Bucks for Stars

Yesterday, I was sipping my chai tea latte at Starbucks, while anticipating the long night ahead (it being homecoming and all). While sitting at a table in the corner, I looked up and happened to see a black and white picture of an old Starbucks delivery truck. What caught my eye was how different the logo on the truck was compared to the current logo that Starbucks has. Here are pictures of both:

The newer logo looks sleeker, cleaner and more classy. The older logo shows the woman's entire naked body, while the new logo is only from the shoulders up. In the old logo, the woman's breasts are exposed while in the new logo they are somewhat covered by her hair. Maybe a value that Starbucks has developed is modesty. Starbucks doesn't really have a whole lot of advertising, and maybe this is because they simply don't need it. They know that their products are good and that they will have no problem selling them. People seem to buy Starbucks no matter what.

In the new logo, her hair is very controlled and predictable, but in the old logo her hair is unruly and unkept. This could possibly suggest the reliability of Starbucks, and their hope that all products are appealing to the eye as well as the tastebuds. The new woman seems to be much thinner and happier. Maybe Starbucks, as a large corporation, cares about the health and well being of their costumers. The smile on her face is more profound than the old one. Obviously, Starbucks wants to sell products that their costumers enjoy. On the new logo, Starbucks added a star to her crown, possibly suggesting their superiority in the coffee business.

All of these observations helped me infer about Starbuck's clientele, products and service. They are a modest but predictable business, with high quality service and standards. I guess you get what you pay for.

Only Apple Cider??

Right now, I am in the car heading back home after a long weekend in Door County, Wisconsin. We spent four days enjoying the beautiful fall colors, the Green Bay bay, delicious apples and cherries. We stayed in a cabin in the small town of Ephraim, which has a population of around 200 people with no cell phone service or internet connection. Ephraim is the only dry town in the state of Wisconsin. And by dry, I mean that it is illegal to purchase or sell alcohol in the town. There are different pros and cons to having a town without alcohol. In a way, it makes the town more family friendly. It is unique and so not the norm in our modern era. This law takes root from a belief that the original Moravian (Christian denomination) minister had. He believed that there was no benefit of his followers consuming alcohol. This belief has not only continued as a tradition in the town over 100 years later, but has also transformed into a law. On the other side of the argument, some restaurant owners do not like that they can't serve wine or beer with dinner. They believe this law actually hurts their business. Is this law constitutional? Is it a good thing that the town as a whole is not conforming to modern society? Should they change?

Halloween Takes Over

With Halloween right around the corner, people are starting to do many different fall activities to celebrate the season. On Saturday evening, I went to Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America. Fright Fest is a special event that occurs annually in October. The park is open late, and creepy people in intense costumes follow the guests around and try to scare them. After participating in this somewhat strange event, I began to wonder why we celebrate Halloween and where it came from. After some investigation, I found out that Halloween started because the Celts believed that the souls of the dead came to visit Earth on the last day in October. Later on, the Romans conquered the Celts and adopted some of their beliefs (including their thoughts on Halloween). We all know that Roman influence, beliefs and traditions spread across most of the known world, which explains why we still find ourselves celebrating Halloween in modern times.

Since Halloween doesn't really mean anything to us, why do we still celebrate it? Halloween is not a holiday like Christmas or Hanukkah, which celebrates a specific religious event that people actually believe in. According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween celebrants are expected to spend $2.08 billion on candy this year. (To look at more statistics about Halloween in the US click here http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1668) This article shows many shocking facts about the outrageous Halloween spending in our country.  Why is Halloween such a big deal? Do we continue our Halloween traditions solely for commercial reasons?

My friend and I posing in the coffins with a zombie woman

The zombie woman scaring
Reilly and Madeleine