The first week of December brought me a wonderful Christmas present–a horrible cold. This one pulled out all the stops, a terrible headache that had no respect for any pain killer, a sore throat, fever, runny nose, and now it seems to be moving into my chest.

Anyway, here are a couple shots I grabbed in between all the commotion this past month.

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.

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.

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

New York is the first place I have been where I am not the fastest walker on the street. Maybe I’m just always running behind (which is pretty much true), but more than a few people have told me that I walk too fast. Well not here.

The second thing that’ll miss is the lack of bull shit here. For example, a cop isn’t going to give you a ticket for j-walking and if someone is clogging up the subway turnstile they are gonna hear about it. At the same time, New York is such a catwalk for people to show off their money and “success” that it makes me sick.

Finally, the food. In a word amazing. Some of the best spots I have hit were Dovetail, Annisa, Asia de Cuba, and The Staton Social.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures from the trip my sister and I took out to the Statue of Liberty and a few more from random spots around the city.

Luckily I have gotten out into the city a bit on the weekends and have enjoyed it. I think I would be missing Seattle more if I knew that my knee could stand up to the punishment I’d want to put it through this summer. So maybe a 6 or 7 week mandatory rest will help it out. I think one of the oddest experiences I have had was at the Museum of Natural History. In the exhibit of North American Mammal there are all these dioramas of moose, bears, wolves, etc. Beside the obvious oddity of the taxidermy itself, there were masses of people getting their picture taken in front of these things. This was so weird to me coming from a childhood where I was worried about running into these guys on the trail and often hoping not to see one (or at least not suddenly or up too close).

One thing New York has going for it though is food. Almost, every meal I’ve had (that didn’t come from some chain) has been delicious. I went to this place tonight called S’Mac. All they serve is macaroni and cheese. They do it so well. I had the “cajun” style with sausage and green peppers and a couple cows worth of cheese. So good.

I got moved in and my set up is fantastic. I couldn’t ask for more… Well maybe cheaper rent, but I am living in the middle of downtown. IPlus, in this new era of ridiculously expensive gas, I might actually save money by not having to drive anywhere.

Over the course of two days, I pretty much furnished my life at Ikea. The furniture is great, but the drive to Renton is not. Although I’m not exactly known for having superior navigation skills while driving (ahem Jamie), the number of times I have gotten lost driving in Seattle is outlandish. It took me like 20 minutes to find an on-ramp to I-5 south. Sometimes I think I’ll be really slick and try to find my way on surface streets between neighborhoods. This usually results in my driving around the intervening area for about a half an hour before throwing in the towel and finding my way to I-5.

Then there is the traffic. Having to wait at a light for more than a cycle in Bozeman, MT is a rare occurrence, here its rare if you don’t come to a stop on the freeway–at least the views are nice. But, seriously I think I want to get rid of my car. Between paying for insurance as a 23 year-old male, gas prices, and $150 a month parking, it is seriously expensive for me to drive anywhere. I’d ditch it in a second if it weren’t for the fact that a car is slightly necessary to get to the mountains to ski and climb. We’ll just have to see…