Last week while I was out running errands, I found myself at the Pike Place Market with time on my hands while I waited for my bus to come and the desire to get a latte somewhere other than Tully’s or Starbucks. Since I had time, I planned to walk up to Monorail Espresso, but got distracted along the way by Seattle Coffee Works [SCW site]. I’d been by before and noticed the large Seattle souvenir giftshop but somehow had missed noticing the coffee side of the shop. Too bad for me, I’ve been missing out on some great coffee.

Seattle Coffee Works offers a great selection of coffee choices, fresh pastries, free Wi-Fi and all the usual amenities of a good coffee place but what sets them apart is their drink option called “The Works”: three short double espressos served side by side, each prepared from the beans produced by a different local microroaster. (Roasters include Browns Coffee, Caffe Vita, Vista Clara and more.) All of the coffees are excellent and that they’re served to you on a silver tray just makes the experience all the much better.

photo c. Seattle Coffee Works.

If it weren’t for me having to wait for my bus that day I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find out about Seattle Coffee Works but now that I have found them, I’ll definitely be choosing to go there more often. I definitely recommend them to any coffee fan. If you’re a construction worker with a hard hat or a cyclist with a bike in hand, they’ll give you a 10 percent discount.

Ok, to be fair Burlesque has been back for a while now but I just found out about a Burlesque joint here in Seattle called The Bedroom Club. (Probably better known as The Last Supper Club.) The burlesque show called Burning Hearts Burlesque runs Wednesday nights and offers some of the best Burlesque dancers Seattle has to offer. You may also catch Ro-Ro the Clown and a host of other local performers getting in on the act.

21+ w/ID
Cover Charge: $10
Dinner Served 8:00pm – 10:30pm (Not included in the price of admission)
Show Time 9:00pm – 11:30pm
Dance Party After The Show Until Close
124 S. Washington / Pioneer Square

pic from threadless

If Lineout and/or Seattlest haven’t convinced you yet, let me be yet another voice of reason.

Your Saturday agenda should also include:

Buttrock MFing Suites.

Neumos : $15/ box office @ 8 p.m.

Hillariousness and frites? Do you really have a better plan for Saturday? I don’t think so.

mount eerie photo via p. w. elverum & sun

Friday

• Aqueduct follow up their blippy videogame-esque synthpop from I Sold Gold with Or Give Me Death, reported to include mariachi horns, Gershwin-esque strings, and grand piano. It’s unlikely that the piano will fit on Easy Street’s small stage at tonight’s free in-store. Get there early and stock up: the 30% off all used music sale ends today. [easystreet]

Saturday

• Best known for his role as John Hodgman’s tamed wild man / musical accompanist, Jonathan Coulton brings his hilarious songcraft to Ballard. [tractor]
• ONE NIGHT ONLY! Northwest Film Forum sets video free from the confines of your laptop and it’s occasional jerky network connection, bringing YouTube’s greatest hits to their modestly larger screens. Culling through the hundreds of millions of user submitted clips, ace programmers present a slate of the very best of internet video for discussion and on-the-fly remixing. [nwff]

Sunday

• The Vera Project is opening their brand new space with a series of three free shows this weekend (Friday is a hiphop showcase, Saturday’s hardcore), but if you can only go to one of them, Sunday gets my vote among the three very stellar lineups. As in previous incarnations, Phil Elverum’s (and whomever else he can find to join him) Mount Eerie is quietly compelling, with the sort of openhearted stage presence that could launch a new religion on the spot. And those infectious beats that you love from the Blow? They’re made by Jona Bechtolt, who also performs as Yacht. [vera]
• and, of course, Oscar parties far and wide. if your friends haven’t invested in multiple flatscreens to go along with their Academy Awards pools and fashion-critique celebrations, the Warren Report is hosting a party at Spitfire.

February 8, 2007 at 6.15pm PST
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 34 mm
All Rights Reserved

wow. Last week, a memo from Starbucks Chairman Howard Shultz to the company’s CEO leaked onto the internet. In it, he complains about how the changes made to allow the company’s massive expansion (automatic espresso machines, pre-ground coffee, standard store design) are draining it of its soul. A lot of people assumed that it was a fake, but today Jim Romanesko the Wall Street Journal has confirmed [#] its authenticity:

… when we went to automatic espresso machines, we solved a major problem in terms of speed of service and efficiency. At the same time, we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines. This specific decision became even more damaging when the height of the machines, which are now in thousands of stores, blocked the visual sight line the customer previously had to watch the drink being made, and for the intimate experience with the barista. … Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel about our coffee. [starbucksgossip]

Both the memo and the comments from Starbucks devotees and baristas make for fascinating reading.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief–the kidney that was stolen from the Bodies exhibit in late December [mb] has been found. In Tacoma, naturally. Someone tipped off the police, who have questioned and released a 26 year old man. Now they are deciding what sort of charges to pursue [Times]. (Are there laws about stealing organs? There must be.)

The kidney will eventually return to the show, but is for the moment being held as evidence. In the meantime, Anonymous, you go right ahead and claim your $10,000 reward. You’ve earned it.

So here it is, Oscar night practically upon us and suddenly you’ve realized that you haven’t seen a single one of the films nominated for Best Picture. Or maybe you’ve seen one, two or all of them and would like to compare them side by side to get a better picture of what the competition’s like this year. Or maybe you just really, really like movie theater popcorn.

If any of these shoes fit, you might consider stepping out to Kent this Saturday, February 24, as the Kent Station 14 is the local AMC theater participating in the national chain’s Best Picture Showcase deal. For $30 you get to see all five nominated films (Babel, The Queen, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima and Little Miss Sunshine), plus you get a large popcorn and large drink which are refillable all day. Your pass lets you come and go as you wish, a good thing since the first film’s at 11 am and the last doesn’t start until 9:45 p.m. For details, see the site: {AMC]

The last regional final starts now. Not Martha is not not done. Horse’s Ass becomes the last political blog to exit. So now….

U DISTRICT REGIONAL
Regional Finals
February 23
#4 USS Mariner vs #6 izzlepfaff
USS Mariner continues to move on. There could be two baseball blogs in the finals — and we thought support for the Mariners was dead. Meanwhile, izzlepfaff keeps right on going, further than three of the #1 seeds.

UPDATE: dpolls croaked. Switching providers. Hopefully, this will hold out. Keep in mind that with this new system you can vote as many times as you want, but PLEASE DO NOT ABUSE THIS. If you do, I’ll stop the contest and we’ll settle it with a coin flip. Please only vote three times. Be a good ballot box stuffer and know when to say when.

Take Our Poll from PollDaddy.com

And, of course, the perfunctory reminder of the other three regional finals: West Seattle, Capitol Hill, and Ballard.