How do you know when something is irrevocably ingrained into cultural society? When it's used as the basis for one form of artistic expression or another. But that's only the half of it. It's also when it's ignored as second nature when used in a form of artistic expression. Can you remember the last time you heard the word "coffee" or the term "coffee cup" in a song? I can't, but at least I can remember the songs.

Coffee and Music

In 1972, Carly Simon released the song "You're So Vain" about a self-absorbed lover. These lines from the lyrics have stood out for at least 37 years:

The song has been covered by other artists and some non-musical celebrities as well. It's been sampled for other songs by still other artists; such is the longevity of a song that merely stayed at the #1 position on certain music charts for three weeks.

The British pop group "Take That" released "Back For Good" in 1995. The term "coffee cup" stood out because it was so near the beginning of the lyrics, even though it was fairly short:

These are only two examples I can think of off the top of my head and I'm sure there are more. Unfortunately, I only listen to music online now and don't hear stuff like this very often anymore.

Clouds and Other Things in your Coffee

If you do a Google image search, using terms like "coffee clouds" or "coffee art", you can find some amazing pictures of artistic designs made on the surface of the coffee inside coffee cups.

While the designs captured won't last very long before someone drinks the coffee, the photos will last forever on the Internet. So, while the original art is temporary, the lasting art is virtually permanent.

What good is artistic expression in the first place if it doesn't have some kind of permanency in cultural society? That's simply food (or a drink) for thought.

(Original Image Source: Parasol Unit and Keith Tyson)

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When I first spotted this story via Google News, I was flabbergasted. A man was arrested for indecent exposure because he was seen making coffee in his own kitchen by some lady looking through his windows. You can read the initial story for yourself: Man Charged After Making Coffee Naked

The Police in Springfield, Virginia are Inept

According to the 2000 Census, Springfield, Virginia has a population of more than 30,417 people. Apparently, indecent exposure in your own home is considered a crime warranting an arrest because there isn't already enough real crime taking place. Excuse me?

The story goes like this: A lady was cutting through this guy's yard and saw him naked. She hastily got onto the sidewalk to continue and saw him naked again in a door window. Let me ask a stupid question. If you see something you don't want to see once, why would you look again?

She reported the incident to the police and the man was arrested for indecent exposure. Coincidentally, the woman was the wife of a police officer of the same police department.

Something Stinks in this Story

When he was arrested, the man admitted to going downstairs and making coffee for himself, while naked, at about 5:30 am and while it was dark. If the lady happened to be passing at that time, it would be easy for her to see him. According to the lady, however, she was taking her son to school at around 8:40 am, during daylight, when she saw him. At that time of day, it wouldn't have been so easy to see him. If you watch the video here, you'll see what I mean: Police: Others May Have Seen Naked Man

If you read the comments on both articles, you'll see what I'm getting at. The woman was cutting through his yard and looking in his windows. I guess there are indecent exposure laws that can get you arrested for being naked in your own home but there aren't any peeping tom laws. She looked not once, but twice. My guess is that she saw what she saw and then told her husband about it and he was the person who was really offended. Personally, I think the man should sue for false arrest.

The police have already figured out they made a major mistake by letting this get on the news. They put out flyers asking if other people had seen anything in that neighborhood. They're trying to cover their proverbial asses.

Take this as a warning. If you want to get naked, or stay naked if you sleep in the buff, make sure no one can see you from outside your home. Uptight women in uptight communities are dangerous people, especially when they're married to police officers.

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• Alternatives to Coffee, Postum and Camel Piss (Monster Energy Drink)

Even though Postum no longer exists (and people still crave it and will pay top dollar on eBay for it), coffee and camel piss (I mean "Monster Energy Drink") still do. Here's a quick list of some of the concoctions you can replace any or all of these with. The list is obviously not all-inclusive and there's no way in the world I'm going to spend the time it would take to search Google to find any more. While these concoctions probably won't replace coffee and Postum, anything is better than camel piss, made by the people attacking the makers of Vermonster.

• Caro Instant Beverage, more commonly referred to as simply Caro, is brand of caffeine-free beverages. It is manufactured by Nestlé and is widely available in the United Kingdom. Caro Instant is a powder-based drink available in 50g containers, whereas Caro Extra is granule-based and comes in 200g jars. Caro is made up of soluble solids of roasted barley, malted barley, chicory, and rye. It is most often available in health food shops, but can also be found in most major supermarkets.
• Barleycup is another instant cereal drink available in the United Kingdom. It comes in both powder and granule form, and is comprised of soluble solids of roasted barley, rye and chicory. It is commonly found in health food shops.
• Pero is a coffee substitute from Switzerland. Pero Instant Natural contains malted barley, barley, chicory and rye. Pero Extra contains all of the same except the rye.
• Cafix is another coffee substitute from Switzerland. Cafix Coffee Substitute contains malted barley, chicory, barley, rye and beet roots. Cafix Crystals contains roasted barley, rye, chicory and beet roots.
• Teeccino in the United States produces an herbal "coffee" in 10 different flavors. Various ingredients are used, such as chicory and ramon nuts.
• Roma, or Kaffree Roma, is available in U.S. health food stores. Ingredients: Roasted barley, roasted malt barley, roasted chicory. Contains gluten from barley.
• Wildcrafted Ramon Nut Powder is a product of rawganique.com.
• Bamboo is a coffee alternative marketed by Rapunzel in Germany which contain grains and chicory.
• Soyfee is a soy "coffee" product of soycoffee.com. The website may contain more information about ingredients that I couldn't find.
• Café de Cebada is a product of boliviamall.com. I don't read the language, so I can't tell what ingredients are included.

The people that have tried these products say they taste nothing like coffee and Postum-lovers say they don't match the rich, smooth taste of Postum. By the way, this is another post I moved from another site. I didn't move the five comments, though, because I didn't think it would be worth the trouble.

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This blog is all about coffee, tea and anything (and I do mean anything) related to either one.

I have been drinking coffee and tea all my life (which started in 1960) and I prefer them over any other drinks, even plain water. You can ask me if I'm a coffee lover and a tea lover, a coffee addict and a tea addict, or a coffee fanatic and a tea fanatic and I'll reply with something like "all of the above".

I drank coffee and tea before I joined the military in 1978, while in the military, and I continue to drink them in my retirement years.

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