sheghan’s Blog

Coffee has not always been served as a beverage. African tribes crushed the ripe cherries from wild coffee trees, mixed with animal fat, and rolled them into round balls. These “coffee balls” were served at their war parties. The result of eating these coffee balls was:

1. fat combined with raw coffee’s high protein content provided the African tribes with nourishment
2.  the considerable caffeine content of the mixture was of course a “stimulant” that stirred the warriors on to greats heights of warrior abilities

I guess one could sort of compare those African tribe coffee balls to the cans of spinach Popeye use to consume to become mighty and strong enough to battle with Pluto for the quest of Olive Oil’s love!

When coffee appeared as a beverage in Africa it appeared not in the form as we know it, but as a wine that was made from fermented juice of the ripe cherries mixed with cold water.

Later in around 1000 A.D. the Arabs learned to boil coffee. This is when coffee became a hot drink.

From coffee’s first discovery the new drink was surrounded by mystery, and thought to have magical properties. The first coffee drinkers described experiences of sensations ranging from exhilaration to religious ecstasy.

Legends about how coffee could create great physical and mental feelings of well-being created a mythical status that spread throughout the Arab world. It was at first consumed only on the advice of a physician or a beloved priest. Coffee as a beverage became rapidly popular. Doctors accepted coffee as beneficial and prescribed it to their willing patients.

Dervishes provided coffee at night-long religious services in Aden, Yemen, Cairo and Mecca. They passed huge jars of coffee around and chanted prayers until the new day arrived. Lawyers, artists and those who worked at night discovered the benefits of coffee for staying awake for long hours. Soon doctors no longer had to prescribe coffee. Coffee was becoming a permanent staple of the civilized Eastern world.

As the demand for coffee continued to grow, the Arabs developed an effective form of cultivation. They started coffee plants in nurseries from seed and transferred the young plants to plantations in the foothills of nearby mountains. They irrigated the plants using a system of pebble-lined trenches that distributed water from the mountain streams throughout the young coffee tree plants. Shade poplars protected them from the sun. As popularity of coffee grew methods of preparation became more sophisticated.

People started preparing coffee as a decoction from the dried hulls of the bean. Then someone got the idea of roasting the hulls over charcoal fire. Further advances in preparation included whole beans roasted on stone trays, then on metal plates. Next, the roasted beans were pulverized with a mortar and pestle and the powder was combined with boiling water. For over 300 years, this decoction that included ground and all was consumed, as the main method of coffee preparation.

By: Connie Limon

When I was growing up manners were driven into us.  We addressed people as mister, miss, or misses.  Of course, we got into our own little mischief and made fun of our authoritative figures, but not to the extent that the youth today do.  I remember after pushing our disrespect to the limits, our parents would reinforce that this behavior is not acceptable. Nowadays, younger people don’t have any fear of punishment from parents and feel free to express them self anyway they seem fit.
 
However it is not only the youth, but people of my generation and older that have seem to forgotten the manners instilled upon them.  They carelessly bump into you and tell you to watch yourself. What happened to “excuse me” or “I am sorry”?  If an accident happens, people act as though the person responsible should be vaporized from the face of the Earth.  In department stores people fight over clothing; in grocery stores people fight over bananas and hamburgers.
 

As we are talking about shopping, what happened to customer service? I remember when I had my first job at mall and it was mandatory that we exhibit excellent customer service. There has been many times when I have walked into stores and been glared at by store associates as if I was interrupting a very important conversation.  And what about food servers?  You are afraid to inform them that your chicken is underdone as fear they will spit in your food.  On the other hand, customers generally are not appreciative.  They expect that the server goes out of their way to provide and do not recognize this.  I have witnessed many times a server does a job well done only to be disrespected from their customers.  Why can’t we say thank you anymore and stop treating others as if they were scum under a shoe?
 
I remember a time when you went to work to get ahead and provide for your family. Now it is a popularity contest and filled with politics. What ever happened to going to work, sitting at your desk, doing a job well done, and coming home. Now, you go to work, hope that you are in the right circle, fear that the person sitting next to you is not running to your boss spreading untrue rumors about you, and hoping that you can just make it through the day.
 
Does please and thank you not exist anymore?  What about basic manners such as allowing an older person have your seat on the bus, or allowing the car in the next lane move over?  Or calling to reschedule or cancel an appointment instead of allowing the person who is expecting you wait around wondering where you are?  I guess all that I have left to say is thank you for taking the time to read this. 

Lisa F.

Chris Benoit

With the recent tragedy that occurred earlier this month, in which Chris Benoit allegedly killed his son, wife, and then himself made me (as a fan) ponder exactly what I was inviting into my house every Friday, Monday, and Tuesday nights as entertainment.

Yes, entertainment ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what you are looking at. Remove the corny story lines, flashy lights, and revealing costumes and what is left? Athletes with amazing strength that can perform a variety of deeds. It is entertainment to watch these muscular men and women fly through the air, bend in imaginable ways, and make their presence known. There are, of course, the “bad” and “good” guys. There are certain wrestlers that a viewer will know who will cheat or use distractions to ensure victory. And, there are others that bring in a positive energy to the ring, that even if they lose, a fan will continue to cheer for them.

I am still in debate whether matches are just an act or real. There are times when I can see the choreography of each move and other times when it seems real. Perhaps, maybe it is a combination of the two - real matches to promote athleticism and fake matches to promote story-lines. Critics, however, will be quick to point out the “hazardous” conditions - for example, wrestlers being lit on fire, broken noses, or being attacked in an inhumane way. Of course, there are hazards to this type of job, but the majority of bigger “hazards” is acting. If you don’t like it express your freedom to use the remote control.

The wrestling entertainment industry cannot be held fully responsible for what happened to Chris Benoit and his family, nor it can be innocent. Instead of determining whose is at fault, let us (as a whole) figure out the signs that led to this, and what we can do to help intervene if this circumstance should start to rise again.
Lisa F.