Elixer = Vitae

3D"Firing C8H10N402 = (Caffeine):

The last = legal=20 high!

(This = session is=20 dedicated to the barrista and other great folks at The Bean Tree = in=20 Sacramento, who fuel my double espresso thirst,=20 periodically)

I have = long wanted=20 to devote some time and reflection to the subject of coffee, that = wonderful=20 distillation made from the bean = of = Coffea=20 arabica (or = Coffea=20 robustica) that today fuels the = entire=20 industrial powerhouse that is Western Civilisation. To say that coffee = is=20 virtually a 'sacred' brew is not just underscoring its importance to = American=20 industrial dynamism and the value I personally place upon it, but = reiterating an=20 awareness that has been in circulation since the plant was first = discovered in=20 Ethiopia in about the 6th century AD.

One of = the problems=20 attendant to this wish is the fact that the very source of my muse = (Caffeine)=20 that sparks these periodic rants also tends to spin them out on = far-flung=20 tangents, the likes of which was demonstrated in January's=20 MAYDAY comments on children = (when coffee=20 was the intended target subject). Be that as it may, I have been a = dedicated=20 devotee of the Coffea=20 Arabica cult since my early and=20 impressionable years as a young bhikku in Berkeley in the late = 60s. (It is=20 interesting to note that while the effects of coffee have heretofore = never been=20 conclusively shown to be deleteriuous, no matter how much the=20 anti-caffeine forces howl, very recent medical studies suggest that too = much=20 caffeine hastens wrinkling and other aging processes! Alas,=20 alack!)

(Below: = Coffee=20 beans, L- R, Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta)

3D"Arabica In a recent read-through = of Mark=20 Pendergrast's excellent, informative, and entertaining 550 page opus on = the=20 subject (UNCOMMON=20 GROUNDS, Basic Books/Persius = Books Group,=20 1999, ISBN 0-465-03631-7), I was fascinated to learn of the pioneering = part=20 Alfred Peet played in the modern renaissance of coffee (60s) with his=20 institution of Peet's = Coffee &=20 Tea=20 (now Peet's Coffee, Tea, &=20 Spices) on Walnut Square in = Berkeley (on=20 April Fool's Day, 1966). I say fascinating because in 1968 I had = returned from=20 the Vietnam War to Berkeley and found myself living on Spruce Street, = just a few=20 blocks upstream of Walnut Square. Having been a wannabe Beatnik ever = since=20 learning of the Beat 'movement', I was immediately attracted to Peet's = like a=20 coolie to opium. Peet's of that early anti-war era was an epicenter for = a wide=20 range of Berkeley people that included Max Scherer (of=20 The = Berkeley=20 Tribe), most of the UC Berkeley = grad=20 students, almost all of the US Berkeley faculty, a motley consortium of = 'street=20 people', and counterculture folks of just about every political and = ethnic shade=20 in the spectrum. To say it was a heady and intellectually stimulating = place is=20 not doing it sufficient justice. And it was there that I first learned = to=20 worship, honor, and obey the aroma, taste, and neuron-firing effects of = Peet's=20 espresso. My memories of early weekend mornings spent huddled over a=20 Doppio=20 Espresso against the chill = tendrils of SF=20 Bay fog, while some respected UCB philosophy department professor held = forth on=20 his own personal Weltanschaung to the assembled=20 regulars, = are among my most = cherished of that=20 brilliantly promising and invigorating period of my = life.

(Below: = Cross=20 Section of a roasted coffee bean--or a human brain after too much coffee = consumption, you choose)

3D"Roasted Real coffee was a new game for = many=20 people at the time, after the conditioning that decades of weak, = washed-out=20 American commercial coffee had instilled in most people. At about the = same time=20 (actually a little earlier, in the 50s) Cafe=20 Trieste in San Francisco's North = Beach=20 community had established an espresso presence that helped = channel the=20 creative bohemian undercurrents fomented by the 'Beat movement'. In = Berkeley,=20 across the San Francisco Bay, it took slightly longer for the true = European=20 style coffee renaissance to take hold. At any rate, by the start of the = 1970s,=20 several other players were in the coffee selling game, including the = members of=20 Sun Myong Moon's religious cult (remember the 'Moonies'?), who ran a = coffee=20 business (selling retail beans) on College Avenue. The latter group sold = the=20 prized and ultra-rare Jamaica Blue = Mountain=20 bean=20 by the pound, although it was later found that their=20 JBM beans were a sham and not = genuine=20 JBM (even in those early 70s = days it=20 was hard to find, since most of the JBM=20 crop=20 went to Japan at premium prices); 'Moonies', it seemed, were apparently = not=20 above unconscionable bilking of others, despite their proselytizing zeal = for=20 'the truth'. JBM beans were at that time = nearly US$=20 20 per pound, which was for that period quite an extravagance (now, by=20 comparison, even ordinary Brazilian beans sell for prices by the pound = in that=20 vicinity).

(Below: = The=20 'Brothers Starbuck', circa 1971)

3D"Starbucks Starbucks (identifiable = now as 'the=20 corporate enemy', rather than the kindred coffee provider it was when = first=20 started by ex-college students Baldwin, Bowker, and Siegle, in Seattle) = opened=20 their first store March of 1971, after spending some time with Alfred = Peet in=20 Berkeley observing his practices and business approach. From that time = of simple=20 and honest beginnings to the present, Starbucks has regrettably = transmogrified=20 itself into just another uncaring monster of a corporate enterprise;=20 consequently, and I hope others also feel similarly, I would not today = set foot=20 inside one of their establishments out of disdain for what they have = become. The=20 sight of yet another Starbucks franchised coffee outlet opening up in = the=20 neighborhood is now anathema of the very worst sort, despite the fact = that the=20 average (politically insensitive) person probably loves their products.=20 Unfortunately, a preponderance of today's older coffee drinkers have = long since=20 lost their sharp political edges and many who are under the age of 30=20 undoubtedly do not know anything at all of the truly profound political = or=20 cultural history of coffee, either at the present time or throughout the = long=20 and sad past decades of coffee's exploitative and grossly negative = impact on=20 global commerce and economy. And speaking of Starbucks, as an amusing = example of=20 how they have sold out to establishment m=F4res, Starbuck's first logo, = which=20 featured a bare-breasted mermaid of the type typically characteristic of = vintage=20 Nantucket whaling days, has now been modestly 'sanitised' into a = stylised,=20 asexual merperson, thereby undoubtedly = making all the=20 political correctness cadres = absolutely=20 ecstatic.

(Below: = An Arabian=20 'Dullah'--traditional Bedouin brass coffee pot)

3D"Arab Pendergrast's book=20 UNCOMMON=20 GROUNDS is a wonderful education = in itself,=20 not just for all of the fascinating information presented therein about = the=20 complex history of the coffee bean, but for the attendant and consequent = education it provides about political economies, American corporate and=20 commercial meddling in other nations' affairs, and the sorry results of = the=20 international obsessive fixation on the stimulating brew that so many of = us=20 regard as the world's last 'legal high.' In fact the story of coffee's=20 introduction to the United States and the development of its marketing = and=20 distribution is a sort of all-encompassing and self-encapsulated history = of the=20 American advertising industry. It was the introduction of commercial = coffee and=20 its marketing that later 'happily' coincided with the dawn of radio and=20 television advertising--two mediums that have had stunning impact on us = all in=20 terms of their enabling the development of ordinary business entities = into the=20 monsterously greedy, world-wide corporate powers that threaten to = strangle us=20 all in their lovingly exhaustive consumer embrace.

Very few = are today=20 aware, for instance, that the CIA engineered overthrow of Salvadore = Allende's=20 socialist regime in El Salvador was not the first instance of an = intricately=20 contrived political plot purposefully orchestrated by the United States = to=20 depose heads of state not favorably disposed towards American business=20 interests: sadly, such Machiavellian schemes were virtually=20 standard US foreign policy in the = late 1800s=20 and early 1900s, with regard to our relations with Central and South = American=20 producers of coffee. Further, our policies and business practices--both = official=20 and unofficial (see "unofficial", read "all but overtly = criminal")--regarding=20 Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, and other nations in the South American = hemisphere=20 are directly responsible for the general destruction of the social = economies of=20 those countries. With their continual, immense, and virtually unpayable = national=20 indebtedness to the World Bank, and the unrelenting widespread = destruction of=20 the Brazilian rain forests which new shadeless coffee tree strains have=20 encouraged, widespread economic chaos in South America continues=20 unchecked.

Equally = few are=20 those who understand the part that the cultivation of coffee has played = in the=20 historic genocidal war between Burundi's ruling = Tutsi tribe and the enslaved=20 Hutus in Africa--a recurrent = mutual=20 slaughter that has to date claimed perhaps upwards of a million Africans = since=20 that rabid mutual tribal hatred began. Most people = should be shamefully aware, = however, of=20 the fact that due to the complete absence of any high-priority US = strategic=20 interest in Africa (i.e. no rich oil reserves or other vital natural = resources),=20 the United States has repeatedly stepped back from what would otherwise = be=20 entirely justifiable and appropriate support of the democratic = peace=20 process in that bitterly impoverished and savagely neglected region. If, = on the=20 other hand, there were oil at stake, there isn't a shadow of a doubt = that=20 America would be embroiled in this African socioeconomic chaos up to its = neck=20 (viz. such as we are in the Middle East, Afghanistan, = etc.).

(Below: = Anatomy of=20 a steam-espresso machine)

3D"Inside Aside from the gross = political and=20 economic ignorance of the average American with regard to the dirty = little=20 secrets underlying the world's insatiable demand for coffee, the social = and=20 cultural history of Coffea arabica=20 provides many hours of = stimulating=20 reading. After absorbing all of the half thousand pages of history that=20 Pendergrast's book explores in no small detail, it should be virtually=20 impossible for anyone who hoists a cup of coffee to their mouth to do so = completely devoid of thoughts about this amazing bean and the earth = shattering=20 effects its cultivation has produced all around the world. After such a=20 fascinating read, each gulp of the brown, life-giving elixir that = coffee=20 essentially constitutes for so many becomes essentially a small=20 political=20 act in=20 itself.

In = mulling over all=20 of the sometimes disturbing information assembled in=20 UNCOMMON=20 GROUNDS, many consequent = awarenesses come=20 swimming through the murk of the vapid normal mindlessness that Caffeine = helps=20 cut asunder. One of these relates to the frequently reiterated and oft = repeated=20 admonishment that extreme right-wing, jingoistic superpatriots hurl at = social=20 critics who pointedly bring up deficits in our nation's makeup and the = conduct=20 of its affairs: namely, "If you hate = this=20 country so much, why don't you go live in one of them poor (banana = republic)=20 nations, full of starvation, poverty, political instability, and social=20 chaos?"=20 After=20 reading Pendergrast's book, one realises the FULL irony of=20 that sort of=20 ignorant=20 put-down, for after all, = it was and=20 is the same continuing economic depredations of cut-throat American = business and=20 commercial practices that have created such abject misery in those less=20 fortunate nations these jingoists impugn! Ignorant = right-wing=20 'superpatriots' haven't an inkling of these facts, naturally, and even = if they=20 were made mindful of the = historical=20 veracity of these revelations, they would reject such "alleged"=20 heresies out of hand as totally=20 false.

(Below: A = sample of=20 Shannon Wheeler's TOO MUCH COFFEEMAN)

3D"Too Seen in the uncomfortable=20 illumination of such unsparing and exhaustively researched work as = Pendergrast=20 has undertaken in his book, the supreme hypocrisy of many of our = standing=20 domestic and foreign policies stands out as painfully exposed as would = be=20 escaping convicts frozen in a searchlight's probing glare. Thus, for a = number of=20 reasons, UNCOMMON=20 GROUNDS bears reading by anyone = interested=20 not just in the history of the wonderful coffee bean so many of us are = hooked=20 on, but in the broadest cultural, economic, and political nuances of our = mighty=20 superpower of a = nation.

And = speaking of=20 coffee, anyone who is a dedicated caf-fiend=20 of the=20 first water owes it to him/her self to tune into the the brilliantly = insightful=20 world of TOO MUCH = COFFEE,=20 MAN!,=20 which started out as a cartoon series about a little coffee-cup = character,=20 embodied with the essential hyper-angst and mania of the substance, but = which=20 has now grown into a cult magazine dedicated to the worship of coffee = and all=20 that it relates to. The website, which is a good site for getting tuned = into=20 what Coffeeman is all about, is found = at: http://www.tmcm.com/ . Back issues, = TMCM=20 T-shirts, and much more are to be found there, among a variety of = creative=20 items. Dial it up and prepare to enjoy a steaming immersion in a cup of=20 alternate caffeinated reality! TMCM is the brainchild of talented artist = and=20 social raconteur Shannon=20 Wheeler.

As for = myself, the=20 role of coffee in the development and stimulation of intellectual = thought and=20 reflective awareness has always been for me as supremely important as = anything=20 else imparted in the ritual public imbibing of the black brew. = Coffeehouses have=20 long been a source of thought, enlightenment, radical vision, social = awareness,=20 and kindred communality for centuries--both abroad and in the USA. = Anyone fully=20 acquainted with the historical ingress of coffee to the Western World is = well=20 aware of the intellectual coffeehouses of Vienna on the=20 Ringstrasse, the wickedly Bohemian = cafes of=20 Paris' Rive=20 Gauche, the Beat hangouts of San = Francisco's North Beach and New York's Greenwich Village. During the = Vietnam=20 War, for example, a series of coffeehouses known as "G.I. Coffeehouses" = sprang=20 up around major US military installations, wherein the=20 uniformed anti-war=20 resistance (that's me, Ma...) took = root and=20 grew to rise in fierce opposition to the = ongoing = lunacy that was America's war in = Vietnam.=20 Even in far-flung and perpetually frigid North Dakota, where I wintered = with the=20 Air Force (in a SAC B-52 wing at Minot AFB), we initiated a coffeehouse = of this=20 overtly political type right there in the basement of the local USO! In = that=20 haven and among fellow Air Force protestors, our own particular form of = anti-war=20 resistance sprang to life and flourished. It was a formative period in = my own=20 life and those long, cold, and deep-frozen North Dakota winter nights = were made=20 all the more tolerable by virtue of plenty of = Av-Gas strength coffee, I can = assure you,=20 as we orchestrated our own journalistic contributions to the ongoing = "peace-war"=20 effort.

(Below: = L-R,=20 Over-extracted espresso, under-extracted espresso, and a perfectly = extracted=20 espresso)

3D"Over-extracted 3D"Under-extracted 3D"Perfect Interestingly, I am = reminded by all=20 these reflections and recollections on the Vietnam experience of a very=20 important distinction: the distinction between the terms DEFENSE = and=20 WAR. As many of you know, back in the American Civil War era, we = had a=20 "War Department", rather than a "Defense Department". Quite a while = thereafter=20 (after the Second World War), what has now come to be the norm of = euphemistic=20 spin-doctoring was applied to our military forces organisation, and "War = Department" became sanitised to "Department of Defense". Despite this=20 superficial cleansing act, however, we have continued to expand the = definition=20 of our economic strategic=20 interests so broadly around the = world that=20 despite our declared emphasis on "Defense", we continue to periodically = conduct=20 belligerent operations all over the planet in support of purely economic = objectives.

Defense, of course, is = functionally=20 just that, of course....protective = action undertaken to=20 defend against a threat. The=20 word=20 War,=20 on the other hand, carries no such self-limiting constraint in its = essential=20 definition. My own belief is that the Armed Forces of this nation = should=20 be and ideally are committed to defending our national borders = against the=20 incursion of an unfriendly/hostile foreign = power....only. Unfortunately, the = definition of=20 what exactly constitutes our 'national borders' has also been so vastly=20 distorted by the capitalistic agendas of American business interests = that such=20 flagrantly aggressive intrusions into the sovereign affairs of other = nations (as=20 that which took place in Vietnam) have been not only allowed, but wildly = supported by a moderately large section of the population (by = short-sighted and=20 intellectually myopic idiots, = obviously).

(Below: = Cartoonist=20 Bill Maulden's famous 'dogface' character "Weary Willie", trying to heat = coffee=20 in WWII)

3D"Maulden's Unhappily, war is fought = by young=20 men and ordered and commanded by old men. It is an irony of = life that=20 young men, filled with raging Testosterone and terribly vulnerable to = the hype=20 and passion of exhortations to wage war, are easily = hornswoggled into enlisting in any = half-baked=20 military adventure that our corporate rulers have determined are = appropriate=20 (read: "in our best interests") and are then sent out to die. By the = time they=20 realise what war is really all about, it is too late = for many=20 of them. The survivors of these periodic slaughters, not wanting to = admit that=20 they were bamboozled into something as colossally stupid as offering = their lives=20 for the sake of protecting philistine American economic (read = "corporate")=20 profit margins, tend to band together in veterans' fraternal = organisations where=20 they thereafter try to fool each other into thinking that such mass = stupidity as=20 is war is actually a great and glorious adventure. Far too many also end = their=20 days suicidally depressed, disallusioned,or psychotic, when the brutal = reality=20 of truth latently settles in on them. To wit: Once a war is over, = no one=20 cares a=20 fig=20 about former brave sacrifices and heroic offerings of self and life for=20 yesterday's 'noble cause'....

Just = recently,=20 speaking of this sort of pathologically twisted hawkish logic, our = nation's=20 Chief Executive (Dubya) has elected to ignore = virtually=20 the entire rest of the world's collective opinion that a pre-emptive = strike=20 against Iraq would be unwise, imprudent, and fraught with potential = repercussion=20 of the worst sort. He remains insanely adamant in attempting to set = plans in=20 motion for what amounts to the same sort of unprecedented attack against = Iraq=20 that Pearl Harbor was for us! How stunningly stupid, narrow-minded, and=20 regrettably typical of foreign policy morons like Bush, Chaney, = Rumsfeld, and=20 all of their right wing conservative Republican cronies! What is even = more=20 apalling is the fact that about half of America thinks this is=20 a=20 swell=20 idea (although perhaps use of the word 'thinks' is too kind in this=20 context....).

[Ironically, there=20 would probably be NO war at all, once and for all, if only one of two = conditions=20 obtained: 1) There were no men in the world (only women); or 2) = if the=20 strategic ground rules of war stipulated that YOUNG men would order and = command=20 battles, while OLD men would have to fight and die. Interesting thought, = eh?=20 I'll end this month's rant with that fascinating tidbit to ruminate=20 upon.=20 Peace,=20 baby...]

March/August 2002=20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ---------------

(Art=20 Credits:=20 A number = of=20 wonderful, very whimsical cartoon images centered on coffee that I had = hoped to=20 feature on this page, representing a sampling of the the work of = wonderfully=20 witty Jiri Sliva (citizen of Prague in the Czech Republic, who has = recently=20 published a collection of his delightful art in a book entitled=20 CAFE=20 FETISH), did = not=20 appear thanks to the commercial avarice of Mr. Sliva's agents, who = wanted $600=20 for "one-time-only" permission to use several of those images=20 .=20 This = book,=20 published by XXX and Company of New York in 2001, and distributed by XXX = Group=20 West, is a marvel; however, thanks to Sliva's American agents, I'll be = damned if=20 I'll provide any further information on it that would bring in more = bucks to=20 those disdainful and exemplary icons of American Big Business.=20 [Since this was = originally written=20 (March 2002), the Peoples'=20 Republic of Berkeley has once again = distinguished as=20 one of the last bastions of dissociated free-thought by attempting to = make it=20 illegal to buy or sell coffee in the Berkeley city limits that is not = certified=20 as natural, organically shade-grown. While this might at first be = seen as=20 simply another bit of evidence that Berkeley exists on a separate plane = of=20 reality, the philosophy is sound. If you are unconvinced, read = Pendergrast's=20 book and you will more readily understand the arguments underlying this = =20 issue] Other = images=20 presented here have been purloined with the hope that the owners of this = intellectual property won't mind too=20 much....)

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