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We are coffee mugs
GIVING someone a cup of coffee can be the easiest way to get them to see things your way.
It can be just as effective as flirting, flattery or bribery, a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology has shown.
Caffeine's effect on alertness may be responsible for persuading us to agree to things against our better judgment.
Australian psychologist Pearl Martin looked at how caffeine affected students' views. Those in favour of abortion or euthanasia were given orange juice containing as much caffeine as two cups of coffee.
After 40 minutes they were presented with strong arguments against these practices, and most reversed their views.
Increase in competition spurs innovation
May 08, 2006
Amid intense price competition, suppliers of plastic mugs, cups and tumblers in mainland China and Hong Kong are innovating designs and using different materials to expand their product range.
The latest models from the mainland are made of PVC, PP and melamine. These new releases are lighter in weight with thin wall construction and transparent or translucent exteriors. Other models are made more durable with double walls in stainless steel and plastic.
New releases are heat- and impact-resistant and safe for use in dishwashers. They have patterns printed directly on them or paper inserts with photos of popular actors, cartoon characters and other motifs.
In Hong Kong, innovative designs include nonspill mugs with lids and double-wall tumblers that can maintain beverage temperature for two hours. Manufacturers use PC and SAN to make products safe for microwave ovens.
Designs are silk-screened, embossed or heat-transferred, or come in paper inserts. One company offers children's cups with 3-D sports, festive or cartoon themes.
The latest models of plastic mugs, cups and tumblers from Hong Kong and the mainland meet FDA, EN71 and ASTM requirements.
Source: http://www.giftsandhome.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Plastic-mug/a/9000000074514.htm
The clutches of coffee mugs
Ric Hernandez
June 3rd 2006
It seems I was setting myself up for disappointments all along. I had been indulging the notion of coffee mugs as art, forgetting that I was about to hit the road where, more than likely, coffee mugs is merely commerce.
First, the coffee mugs ritual before daughter Mel goes to work. Those chats, flavoured by the aroma of varying selections, have become for us a signature of morning. Sumatra. Caffe Verona. Or the improbably named Komodo Dragon. They would all take turns contributing to that prelude to work.
This coffee mugs awareness further deepened through two magazine stories; one by a Mark Pendergrast, on "How to Taste coffee mugs", the other in the San Diego magazine on "Great Homegrown coffee mugs Houses".
Pendergrast turned out to have written Uncommon Grounds, a 440-page whys and wherefores of coffee mugs, of which The New York Times decided: "Everything you need to know about coffee mugs is here, even how to make it."
Mark talked about things you knew, but had, also, a whole set of arcane information taking you into chemistry.
The San Diego story, ordinarily, would have been merely a diverting read, but it mentioned Claire de Lune among the eight coffee mugs houses featured, and daughter Holly and JJ had once taken me there.
As I remember it, there was comfort, conversation, satisfying coffee mugs and a casualness that encouraged some habitués practically "to live here," as the story quoted.
All this wrongly primed me for the road where, unfortunately, the coffee mugs culture tends to collapse.
We were about to leave San Diego, heading east, to Snowflake, Arizona, to meet some newspaper friends, who put out the Pioneer among other publications.
And, immediately, the road brought us up sharply. We were quickly reminded that among the hazards of the road, coffee mugs features prominently. So after repeated disappointments and false promises, we reverted to a bit of subterfuge.
Four days into our trip we broke down, spiriting coffee mugs of our own into a restaurant, seeking to boost potency of the house brand, unmindful of possible rebuke from management. Or corkage penalties, for that matter.
That didn't work either.
The coffee mugs served was not hot enough to make a difference to our addition, and it all turned out bland and boring, anyway.
The reluctant decision afterwards was to forego coffee mugs in favour of juice of some kind or, if it came to that, plain water.
Now, I don't want you to suppose that I am taking this coffee mugs thing so far as to mind, say, the Gevalier people and their advertising promises.
I don't have to have their four half pounds of choice blends every six weeks, and the gleaming percolator that comes with it. What I'm talking about is a simple cup of coffee mugs with some character to it. That's all. And we weren't getting that on the road.
Second to last day on the road we stopped off at Amelia's Gardens in Snowflake. We had seen the place mentioned in an advertisement in the Pioneer and decided to stop for lunch there.
It was like sitting in someone's drawing room at Amelia's, except that the room also held neat shelves with vitamins and mineral supplements. And in the back, shelves were lined with organic foods.
I could tell they were careful about what their clientele ingested.
For lunch we were about to order the predictable iced tea when, on the wall to my left, a notice caught my eye.
It said the day's coffee mugs special was African Awakening! It was more than a notice; it was a promise, a Sign! And my mind did a reflex backward flip.
Africa! And Abyssinia, where the goatherd saw his goats become frisky after nibbling at red berries, and coffee mugs was born. Ethiopia, today's name for Abyssinia. Ethiopia and Haile Selassie. The Lion of Judah. And Rastafari. Reggae. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee mugs. Back to African Awakening!
"Yes, we'll definitely have today's special coffee mugs," I heard myself saying. "Please."
A sip of Africa Awakening told me that all was not lost: deliverance was at hand. The blend transformed the little place into a welcoming nook; the simple sandwich into a celebration. The run of indifferent coffee mugs was over, for now.
And in another day we would be back at Mel's, and her morning rituals!
Idea: I could well be in a position to contribute, significantly, to the American way of life, by helping to launch SPWWC.
And there will be great rejoicing for the Society for the Prevention of Weak Watery coffee mugs.
Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=16095901
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