The View From 32

HOME    ABOUT

More below:  WONDERS   

East Coast Custard shop on Pearl Rd.First visit this year.

You can tell Spring is getting closer because East Coast Custard is open for the season. This year it was March 1st instead the former March 15th opening day.

It's not quite the kind of weather for frozen treats—note the winter coat on the woman at the window, along with the snow on the ground.

Unfortunately none of the three custard or three frozen yogurt flavors were among my favorites, so after pulling into a parking space and taking the picture of the sign, I was back on the road, custardless.

I've gotten pretty disciplined about only buying a cone when the flavor is one of my half-dozen or so faves. Dang! I just checked the flavor calendar for the month and found out I missed my very most favorite—Almond Joy—on Tuesday.

TOP

New7Wonders: buy (I mean vote) today.

A colleague sent me this link to the New7Wonders website, and the whole thing makes me more than a little uncomfortable. First, in fairness, here's the description of the campaign as its founders put it:

The New7Wonders Foundation, which is the body behind the New7Wonders campaign, has the express aim of documenting, maintaining, restoring and reconstructing world heritage under the motto:
"OUR HERITAGE IS OUR FUTURE."
The New7Wonders Foundation calls on all citizens of the world to support it.  Through film, television, the Internet and books, people shall be alerted to the destruction of nature and the decay of our man-made heritage. Monuments in jeopardy, perhaps in a dangerous state of decay, can be saved by publicizing their beauty and highlighting their plight to the international community.

Vote for Macchu Picchu adThey've come up with 21 "candidates" for New 7 Wonders of the World that we are urged to vote for. There are even little ads urging votes for particular candidates.

You can vote online or by phone. There's a blog, an area to upload your own videos and photos, and of course a place to shop for "Clothing and Fun Merchandise."

Not surprisingly you can click a link to "Business Opportunities," including:

Now, I'm not sure how the original "7 Wonders of the World" were chosen, or whether that process—whatever it was—was any better than an Internet popularity contest, but...  This whole thing just reeks of commercialism. Maybe all the money will be used to restore these landmarks, a goal that's hard to argue with. But somehow I doubt that.

TOP