We got away with it. Pulled it off. It was like we were Bonnie and Clyde robbing a bank. We made off with not thousands, but trillions. And hehe, to this day they never caught us. And what did we do to feel like bank robbers? I’ll confess, Gov. DeSantis. Before the sun came up … More Sorry Gov, we couldn’t stand being holed up in our condo
“Should we put PR on hold until after the Coronavirus Crisis?” We’re receiving questions like this from major clients of our PR firm, TransMedia Group. Here’s my answer to one of our clients, Hollywood celebrity hair stylist Donna Marie Fischetto, whose clients include Diane Keaton, Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Banks, Tina Fey, Hugh Jackman, Cynthia Nixon, … More Besides Masks and Quarantines, Celebrity Hair Stylist Donna Marie Sees a Role for Beauty to Play in Beating the Beast
Raul Santos Seixas was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer, who was known as the “Father of Brazilian Rock.” He was also known as “Maluco Beleza,” roughly translated as “Groovy Nutcase.” Below is his hit “O Dia Em que a Terra Parou” recorded in 1977, the latter becoming the anthem of the then … More ‘The Day the Earth Stopped,’ a song by Brazilian singer/songwriter Raul Seixas Popular in Brazil nearly 50 years ago, may have seen the coronavirus coming
With the amount of business closings and layoffs in the largest metropolitan centers like Miami, New York, Los Angeles due do the coronavirus, it is reasonable to assume there may be more desperate people in the streets, so be careful. Some of these unfortunate people might resort to holdups in the streets to replace their … More Sometimes Laughter Helps to Relieve the Tension
Borrowing from President Roosevelt’s “A Date That Will Live In Infamy” speech following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, here’s what President Trump might say about the coronavirus, this newest invader causing World War III. The United States of America will take whatever measures are necessary for our defense against this dastardly and deadly … More Take it from a veteran speechwriter, here’s the speech I’d recommend our President consider making titled: This Villainous Virus Shall ‘Live in Infamy’
My husband and I were walking on the beach and saw this nice-looking couple working with a coconut shell. This was their first tentative creation. On the way back we saw two little boats floating. It was so beautiful to see a couple building a project together, almost like they were “Love Boats,” almost like … More Two little coconut shells become beautiful boats
Sure. A lot of people write books, but this one is personal. Frank, true and eye opening! If you’re ever thinking about online dating, read it. Think of my latest book, “Love Boat 78,” as a four-corner stop sign. Before proceeding, stop and read it. Then date with caution, keeping in mind the things that … More Don’t Go on Internet Dating Sites Until You Read This Book, ‘Love Boat 78,’ Now On Amazon
Three things we crisis managers learn early on is the mantra: Tell It All, Tell It Early, Tell It Yourself, which has been repeated so often it’s almost a cliché, but it works! I would add one more: NO MASKS ON COMMUNICATIONS, JUST OVER NOSES AND MOUTHS! When a crisis rears its ugly head, like the … More Yes, Wear Masks for Protection, But Take Them Off Communications
A hair hero of mine, Sy Sperling, has departed. He was the well-groomed hair apparent we loved to promote. All of us at his former PR firm, TransMedia Group, will miss him dearly, especially that dry humor of his that made him so popular, not to mention a fortune. Sy dedicated his successful career to … More Sy Sperling, founder of Hair Club for Men, who was also a client and also my client with whom we had hair-raising adventures filming his life story in New York
I once had the privilege, pain and precarious position of being Fred Silverman’s right-hand man at NBC back in the heyday of network television when I was Vice President, Assistant to the President, who was then the TV programming wunderkind himself. Before that, I worked with Fred at ABC, where I was Director of PR. … More Last month, the television industry lost a legendary executive and producer, Fred Silverman. He was my friend and former boss at ABC and NBC. With him, I was a part of TV history. Here is the Fred I knew, loved and occasionally feared when he was in one of his testy moods. I am sending this on President’s Day as he was my CEO.
Did you know Cats, rabbits, turtles and birds might soon be grounded! I say that allowing only dogs to fly as emotional support for airline passengers calls for crisis management for cats, rabbits, turtles and birds. Could such restrictions really fly? If so, then I’m in favor of launching a PR campaign to avoid a … More CRISIS MANAGEMENT FOR CATS TO AVOID A CATTASTROPHE
PARK CITY, UTAH.–It was cold, crowded and crawling with film buffs once again at Sundance Film Festival. Occasional snowflake flurries were hardly noticed. Same with the snow-covered mountains surrounding bustling Main Street where daily temperatures were down in the 20s. There was lots of excitement, however. Busy goings on. Screenings galore. I was in one … More Was there SUN at SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL? It was more SNOWDANCE, but still FUNDANCE!
Fresh out of college, one of my first jobs was in advertising at Lennen & Newell, Inc., then a famous powerhouse Madison Avenue ad agency behemoth in Manhattan. One of the accounts I worked on there was Kent Cigarettes with the Micronite Filter. Unfortunately, the filter turned out to be as unhealthy as the cigarette … More Ahh the things you do for money
Tonight Rita and I and two friends of ours, one with a bell ringer last name that evokes oohhs and aahhs whenever we introduce him, will be tasting the finest vintage wines with the wealthiest vintage voters for President Trump at his posh Palm Beach peachy residence, Mar-a-Lago. Am I a Republican? Not sure, but … More You Ask What I’m Doing Here Tonight? Oh, Just Wandering Through a Wine Tasting at That Wealth Mecca, Mar-a-Lago
Remember that “you’ve got mail” sound effect back to the early days of America Online (AOL) that would make you crow or cringe each morning? Well now the uplifting message is “you’ve got winks,” that is if you’re one of the millions who belong to Internet dating sites like MillionaireMatch.com. At the suggestion of a … More Is There a Peloton That Not Only Flattens Your Stomach, But Widens Your Winks to Attractive Women?
You might say Philadelphia for me was a kind of a Rosette Nebula in my peripatetic life. For once upon a time I was a seedling in that searing cloud of gas and dust hugging Delaware Valley, working my tail off, searching for true meaning and substance to give to that cluster of stars, Temple, … More My Former Stomping Grounds, the News Room at The Philadelphia Inquirer
It’s part of the ups and downs of hi-rise living on the oceanfront in Florida . . . that mindless malady commonly known as forgetfulness. Or absentmindedness. Fortunately, its only downsides are wasting time and elevator fatigue. We condo dwellers have a habit of forgetting our wallets, our car keys, grocery lists, that letter to … More There’s an Ailment Afoot in Condos Causing Elevator Fatigue
HOUSTON, TX.—No, your honor, this isn’t a song. It’s a case about muddy waters of innocence versus injustice clear as a bell. When DA Kim Ogg cites “muddy waters” in trying to block evidentiary hearings for Lamar Burks, she’s not referring to the late blues giant whose vocals and piercing slide guitar we hear in … More Could This Be The Muddy Waters Kim Ogg’s Worried About?
My Baton, Please, For Our Next Number, Ukrainian Violinist ASSIA’s U.S. City Concert Tour Commencing Jan. 15 in Charlotte, NC I like to think of PR as music. Symphonic. Jazz. Waltz. Whatever. Even hip-hop. PR programs are all like musical arrangements. When you conduct a successful orchestral PR campaign, you not only elate audiences, but … More Conducting The PR Orchestra!
Now spread love to love’s adorable offspring, children #GivingTuesday As a writer, wordsmith and Spin Man, my mind tends to work in words strung together to make hopefully memorable, quotable points about something so deserving, worth preserving: LOVE! So here are my thoughts after a second marriage. They’re deLIGHT YEARS from any second thoughts and … More LOVE IS LOVELIER THE SECOND TIME AROUND
I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself now that the hearings are over. I’m going to be in quid pro quo withdrawal. How am I going to Schiff into low gear. I’m sure going to miss hearing whether there was a quid pro quo or not by our witchhunted President. Hopefully there … More NOW THAT IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS ARE OVER, I GOT THE ‘QUID PRO QUO’ BLUES
You’ve no doubt heard of a floating crap game. Well get ready for the first floating pool table during this year’s Winterfest Boat Parade. Thanks to The North Miami Police Athletic League (PAL) co- sponsoring Billiards by Brandt’s entry into this year’s Winterfest boat parade, you’ll be seeing one float by onboard one of the … More Aye Aye, Captain Dan, eight ball in starboard pocket on first pool table aboard Winterfest Boat Parade
TRY REDEMPTIVE PR ON THE ROCKS WITH A SPLASH OF JUSTICE To whomever speaks pejoratively about PR i.e., is this true or just PR, I would say PR can perform nobly and be almost religiously redemptive when empowered by a shot of truth on the rocks with a splash of justice. It can be the … More REDEMPTIVE PR TO THE RESCUE
Hidden Messages Behind Public Speaking Over the years I’ve coached a broad range of clients toward the goal of making their public speaking and media appearances more effective. My clients have included the CEO’s of many of the largest, most successful companies in America, which leads me to my first point. Successful entrepreneurs and leaders … More ONLY HE COULD WEAR ALL DARK CLOTHES AND STILL BE A BRIGHT LIGHT TO HIS AUDIENCE
So, we finally arrive at the Hard Rock. It was a cramped, uncomfortable flight to Atlantic City on Spirit, but the Crown Royals kept our spirits up. Now here we are at the glitzy casino palace where I’m to meet my daughter Robin for the first time. Jackpot! The jitney stops alongside the first of … More Here’s What I Used to Do Way Back–Drummin’
I hadn’t been back to my hometown in over 30 years, so everyone is asking me “how was Atlantic City?” This was after Rita and I had visited there one chilly late October weekend. Keep in mind, we’re from sunny, Boca Raton, Florida, so chilly for us is anything under 80 degrees and there it’s … More Here I am, an ex-Atlantic City Lifeguard, standing on the boardwalk in front of AC Beach Patrol headquarters with my new wife Rita.
NOW IN SESSION Burks murder conviction is under review after another man admits on-camera he was the shooter, not Burks who wasn’t even at … More WE’LL FIND OUT AT A HEARING TOMORROW (10/29) IF THERE’S JUSTICE IN HOUSTON FOR LAMAR BURKS
Q: What does Savannah, a Lake Charles casino and a prisoner in Houston serving 70 years for a murder new evidence is showing he didn’t commit have in common? A: Money! That’s because innocence has a price tag not everyone can afford. Take the case of Lamar Burks who has a hearing scheduled Oct. 29 … More MAY IT RING OUT AGAIN FOR FREEDOM FOR THOSE INNOCENT WHO ARE IMPRISONED LIKE LAMAR BURKS IN HOUSTON
(Click on picture to see Ticktin talk) Peter, WOW! Just watched Debbie’s recording. God bless your wife for capturing it for us and for posterity as our videographer was hurt on the way to the AMPFest conference at the Trump Doral Hotel when a careless driver rear-ended her truck. Yes indeed, Peter Ticktin deserves a … More What’s more satisfying than when a client you’ve been coaching on a speech hits it out of the park?
HELLO HOUSTON, TX.–Here’s Witness Subpoena List Ex Parte Lamar Burks Case #08439680101C concerning our client whom we firmly, no absolutely, incontestably believe, has spent 19 years in prison here for a murder he could not have committed as there’s hard evidence he wasn’t even in Texas when it happened. Attached please find a list of material … More TELL ME THIS MAN’S A MURDERER AND I’VE GOT A BRIDGE I CAN SELL YOU
This is one of the many questions Lamar Burks has been struggling with while stuck in a Texas prison for the past 19 years for a murder that new evidence is showing he could not possibly have committed. An organization called the Innocence Project in Texas is beginning to wonder the same thing. So many other pieces of evidence have emerged lately that are strongly suggesting, maybe screaming … More QUESTION: HOW COULD LAMAR BURKS HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF MURDERING SOMEONE IN TEXAS WHILE HE WAS AT HIS SISTER’S WEDDING IN LOUISIANA?
Remember the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? Well, in February 2019 I became the Tom Hanks character. Only I was sleepless in Boca Raton, Florida, following the death of my beautiful wife Angela who finally lost her brave 10-year battle with breast cancer. One night my poor darling slipped … More ONCE UPON A TIME I WAS SLEEPLESS IN BOCA
This is what I tell those impatient PR clients whose expectations are way over-the-top unrealistic: Well, you see sir, PR takes a little time before everyone knows who you are, recognizes your brand and wants to join your club. You must give it a little more time to work as first you have to plant … More Hey, It’s Been Well Over Month Now. So Why Aren’t I Famous and Walking Down the Red Carpet Yet?
A freelance writer’s query the other day on a service we subscribe to called ProfNet got me thinking about this. ProfNet is a product of Cision whereby journalists announce they’re working on a story and looking for experts to interview. It’s a way for a PR firm like mine, TransMedia Group, to suggest a client … More HOW SHOULD GOOGLE PUT A LID ON POLITICAL DISCUSSION IN THE WORKPLACE SO EMPLOYEES CAN CONCENTRATE ON WORK?
Here’s a preview of my latest book “Love Boat 78,” which will be out this fall published by Mascot Books and soon available on Amazon, Kindle and in bookstores. It’s about the new ways men and women find each other today online . . . how quickly they think they fall in love or just … More LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE ONLINE PLACES
Yes, for South Florida, Cat 5 Hurricane Dorian was quite a Labor Day disruptor Throughout “dangerously threatened” Palm Beach County so visibly vulnerable on the many ominous illustrations accompanying the incessant TV weather reports, Labor Day sales sank to a new low in a … More NOBODY’S TALKING ABOUT WHAT DORIAN DID TO OUR POOR SEA TURTLES
What’s wrong with switching sides if you see someone you once admired not living up to your ideals? Or not making the country you love “great again” . . . beyond just a slogan! Didn’t Ronald Reagan begin as a Hollywood Democrat, and wasn’t Franklin D. Roosevelt one of his “true heroes?” So was Reagan a turncoat … More Would You Call ‘The Mooch’ a Turncoat, or worse, a Benedict Arnold, for Turning Against His One-Time Hero, President Trump? Hardly!
That’s right. My PR firm, TransMedia Group. is predicting waves of enchantingly revealing sessions for our new clairvoyant client . . . Jessica. When a spiritualist as extraordinarily gifted as Jessica sees you booking her at more events and making her more spiritually famous, you’d better live up to her prediction. I wish I had had a psychic … More Yes, I Can See South Florida Spiritualist, Astrologer and Palm Reader ‘Jessica’ In My Crystal Making Predictions . . . Perhaps at Your Next Party
That’s what the no-nonsense emissary from the Soviet Union, Nina Ivanovna “Ninotchka” Yakushova (Greta Garbo) wonders when she arrives in Paris in my favorite film, the classic Ernst Lubitsch-directed, Academy-Award nominated Ninotchka. She is calculating that one cow can feed many of her hungry communist comrades, while what her foolish comrades outrageously spend on a … More DEMOCRATS and REPUBLICANS can LEARN from NINOTCHKA LIKE HOW MANY COWS DOES A HOTEL ROOM IN PARIS COST?
Virtue in traditional Christian angelology is the seventh highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy. So can being impatient ever qualify as a virtue? Could it ever be considered behavior showing high moral standards and character? Be one of the paragons of virtue synonymous with goodness, righteousness and morality? Be patient, my child We … More Can Impatience Be a Virtue? Of Course it Can!
According to Peter Ticktin, founder of The Global Warming Foundation, it’s not going to be the wind so much as the water that’s going to do the most damage from exponentially rising temperatures we casually refer to as climate change. But there’s nothing casual about it, says Ticktin. Planet is getting hotter at a rate … More Will Sunshine State Be Wettest PlayGround Zero Predicting Effects of Exponentially Rising Temperatures?
Attention Kerri O’Brien, reporter at WRIC TV News in Richmond, Virginia, Florida Governor DeSantis and all those who are concerned when justice becomes cruelty. Here is one Virginia prisoner’s perspective on what we dare call our justice system. Bill is decent guy, a non-violent offender who admittedly made mistakes and is now paying for … More THERE NO RELIEF FROM BLISTERING HEATWAVE TORTURING INMATES AT HELL-HOLE VIRGINIA PRISON
Is Mark Zuckerberg Now an MD Whose Facebook Can Even Tell How Healthy You Are? … More Is Mark Zuckerberg Now an MD Whose Facebook Can Even Tell How Healthy You Are?
Investors, forget the basically flat to slightly positive yield curve. Forget the corporate buybacks that are the rage and those rising corporate earnings raising everyone’s eyebrows and pulses. Despite the tariff head winds, Iran, North Korea and all the other distractions on this mixed up, do-it-yourself planet, the fact is we have a President and … More If We’re Going to Come Out of This Bull Market Intact, Euphoria Needs to Keep to the Right, Stay in the Slow Lane
We’ve all had them. Those moments we wish we could take back, do over. And then there were those doozies, those insanely awkward screw-ups. Those foot-in-mouth utterances or actions we wish to God had never happened. Like me, I’m sure there were times you’d rather had not said or done something as afterward it … More Most Embarrassing Moments
To bomb, or not to bomb, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler for the United States to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous Iran, Or to take arms against their sea of terror And by opposing, end it. To bomb—to endure No more; and by responding to their dastardly drone attack, We end … More How might Shakespeare’s Hamlet ponder TO BOMB OR NOT TO BOMB Iran?
Balmain’s digital models Margot, Shudu and Zhi created by Cameron-James Wilson. CreditBalmain Since millions are following a growing number of influencers who are merely pretty pixels, I’m wondering why hire a flesh and blood celebrity, a supermodel or a social media influencer to market products when you can create the ideal brand ambassador … More Having just launched a talent agency to dovetail with my PR firm, TransMedia Group, I’m wondering now why did I do it?
I haven’t read too many books lately that have captured my attention as much as “In the Face of Fear,” so much that I just couldn’t put it down this weekend. It’s a love story that took place in Nazi-occupied Hungary that spared author Thomas Weisz and his entire Jewish family from extermination. It’s a terrifying … More LOVE CONQUERS THE THIRD REICH
IF YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING, TAKE A LESSON FROM OUR NATIONAL SYMBOL–THE EAGLE As we just commemorated the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied northern France by Allied forces, I invite you to continue to be proud of our armed forces who continue to soar today like our mighty bald eagle. It … More The Eagle
Yes, Robotic Banking has arrived. Customers who visit HSBC’s Brickell branch in Miami are being greeted by its newest employee: “Pepper,” a humanoid robot created by SoftBank Robotics. How wonderful. As if banking weren’t boring enough, now instead of walking up to smiling Sabina, one of my favorite bank tellers, I’ll be greeted digitally at … More The robots have landed. They’ll soon be serving you at your neighborhood bank. What fun!
That’s me, bull-by-the-horns bullish. I know stocks love to climb a wall of worry. Hasn’t it been shown time and again that solid long-term returns come to those who wait? So why am I so worried this time climbing this worry wall? Maybe it’s because my nice little nest egg is so exposed and … More Bull-by-the-Horns Bullish
Rule #1: Never send a release without a news hook. You have 3.5 seconds to catch an editor’s attention or it’s Dead on Arrival. Rule #2: Fewer words are stronger than many, especially in a headline. Over 25 words? Your release most likely will be DOA! Rule #3 Use news for bait or … More NEWS MUST ARRIVE ALIVE, NOT IN A HEARSE DOA!
It was signed by the man who is the world’s most ardent defender of water, a man dedicated to saving our planet’s water supplies–Riggs Eckelberry. I’ll tell you more about him in a minute. First let’s dive into the problem we all face as humans dependent on clear drinking water for our lives and livelihoods. … More WHOSE JOHN HANCOCK IS THAT ON THE DECLARATION OF WATER INDEPENDENCE?
It was a shock felt around the world. What could have caused the two crashes of Boeing’s newest, most technologically sophisticated airplanes that claimed the lives of 346 people? According to Boeing, it was not the product which the company described as a safe airplane, but how customers, the airlines and pilots, probably were using … More New Crisis Management Term Ready For Takeoff: ‘Boeing Blame Shift’
An excerpt from my upcoming new book about Internet Dating titled “Love Boat 78” published by Mascot Books. I’m sure you’ve heard of Haiti. But how aboutEighty? That alluring, perfectly serine and inviting Isle of Eighty? I hear Eighty is a lovely laid-back escape. Great place to visit, but do we really want to live there? Well, my love boat seems to be … More Vacationing on Idyllic Isle of Eighty
Funny where this dating whirlwind takes you. Almost to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). That’s right. I came close to falling in love with Sabrina, a beautiful dark-haired Vietnamese woman in Naples, Florida, with whom I spent a romantic weekend. She wanted me to meet her family in Saigon. At first I was … More Here is an excerpt from my upcoming new book LOVE BOAT 78 about my internet dating adventures published by MASCOT BOOKS
Here comes ExceLina, a fiery dark-haired, well-endowed sexy-as-hell film actress from Colombia. From one extreme to the other, ExceLina is loaded with sexual appeal, attitude and appetite. What a body! What hair and eyes. But might she be a little too hot for me to handle? I met her in my TransMedia Group office … More ExceLina
It’s never a good idea not to respond to a charge, an unfounded criticism or a lie no matter how dumb, outrageous or untrue. But do it in a measured way so it doesn’t spread any further, which on the Internet today can be challenging, but possible. Whatever you do, don’t let puny … More When and When Not to Respond to Somebody who Slings Dirt at You on Social or Traditional Media?
How we Americans worship dieting, trimming down, becoming sleek and streamlined has become almost a fetish. An addiction. It’s now a passion pounding away at our stomachs whereas once upon a time it was sexy to be full figured. Didn’t artists in the renaissance see curvaceously abundant bodies as beautiful? Fatness was … More TIRED OF THOSE WEIGHT-LOSS COMMERCIALS? MARIE, HAVE WE GONE SVELTE OVERBOARD?
Mr. President, you’ve won. Instead of berating your favorite whipping boy “fake news” and rattling off “I told you so,” accept this win for the Gipper graciously. Look. You’re winning across the board. With the economy. With jobs. Internationally and now Mueller’s bullet misses you by a mile. So please consider this advice from … More TO MUELLER’S TOSSING IN THE TOWEL ON MORE INDICTMENTS, PLEASE PRESIDENT TRUMP, TRY TO WIN THIS ONE GRACIOUSLY . . . FOR THE GIPPER
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT FIRST IMPRESSIONS GOES QUADRUPLE FOR NEWS RELEASES Rule #1: Don’t write them like everyone else. Be startlingly different. Uniquely engaging. RIVETING would be nice for a change! Rule #2: Fewer words are stronger than many words, especially in a headline. If you’re over 25 words, you’ve had it. You’re DOA! … More DON’T ARRIVE DOA!
A young man asks his grandfather to please shut the news when he visits, especially FOX News, which he finds stressful. His grandfather explains that’s like asking him to stop breathing. GRANDPA I need the news. I breathe the news. It’s the oxygen I need in my life. Keeping abreast. Staying informed. Engaged. And you … More Grandpa, Turn Off the Stressful News. Put on Something We All Can Enjoy!
We did. Sadly we were on our way to bury my beloved wife Angela at St. John’s Cemetery in Queens, NY. This was the sticky scene Feb. 28 aboard Delta Flight 2289 from West Palm Beach to NYC-LaGuardia. My poor darling had died on Sunday, Feb. 24, after a long, torturous battle with breast cancer. … More Ever Fly on a Plane Held Together With Masking Tape?
My Beloved Departed Angela Back in Our PR Heyday in Manhattan Together Upon the death of my beloved wife Angela early Sunday morning, I wrote to a friend of ours in prison for a non-violent offence. Occasionally she’d pray on the phone with Bill who felt a kind of kinship with Angela as she … More Free At Last
This is the last of a three-part series on Energy Eye Openers—TEN THINGS I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ENERGY–thanks to the experts at EnergyProfessionals who opened my eyes. You know about LED lightbulbs and that they cut energy use. But do you know by how much? They’re the light-emitting diodes, a type of … More FINAL FOUR FACTS I’ll BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ENERGY!
This is the second of a three-part series of Energy Eye Openers—TEN THINGS I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ENERGY–thanks to the experts at EnergyProfessionals who opened my eyes. Is the cost of energy rising or falling? If you said falling, you’re in the running for a brand new Tesla, that is if you … More HERE’S A FEW MORE FACTS I’ll BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ENERGY!
Yes wine may be giving suds a run for its money, but when it comes to TV, America is still one giant beer fest. Can you imagine a Super Bowl without “Bud?” “I liked beer. I still like beer,” Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh famously testified last year at his not so bubbly … More Beer keeps spilling over the news, from drenching hearings for a Supreme Court Justice, to filling a governor’s infamous college yearbook, but I have story that’ll warm your heart
Over the Next Several Weeks, I’ll Be Giving You Some Energy Eye Openers, Starting With These First Three, Thanks to the Experts at EnergyProfessionals Who’ve Opened My Eyes. Did you know that If you live in 1 of the 16 deregulated states, you don’t have to pay the utilities rate? That’s right. You have … More BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW THIS ABOUT ENERGY!
Passionate About The Environment, The Society Businesswoman also Just joined The Global Warming Foundation Board of Directors Scientist turned entrepreneur Justine Sinclair has joined The Global Warming Foundation board of diectors to help advance the foundation’s mission, vision and purpose outlined recently in its published White Paper (http://www.theglobalwarmingfoundation.org/white-paper/). TGWF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity organization … More Scion of South Korean Entrepreneurial Family Justine Sinclair Creates App Called ‘dreamOway’ to Help Others Fulfill Dreams Like Hers When She Came to the U.S.
What an uplifting, sometimes startling job I have being CEO of a plucky PR firm TransMedia Group. One of our esteemed clients, the adorable Dr. Dara, showed me a stance the other day that she said would raise my testosterone level. Really? I quickly assumed the stance. Yes, she was right. I … More NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE TESTOSTERONE AROUND THE OFFICE
Always begin negotiating by saying you won’t pay even a dollar. Never sit down with or talk directly to whom you’re negotiating. Best to leave the country, fly away somewhere distant as possible. Tell your opponent he’s immature and what he wants is immoral. Pay no mind to thousands of others depending on a successful … More TOP TEN PELOSI NEGOTIATING POINTS
Mr. President, I totally agree with you. I too see the need for a barrier or wall on our southern border, plus other security measures. It’s imperative that our country deals forthrightly with the growing crisis from caravan after caravan of bad people interspersed with deserving immigrants seeking asylum. If you bravely throw in the towel, you’d … More Mr. President, Give In and You’ll Win
By George, he helped me get through it! That’s right, over the years books have been my buddies who’ve helped me through some tough times. Books are the best medicine. Reading is therapeutic. Once I read the complete works of George Bernard Shaw upside down. That’s right. I was in my early twenties recovering from … More BY GEORGE, HIS BOOKS WERE MY BUDDIES
That’s right. Danger is lurking everywhere. It’s on both sides of the aisle and media is constantly banging the danger drums, scaring the daylights out of us. Here are some examples: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: A Danger to the Nation President Donald Trump: A Danger to the Nation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi: A Danger to the Nation! Maybe if we … More ______________________ (fill in the bank): A Danger to the Nation.
Here’s a snippet of a suggestive, sub rosa conversation I had recently with a woman with whom I “connected” in that globally crowded pick-up bar, Club Internet. Our affair, I mean our Internet encounter, occurred on the business platform, LinkedIn, hardly a dating service. To protect the innocent, I’ll call her Emily. Here … More In MeToo Times, Careful How You Address Your Internet ‘Connections’
I just can’t get over how banks treat even some of their best customers when they dare ask for a loan. Isn’t that what banks are there for? To loan money? Isn’t lending one of the main ways banks make money? Their raison d’etre? So why do they build walls between themselves and their best … More There’s Endless Talk about Walls These Days. Here’s one That Explains Why Banks Are in the Sad State They’re in
Is all this DNA testing creating fictitious families? After receiving an email from some looney-tune claiming an old high school girlfriend of mine was her mother and I was her biological father, I thought I’d have some biological fun. I sent this message to my adult children wishing them a Happy New Year: Dear family, … More “I’m Your Father?”
It took 17 centuries for the NEWS TO BREAK that a Christian community had been well established already hundreds of years by the time this cross-shaped marble baptistery was built in 4th Century Turkey. Think if there had been television and BREAKING NEWS, an Internet and social media a couple thousand years ago. … More TALK ABOUT A SLOW NEWS DAY . . . HOW ABOUT A CHOKINGLY SLOW NEWS ERA?
Alas, a new job has been created in often criminally enterprising America: baby Jesus bodyguards. The pay’s not so great, but the rewards can be heavenly. It’s a job with the ultimate upward mobility. Joining home security and cyber security today is Nativity security needed to combat a fiendish new crime wave—stealing baby Jesus and … More WANTED: BABY JESUS BODYGUARDS
It had to be 12 years since I’ve seen Fr. Med or heard one of his lively outspoken homilies at evening Mass at St. Joan of Arc Church. And now I’m looking at an email saying he wanted to talk to me about something important. Hmmm. We agreed to meet at my heavenly oceanfront … More Bless me Father for I have spin. ‘Sure hope so,’ Fr. Med said. ‘That’s why I emailed you!’
If you were exposed to the recent verbal slug fest on TV between Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and President Trump as they quarreled vociferously in the White House over whether to fund building the wall or shutting down the government, you may be entitled to compensation. If you are experiencing severe constipation, skin crawling and … More IF YOU WATCHED PELOSI, SCHUMER AND THE PRESIDENT ARGUING IN THE WHITE HOUSE, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION
The other day, the man who has probably the best nose for corporate corruption and mismanagement popped in. John Di Lemme came in to be on the radio show we do Thursdays at my PR firm, TransMedia Group. Having held lofty, tense and perspiring positions at NBC and ABC, I couldn’t help asking … More Does Your CEO Stink?
“Your eyes are full of hate, Forty-one.”… in Ben-Hur, that’s good. In the White House, that’s bad. Serving others enriches your soul like for Bush 41. The Roman naval commander Quintus Arrius, played by British actor Jack Hawkins, comes down into the galley to inspect the slaves chained at their oars rowing the Roman ship. He … More Two 41’s!
We will not forget what a gentle, yet strong leader you were and all that you accomplished over a lifetime of service to our country. Hopefully more in government will emulate you, President George H.W. Bush. It was an honor to meet you once and I will always cherish your note to me that you … More READ OUR LIPS, BUSH 41. WE LOVE YOU TOO!
The passing of George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, evokes this tender memory of once meeting him, albeit under somewhat embarrassing conditions. My wife and I were staying in the Presidential suite at the Mendenhall outside of Philadelphia when the real President checks into the hotel suite across the hall from … More Yikes, I’m here in the Presidential Suite with the real President across the hall
How far would you travel to find a better life? Between 1892 and 1954, over 12 million immigrants passed through a place in Upper New York Harbor Bay ethereally quiet today called Ellis Island. Their journey took weeks under the most difficult, often life-threatening conditions? If you answered “Whatever it takes,” you echo not only … More WHY ISN’T THERE AN ELLIS ISLAND BETWEEN THE U.S. AND MEXICO?
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” Hey fellow wall nuts and security huggers, I’m with you. Without borders, we’ll lose our country. When Hillary says we need bridges not walls, they’re acting today more like bridges to chaos than humanity. Still those immortal words keep reappearing: … More Wall Nuts and Security Huggers
Is it our borders alone that define us as a Nation? Or is it together with our values, our beliefs, our traditions and maybe that statue in the harbor called Liberty. Chief Justice Roberts says “We do not have Obama judges.” President Trump’s tweets an Obama judge ruled against his anti-asylum executive order. Meanwhile, U.S. … More The Caravan: Children’s Disappointment in the Making?
Dick Clark with John Travolta on American Bandstand Years ago I wrote a book titled SPIN MAN, before SPIN became a pejorative term . . . hey man, that true or you just spinning? My spinful memoir was favorably reviewed by such celebrities at the time as Sally Jessy Raphael, Regis Philbin and the … More PR MUST RING THE REGISTER
President Macron, you say patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism? And you say this boldly in the presence of “America First” President Donald J. Trump? Do you really think “nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” as you went on to say at the ceremony marking 100 years since the end of World War 1? … More What is Patriotism to Thee?
Sam was in a restaurant waiting for what seemed like hours for service. So he calls the maître d’ over and asks how long it’s going to take to cast his vote for dinner. “You must be from” Broward or Palm Beach County,” the maître d’ says smiling. “Yes I am, but what does that … More Test to become a Poll Worker: Count the number of trees in this picture
I want you to know I’m in complete accord with this Dutch man who’s trying to legally lower his age. And why not? It makes perfect sense to me. And aren’t there precedents for fundamental changes in how others perceive us? If I were the judge I’d say, “Young man, to look at you … More Is there a precedent for the Dutch man to change his age?
“Madden, when are you ever going to retire,” my friends keep asking me. “Come on, join us for golf . . . down at the pool . . . out on the boat. Time to relax, man, take it easy. You’ve made enough money, for God’s sake. Yet how can I when practically every day … More WHAT DO THESE TWO LEADING WONDER WOMEN HAVE IN COMMON? THEY INSPIRE ME TO RACE TO WORK TO TELL THEIR AMAZING STORIES!
A friend of mine emailed me that he couldn’t in good conscience buy my client’s book, “Sex and the Serial Killer; My Bizarre Times with Robert Durst” on Amazon. I had suggested he purchase, read and review it. “No thanks,” he said. Then the Pittsburgh massacre happens, which shows demented murderers en masse as … More Who Are The Murderers Among Us? Best We Know Ere More Doom In Store!
What goes around, goes around, goes around Comes all the way back around Justin Timberlake Yes, just as in Justin’s song, things do come all the way back around. Take Italy, for example, that resplendent, dazzling, vivacious country so rich in beauty, culture and cuisine, so in continuity with its majestic past and now … More Ancient City Has New PR Firm: TransMediaItaly
#1: You Never Know Who’s Important My dad was still a young violinist. Talk about a prodigy, he had started playing concerts at age 8 and now was leading an orchestra one summer in a small coastal town in Massachusetts. The five-piece orchestra was playing in the only theater. The audiences were mostly campers. One … More LESSONS MY DAD’S VIOLIN TAUGHT ME
My PR firm TransMedia Group was about to issue a news release about “America Salutes You” teaming up with ReverbNation. Then something happened that put more urgency behind this nationally televised concert series honoring U.S. veterans. A U.S. veteran and a rising political star, Jason Kander, announced he was quitting the Kansas City mayor … More KANDER QUITTING MAYORAL RACE PUTS NEW URGENCY BEHIND ‘AMERICA SALUTES YOU’
Without taking sides in the riveting dispute between Supreme Court nominee Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford who accuses him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school, I posted some crisis management suggestions last week after watching an interview Kavanaugh and his wife Ashley did on FOX News. Thinking back to my … More YES, IT’S THE NON VERBAL, STUPID!
Because it takes up so many characters, a paraprosdokian is probably not a word you’d want to tweet very much. What is a paraprosdokian? It’s a fulsome figure of speech where the latter part of a sentence jumps in an unexpected direction, often comically. Frequently a paraprosdokian is used for humorous or dramatic … More Do You Like a Paraprosdokian As Much As Me?
One of the sexiest gals in my talent agency,TransMedia Versatile Talent, is the famous Trump Divorcée Lynn Aronberg. Here Lynn picks the best online dating apps she’s become such an expert on since her highly publicized divorce. And Guys, if you want to score big, I suggest you follow Lynn’s Advice on how best to … More GUYS, LISTEN TO LYNN*
Funny, the guys you wade into in front of my oceanfront Boca Raton Resort and Club. Steve Budin and I were the only ones in the ocean late in the day a few weekends ago and while waste deep we started chatting about everything and anything. He asked me to wade in front of … More YOU CAN SAY STEVE AND I GOT ALONG SWIMMINGLY
*rough cut of book cover still being designed In ‘Gotcha’ World Are Many Prisons, Some Made To Order, Others Undeserving Our news release on PR Newswire caused quite a stir last month in media land. “Imprisoned Author Retains TransMedia Group to Promote ‘My Bizarre Times with Robert Durst” roared our catchy headline. The book’s full … More In ‘Gotcha’ World Are Many Prisons, Some Made To Order, Others Undeserving
We hurried the other day to give Sam, an anxious prospective client, a crash course in PR before he falls back on a risky, doomed-to-fail DIY approach. Sam was ready to sign a contract with our PR firm TransMedia Group until something happened to his feet. They suddenly got cold. So Sam calls … More TAKE MY CRASH COURSE IN PR
So I’m sitting beside my brave, undaunted wife getting her monthly chemo to combat her relentless breast cancer when I notice on my iPhone an email from BookLife. It says entries for the 2018 BookLife Prize of $5,000 must be in by August 31. Hmmm, not that far away, I thought. Better hurry. Then I notice … More TRUMP ENLIVENS THE CHEMO ROOM AS PATIENTS PONDER WHAT CATEGORY DOES MY BOOK FALL UNDER?
Global Warming is here to stay, but The Global Warming Foundation says what we’re experiencing now is only an early stage. You might say Vous n’avez enore rien Vu, the title of the French German film shown a few years ago at the Cannes Film Festival. Or as the Foundation’s founder Peter Ticktin, puts … More Global Warming Is Here To Stay
I look at it this way. Our Nation’s Flag and our National Anthem are sacred. When you think of all those who gave their lives fighting for those symbols of freedom that we Americans cherish, revere and hold sacred, you have to feel eternally grateful . . . and proud! Watching our star-spangled banner yet … More O say can you kneel . . .
TransMedia Group off to Las Vegas Baby for BlockShow Americas 2018, August 20-21 at The Venetian (The Palazzo), to make a big splash for one of our major clients at blockchain technology’s most influential, sought after conferences. No gambling here, Baby, we’re doubling down on TimiCoin to wow the crowd. Forgive a little boasting, but TransMedia Group is one of the … More My Disruptive PR Firm Heads to Vegas Baby To Disrupt BlockShow America 2018 Where TimiCoin Will Turn Heads
Your boss is going on a trip. He calls three of his most trusted staff into his office. To John he hands five crisp one thousand dollar bills. To Hector he gives two thousand and to Mike a thousand. “Now you’re the guardians of these funds until I return,” says the boss as he leaves the … More WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE MONEY?
Society, it’s time to stop committing opioidside, the indiscriminate killing and executing of people across the entire social spectrum, from innocent kids in schools to now even convicted murderers in prisons. Opioid sellers, the Opioid Awareness Foundation has you in its sites. Doctors, you’d better cease and desist from over-prescribing opioids. Dealers, stop getting rich … More SOCIETY, PUT YOUR PILLS DOWN AND YOUR HANDS UP. OPIOIDS ARE UNDER ARREST!
Years ago on New York’s WNEW-TV, the 10 O’Clock News began with this ominous question: “It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your children are?” This followed a period of urban unrest when the streets were not safe at night for kids to be out. Today it should be: “Do you know where … More THAT WAS THEN. NOW IT’S A NEW WORRY. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DNA IS?
Yes, Tom Madden has copyrighted and is developing a TV Series titled XtraTerresla whose main character is modeled after yours truly. Hardly surprising, huh? With all the meteoric waves I make in media taming my Tesla tiger, I’m a natural to base a TV Series on. So in a recent MaddenMischief multiple choice quiz, the … More AND THE WINNER IS . . . ME, ELON MUSK
Ever been to Eighty? That alluring, perfectly serine and inviting Isle of Eighty? I hear Eighty is a lovely laid-back escape. Great place to visit, but do we really want to live there? Well, my good friend Bill won a trip there in October thanks to Dr. Murphy lowering his cholesterol and keeping his blood … More Vacationing Permanently on Idyllic Isle of Eighty
Mr. President, do you really think it was right to call the EU or NATO a “foe” as you did just prior to your Helsinki summit. NATO is hardly our foe. The word is not really interchangeable with “opponent,” which I’m sure is what you meant when you described NATO members as foe whom you … More IS NATO OUR ‘FOE?’ IS INTERFERING WITH OUR ELECTIONS JUST ‘MEDDLING?’ TERMS ARE GERMS THAT INFECT OUR BODY POLITIC
Ever been to a car auction? They’re noisy. Messy. Costly. Right? Well here comes our superhero to the rescue–Disruptor Dong–who is about to transform that endangered species known as the auto auction into a smother, more sensible, saner and safer operation. Kevin Dong is the Jeff Bezos of the auto biz who is about to … More MEET DISRUPTOR DONG
Yes, Madden Mischief is developing a TV Series titled “XtraTerresla” and we were wondering if you can tell by the title what it’s about. Don’t worry, it’s copyrighted. So take a guess.Winners will receive a special invitation to the series world premiere. You have three choices. Is the property being developed: 1, 2 or 3? … More GUESS WHICH CONCEPT MADDEN MISCHIEF IS DEVELOPING INTO A TV SERIES?
Look, Harry, there’s breaking news. I wouldn’t worry, Martha, it’s probably about another tweet Trump sent out. No big deal. Hey news departments, give us a break from all the breaking news? The term is barked so often on FOX or CNN, its impact may be breaking down. You’re like breaking our chops … More BREAKING NEWS IS BREAKING OUR CHOPS!
Sometimes you need to speak up, the old truth to power, to avoid sending mixed messages that otherwise spoil a well-intentioned act. In this case the power is statuesque and beautiful. It resides gracefully and elegantly in a quietly intelligent immigrant known as the First Lady, Melania Trump, So big deal, she wore a coat … More DID MELANIA TAKE A SUPERTRAIN TO TEXAS?
‘PLEASE TELL THAT GAGGLE TO PIPE DOWN,’ I’D LOVE TO TELL THE BARTENDER AT MY ‘PRIVATE’ CLUB AFTER INDURING QUAKES OF LAUGHTER.The opening scene of the 1935 Fred and Ginger movie “Top Hat” finds Fred waiting for his business manager in the quietest, snobbiest private club in London. The slightest noise he makes produces angry stares and grimaces from the tuxedoed gentlemen who insist upon stiff decorum as they peruse their newspapers and quietly sip their … More ‘PLEASE TELL THAT GAGGLE TO PIPE DOWN,’ I’D LOVE TO TELL THE BARTENDER AT MY ‘PRIVATE’ CLUB AFTER INDURING QUAKES OF LAUGHTER.
It’s not “the economy, stupid” anymore. It’s the visual (or video), stupid. That photo of Trump embracing the little boy at The While House could erase a ton of Trump’s tweets that might have offended or bothered some people. Remember “It’s the economy, stupid?” It was the phrase political campaign strategist James Carville had coined for … More IT’S THE VIDEO, STUPID!
Kenny once saw only red, but today sees a collage of bravery in blue. Here are the police images artist Kenny Ruiz deplores the most today: A woman caught on camera spitting on demonstrators against the Chicago Mayor for turning his back on police officers. The Fraternal Order of Police were accusing the Mayor of “pandering to … More Artist Kenny Ruiz Once Had Reason to Hate Police, But Today Sees Only a Collage of Bravery in Blue
First let me tell you I spent years at ABC and NBC television networks putting out fires, managing crises, helping stars stay up in their respective realms after making blunders like Roseanne’s that sent their careers crashing. Today my PR firm, TransMedia Group, offers crisis management that has saved many businesses, including not too long … More Here’s My Mea Culpa Prescription To Redeem Roseanne’s Reputation
Between actor Robert Montgomery’s coaching Ike, Sammy Davis Jr’s cavorting with Nixon and Sinatra’s hosting glitzy birthday bashes for Kennedy, conservatives and liberals both have benefited spectacularly from the entertainment industry. While Hollywood’s political pendulum has swung decidedly liberal and being conservative today is like being gay in the eighties, it wasn’t always that way. … More HOLLYWOOD HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN LIBERAL WHEN DIRECTING AND CREATING PRESIDENTS
When I started this blog, I never dreamed I would ever become INaddicted, my term for having developed a benign, but adventurous, exuberant yet gnawing infatuation that has led me to romantically embrace LinkedIn. But that’s what’s happened. I’m in love with LinkedIn. Every morning the first thing I do is pick up my … More You Have a New Connection on LinkedIn Learn More About . . .
If the latest bump in the road doesn’t upset the nuclear apple cart, get ready for our shrewd deal-making cat to sit down with mister mashugana mouse for a high-stakes game of poker in Singapore. Here’s a glimpse of how the game might go down “I’ll raise you total nuclear abandonment,” says the cat, smiling … More Get Ready For High Stakes Poker in Singapore
Basically there are two ways to safeguard our livelihoods and protect America’s most precious resource today, her nearly 30 million small businesses. One is to adopt a cheerful, welcoming, open-door attitude toward potential customers. I call it the friendly, open arms, optimistic Laurel way. The other is to take heavy Hardy’s suspicious stance, staying always … More FOR SMALL BUSINESSES TODAY, IT’S A LAUREL OR HARDY WORLD
What if there had been 30 or 300 Americans released? Would it have been as powerful a story? Journalistic history tells us that large numbers don’t necessarily make as much news as when a precious few are involved whose individuality and humanness shine through. The word rescue causes many dramatic pictures to … More Was It the Ultimate ‘Less is More’ That Made Release of Three Americans from North Korea an even Bigger Story?
To: Martin Scorsese FR: Tom Madden Dear Martin, that’s the engrossing mystery in ‘The Mayor, The Mob & Me,’ an autobiography by 85-Year-Old Catherine Spitale that would make a movie to rival The Godfather. My PR firm, TransMedia Group (www.TransMediaGroup.com), was hired to do some investigative reporting to confirm whether author Catherine was indeed … More From Where Did Her Blue Eyes And Freckles Come?
Take it from me, a writer of speeches, books and blogs. It takes a lot more time and effort to write a short piece, versus a long one. And usually the shorter they are, the more punch they have, definitely in humor with the famous “one liner.” Is not brevity the soul of wit? I … More Just like it’s not easy bein’ Green, It’s not easy bein’ brief
Each morning as a writer I dive into a sea of words. Sometimes I come up with clammy expressions that are better off sinking back to the sandy bottom. Others I find mauled by tradition-eating sharks who enjoy noshing on my keyboard. One recentlyI came across was that quaint phrase “after you.” Here’s a … More Excuse me, I’ve a Bit of a Scratchy Throat Today. Après Vous
It seemed perfectly natural that the world’s first solar yacht builder would hire TransMedia Group for its launch at The Palm Beach International Boat Show. Our PR firm has a history of introducing revolutionary products. As the first oceangoing yacht fully solar sustainable and exclusively powered by solar energy, this beautiful, futuristic yacht built by … More WHETHER ON SEA OR LAND, BE NICE TO THAT BIRD IN HAND?
Once I had to get Tony the Tiger out of a serious scrape, along with his buddies Snap, Crackle and Pop. I was in New York working the D-A-Y shift atDudley Anderson Yutzy, one of the country’s largest PR firms at the time. I was assigned to get Tony, Cornelius Rooster and bunch of others … More Now Who’d Want to Bust Poor Little Tony?