C'mon Starbucks...

Click here for the full article:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/17/graphic-how-big-exactly-is-starbucks-new-trenta-size/

So vain

I'm sure you've experienced it too. You find a nice pair of jeans (on clearance, no less) at a retail clothes shop you can never usually afford, and they don't have any of your size left. What they do have, however, is a size smaller. Sure, you haven't worn a 34 inch pant since before you were old enough to drink (coincidence?), but what the heck, they're on sale, and maybe you'll lose some weight.

And, holy shnikes, they fit perfectly. Of course you buy them, and of course your jeans-shopping loyalty has shifted to the store where you wear the pants of a 19 year-old you.

Unfortunately, you probably haven't lost any otherwise unnoticed pant sizes. Instead, you're probably buying pants that are vanity-sized; that is, they are listed as a 34 inch waist, but are actually a half-inch to several inches larger.

Esquire magazine's Abram Sauer has an interesting post about the not exactly true-to-size world of men's pants waistline measurements with an accompanying graphic of his independent findings at one mall. As Sauer says, "You can eat all the slow-churn ice cream and brats you want, and still consider yourself slender in these."

Sherwin Williams' logo.

While driving home from visiting family in Washington D.C. this weekend I spotted a Sherwin Williams truck riding down the highway. This is the logo I saw...
This image was disturbing to me in so many ways. While I don't have a background in environmental science, I have taken a few environmental courses and I am smart enough to know that this logo symbolizes the smothering of our planet with toxic paint. How is this at all a good message?

I read up a little on the harmful toxins found in paint. It turns out that in many instances paint is one of the primary culprits of indoor air pollution. Probably the most dangerous additions to your average paint can are VOCs or volatile organic compounds which help the paint to stay in liquid form until it is applied.

To Sherwin Williams' credit, they have created a green product line. According to an assessment by Inhabit.com, SW has taken major steps toward creating a line of paints that are up to LEED and GreenSeal standards.

I say good work SW, but how about hiring on a marketing consultant to help you revamp that still disturbing logo? Just saying.

Pale is the new black.

If only this were true. Unfortunately with signs like these...

it is cheaper for teens to tan than to buy a bottle of sunscreen. Fortunately, in many states there are laws that prohibit teens from tanning without parental consent. Unfortunately, many parents consent to their teens tanning. Check out these articles from Time magazine to learn more about the magnitude of the tanning problem among teens today:
Cancer and Teen Tanning: Where's the Regulation?
Why Teens Are Obsessed With Tanning

How safe is your city for pedestrians?

Transportation for America has released its list of the 52 largest American metro regions, ranked according to their safety for pedestrians. Our own St. Louis ranked 21st most dangerous, one slot behind Kansas City (Missouri must be proud) and ahead of such luminous bastions of safety as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. This also throws into relief The League of American Bicyclist's ranking of St. Louis as a (of 125) Bicycle-Friendly city.

I was as intrigued by the rankings as I was by the revelation that, while 1.7% of the population in St. Louis walks to work (I've made the three-mile trek myself when it was way too rainy to ride), a whopping 6% of those in the NYC metro region hoof their commute. That's owed, I'm sure, in large part to population density. But it's also something of a mindset. When you last moved to a new home, did you consider the walkability of your commute a determining factor?

Dangerous By Design

(via GOOD)

I have an idea for Mountain Dew's next ad campaign!

What does an NBA All-Star do when he's more motivated than ever to help his team win a championship? He loses 11 pounds by doing nothing more than giving up his [gasp] 72-ounce-per-day Mountain Dew habit. Granted, Caron Butler is a physical specimen and a professional athlete, but if even he was carrying around an extra 11 pounds of "Dew" on his body, imagine how much the regular, non-athlete drinkers among us are hauling around.

NBA FanVoice Un-Doing The Dew

Hold my baby?

This post comes from Greg Jarvis. The picture is sort of hard to see but you definitely get the idea...