It's That Crazy Christmas Time of Year

Well, it's that time of year again; Thanksgiving has passed and it's the Christmas season, officially.

I say "officially", because we all know that the Christmas "season" comes around earlier and earlier every year; usually once Halloween is over. This year though, not only did the Christmas season start at the beginning of November, so did all the controversy over the holiday.

By now, I doubt there are many people who haven't heard about the 2015  red Starbuck's cups.

Every year during the Christmas season, Starbucks serves their hot beverages in special holiday cups.  In the past, the cups have featured ornaments, snowmen, etc. for the holidays.

This year however, the company decided to go with a plain red cup.  The next thing you know, there's a media frenzy about how Starbucks is against Christmas, and Jesus, you name it.

What a lot of people don't know is, this probably wouldn't have been such a big deal, had it not been for one man,  Josh, Feurstein. Feurstein is a self proclaimed disciple of Jesus, and he's the person who declared that Starbucks was anti-Christmas.

Funny thing is, when I saw the red cup, *my* first thought was, "ah, more corporate greed; less printing on the cups saves money for Starbucks, and makes them more profits".

Back to what was happening in the public eye though.  People everywhere were buying into the idea that Starbucks was anti-Christmas. There were those who boycotted the franchise because of the cups, as well as those who thought it was okay that the company took a somewhat "neutral" approach to the season.

In between all the yays and nays were those, (myself included), who just didn't care one way or the other about the color and design, or the lack of one.  It's a cup, you use it, it gets thrown away.
 
To me, that was the bigger concern. Even with recycling and all, it's still a cup that gets tossed after one use.  And though some are recycled, most just get thrown into trash cans at home or work, or on a street corner, to be added to landfills.

 Others took a humorous approach to the cup controversy.  Weird Al posted a pic of a Starbucks cup in a sleeve with a sticker added, suggesting the paganism of Starbucks.

 To me, it was funny, because, though Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it *is* attached to a pagan holiday.  That's a whole other story though, so we'll skip that for now.

 One of the DJ's, Chunky, from "Chunky Mckinzie & Jake" on The Bull in Portland, Oregon made a great point about the Starbucks cup situation.

Chunky is Jewish, and posed the question of why doesn't Starbucks have blue cups for Hanukkah?  He was being lighthearted about the whole thing of course, but again, in my opinion, he did make a great point about how people aren't getting all up in arms about not having Hanukkah cups and other items in honor of their holiday; why are Christians making such a big deal over a cup?

By now you're probably wondering why I've brought all this up again, since it seems to have finally calmed down and gone away.  Truth is, I wouldn't have brought it up at all, except it kind of helps set things up for why I'm writing this post now.

It seems now that there's no longer a huge issue about Starbucks red cups, the focus has turned to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups; specifically their tree shaped offering for the holidays.

Yes, you read that last paragraph correctly.  People are all bent out of shape because it seems this year's Reese's peanut butter trees are more blobs than trees.

Okay, I get it, people buy these specifically because they're tree shaped, for the holidays.  But really, is someone's entire holiday going to be ruined because a piece of candy isn't tree shaped?

My warped sense of humor kicked in when I saw this latest uproar in the media.  I looked at the pic of the tree blob and thought, "hmmm...Reese's Easter Egg candy must not have sold well, they're repackaging them for Christmas".  It makes sense to me anyway:  Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ, and Easter is to celebrate his rising; the two holidays are connected in that way at least.

As with the Starbucks cups though, I really don't care about this latest issue with Reese's Peanut Butter Trees.  It's a peanut butter cup that's been shaped into a tree.  The two items taste the same, the candy company just makes an extra profit by charging more for the special shape.

 It's going to be fun to sit back and watch though, to see if this latest controversy will have the longevity the Starbucks one had. 

Austin Webb @ the Bing Lounge--10-12-12

It's likely that most people reading this post have never heard of Austin Webb.  If that's the case, you'll want to keep reading and learn more about this talented young man.

Originally from South Carolina, Webb began writing poetry at nine years old; and picked up the guitar when he was sixteen years old.

We've all heard stories of  the "over night success" that some have had; usually said tongue in cheek because of it's actual rarity.  In Webb's case
however, this is very close to the truth.  March of 2011, Webb won a music contest, quit his job the same day, and moved to Nashville.  Seven months ago, to help pay the bills, Webb started working at Starbucks; thanks to his guitar player, Jake Mitchell, who also worked there.

Four months ago, Webb got a call from Byron Gallimore, (known for working with country artists such as Sugarland, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Jo Dee Messina), wanting to sign Webb to a publishing deal.  A few days later, Gallimore offered Webb a recording deal as well; and Webb then quit his Starbucks job.  (As a side note, Mitchell quit his job two months ago, to play guitar with Webb.)

Since that time, Webb has literally been on a whirlwind of radio stops across the country.  Two months ago, this young man had never been on a plane.  By the time he got to the Bing Lounge in Portland, he figured he'd been on at least twenty flights in those past two months, with several more lined up.

So, after the flurry of activity over the last year and a half, you're probably wondering, is this guy worthy of all the attention?  In one word, yes.

While Webb may, or may not, be considered "traditional" country, his music is definitely worth being played on country radio.  His voice is unique enough, (tinged with just the right amount of emotion and soul), to stand out from the many cookie-cutter artists played nowadays.  Watching, and listening to him perform, you can see and hear the passion he has for his art.

Like others at the Bing Lounge, Webb played a handful of tunes he'd written; telling the stories behind each one.  One of those songs, "It's All Good", is scheduled as Webb's first single, due out to radio in December.

If you like this video, be sure to go to KUPL's YouTube page, (987kuplvideo), and watch the rest of Webb's performance in the Bing Lounge.

In a nutshell, Austin Webb is a country artist to be looking out for in the near future.