The lull

Its been quite sometime since my last post.......I've been misplaced!! i.e back to the state of kuwait after a three month long break........

Now as i'm back to the country of oil,dates and money (KD power!!), i'll be more active........

Starbucked

I've finished reading "Starbucked - A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture" by Taylor Clark. Its quite different in style and found it very interesting for the fact that its an outsiders view on the largest cafestore in the world.

The book is also a hit considering the fact that this is the first attempt by Taylor Clark at writing a book.

The book is divided into two parts. Part one: The rise of the mermaid talks about the history of Cafehouses in general and Starbucks in particular. In this part the writer takes us through the evolution of the modern day starbucks. The writer seems very generous with his appreciation of the men behind the modern day starbucks (i.e the H20).

Part two: Getting steamed (Which i found more interesting) actually looks into the histroy of coffee breweing, history of baristas, coffee chains world over and also takes a look at the controversies which the chain had to fase in its years of existense. The author has been very efficient in the fact that he has been able to state the facts in a clear and concise manner without taking sides.

The book is a good read if you have been in a starbucks store earlier and is fascinated by the business. This book surely gives you a comprehensive look at the coffe chain's business model and also enlightens the reader on the coffee breweing process.

After reading the book, i feel quite knowledgable about the drink i've been having everyday from my childhood. The result, I have started checking out labels on the coffee packs to see what coffee it is, the composition etc. I've discovered today that "Davidoff" coffee is 100% Arabica (which is the superior variant) whereas the indian make ones have atleast 30% chicory (which is scrap) and are silent about the coffee variant (Intentionally??). So I know for sure that the next time i have a coffee, I'll be enjoying it far more than ever before. Happy drinking!

What's worth watching on TV ?

Over the last two months, I've been glued well to the television sets and theres some pretty intresting programmes on offer in regional channels as compared to the national media.

The big hit programme on Malayalam channels has undoubtedly been the "Idea Star Singer 2007" which had a grand finale recently and the winner (Whom lot of people felt was undeserving) was announced with great fanfare. The second edition of the serial for 2008 has started with a new host and new set of judges.

Another of the programme which has catched the attention has been "Sri Guruvayoorapan" on Surya TV from 9.30pm to 10pm. Inspite of the IPL frenzy, this serial has been a mega hit with the malayalee viewers.

Ofcourse the regional news channels have been on real competitive mood offlate with direct digs at each other and coverage of sensational events (recently the santhosh madhavan issue) taking up the lion share of the air time. There has been claims and counterclaims by all news channels as to who is the No:1 among them...


The big change noticeable is that the national channels & hindi mega serials seems to have taken a back seat now as regional channels have woken up and are bringing in worthable contents and thier own medicine of reality shows. Ofcourse for the youth theres IPL (daily!) and also the MTV's to keep them at home in front of the TV set.