If the news is true and Applebee's is intentionally falsifying the calorie and fat information for the Weight Watchers portion of their menu, I can not say that I would not be very disappointed with the restaurant chain.

There is currently a class action lawsuit against Applebee's and Weight Watchers because a number of menu items from Applebee's Weight Watchers selection had a good deal more calories and fat than advertised on the menu.

Initially, my attitude towards this lawsuit is somewhat lackadaisical, outside of my usual disdain for human-kind's unwavering need to sue the pants off of anyone with more expensive pants.  But this morning I was watching the Today show and saw something that I felt was very irresponsible journalism.  And I'm hadly lackadaisical when it comes to other people's stupidity.

First, watch the video here.

They start off by saying that the menu items will cause you to GAIN weight instead of lose weight, as if to imply that the menu items in question are actually, not higher in calories and fat that advertised, but rather higher in calories and fat than the other items on the Applebee's menu that are not "Weight Watchers" items.  They inform a number of Applebee's customers of the potential discrepancy in the menu and note the reactions of the customers, "I was probably going to try (the Weight Watchers menu items), but I guess with what you just said I might think twice about it."

Look lady... you're there now, you're going to order something... what's the better option?  The shrimp and parmesan smothered steak?  A rack of honey BBQ baby back ribs?  A chicken finger platter?  Regardless of whether or not Applebees did publish incorrect information on their menu or not, the FACT remains that ALL of the choices on the Weight Watchers menu are far, far better choices than ANYTHING else on the Applebee's menu (or any other chain restaurant's menu for that matter).  Yu don't need a PhD in agricultural science to know that smaller portions, fewer sauces, less deep frying, all of the characteristics that separate the items on the Weight Watcher's menu from the regular menu, are the perfect strategy to reducing calorie and fat intake.  But I suppose you DO need to be smarter than your average NBC reporter to know that.  Mozzarella sticks anyone?

Chantel's pictures used to be hosted on Tripod at http://chantelamber.tripod.com.  I know that dealing with implanted banner ads and random pop up ads comes with the territory when using a free service to host your photos, but when I recently visited Chantel's site on Tripod, I was apalled to find that there were so many banner ads across the top of the site that any pictures of Chantel on the page were pushed mostly below the fold.  There used to only be one above and one below, but not anymore.

No more.

Everything is now here at http://www.jongerow.com/ChantelAmber/  Of course, these are only pictures from birth to two years of age as everything after early 2005 is buried in the Blog somewhere (something I'm sure Grandma would rather I not do).

On the surface, one could say "slow news day", but for the wing eater, the rising price of chicken and one of the nation's largest chicken wing producers filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy means a buffalo wing shortage!

"Food suppliers the region over report that several unrelated circumstances are combining for shortages and even brief outages in their chicken wing stockpiles. The end result has been a spike in the price restaurants and bars are paying — $15 to $20 more than normal for a 50-lb case."

"A major poultry farm in Texas, Pilgrim’s Pride, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, reducing supplies. Add to that a national demand far exceeding other times of the year and wing prices, unlike the chickens themselves, have soared."

"While a long-term production shortage might be more likely because of the failure at Pilgrim’s Pride, Cysco’s buyer in Falconer, N.Y., Bill Paul, said the shortage is due more to the season. He cited high demand combined with holiday time off at all poultry farms as the culprit."

"Companies like McDonald’s and KFC can impact the market in a major way by creating new short-term menu specials with chicken wings. The boost in their orders alone can have a drastic impact on supplies nationwide and take many of the wings slated for the Buffalo/Niagara area out of circulation."

Read the full story at the Tonawanda (NY) News.

FYI:  Shortly after this picture was taken, my camera froze.  Literally... it's now completely dead.

What happens is the condensation in the air freezes to the PCB.  When it thaws, it turns into water and that shorts out the circuit board.

I'm going to wait another 24 hours or so to see if the camera comes back to life, but right now it looks like I'm in the market for another camera.

UPDATE!  It took more than 24 hours, but it looks like the camera is ok!  Whew!  It was going to cost me $200 to get another one like it off of eBay! 

Oh my GOD! 

For my last night in Vegas, I walked around with my camera... 

Here's the Hooters Casino, formerly the San Remo (until 2006), located across Flamingo from the MGM.

Looking North up Las Vegas Blvd. from the walkway that connects MGM Grand with New York, New York.

Here's the Excalibur at night.

Here's a picture from the walkway that connects New York, New York with Excalibur, facing East down Tropicana.

Here's the old Tropicana.

This picture was taken from the walkway that goes from the Tropicana to the MGM, crossing Tropicana Avenue, just East of Las Vegas Blvd.  In the background is New York, New York.  In the foreground is the giant bronze MGM lion statue.

Nine Fine Irishmen is an Irish Bar inside New York, New York.  Sorry about the blur, but it's VERY dark inside New York, New York and the slow shutter required that I stand perfectly still (impossible for me).

Inside Nine Fine Irishmen, the house band "Sin e Ri-Ra" plays Irish folk music.  This picture was taken from the balcany where there's a second bar.

It didn't take us long to move downstairs.

I have no idea who this is.

On the first day in Vegas, I walked down to the Walgreens on Las Vegas Blvd. for some water and some SD cards we needed.  I snapped pictures of some of the hotels on the way.

Here's a couple pictures of "New York, York" located across Las Vegas Blvd. from the MGM.

Caddy corner from the MGM is the Excalibur, a castle themed hotel.

Directly across from the Walgreens is the Monte Carlo.

I went to Vegas with BFG for CES this year.  I acted like a tourist whenever I wasn't working and took some pictures.  Here's some pictures from the MGM Grand where I was staying:

This is the giant, 50 ton, 45 foot tall bronze lion statue that stands in front of the MGM Grand at the corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd.

Here's the marquee in front of the MGM Grand.  The escalator goes up to the walkway that crosses Las Vegas Blvd. and over to New York, New York.

One of the big attractions at the MGM Grand is the lion and lioness they have on display.  Above is a picture of the lion laying down on the Plexiglas that covers the walkway through the exhibit.

Sorry for the blurry pictures.  The Plexiglas is very thick and reflect a flash and my hands are too shaky for a good slow shutter picture.

Here's another close up picture of the resting lion.  He was pretty lazy the whole time I was there.

The lioness was quite a bit more active and willing to play with a ball and pose for the audience. 

In a whole, my experience at MGM Grand wasn't too great.  I've been to Vegas at least half a dozen times and this is the first time I stayed at the MGM.  I upgraded my room for $15 additional.  This moved me from a "typical" sized hotel room to one with a living room area.  Well, it turns out they were doing plumbing on my floor so the whole floor smelled like feces.  Whenever the people upstairs flushed the toilet or ran the water, the pipes would rattle in all three sinks (two basins in the bathroom and one sink at a kitchen counter type area between the living room area and bed area.)  The particle board of my "kitchenette" counter was flaking and my towels were often dirty, despite being neatly folded and put on a shelf. 

Any ways... enough bitching about my room.  I have more pictures that I'll upload in a little bit.