I went up to Heritage for a lunchtime lecture. It was funny and amusing. You can watch it at this link.
On a tangential subject, this video is also funny.
It was cold today, around 20 degrees and wind out of the north, so the walk up Capitol Hill was a little uncomfortable. It was not so bad on the way back and it looked nice in the bright sunlight with the blanket of snow. I have included some pictures.
It is supposed to be warmer by the end of the week. It is hard to believe, but spring will be here really soon.
Above is the Robert A Taft Memorial and Carillon.
Above is Teamsters’ Union Headquarters.
Above is a beautiful zelkova. Notice the graceful curves. I have been passing this tree for around ten years. It is growing fast and its curves are getting thicker.
It remind me of why Americans are fatter today. It is not the only reason, but it is a reason.
Years ago, Pepsi couldn’t compete with Coke because Coke had a very attractive vase shaped bottle. The bottle is important because it is part of the total package. Most people really cannot tell the difference by taste alone. Pepsi tried lots of bottles; nothing worked. But Pepsi executives knew that the actual soda cost almost nothing. The big expenses were in marketing, bottling and distribution. They also knew that people would finish off a bottle, even if it had more in it. They call it unit gluttony. So they could afford to make bottles bigger, give away “free” soda and still sell as many bottles. Coke had to match the offer, but as you make the curvy bottles bigger, they become less attractive. This is a curse of all curvy things.
Pretty soon lots of things came in bigger packages and super sizes. People finished them off and demanded more. Today everything is bigger and lots of things are thicker around the middle, just like my tree.