See, that totally took my mind offa that pesky little mercury problem.

Pictured above: Mr. Coffee suddenly feels inadequate.