2007 Holiday Display

This year's holiday display at work was on the spartan side.  The downside of going to a conference in the middle of December is that I couldn't put much thought into the display.  The upside of the conference being in San Francisco is that the candy portion of the display was mostly chocolates (See's, Ghirardelli's, and Scharfenberger) from San Francisco. 

There was also a pound-and-a-half of salt water taffy that I bought at a Mexican grocery store in the Mission.  I was walking by and the mounds and mounds of taffy in a dozen flavors caught my eye.  The teenage cashier was between amused (big smile and laugh) and perplexed ("Is that all you're getting"?) with my enthusiastic purchase.

Several people surmised that there was a theme to the display.  That was true!  Some even figured out that it had something to do with evolutionary biology.  I can't reveal the theme here because, with a bit more planning on my part, it may be more clear in next year's display.  Plus I can't demonstrate the theme with the pictures I took.  All I can say is that there is plenty of time to read, or re-read, a bunch of Stephen Jay Gould books before next December.

Comments

[jeff]

It is a wonderful poststructuralist nonscalar rendering--the dinosaurs representing the oil companies and the threatened penguins serving as a warning to the blissfully ignorant human in a white tuxedo. The scalar contrast between the humans and penguins signifies the vastly superior brain power of the penguin.

The taffy clearly refers to the sticky situation of immigrants who struggle to make ends meet. The chocolate also adds a touch of global signification as the commodity chain from cocoa beans to See's candy is embodied in the object we call "chocolate".

[jb]

I *did* miss the holiday display. More so the diplay than the free candy, I think. My office decorated with just a strand of lights, and 12 inch tree. Nothing like the plastic animals....

[Joe]

Ha!

By the way, I'm told by a reliable source that the paleontologist and dinosaur expert down the hall was very, very excited by the display. He even brought his daughter in to see it.