On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:54:45 -0400, Peter Hendra
wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:46:54 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Hi Vic,
Thanks for this tip that I had forgotten. I had expected an irate
outburst from you denying that you were a coffee philistine but you
ignored the bait.

Ah. Then you are prone to making unfounded assumptions.
I must say I am disappointed at that (-:

Years ago when we used to go camping (tenting) as a young family at
our beach property we used this trick to keep fhe food cool. We had no
spare cash to buy a fridge and would hang such as milk bottles (are
you old enough to remember when milk came in bottles?)

Yes, and with cream floating on top too. And I remember scraping wax
with my fingernails from coated cardboard milk cartons as I ate
cereal, when that transition was made. They say more changes in the
way we live have occurred in the last 100 or so years than in all
times prior. I've seen many of those changes myself, recalling living
with an icebox, horse drawn vendor wagons in the streets of Chicago,
etc. But here's something pasted below that I noted in another group
a while ago. It was a thread about "most important innovations."
It puts technological progress in a perspective we normally don't - or
can't - imagine.
"An old farmer I saw on the Johnny Carson had his answer, which with I
agree, and from the response of the audience, they did too.
He was 100 years old, and Carson asked him if he was still working the
farm. He said he did a bit of work, but his son was doing the
seeding, plowing, etc. Carson asked him how old is your son, and
the farmer said 80. That got a laugh.
Then - this was very early '70s - Carson mentioned TV, man on the
moon, fast cars, etc, all the usual suspect innovations you might
imagine that a man born about 1870 and still alive had witnessed.
Then Carson asked the old guy what innovation had most impressed him
and changed his life during its long span.
The old man didn't bat an eye, but just said "Electricity."
The audience roared.
Nobody expected that answer, because they took that for granted.
But judging from Carson's and the audience's reaction, nobody
disagreed."

wrapped in a
wet rag from a shaded tree branch. The evaporation kept it cool. I
also had a couple of open sided large concrete building blocks (8
inches wide ones to give a 16 inch square) buried in the sandy ground
- 2 high with a concrete paving stone on top. It also was in the shade
and kept constantly damp. Both worked very well.

I taught science at highschool for a couple of years then and am
trying to remember the science of it. Something about the latent heat
of evaporation and the energy required to turn the water into a gas
and why methylated spirits or alcohol rubbed on the skin gives a
greater cooling feeling than does water. It turns into a gas at a
lower temperature. Memory is dim on this.

Sounds right enough. My steam training covered all this and I used to
hold in my head the BTU count for every stage of the water to steam
process. Vaporization is by far the most energetic piece, and did the
trick with a can of Coke.

I understand your memories of having coffee at some of the places you
must have visited in the Med. My family being from Crete, I was raised
on the Greek/Turkish style of heating it on a sand brazier in a small
pot which I sometimes drink on the boat though I do prefer Italian
style espresso. Unfortunately I don't have the power for a decent
expresso machine onboard though I have one at home.

Your family being from Crete perhaps gives you a special sensitivity
to words such as "philistine."
Actually, I haven't had an espresso coffee since Italy many years ago.
They were mostly con leche or con cognac.
I did learn a pidgin Italiano and those Spanish terms sufficed for my
infrequent coffee orders in Italy.
My habits are at least half a gallon on coffee daily and coffee is my
main source of liquids. Espresso would quickly do me in, all else
being equal.
I do occasionally make a very strong drip brew but it is weaker than
espresso. I am about to go out with my wife and am determined to stop
for an espresso to erase my current ignorance..

My best coffee memory is of rising at 5 am in the hotel in Cairo (I am
an early riser) and going to a 24 hour cafe to have coffee and a
shisha (huba buba water filtered smoking device) in the street with
other regulars on their way to and from work. Same as you, probably
the ambiance.

I agree. There is nothing quite like a cold coke when you are thirsty
and hot. Must be the caffiene hit and thus the resultant addiction.
Damned economic imperialism. It should be included in the war on
drugs.

Exactly right about thirsty and hot. That is really the main time I
drink it. And addiction. I was surprised when my otherwise food-
frugal wife got the habit of a Coke every day. She's originally a
farm girl from Poland and wasn't exposed to it there.
Better that than vodka, no doubt.

Incidentally, as to our term 'philistine', it appears that it is a
misnomer and that it was the Israelites who were the unsophisticated
tribal barbarians who had migrated in from the desert and who were the
destroyers. The Israeli archeological department and academics have
recently excavated many Philistine cities and have expressed this view
themselves. They have shown that the Philistines were from Mycenean
Greece and were the kin of Agamemnon, Menelaus, Ulysses, and Achilles
(who was of course my direct ancestor on my mother's father's side of
the family). They had a very definite high level of sophisticated
manufacture of bronze, gold and pottery and also used traded goods
from all over the known world, being maritime merchants themselves
which is why these cities were founded along the coast.

Before I get castigated for being anti-Israeli (I'm not) by those who
make an overly simple connection, look it up on the web. I am
fascinated by the proven connection they have made with the many
references in historical literature throughout the Middle East to the
"sea peoples". It was always a mystery as to who they were and where
they came from.

If you are interested, also look up the 14th century BC bronze age
shipwreck that is now displayed in the museum at Bodrum castle in
Turkey. It contains items from all over the then known world and shows
the well developed trade links between nations. Bronze, wine and olive
oil were the base products for international commerce then, not
Coca-Cola.

What a rich find that was! And it must have been a great loss to
merchants of the time when it sank. I wish I knew of this when
my destroyer was steaming about Cyprus in 1964 during that
so-called "crisis." It would have added some reflection to that
boring time, when we were at sea for more than 30 days.
I'm also interested in history and cultures, and sensing the place
in time of events can be an almost mystical experience.
In 1988 I took my family on a driving trip of the western U.S.
We mostly stayed off the interstate highways and tent camped
except every 5th day or so, when we would overnight in a motel.
We stopped at many historical sites, mostly related to the westward
settlement of America; wagon trails, sites of Indian ambushes, etc.
Most of these were very recent in the scope of time, circa mid-19th
century.
One day in a small Kansas town we stopped in the town museum.
I can't recall the name of the town.
I saw a metal helmet in a glass case, and upon reading the description
found it was discovered by a boy in a cave outside town in 1912 and
experts say it was left there by a member of Coronado's expedition of
1540! Since I have studied some history and literature I instantly
had a context for this as immediately predating Shakespeare and
the Elizabethan period. I stood in awe before that helmet, with
thoughts of the Spanish Conquests, gold, Coronado, Aztecs, native
American Indian cultures, Henry VIII, his wives, English law, the
Jamestown settlement 67 years in the future of this helmet's placement
in the lonely Kansas cave - all flying about in my head. It was one
of those subliminal experiences.
In writing this I did a net search to find the name of that Kansas
town and discovered the provenance of artifacts like this helmet
are somewhat in question, and it is likely I was simply a tourist rube
tricked by some slick Kansas chamber of commerce scheme.
Be that as it may, Coronado was close by in 1540 and that helmet
did the trick for me in putting this Kansas place in the vast sweep
of time. BTW, Dana's Two Years Before the Mast had a similar effect
on me when I read of that 1834 voyage knowing of other contemporary
events.
My history knowledge is lacking many specifics in many areas not
directly studied in college, largely due to my lack of travel. When I
traveled to Europe and the Caribbean as a youth I had more interest in
whorestory than history. But of course that was also something of a
cultural education and more fun to me at that time than stuffy
museums.

Yes, I know that this is off topic, but this is why I 'cruise' - to
visit these places and see and experience in the first person. My
occupation is in modern technology but my passion is for history.

Very good. Wish I were with you drinking coffee.

--Vic

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:23:57 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

The old man didn't bat an eye, but just said "Electricity."
The audience roared.
Nobody expected that answer, because they took that for granted.
But judging from Carson's and the audience's reaction, nobody
disagreed."

Just spend a few days in your house without electricity and you will
rapidly agree. It changes your whole lifestyle, and not for the
better.