Nutrisystem Rant Part II

They're at it again. This time Nutrisystem is targetting their tasteful advertising campaign at the guys. The current ad features former sports stars who for whatever reason let their finely tuned athletic bods go to seed (in most cases). The ad features former NFL coach, Don Shula, Dan Marino and former MLB player, John Kruk, shown here his mullet-wearing days. I know Kruk's usually a cut-up, so I'm going to assume what he says in the ad is a joke. He tells how much weight he's lost on Nutrisystem then says, "My wife says I'm not as disgusting as I used to be." Not AS disgusting???!!!! If it's not a joke, maybe Kruk needs to consider losing 100 more ugly pounds --his wife!

ABOVE: John Kruk in his "prime" with Philadelphia.

At RIGHT: "Disgusting" Kruk prior to Nutrisystems.

VCU Rocks!

If life were like the movies the men's basketball team from Virginia Commonwealth University would be headed to the NCAA Basketball Tournament's Sweet Sixteen. Unfortunately, as we know too well, life is rarely like the movies. I do want to take this opportunity to praise VCU for their incredible performance last night against the Pittsburgh Panthers (as a Syracuse fan they're the team I love to hate). VCU advanced to play Pitt by beating the perennial power house, Duke. Yesterday's game was something else.

I caught the last minutes of the first half that CBS broadcast while other games were in halftime. Taking one look, I could see that VCU was clearly doomed already struggling against the much larger Panthers. During the Vanderbilt/Washington State overtime, I noticed the score on the Pitt game at the top of the screen: their 19 point lead had been cut to 10 points with slightly over 5 minutes to play -- a virtual eternity in "basketball time."

I stopped watching the broadcast game and tunred my attention to the numbers on the score board as Pitt's lead continued to melt like the ice in my driveway on a sunny day. VCU tied it up, coming back from a 19 point deficit to force the game into overtime. I'm very sorry that VCU couldn't hold on to defeat the Panthers, but it was an exciting "never say die" moment I'll remember from this year's tournee. Congrats to Eric Maynor, Jesse Pellot-Rosa, Michael Anderson and B.A. Walker (shown in photo) and the entire VCU team and staff for proving that size doesn't always matters unless you're referring to the size of your determination.

They're at it Again!

From www.savenetradio.org:

"On March 2, 2007, The CRB approved royalty rates that will bury any small webcaster, and create a heavy burden even for big broadcasters like Yahoo, AOL Music and Pandora. How high will these rates be? Around 100% of a small webcasters revenue, give or take a few points, in most cases. What?! That's impossible to pay! Yep, it sure is..

How did this happen? The RIAA told the CRB thats what they wanted, and the CRB just gave it to them.

Your're probably thinking, hey that's awful, but who are the the RIAA and CRB?
RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is a lobbying group formed by the five largest record labels. They are embedded in Washington D.C. They make sure laws are written to keep them rich, no matter what. They made headlines a few years ago opening lawsuits against elderly people, single mothers and children for trading music online, even though some of them didn't even have computers. Check out the latest RIAA headlines.

The CRB (Copyright Royalty Board) is part of the US Copyright Office. The Board is charged with determining the royalty rates that would be determined by a willing buyer and a willing seller in a marketplace transaction. They decided to jack the rates beyond a broadcasters means despite decades of royalty rates being 1 - 2% of broadcaster revenue. Raise your right hand if you want to take away consumer choice, hurt working artists, damage small record labels and put small webcasters out of business. "

So won't you please help me along with my fellow avid listners of net radio keep these independent voices alive? I've met some great friends through internet radio chat rooms and forums. Net radio provides much needed competition to pathetic local broadcasting provided by companies like ClearChannels and to satellite radio (for those of us who can't afford it).

Please visit www.netradio.org and contact your Congressional representative as soon as possible. We can't let the RIAA and CRB continue to keep bullying independent artists, record companies and webcasters around.

Also check out the new logo I designed for my favorite net radio site: http://www.radiohidebound.com/sam/playing.php

So Wrong, So Very Wrong

While I've got my rant hat on I just wanted to draw your attention to the cover of this week's Vanity Fair. I saw it while in the check out line at the supermarket yesterday. It's wrong on so many levels, I'm not sure where to start. But I'll start with my biggest bug-a-boo, James Gandalfini! My girlfriends and I want to know who decided this guy is a stud muffin. No, George Clooney is a stud muffin. Jude Law is a stud muffin. Clive Owen is a stud muffin. James Gandalfini is NOT a stud muffin!!!! I've got uncles who are more attractive than his guy. Second why a naked blonde woman (who should be signing herself up for Nutrisystem) perched on his lap? This has anything to do with anything except boosting Vanity Fair's sales. I mean who's going to buy a magazine with James Gandalfini's ugly mug on the cover, unless you put a naked woman on the cover with him. Besides, who cares The Sopranos has "jumped the shark" anyway.

This makes me mad!!!!

There's a Nutrisystem commericial getting a lot of air right now that really honks me off. It features several "Desperate Housewife" wannabees. The first woman says, "My husband says I look sexy." Oh, yeah? And I wonder if she can tell him the same thing. Besides if your husband really loves you he tells you you look "sexy" even if you look like a Winnebago. Then the next one says, " I haven't had a body this smoking hot since I was in college." So, I have the same body as I had in college. Yes, of course I was 25 pounds overweight in college, too.

What's really disturbing about these ads is the "Before" photos don't look like the usual sideshow fat ladies. They actually don't even look very overweight; these "before" ladies just don't look as if they'd be showing up on a Hollywood soundstage. Cara, shown here in the web site ad is a good example. I'm sure that there are plenty of guys who'd not only find the buxom version of Cara sexy, but in fact prefer her over the nutrisystemized Cara.

I understand Nutrisystems' marketing model here. They way their system is set up, the average person on the program could only hope to lose about 10 to 20 pounds. So starting out with a client who is obviously obese is not going to show dramatic 'smokin' hot bod' results. What I just don't understand why someone would be driven to pay big bucks to have someone else tell them how to starve themself. It seems it's not a weight problem these women have, as much as it is a self-esteem issue.

Happy Snow Storm!

This was the view this morning from my office in the State Tower Building. (Yes, I actually did make it into work.) The low building off the right is the Erie Canal Museum. That highway running through the background is Interstate 81.

I'd write more, but I'm still defrosting.

I'm Done!

I finally finished my paper for my Information Privacy Class. It's entitled "Comparison of Personal Information Privacy Issues from a Regulatory Perspectivein the 19^th Century and Today." I kid you not. I just spent a weekend of my life and two perfectly good evenings on this. Tell me again why I wanted to go to graduate school.

It just started snowing. We're supposed to get a over foot tonight. I'll be bringing my camera to work tomorrow. That is if I can get out of the house tomorrow. Check CNN's iReport. I'm going to upload my pics.

Hey, I Finally Found My Wool Socks!

AND NO, WE DID NOT GET 7 FEET OF SNOW! For all of you who have been watching the CNN reports -- the 7 feet of snow fell in Oswego, NY, NOT SYRACUSE! We did, however, get about 6 inches of snow yesterday and probably a total of 10 inches since the start of the week (on top of the 6 inches that was already on the ground-- you do the math.). It's February; that's what happens. Today it's been sunny all day, probably the most continuous sun we've seen since the beginning of the year. It's just that it's been colder than all get out.

That's why I was so juiced to finally find the wool socks I'd been searching for since the cold spell started. It was really key to find them hiding all the way in the back of the drawer where I keep my thermal undershirts, especially since I had to take the bus to work yesterday because our street didn't get plowed out. I had to run for the bus, which, of course, was much better than waiting in the subzero temperature for the next one, even if I was wearing my Lands End boots and wool socks!

I've also had night classes at the University in this horrible weather, and my husband's been calling me his "tough nut." Well this week this tough nut cracked; rather than walk the four blocks from the lot I had a permit for, I chose to pay to park in the hotel garage one block away. I had anticipated it would snow while I was in class. Brushing snow off one's vehicle after trudging four block in the windy freezing cold sucks big time.

I meant to go out to take a photo of the snow outside my house to post here, but it was too cold to go out. Is it April, yet?

I'm Out of My Head

OK, I know that I've been having trouble keeping up with this blog, and my class starts in two days, so guess what I've done. I started another blog! Yes, this one will be in tandem with my friend, C who I think will be using the screen name, kleo. Of course, this depends on whether she answers my invite to co-author the blog. We want to use our new blog to post our raves and rants on different wines we've tasted. Usually we just e-mail this back and forth but finally decided we should begin sharing our experiences with our friends. The blog is called "Wine Trailer Trash" after the Finger Lakes' Wine Trails in our area. (I know R remembers those well.)

Zippin' Along isn't dead. I still plan to post to this blog, but I'm thinking more along the lines of quality over quantity. I'm sure there will be topics that I'll want to write about that will be more appropriately posted here than in Wine Trailer Trash. Whatever 2007 brings it's going to be an interesting year.

Message Lady

"Thank you for calling. If you know your party's extension you call enter it now or stay on the line for more options."

I've just become the voice of my company's automated answering service, in addition to wearing about seventy other hats. Hey, it's a living. If you're interested in hearing the voice of zippychik you can call 315-479-0330. Just do me a favor and don't leave any obscene messages, puleeze.

My Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone. We've all made it through another one. Here are the big events that happened in Zippychik's life:

January: Started my second class, Dr. D's database management principals (say that three times fast.) Ended my temp job in the advertising department of the local paper.

Februrary: Got hired as a part-time graphic designer for a software development company. Helped my friend, D celebrate her 5oth birthday. Hubby and I had a new standpipe installed; nothing like throwing two grand into a hole in your yard.

March: Got a year older, but not any wiser. Attended my fifth CineFest; Leonard Maltin sat in front of me -- again.

April: Volunteered at the International Video and Film Festival in Syracuse. I had a good time, but no celeb sightings this year.

May: Got an A in Dr. D's class. Started my second part-time job at JCPenneys.

June: Hell month begins. Was made full-time right at the software company after I started working evenings and weekends at Penneys. Also managed to work at the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Liverpool, NY. We raised over $45,000.

July: Quit JCPenney. Got my life back.

August: Visited Uncle T in Boston.

September: Spent time with R and her friend, K when they visited Ithaca, NY. My design for the company billboard was posted. Started another class, Internet Architecture.

October: Kind of a blur.

November: Hell month. Final group project for class begins. Worked on 2 important projects at work AND organized the office ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for the company.

December: Group presentation was wildly successful, but still waiting for professor to post grade. Had a long overdue get together with close friends on 12/22. Spent quiet holidays with family.

That's the year for me. The new job was the biggest thing. I didn't see any concerts this year, although, buddies, R & C had front row seats to The Pretenders in November and are still talking about the show. Didn't go anywhere exciting and didn't purchase any fun toys, either. Another year goes by, and I am still iPodless.

I'm All Aglow

Your Christmas lights are glowing 100%.

Awesome! Your Christmas tree lights up the whole room! You are a true lover of all things Christmas, and a joy for those around you!

Christmas Trivia
Make Your Own Quiz

I scored 100 on my first try, although I almost got tripped up on Scrooge's business partner being named "Jacob Marley" not "Bob Marley." I also went above and beyond Christmas Spirit this year when the string of lights on the top of our tree blew out last weekend. It really looked crappy. After hubby and I spent the rest of the weekend debating the best solution to this crisis, I undecorated the entire top third of tree, put up a new string, then redecorated the tree and best I could. It looks terrific, but not as nice as the tree my friend S put up. Props to him for a tremendous job! He'd score 200% on any Christmas Quiz!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Just to prove that I have offline friends who are even nuttier than my online pals, here's a Christmas card that my husband and I received the other day form our friend M. M is a professional drummer who's played with many great blues bands over the course of his career. For the past several years, however, M. has been developing a sideline in handcrafted wacked out greeting cards, which he appropriately calls "Hellmark LTD." In addition to M's subversive holiday cards, he sent my husband an absolutely hysterical card on the occassion of the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series.

To all my friends both online and off, I wish you and yours all a safe and Happy Holiday. And I'll borrow this final wish from another of my crazy offline friends, "Peace, love and shirazz!"

Now That's My Kind of Christmas Tree!

Since my good friend, R is Thai, I had no doubt of how brilliant and creative the Thai people are, but I really have to hand it to the culinary staff at the Amari Atrium Hotel in Bangkok for building this masterwork!

Be sure to check out the video, too. It's the closest thing to my concept of the perfect Christmas Tree.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Yes, we had a few inches of snow last week, but with the rain earlier this week it's all gone. Temperatures have been in the high fifties all week! I even saw a few guys out wearing shorts today. Of course, there's more than a week until Christmas and a lot can happen here in a week, at least as far as the weather is concerned. Temperatures are supposed to go back down into the thirties next week, so there's still a good chance of seeing white stuff for the holiday!

The Month That Was

You gotta be kidding? I've gone a whole month without a post? Actually, I've hardly had time to breath this past month. Yesterday my sister called to chew me out, "What's wrong? We haven't heard from you since Thanksgiving?" Hey, she should be happy -- at least she got to see me for Thanksgiving! So here's the run down from my last post:

Halloween found me in at the office until eight, working on graphics for one of our client's tradeshow exhibits. The show was five days out. I was all alone in the office, probably close to being all alone in that huge building. The old radiators kept banging, and being Halloween I tried not to let me imagination run away with me.

The following week we had a huge web site launch at work, and I had a huge research paper due. The week after that I was beginning to freak out because my professor wasn't giving us enough direction on our final group project. I was seriously doubting we could get this project done with only 4 weeks left in the semester. Then it was Thanksgiving; my sister had us over for dinner, and all I had to cook was my famous sweet potato casserole.

Now the REAL fun begins, I'm pushing full out on the final project and then my boss puts in in charge of organizing the company's open house--only two days before the open house is scheduled!!!! I put in extra hours and ran my butt off. For those three days all I wanted to do when I got home was crawl right into bed--but no, I had a final project to work on!!! Then I spent the entire following weekend compiling the powerpoint file deliverable.

Last week, of course, the last day of class the professor scheduled a quiz, so I had to cram in some study time with the final project work. My group gave the presentation this past Friday afternoon. We blew the professor away. At the meeting he each group member their grades up to that point. Even if the presentation had sucked, my labs and papers were so strong, I still would have received an "A."

So now with all that behind me I could kick back and relax for a bit, right? Oh God, no!!! Saturday night my husband and I took his 21-year-old niece and her boyfriend who're both going to college nearby to an Orange basketball game. And then there's that little thing called Christmas that's going on. I decorated our tree and finished all the shopping, except my favorite shop -- the liquor store. I save that for last. I'll go next Saturday!

Your Birthdate: March 4

You have an extraordinary character - moral, responsible, and disciplined. Your sincerely and honesty shine through in almost every situation. Driven and focused, you rarely let your emotions get the better of you. You're level headed and rational. People count on your to look at things objectively. Your strength: Your unwavering loyalty and ethics Your weakness: Your rock solid stubbornness Your power color: Navy blue Your power symbol: Shield Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Damn! I should be running for Congress!

No Snow --Yet!

For all my friends who live outside of central New York State, I just want you all to know that , no, we did not get any snow, yet. (Notice I did say "yet" by the time you get to read this there just might be some white stuff on the ground.) Buffalo did get clobbered with over 22 inches this week. Good thing we didn't get this storm, I still haven't got my boots out of storage. I did, however, purchase an adorable leopard print fleece hat and black fleece gloves from Lands' End. They're getting snow north of us today, but hopefully the wind won't shift and bring some of that our way.

The weather this weekend has been pretty miserable anyway, so I've been inside playing catch up on my class reading. I just came up with a topic and outline for my upcoming research paper, and I've got mondo studying to do for this week's quiz.

Voo Dee Rules

There's a baseball team from New York headed to their league championship this week -- and it's NOT THE YANKEES!!!!!

Kudos to Bonderman, Rogers and the Detroit Tigers for making short work of the New York Yankees, the team all the experts were touting as "One of the Greatest Baseball Teams of All Time." So much for the experts. Somehow, I believe that a little rag doll also had some hand in this.

In the autumn of 2001, my husband, a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan and I were disgusted to see the Yankees off to yet another World Series. What could we do? We felt so helpless. It was as if destiny, karma or whatever external force there was ALWAYS favored them. That's when I decided to design a Yankee voodoo doll. Heck, even if it didn't work, we could still get out our frustration by beating the daylights out of this thing. Later, my husband gave him the nickname "Voo Dee," short for Voodoo Doll.

After Voo Dee was created the Yanks were defeated by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series, and have not gone all the way since. We've beat, punched and kicked Voo Dee. Of course, we stick him full of pins. We've done everything short of running him over with our Forester. I'm happy to report the plucky little guy still keeps pulling through.

So, you Yankee fans out there, don't be quite so hard on A-Rod. Perhaps, it's not all his fault that karma's turned against your team. Maybe the blame should go to two Boston Red Sox fans and their little beat up doll.

Two More Weeks

I need to get in control of my life again. I heard on the radio that the Mets clinched their division last night. My response was, "Oh yeah, I knew they were going to do that, just didn't know when." Other seasons I'd be following every pitch and every swing of the bat. Yikes! Now I've hardly got a chance to post in my blog. Fortunately I did get a catch a break, today's class got canceled! Yes, we still have to present our group project next week, but the good thing is NO NEW assignment this week. Maybe I'll get to read the assignment I couldn't finish last week because I was busy writing my web critique/research paper and studying for a quiz (that also was canceled.)

While this past weekend was work, work, work, the weekend before my husband and I got together with 80sgirl and her friend, K, who were visiting Cornell. Ithaca is so nice, I'm sorry we don't get a chance to visit there more often. Maybe with Hubby's niece at school in nearby Cortland, we'll have an excuse to go down there more. Although with the work load I currently have, that looks pretty doubtful.

I really enjoyed our afternoon with 80sgirl and K. First lunch at The Pines for 80sgirl's favorite -- The Pinesburger -- followed by Apple Cranberry Pie ala mode and Chcocolate Decadence for dessert. Then off to check out some beautiful gorges. We ended up back at Cornell for a chimes concert in the bell tower. It was an incredible experience. The weather was perfect; the view spectacular; and the music in the bell tower was terrific. The songs included "The Rose" and "Moon River." It was almost as if they had been selected just for 80sgirl. I'm only sorry that they didn't play any Sting songs.

The high point of the day was when K saw hubby's Grateful Dead skeleton sticker on the rear window of his Forrester. "Oh, a Dead Head," she remarked and proceeded to tell us about her old boyfriend, an Egyptian, who was a Dead Head.

I hope to post again soon, but can't promise you when. Maybe with only ONE assignment to work on this week, I'll find time to post this weekend, but I'm not making any promises. I might end up watching a Mets game on television.