Jedi Knights, Hong Kong Lights, and Righteous Fights

By Randy Gage

I admit it. I’ve been remiss in my duties. It’s been months since I wrote you. And during that time I’ve been in at least 20 different places, ate at least 50 bad airplane meals, and played in about five softball tournaments. I finished my latest book, conceptualized the next one, and along the way, discovered the secret to happiness, world peace, and enlightenment. So when I’m God, things are going to change around here!

I just left Melbourne, Australia, truly one of the most intriguing cities in the world. Melbourne is a fascinating mélange of culture, architecture and cosmopolitan living; an outpost of Europe, that somehow got nestled in a little corner of Australia.

Now I’m in Hong Kong, writing you from the upper reaches of my hotel overlooking Kowloon and the harbor. What a trip it is being here. You can’t visit this place without feeling like you’re starring in a James Bond, Jackie Chan, or Blade Runner movie.

There are about 7 million people packed in a space the size of your neighborhood. You have never seen so many high rises. Every new apartment building (and there are a lot of them!) is at least 60 or 70 stories tall. The traffic in the harbor is non-stop, night and day. It’s just like you see in the movies too. A hydrofoil and sleek yachts, running alongside fishing boats, overloaded ferries, and old junkers.

From here I’ll go to Paris, for a little R&R. Then I head to Moscow, and then speeches in Novosibirsk, Russia, Vilnius, Lithuania, and Kiev, Ukraine. A quick jaunt to London, and then back home to Florida. So this is my second time where I will be flying completely around the world, through all 24 time zones.

In fact, I’ll actually pass through more than 30, because of the zig-zagging I’ll do, Paris, back to Novosibirsk, and then back west again.

The best part of the trip is that I now can inform you – contrary to an earlier message I sent you – every last drop of glamour has NOT been squeezed out of flying.

I instructed my travel agent to put me on an airline alliance that could get me on Emirates or one of the better Asian carriers. We couldn’t make Emirates work, but I got a few flights on Cathay Pacific.

Their First Class is one of the few left fit for the name. A lie-flat bed that actually lies flat, with down comforter, a built in desk, and a personal entertainment system with hundreds of movies, CDs and television shows. Now I must admit, the bed was a little tight for me. But other than Yao Ming, how many tall people does Cathay Pacific really carry around?

Most importantly, the service is downright gracious. And when is the last time you had a chance to say ‘gracious’ in this graceless age?

For lunch, I asked the flight attendant whether to go with the Kung Po prawns or beef fillet. She deferred, telling me the good points of both entrees. So I left it to her, trusting her to bring me whichever one looked better.

She came back with both. Can you ever imagine that happening on Delta or American? They’d have to lay off four people just to pay for it. If you even suggested such a thing on Air France, the flight attendant would slap you.

Anyway the meal was delicious, and came with a basket of steaming hot bread. The cheese board afterward was extraordinary, and I honestly had to ask her to save desert for a couple of hours, because I was so full. I don’t think I’ve ever said that on an airplane before.

I love to travel to cool places; it’s just the travel part I don’t usually like. It’s nice to have an airline that takes some of the gruel out of grueling. When I finish this trip, I go home for two days, then repack for a trip to Canada.

It’s all part of my master plan, enjoying Florida for the winters, then being anywhere but during the hurricanes and humidity of summer. (Which was working fine, until I landed here and found it to be a cool, crisp 91F!) I did my last long stint back in Florida when I finished the book in Key West. By the way, it’s titled:

Why You’re DUMB, SICK and BROKE… And How to Get SMART, HEALTHY and RICH!

It will be out this fall. At the very least, I expect you to buy five copies, and I’ll be calling everyone to check.

As if I needed fodder for the content, I got it when I was writing poolside one morning. There were two guys sitting a few chairs down from me. One man was heatedly complaining to the other that Ashley Simpson (whoever that is) got a raw deal when she was exposed lip syncing on “Saturday Night Live.” He then read off a list of other performers who also lip synced on the show, and seems to be on a crusade to right her good name.

I couldn’t help thinking that surely there must be something more important in this moron’s life that he could talk about.
But of course there isn’t.

Key West is a tiny place, and you’ll find many small-minded, parochial thinking people there. But of course you can find them everywhere. What you don’t find everywhere is a tropical climate, Pedi-cabs, and ‘hang loose’ island mentality with just enough debauchery to keep things interesting.

The island is situated on the Florida Straights, just ninety miles from Cuba. It used to be called Bone Island, because it’s built on a cemetery. It is still haunted by the ghosts of pirates, writers, and Fantasy Fest revelers who had their last shag there. This eclectic combination helps develop a creative energy that I tap into each time I go there. It’s a great spot to mastermind, brainstorm, and write.

It has inspired a range of creative geniuses from Hemmingway to Buffet. And since I’m both a card carrying Hemmingway devotee and a Parrot head, I make my way down there whenever I have a book to write.

As you stare out at the water, you’re never quite sure if you’re going to see Cuban rafters washing ashore, an approaching hurricane, or Moby Dick himself. Or as Jimmy writes:

Yes I am a pirate; 200 years too late. The cannons don’t thunder, There’s nothing to plunder, I’m an over-forty victim of fate. Arriving too late…

So here I sit, a 47 year old victim of fate, who believes in neither victim-hood nor fate. I am a few centuries too late to be Black beard, but perhaps too early to become Ragnar Danneskjöld; too raw to be Obi Wan Kenobi, but too jaded to be Luke Skywalker. So I have to settle for just being me, a tortured genius, sentenced to life amidst the mundane.

Of course that is where the opportunity lies…

Because if everyone was a Jedi Knight, there would be no Siths to battle, no princesses to save, and no Emperor to overcome. We’d all have to sit around amusing ourselves with Jedi mind tricks and bending spoons. Only to be told, “There is no spoon.”

And if there’s no spoon, then maybe there is no Galt’s Gulch.

And if there’s no Galt’s Gulch, then there’s probably no Dagoba.

And if there’s no Dagoba, then does Yoda, the Jedi Master really exist? And if there is no Yoda, what’s the point of even trying?

“Always with you, it cannot be done. Do or do not. There is no try.”

So if the three men you admire most – the father, son and the Holy Ghost – they caught the last train for the coast – does the music really die? Or is the music in you? And if so, how does lip synching factor in?

And does that mean you really are “the one”? And if you are the one, where does that leave Neo? And then who is left to redeem the evil Lord Vader. Or fight the evil Lord Voldemort?

But of course who has time to save mankind, when there are more important things to do, like defending the honor of Ashley Simpson, helping OJ find those killers, or locating those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

Did you notice it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate between fantasy and fact? But I’m ranting again, aren’t I?

Let’s get back to reality as we know it. Since it’s been so long since I’ve written you, there are a number of new resources that you will definitely want to know about. First among them is a book from my friend Randy Pennington. It’s called. “Results Rule!”

The difference between the leaders and laggards in every profession is a consistent focus on results that matter. Results Rule! is a truth that exists from the class room to the board room; from the tennis court to the district court.

It’s a powerful book focusing in stuff that matters for success. It will help you promote honesty and candor as you tell yourself the truth about how your organization is viewed and what is standing in the way of its success. It will help you to pursue the best over the easiest in every decision and action. It’s about personal accountability and creating accountability with others.

Check it out at www.ResultsRule.com or www.Amazon.com.
Randy is a good guy and I think you’ll appreciate the book.

Another important resource out since we last talked is the all-new, updated edition of " the insider secrets to marketing your business on the internet

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