Island Art Gallery - Hyatt Waikiki
Saturday December 27 was a very special evening for The Island Art Galleries as they filled the entire Hyatt Waikiki gallery with art painted by the famed Makk family.  Eva Makk, her husband Americo Makk, and their son A.B. Makk are all artists in their own right and have over 45 years of professional experience and accomplishments.
Americo Makk was born in 1927 in Hungary. He studied art at the Hungarian National Academy in Budapest and won a scholarship to Rome, where he won the Vatican Portrait Award. He and Eva were both appointed Professors at the Academy de Bellas Artes in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There they became official artists of the Brazilian government. In 1962 they came to New York City to escape Brazil’s political instability.

Me and Eva by On Wings
I was excited to get a picture taken with Eva next to her painting, “On Wings” which has hung dominately in my home since 1991. I saw it in the window of a gallery one day, walked in and bought it. Later I learned that Eva was born in Ethiopia. Her father was a diplomat, and her mother was an Hungarian baroness. She began painting at age four, studied art in Paris and graduated summa cum laude from the Rome Academy of Fine Arts, where she met Americo. Together they painted huge murals while in Brazil and once spent thirteen months in the Amazon jungle on a painting expedition.

Masae, A.B. and Eva
In the photo above you see Masae, Eva and her son A.B. who was born in 1951, while she and Americo were living in Brazil. A.B. began exhibiting at the age of five, when he was called “the little Picasso”, for his then cubist style works. He graduated high school in New York City and got his degree in psychology from the University of Hawaii. Masae brought along her Makk Family book “A Vision of Life” and had it signed by the entire family, including Sylvia; wife of A.B. and an artist as well.

New Masterpiece
Americo helped Eva unveil her latest masterpiece, and then went on to show new works by them all. This was a memorable evening finely presented by the team at Island Art Galleries.

Unexpected Signing
I was really taken by surprise when three girls visiting Hawaii from Greece popped in and presented me with copies of Retail Selling Made Easy to sign for them. They had just got the book from a retailer that hired them for seasonal work while here on vacation. This world is really shrinking.

Kazumi Morohoshi
While at the pool today Masae recognized Kazumi Morohoshi, who is a part-time Hawaii resident. Morohoshi is very well known in Japan, performing with the very famous pop group Hikaru Genji. He was kind enough to pose with me and give his permission to post this photo in order to surprise Masae’s nieces, Mari and Hana in Japan. 

I Call Him Smart
When I watched Ted Turner being interviwed by David Letterman recently, a number of things struck me as quite smart. The smartest of all was when he was questioned about war. I do not recall his exact words, but his basic philosophy is to travel around the world and make friends with people in all countries. He commented that people do not want to kill their freinds, so if presidents would do that there would be no wars. That sounds pretty simple and brilliant to me.

Call Me Ted
In his new autobiography, Call Me Ted, he describes what it was like being raised by a drunken father that beat him constantly. In spite of that, he loved his father, was motivated to succeed by him, and was devasted when he shot himself in the head.

Love Lost
In the book he describes how painful it was when Jane Fonda chose to leave him. It takes a lot to make a man like Ted Turner cry, and a big man to admit it publicly.

Always a Winner
An avid sailor, Ted won the America’s Cup at age 39. Later, his Atlanta Braves won the World Series. He is the only person to have won both the American and National Leauge titles.

CNN
He created the first 24-hour news station with CNN. He always saw opportunities where others saw nothing, and he had fun doing it all. His current focus is a promise to “care for Planet Earth”!

The Playoffs Begin
Watching this year’s political antics has been a side show perhaps like no other. Tonight’s debate will go down in history as one of the most watched TV events of all time.

Ali vs. Liston
This event conjurs up images of Muhamad Ali and Sonny Liston. I’m not saying who’s who here.

Celebrities and Politics
It has all of the ingredients we saw in the OJ Simpson murder trial and the Richard Nixon Watergate expose. I’m not saying who’s who here.
People root for their favorite football, baseball and basketball teams. We have the World Series, The Super Bowl and the NBA Playoffs.

Tyson vs. Spinks
We saw ”Iron Mike” Tyson and Michael Spinks. There are “TV Debate Parties” being held all across the country this evening, and the sports bars will be packed with “fans” just waiting to see their favorite candidate throw the knock out punch.

I have stated in previous posts that I am not a fan of the two party system. My problem with it, is that it insures division. Regardless of the outcome, roughly half of the people in the United States will be unhappy with the result and begin finding faults with our new leader. Having half of the country disagree with anything you do must make for the toughest job in the world, and unfortunately it may just keep the best, most qualified people out of the race entirely.

Politics and Politicians
Here’s another reason that I remain so non-political. Former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told ABC News that he lied repeatedly about having an affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her. How sweet is that?

The National Enquirer first reported on the affair in October 2007, and Edwards denied it, saying, “The story is false; it’s completely untrue, ridiculous”.

Edwards went on to say that he has not taken a paternity test but knows he is not the father of her child because of the timing of the affair and the birth. To add insult to injury one of his former campaign staffers claims he is the father. Who Can You Believe?
Will the real Daddy stand up please???

The story gets even jucier; In 2006, Edwards’ political action committee paid $100,000 in a four-month span to a newly formed firm run by Hunter, who directed the production of just four YouTube campaign videos, showing Edwards in informal settings as he prepares to make campaign speeches, talking about “who he is.”

New Visitor Center Fund
I have done a lot of work with the USS Arizona Memorial bookstore and head set rental departments. Recently I was asked to help with the fund raising efforts to build a new Visitor Center. I have spent some time observing the process out at the Memorial and this morning had the opportunity to speak to the volunteers as a group.

Pearl Harbor Invasion Survivors
I was honored to have three survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack in my audience, and they were eager to tell me their ages. From left to right 88 years young, (me) then 87 years young, and finally 94 years young. I was born just three months prior to the invasion; making me the baby in this group. Now that’s a rare occurance these days. 

World Class Artist

While on Maui the other day to conduct my monthly Success Rally at Pictures Plus, I was delighted to reconnect with world renowned artist James Coleman. James was there to do a show that evening at the gallery. I have always admired his work, and found him to be an all around great guy.

Walt Disney Influence
Jim’s roots go all the way back to his days with Disney Studios in the 70’s, where he worked as an animation background designer working on nine feature films and over 30 short subjects. Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast came to life with James Coleman’s background images.
Today you can find Jim’s art in some of the most prominent and respected galleries in North America, the Orient and the Hawaiian Islands.

Watching the Master at Work
I told Masae that James Coleman would be demonstrating his skills at the Wyland Gallery in Waikiki on Saturday evening. Being an artist herself, and a long time James Coleman admirer, she jumped at the opportunity to meet James and watch him paint.

Masae’s Studio at Uraku Tower
I invited Jim and his son, Scott Coleman to visit us at our Uraku Tower home, see Masae’s studio and have a look at the Morning Report to see how it works in an art gallery. Jim’s art is currently featured in close to 100 art galleries. He and Scott agreed that this would be a great addition to help many of them enjoy even greater success. I am looking forward to helping them make this happen.

 5,000+ Autographs

The Hawaii faithful turned out in large numbers today to get Colt Brennan’s autograph on just about everything you can imagine. I had talked with Kent Untermann of Pictures Plus beforehand about getting an autographed copy of Success Made Easy into Colt’s hands wishing him success in his NFL bid. When I arrived at Kahala Mall there was a line stretching all of the way through the parking lot. About 5,000 people had paid $25 bucks (in advance) to get something autographed.
I spotted Kent handling the crowd. I waived at him holding up the book. He signaled me to pass it to him. I sailed it over the heads of the crowd and he handed it off to Colt; mission accomplished.

Easy $100
As I turned to walk away I was stopped by Ryan Stone of Pre-Paid Legal Services. He offered me $100 to toss his helmet to Kent to get it signed by Colt. I explained that the book I passed was mine that was going to Colt, not something for Colt to sign. We had a good laugh about that. As tempting as an easy $100 bucks sounded, I couldn’t bring myself to try that pass.

As I was leaving I saw the press interviewing a couple that had come to the event carrying signs encouraging June Jones to stay in Hawaii. I doubt seriously that these little signs could change his mind about taking the big bucks in Dallas.

Donald Trump Plays the Trump Card

“The Donald” is easy to dislike with his self serving pompous, egotistical ways, but one thing for sure, he does get results. I have not missed an Apprentice episode since watching the 2nd week of season one. I went out the next day and bought my DVR to be sure I wouldn’t miss one. I saw the show as a management training class and asked my clients and employees to all watch it. I had posters made saying, “What would Donald Trump do?”

Wonder Boy
Bill Rancic became the first Apprentice and was soon became a celebrity himself. Trump began bringing him back on camera to join his executives, George and Carolyn in the boardroom. Before Trump knew it Bill Rancic was out on his own speaking tour making the money that Trump paid him look like small change. That was it for last names.

One Nasty Lady
Omarosa demonstrated that a single name was good enough and easier to remember. Omarosa was hated by most, yet so much fun to watch that they started finding people with “personality flaws” and outrageous character traits to liven things up.  Dropping the last names of contestants also prevented their personal celebrity when the season ended or they were fired in the boardroom. Each year the contestants became less and less likely to be someone Trump would want running one of his companies.

Camping Out in Beverly Hills
Last year was a disaster when the losing team was made to pitch tents in the backyard and cook outside while the winners in the mansion made fun of them through the fence. The Apprentice was slowly becoming a joke. People were beginning to write the show’s obituary. My interest was certainly falling away and I was less likely to ask someone to watch it. I thought it was over.

Could You Fire This Guy?
The Donald stuck his tongue out at the critics and introduced Celebrity Apprentice with a collection of Celebrities such as Gene Simmons of KISS and The Family Jewels fame. He even brought the nasty Omarosa back as a “celebrity” no less. The first show was a raging success, fun to watch and likely to succeed.
The Donald is The Man. He has performed miracles in real estate and now television. Dying reality shows are not likely to get new life. This one did. I suggest you watch it.

 Drugs, Booze and Jail

I find myself wondering if it has always been this way or not. I remember when stars were stars and expected to be role models for the rest of us. A celebrity going to jail was virtually unheard of. Perhaps it is just because of our access to news these days.

Paris Hilton parlayed her name and relentless partying into worldwide notoriety, and had to forgo her high fashion wardrobe for prison stripes for about 45 days. The ironic thing is that she demands a higher appearance fee now than she did before that publicity. Hilton told Fox News Magazine that she now collects $500,000 in fees just to show up at parties and other events from Las Vegas to Tokyo.

The latest star to go behind bars is Kiefer Sutherland. He was sentenced Wednesday to 48 days in jail for his latest DUI arrest and for violating probation.

It appears that there is a whole new legal category; star defense. Sutherland hired attorney Blair Berk, who is also currently representing Lindsay Lohan. I think that Johnny Cochran started something when he manipulated the jury into allowing wife killer O.J. Simpson to go free.