But unfortunately, it’s usually for bad news like this. Stay safe everyone… URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005 DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED HURRICANE KATRINA A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH…RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING [...]

I was watching a press conference on Katrina while on the StairMaster this morning. Here’s a question. Why were there 10 people or more at the press conference, all standing around and looking at the camera? Why does everyone do this? The Governor, the Mayor, and the Director of Emergency Management were the only ones who spoke. They spoke well! Why was the dais crowded with 10 or more people, when only three had any intention of speaking? Was it just for their five minutes of fame? If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been better off to give them their fame AFTER the hurricane moves on, and everyone is accounted for? That said, my thoughts and prayers go out [...]

Here’s a photo of me getting a hug upon successfully landing my 40th skydive. The hugger? My MOM. The same woman who three months ago, said "There’s no way I can ever approve of this, and no way I can support you in this – It’s just too frightening to me." I love you, mom. Thanks for believing.

I was skydiving the other day, and saw someone on the plane wearing a black helmet. Totally blank, except for one small, yellow sticker: "FAITH." You’d damn well better have faith when you’re about to jump out of an airplane. But also when you do other things… Virtually anything. When you take a new job. When you start a new company. When you pitch a new reporter. When you take on a new client. Anything. You’d better have faith that it’s gonna work. If you don’t, you’ve lost 3/4ths of the battle to begin with. I started a new company a few days ago. It hasn’t officially launched yet, but it exists – www.airtroductions.com – the concept is simple – [...]

Thanks, Matthew! 1) Give us a very brief overview of you: What you like to work with, favorite types of stories, what you’re always on the lookout for, and as important, what you can’t stand. I cover the media industries–newspapers, magazines, book publishing, television and radio. The business, not the content (no author interviews, program reviews, or profiles of stars). My stories must have a NYC connection. Either the company is based in NYC or is seriously impacting a NYC company. For instance, I’ve written about NJ-based Bauer, publisher of In Touch, because its magazines affect People and Us Weekly. My stories must have reasonably high impact. The subject must be either large enough to have that impact on its [...]