CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

Zebra Horse wins NW Halloween parade

SO THIS IS THE “ZORSE”? “Yes, this is Oxford, the Zebra Horse. We ran out of paint and patience to do the other side. HOW DID HE COME TO BE? “One of the instructors said, ‘Oh, you should make him a zebra’ and I thought that was too much work. But then when I heard about some of the other costumes they sounded pretty good so I thought I had to do a really good costume if we were going to win because Oxford’s a former race horse so I know he’s competitive and he’d want to win." Kristen Kavanagh Bowman with Oxford, “Best in Show” Northwestern Equestrian Facility Halloween Costume Parade.Watch video clip here.

Cardiologist supports universal health coverage, introduces prominent health care industry critic

 

“I am a cardiologist and a consumer of health care as well and it is clear to me that the present health care system is deeply flawed and reform is urgently needed and, I believe, inevitable. Looking back to my years in medical school, I remember how we would discuss the impending Clinton reform proposal. We had such clarity and certainty that universal health care was a right, a necessity and that obviously the way to achieve universal health coverage would be through a public option. In my entire medical school class, we wall started out believing this. Now as time went on, as actual practicing physicians, our stance on some details may have shifted a bit and for some, quite a bit. But believe it or not, most physicians I know are still in favor of universal coverage and many are in favor of the public option.” Niku Thomas, Einstein Medical Center Cardiologist, right, introducing Wendell Potter, former head of corporate communications for CIGNA, now a vocal critic of the health insurance industry. Germantown Mennonite Church. Click here to see video.

Free gluten free tastings coming to Poppy's Seed Bakery

WHEN DID YOU START CARRY THE GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS? “We originally started six months ago. We were starting to get inquiries from our customers and that’s what really led us into it... Amanda and I were down at the Appetite for Awareness at the Wachovia Center two weeks ago and that was the national celiac convention basically and we made some really great contacts….DO YOU DO ANY OF YOUR OWN BAKING? Nothing at all with the gluten-free. It’s such detailed and specific requirements and that’s one of the reasons it’s difficult to find real quality gluten free. A lot of the big bakeries aren’t involved in it at this point because everything has to be separate, all their equipment that’s being used. Like for me, I can’t buy a loaf of gluten free bread and bring it to my slicer and slice it. That automatically cross-contaminates it so that’s one of the reasons we have stayed out of trying to create it and just put lots of research into traveling all around to find the products that people are already doing a great job with. .. We’re going to begin to set up a time to advertise to our customers that we’re going to be doing some taste testing. ...Now we have some of our breads out taste-testing but I’d like to do it on a bigger scale.” Ron Loux with granddaughter Amanda Yoder and wife Bev, Poppy’s Seed Bakery, Chestnut Hill Farmer’s Market. Click here to see video interview.

Polar bears cannibalizing each other according to Greenpeace Frontliner

 

“I’ll use my microcosmic example with my friend the polar bear here. So, as a result of the warming of the globe, arctic ice is melting and because of that, the polar bears who hunt from this ice, are resorting to cannibalism for the first time in recorded history.” Kat Johnston. Greenpeace frontliner outside Wachovia Bank, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA. Watch video interview here.

Marketing women: people mixing up business and personal lives online

 

“I think it’s important that as professionals we’re able to differentiate what materials in our personal and professional life are consumable by everyone versus- , Kimberly Stever, eastwtick marketing. “Right, and the other things people are having problems with, I’m seeing a lot, is they’ll go on something like Twitter and they can’t tell who they should be when and where. So you’ll get people either acting like robots where it’s a quote a day and you feel it’s not the actual real person that’s speaking or else you’ll get someone that is mixing up a business message with a family message. Beth Brodovsky, iris creative Strategic Membership Communications.

See video of their conversation here.