“Hi, my name is Peter, and I’ve spent countless hours playing Angry Birds, when I should have been working.”

I think we can all relate.

But rather than give you the guidance and help you need to break your Angry Birds addiction, I’m here to feed it. What if you didn’t just have to play Angry Birds on your iPad, Droid, iPhone, Browser, Computer, or other device?

What if you could play it live, in real life, in your living room? Flinging Angry Birds into houses of Pigs right from your couch? Or on the Kitchen Table? Flinging Angry Birds at the cat? Why not!

You all know K’NEX, right? You’ve been playing with them since you were a kid. Well, you’ll soon be able to build and play with characters from Angry Birds, with new licensed building toys by K’NEX^®. Rovio, the creator of the globally successful Angry Birds franchise, and K’NEX, the only US Construction toy company focused on Building Worlds Kids Love™, are pleased to announce this new partnership to create a line of building toys inspired by Angry Birds.

The relationship combines the award-winning K’NEX building system with beloved Angry Birds characters, bringing them from the smartphone to the construction aisle for the first time. With more than 600 million downloads, Angry Birds is the #1 mobile game worldwide and appeals to male and female audiences across multiple age ranges.

Yes. This DOES mean that you’ll now be able to build every single level of Angry Birds in the real world, and shoot them down over and over again. It means missing family dinners, school and work deadlines, and important moments in your life, like your wedding, birthdays, and your child’s first steps.

This is ANGRY BIRDS IN REAL LIFE! I honestly don’t think there’s anything better.

While K’NEX will provide a sneak peek of the products at NY Toy Fair in February 2012, the K’NEX Angry Birds product line will not be widely available until Fall 2012. Building sets will include the most popular Angry Birds characters, buildable launchers and other recognizable elements from the game. I’ll be at Toy Fair, and will tweet first photos of the launch.

This is probably the most exciting thing I can recall since my parents bought me Tinker Toys when I was four, and I jammed one of the pieces up my nose.

Be honest in the comments below – Who’s rushing out to buy one as soon as they’re available?

However, I grew up in the 80s, when New York City didn’t have the same “Sex and the City” siren’s call that it has now. In the past ten years, I’ve seen more people come to NYC without a clue in their heads – Doing the most irresponsible stuff known to man (or woman.) Taking the subway home at 2am, drunk off their ass. Pulling out their $600 iPhone on the A train at midnight. Lost in their iPad, reading away, completely oblivious to their surroundings, and the dangers that exist.

I’ve wanted to write this post for a long, long time. If it helps one person, or prevents one mugging, (or something worse) it’s been totally worth it. I encourage you to Tweet it out, Facebook it, and pass it along to friends, family, and coworkers. There’s nothing worse than being a victim in a situation where you totally and completely didn’t have to. Sharing buttons are at the bottom for your convenience.

I want to thank Ty Francis (if you think a 6’1″ former head of security for some of Southampton’s toughest clubs doesn’t have any good safety tips, think again) as well as retired Law Enforcement Officer Clement Tang for their most valuable tips that have made this article as helpful as it is.

I’m breaking this article down into different sections, but know this – There’s not one section in here that can’t help you. Read it. Please. If we can prevent one more NY Post Headline that screams about how a young woman left a bar at 3am and wound up dead, we couldn’t ask for anything better from this article below.

General Safety Tips you should always follow, whether you live in a big city or a small town.

Don’t develop a pattern of behavior.

• A pattern is what allows bad guys to plan an attack or ambush. It allows them to track your comings and goings. So they can plan when they can safely break into your apartment.
• Vary the times you come and go.
• Vary your routes to work, school, gym and coffeehouse
• Ever notice that when President Obama goes for a run, or even travels anywhere, he never goes the same route twice? There’s a very logical reason for that. Patterns can get you in trouble. Don’t have them.

Know your surroundings

• Beware of what is normal in your neighborhood…or anyplace you frequent.
• Is that a new car on the street?
• Have those guys always hung out on that corner?
• Knowing what is normal allows you to notice the changes.  Noticing changes makes you more aware of potential dangers.  Those changes will cue you as to when something unexpected might be about to happen

We have a “gut” for a reason. 99.9% of the time, going against it is bad form.

The number one clue that something isn’t right will more than likely come from inside of you. Your gut – That “something doesn’t seem ok here” feeling you get in your stomach. Don’t ignore it! There’s a reason we have those feelings. They’re ingrained from primal instincts, from millions of years ago, when we’d turn around and find a Tyrannosaurus Rex walking behind us, sizing us up for lunch.  DO NOT IGNORE YOUR GUT. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Trust your gut. You have it for a reason.

Situational Awareness is your best friend. Not using it turns your surroundings into your worst enemy.

• Yes, it’s fun to play Angry Birds on the subway. But don’t you think people are looking for those who are doing exactly that? If you’re busy throwing birds at pigs, or landing planes, or even reading a book on your device, the following things are happening:
• You’re focused almost entirely on whatever you’re doing, and not on your surroundings.
• You’re not holding onto your device with any level of strength – Rather, you’re just resting it on your hands. You can’t fling birds or turn pages if you’re grasping onto a device, so you don’t do it. Instead, you just rest it there, just waiting for someone to grab it and run off the train at the next open stop.
• This isn’t limited to transportation. Using your phone while walking down the street is just as bad – It’s so easy for someone going the other way to focus on your device, grab it, and be in a running start while you’re still like “What the hell just happened?” The thief is already ten feet away and running by the time you turn around and even realize what’s going on. Good luck catching up and getting your device back.
• In the end, I know we’re not going to stop using our devices in public places. That would defeat the entire purpose of the device. What we can do, though, is at least be more aware of our surroundings when we do it. Can we look up for a second after every level and just assess our situation? That’s not that hard to do.

Have your keys in your hands

Whether going to your car, work or apartment, have your keys in your hand before you approach the door. This allows you quicker access through the door and avoids the major distraction of fumbling for keys as you reach the door. An attack is most likely to occur when you stop at a door and try to find your keys.  Your head will be down and you will neither be looking around or listen for unusual sounds (like steps coming your way).  Attacking a victim at this time also has the advantage of gaining access to whatever you were about to enter. Also, being hit with a large set of keys can often discourage an attack and holding the keys between your fingers and punching someone with them can make them very unhappy.

Small things we should all do, but rarely do.

• Wherever you are, a small powerful flashlight is one of the most important things you can have.  Even with something as innocent as a power outage, think of all the places you’ll be on any given day that have no outside windows to let in light…hallways, stairs, elevators.  A flashlight will always allow you to find your way to a safer place.
• In that same vein, don’t fall into the movie plot setup of investigating noises in the dark…that is why you have a cell phone and know how to call 911 (or just walk away)
• A whistle or other noisemaker is your friend. Attach a small whistle onto your keychain. There. Now it’s always there. Do NOT be afraid to use it to attract attention.
• Instead of yelling “HELP” when something goes wrong, yell “FIRE!” People are more likely to respond to “Fire” than to “help.”

Have a buddy system

This doesn’t mean you always have to take a buddy when you go somewhere.  It means letting someone know when you are doing something different or going someplace you haven’t been before… Also, when you plan to return.  It doesn’t mean where to start looking for the body when you are kidnapped (although it does help), but it can be very useful if should you be stranded or injured in an area that doesn’t have cell coverage. You think it’s an exaggeration? Some very logical examples that could easily happen to you

• You leave work late one night, and get stuck in the elevator, long after everyone else has gone home.
• You fall asleep on the subway and wake up lost (or worse, in the yards. I’ve seen it happen.)
• You get in a car wreck and skid off the road, down a 200 foot hill into a ravine, hidden from sight of the road.
• You get sick. Your appendix bursts. You hit your head. You name it.

Know the people in your neighborhood. When I’m walking to the gym in the dark at 5am, there’s a homeless man on the corner of 46th Street. I bring him a cup of coffee each morning. In turn, he keeps an eye on me in the dark. It’s a good trade. Do you know the people in your neighborhood? Can you call for them if you’re running away from trouble?

Don’t look like a Victim

• Victims of violent crimes like a mugging or robbery call attention to themselves by either being oblivious to their surroundings (defenseless) or by looking helpless (unable to defend themselves).
• Walk down a street with your head up and looking around.  Don’t hug either side of the sidewalk…especially not the inside where you have to pass close to doorways. For God’s sake, don’t text and walk at the same time. You’re screaming out “ROB ME!”
• Don’t stare (it can be taken as a challenge) but don’t be afraid to look at people (it isn’t an elevator).  You can nod or smile if you’d like, but beware of offering an unintended invitation.

At the end of the day, personal security and situational awareness comes down to not being clueless. I encourage you all to not be clueless.

Don’t be clueless

• Yes, it is a wonderful new world out there to explore.  But try to pay attention to the unusual when out walking.
• Has that person been behind you for a while?
• Do they stop when you stop and continue when you do?
• Do they look away when you turn to look at them?
• The easiest thing to do is go into a public place, like a coffee shop or an eatery, and have a seat…if they stop too, you might consider calling 911 and have them check out your stalker.
• The worst thing to do is continue on your way is it takes you to a less traveled area…if you can’t stop; take a longer but busier route.

I’d love to hear your tips, as well. Please post them in the comments below.

Stay sharp, stay aware, and stay safe, my friends.

You ever meet someone at the gym who does nothing but Cardio? Daily? Like, every single day, you show up at the gym, and they’re on the bike or the stairmaster, biking or climbing to some invisible goal known only to them? What’s the difference between them, and the person who smokes two packs a day, other than the former has much better lung capacity than the latter?

I submit, not much difference at all. I say we’re all slaves to some addiction, whether we call it an addiction or not, whether the government classifies it as a schedule one drug, or just someone with the appropriate BMI. to our height. We’re all addicts.

I wanted a drink tonight. No real reason, I just felt like having a drink to take the edge off. But, if you’ve been following my other blog, you know I’m in the middle of a 12-day protein-only diet. Of course, alcohol is banned from said diet. So I can’t drink. And that’s fine. I didn’t break my diet, nor did I go and inhale a pizza. Instead, I went out for a walk, and stopped by Dunkin Donuts for a large black coffee. As I walked through my city, I sipped my coffee, letting one addiction take the place of another.

Am I an alcoholic? Of course not. Nor am I a coffee addict. But, I needed something. Some sort of fix, something to put in my system and make me feel ok. Does that make me an addict of some sort? I believe it does. And for what it’s worth, I believe we’re all the same in that regard. We all need something to make us feel “whole,” when the need arises.

For me, tonight, it was coffee and a long walk. Healthy? Of course. Healthier than two shots and a burger? No doubt. But now, as I sit at a friend’s house, typing madly on his computer, a nice glaze of sweat under my shirt from my long walk, I feel the caffeine from the coffee, and the endorphins from the walk kicking in. And I feel good. I feel… Well, there is no better way to say it. I feel “good.” I feel like I’d feel had I just done two shots with a friend at a local bar.

While one is healthier than the other, I find it interesting that they’re essentially, psychologically, no different. Physically, of course they are, and that’s why we don’t label people who drink coffee and work out as “addicts.” It’s socially acceptable to walk (hell, it’s even promoted by the government) and it’s “ok” to drink coffee.

So where’s the problem? Perhaps the problem is in the fact that we’re not good at realizing that, even though we could be totally healthy in our pursuits of a better body, or in our calorie counts, we’re no more than one or two steps away from the negative cycle path of addiction – i.e., sitting at the bar, lighting a cigarette, or doing something worse – because deep down, we all want to feel “whole.”

So how do we keep ourselves on the “good” side of addiction? I don’t know if it’s possible. I don’t know if any “addiction” is good for us – Sure, physically, the training I do for my Ironman is considered “healthy” (if not insane,) but why am I doing it? To prove to myself that I can, sure. But I also do it for the high – the high I get from finishing, the high I get from accomplishment, the mental and most definitely physical high I get from completion – when every muscle hurts, but I cross the finish line. My question is simple: How is being addicted to that any better psychologically than being addicted to drinking or drugs?

What's the real difference?

Now look, I’ve never thought of myself as an addict of any kind. I’ve never been in rehab, and I’m not a doctor. So please don’t come down on me with the standard comments of “Oh, you don’t know, it’s totally different,” etc. I don’t know the difference. But I do know that the high I have right now from my walk and coffee, the high that’s propelling me to write this blog post at 100 miles per hour, is no different than how I felt last Wednesday night, when I met my fiancee and some friends for drinks at a local bar.

So I guess the purpose of this post is this – Whether it be cardio, cigarettes, booze, or something else… Am I an addict? Is there a certain type of person prone to addiction, and I’m one of them? Are there people who are just able to “always” feel good, without any needed outside influences? As far as I can tell, humans aren’t capable of being like that. I’ve never met one. Perhaps I’m not looking hard enough. Hell, it could even be work – Ever hear of a workaholic? The only beings on this earth I’ve seen who don’t need that are animals. A dog doesn’t come home from the park and say “Wow, that was a hard day of chasing squirrels, I need a drink.” My cat has never looked at me and said “My sister is driving me crazy, I’m going to the gym.” What is it about humans that makes us different?

And I guess lastly… I guess I’m lucky that my addictions tend towards the “benign” side – coffee, cardio, Ironman races, etc. But I wonder – Is that just upbringing? If I’d been exposed to other things at an earlier age, would I be on the flip-side of that? The side that’s looked down upon by society? And what really differentiates those on the “benign side” with those on the other side? In the end, whether it’s affection, drugs, sweat, or paperwork… Aren’t we all addicted to something?

As always, would love your comments.

When my alarm clock went off at 3:30 this morning, I knew I was in for a long day. I was catching a 7am flight out of Newark to Tampa, Florida, for a lunch meeting in Clearwater, then heading back to Newark on a 5pm flight, getting me in around 8:10pm, and with any luck, to my apartment by 9 or so. We all have days like that, they happen from time to time.

Made my flight, everything was on time, got to my lunch meeting. Because of the training/workout schedule I’m on, my first meal of the day was that lunch. Was fine, I had a healthy piece of grouper, and a very successful lunch meeting that lasted just about three hours.

By the time I got back to the airport, it was close to 4pm. Flight boarded at 4:30pm, and I knew that by the time I got home, I wouldn’t have time to stop for dinner anywhere, and certainly didn’t want to grab fast food at either airport. When I got on the plane, my stomach was a rumbling a bit, and I had visions of a steak in my head.

As I’ve tweeted and mentioned countless times before, I’m a bit of a steak lover. I go out of my way to try steakhouses all around the world when I can, and it’s one of the reasons, no doubt, that my trainer at my gym is kept in business. But it’s all good – give and take. Over the past few years, I’ve developed an affinity for Morton’s Steakhouses, and if I’m doing business in a city which has one, I’ll try to schedule a dinner there if I can. I’m a frequent diner, and Morton’s knows it. They have a spectacular Customer Relations Management system in place, as well as a spectacular social media team, and they know when I call from my mobile number who I am, and that I eat at their restaurants regularly. Never underestimate the value of a good CRM system.

Back to my flight. As we were about to take off, I jokingly tweeted the following:

Let’s understand: I was joking. I had absolutely no expectations of anything from that Tweet. It’s like how we Tweet “Dear Winter, please stop, love Peter,” or something similar.

I shut off my phone and we took off.

Two and a half hours later, we landed at EWR. The fact that a flight got into EWR on time during summer thunderstorm season is a miracle in itself, but that’s not important right now.

Walking off the plane, I headed towards the area where the drivers wait, as my assistant Meagan had reserved me a car home.

Looking for my driver, I saw my name, waved to him, and started walking to the door of EWR, like I’d done hundreds of times before.

“Um, Mr. Shankman,” he said.

I turned around.

“There’s a surprise for you here.”

I turned to see that the driver was standing next to someone else, who I just assumed was another driver he was talking to. Then I noticed the “someone else” was in a tuxedo.

And he was carrying a Morton’s bag.

Now understand… I’m a born-and-raised New York City kid. It takes a lot to surprise me. A LOT. I see celebrities on the Subway. I see movies being shot outside my apartment, and fake gunfire from any given CSI show, five days a week. I’m immune to surprises.

Except when they’re like this.

Alex, from Morton’s Hackensack walks up to me, introduces himself, and hands me a bag. He proceeds to tell me that he’d heard I was hungry, and inside is a 24 oz. Porterhouse steak, an order of  Colossal Shrimp, a side of potatoes, one of Morton’s famous round things of bread, two napkins, and silverware.

He hands me the bag.

I. Was. Floored.

Let’s make sure we’re clear on a few things here…

1) I was joking in my Tweet. I never, ever expected anything to come of it other than a few giggles.

2) Morton’s Hackensack is 23.5 miles away from EWR, according to Google Maps. That meant that in just under three hours, someone at Morton’s Corporate had to see my tweet, get authorization to do this stunt, get in touch with Morton’s Hackensack, and place the order. Then Morton’s Hackensack had to cook the order, get it boxed up, and get a server to get in his car, and drive to Newark Airport (never an easy task, no matter where you’re coming from) then, (and this is the part the continues to blow me away,) while all this was happening, track down my flight, where I was landing, and be there when I walked out of security!

Are you taking this all in? Because it happened to me, and I still can’t even fathom it.

Think about all the things that could have gone wrong: My flight could have been delayed or diverted. I could have exited out a different location. (Had I taken the AirTrain and not had a driver, I never would have even exited that way!) I could have just missed him all together, I could have landed early, etc., etc…

I have no doubt that countless companies think like that. They think along the lines of “Oh, too many logistics. That’ll never work,” and they leave it at that.

But what if it does work? What if it happens, and it works perfectly, and it shocks the living hell out of the person they do it to? Like it did tonight?

And what if that person’s first thought is to make it public? Like I did tonight?

We live in a world where everyone you meet is a broadcaster. Look around. Think of all your friends, all your colleagues. Do you know anyone anymore who doesn’t have a camera in their phone, or anyone who doesn’t have a Facebook or Twitter account?

As I say in my book over and over again, customer service is no longer about telling people how great you are. It’s about producing amazing moments in time, and letting those moments become the focal point of how amazing you are, told not by you, but by the customer who you thrilled. They tell their friends, and the trust level goes up at a factor of a thousand. Think about it: Who do you trust more? An advertisement, or a friend telling you how awesome something is?

Of course, I immediately tweeted out what happened:

And sure enough, Twitter lit up like a bottle rocket. Click the image to expand it, it’s worth reading.

When I got home, I actually looked inside the bag at what Morton’s gave me, and again, was blown away:

And as to be expected, the food was amazing.

Of course, there immediately came a few tweets from the other side of the camp, specifically calling out that I have over 100k Twitter followers, and if I didn’t, this never would have happened:

But you know what? I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think it’s about my follower numbers. I think it’s about Morton’s knowing I’m a good customer, who frequents their establishments regularly. If you look at their Twitter stream, Morton’s is known for always being on the ball, thanking those who mention they’re eating there. Just a recent few tweets from Morton’s proves this:

So I don’t think the number of Twitter followers I have played a big (if any) part in this story.

So… What can we learn?

Stay on top of what people are saying about you. Respond accordingly. Perhaps most importantly, have a chain of command in place that actually lets you do these things in real time. Had Morton’s had to get permission to make this happen, at 5:10pm on a Wednesday night, there’s no way it ever would have.

Complete and utter respect and admiration to Morton’s The Steakhouse. This was the amazingly gooey icing on an already great day. Thanks, Morton’s.

PS: Possibly the greatest part of the story? NASA the Wonder Cat, (brother of Karma, who passed away a few weeks ago,) got a very unexpected dinner – not of cat food, but of several small bites of a Porterhouse steak from Morton’s Hackensack.

“The Future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted, it belongs to the brave.” -President Ronald Reagan

On Friday, we say goodbye to a technological achievement beyond compare, a machine so far ahead of it’s time when it first arrived, and a conveyance that to this day, inspires awe in all who see it. We say goodbye to 30 years of solid work, of countless successes, and two dark and tragic failures. We draw the final curtain on a conveyance that carried more than 355 people from 16 nations from our planet into the great unknown, and all but twice returned them safely back home.

On Friday, we say goodbye to the Space Shuttle, as Atlantis makes its final voyage, one final liftoff into orbit around our small, blue planet.

I, for one, will miss the program terribly, but I also believe that the time is right to say goodbye.

Without goodbye, new adventures can’t begin. Without goodbye, we can’t grow, as a people, as a collective consciousness, as a civilization. Without goodbye, there’s no chance to ever say hello to what might be next.

In 30 years, the Space Shuttle has provided us with countless pieces of technology, the majority of which we take for granted every day of our lives. Invisible braces, for instance. Memory foam mattresses, and even water filters.

When Apollo was put to pasture, people thought the end of the space program was near. Same thing with Mercury, Gemini, and now, the Shuttle. The fact is, nothing could be further from the truth. The economic effect of the end of the Shuttle program will in fact, be very real, but the economic effects of not looking towards the future would be much, much worse, not only for NASA and the thousands of proud men and women who work there, but for the United States as a whole.

To grow, exploration has to continue. It can’t ever stop. It can never rest on its laurels and be content. Exploration must always be looking for the next thing – And sometimes, to do that, you have to say goodbye to an old friend. Does that knowledge make the end of the Space Shuttle program any less sad? It does not. I’ll miss them. Wherever I was in the world, if there was a launch, I was in front of a TV, until that amazing 5th of April of 2010, when I was there, live.

Here’s the thing: We BUILT this! We did this! We built something amazing, something that could leave our planet, go into orbit, and return! We did this! And I have no doubt we’ll do it again for the next generation, and the generation after that. And we’ll go further than just into orbit. We’ll go to Mars. We’ll go to Saturn. We’ll establish colonies on the moon, and beyond. Right now, NASA’s Voyager, launched in 1977, is currently entering the Heliosphere, or the edge of Interstellar space. It’s leaving “our” galaxy, and seeing what else is out there. We sent that craft up when I was five years old, and it’s still going strong! That’s some Star Trek stuff right there!

And as we continue to discover, there will no doubt be further losses, as well. Loss goes with discovery, and you can’t have one without the other, no matter how careful you are. I recall President Reagan, in his speech the night of the Challenge disaster, when he said: ”We will never forget them, not the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”

We will continue to soar, because that’s what we do. We are a race of beings who have never been satisfied knowing “just what we know.” We need to learn more. It’s who we are. The Space Shuttle helped us do that, and now it’s time for new machines, and new brave men and women to lead the charge into the next era of space exploration.

Thank you to every single person who worked on the Space Shuttle program. The contributions you made to science, medicine, technology, and our common quest for knowledge can’t be spoken of highly enough. You’ve laid the groundwork for the next level.

I, for one, am incredibly excited to see where that next level takes us.

May I be so honored to say one final time, “Godspeed, Atlantis.” Wherever you are on Friday, take a few minutes out of your day at 11:26am EST, and turn on your TV, or look up to the skies, and wish Atlantis Godspeed as it races towards the heavens one final time. And if you are so moved to, say a small “thank you,” as well.

Peter Shankman
7/6/11