what bodes well for seattle does not bode well for the book world. the thought of starbucks and costco as literary tastemakers kinda makes me want to vomit.

Quoted: Though the big publishing houses are still in New York, the Seattle area is home to Amazon, Starbucks and Costco, companies that increasingly influence what America reads.

just a simple man and his donkey.

Quoted: Jonathan Dunham is just a guy searching for the meaning of life. One day two years ago, he left Oregon and began walking south.

Quoted: Milk chocolate has grown up and is being reinvented and refined to give it the snap and velvet of dark.

Quoted: Together, two high-end coffee makers may signal the resurgence of brewing among the most obsessive coffee enthusiasts.

Quoted: Italian scientists have cracked open the genetic make-up of Pinot Noir, responsible for the great red wines of Burgundy, in a breakthrough that may lead to hardier vines and cheaper fine wines.

ok, so i think they're overreacting here, i mean, taking it to the hague is a bit much.

Quoted: A row between Argentina and Uruguay over a paper mill erupts anew at a 22-nation summit in Chile.

it's www.freerice.com, by the way.

Quoted: An internet word game raises money to provide rice for the United Nation's World Food Programme.