Baker's problems seem to be deeply spiritual. The poor guy just isn't cut out for the gloomy, gothic atmosphere that suffuses this dank little city, right down to its sports teams. He's too vulnerable to waterlogging, and far too susceptible to the blunted adversities of the Northwest. For all the recent economic booms and attendant boosterism, Seattle is traditionally a town of losers. As artist Art Chantry once pointed out, this is the place where the Manson family used to come on vacation.
Chronic defeatism is as much our aesthetic as our curse.
Even our victories are corrosive. Vin was led astray when he was bribed out here to the final frontier. He came in a god, but he'll leave a goat. The buck stops here. And now along comes Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.