Jim Fabry
Doing stuff. Having fun.
📍Los Angeles
About
Coffee, music, cars, travel, yoga, web design, food...I'm fascinated by a wide variety of pursuits. Essentially, I enjoy anything if it's done with great taste. As a result I lead a "jack of all trades" lifestyle that I am continually learning to embrace.
Coffee
My love for coffee started at 27, and despite the late start I am getting deep into it.Bay Area coffee bracket
Cars
I love the act of driving. Even in California traffic. And I'm just starting to get into DIY repairs.
Pictured, my BMW E30.
Music
After studying music composition and theory in university, I played bass and sang in a rock band for a handful of years.
I enjoy any recording that sounds amazing and I try to expand my taste almost daily.
Photo by Curtis Aderholt.
Coffee
BAY AREA ESPRESSO TOURNAMENT BRACKET 2021I wanted to find my favorite espresso in the Bay Area. I created a tournament-style bracket with over 70 coffee shops and divided those into San Francisco, East Bay, and San Jose & Peninsula regions. To move the process along I tested 3 to 4 shops each week with only one winner. After four rounds I found my favorite.My bracket1-minute episodes on TikTok: IntroRound 1:
San Jose & Peninsula: Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep.5 | Ep.6 | Ep.7
East Bay: Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep.5 | Ep.6
San Francisco: Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep.5 | Ep.6 | Ep.7 | Ep.8Round 2:
San Jose & Peninsula: Ep.1 | Ep.2
East Bay: Ep.1 | Ep.2
San Francisco: Ep.1 | Ep.2Round 3 and finals:
San Jose & Peninsula | East Bay | San Francisco
ChampionshipLong-format episodes on YouTube: Intro
Round 1: Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep.5 | Ep.6
Round 2: San Jose & Peninsula | East Bay | San Francisco
Round 3 and finalsFAVORITE SHOPSA few of my regular stops and places I'll go out of my way for, in no particular order:--Southern California--
Mad Lab (Hollywood)
Kéan Coffee (Orange County)
Espresso Profeta (Los Angeles)
Cafe Smitten (Bakersfield)--Bay Area--
Coffeebar (Menlo Park, based in Truckee)
Flywheel (San Francisco)
Devout (Fremont)
Zombie Runner (Palo Alto)
Chromatic (San Jose)
Nirvana Soul (San Jose)
Voyager Craft Coffee (Santa Clara)
Linea Caffe (San Francisco)
Red Bay (Oakland)
Modern Coffee (Oakland)--Elsewhere--
Coava (Portland)
Mothership (Las Vegas)EQUIPMENTMy home brewing setup is a Niche Zero grinder, a Hario V60 cone brewer or Bodum 3-cup French press, and a Fellow Stagg EKG electric kettle.JOURNEYI never liked coffee. It hurt my stomach and I didn't like the taste. But as the flight attendants brought the drink cart through my early morning flight to Portland, a voice popped into my head: "Maybe I'll have a coffee."I didn't know who that voice belonged to, since it clearly wasn't me. I ignored it until the next day, but when I couldn't stop thinking about coffee I stopped at Coava, pictured above (because I had recently seen it on Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee). I had an iced coffee, I loved it, and I haven't looked back.
Cars
CURRENT GARAGE1991 BMW 318i E30
2015 Ford Mustang V6 Convertible (pictured)PAST GARAGE2003 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS
1999 Saab 93 SE turbo hatchbackWORK
I am learning to make minor repairs. And I hope to post most of my work online in some format. For example:Remove gauge cluster (TikTok)
Fix gauge cluster lights and Part 2 (TikTok)
Check engine light "fix" (TikTok)
Replace odometer gears (TikTok)
Replace LCD screen for OBC (TikTok)
E30 cigar lighter fix (TikTok)
E30 dome lights & door jamb switches (TikTok)JOURNEYI've loved cars since I first watched Gone In 60 Seconds (the Nicholas Cage remake) as a kid. That film turned me into a Mustang guy, and I finally bought my own in 2016.I've loved the act of driving since I was 15 and a half. It's the sound of the engine for me, especially the rise and fall of RPMs in a manual transmission. Growing up, my parents drove a stickshift Ford Explorer and I found comfort and a sort of meditation listening to it. I feel an enlivening connection to the human spirit when I drive, and I want to drive anything that will let me.WISH LIST2019+ Triumph Bonneville Speed Twin
Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 (2016-2020)
1989 Porsche 911 Turbo "930" (gotta have that 5 speed!)
BMW E30 325i
Jeep Wrangler JL
Volkswagen GTI Mk7.5+
Chrysler 300
Music
Photo by Allie Folino.OUTPUTI'm getting back to fundamentals. Which recently means learning cover songs:Best Part cover of Daniel Caesar
All I Have To Do Is Dream cover of Everly Brothers
The Nurse Who Loved Me cover of Failure
I've Just Seen A Face cover of The BeatlesFrom 2008-2016 I played bass and sang some lead, but mostly backup, vocals for rock band The Mood Manual:The Mood Manual on Spotify
Live performance at The Frequency in MadisonDuring that time I also completed my Bachelor of Music degree in music theory & composition at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. There, I composed contemporary classical and electronic music that didn't quite speak to my spirit the way guitar music does. However, elements of my classical training show up in my output since then. You can hear it in musique concrete-inspired pieces, like Kelvin 1337 (The Mood Manual) and Aural Hygiene (standalone piece), the inverted chords in Architect (TMM), and the fugue about halfway through the epic Alchemy (TMM).AUDIO ENGINEERINGThe quality of a recording is the first thing I listen to in music. And I'm looking to develop my engineering skills with collaborations, both as a recording and mix engineer.I co-produced The Mood Manual's recordings with several excellent engineers who taught me many valuable skills. I engineered and mixed all of the cover videos above. And I engineered and mixed an album for a local band in my hometown while I was at university.INSPIRATIONMy favorite artist is Tool. But I enjoy any recording that sounds excellent. I've been exploring contemporary EDM and R&B the past few years, and have found spectacular audio production in some K-pop.I wrote this far-from-exhaustive series of posts about albums that have inspired me:1. Blink 182 and System of a Down
2. Chevelle - Wonder What's Next
3. The Mars Volta and Three Days Grace
4. My Chemical Romance and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
5. Tool - Lateralus
6. Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
7. Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and Infected Mushroom
8. Led Zeppelin and Tinariwen
9. Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree
10. Beyoncé and Ariana GrandeJOURNEYI learned to play the trumpet because I sounded like an elephant.Specifically, as a young child several adults told me I should play the trumpet because I could make a sort of elephant noise with my lips (and I loved showing it to people), so when grade school came around, I did.I started learning guitar in middle school and I spent my early years creating my own music, loathe to learn others'. It was satisfying, but I imagine I missed out on learning opportunities that I could have gained by learning music written by past masters. I've only recently been returning to covers as a way to learn and rediscover my musical identity after moving to California in 2016.