LOS ANGELES -- Attention coffee fans...the somewhat/maybe/possibly brilliant double-stroke marketing/training move by Starbucks to close from 5:30p for three hours nationwide might reap some benefits for the java set.

The staff of this shop was spotted fooling around with a bunch of French presses, making cups of coffee in small batches. Impressive.

Are exclusive beans coming by the cup, ala Intelligentsia? Hard to tell, but the Clover machine was not spotted anywhere as of press time...developing.

UPDATE: Apparently "perfection" is what Starbucks is now offering...that and pouring shots from the auto-espresso maker into shot glasses instead of directly into your cup. More deets here via the Associated Press.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- After you take a peek at Gary Busey harassing celebs on the Red Carpet courtesy of the E! Network, take a look at our list of winners...

In a dramatic, epic, stirring and emotionally draining competition, two Organics rose to the occasion and took home the big prize (yes, I forgot to add a tie-breaker, so I'm shelling out for TWO trophies...what a nice guy)

Congrats to...

Bridget McKinley in Detroit
Margot Lewis in Toronto

These two will both receive a hotness-coated Golden Statue from Hollywood SuperMart with their achievement forever etched in plastic. Congrats!!

And here's the rest of our top performers, out of a field of 36, with our celebrity participants sprinkled in though they weren't eligible for the big prize (I would have been tied for 8th, though none of you care)...

3rd -- Lisa Yamamura
4th -- Whitney Browne

Tied for 5th -- Nichale Sumpter
                    Nigel Ader

                   (My Cousin...The Academy Voter...would have finished here)

7th -- Marta Strickland

Tied for 8th -- James Kewageshig
                    Robert-Michael Joseph
                    Dan Mordan
                    Jocelyn Startz

Tied for 12th -- Our CEO Mark Kingdon (with Gaby Townsend who tied his score)

TINSELTOWN, USA -- As the City of Los Angeles snarls traffic around Hollywood with its annual lock down of the area around the Kodak Theater and the army of helpers gets ready for Oscar...it's your chance as an Organic to win some sweet prize action by simply filling out a ballot.

All you gots to do is write to mhudson (at) organic (dot) com for a ballot, pick 'em better than anyone else and you win the big prize, which looks very similar to a fun "Best Mom 2007" Trophy from Hollywood MegaMart, but with a more applicable message for this contest. As a bonus, my cousin -- a member of the very Academy we honor each year with these awards -- will be a guest celeb participant, so you can even earn bragging rights over an insider.

So get those ballots and get your answers in. The show is this weekend...get to it.

--Mike Hudson

NEW YORK -- By now, many of you have noticed a new fixture in our New York office.

Several weeks ago, Dean and I purchased a bright orange espresso machine. It’s named Francis Francis, pictured in black above. It’s waiting to meet you.

We welcome you to stop by for a short. Here are some tips we’ve compiled to make your first visit a little more enjoyable.

Operating the espresso machine.
Below is a link to instructions for how to use the Francis Francis X5. Beginners welcome. (Check out the video)

http://www.wholelattelove.com/showVideos.cfm?itemID=31

The ritual of making espresso.
Truth is there’s no perfect way to make espresso, only your way. Here are some ideas to get you started.

http://www.wholelattelove.com/articles.cfm?articleID=27

Cleaning your cup.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. The one thing Dean & I ask is that you clean your espresso cup. Below are some instructions for 

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf778145.tip.html

Tipping.
Customs vary by country. In France, it’s service compris. In Vietnam, baristas prefer US currency. At Organic, no tips are necessary. See why:

http://www.chow.com/stories/10507

Coffee is all about community. Please honor the code above, and please come by as often as you like.

--Bryan Fuhr

DETROIT -- The DET office received an "all" message today subject "Food Thieves" saying:

"Just an FYI…there appear to be food thieves in the office again…I put some string cheese in the fridge this morning & now it’s gone…I hope someone enjoyed it…if someone happens to find it in the fridge, please let me know…I didn’t see it, as I thought it may have just fallen. -- Allison"

But no...this was not just an isolated incident. Chris L. piped in with:

"I’ve had food taken twice before… you have to put your name on it along with a padlock."

and then...Marta in Strategy actually reported the exact same crime at the exact same location...

"I’ve had my string cheese stolen more than once before.  Maybe it’s our Organic mouse?"

Is this office filled with dairy-loving ne'er-do-wells? Some crack Googling shows that this may well be a nationwide problem that is being aggregated and reported here first. Turns out...string cheese is one of the most attractive targets for would-be burglars. Check out this screed against the "String Cheese Snatcher" below...


http://lowriter.hackish.net/blog/archives/000183.html

To conclude, if I were feeling nicer, I would probably not have written this, but I'm a vicious SOB these days, and you are the lowest of the low because you steal string cheese from sad people who are using it to bribe themselves to get their % daily value of grapes, String Cheese Snatcher.

Booooo!

And then we have a profanity-laced tirade from a string cheese loving woman-with-child here:

http://www.quarterlifecrisis.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11991

“Get your own string cheese you THIEVING LOSER. This isn't community cheese and I didn't buy this so you could steal from me. I hope your mother is proud.”

--Thanks to Erika P. for the research...and the thief and/or thieves for making this possible. We have no leads at this time.

The organic cagers met again last night for our weekly pick up basketball game.  Representatives from all walks of Organic showed up to the Abbott middle school gym to battle for boards, drop some dimes and make some buckets.  We all enjoy the camaraderie and I don’t think I am the only one who appreciates the exercise but there is competitive tension generated in each game that is only natural.  In the past this tension was diffused and forgotten with a few high fives and “good games” exchanged before we all depart… but no longer. 

Since the discovery of a basket full of dodge balls in the gym locker, after the games stop the war begins.  I think Patches O’Houlinhan put it best: “Dodgeball is a sport of violence, exclusion and degradation”.  What better way to close out the evening than singling out the guy who scored on you and smacking him in the face with a foam ball?

(We are always looking for more basketball players – if you are interested shoot me an email)

--Russ Hopkinson

So that's that...Patriots took a glimpse at perfection and the Giants ended that dream. But how about those commercials? Maybe they were all funnier when we were in High School?

Check out the full slate of ads at MySpace, sorted by quarter. Feel free to discuss at this humble blog.

Ah well, I'm going with the Third Quarter's "eTrade" commercial with that baby spitting up after offering investment advice (funnier now as a recent parent, I suppose) and that T-Day balloons chasing the Coca-Cola bottle around NYC. Good ol' Coke...gentle and happy mixed with whimsy.

But there were eight million ads out there tonight. Take a minute. What'd you like and/or dislike?

--Mike Hudson