Ordering Espresso in Madrid
Okay, so where am I? Madrid called me around the holidays (actually Spanish Television called to do a table read in the never-ending journal to get the Media Guy Struggles pilot made into something real – in any language) and I was all in. As is the case back home near Hollywood, I didn’t sleep […]
The Saga of the Five Euro Nescafé
Dear Iberia Airlines: That was a neat little trick you pulled off on my recent flight. I mean pull around the coffee, tea, and juice service cart and ask politely if I want an ice cold Coca-Cola or perhaps a zumo de manzana so fresh I’d feel like I picked it myself and ran it […]
The Golden Age of Flying
My recent talk with Daniela the Flight Girl spurred my nostalgia about what flying was like back in the day. I remember those Mad Men episode with Don Draper was winging it to the coast with Roger Sterling with the suit coats still buttoned and stewardess with gloves on taking drink orders. Today is a little […]
Penang: The Virgin Paradise
There’s something cooking in Malaysia’s virgin paradise, better known as Penang Island. Start with Kek Lok Si Buddhist Temple and never look back. As a matter of fact, eating is the single topic on everyone’s tongue from the minute you hit the beautiful tropical island. Despite its British roots—under British rule since its sultan gave […]
A Whale of An Opera
Some of the greatest characters in history were all wrapped up in their obsession with whales. Ahab chased one. Jonah was swallowed by one. Pinocchio lit a fire inside one to escape. Nowadays, millions of people worldwide congregate on shore or hop on a boat just to see one. Bird-watching aside, the Middle East is […]
The AMAs and the One-Armed Man
A funny conversation happened to me during my mad rush to reach Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater to cover the American Music Awards for Fox. Cover might be a reach; I mean working the red carpet isn’t exactly a Pulitzer Prize assignment, but it helps pay the bills. I know what you are saying right now, […]
TURKISH DELIGHTS
I just cracked a Skyfall DVD and seeing Daniel Craig cycling across Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar conjured up memories of a top secret mission press trip The Media Guy recently took to Turkey. I needed to get it all down in writing so you can take a similar trip if you so choose. Only 13 hours […]
Experience the Le Gray, Beirut
CampbellGray Hotels is a mad scientist when it comes to hypothesizing potential hotel destinations and while their latest seems the craziest of them all, it isn’t. The Le Gray Beirut was referred by a colleague on my trek through Lebanon in 2011 replete with all of the hyperbole you might expect from a seasoned travel […]
Travel Companions
Ok. The Media Guy has always hated two things about press junkets: Assembling press kits (yes, we still use paper kits because the media reads on paper and takes copy points from the flash drive) and, Packing a suitcase (I roll with a 22” Hartmann beauty and it can still be a struggle.) I mean, […]
They Didn’t Make the Cut…
“He who never made a mistake never made a discovery. ” I love this quote quite frankly; it says it all. I hope this past weekend, I didn’t make a mistake with my forthcoming book. In the weeks after two wildly lucky winners in Missouri and Arizona divvied up the $600 million Powerball jackpot, I found myself […]
