The latest from my History of Cinema project is La View et la Passion de Jésus-Christ.
Now me and the J-Dog have History so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one but the hand-painted frames, solid pacing, and classic Hero's Journey made it quite enjoyable
movies.simonfairbairn.com/la-vie-et-la...
Latest from my movie project: The Flying Train.
I learned about the extremely steampunk Wuppertaler Schwebebahn that is still running today from this 1902 movie.
This makes me so happy.
movies.simonfairbairn.com/the-flying-t...
Today's film is A Trip to the Moon, from our good friend and crackpot wildman George Méliès. A science fiction epic (by 1900s standards) featuring one of the most iconic images in the history of cinema! We love it!
movies.simonfairbairn.com/a-trip-to-th...
#movies #scifi
The latest from my History of Cinema project is the Countryman and the Cinematograph, which I found to be strangely resonant in our AI-filled times:
movies.simonfairbairn.com/the-countrym...
Screenshot of Conway and Shannon at the Bureau of Reclaimed Spaces (don’t go to the third floor). There’s a massive brick building behind the truck, and there way is blocked by a mess of flashing lights and barriers.
Playing through Kentucky Route Zero again (this time on an ultrawide OLED in HDR so it looks glorious) and, hoo boy, the themes are resonating even more in these times than they did almost 10 years ago.
Still one of my favourites of all time I think.
I have recently restarted my movie blog, where I am watching a huge list of films from the birth of cinema to the present day and doing a li'l sketch to go along with them.
My latest is an early timelapse film called Demolishing and Bulidng up the Star Theatre:
Friendship ended meme with the caption “Friendship ended with Geisha now Ombligon is my best friend
New #coffee beans and, well,
Restarting my History of Cinema blog and picking up where I left off, with Histoire d’un Crime:
movies.simonfairbairn.com/histoire-d-u...
This time I’m limiting each drawing to 45 minutes each, or else I’ll never get through them all.
Five bags of coffee, a Kenyan from Liquid Spirit, Colombian from Outpost, Honduras from Brew Crew, a geisha from Peru from Ninth and another Colombian from Oddy Knocky
Just been to the Brighton Coffee Festival and picked up this lovely haul. Excited to dig into them.
Going to start testing my Coffee Recommendation Engine against them (and filming the results).
#coffee #v60
Picture of the packaging of the Scenery Wilton Benitez Gesha beans
New bean day! Scenery Wilton Benitez Gesha.
Easily the best coffee I’ve made this year so far. Giving high end lemon cheesecake with a digestive biscuit base, decorated with flower petals and a single Turkish delight. Smooth and creamy and fabulous.
£15/100g. Pricey, but worth it.
#coffee #v60
Photo of Bailies Coffee Roasters’ Mella blend with the following info: Blended for fruity, honeyed sweetness. 40% Colombia Comepcafe Washed 30% Kenya Mikumbune Washed 30% Ethiopia Sidamo Natural Tasting: Ripe Berries, Marzipan & Vanilla Roasted: 03/12/2024
Received these beans for Christmas! Don’t usually go for blends but big fan of Colombian and Ethiopian and tasting notes sound promising.
Aeropress calibration brew: 95°, 16g, 150g water, 40s brew time.
Low acidity, some sweetness but less than promised, and a lot of body.
#coffee
Today's match up:
1) 94°C, 555µm grind, 3 pour
2) 88°C, 777µm, 4 pour
I was sure yesterday that the 94 had it in the bag but a finer grind means a risk of clogging and I think that's what happened.
A slower drawdown led to those darker flavours coming out, killing the sweetness.
#coffee #v60
Right now it feels like the 94 3 pour is going to be the recipe of choice for these beans as it’s won every match up so far.
Acidity was less pronounced in the 94 which was a shame cause I do love me some brightness, but what was there hung around all the way through the finish and made for a more balanced cup overall.
Today’s head to head!
2x 12g doses of my Saint Ethiopian Washed Koke:
1) 98°C, 666µm grind, 16:1 ratio
2) 94°C, 555µm grind, 15:1 ratio
Both delicious, but the 94° took it. The finer grind and colder water slowed the brew down enough to give it more body without adding bitterness.
#coffee #v60
Maybe the lesson is that there is no perfect cup. 🧘
#coffee
Only flaw is I’ve been adding the scores together and dividing by five to get an overall out of ten.
But this means that a perfect score would be high acidity, high sweetness, and full bodied. The best cups I’ve had tend not to max out all three of these aspects at once.
It’s been good to think about these aspects individually.
I’ve definitely had a full bodied coffee (Quantity: 5) where the flavours are just charcoal and burnt toast (Quality: 1).
Started using a Prufrock scoring sheet I found online to grade my morning tastings.
Five areas (Aroma, Acidity, Sweetness, Body, and Finish) scored on Quantity and Quality on a scale of 1 to 5.
Five hours of piano today. Slogging through All I Want for Christmas.
I struggle with fingering sometimes. I want to be able to do it without constantly thinking about it but then you don’t want them to end up in the wrong place cause it can produce unpleasant results.
Photo of today’s coffee setup, including an aeropress, a scale showing 16g of coffee, and a kettle set to 94°.
Back to the Aeropress because those filters are so terrible and I have to source some new ones.
Still, getting consistently good brews from this setup. Impressed with the Saint Washed Koke beans.
A comparison of three coffee filters, two bleached and one unbleached. The one on the left looks particularly thin and not well textured even though it’s supposed to be the same as the one in the middle. I call shenanigans.
So got some new “Hario” filters and, um, I suspect they might not be legit. See if you can guess which one is from the new batch.
End result for brews: massive clogging and almost double my usual brew time. Not ideal.
#coffee #v60 #hario
First A/B v60 brews with these. Four pour vs a two pour. 2x 12g doses, 555µm grind, 94°.
Both great brews, but the four pour added body without any additional bitterness so it got the win.
The finish on these is fantastic. Leaves you with a sweet, smoky flavour, like a fine single malt. #coffee
I can already see I’m going to enjoy with these beans.
Strong acids and a subtle honey sweetness that could be brought forward. Some flowery earthy notes in there too that I’d like to see more of in the finish. ☕️
Did an Aeropress calibration brew to get an idea of what flavours I want to try to bring out with the v60.
16g dose, 666µm grind, 150g water. 20s of vigorous stirring then slow plunge. Total brew time: 40s.
#aeropress #recipe
A bag of Saint Washed Koke beans. Notes of Peach, Earl Grey, and Melon apparently.
New Beans Day! I have not had a lot from Ethiopia recently so excited to dig into these.
#coffee #aeropress
Two bowls of ground coffee sit on scales next to two v60 brewers with a Stagg EKG kettle behind them in preparation for SCIENCE!
Current coffee setup: Dual wield v60s for blind A/B tests.
I do the brews, Erin does the pours, then I score blind. Let the best recipe win.
#coffee #v60 #SCIENCE
Goddamn it got worse. There’s a mad quick progression just before the repeat that is breaking my brain.
I can just about manage it at 40bpm (the original is 119). It’s taken me four hours to get there.
Now deep into Jingle Bell Rock and some of these chord changes are wild.
Em7(b5) into A7aug buddy I’m really new at this have mercy pls and thx
I bought a piano in August and I’m now in the midst of a crash course that consists of learning a half dozen Christmas songs by mid-December.
Just started the intro to All I Want for Christmas Is You yesterday and boy hammering out those triplet chords at 150bpm is FUN.