The Arizona Coffee Blog celebrates it’s fourth year of reviewing the best and not so best coffee shops around Arizona. I met up with Chris Tingom and others in Tempe to celebrate the blogs success and find out what he has planned for it’s future.

(This is a HD embed and best viewed at full screen)

As I stated in my video, I’m Clintus and I’m the new guy. I’m very excited to finally be able to devote some time to my local Metblogs. I’ve been a big fan of what Sean and Jason have been doing and when I found out there was a Phoenix chapter, I really wanted to get involved. I just feel bad that it’s taken me so long.
Now I won’t give you any expectations of myself as to not disappoint later on; but what I can tell you is that I always have a camera and I’m always trying to capture the little moments around me. If possible, I’ll almost always have a video to go along with my blog posts.

Again, I look forward to sharing my views and experiences within Phoenix and its surrounding areas with you.

Everyone knows the Phoenix metropolitan area is a fantastic location for golf and we have some of the best courses in the nation (world?).

Those courses are out of my league. :)

I just started playing this summer and realized what a great opportunity Central Phoenix provides to beginning golfers.

I began playing every Monday afternoon at the Encanto executive 9 hole course on 17th Avenue and Encanto. If it isn’t the most unpretentious golf course in the metro area it has to be close. Our foursome usually plays a round in about an hour; a single golfer or a quick pair can play it in 45 minutes. Where else could I take a break from work to play golf in the afternoon?

Summer rates are under $9 for a round and you can replay the course all day for free. It’s a great place for kids and anyone, like myself, doesn’t have the kind of game or the time to justify drop $80 on a round of golf.

Here are some pictures from another blogger.

We need more help, though. Reply to the original post and come join us. The water is fine. I see, hear, and experience things everyday that I would love to blog about, but I run out of time.

The Valley is a great place to live. It frustrates me that we don’t seem to have the cohesive identity or pride of home that I see in other cities. We have things to do and places to go that are very much unique to the desert, and this is an opportunity to highlight some.

So what would you, the reader, like to see? Leave us a comment and we will make an effort!

Lake Pleasant in June by Chris Seggerman

The quote that caught my eye? Unrefinery.com had this to say about the recognition:

We hesitate to even call Phoenix a city; the decentralized home turf of Allied Waste would be best described as a 400-square-mile monument to sprawl, water waste, traffic bottlenecks, and crystal meth. Urban planning sometimes seems esoteric, but Phoenix offers a real-world reminder of why we need it.

Thoughts?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I do not expect free water, but when the temperature is over 100 degrees out, I expect it to be reasonably priced. We ended up not drinking nearly enough, and all told, we calculated that we spent $100 of the $150 we had with us on water and ice. I would love to know how many people they had to treat for dehydration. The Dos Gringos booth had $2 waters for a while, and we bought those until they ran out and started selling the $4 waters. I think my best investment was a $3 iced spray bottle from a vendor. Unfortunately I lost it during the Gogol Bordello show when a crowd surfer fell on me. The joys of an excellent punk show.

We did have a lot of fun, but we learned some things. One of the main things is to not take a slightly geeky 14-year-old near the front of a Flogging Molly concert. Between the mosh pit that started up next to us and the crowd surfers, we could not keep him safe and ended up having to push out of the crowd and escape. The crowd was restless after the shows were delayed by a thunderstorm rolling through. In true Phoenician style, I welcomed the wind and was sad it brought no rain to cool things off.

Resting in the shade tent around noon

Also resting in the shade tent- the white is suncreen dripping off in the heat

One way to cool off- Konal at the waterpark

Rapid buses look a little different than the average city street bus: Almost all the seats face forward, two to a row on either side of the center aisle. Two benchlike seats that can each hold about three people face towards the center aisle by the rear door. These can be folded up for wheelchair mounting. Behind that, there’s a little elevated area with more forward-facing seats. There are about six seats along the very back of the bus.

But that’s it. I don’t think they expected people standing in the center aisle. But we do!

I have seen crowds so large people take to the rear elevated portion at the back of the bus. I have stood at the front well past the line federal regulations say I’m not supposed to stand past, holding on to the rail that protects the fare box, staring straight out the windshield. Valley Metro added a few more buses to the route, but at certain times of the day– right around quitting time– the bus will arrive at the stop crowded with people in the aisle already.

I haven’t found too many good places to hang on to. The luggage racks have elastic bands to keep stuff from flying out, but they have too much give. The tubular ridge at the base of the luggage rack isn’t angled the right way, and the seams between rack compartments are rough enough to scrape the skin.

I hope these handstraps help out with holding on, but it looks like a temporary solution that a few more buses would fix. I don’t think gas prices will be going down any time soon, and the more– preferably less crowded– mass transit options we have, the better.

 It is a sad state of affairs when an average American cannot afford to buy a beer at a community event. I actually watched as one man walked up to the booth with hope in his eyes and asked, “How much for a beer?” and the woman behind the counter replied, “Seven dollars.” The poor man simply shook his head and walked away.

I was at the show working a booth for my employer, talking to people about ways to conserve energy and decrease their electric bill. There were not that many people at the event. I haven’t seen exact figures of attendance but I would be surprised if it was anywhere near the number of people who attended last year. Someone mentioned they had wanted to buy a large outdoor grill but that they weren’t able to finance it. Scary stuff. It’s one thing when these issues are a national problem and can be viewed from a distance. It’s another thing to see the effects of the economic crisis when it shows up at your front door.

Still skeptical? You may want to check out Urban Affair this weekend. It opens Friday, Sept 26th, at the Phoenix Art Museum. It goes from 6 – 10 p.m. and features performances by Arizona Opera, Scorpius Dance Theatre, and other local musicians. There will be a progressive tasting menu highlighting local restaurants like Cibo, The Art of Soup, Breadfruit, and Urban Cookies. Tickets start at $30. If you want to feel like a rock star you can spring for a VIP ticket for $75 which includes a host bar.

If you’re like me and feel that $30 is a little pricey don’t dismay – here are my low or no cost suggestions for checking out the city this weekend:

1. Breakfast and the Downtown Phoenix Public Market

Need to do a little grocery shopping? Considering hitting up the farmer’s market and then grabbing breakfast at a local eatery. The market is open from 8 to noon on Saturday and features local produce and other great food items as well as artist’s booths and cooking demonstrations. Get there early to avoid the heat and have your pick of the fresh fruits and vegetables. After you’ve perused all that the market has to offer check out one of these restaurants for a great breakfast:

• Palatte – My favorite menu item is the lemon brioche french toast and a side of grass fed beef sausage. Their egg dishes are also yummy! The outdoor seating is lovely and there’s usually live music.
• Maizie’s - The newest restaurant on my list, this place has become so popular so fast. Why? The food is great and the service is perfection. If you like a little booze with brunch Maizie’s is your place – the bartender makes a mean mimosa.
• Drip Coffee Lounge – Their menu is limited but what they do, they do well. I’m a fan of their real eggs and ham.
• Matt’s Big Breakfast – A downtown institution, this eatery is known for its delicious bacon…and its long line. My suggestion – get there early.

2. “First Ever” Explore SoDo Tour

Not an early riser? Prefer to wake up around noon? Consider a tour of south downtown phoenix on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. Historic warehouses, urban lofts, coffee shops and restaurants will open their doors until 5 p.m. From what I can tell the tour is self guided with lots of great stops along the way.

Personally I would love to take this tour but unfortunately I have to work. So someone else needs to take it and tell me how it was. Also I find the SoDo name kind of silly – Cenpho was hard enough to get used to. I could totally blog about how lame I think SoDo is…but I won’t.

Whatever you do have a great weekend….man, I wish it was here already!!!

Janet Van Hinkle  at The Art of Soup is one such owner. They are located in Sheridan Square on 7th Street, next to Drip. I stopped in yesterday for lunch and I came away with so much more. They serve, on average, 4 soups per day and there’s always a vegetarian option. The ingredients are all local and organic. You can order it by the bowl or do a soup “flight”, small portions of 3 soups with the usual accompaniments: multi-grain bread, lavosh, or baguette. The soup was fantastic and the atmosphere was so relaxed. I was the only customer due to the late hour and Janet chatted with me like I was friend having lunch in her kitchen.

She partners with a company called Chef to Chef to bring the same local produce in her soups to the community. You can purchase bags of produce from local farmers at the restaurant weekly. I’m picking up my first bag this weekend so I’ll let you know how that goes!

The Art of Soup will soon be open for breakfast and they are expanding their evening and weekend hours. I give major kudos to Janet for that – most businesses downtown cater to those who commute down here for work rather than those of us who actually reside here. There are many restaurants that are only open during the week and for lunch leaving the residents of downtown with fewer options.

As more people move downtown and the weekend traffic picks up the businesses are beginning to adjust. One by one they are expanding their hours and it’s definitely a sign of better things ahead.

I plan to highlight the local businesses that I frequent as much as possible so stay tuned – Loco for Local will be a regular feature.