Editor's letter

Telling Melburnians that the standard of coffee in this town leaves a bit to be desired is kind of like telling them the MCG is not all it's cracked up to be. It strikes at the heart of who we think we are. But as our cover story explains, some of the city's top coffee experts think our cups of joe are generally a little on the nose - and it's hard to argue with them. While there are plenty of places that serve excellent coffee, there's also a lot that are too milky, flavourless or have that awful aftertaste of dirty ashtray about them. And given that a cup of coffee costs in the vicinity of $3.50 to $4 in the city, we should be able to expect a quality drink in return. Whatever the case, Melburnians will vote with their feet and go elsewhere if their coffee has that dishwater vibe about it. So perhaps cafes need to invest more in barista training, or just buy a better quality bean. Good coffee is about more than making a leaf or a heart in the froth. Though that's kind of nice, too.

'i Worry About What Message Is Sent. Is Buying Soap Another Way Of Saying "you Smell"?'

WHATEVER happened to the global financial crisis? The shops are full of crazed people with a desperate look in their eyes, buying whole trailer-loads of useless stuff. Christmas stuff. Stuff like a cat calendar, purchased because Aunty Patricia has a cat; a golf ashtray, purchased because Uncle Terry plays golf; and a pair of socks, purchased because husband Tim has feet.

The World Is Not Your Ashtray

TEMPORARILY Two-armed Australians (TTAs). You will undoubtedly have seen at least a couple if you drove to work this morning. Smokers, right arm extended languidly into space (rather in the fashion of the representation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel), casually flicking ash into that part of creation not encompassed by their motor vehicle, oblivious to the disapproval of other road users, the climax of the performance usually being the ejection of the cigarette butt onto the roadway.

Thanks And Farewell Jacques

There are many expensive gifts from world leaders in the Jacques Chirac museum - and an ashtray from Tony Blair. Kevin Pilley reports.

Smoke-free? You Must Be Choking

Terry Smyth is witness to an Eternal City miracle - the eternal ciggie. The Trevi Fountain is just an oversized ashtray to the locals

Rewind 1988

Busking and performing live took guts, plus the ability to dodge the odd ashtray, says the former Doug Anthony Allstars entertainer and Strictly Dancing host.

Our Dilemma: Dammed If We Do, Damned If We Don't

I notice with interest the comment from Frank Sartor about a new dam being about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike ("Radical water plan looms as drought bites", Herald, July 1).

Aussie Traditions Up In Smoke

Among the government's best friends, the lounge bar, Carlisle Street, yesterday: she looks like some wrinkled hatching, with her fluffy blue beanie and her eyes only moving when her chin takes a different stance against the haze of a filter-tip burning in the ashtray.

Litterbugs The Butt Of Govt Campaign

No ifs or butts - the Illawarra is a relatively safe haven for car-driving smokers who use the streets as an ashtray.

Smokers

We thought that in our search for a cleaner life all ashtrays had been turned into olive dishes and ashtray factories must surely be facing crises. Not necessarily so. Smokers can strike back with the magnificent Uno from Danish design firm Rosendahl. Launched this week in Australia, it's a proud a

Welcome To Royle Britannia

THE ashtray overflows with butts and the air reeks of cigarette smoke. The stench mingles with the greasy aftermath of the evening tea, chops and chips. If the sour smell seems palpable, the room is hardly a spirit-lifting sight, either. A shabby couch and a pair of armchairs are arranged around a

Ticket To Ride

If you thought an ashtray on a motorcycle was an interesting idea, Yamaha is about to push the boundaries even further, writes BOB JENNINGS. WHILE all-wheel drive is all the go in the automotive world, with even the mundane shop-abouts boasting the feature, Yamaha has adapted the concept to the m

Olympic Auction Just The Ticket

Fancy some Olympic opening ceremony tickets? You can pick some up tonight for about $4000 a pop - but they'll be out of date. As will be the Olympic ashtray, the Olympic T-shirt, tie, program, number plates and even - wait for it - a car park attendant's uniform. These are the 1956 Melbourne O

Stoked

The Seven network rocked the pay TV industry this weekwith a Federal Court win giving it access to the networkof its rival Foxtel. Anne Davies wonders how muchlonger the rocky Foxtel marriage can last. AT NEWS LIMITED they know when Rupert Murdoch is in town. The ashtray used by staff outside

Weekend Warriors

Three men who have endured a tough couple of years have hit back with a sitcom about the great Aussie weekender, writes JANE HAMPSON. Clothes piled in the corner, weights spread across the floor, the couch draped messily with a blue sheet, the ashtray overflowing: Gary Sweet's dressing room i

Costly End To Night On Town

A NIGHT on the town resulted in two brothers appearing in Newcastle Court yesterday on malicious damage and offensive behaviour charges. Brett William Davis, 33, of Kingstown Rd, Woodberry, pleaded guilty to maliciously damaging an ashtray and a window at Queens Wharf Brewery on July 22. Rober

Cruisin' For A Bruisin' In The Bull Bar

WHEN it comes to entertainment, nothing beats an RSL club. Nothing beats a beef "shazlick" from the carvery washed down with a cheap schooner or 12. And how about the excitement of winning the meat raffle then beerily mistaking one of the chops for an ashtray? When was the last time enter

Designs On The World

A HUGE cigar the width of a fist lies half-smoked in a white marble ashtray in Sir Terence Conran's office. It may not be fired up, but its pungent aroma is not easily dissipated. It is the smell of power, wealth and a flouting of a no-smoking culture elsewhere in the building. When you're as ric

Family Keeps Shoes Craft Shining

Everything shines at McCloud Shoes' Queen Street store: the leather shoes, the polished timber, the leather couch and antique chairs, the ashtray stand and the shoehorns. It is this attention to detail that has brought Melbourne's well-to-do gents back for the past 50 years to the shop, in the h

Suspicion

ON THE FLOOR of the loungeroom are a cup and saucer, three biscuits on a plate, an ashtray full of cigarette butts, a wet nappy and a tin of baby powder. The television is on, as is the gas heater. An iron and ironing board are nearby. On the floor also, a spent .22 calibre cartridge. On the two-se