Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

Food · News ·

Balconi Makes it in LA Weekly Top Five Coffee in LA

LA Weekly blog mentions top 5 coffees in LA. Two are in the Sawtelle area of Giant Robot Stores and gr/eats make the list. Balconi is at number 2 and Cafe Tomo is at number 4. I’ll admit that the coffee at Balconi is a step up, but Tomo does make an infamous pretzel. But the last time I checked, coffee isn’t a pretzel and just because you roast in house doesn’t mean your coffee will be better or fresher. Coffee, post roasting needs to sit. That said, try Balconi Coffee since it’s according to this writer, number 2 in LA and then go to Giant Robot and check out gr/eats. If you want that pretzel, go to Tomo. If you want anything else, come see us. Thanks! (LA Weekly – Top 5 Coffee) That’s Ray Sato, below, the subject of the Giant Robot Artist Series Video. Ray is the nicest guy around, mechanically inclined, and operates his shop like it’s a chemistry lab. He once said, “it’s like experiments.” If you like your coffee black, then try Balconi, and NEVER be afraid to ask questions about coffee. This isn’t that type of place that frowns upon a new coffee drinker. There’s no wifi, but there is a book collection and some GR magazines sitting around. [youtube]_zx_co2cc0k[/youtube]  
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chocolate · Food · holiday · korea · News · pepero · pepero day · South Korea ·

Today is Pepero Day in South Korea

The calendar says 11/11/11, which means one thing in South Korea: Pepero Day. They call it Pepero Day because these skinny, chocolate covered biscuits resemble the numbers that make up the date 11/11. It’s huge holiday over there, with markets and convenient stores decked out with fancy displays and gift baskets of these snacks, a knock off of the more familiar Pocky brand. The concept is that you gift boxes of these confectionary treats to your significant other as a symbol of your affection. Barf, right? As if we need another commercialized holiday to set a standard for how we hang in our relationships. Even the Asian markets here in the States gave into the South Korean craze this year. The photo above wasn’t even half of the display that I saw while shopping for groceries yesterday.

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News ·

Safecast in Japan

Shortly after the March earthquake in Japan, which took out the Fukushima nuclear reactors, a team of brainiacs  went to Japan with a plan. Safecast was born one week after the earthquake and has been busy ever since. Very cool work to empower people. Two thumbs up. “Safecast is a global project working to empower people with data, primarily by mapping radiation levels and building a sensor network, enabling people to both contribute and freely use the data collected. After the 3/11 earthquake and resulting nuclear situation at Fukushima Diachi it became clear that people wanted more data than what was available. Through joint efforts with partners such as International Medcom and Keio University, Safecast has been building a radiation sensor network comprised of static and mobile sensors actively being deployed around Japan – both near the exclusion zone and elsewhere in the country.” Learn more about Safecast and what they’ve been up to in Japan: [youtube]pLdOkKAeROg[/youtube]
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