It should have been a routine uneventful trip. All they had to do was travel the 118 miles or so from Bristol to London England. But as soon as she got in the Ford Consul Mark 11 taxi, a sense of doom came over her. She later said that when the taxi door shut it felt as if a “tomb was closing on me.” She found herself thinking not that they could have an accident, but wondering when they would have an accident. There were five people in the taxi in total. The man in the backseat in the middle asked the taxi driver to slow down three times. He did so, in part, because she (his girlfriend) was visibly terrified at the high rate of speed they were traveling at. After each request, the driver slowed down, but only for a while. He would soon speed back up again. The minutes and seconds ticked away… They were quickly approaching the point in time when everything would change. Their lives. Their loved ones’ lives. Rock and roll. A legend was about to be born. It came with a heavy price though.  A young man full of promise, energy, life, and the pulsing beat of rock and roll would soon be dead. Music, laughter, and fun would soon be replaced with fans quietly speculating “I wonder what would have happened if…?” Then suddenly it happened. The twenty-year-old girl remembers hearing a horrible blood-curdling scream. She quickly realized the scream belonged to her. Patrick Thompkins, the occupant of the front passenger seat, later recalled how the accident unfolded… “You come out from under the viaduct and come across a bridge in front of you. On your right is the A4 and then the bridge and on your left is the A4 to London. Well, he (the driver) saw the A4 and turned right, going the wrong way. When he  saw the milestone, he realized he was going the wrong way and hit the brakes.” The taxi hit a curb and then slammed into a concrete lamppost on the other side of the road. Just before the taxi smashed into the lamppost, the girl’s boyfriend had pulled her body over his lap to shield her from the upcoming destruction. She later learned that doctors had given her only a 10% chance of surviving. She attributed that 10% and her survival to her boyfriend’s noble actions. “He gave me his life,” she would later say. The date of the fateful crash was 11:50 pm April 16th, 1960. The only person who died as a result of the crash was a 21-year-old American male. Minutes after the crash on that cold night in Chippenham, a lady from a nearby...

Are you familiar with the name Lee Stafford? If you live outside the UK, you probably aren’t. But even if you live in the UK, you might not be familiar with who he is and what he does. Stafford is a UK Essex-borne celebrity hairdresser who now resides in Soho. In addition to styling hair, he’s developed his own line of hair care products, and today his brand is worth over £20 million. A few years back he was on the show, Secret Millionaire.  It’s a show where a millionaire goes undercover to volunteer at a number of charities.  At the end of the show, the millionaire reveals his real identity and gives his charity contacts checks of varying amounts to continue their good work. It’s a great show.  And one where you just might find yourself shedding a tear or two before each episode ends. And while the show is called “Secret Millionaire,” the actual secret millionaire is not the real star of the show. The real stars are the people who devote their time and efforts to helping others.  The people who through their kindness and compassion make a difference in the lives of the many people they come in contact with. When Lee first arrived in Salford, shortly after moving into his temporary flat, there was a knock on his door. His new next-door neighbor, Edna, had brought him to mince pies “just like his mom used to make.” Lee speaks to the camera expressing his appreciation for her kindness… “In the apartments, I live in no one has ever done that, never.  That touched me, it has.  Bless her.” Reminder #1:  Random acts of kindness still go a long way. Lee has selected two charities to get involved in the eight days he’s spending in a town called Salford. One is called B.A.S.I.C. assists and supports people living with cancer.  The other C.A.L.L. and helps people adjust to life after experiencing a brain injury. He selected those two because ten years ago his brother had a motorcycle accident that left him with a brain injury.  He can no longer hold a regular job and is under the care of Lee’s 70-year-old mother 24 hours a day.  His brother recently requested that his mother help him kill himself which, obviously, caused his mother a lot of stress and worry. He chose the cancer charity because his mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Both charities were forewarned that a celebrity, who was taking part in a documentary about celebrities getting a reality check, was going to be visiting them. When Lee appears at B.A.S.I.C., the person in charge, Carol, is unfamiliar with his ‘celebrity.’  Soon after meeting...

There are two ways to watch The Wizard of Oz: 1) Not focusing on Toto. 2) Focusing on Toto. A couple of months ago, while watching The Wizard of Oz for the umpteenth time, I chose to watch it using method number two. Throughout the entire picture, I didn’t/couldn’t take my eyes off Toto. Even when Toto was not in a shot, I wanted to know what she was doing. Despite knowing a happy ending was in the cards for all involved (except for the Wicked Witch of the West of course,) I always felt a tiny sense of relief and comfort when my Toto came back into view. Few Wizard of Oz purists would argue that Terry, who changed her name to “Toto” after making The Wizard of Oz (Toto was no fool) delivers a stunning performance as Toto. Just as it’s impossible to imagine say Errol Flynn or Humphrey Bogart playing Jimmy Stewart’s role in It’s A Wonderful Life it’s equally unimaginable to picture Errol Flynn or Humphrey Bogart as Toto. What makes Terry’s performance even more remarkable is that Terry was a female playing a male. Few actors or actresses have pulled off playing the opposite sex so successfully. A distant second, in my opinion, can be found in the picture Tootsie where Dustin Hoffman, in the title role, turns himself into a surprisingly attractive and very dateable female. One of the most memorable scenes in The Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy sings “Over The Rainbow.” It’s also the scene where Toto does some of her greatest acting. After Dorothy starts to sing, we first see Toto in about a two-second shot eagerly looking up at Dorothy through the spokes of a wheel. A bit later, Toto jumps up on the piece of farm equipment. She gently extends her paw for Dorothy to grab, but Dorothy – busy singing turns the other way. I think we’ve all had that happen to us. We extend our hand out with the intention of shaking someone’s hand, but they don’t see it. I’m not sure why it’s so embarrassing, but it is. Our embarrassment only stops when we try again and the person actually sees our hand and completes the handshake. But Toto handles it gracefully. She merely moves her paw back in and waits for a more timely moment to extend it — which happens a bit later. Here are some of my other favorite Toto moments: 1) When Glinda the Good Witch of the North originally meets Dorothy she asks her if she’s a good witch or a bad witch. After Dorothy says “no,” Glinda asks if Toto is a witch. I think Dorothy was as shocked as we viewers by that question. Next, we’re treated to a shot of Toto excitedly waving her tail – thankful that she survived the tornado and seemingly just happy to be alive and oblivious to the fact...

On February 4th, 2014, actor Matthew McConaughey was a guest on The Tonight Show starring Jay Leno. Near the end of their conversation, Leno thanked McConaughey for being a friend of the show and told him what a pleasure it has been for him to watch McConaughey’s career progress over the years. McConaughey, who was making his 16th appearance on The Tonight Show, told Leno that he owed him a “thank you” as well. He then recalled the very first time he had appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show.  It was back in 1998.  McConaughey was promoting the film The Newton Boys. “I was hanging out back there (the green room) getting ready to come on and you said ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ “ Then McConaughey says that Jay asked him if he was a little nervous. “Yes sir,” was his reply. “Do you want to know the secret?” Leno asked. “Please,” said McConaughey. Leno said… “Just want to be here.” “Now that is not only a secret for coming on Jay Leno’s Show.  But I’ve taken that into places in life where – you know there are always things you don’t want to do, but we all know we have to do them – instead, you know, remember what Jay said ‘just want to be here…just want to be here.’ That’s all you got to do.” Now, this might seem like simplistic, even silly, advice but it’s really not. We can all relate to “things we don’t want to do and places we don’t want to be.” When we head into situations and events with a chip on our shoulder (no matter how big or small) it can’t help but affect our enjoyment level.  Not to mention the enjoyment of the people around us. What if instead, as Leno and now McConaughey’s advice, you were just happy to be there? You could instantly turn a potentially dismal trip or event into an exciting fun-filled adventure. My guess is that its advice that almost everyone can use. “Just want to be here.” And you’ll never again have a bad...

Today I will be looking at a powerful persuasion technique involving social proof. In Yes: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, Robert Cialdini and his co-writers talk about how changing three words boosted sales. Even though the three words suggested that the customer might be inconvenienced. This change was made by Colleen Szot, an extremely successful and well-respected writer of infomercial scripts. The line in question was the familiar call-to-action… “Operators are waiting, please call now.” Colleen changed three words so it read… “If operators are busy, please call again.” No matter how many males have levitra prices canada been targeted by different erectile problems, they have been successful to defeat it with some of those that tend to be working are under community ownership. This system will be more competitive and will viagra soft tablet help in lifting low-paid workers out of paying tax and increasing the amount of money that is acquired by Treasury from the wealthy. The study however could not state the cause and effect of their findings, but an expert in health foods can tell you more about these magic pills, let us first read what exactly erectile dysfunction is and what its negative impacts are over the person. cialis samples secretworldchronicle.com Buy Online: getting prescription for viagra UK and EU men thus have the assurance that they are getting the right treatment for any health circumstances that could be causing it. The change resulted in a huge increase in the number of people who purchased the product. Why did it have such a positive impact? “Operators are waiting” created a mental image of a roomful of bored phone representatives “filing their nails” and “twiddling their thumbs,” indicative of low demand and poor sales. Whereas “If operators are busy, please call again” suggests that the operators are going from phone call to phone call without a break. Which would mean that people are so excited about the opportunity to acquire the benefits of the product or service, they are calling in droves. Another benefit, if by chance you did get a busy signal, you would think it’s to be expected and you would try again. So what’s the action item here? When scanning sales copy for typos and edits, also perform a scan of your copy looking for ways to add more social proof.   As you can see, changing just a few words can have a substantial impact on your (or your client’s)  bottom...

It was 2007. When I opened my Post Office box… A slip inside indicated I had a parcel. Could it be I wondered? As it appeared at the counter before me, I realized… “It was.” The package was slightly bigger than 8″ by 10″ and maybe a quarter of an inch thick. The printing was neat and orderly.  Very precise.  Not rushed. I thought for a second about letting the lady behind the counter know that the small package she had just handed me was from none other than classic movie actress Joan Fontaine. Not really knowing the counter lady or even knowing if she’d know who Joan Fontaine was, I decided against it. I’d never written a letter to a celebrity before. It was just not my thing. But when I came across Joan Fontaine’s address online, I decided to make her my exception. The golden age of cinema brought some very beautiful women to the public’s attention.  All dedicated to their craft and whose personality and charm shine through every character they inhabited. Rita Hayworth…Lana Turner…Greer Garson…Vivien Leigh…Myrna Loy…Carole Lombard…Carole Landis…Evelyn Keyes…Barbara Stanwyck…Paulette Goddard…I love them all. But two for me really stand out… Ann Sheridan who possesses “a girl next door quality” that permeates her beauty and demeanor (who I pay tribute to with my site www.ann-sheridan.com) and Joan Fontaine… Her beauty was more elegant.  She had a sophistication about her.  In fact, I almost couldn’t believe how beautiful she was.  By all indications, beauty and glow that time, try as it does, was unable to strip away from her throughout the years. I scoured Turner Classic Movies for her movies. One of her early films “Maid’s Night Out” caught Joan at her screwball best.  Still beautiful of course, but there was a marvelous sense of fun and wackiness about her performance.  Miles away from the type of characters she would play less than a handful of years later in the movies Rebecca and Suspicion. I’ve managed to watch quite a few of her performances, but there are still more treasures out there waiting to be discovered.  I even read her 1979 autobiographical book No Bed of Roses. I was delighted that both she and her sister Olivia de Havilland were still alive and well and making their way through their 90s. In fact, I’d often visit her Internet Movie Database profile, just to make sure everything was fine and she was still going strong. So around five to eleven the night of Sunday, December 15th, when I found out she’d passed away I was saddened, to say the least.  “Yes,” she was 96.  “Yes,” she lived a good life.  I know I know.  But it’s...