Marcello Pedalino, Executive Director of MMP Entertainment & Steven Zadwydas, Sales Manager of Sherman Specialties

Special thanks to our friends at Sherman Specialty.   They featured one of our event photos at their Las Vegas trade show booth last month.  Sherman supplies MMP Entertainment with fun and unique party enhancers every season. Some of this year’s favorites include; LED fingertip gloves, Miami Beach fedoras and Rock Star sunglasses.

The Response by Adidas

Maybe I got lucky, but the young salesman from Dick’s Sporting Goods actually knew what he was talking about and recommended a great sneaker. Did I mention that he was also friendly and not texting his girlfriend during the sale? Like Whitney, I still believe that children are the future and as scary as that notion seems sometimes; we just might be ok.

I told Justin what I wanted… “a sneaker that could handle about 15 miles per week and be worn on the road and the trail… It should also be able to be worn as a cross trainer for my circuit training workouts.” Without hesitation, he showed me the The Response by Adidas and said this is just what you’re looking for. He read about the sneaker in Runner’s World and already had two pair himself.

"Dr. J" Julius Irving

After six months of workouts and epic mileage in the mountains of Costa Rica, on  the strip in Las Vegas and all over the local country roads of Sussex County, NJ; it’s safe to say that this is one of the most versatile and comfortable pair of sneakers I’ve owned.

p.s Don’t forget the stylistically-hip and functional “no show” socks.

Old school white tubes will seriously throw off your mojo unless you’re going for the Dr. “J” retro vibe.

Have a great workout! -mp

Super Bowl champ Drew Brees submits his father of the year photo

Some of my “job” requirements as an entertainer and entrepreneur are to perform in places like Las Vegas, to eat in restaurants like Carnevino, to listen to guys like Don Piper and to attend shows like Cirque Du Soleli‘s, Love.  I think it’s safe to say that I’ve got one of the best jobs in the world. Well, maybe it’s a tie with this guy.

Mike, Jason and I landed in Vegas on Superbowl Sunday.  Normally, you wouldn’t find me watching football for three hours in a row; but when the underdog team actually has a chance to win and you find out how cool the quarterback is,  count me in.  Even though the game was awesome and the commercials were funny, my favorite part was when Drew Brees held his son up at the end.  Unless you’ve gone to the dark side and become completely cynical and devoid of all human emotions, it was a goosebump-inducing Kodak moment.

Some of you may remember the hit show, Soul Train. “A groove that will make you move real smooth.”  Don Cornelius and the Soul Train Gang used to bring “peace, love, soul” and some great music into America’s living rooms every week.  John Rozz, from Sound Spectrum Entertainment, produced a Soul Train tribute event at the top of the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas to commemorate the show’s 40th anniversary. I was chosen to be one of the performance Emcees.  The event featured classic videos, retro costumes, Text Live, and two of the biggest disco balls I’ve ever seen.   Good times!

Special thanks to my good friends, Beau Kramer, from California, and Ron Brown, from Kansas, for sharing this photo and the encore gallery for today’s entry.

Marcello performs at the Soul Train 40th Annivesary Tribute

While in Vegas for the show, I attended several business and entertainment-related workshops to indulge MMP’s infinite commitment to continuing education. Topics included; decor lighting design, enhanced customer service techniques for brides and grooms, fresh ideas for Bar Mitzvah interactives, enhanced technology applications for improved social media relationships and advanced production concepts for the new decade. Culinary & hospitality highlights for some of these presentations took place at the Sterling Club, the Capital Grill and Carnevino.

**Editors Note: I didn’t realize that chef Mario Batali’s highly sought-after 7 course “meat tasting” menu at Carnevino was served a bit on the rare side (seared).  The staff was very accommodating and offered those of us who are used to eating our steak at The Outback-…a NY strip that was out-of-this-world in exchange without laughing out loud.  At least, not right in front of us.

p.s. The staff plugs Mario’s iPod directly into the restaurant’s sound system and just lets her rip at random- at a high volume.   Luckily, my group and I were fans of the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

The highlight of the week was the presentation given by Don Piper, the author of the best selling book,  90 Minutes in Heaven. Bonnie Traylor’s review of the his book on Amazon will bring you up to speed on the messenger and the message…

90 Minutes In Heaven, Revell Publishing, 2004

“Written in straight-forward, simple style without a lot of “religionese,” Don Piper has told the story of his devastating accident, his brief time in heaven and his return to a life full of pain and questions. I read it cover-to-cover in two hours and then loaned out my copy. I would recommend this book to just about anybody — to those with questions about faith, questions about prayer, questions about life and death and pain which we all face to some extent.

His descriptions of heaven are human ones – simple, not overly poetic or grandiose, just those of someone who experienced the indescribable and then tried to describe it. I loved the descriptions of the incredible heavenly music and I get the feeling that vast choirs and heightened senses await us there. And despite the incredible experience, Piper found it too personal, too private, and too intimate to share with anyone for over a year after his accident. I’m so glad he found the courage to do so.

I also love the honesty with which he describes his pain and depression and the inevitable questions that we must face when we have close encounters with the Almighty. The God we meet is often not the one we expected, and while we can’t understand why God does what he does, we can no longer deny this God we don’t understand. And while we hold these two things together, our lives are changed and grace is showered down amid the ruins of what we thought was important to us.”

Cirque Du Soleil's interpretation of the Beatles music library, Love

I found Don’s speaking style to be very similar to his writing style.  He masterfully connects with his audience and effortlessly delivers his messages.  The one sentiment that has stuck with me since that day was, “find a new normal.”  No matter what happens, regardless of the circumstances- find a new normal… embrace it, and move on. I know many of the readers of this blog can appreciate the change in dynamic that occurs within a lifetime.  Not only am I finding a new normal, I’m learning that “normal” is an extremely subjective frame of mind.

I liked how Don never sugar-coated how difficult life can be and never pretended that life was always fair.   Most of all, I loved how Don proved beyond a shadow of a doubt how important it is to have faith in someone and to have something to believe in.

Speaking of love, the icing on the cake of a great week in Vegas was seeing Cirque Du Soleli’s interpretation of the Beatle’s, Love show.   Even if you’re not a big fan of the Beatles and only know their popular recordings like me, you’ll still be amazed, wow’d and blown away by the dancing, the acrobatics and the theatrical spectacle that Cirque shows are famously known for. From the opening number of Get Back to the grand finale mega-mix of Hey Jude, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonley Heart’s Club Band and of course, All You Need Is Love, you couldn’t help but to smile and say to yourself, “life is good.”

The Fountain Show at the Bellagio

(Honorable mention for the icing on the cake award was sitting outside at the Paris casino’s cafe, Mon Ami Gabi, eating Bananas Foster while watching Bellagio’s Fountain Show across the street. I had the chance to catch up with my good friends, Scott Faver, from Arizona, and Chuck Lehnhard, from Hawaii.)

What a week!

On the flight home, the words of Steve Wynn came to mind… “Las Vegas is sort of like how God would do it if he had money.”

Encore Gallery:

My good friend, Karl Detken, was inducted into the Mobile Beat Hall of Fame for his personal accomplishments and his professional contributions to the mobile dj industry.  As a result of a few congratulatory e-mail exchanges,  I found out that Karl was friends with the legendary Motley Crue drummer and current Dj/Producer extraordinaire,  Tommy Lee.

Above and beyond the fact that it was pretty cool to chat with a certified Rock Star, Tommy’s  e-mail signature is what has stuck with me for the past few days.

Tommy printed the words that Richard Dreyfuss narrated during an old Apple computer commercial from the 80′s.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.  The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them; disagree with them; glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.

They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.  Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Either I  missed this commercial when it came out or I was too young to appreciate it at the time because these words instantly struck a chord.  As an entrepreneur and independent spirit since childhood, these sentiments represent most of the people I look up to and who inspire me to think outside the proverbial box and to celebrate life everyday.

If you told this Jersey boy that I’d wake up in Las Vegas and be inspired by an e-mail from Tommy Lee, I’d say you were crazy.  But then again, crazier things have happened.   After all,  the under-dog New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl the night before.

Speaking of the Saints, if you never saw this video with the Crue and Chester Bennington that raised money for victims of  Hurricane Katrina, consider it another degree/point on my Kevin Bacon-game scoreboard.

Thanks for helping me re-introduce  this important message to the world and for your quick replies Tommy.  Honestly, I didn’t think my e-mail would even make it to your inbox.

Like Mike and I like to say, “don’t be afraid to ask someone for something, the worst they can do is say “no” … and life goes on.

Sometimes, they say “yes”.

As usual, life is good.