| Randy's Rants
I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay - wasting time.
OK not the most original thing I could write, but I always wanted to do that, and it's true. It's Tuesday and I'm at my place in Sydney sitting on the Woolloomooloo Bay, downing a meat pie from Harry's Café de Wheels, which is located on the sidewalk right outside my place.
Harry's is famous for their "pies and peas," serving a steady stream of Sydneysiders and visiting celebrities since 1945. The pies are similar to the pot pies we get in the States, but filled with beef, stew, or veggies, then topped with your choice of mashed potatoes or mashed peas. (Which actually taste better than they sound. And if you need any proof of that, your doubts will be erased when you realize it's the only food cart in the world that hires Brink's to come and collect their money. Really.)
Grab a tiger pie, or one of their famous chili dogs, and have a seat overlooking the water for a healing no doctor can give you. If you're willing to share, you'll promptly be joined by the friendly neighborhood sea gulls and pigeons.
It's wintertime here and the weekend was a little cold for my taste, but I was doing a seminar the whole time anyway. Now things have warmed up and it's beautiful.
As always the Aussie people are welcoming and charming, and I've had a chance to unwind before continuing on my trip. From Miami to LA, I was on American Airlines. It's funny how quickly culture can propel or infect an organization. One thing AA always did well was leave on time. While I once went three years straight on Delta where they never left on time once. Now Delta is trying to leave on schedule and my last eight flights on AA left late.
But things were only going to get worse...
The flight from LA to Sydney was on United, and it was simply dreadful. Has to be the worst First Class of the US carriers. Dreary food choices, tiny entertainment screen, and the old seats most carriers use in Business Class. No sleeper suit for a 15-hour flight, and the movies offered were either ones you have never heard of, or left over from the Reagan administration.
The only friendly flight attendant was the 41-year veteran who is retiring in a few weeks. Guess the thought of her impending escape has her in good spirits. It's hard to fault any of them though. They have their benefits slashed so much and the whole operation is so dispirited, it must be pretty tough to go to work each day.
By the way, in the interest of fairness, I should mention I flew Continental up to my New York tournament last weekend. They left on time, the planes were clean, and the crew was friendly. And they still offer blankets, pillows, and meals at mealtimes.
Now it's Wednesday and I'm getting out of Sydney just in time. Pope What'sHisName arrived here a few days ago for World Teach Intolerance and Worthiness Issues to Youth Day, and half of the streets in the Central Business District are closed. It took me half an hour to get to Bambini's last night for my daily dose of spagatinni. Like I need another reason to be irritated by the Pope. (And would someone please tell Michael at Bambini's to get back the sourdough rolls before Rob & Nicky Horkings slit their
wrists?)
Anyway, the city is awash with the faithful. They all are wearing their official red/orange jackets, their official red/orange backpacks, and their official lanyards, which are adorned with collector pins. One of the most popular says, "Jesus is my home boy." Alrighty then.
There were 4,000 priests and 150,000 pilgrims at the opening ceremonies at Barangaroo last night, which will pale to the 500,000 they expect at the papal mass on Sunday. I've had a hot, steamy week experiencing my usual haunts, clubs and nightlife. But with all those innocent kids here this week, you have to figure some of those priests have had a lot more sex than I did.
But I'm ranting again, aren't I?
Fast forward a few hours and now I'm wrapped once again in the warm embrace of Singapore Airlines. What a shocking contrast to the American carriers. What's fascinating is when I did the booking, I tried to get one of the private suites on their A380's. Turns out no matter what day I tried it was impossible, because they did not have a single space open in the entire month of July! Compare that with the bleak United cabin with 40 percent of the seats empty.
Since the A380 was not available, I'm on an older 747. And even their last generation cabin is just light-years ahead of anyone else. Their seats are the widest in the air, the bed lays flat, and their "old" entertainment system still has a screen about 20 inches wide, with 80 movies, 100+ TV programs, 180 CDs, 12 radio channels, and 60 interactive games. Their amenity bag has everything, including aftershave and a large bottle of Ferragamo cologne. You get a set of Givenchy pajamas, comfy slippers, and the most gracious service in the sky.
Frankly you're better off with Singapore Airlines than taking your own private jet. The privacy of the jet is great, but the slower speed and limited amenities can't match the SQ service. The desk at my seat has a drawer with a pen, postcards and stationary! With a plane like this, who needs a hotel? (And yes mom, I sent you a card.)
And while we're talking about superior service, have you seen what Apple has just come up with?
Their .Mac service has changed to MobileMe.com. Every Apple
machine you have can now be automatically connected and synced. Even you poor schmucks still with PCs can connect. So let's suppose you're out walking around and you get an email from Natalie on your iPhone, inviting you to lunch at Bambini's.
You can click "add contact," and add Natalie to your address book automatically. You can click on Bambini's which pulls up a Google map to get there. If you click on calendar, you can type the appointment in your calendar. That info then is transmitted to your "cloud," which is located at Starfleet Command on Apple's server. Then all this information - the new contact, map, and calendar entry - all are downloaded automatically to your Mac computer at home, and your MacBook Air in your briefcase. (Or whatever devices you have set up for the service.)
If you add Natalie's picture to her profile on your iPhone, it goes to the cloud and then automatically is added to your other machines. If you have files that are too large, you can store them on the main server in your account, and send password links to anyone you want to view them. Anything you do on one machine - email, contacts, documents, calendar, music or video downloads, etc - will automatically be synced to all of your other devices.
Let's say you have none of your devices with you, as you are backpacking through India. Simply find an Internet café and log in to your MobileMe account. You can access all of your info there, and any changes you make will be automatically updated on all of your machines at home. This technology stuff is starting to get fun!
That loud noise you hear is Bill Gates grinding his teeth in Redmond.
I spent the night in Singapore to break up the trip, and now I'm on another SQ flight to Russia for a program there. It's a ten-hour flight, but I have to tell you. I actually went to the airport today looking forward to it. How often can you say that about a long plane trip? But with Singapore Airlines, you actually do. You know you can sleep in comfort, get some productive work done, eat some great meals or just relax with great entertainment.
You pull up to the First Class check in and there is a valet with a cart waiting to take your luggage. A staff member greets you at the door and directs you to the lounge. At the lounge another staff member greets you, takes your passport, and gets you checked in while you relax. Then clear security and you can shop in the airport, which is filled with just about every designer you could want, or go to the departure lounge, which is one of the best you'll find. Newspapers from all over the world, large and spacious, and a chef preparing eggs and omelets for breakfast.
Now I'm on the plane, a 777 that has a private cubicle for each seat with a 40" TV screen and a "Do Not Disturb" button. The next time someone tells you that money and materials things don't matter - slap them.
We flew over India and Pakistan, then Afghanistan south of Kabul, which was a little creepy. We did just a little jog north to miss flying over the corner of Iran, which was fine by me!
It will be cool to get to Moscow again. There are already more than 1,200 people pre-booked for the event, so it's sure to be a great event. Then it's Germany for a few days, then back to Florida.
Before I sign off, let me advise you about a new resource you'll be interested in if you are a speaker, trainer or web entrepreneur. It's something you can add quickly to your existing website to keep visitors around longer, engage them, and build your credibility. This always leads to bigger sales for you.
It's called the Visitor Involvement Project (VIP) and it enables you to engage your visitors by having then participate in an interactive quiz on your site. You don't have to change your website in any way... you enhance your visitors' experience by simply adding your customized VIP quiz to your already-developed website.
However, the VIP website enhancement isn't just fun-and-games. While your visitors are testing their knowledge, you're also demonstrating your expertise on the subject and building your credibility. And the more your visitors see you as the authority in your area of expertise, the stronger your online sales will be.
And what's better than an engaged visitor? A lot of engaged visitors, of course. Creating an intriguing quiz will also get visitors to your site recommending it to others. This kind of viral marketing is the most powerful sales tool on the web today.
This service comes from my good friend Jim "Mad Dog" Barber. And even better, Jim is offering a special coupon for Randy's Rants readers. Anyone who uses the coupon when they buy anything from the Bookstore (the VIP package or anything else) receives a 20% discount off their total purchase. Just write "rants" in the space for the coupon. Check it out at: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=AbFgZ&m=1ceA0vs.ImF9cL&b=fkUyQhkhvHvZ0r6pNMLdeg
It can definitely make you some money. I'll check in with you when I get back. Until then, have a great week!
-RG
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