Beverage Apparel

Do you know what that is?  Wearable drinks?  First was the Camelbak line of "hydration accessories".  Now comes Product Ventures with Beverage Apparel following the same concept as Camelbak that water should be easy to pack and drink even when your hands are not free.  You may not be training for an endurance event for which you want your water conveniently arranged in a backpack-type sling, but you will be glad that people like Product Ventures CEO Peter Clarke have devoted their careers to packaging.

The US Centers for Disease Control estimates that  300,000 people visit the hospital annually as a result of lacerations incurred while trying to open plastic packaging.  "Wrap-rage" injuries sustained by consumers attempting to open a plastic clamshell package are now the fifth most common cause of non-fatal injury.  Clamshell is the term for molds that entomb your electronic gadget or your child's new toy in one or two layers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic which is sealed around the edges. 

Clarke's company offers industrial design services that include "ergonomics, anthropometrics, and usability assessment".  In other words, his engineers understand what can be done by the normal human hand without the help of teeth or scissors.  Clarke's message is straightforward: "If you seek to improve your consumers' experience by leveraging the power of design, please contact me and let's work together to optimize your brand for success."  Clarke also offers packaging design for beverages.  His company was asked what the future of beverage packaging may look like.  They forecast a new packaging platform which leverages the minimalist and compact nature of pouches - like boxed wine, only light weight and streamlined so your drink is part of your sports regalia.  This new package format is called beverage apparel.  Maybe easy to open packages for printer cables are next. 

Until Justice Rolls Down Like Waters

We have been hearing about civil discourse.  Martin Luther King is the master to emulate.  On the eve of Dr. King's birthday I took another look at his powerful words.  Dr. King spoke with familiar and soaring phrases, drawing some of his most powerful rhetoric from words that were already known by heart.  In his great speeches he evoked the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the US Constitution and the Gettysburg Address.  He transcended differences he might have had with his audience with his unspoken message: here is my clarion call - you will recognize some of it - my dream echoes your familiar legacy; we share the same passion and therefore it is safe for you to share my dream.

Dr. King's great speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 drew power from the Bible. From Amos 5:24, his words: "no, no we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a might stream".  And from Isaiah 40:4 he built his great dream: "I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted.  Here is Isaiah: Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low.  Handel used these words in his Messiah - a piece heard in thousands of communities each holiday season.

In the last speech he gave before his assassination Dr. King directly quoted the Battle Hymn of the Republic: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord".  In another verse of this powerful hymn is this line which is perfectly appropriate to a celebration of Dr. King's life: He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat.

Stone Soup

I love soup.  I see leftovers as ingredients for soup.  I  chop up the biggest turkey carcass to put in my stock pot.  I have discovered that pureed sweet potato can thicken a soup as well as butter and cream.  I keep twelve varieties of dried beans in my cupboard.  I have ham hocks in the freezer.  I believe that my food processor is my friend.  I keep canned corn and frozen peas on hand for quick vegetable flavor.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that January is National Soup Month. And also, February 4 is Homemade Soup Day.  There's more - the second week in November is Split Pea Soup Week.  On his website  my "Holiday Director" tells me that January will be publicized on calendar sites as  National Soup Swap Month urging me to swap a soup recipe with a friend.

So here you go: take a large pot, add water and then a nice smooth stone.  Bring to boil. Invite neighbors to bring just a bit from their garden or larder. When others inquire, invite their contribution, too.  Stir frequently. Season with salt.  Enjoy.  Stone soup is a folk tale told in many different cultures.  It memorializes the timeless nurture of hot, aromatic, nourishing soup.  Try some tonight.