Wednesday, October 20, 2010

DVD Displays: How To Train Your Dragon


I snapped this photo in my local Safeway (700 South Greeley Highway, Cheyenne, Wyoming) on October 18, 2010. Probably had been there since the movie, How To Train Your Dragon, was first released on DVD.

(How To Train Your Dragon was released on March 26, 2010. The DVD was released on October 15, 2010.)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Supermarket: Safeway



The two photos above are from the Safeway at 700 South Greeley Highway, Cheyenne, Wyoming. I use two photos because the building was too wide to fit in one photo and show all the detail.

On the right hand side of photo 2 you can see an office for the Warren Federal Credit Union. The Warren in question is Warren Airforce Base.

Within the Safeway is a very small nook (between the entrance way and the first cashier) for a tiny Starbucks coffee kiosk and a few tables.

From Wikipedia:
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), a Fortune 500 company, is North America's third largest supermarket chain, with, as of December 29, 2007, 1743 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The company is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. Supermarket News ranked Safeway No. 4 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $40.5 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, Safeway is the tenth largest retailer in the United States.

History
Sam Seelig Stores

Sam Seelig Company was founded in April 1912 by Sam Seelig who had come to California from Arizona in 1911. Seelig opened a single grocery store in Los Angeles at the corner of Pico and Figueroa streets. The chain had grown to 71 stores by 1922. After World War I the firm became deeply indebted to its main grocery wholesaler, a firm owned by W.R.H. Weldon. In a swap of stock for debt, Weldon assumed control of the chain, leaving Seelig in charge of retail operations. Seelig then left the company in 1924 to enter the real estate business, forming Sam Seelig Realty.

Safeway name
As a result of Seelig's departure, the company held a contest in 1925 to develop a new name, the result of which was Safeway. The original slogan was "an admonition and an invitation" to "Drive the Safeway; Buy the Safeway." The point of the name was that the grocery operated on a cash-and-carry basis; it did not offer credit, as had been traditional for grocers. It was the "safe way" to buy because a family could not get into debt via its grocery bill (as many families did, especially during the Great Depression). By 1926 Safeway Stores had 322 stores centered in Southern California.

Weldon saw himself as a wholesaler and sold his 80% of the business for $3.5 million to Merrill Lynch in deal brokered by Charles E. Merrill.

Skaggs Stores
Skaggs Stores had its start in 1915, when Marion Barton Skaggs purchased his father's 576-square-foot (53.5 m2) grocery store in American Falls, Idaho, for $1,089. The chain, which operated as two separate businesses, Skaggs' Cash Stores and Skaggs United Stores, grew quickly, and Skaggs enlisted the help of his five brothers to help grow the network of stores, which reached 191 by 1920.

Seelig and Skaggs merger
Charlie Merrill recognized the potential to consolidate the West Coast grocery industry. In June 1926 Merrill offered Skaggs either $7 million outright or $1.5 million plus 30,000 shares in the merged firm. Skaggs took the latter. On July 1, 1926 Safeway merged with the 673 stores from Skaggs United Stores of Idaho and Skaggs Cash Stores of California. On completion of the Skaggs/Safeway merger, M.B. Skaggs became the Chief Executive of the business.

The merger immediately created the largest chain of grocery stores west of the Mississippi. Charles E. Merrill later left Merrill Lynch, for a period of time, to assist in the management of Safeway during the 1930s. At the time of the merger, the company was headquartered in Reno, Nevada, but in 1929, Safeway relocated its headquarters to a former grocery warehouse in Oakland, California. Safeway headquarters moved into Emil Hegstrom's Mutual Creamery Building on East 14th Street and remained there until the move to Pleasanton.

While Seelig/Safeway was technically the original company, Safeway has always considered M.B. Skaggs the founder and the American Falls store the original store.

Expansion
The initial public offering price of Safeway stock was $226 in 1927; a five for one split in 1928 brought the price down to under $50.

Over the next few years Charles Merrill, with financing supplied by Merrill Lynch, then began aggressively acquiring numerous regional grocery store chains for Safeway in a rollup strategy. Early acquisitions included significant parts of Piggly Wiggly chain as part of the break up of that company by Merrill Lynch and Wall Street.

Most transactions involved the swap of stock certificates, with little cash changing hands. Most acquired chains retained their own names until the mid 1930s.

The number of stores peaked at 3,400 in 1932, when expansion ground to a halt. The great depression had finally impacted the chain, which began to focus on cost control. In addition, the numerous smaller grocery stores began being replaced with larger supermarket stores. By 1933 the chain ranked second in the grocery industry behind The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and ahead of Kroger.

In 1935, Safeway sold its nine stores in Honolulu, Hawaii "because of the inconvenience of proper supervision. Also in 1935, independent grocery in California convinced the California legislature to enact a progressive tax on chain stores. Before the act took effect, Safeway filed a petition to have the law put to a referendum. In 1936 the California electorate voted to repeal the law.

In 1936 Safeway introduced a money back guarantee on meat.

The company's New York operations were sold in 1961 to Finast.

1940s-1970s
A Marina Safeway in Hamilton, Montana built in the 1960s
An older store design from the 1970s and 1980s is seen in this San Jose, California Safeway.In 1941 Marion B. Skaggs retired from the Safeway board of directors.[10]

In 1947 the company's sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time. By 1951 total sales had reached nearly $1.5 billion. In 1952 the company adopted the S logo, which it still uses.

In 1955 Robert A. Magowan became Chairman of the Board of Safeway. Magowan had married Charles Merrill's daughter Doris Merrill. In 1956 Magowan also assumed the title of President. He remained President until 1968, and a member of the board until 1978.

In 1959, Safeway opened its first store in the new state of Alaska, being the first major food retailer to enter the market. In 1959 the firm also opened the first "Marina"-style store on the Marina in San Francisco. Numerous stores were opened in this style throughout the next decade.

In 1963 Safeway again opened stores in Hawaii, having exited this market in 1934.

In 1969 Safeway entered the Toronto market in Canada and the Houston market in Texas by organic opening of new stores, rather than by acquisition. The firm would ultimately fail in both these markets against entrenched competition.

In 1977 Safeway management instituted a program to fight the use of counterfeit $100 bills, by, among other things, telling employees that bills that lacked the words "In God We Trust" were counterfeit. Because Safeway had not sufficiently investigated the history of those words, it was unaware that there were still a few bills without the phrase in circulation. Eventually a hapless shopper was incorrectly reported to Oakland, California police as being a counterfeiter; he was arrested and strip-searched before Oakland police contacted the Treasury Department and realized the error. The 1981 jury verdict of joint and several liability for $45,000 against Safeway Stores and the City of Oakland was upheld in full by the Supreme Court of California on December 26, 1986.

In 1979 Peter Magowan, son of Robert Magowan and Grandson of Charles Merrill, was appointed Chairman and CEO of Safeway. Magowan would manage Safeway for the next 13 years - presiding over the dramatic decline of the firm in terms of store numbers.

1980s: Takeover and sell-offs
Following a hostile takeover bid from corporate raiders Herbert and Robert Haft, the chain was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) acting as a white knight in 1986. With the assistance of KKR the company was taken private and assumed tremendous debt. To pay off this debt the company began selling off a large number of its operating divisions.

The divested domestic divisions of Safeway proved to be poisoned chalices for all those who acquired them. Effectively every acquirer hit financial troubles and either went bankrupt or was acquired.

The international stores were more successful for their acquirers. UK stores, Safeway plc, were sold to Argyll Foods, which itself was ultimately absorbed by Morrisons in 2004. Safeway Australia was sold to the Australian-based Woolworths Limited in 1985.

In Southern California, Safeway sold its stores to Vons in exchange for a 30% interest in the company, pulling completely out of established markets like Los Angeles and San Diego, and diminishing operations in Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento. Save Mart Supermarkets purchased the few remaining Fresno Safeway stores in 1996.

Safeway's national presence was now reduced to several western states and Northern California, plus the Washington, D.C. area. Altogether, nearly half the 2,200 stores in the chain were sold.

Canada Safeway dominated the grocery store landscape in Western Canada in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, the company controlled 80 per cent of the grocery market in Alberta in the 1970s. The government even accused Safeway of having a monopoly on the grocery store business, causing unnecessarily high food prices. A judicial inquiry restricted the number of stores Safeway could open, and forced the company to close or sell off some locations to competitors like IGA. Incidentally, while some IGA stores housed in old Safeways have operated successfully for decades, others ceased operation in recent years.

In October 1986, the Canadian Press reported Canada Safeway took a $8 million hit by closing a prime store at West Edmonton Mall, which was the world's largest shopping centre at that time. It was the fifth store Safeway had closed in west Edmonton. Among those former stores, one included the location at the former Centennial Village Mall, now Mayfield Common (the building sat vacant for years, before briefly housing Edmonton's first, but temporary Save-On-Foods in the early 1990s, as a much larger, permanent Save-On-Foods was being built up the parking lot; another former Safeway location in west Edmonton now houses a Value Village.

Safeway also opened other grocery stores under the Food Barn and Food for Less names in Alberta; and the Safeway Superstore name in British Columbia. Food Barn was similar to Safeway in terms of selection and prices, but the store itself resembled a warehouse the size of an average Safeway store.

In the mid-1980s, Food for Less was launched in the Alberta cities of Edmonton and Calgary, as a big-box, discount food store chain meant to compete with Loblaws's Real Canadian Superstore, which had expanded to western Canada. Most Food for Less and Real Canadian Superstore locations were constructed within blocks of each other. Upon the Real Canadian Superstore's opening, Loblaws produced television commercials with an aggressive tone, taking direct aim at Safeway's higher prices. One ad featured a man holding a rolled up Safeway newspaper flyer, while promising viewers they would find lower prices at the Real Canadian Superstore. While prices at Food for Less were meant to compete with the Real Canadian Superstore's, and be lower than that of Safeway's, this wasn't always the case.

In late 1987, Safeway acquired the 26 Woodward's Food Floors, which operated in the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia (16 stores) and Alberta (10). These stores were later rebranded as Woodward's World of Food.

Safeway would close Food Barn or rebrand stores as Safeway before the decade was over.

The company was taken public again in 1990.

1990s and beyond
In the late 1990s, Safeway began to again aggressively acquire regional chains, including Randall's Food Markets in Texas, Carrs in Alaska, and Dominick's in Illinois. In 1997, it exercised its option to acquire control of Vons in Southern California. (The buyout of Randall's marked Safeway's return to Texas ten years after the original stores in Houston were sold to AppleTree.)

In western Canada, shortly before the Woodward's retail chain was sold off to the Hudson's Bay Company, and then closed by HBC in 1993, Safeway rebranded Woodward's Food Floors and World of Food stores to Safeway stores, though the interior of some locations kept the World of Food decor for several years, before being renovated into full-fledged Safeways. The Woodward's brand name effectively vanished from the Canadian retail landscape as a result.

Canada Safeway had gained a notorious reputation for its high prices. To combat this, and losing its market share to competitors such as the Real Canadian Superstore, Safeway staged a successful publicity stunt that saw all of its stores closing for one day. They would reopen Wednesday, February 17, 1993 with Safeway loudly proclaiming its new commitment to having the lowest food prices. A new marketing campaign took off, featuring the motif of large red arrows pointing downwards. Safeway took out full-page ads in newspapers, listing hundreds of products and their new, drastically lower prices.

Television commercials started airing, featuring helicopters flying across communities, carrying the red arrows before releasing and dropping them into a Safeway parking lot. The ads actually starting airing a couple of weeks earlier, but they were shrouded with much more mystery and secrecy. The first batch of commercials made no reference to Safeway; they only consisted of dark shots of many helicopters flying around - almost resembling a war zone. There was no voice either - only the sound of flying helicopters. The commercials ended with a text message on the screen informing viewers that something big was happening soon.

Safeway's new commitment to lower prices ignited a price war between grocery stores, much to the delight of consumers, that lasted for several weeks. However, Safeway's prices slowly crept back up as months passed, and within a couple of years, the red arrow campaign was abandoned altogether, and once again, Safeway regained its reputation for high prices.

Safeway was also experiencing labor pains with its employees in Edmonton in the mid-1990s. The company even threatened to shut down its stores if it couldn't work out a deal with the union. Rival the Real Canadian Superstore even took out a full-page newspaper ad, offering to buy out Safeway if there was indeed such trouble. No deals were ever made between any of the parties. Eventually, Safeway workers walked off the job. The weeks-long strike had many Safeway customers shopping elsewhere, so they wouldn't have to cross the picket line.

By the mid to late-1990s, Safeway would close or convert existing Food for Less stores in Alberta to Safeways. As the Food for Less stores were much larger than regular Safeways, the company either vacated the Food for Less location and moved to a new building blocks away; or shrunk the store as it was renovated into a Safeway and leased off the extra space to another retailer. In British Columbia, Safeway Superstores eventually just became Safeways, therefore ending confusion between Safeway Superstores and the competing Loblaws-owned Real Canadian Superstore.

In the late 1990s, the company launched its popular Safeway Club Card loyalty program. The company said the card would make it more convenient for customers to get discounts, instead of clipping coupons. However, months after the Club Card's launch, the company would start reissuing coupons, which puzzled customers, some of whom already suspected Safeway only launched the Club Card for marketing and tracking purposes.

In 2001, Safeway acquired the family-owned Genuardi's chain, with locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Safeway also created subsidiary "Blackhawk Network", a prepaid and payments network, a card-based financial solutions company, and a provider of third-party prepaid cards.

In October 2003, a strike was called by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers at Vons stores in Southern California. The strike (and concurrent lockout at Albertsons and Ralphs) lasted until the end of February 2004.

In November 2006, speculation rolled around as the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Sears Holdings Corporation may buy Safeway.

Store formats and concepts
Safeway has tried a range of new store formats over the years, most of which have ultimately failed.

In 1963 Safeway developed the Super S format, a general merchandise and drug store opened adjoining a new Safeway supermarket. The stores would share a common entrance but were operated as separate businesses with their own checkstands. The first outlet was opened in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1965, 22 existing Super S stores were divested to Skaggs Drug Stores. Safeway divested the remaining stores in 1971.

In 1964 Safeway opened a trial two level "International Store" at 12th and F Street in Washington, D.C., with a conventional Safeway downstairs and a gourmet store on the upper floor. The Safeway International Store range included wild boar steaks, snow hare, suckling pig, and reindeer steaks.

The company also made a number of attempts to repurpose older, smaller store sites, opening Food Barn, a discount grocery outlet, and Liquor Barn, a discount liquor outlet, in the 1970s. Safeway also trialled Town House in Washington, D.C., small stores targeting apartment dwellers, and a gourmet store concept, Bon Appetit in San Francisco.

In 1969 Safeway formed a joint venture with Holly Farms Poultry Industries (now part of Tyson Foods) to open "Holly Farms Fried Chicken Take Home" in an effort to diversify into fast food restaurants and compete with KFC. The first store opened in Colonial Heights, Virginia in August 1969.

In western Canada in the 1980s, Safeway would open Food Barn, a store format inherited with the purchase of the Jack the Slasher chain in Australia. The store was similar to Safeway in terms of selection and prices, but the store itself resembled a warehouse. These stores would later close or be rebranded as Safeways before the decade ended.

Also in the 1980s, Safeway also tried entering the discount, big-box food store business with Food for Less in Alberta and Safeway Superstore in British Columbia. These stores would later close or convert into regular Safeways in the mid to late 1990s. Safeway also acquired Pak 'N Save, a box warehouse concept, as part of the purchase of Brentwood in Northern California.

Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of the company are: Steven Burd, Janet Grove, Mohan Gyani, Paul Hazen, Robert MacDonnell, Douglas Mackenzie, Rebecca Stirn, William Tauscher, and Raymond Viault.

Locations
Safeway has a total of 1,521 stores in the United States and 222 stores in Canada, over 80% of which are located in Western states and provinces. The greatest concentration of Safeway branches is in California with 521 stores (including the 295 branded as Vons), followed by Washington State with 168 stores and Colorado with 122. In Canada, the greatest number of Safeway locations is in Alberta with 88 stores and British Columbia with 78 stores.

Brands
Current brands

Today, Safeway Select is the company's signature private label that offers an upscale range of products, a sub-label Primo Taglio is used for more upscale deli products and Lucerne remains as the main dairy line. In 2006, Safeway introduced a new line, with organically grown and processed line of products named O Organics. In late 2007, the Safeway Select: Signature line was renamed Signature Cafe.

Some of the brands in use today are:

Basic Red/Value Red — Mostly paper products, but includes large tubs of ice cream.
Bright Green — Environmentally friendly cleaning products.
Butcher's Cut, The — Secondary meat brand used for pre-packaged cold cut and raw meats.
Captains Choice — Seafood brand.
Country Hearth - A Lucerne manufactured line of bread similar to Oroweat
Conti Gourmet Coffee. A Gourmet Coffee company, base Coppell, Texas
Dairy Glen — A second dairy brand. It is also used for the two gallon tubs of ice cream.
Deli Counter, The — A secondary deli brand used mainly for cold cuts.
Diablo Creek — Wine
Eating Right — Brand used for healthier eating using labels such as low fat, low sodium, etc.
Firefly Ridge — Wine
Gourmet Meat Shoppe — Frozen meat products.
Jerseymaid — A carryover dairy brand from Safeway's acquisition of Vons, still used due to its reputation.
Lucerne — The main dairy brand, used for ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and milk.[28]
Manor House — Another frozen meat line used for turkeys during the holidays.
Mom to Mom — A full line of baby products.
O Organics — Line of organic products.
Oven Joy — Bread brand that is neither Safeway, O Organics, Eating Right nor Safeway Select.
Primo Taglio — The upscale deli cold cut brand.[
Priority — Pet care brand.
Produce Stand, The — Pre-packaged produce such as baby carrots, salads, and raisins.
Ranchers Reserve — The upscale meat brand.
Refresh — Originally reserved for bottled water, now (as of Summer 2010) includes all flavors of soda that were previously branded as standalone or "Safeway" products. (Refresh Brand Cola is produced by Cotts beverages for safeway inc, it is bottled in San Bernardino, CA-- Safeway Refresh brand bottled water is bottled in house by Safeway inc near Downtown Los Angeles)
Remarkable — Used for the Texas based stores.
Safeway — This includes non-branded items that have unique names, and are not a whole brand to themselves. It is also used on items that just have descriptive titles instead of names.
Safeway Select — These are mostly the upscale items.
Signature Cafe — Deli Line of soups, side dishes and pre-made salads.
waterfront BISTRO — Frozen seafood products.

Lifestyle branding
On April 18, 2005, Safeway began a $100 million brand re-positioning campaign labeled "Ingredients for life." This was done in an attempt to differentiate itself from its competitors, and to increase brand involvement. Steve Burd described it as "branding the shopping experience".

The launch included a redesigned logo, a new slogan "Ingredients for life" alongside a four-panel life icon to be used throughout stores and advertising, and a web application called "FoodFlex" to improve consumer nutrition. Many locations are being converted to the "Lifestyle" format. The new look was designed by Michigan-based PPC Design. In addition to the "inviting decor with warm ambiance and subdued lighting", the move required heavy redesign of store layout, new employee uniforms, sushi and olive bars, and the addition of in-store Starbucks kiosks (with cupholders on grocery carts).

The change also involved differentiating the company from competitors with promotions based on the company’s extensive loyalty card database. At the end of 2004 there were 142 "Lifestyle" format stores in the United States and Canada, with plans to open or remodel another 300 stores with this type of theme the following year. "Lifestyle format" stores have seen significantly higher average weekly sales than their other stores. By the end of 2006, shares were up proving that this rebranding campaign had a major impact on sale figures.

In 2007 the 1000th lifestyle store was built In Everett, Washington

Safeway fuel
Safeway has fuel stations at some stores. These stations allow customers to use a phone number or club (Loyalty) card to receive a 3¢/gal discount on fuel purchases in the U.S. In Canada, the discount is 3.5¢/L, with the purchase of 35$ in groceries in a single transaction.

Banners
In addition to the Safeway name, the company also operates stores under the following banners:

Carrs (Carr-Gottstein Foods), Alaska supermarket chain
Casa Ley, food stores in western Mexico, competes primarily with Wal-Mart
Dominick's (Dominick's Finer Foods), Chicago metropolitan area supermarket chain
Genuardi's (Genuardi's Family Markets), Delaware Valley supermarket chain
Pak 'n' Save (warehouse store chain in California)
Randall's Food Markets, southeast and central Texas supermarket chain
Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy, North Texas supermarket chain
Vons (The Vons Companies, Inc.), Southern California/Nevada supermarket chain
Pavilions, upscale division of Vons

Slogans
Since We're Neighbors, Let's Be Friends (1972–1979) — Probably the first Safeway advertising campaign to make use of a singalong jingle. This slogan was used by the U.S. stores until July 16, 1979, when the "Everything" slogan was adopted. (lyrics acceptable)
Today at Safeway (used by the Canadian stores during the same period as the American jingle listed above)
Everything You Want from a Store and a Little Bit More (1979–December 1981) — This campaign, launched on July 16, 1979, was adopted, perhaps, to reflect the image of Safeway stores as "one stop shopping centers." This campaign was used through December 1981, although it was in use in the UK into the 1990s.
Today's Safeway: Where You Get a Little Bit More (January 1982–1983) — The first Safeway ad campaign to make use of the company's new "ribbon leaf" logo.
America's Favorite Food Store (1983–1986)
I Work an Honest Day and I Want an Honest Deal (1985–1987) — "America's favorite food store" tagline used with this campaign through 1986 until the buyout and divestitures, which reduced the storecount and made the "America's favorite" line inaccurate. Also featured a song.
Nobody Does It Better (1992 – late 1990s) — This campaign is unique for being adapted from a pop song. In this case, the song was originally a hit for Carly Simon in 1977. Simon originally sang it as the theme song to 1977's James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.The 1993 version used in the commercials was recorded by R&B Grammy Award winning singer Patti Labelle.
We Bring It All Together (late 1980s–early 1990s) Main slogan for Safeway locations in Canada.
Giving Our Best (2001–2005)
Vons is Value (mid-to-late 1990s) — Used only for Vons stores in Southern California. This was the first Vons ad campaign since Safeway took over ownership of the chain.
Delivering Our Best (late 1990s–2005) Used only for Vons stores in Southern California, as a regional variant of the Safeway slogan.
Today's Better Way (1990s) Main slogan for Safeway locations in Canada before Giving Our Best was used in the early 2000s.
Ingredients for life (2005–present)

SCOP: Safeway Category Optimization Process
Safeway recently transitioned from regional control of their product assortments to national category management, known as the Safeway Category Optimization Process or SCOP. With all dry grocery corporate buying done from Safeway's Pleasanton offices, it is said it will increase representation of manufacturers by experienced sales professionals with extensive product and category knowledge. Corporate produce buying offices are located in Phoenix Arizona. This will mean consistency across the Safeway chain, meaning one could go into a store in Winnipeg or San Francisco and find the same products at the same price as all negotiation is now done at the corporate level.

Safeway music
Safeway Music is provided by InStore Broadcasting Network, giving store personnel a variety of songs to play for shoppers. The satellite network also beams commercials and advertisements for Safeway products and brands that play intermittently with the music.

Healthy Measures Employee Insurance Plan
Safeway has designed an innovative, market-based employee health insurance plan that has kept per capita health-care costs flat between 2005-2009 (that includes both the employee and the employer portion), while most American companies' costs have increased 38% over the same four years.

The Safeway Healthy Measures plan capitalizes on two key insights. The first is that 70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior. The second insight is that 74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions: cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. Furthermore, 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable, 60% of cancers are preventable, and more than 90% of obesity is preventable. Safeway's insurance program focuses on tobacco usage, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, utilizing a provision in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that permits employers to differentiate premiums based on behaviors.

Safeway's Healthy Measures program is completely voluntary and currently covers 74% of the insured nonunion work force. Employees are tested for the four measures cited above and receive premium discounts off a "base level" premium for each test they pass. Data is collected by outside parties and not shared with company management. If they pass all four tests, annual premiums are reduced $780 for individuals and $1,560 for families. Should they fail any or all tests, they can be tested again in 12 months. If they pass or have made appropriate progress on something like obesity, the company provides a refund equal to the premium differences established at the beginning of the plan year.

Radio program (UK): Linda Smith's A Brief History of Time Wasting


A situation comedy written by and starring Linda Smith. It debuted on Radio 4, and is now repeated regularly on BBC Radio 7.

Linda Helen Smith (29 January 1958 – 27 February 2006) was an English stand-up comic and comedy writer. She was a regular Radio 4 panellist, being voted "Wittiest Living Person" by listeners in 2002. She met her partner, Warren Lakin, at university, and they were together for nearly 30 years until her death. She died of cancer.

A Brief History of Time Wasting
Linda Smith’s A Brief History of Timewasting was a BBC Radio 4 situation comedy series written by and starring the late Linda Smith. It ran for two series of six episodes each from July 2001 until July 2002.

Set in East London, where Smith herself lived, A Brief History of Timewasting concerned the struggle of a single woman to fill the day, helped by her inept, sugar-loving, live-in builder Chris (Chris Neill), morbid elderly neighbour Betty (Margaret John), and Cab driver Worra (Femi Elufowoju Junior). Supporting roles were played by Jeremy Hardy and Martin Hyder. Many familiar voices from Radio 4, including then-chief announcer Peter Donaldson, Thought for the Day regular Rabbi Lionel Blue, and Woman's Hour stalwart Jenni Murray appeared as themselves.

Series 1
1/6. Buying a new carpet sweeper for her neighbour turns into a major operation.
2/6. At an exhibition, Linda tries getting her neighbour's Jack the Ripper letters valued.
3/6. When neighbour Betty gets involved with Ground Force, an unlikely team of gardeners arrives.
4/6. Linda and chums head to the coast, letting the train increase the strain.
5/6. As neighbour Betty plans building a mausoleum, Linda gets a visit from Rob Newman and Jeremy Hardy.
6/6. Linda's procrastinating live-in builder finds fame and Betty's got worries. With Mark Steel.

Series 1 Airdates and Titles
Episode Original Airdate Title
1 12 July 2001 The Carpet Sweeper
2 19 July 2001 East End Mafia
3 26 July 2001 Opera, Gas and Gardening
4 02 August 2001 A Day Trip To Romney Marsh
5 09 August 2001 Coffins, Funerals and Nursing Homes
6 16 August 2001 999 Emergency

Series 2
Episode Original Airdate Title
1 04 June 2002 Fragile Peace
2 11 June 2002 Poltergeist
3 18 June 2002 Museum Of East End Life
4 25 June 2002 New Islington
5 02 July 2002 Neighbourhood Watch
6 09 July 2002 The End Of Timewasting

Monday, October 18, 2010

Radio program (UK): The Devil in Amber


Aired on BBC Radio 7.

The author is Mark Gatiss, who also reads his own work. Gatiss (born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series' Doctor Who and Sherlock.

The Devil in Amber was first published as a novel in 2006, and is the sequel to The Vesuvius Club.
It is twenty years after the events of the first Lucifer Box novel, The Vesuvius Club. Lucifer Box, portrait painter, wit, dandy, rake and occasional assassin for His Majesty's Government, has aged well despite the loss of his valet (and lover) Charlie Jackpot in undisclosed events related to First World War espionage in 1917.

The novel opens in New York at sometime in the 1920s after attending to a routine assassination that does not go smoothly. Threatened with retirement by his superiors, Box is assigned to investigate an Anglo-American fascist fraternity, FAUST (the Fellowship of Anglo-United States Trust), and its sinister leader, Olympus Mons. Sal Volatile, an informant, assists him and provides intriguing hints at some wider, dire threat to the world presented by the organisation's interest in the occult, but is soon murdered and Box is framed for the crime.

On the run and hunted by his own organisation, Box is left with little choice but to follow the trail Sal Volatile has shown him, even if it leads to the Devil himself.

Part 1:
Dandy secret agent Lucifer Box investigates who's behind dodgy, drug-related dealings in 1920s Manhattan. Read by the author.

Part 2:
Dandy spy hero Lucifer Box is accused of murder - as he probes a nasty Fascist cult in 1920s New York. Read by the author.

Part 3:
Falsely charged with murder - dandy spy hero Lucifer Box has fled New York aboard a mysterious ship. Read by the author.

Part 4:
Dandy spy-hero Lucifer Box must rescue the 'perfect victim' to foil Olympus Mons' plan to raise the devil.

Part 5:
Time's running out for spy-hero Lucifer Box. Can he reach evil Olympus Mons' lair in time to save the world? Read by the author.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Radio Program (UK): Millport

THIS EXHIBIT IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.


Millport was written by and starred Lynn Ferguson (who is the sister of Craig Ferguson, whom American audiences might kow as a late night TV talk show host and prior to that, as Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's boss on the Drew Carey Show.) Amricans might know Lynn Ferguson's voice, at least, as Mac from the movie Chicken Run.

It is aired regularly on the digital radio station BBC Radio 7.

Irene Bruce - Lynn Ferguson
Agnes/Moira - Janet Brown
Alberto/Robert the Dog/Ferryman/Morris - Lewis MacLeod
Minister/Bob - Robert Paterson
Ena/Bunty - Gabriel Quigley
Dougie - Kenneth Bryans

Irene Bruce is a barmaid in the tiny village of Millport on the isle of Cumbrae, which has (in this program, anyway) only a handful of inhabitants. She lives with her sister, but yearns for the bright lights and big cities of the Scottish mainland. But no matter how hard she tries, it seems she can never escape from Millport.
Series 1 - to be added

Series 2:
Episode 1 - Happy Returns
It's Irene's 33rd birthday - so the island inhabitants have some surprises on the way. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From April 2001.

Episode 2 - (no title given)
Irene enlists Bob's help when strange events send the tiny Scottish island into disarray. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 3 - Avowal
Village disputes abound - but how will they be solved, if no-one is talking to each other? Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 4 - Story
Tales are being told in the town. Moira's acting oddly, Bob's ignored and Irene's confused. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 5 - Growth
The islanders are bitten by a fitness bug - and an inspector arrives to check Bunty's veg. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 6 - The Verdict
The islanders unite to save The Cumbrae Bar, but will Irene fight or head to the mainland?

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Historical Markers, Texas: The Canadian River


Along 287N driving north across Texas up to Colorado. Again, can't really remember the towns I was passing by where these historical markers were. Put it up to the stress of the trip. Hopefully I can take another trip down here in a year or so and get more information.

And truth to tell, you can't see a river from where this marker is. Perhaps this is the Texan dry season?

The Text:
A travel route and dwelling site for over 12,000 years, the Canadian River supported stone and adobe Indian villages from the 12th to the 14th centuries.

This waterway was also one of the first interior rivers of the U.S. known to early explorers. Coronado coming from Mexico crossed the Canadian in 1541 in his search for the famed city of Quivera. Juan De Chate, also seeking Quivera, saw th eriver in 1601. The Canadian traders Pierre and Paul Mallet followed it in 1741. Josiah Gregg, famous Missouri traer, took 125,000 worth of goods to Santa Fe along the river trails in 1821. Gold seekers bound for California were escorted along the trails in 1849 by Army Captain R.B. Marcy.

During its history, the river has borne many names. The origin of the word "Canadian" is disputed. A possible source is the Caddo word "Nanchating" which means "red river." Some think it was named by the French-Canadians who traveled it in the 1700s, while others believe the river is called "Canadian" simply because rises in a "canyon" (from the Spanish word meaning "boxed in."

Beginning near the Colorado-New Mexico line in the Sangre de Christo mountains, the Canadian flows 900 miles. Its course runs southeast, then east until it finally joins the Arkansas 36 miles from Fort Smith.

Ronald McDonald: Ronald McDonald on Horse



I was driving my elderly mother to Cheyenne, WY on Sunday, Oct 10, 2010 and was feeling a bit stressed out, therefore I neglected to get the street address of this particular McDonalds, but I am going to assume that every McDonalds in Amarillo has a Ronald McDonald-on-horseback sculpture.

It's marred of course by the admonition to not climb on the horse.

In any event, it was the McDonald's off of 287N heading into Colorado.

Restaurant review
According to my mother, the cheeseburger she had was terrible and the fries didn't have any salt on them, but then, she's on meds which may effect her taste buds. I had Chicken Selects which seemed to taste the same as usual.

History of Ronald McDonald (from Wikipedia)
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and The Fry Kids. In recent years, McDonaldland has been largely phased out, and Ronald is instead shown interacting with normal kids in their everyday lives.

Many people work full-time making appearances in the Ronald McDonald costume, visiting children in hospitals. There are also Ronald McDonald Houses, where parents can stay overnight when visiting sick children in nearby chronic care facilities. Since August 2003, McDonald has been officially styled as the "Chief Happiness Officer" of the McDonald's Corporation.

History
Willard Scott

The origin of Ronald McDonald involves Willard Scott (a local radio personality who also played Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1959 until 1962), who performed using the moniker "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" in 1963 on three separate television spots. These were the first three television ads featuring the character.

Scott, who went on to become NBC-TV's Today Show weatherman, claims to have "created Ronald McDonald" according to the following excerpt from his book Joy of Living:

At the time, Bozo was the hottest children's show on the air. You could probably have sent Pluto the Dog or Dumbo the Elephant over and it would have been equally as successful. But I was there, and I was Bozo ... There was something about the combination of hamburgers and Bozo that was irresistible to kids ... That's why when Bozo went off the air a few years later, the local McDonald's people asked me to come up with a new character to take Bozo's place. So, I sat down and created Ronald McDonald.

George Voorhis/Terry Teene
George Voorhis was a late 20th-century American performer who performed under various monikers as a clown. He claims to have been the original Ronald McDonald. A 1963 newspaper clipping from the Valley News (a San Fernando Valley newspaper) identifies George Voorhis as Ronald McDonald at a "local McDonald's restaurant".[citation needed] According to George Voorhis and Terry Teene, in the early part of 1963, the pair created the original character and design of American advertising icon Ronald McDonald, including costume (featuring "French-fry bag pockets") and facial design, for a hired performance at a local Los Angeles, California area McDonald's restaurant.

McDonald's version
McDonald's does not mention Voorhis or claim that Willard Scott created Ronald in their statement:

"The smile known around the world," Ronald McDonald is second only to Santa Claus in terms of recognition. (According to one survey, 96% of all school kids in the United States of America recognize Ronald (stunning-stuff.com)).

In 1965, Roy Burgold assigned Aye Jaye as Boss Clown worldwide in charge of hiring, writing, creating shows, media handling, training, and major events such as The White House appearances, Macy Days, etc., and finally opening Ronald worldwide for 35 years. Aye Jaye was responsible for the hiring of hundreds of past field Ronalds.

Circus performer Coco the Clown (real name Michael Polakovs) was hired in 1966 to revamp Ronald's image, and it was he who created the now familiar costume and make-up.

On March 28, 2000, Henry Gonzalez, McDonald's Northeast Division President, thanked Willard Scott for creating Ronald McDonald, during a taped tribute to Scott on the Today Show.

In 2010, the Corporate Accountability International in Boston, Massachusetts suggested Ronald McDonald to retire due to childhood obesity, however McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner said there are no plans to retire Ronald McDonald.

Actors
Willard Scott as Ronald McDonald, from the first of three pre-recorded television advertisements to feature Ronald. Note the "food-tray hat".

At any given time, there are dozens to hundreds of actors retained by McDonald's to appear as Ronald McDonald in restaurants and events. It is assumed, however, that the company uses only one actor at a time to play the character in national television commercials. Following is a list of such primary Ronald actors.

Willard Scott (Washington, D.C. 1963–1965)
Bev Bergeron (Southern California, 1966–1968)
George Voorhis (Southern California, 1968–1988)
Ray Rayner (1968–1969)
Bob Brandon (1970–1975)
King Moody (1975–1984)
Squire Fridell (1984–1991)
Jack Doepke (1990–1995)
Viv Weekes
David Hussey
Joe Maggard (1995–2007)
Brad Lennon (2007–present)

Various forms of the name "Ronald McDonald" as well as costume clown face persona, etc. are registered trademarks of McDonald's. McDonald's trains performers to portray Ronald using identical mannerisms and costume, to contribute to the illusion that they are one character.

McDonald's marketing designers and stylists changed elements of the Ronald McDonald character, persona, style, costume and clown face when they adopted the clown as a trademark, possibly in deference to "The Code", the tradition of clowns to scrupulously avoid copying other clowns' appearance or performance style.

Saturday, October 9, 2010