In one of the purest displays of public emotion I have seen, people rushed the streets of Seattle tonight to celebrate the election of President Barack Obama.
I have never seen so much genuine patriotism in America.
While the past 8 years has played host to numerous widespread protests against Bush policy, tonight a much more constructive and optimistic dynamic permeated the crowd.
Traffic was stopped all along 1st avenue as a spontaneous parade moved south through downtown Seattle. Seattle Police held back traffic and the parade was peaceful.
No, not that coke (though it is about that addictive).
Although, Starbucks may not have the worldwide brand recognition that Coke does, it nevertheless has a commanding presence. As I stepped into my second Starbucks for the day, I wondered why it is so ubiquitous. And as a Seattlite (where the average per capita coffee consumption is a staggering 7 cups), it’s my duty to explore this topic a bit.
To start with Starbucks coffee isn’t that great–its often burned, not well balanced, and too bitter for my taste. But, I still find myself going there day in and day out. On a recent 6 week trip to New York I spent nearly $400 on coffee at the store! Pretty damn good for a business where customers give mixed reviews on its only product.
What is it then? Here’s my guess. Americans take comfort in standardization. When you walk into a Starbucks anywhere in the world you know exactly what you are getting–slightly burnt coffee in a comfortable atmosphere where you can stay as long as you please while listening to over played indie music in the background. Now make it a T-mobile hot spot and you have a little American outpost everywhere in the world. No one shows up expecting anything else. And that simple fact makes Starbucks a safe place to go wherever you are. If you are in a foreign country and need to work on that presentation, upload photos to your site, or prep for an interview, you can walk in and not have to worry about where you are. It’s probably also why it is the number one first date spot.
Now, you’re saying that’s not that much of a revelation and I agree. But, here’s where we might part ways. I think that the standardization is actually a good thing. I, for one, really appreciate having a safe house I can go anywhere in the world. It’s like like going to a little embassy of Starbucks in any town your are in, no matter the local culture. For a $3 admission you can escape and do what you need to do.
What about all the local coffee shops that this evil conglomerate is putting out of business. I don’t buy it. Any shop with decent coffee (read better than Starbucks) has a great shot at staying open. When I’m home in Seattle and need a cup of coffee in my neighborhood, I ain’t going to Starbucks. While home, you have the luxury of exploring the area and finding a place that fits you and brews at good cup of coffee.
So you can take it or leave it, but I’ll take Starbucks and so will most of America.
I spent far too much time in the reading room while I was at Whitman College, but a current student pointed me toward this video. Although, I was never the last one in the reading room, I was often the first (I’m a bit more of a morning person). I can attest to the fact that 12 hours in a silent room can make someone go a bit crazy. In any case this is great…
The last few weeks have been nuts. I have been working a lot- I think I put in around 135 hours in the last fourteen days. On top of that I had been studying for my Series 66 (which I passed-YES!). This schedule has left little time for anything else.
It’s not that I don’t like what I have been doing–on the contrary, my job has been fascinating through all the financial turbulence–but, I like to have a balanced life. I love to get outside, shoot photos, and explore. I really haven’t had time to do anything but eat, work, and sleep. I feel lucky if I can blow off some stress with a 30 minute run.
Personally, my current schedule is unsustainable. It’s not the amount of work, but the lack of balance that is the problem. To solve it, I think I am going to force myself to simply not collapse and watch a couple episodes of House at the end of the day. Instead, I’m going to try to force myself to get out and shoot at least three times a week.
To help me achieve this (and to provide some necessary accountability) I will try to post up the best image from each session. No promised on text accompaniment and the post-processing might have to wait until the weekend, but we’ll see what happens.
Sometimes it seems that like all my favorite bands are between albums. In these times I swear I can’t dig up any new music that that is worth listening to more than the one time it takes to determine it’s terrible. However, this is not one of those times. An enormous number of albums worth their scratch have come out in the last few months. I’ll do my best to limit it to five songs off these albums, but it’s going to be difficult.
1. Stereophonics - Stone
I finally saw the Stereophonics in concert two weeks ago at the Showbox in Seattle and they blew me away. I had been waiting to see them for years and hearing Dakota live sort of marked the end of an era for me. In any case, Stone stood out as a quintessential Stereophonics song–hauntingly melodic and more often then not building into a giant climax. Near perfection.
2. People in Planes - Last Man Standing
These guys opened for the Stereophonics and are good enough to be the main act on any stage once their name gets out there. Last Man Standing is fresh off their new CD and is really raw and driven. Its reminds me of 30 seconds to Mars with a splash of Incubus, but less angry and less produced-basically remove the shit from these bands and you have People in Planes.
3. Santogold - LES Artistes
Santogold is true to her name and delivers a shining entry into the electro-pop arena; the genre hasn’t sounded this good since the Swedish first got their hands on it. This song in particular has all the needed fixings of an electro-pop hit- catchy vocals, a nice little treble arpeggio traversing the length of the tune and a driving bass line.
4. Counting Crows - 1492
The Counting Crows are back! Really a timeless band that had such a strong freshman album they were doomed to continually disappoint. The pop sellout in release of Hard Candy didn’t help matters. But, they have apparently come to their senses and put out an album on par with August and Everything after. 1492 is the very first track off the album and hits hard. It’s like Mr. Jones telling you about his bender last night- crazy as hell but sure to be on continual repeat in your mind for the next week.
5. MGMT - Electric Feel
So I have known about MGMT ever since I went on a ski trip with a bunch of crazy kids from Wesleyan. We had these epic dance parties that centered around the song Kids. I was told that MGMT was like the unofficial theme music to the Wesleyan experience. Well the finally got an album out and not just a bootleg. It’s called Oracular Spectacular. Kids is there along with this song, Electric Feel. Unadulterated, catchy, and you can’t help but dance to it. Think electro-rock, this band blends the genres seamlessly and doesn’t disappoint in the slightest.
Estelle - American Boy; Seriously catchy, seriously getting the play time it deserves
Gnarles Barkley - Run; Yeah it’s not that new, who cares it’s still great
Mudcrutch - Scare Easy; Did the Traveling Wilburies release a new album? Yeah, it’s that kind of Petty good
