Troels Overdal Poulsen brought 12 liters of fresh, whole milk with him from Denmark to help him win this year’s World Barista Championships in Seattle. I suspect next year’s winner is already planning the logistics for bringing along a Holstein cow.

Cybill Shepherd is turning her portrayal of Martha Stewart into a habit. CBS has slapped together a sequel Martha movie called “Martha: Behind Bars” and may air it during May sweeps. Actually, it’s not strictly a sequel since the first Martha movie aired on NBC and was based on the book “Martha, Inc.” The producer of the CBS telepic has said “I don’t do schlocky things” (a critique of the last movie perhaps?). Perhaps Shepherd will get a chance to put in a more understated performance this time. (I still think Candice Bergen would be much better as Martha.)

Bring back Ben & Jerry’s White Russian!!! OK, maybe it wasn’t your favorite flavor, in fact it wasn’t mine either, but it was yummy fun to eat in college and I miss being able to taste it. Go nominate a flavor to resurrect from Ben & Jerry’s flavor graveyard (White Russian! White Russian!) and return in May to cast your vote. In late August the flavor will be available in their scoop shops. Oh, and Free Cone Day is coming up on April 19th.

Here’s a description of a software project that solved a complex problem: take an old scratchy mono recording of a piano performance and recreate it in MIDI on a Disklavier Pro piano so it sounds like the original artist is playing it. “The team at Zenph Studios analyzed the audio waveforms and extracted every nuance of the original performance: articulation, technique, pedals; everything needed to recreate the performance.” You can hear the Disklavier play Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” the same way Glenn Gould did in 1955. (via Robot Wisdom)

New York’s famous Plaza Hotel, the setting for many movies and home to Eloise, was going mostly condo until the hotel workers union and Mayor Bloomberg had their say. The updated plans will retain a larger number of hotel rooms and keep the landmark ballroom, Palm Court, and Oak Room open to the public. But this resolution doesn’t help the bride whose parents are suing the former and present owners of the Plaza for ruining their wedding plans. The renovation closure has forced them to move the nuptials to another hotel and they’ve submitted a pricey laundry list of associated costs such as “$20,000 more in floral arrangements to accommodate the different space” and a lost deposit of $4,525 for the band. Sounds like the wedding budget can afford a few lawyers.

The Ginger People, makers of those delightful Ginger Chews, now have a drink called Ginger Soother. In addition to ginger, it’s flavored with honey and lemon. BevNet calls it “tasty stuff”.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has begun and, like last year, if you don’t go soon you’ll miss the peak blooms. The early bloom means the tulip fields will likely be topped before the end of the festival, with those gorgeous blossoms sacrificed to create better bulbs.

Within the junction of San Jose Sharks fans and West Wing viewers there’s a group of people who recognized the setting of the TV show’s Democratic convention. That was the HP Pavilion, less formally known as “the tank” (as in, the Shark tank). I thought the building looked incredibly familiar but believed it must be an arena somewhere around Los Angeles. According to the Mercury News, those shots were taken within the last couple weeks. They must’ve been editing that episode down to the wire.

Fun with Flickr and Google Maps satellite.

Fun with Flickr’s Calendar view and baby photos.

For those new to Flickr, you can mouseover the photos to see the “boxes” that contain annotations about parts of the photo. You need a Flickr account to add your own notes and comments.

The Safeway in Redmond had a little table out with free samples of Coca-Cola with Lime so I took a sip. I couldn’t really taste the lime. I took another sip. Well, maybe there was a hint of lime, but it just wasn’t enough to make me want to drink the Coke. By the third sip I realized that the drink I really wanted to be tasting already existed. It’s called Sprite. Or 7-Up if you prefer.