Four (or Five!) Reasons Why

….Coffee (and Starbucks) are so Popular

1. Coffee is a cheap thrill. For $2 - as long as you’re not drinking one of those fancy, multi-name barista creations - it’s something that everyone can afford.

2. Caffeine. We need it. It’s legal “crack”. We need that jolt to the system in the morning. In fact, there’s really nothing better than that first cup of hot java. You certainly don’t get the same feeling with tea or water; that’s for sure. To test whether you’re a caffeine addict, take this quiz.

3. You can have it any way you want it. Expresso, cappuccino, latte, decaffeinated, milk-only, black - the choice is up to you. As a result, you can personalize your coffee to meet your personality. If you’re someone who wants it all; then go for a double-double (two sugars, two creams for all those non-Canadians out there).

4. Starbucks is impossible to ignore. They’re everywhere so sooner or later the brand, the smell and the fact they’re on just about every urban street corner and thousands of suburban strip malls will eventually seduce you. Last year, Starbucks set a long-term target of having 40,000 stores around the world - more than triple its current number.

5. We’ve been drinking coffee for more than 1,200 years so why stop now.

If - heaven forbid - you ever want to give up the pleasure of coffee, here’s an article with some tips on how to do it. Of course, the author skewers the concept by closing his story with the question “Why Give Up Coffee at all?

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…It’s Time to Ditch the Engagement Ring

1. While the inception of the engagement ring can be traced back to the Fourth Lateran Council, presided over by Pope Innocent III, in 1215, it wasn’t until an extensive marketing campaign by De Beers that the concept became a standard for brides-to-do. In fact, De Beers coined the phrase “A Diamond is Forever” in 1947 to discourage diamond owners from flooding the secondary market - a far cry from the marketing machine’s claim that the diamond is a symbol of love and commitment.

2. If love and the commitment to marriage are priceless, why is there the pressure to prove this with an expensive bauble? Is the value of the ring proportional to how much you love someone? Why do engagement rings cost significantly more than wedding bands? And why did De Beers come up with two months salary as the standard? The answers all point to the sale of more diamonds and desire make money.

3. You have to question any industry that tries to start a trend of the male engagement ring, as the American jewelery industry has done, even going so far as to site a “historical precedent” dating back to medieval times.

4. Engagement rings can set couples back from achieving financial goals. There are much better uses for the money, including down payments on a house or saving for the future.

5. There is a certain amount of inequity involved in the engagement process as it pertains to the ring. If men are on the hook to buy a symbol of the intention of marriage, why is it that women do not? I think most guys would appreciate a flat screen television or new golf clubs. Now that’s love.

For an interesting perspective from a woman’s point of view, click here. And if you’re still intent on the idea, check out Danielle Sweeney Design.

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….Al Gore Should Run for President

1. He was just a few chads away - and some mysteriously uncounted votes in Dade Country - from winning it in 2000 - and this time he won’t have to run against George Bush again.

2. He recently won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (actually, he shared it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for his work on climate change. How many other presidential contenders have that kind of accolade on their resume?

3. He invented the Internet. How can you not vote for someone who created the most amazing communications system since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone? For those who don’t believe Gore invented the Internet, here’s his quote during a 1999 interview with Wolf Blitzer: “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.”

4. He spent eight, long years as Bill Clinton’s second-in-command. Can you imagine having to spend that much time watching Clinton charm, bumble and stumble his way for that long. Just for that, Gore deserves a shot at being numero uno.

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…Pogo.com Deserves a Lot More Love

1. According to Compete’s review of 2001 Internet Allstars, Pogo.com had one of the highest user attention growth rates between August 2001 and the same month in 2007. The gaming site’s attention share grew 401%, from 0.34% to 1.69% of all time spent by U.S Internet users. Pogo was among the only 5 of 50 sites tracked that posted gains and even outpaced Google’s growth of 381%!

2. According to Comscore, Pogo.com is the stickiest online casual gaming site in the U.S. While Pogo can proudly boast that it has 13 million unique visitors per month located around the globe, what is more amazing is that its users play an average of 45 minutes per day! Compare this with the Facebook’s 18 million users with an average of 186 user minutes per month and you can figure out that Pogo has built a nice little community.

3. The company seems to have nailed the much sought after freemium business model. While Pogo.com offers over 80 free games, Club Pogo is a premium service with over 100 games (including 36 exclusive games for members), no advertising interruptions, private chat functionality and avatars. Over 1.5 million players fork over US$5.99 per month (or $39.99 for an annual subscription). Throw in on-site advertising and you have one happy parent company.

4. The company has some foresight, if not a little quirky to the uninspired eye. As profiled on Gigaom.com, Pogo.com recently partnered with nationally recognized stress expert, Dr. Kathleen Hall of the Stress Institute. From EA’s corporate site, the goal of the relationship is to “educate women nationwide about the positive power of play. Dr Hall suggests that there is a relationship between playing games and stress reduction. Taking five minutes to play gives us all the much needed ‘me time’ that helps contribute to overall brain health and emotional well-being.” That might seem a bit odd at first blush, but GigaOm highlights that 58% of Pogo.com’s users are women over the age of 35, “making the audience very comparable to Oprah fans.” That’s some powerful company.

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….Pumpkin is the King of Pies

1. It’s not something you really eat throughout the year so when Thanksgiving and Christmas come around, eating pumpkin pie is a treat.

2. It’s good hot and cold, particularly cold after it’s been sitting in the fridge all night. In fact, cold pumpkin pie is the ultimate breakfast food - along with bacon.

3. It’s not universally popular, which means if you love pumpkin pie, there’s less competition for the final slice.

4. It gives people something practical and productive to do with pumpkins other than carving them up for Halloween or trying to see who can grow the largest one.

For whatever reason, some bakers in South African decided to celebrate Thanksgiving by baking the world’s largest pumpkin pie recently. It measured three feet deep, 28 feet long and seven feet wide. In what had to be a tough assignment, Torontoist conducted a competition for the best pumpkin tarts in Toronto. The winner was Future Bakery & Cafe.

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