Gambling - A Most Happy Loser!
May 27th, 2009| Gambling - A Most Happy Loser! By Michael J. McCurdy Jan 1, 2008 - 3:10:27 PM |
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One month out-of-high school, I joined the Marine Corps and underwent a period of four months of intense training - three months of boot camp at Paris Island, South Carolina,and one month Infantry Training at Camp Lejune, North Carolina. I was in incredible physical and mental condition. I also got an incredible education on gambling just after graduation.Upon graduation from Marine Corps Infantry Training at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, I was issued my first paycheck. I remember it being somewhere around $350.00. I was elated, as I walked into the “Rec Room” with a pocket full of money. I was 18 and no longer a boy, but a certified American Marine. The first thing I saw, as I entered the room was a pool table that was covered with a tarpaulin, with a group of older Marines shouting and screaming at something on the table. A “craps” game. I was encouraged to join in. Now, I felt really accepted. Thirty-minutes later, I was broke!
The Navy Department paid it’s Sailors and Marines every two-weeks. I sat out those two weeks with a fierce determination to win back my money, pride and manhood!
I strode up to the table, placed my bets, and within twenty-minutes I was stone broke again. I will never forget those two-weeks that I waited for another paycheck. I couldn’t even buy a 35 cent beer at the base tavern. I sat on my bunk in deep meditation and realized what a total jerk I was for being sucked in. I have never gambled since.
To the Marines who sucked me into those games, you have no idea how many times in my life I have thanked you!
An editorial in the New York Times reminds us how many people get into serious trouble gambling on state lottery’s.
“They can dress it up all they want in slogans about buying a ticket and a dream. But the states are encouraging behavior that is too often addictive and ruinous for people who can least afford it.”
If you think that you or a loved one have a problem, there is hope. Go to: www.gamblersanonymous.org.
www.HealthNewsDigest.com
Dennis painting
“When I arrived at the hospital I thought all they were going to do is some chiropractic work. Little did I know I would remain a quadriplegic for life!”, so said Dennis Francesconi, who at 17 years old, flew 31 feet in the air after his waterskiing boat hit sand, and propelled him head-first onto the beach.
In August 1980, Dennis went water skiing for just the seventh time. At 5′10″ and self-described as lean, Dennis enjoyed athletics, specially soccer and baseball. He also tried out for the football team, but his thin frame didn’t enjoy the pounding, nor did he enjoy watching his friend’s wind up with broken legs and arms. “This just ain’t for me,” he said. So when someone suggested water skiing - “it sounded perfect.”
Dennis remembers his Mother’s screams for an ambulance, and his father helping the paramedics load him into an ambulance. He had no pain, and could feel his arms, and wondered why everyone was so concerned. By the time they reached the hospital, feeling from the chest down soon left him. “I honestly thought that a chiropractor would be waiting for me, and adjust everything back into place.”
The diagnosis: A broken neck with the 5th vertabrae literally shattered, and the 4th and 6th dislocated. Dennis has no use of any of his limbs.
For the next 19 years Dennis lived on Social Security Insurance of $600.00 per month and lots of odd jobs: salesman of herbal supplements, real estate salesman to farmers (in an electric wheelchair), and, as he describes it, “I was just grabbing at straws.”
“It was a huge loss” was how Dennis described his life after the accident. “There is no huge settlement. I didn’t get hit by a beer truck!”.
In 1986, on a suggestion from his wife Kristi, Dennis enrolled in a program called “Help Them Walk Again,” which was headquartered in Las Vegas. Exercise programs, electronic stimulation and weight lifting were part of the curriculum, with the hope that someday the scientists may find a cure.
More pushing from Kristi, family and friends led Dennis to enroll in MFPA (Mouth and Foot Painting Artists)
Now approaching its 50th Anniversary, the MFPA enables mouth and foot painters to achieve self-fulfillment through their art. By selling reproductions of their original artwork as greeting cards, calendars and other printed materials, the organization helps the artists achieve
financial independence.
“Didn’t you feel ridiculous with a paint brush in your mouth?”, I asked Dennis. “It was just the opposite! It was the first time in years that I felt in charge! I also started to notice how objects were shaded - the lighting at dusk - the beauty in nature. There were also some amusing discoveries, I could only paint by holding the paint brush on the right side of my mouth.”
The organization’s founder, polio-stricken Erich Stegmann, was an early practitioner of mouth painting and sculpting. His vision was to create a worldwide organization of like-minded artists facing physical disabilities and provide them with the opportunity to achieve financial security.
The original organization was comprised of 16 European artists. Today, it has expanded into 70 countries, including the United States, which is home to more than 60 MFPA artists who paint for pleasure and to make a living. Working under the organization’s motto, “Self help - not charity,” the artists don’t let their disabilities stand in the way of benefiting from their hard work.
There are an estimated 180,000 physically challenged people in the United States who could possibly benefit by becoming aware of MFPA.
“After being on public support for 19 years, I was finally able to come off it and regain my independence as a direct result of joining the MFPA,” said Dennis, an MFPA member who has participated in about 70 exhibitions and is presently working on a rose painting for a wine label - his second to date - at an award-winning California vineyard. “I would do anything this organization asked me to because they returned my life to normalcy.”
Francesconi isn’t alone in his optimism. Many other MFPA members have a similar outlook on life and appreciate the opportunity to share their art with the world.
To purchase greeting cards for all occasions, a beautiful full color annual art calendar, stationery, gift wrap, puzzles, books and more, contact:
Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists, Worldwide. www.amfpa.com — manages/oversees the artists and the publishing houses in approximately 43 countries.
In the USA, the publishing house is: Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Inc., Atlanta, GA. www.mfpausa.com [toll free] 1-877 MFPA-USA [1-877 6372-872]
Dennis Francesconi is 45 years old and lives in Madera, California with his best friend and wife Kristi. To view some breathtaking works of art, visit his website: www.sconi.com
Valentine’s Day - The Best Holiday a Man Can Have!
February 2nd, 2009| Valentine’s Day - The Best Holiday a Man Can Have! By Michael J. McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com Feb 1, 2009 - |
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(HealthNewsDigest.com)…Ok Guys, there is just one of three gifts to buy today and none of them will break the bank, and any one of them will make you a Hero in the eye’s of the one you love! And, some advice that can keep you out of trouble! (Michael J. McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com)
Gift # 1. That God awful romance card that we all cringe at when trying to buy it. You know the one’s I mean. Look left, look right, and when you’re sure no one is looking, stick it in the envelope that it comes with so that the clerk has to pull it out just so far to see the price. Most of us guy’s hate reading these cards, but whatever, women really love em’. I guess they really know how tough it was for us to buy it! You can get a real mushy one for about $3.00.
Gift # 2. A Heart Shaped box of chocolates. A sure fire winner! “Oh no…not Chocolates! You didn’t buy me chocolates, did you?” “I can’t eat them…they’ll make me fat!” That’s what she’ll say, while she’s thinking…”I wonder where I can hide them so I don’t have to share!” Just remember to tell her that dark chocolate is proven to be a great antioxidant…good for her heart! I just checked in my local drug store, and you can buy a Whitman Sampler for $6.95. That’s a great price, and a sure-to-please gift.
Gift # 3. Red Roses. The Ultimate Killer! Some women may find the Love Card as corny as you. Some will complain that the chocolate will make them fat (although they won’t share with anyone), but there is not a woman alive who doesn’t melt when you give her roses 
Here in New York, you can get a dozen roses for about $20.00 or less. Shop early.
Now, for all of you guy’s who are trying to get up the courage to buy your lover beautiful black or red lingerie … Don’t Do It … Unless…unless you remember the film “Working Girl” when Alec Baldwin buys Melanie Griffith a matching set of black bra and panties for her birthday, and what she said to him upon opening the box and holding up the panties, “Oh Good, you got me another gift for you!”
A number of year’s ago, I was having an after work cocktail with a business acquaintance of mine, when the conversation turned to Valentine’s day, which was just a couple of days in the future. After we exchanged gift idea’s and a few laughs, he said to me, “Would you like to hear a great Valentine’s Day story?” “Of course I would” I replied.
As he began, a pleasant smile formed his face, “Well, about ten years ago, I was dating this really pretty girl, and I really liked her a lot, and I just assumed that the feeling was mutual. So, on Valentine’s Day, I went over to her apartment to pick her up for dinner and a movie. But, I brought along with me, a card, a box of chocolates, a dozen roses, a bottle of champagne, AND, a matching set of black bra and panties with pink ribbons on the bra straps and on the hips of the panties!” His grin was now bigger than his face.
“My God, how did she react?”
“Well, after she thanked me for all of the present’s, she was very pleased by the way, she got to the little white box with the red ribbons.” “And what’s this?” she said smiling sheepishly.
“I must admit that I got embarrassed at this point, but what the hell I thought. Well she opened the box, and with her forefinger and thumb she held up the panties, just like your Mother would do if she caught you with a Playboy magazine or something. No smile, nothing. “You don’t think I’m gonna put these on for you, do you?”
“I was almost hoping that she wouldn’t pull the bra out of the box, but of course she did. I felt so stupid at that moment.”
She put them back in the box, and said to me, “I’d better go put these away in the closet. I’ll be right back.”
So she yells out to me from her bedroom “Hey, it’s getting late, think we can still make the movie?”
“Sure” I yell out to her. I look up and there she is in the doorway with the bra and panties on, AND, black high heels, with a rose in her teeth!”
As he says this, he is now looking up to the sky, in a place all his own, with a very satisfied and confident grin on his face. I could hear him murmuring under his breath…”I’ll never forget it as long as I live.” He turned to look at me…that was the end of his story. He wasn’t going any further.
“Mike, I felt like a horse had just kicked me in the chest. I was totally out of breath, and standing there like the village idiot, mouth open, eyes bulging. I actually think she took pity on me.”
“Whatever happened to her?” He took a sip from his drink, then turned to me with a serious expression. Then he almost yelled it at me, “I Married Her!”
He started to reach into his jacket to pull out his wallet, as we were both getting a really good laugh, the kind that all people in a bar or restaurant want to join in on, even though they don’t know what you’re talking about. He showed me a picture of a pretty woman and two adorable young girls…his family. “You’re a lucky man, Bob.” “Don’t I know it” he said as he started to put on his coat to leave.
“So, what are you doing this Valentine’s Day?” I asked him. “We do the same thing every year, but now we have to get a baby sitter.” His grin was the kind that one man gives to another when you want to one up him.
A word to the wise: If you’re going to buy your girlfriend or wife lingerie make sure you get the right size! If they’re too small, you’re not going to get the runway treatment. If they’re too large, may God be with you and protect you!
Oh yeah, If you’re wondering, St. Valentine actually was a Roman who was martyred and died on February 14, 269 A.D. for refusing to give up his practice of Christianity. I wonder if Bob knows this?
So there you go. Have a great holiday and spread the love.
Michael J. McCurdy
Founder/Publisher
HealthNewsDigest.com
www.HealthNewsDigest.com
A Billionaire Ignores My Advice
November 24th, 2008A Billionaire Ignores My Advice
I had just returned from a whirl-wind tour of Europe. Six cities in 14 days. As a young American man in his twenties, I didn’t appreciate how old everything looked. Rome (ancient), Paris (Eiffel tower-so what?) Berlin (grim), London (too proper), Amsterdam (where does all the water go?), Copenhagen (beautiful blond girls with blue/green eyes - don’t remember anything else Why didn’t I stay?
I got on the bus in New Jersey on my way to what I expected to be a very exciting job - salesman for a television program distribution company, on Park Avenue, New York City. Once in the city, I proceeded on two more buses until I reached Park Avenue and 59th street. Standing on the corner looking south, I had to inhale as my breath was taken from my chest. Park Avenue was split in the middle by a series of grass islands between each numbered street, all the way to 43rd street, where the view was blocked by the old Pan Am building strattled across the avenue. Both sides of the islands had canals laid with black asphalt - one going south, the other north. As my eyes were drawn south they were pulled up from the street to reveal each side of the avenue’s glass sky scrapers standing proudly, glistening in the sun.
“My God - this is America!” I said to myself. In one moment, I realized what a great country I lived in. I wanted to run to my new job which was in a 38 story sky scraper on the left-hand, or east side of this great throughoufare, on fifty-third street. It was one of the great new buildings - The Seagrams building.
I took my time walking down the avenue and as I looked up at all of the sky scrapers. I couldn’t believe how may sales opportunities awaited me. I imagined myself spending a month alone making calls on just one street.
As I approached my new place of employment, I marveled at the steps leading up to a plaza with dual water fountains welcoming me to revolving doors and marble floors in an expansive lobby. A sign pointed to the entrance of one of the city’s Power restaurants: “The Four Seasons.” I would later be mildly scolded for entertaining potential clients at my “Power Luncheons.” On any given day, you were lunching with the city’s power brokers, celebrities and sports stars. I decided quite quickly that I liked this life.
Much copied but not matched, the Seagram Building is generally recognized as the finest example of skyscrapers in the International Style.
The elevator whisked me up to the 36th floor and my new office. I loved it. It looked out over the entire city. The man who owned Sterling Communications, Inc., also owned Sterling Movies. He was known to everyone as “Chuck”, or Charles Dolan. Before I was hired, I had to pass a screening test by a sales psychologist, something unheard of at this time. Two weeks later I received a call that I had passed, and could report to work the following Monday.
Sterling Communications also owned Manhattan Cable (now Warner Cable) and Chuck was in the process of laying millions of feet of cable underneath Manhattan’s sidewalks and streets. It was an enormous task, frought with political backlash, not to mention kazillions of dollars in financing. In these early days, I could sense that it was a touch-and-go undertaking. I can still vividly remember my first comments, “What is this guy crazy?”
Manhattan cable went to hotel rooms in those early days, and the company had a difficult time getting anyone in a hotel room to watch what was essentially a news ticker. And then came along Michael J. McCurdy with an idea that would transform the world of cable. I am sure that with this idea alone, Chuck Dolan would make me a vice president. After spending several days flirting with his secretary, I gave her a note for Mr. Dolan…would she please pass it on to him. She smiled, and said yes!
Weeks went by before I got the courage to ask her if he had seen it. Yes, he had.
That was it - nothing else. How could he not see the benefit of having “Live Burlesque” on his channel in hotel rooms! Surely every man visiting New York could not wait until he registered at his hotel. The press would have a field day. I consoled myself by rationalizing that he was just too busy to get back to me.
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: In 1972, Mr. Dolan founded Home Box Office Inc (HBO) the first premium programming service in the cable television industry. After selling Home Box Office to Time-Life, Inc. (now Time Warner), he organized Cablevision Systems Corporation on Long Island, and has spearheaded many of the company’s advancements. In 1986 he took the company public, and since 1992 the stock has risen by 400%. Estimated worth is 2.3 billon dollars.
Oh yeah, he also owns Madison Square Garden, the NY Knicks, NY Rangers, and Radio City Music Hall. Me? I was wooed away a year later to a television production company as a producer. I loved every minute in a long career. Now? I’m writing this blog If only Chuck had read my note
Mike McCurdy, Founder/Publisher HealthNewsDigest.com
Tell the Truth - Are You Thrilled About All of This?
November 16th, 2008Are We Getting “Thrilled to Death?”
“We are thrilled that Kristi is joining us this year as chairperson of our annual Christmas Seals Campaign,” said Bernadette Toomey, president and CEO of the American Lung Association.
“We are thrilled to have reached this major milestone in creating the new Stanford Hospital,” president and CEO Martha Marsh said.
We are thrilled to provide you with exclusively created formulas that are sure to please you!
France was thrilled with Obama — long before he won — and certainly now that he has. - The Huffington Post.
UK Catholic Bishop: “I have been thrilled by Barack Obama’s victory and I thank God for it.”
Drivers are thrilled, as gas prices drop below $2.00
Palestinians Thrilled by Sarkozy Support - Middle East Times
Schmidt says he’s “thrilled” to be re-elected state’s attorney …
Portland Trailblazers: Greg Oden Couldn’t Be More Thrilled With …
London Zoo thrilled by progress of green unicorns - Times Online
Pet Owners Not Thrilled with Poison Food Settlement
The News-Gazette.com: Spokesfamily for Tree of Hope thrilled with …
Marinelli thrilled with vote for new Warren Hills Regional High field
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: We’re thrilled about this NBC …
HAPPY!! - Is anyone else thrilled??? - 7th Nov, 10:20 PM - Nursing …
Indio families thrilled by makeovers at their homes | MyDesert.com …
Military vets thrilled to become U.S. citizens :: CHICAGO SUN …
Jolie-Pitts ‘Thrilled To Be Adding to Their Brood’ - Babies …
Department of Homeland Security Will Be Thrilled…
U.S. Envoy “Thrilled to Return to Qatar” - U.S. Embassy Doha, Qatar
UA Physicists Thrilled at First Beam in Large Hadron Collider …
New citizens thrilled to vote | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville …
CNS STORY: Catholic University students thrilled to welcome pope …
USA: Amnesty International Thrilled by Constitutional Victory in …
Owners not thrilled with bailout - Jan Norman on Small Business …
Do you remember when everything was “Marvelous?” Let’s just hope and pray that “Awesome” doesn’t catch on
Mike McCurdy - Just Thrilled to be Here :) HealthNewsDigest.com
Stop the Bus! There’s a Woman Underneath it!
November 10th, 2008I was having lunch recently with an old friend of mine, Rocco Sacci, of Sacci PR, at one of our favorite restaurants, Dock’s Oyster Grill on 40th street and Third avenue in Manhattan. We like to eat at the bar, where the bar specials are always a top choice of clams, oysters, chowders and grilled fish. An assortment of cold beers is usually pushed aside by Rocco, who likes a straight up vodka martini served in a frosted bird bath glass, with a slice of lemon tossed in for good measure.
As I was signing the bill, Rocco mentioned to me that he would walk north with me up third avenue to 42nd street and go west, and I would turn and go east to First avenue, and back to my office. As we exited the restaurant, there were hundreds of people on the sidewalks, as it was only around 2pm, and 42nd street afterall is one of the crossroads of the country. As we were approaching 41st street, for some reason or another, I looked ahead through a sea of people, and watched as a bus pulled into the bus stop at 42nd street. Surely, one of the more mundane scenes blending into the overall staging of life at this time of day. People were exiting the bus, as a short line waited to enter, while throngs of people were crossing the street at all four corners of the intersection. As a woman appearing to be in her fifties was hurrying to get on the tail end of the line, she slipped on the curb and fell to the pavement, rolled off the curb, and slid under the bus with her head resting up against the rear wheel. She lay there stunned, and unable to help herself up, as there was no room to manuver. Amazingly, not one person in the vicinity noticed her as they all were concerned with getting off and on the bus, and crossing the street before the traffic light turned green or red in the intersection.
As the door on the bus was about to close, I began at full speed to dart through pedestrians and started screaming from across the street “Stop the Bus - Stop the Bus!” Some people started to look at me as if I were just a crazy commuter, trying to halt traffic so that I could get a ride uptown. I kept on screaming until two women in their twenties saw what I was screaming at, and reached down and pulled the woman by her arm closest to them, and got her onto the sidewalk. By this time other people in the crowd started yelling at the bus driver.
The woman, looking embarrased, quickly brushed herself off, thanked the women, and walked away, as did all other commuters and pedestrians. In the seconds that all of this took place, I found myself standing in front of the bus driver who had just set foot on the sidewalk, looked me in the eye and said “What the hell’s wrong with you?” He got back on the bus, closed the door and drove off. By now, a totally different crowd of people were walking by, oblivious to the scene that just took place.
Rocco ran up to me and said, “Do you know that you just saved that woman’s life?”
Thanks Rocco. Next lunch is on me
Mike McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com
New York City’s First Marathon - From One Woman to 26,525
November 3rd, 2008New York City’s First Marathon - From One Woman to 26,525
It was a balmy Saturday afternoon one fine spring when I received a phone call from an old high school friend of mine, Jimmy. He had just moved into New York City after a short-lived marriage. After we got past the reminicing, he asked me if I were working out anymore. Jimmy was the captain of our basketball team, and I had labored on our football team. “No, not really. Just elbow bending.”
Jimmy had developed knee problems, and was forced to quit his college team. “Mike, yesterday as I was taking a shower, I felt my butt, and it’s soft as a girls. I couldn’t make a muscle!” He went on to ask me if I were interested in starting a morning jogging routine. The next morning we began running on an oval track in Central Park, that for me, develped into years or rewarding exercise. Not only did it get me back into shape, but it does wonders for your daily mental outlook.
I started to run the six-mile road that weaves through the park, every morning at 6 am. What do I remember most of those first few years? There was only one woman brave enough to be in Central Park at that hour running by herself. Most curiously, she ran the entire six-miles with her head down, looking at the pavement. On most occassions I ran with a male friend, and if we came across her, we would run behind her at a comfortable distance, just to let her know she wasn’t alone.
As the years went on, the number of women runners greatly increased, until I noticed in the 90’s, that the number of women running, matched that of men. In the 2007 marathon, the field had 26,525 female runners!
I ran in two early New York City marathons, underestimating how much training is necessary, and only finished 12 miles, each time. Instead of running 2 miles every day, I would have to run at least six, starting in January. In 1989 I began running six-miles per day, in an attempt to finish the race in November. One-week before the marathon, I caught the flu and was bedridden for two-days. On the morning of the marathon I bundled up and got myself to the start line on the Veranzano bridge. I made it through Brooklyn, Queens, and entered Manhattan at 59th street and 1st avenue. I was totally out-of-steam, but gallantly made my way to 75th street and First avenue, which is exactly the 17 mile mark. On that corner is a famous Irish pub, the Wicked Wolf, which I decided was my finish line. Everybody cheered me as I entered the establishment, and a cold beer was waiting for me! I chugged it down - then quickly barfed it up…so much for marathons. Since then I just cheer on all of the women
Mike McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com
Help! There’s a Blind Woman Trapped Underneath It!
October 27th, 2008The Big Black Dog Climbing Out of the Ground
I hate November in New York. Always have. Skies are various shades of grey - all month. This day, 10 years ago was no exception. For me, nasty means three elements hitting you at once. Wind, sleet and extreme cold fits the bill. I was walking west on 40th street between 8th and 9th avenues towards the Portof Authority bus terminal. I usually rented a car to go see my mother in New Jersey. Not today.
The bus was the most direct and convenient transportation. At 8am I could see throngs of people flowing out of the terminal, heads down, not wanting to speak or acknowledge anyone they might bump into. I gingerly walked on the ice-free foot trodden path that was at most two-feet wide that was bordered on each side by a mound of ice. The wind was so strong, that I could barely make out the head of a big black dog appearing to come up out of the ground. When it reached the sidewalk, it just stood there. Three-seconds later, a woman wearing sun glasses appearing up from the ground stood next to the dog and fitted her gloves tightly on her hands, reached down to the dogs back, and picked up the handle of her seeing-eye dog. They were coming out of the subway. I hesitated, allowing her to go ahead of me, although she was unaware of my action. She proceeded to walk towards the corner when a man shoving a clothing cart in front of her came careening around the corner directly into her path. His head was down, pushing and balancing the cart on the ice mounds, not watching where he was going. I started to Scream at him, attempting to calm my shrill voice and chocked on foul language before it escaped my mouth. He stopped when he looked up briefly to see my waving hands. The blind woman, was black and appeared to be in her early thirties. She stopped in her tracks, and screamed “What’s Happening - What’s Happening?” I placed my hand on her shoulder, and in a firm but calm voice said, “Everything is Ok…there is just a cart in front of us that is going to move soon.” I looked up at the man who had stopped the cart right in front of us, and in mime, I told him to get the cart out-of-the-way. This time, I cursed in mime also. He looked me right in the eye, and lifted his hand to his ear and moved it side-to-side, then to his mouth and repeated the same motion with his hand. He was deaf and voiceless! He leaned down again behind his cart and came straight at us, pushing the cart with the empty clothing rack forcefully up on the ice mound and tried to go past us on the street side. As he did so, the cart slipped from the mound and started to fall directly onto me and the woman. I screamed for her to duck down, and with my hand on her back she guided herself to the ground, her seeing-eye dog laying right beside her. The cart was stopped by the empty clothing rack hitting the subway exit guard rail. The cart was tall enough to makeeverything I was looking at appear quite dark. I promised her that everything would be all-right, and on my knees, backed my way out of the lean-to enclosure and then stood straight up looking at a mass of people stopped in the street looking right at me and the cart. Standing ten-feet away, stairing straight at me were three black men appearing to be in their late 20s to early 30s. If looks could talk, I was about to get my head ripped-off!
“Hey You Guys” I screamed at them, “I’ve got a blind black girl with her dog underneath the cart!” “COME ON, HELP ME GET IT OFF!”
In a split second they picked it up and removed it to the street. I saw the deaf man immediately get behind his cart, and go on his way.
I reached down to the woman, petted her dog, picked her up, and we walked together to bustling 9th avenue which was now only twenty-yards away. We stopped at the corner, and she profusely thanked me, and said that she would be OK, and said goodbye. I insisted on walking her across 9th avenue, and she repeatedly refused, which befuddled me. She relented and then told me that she just got the job two-months ago and wanted to prove to them that she needed no help in getting to work. It was Ok for me to walk with her, but not all the way down the block, lest her supervisors see us.
As we were mid-way across the avenue, she said to me “see that gas station on the corner? Do you see how that man has not cleared the snow and ice from his sidewalk?” I acknowledged. “We have requested that he clear it up three-times, but he hasn’t done it. But we’re not going to let him get us down!”
I kissed her on the cheek and said goodbye, as I watched her and her dog proceed to the non-profit agency for the blind, where she now worked.
My initial reaction was to go and find the three black men who helped us and tell them about the gas station guy…but relaxed and realized that the woman that I had just spent a slice-of-life with, was the strongest of us all!
Mike McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com
All About Celebrity
October 12th, 2008All About Celebrity - Who Was the Nicest?
What is celebrity anyway? Do you immediately think of Paris Hilton or Britney Spears? It’s been said that Paris Hilton is famous for being famous. As for Britney Spears, a person with genuine talent; I actually feel sorry for her. She has everything, and yet nothing. I hope she get’s it together. During my 9 years publishing HealthNewsDigest.com, and 25 years as a television producer, I have met my full share of celebrities from movies, tv, theatre, sports and industry, and a few politicians for good measure. From directing them in commercials, to interviewing them for HND. If you’re like most people you are already thinking, “Who was the nicest?” Well, let me tell you of an experience I had a few years ago that taught me a lesson I’ll never forget. I was invited to make a lunch-time presentation to a major pr agency here in New York, on producing and distributing public service commercials for television/cable. The conference room, I noted, was filled with 16 women, all under the age of 30 - I guessed. All looked highly educated, attractive and well groomed. During a presentation of this type, a producer normally likes to drop names of who he/she has worked with. I rattled off a few names, and for good measure, I noted that I was the only one to direct Miss Helen Hayes in a television commercial! There was a time when this was held in high esteem. This was not one of them. The room was deadly silent. I reached out into the air, and could not grab what I had said and put it back in my big mouth. I was dead. No one knew who Helen Hayes was, and perhaps even worse, I had dated myself back into the prehistoric ages. For those of you over 40, I know you feel my pain Here is her official biography:
”Helen Hayes’ career in entertainment surpasses most others in years as well as in achievements. She began acting at the age of five and didn’t stop until she was 85. Helen is one of only two women to receive all four prestigious entertainment awards: a Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. In 1983, the Helen Hayes Awards were established, encouraging other aspiring actors and actresses to reach for their goals as she had done.”
It was a great honor for me to be picked to direct her in a television public service commercial. The sponsoring organization was Prudential Insurance, for whom I had produced/directed 36 commercials. However, from here on in I kept it to myself.
One day, the perfect opportunity to redeem myself presented itself in the form of Jennifer Garner. Jennifer is not only a gifted, highly-talented attractive actress, but she has that rare gift of lighting up a room, once she appears in it. If you ever met her, you know what I mean. Last November, we ran this story:
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - New York – Actress Jennifer Garner joined leading medical officials at a press conference today to kick off the American Lung Association’s national Faces of Influenza public awareness campaign, urging Americans to get their annual influenza vaccination. The program is designed to help Americans put a “face” on this serious disease and recognize annual immunization as a safe and effective way to protect themselves and their families against influenza. The American Lung Association also hosted a free influenza immunization clinic, where hundreds of New Yorkers were vaccinated.
I ran this as the Lead Article for the week, and managed to have my picture taken with her, and have displayed it on the site ever since. At first I was getting calls from male readers telling me how lucky I am. But much to my happy surprise, far more young women were calling and asking “What’s she like ?” All of them spoke of their admiration for her. Wow, I thought. This is really working as a public service for the American Lung Association! Women are listening and getting vaccinated!
In one of my future blogs, I will discuss when and when not to use celebrities for a public service campaign. I will also give you my 4 rules for producing highly effective campaigns.
So, who was the nicest that I have ever met? That’s tough. But James Garner has to rank way up there for being a genuinely regular guy, and a class act.
Mike McCurdy, Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com
The TV Public Service Commercial - How It Started - How to Produce One
October 5th, 2008The TV Public Service Commercial - How It Started - How to Produce One
So, Where did it all begin? Well, circa 1966, a lawyer in Washington complained to the Washington Post that with all of the cigarette advertising in newspapers, there should be a public service ad for the anti-smoking people who did not have a voice (or a budget). This got a lot of tv stations across the country nervous. You see, when tv stations go up for license renewal, they have to show what portion of their schedule is devoted to public service time. Bam - Boom - Bang! A new industry was born!
Some producers in New York City and Washington, D.C. began producing what today is known as the tv public service spot. In the 1960s the spots were sixty-seconds in length, and usually were a call to action on safety in the home, driving safety, food safety, and on and on - and, the evils of smoking! The sponsors had a tag at the end of the spot that appeared less than 10 seconds, as the rule was that no sponsor mention could be on longer than that time frame. The big surprise, however, were who the sponsors were - (getting free airtime). Companies like Prudential Insurance, Metropolitan Life, Avis Rent-A-Car, Gulf Oil, as well as non-profit associations, government, etc. As the 70s began, it became a cottage industry.
Today, sponsors of a public service commercial must be non-profits or not-for-profits. And, as the times changed, so has the length of a spot - to 30 seconds. One of the most popular questions usually is “Yeah, but how many of the airings are in the wee hours of the morning?” Well, that has a lot to do with what time of the year you release your public service spot. During the summer months, stations in New York City, for example, may have as much as 100 minutes per day devoted to public/community service. That window starts narrowing as you get into September, and receeds even further in October and November. For example, in December, those same stations will have only 3 minutes of public service time per day, due to the heavy load of advertisers. Come January, that figure jumps right back up to 100 minutes. So, your spot will air in what is known as “run of station.”
As someone who has produced/directed over 200 psa’s, I’m going to offer you (for free my all-knowing wisdom in one phrase: “Get Emotional.” This is what sells public service messages. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different! Here in New York when I watch the local network affiliates roll out one of their leading stars from their network show, and they say something like: “Don’t Smoke - It’s Not Good For You” - I always say out loud, “What Bull Shit. - You’re promoting your show!”
If you’re planning to produce a psa for your company or client, the first thing to think of is the concept. Here is where a professional producer of psa’s comes in real handy. He/She can tell you what the current climate is for acceptance, what time-length, and how to distribute (extremely important).
When thinking of the actual production, here is my simple but highly effective procedure: Break the spot down into three sections - the opening, the middle, and the close. The opening should be pure dynamite! Very dramatic. You want the viewers attention. In the middle portion, you tell your story. The close is a “Call to Action” and here is where we again get emotional. You’ve got to leave the viewer with a strong picture and message.
Distribution: I could write an entire chapter here alone. The distributor has got to be on top of current conditions, and have a strong working relationship with television and cable outlets. You should be getting tens-of-thousands of airings in a three-month period, with the life of the spot being six-months, although you will be getting airings for up to a year. If you would like further information, or a consultation, please email me at: tvmike13@HealthNewsDigest.com. Mike McCurdy - Founder/Publisher - HealthNewsDigest.com