New Book from the Media Guy Coming soon!

New Book Cover Art

Many of you emailed me regarding my SHEESH! blog where I talked about the frustrations of dealing with book editors and the delays in book publishing. Last week, I received some wonderful news: as part of a two book deal, my "LANDSCAPES OF LIFE: Behind the Lens" (ISBN: 9781622091324) will be out in sixty to ninety days and on sale at Amazon.com and a few other spots -- although NOT at Borders, what a shame. There's even an eBook and audio book in the works that will be available at the iTunes store!

My publisher came up with this for the back cover ...

Take a visual journey through the eyes of the makeshift anthropologist. The extraordinary photographs showcased in Landscapes of Life are from of the eyes Michael Lloyd, who snaps at will to capture the moments often missed,  

This remarkable book showcases hundreds of emotions adding up to a panoramic view of life from Los Angeles to Lebanon. You'll discover heartwarming photographs that perfectly capture the spirit of the mind. 

His subjects, entangled in their emotions, all seem to feel unobserved and safe. We remain unaware about the causes of the passionate feelings of his characters, their experiences before being captured in their apparently agitated and alternating loving moods. 

With images of princesses, camel jockeys, immigrants, and mountain men, husband hunters, interns, people finding inner peace in the Great Pyramid of Egypt and life inside pre-revolution Syria and the constantly perilous Beirut, and more! Landscapes of Life captures the world's cosmopolitan lifestyles and common living with intimate portraits and the human intimacy inside, where the heart lives. 

Your imagination couples with the writing to create expanded stories behind these photos to embark on an exciting journey. They remind us of film scenes we have never seen. Lloyd's photos are very expressive, matching the subjects that are filled with exciting details. The observer can't escape the unique mood highlighted in these photos.

(Wow! I sound like Ansel Adams...)

Thanks for the support everyone!

Dust Jacket Art with Book Flaps

MGS Chat: UFC President Dana White

It seems that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been a media darling since it was founded. President Dana White is everything the pundits want. From straightforward answers, to matching the best fighters to organizational transparency, White is the complete package. But event disaster struck this week as the UFC 151 card cancelled its lucrative pay-per-view event for the very first time in its history.

I was part of the drama-filled conference as White explained his decision...

Dana White: This is probably one of my all-time lows as being President of the UFC over the last 11 years. For the first time in 11 years we're gonna cancel an event. This Saturday's fight at Mandalay Bay is being cancelled. Dan Henderson has a partial tear in his MCL and couldn't continue. He tried to train. He tried to continue to work out. He saw doctors and there was nothing we could do to save that fight. One of the things that you guys have heard me brag about a million times, how UFC doesn't have to cancel events, we can always find a replacement. For somebody to fight Jon Jones on eight days' notice is tough to do, but to be totally honest with you guys, one guy did. Not only when we called him did he say, 'I'll take the fight,' he said, 'I'll fly to Las Vegas tonight and fight him," and that was Chael Sonnen. Chael Sonnen accepted the fight with Jon Jones, wanted the fight bad. As of 8-9 o'clock last night, we had a fight. We here at the UFC started working, creating different commercials, PR started to crank up. I was gonna do this call and obviously it was gonna be a different call this morning but the one thing that I never thought in a million years would happen, happened. Jon Jones said, 'I'm not fighting Chael Sonnen with eight days notice." Again, something that's never happened in UFC history. A guy who's a world champion and considered one of the pound-for-pound best turns down a fight. That has never happened either. So right now what's happening is this fight is cancelled. It'll be Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida on Saturday September 22nd on the Toronto, Canada card at UFC 152.

Q: Did light heavyweight champion Jon Jones know what would happen if he turned down the Chael Sonnen fight?

DW: Believe me, I haven't slept at all since last night. [Jon Jones] has been hit with some options. He knows what the consequences were and what would happen.

Q: Did Lyoto Machida get the call to step in as well?

DW: When it was going down and we were trying to make the fight, Machida was actually in the air, then landed in a connector fight for Brazil. He was already gone. He was in the air. I can accept that. I can accept why Machida didn't take the fight. Completely different circumstances. Completely different story. When [Jon Jones] got the call he said, 'I've got to sit down and talk to my coaches.' His coach Greg Jackson says there's no way you take this fight. You don't take this fight on eight days' notice. It would be the biggest mistake of your entire career. Wow. Chael Sonnen is a 185-pounder who wants to move up to 205 who hasn't trained a day for this fight and the fight is in eight days and he says he'll fly to Vegas tonight the supposed pound-for-pound third best fighter in the world, the world champion. How much faith do you have in your champion and your guy? I literally just bumped into Greg Jackson the other day and I was kinda joking around about some of the things I've said. I'll tell you what. I'll go on the record saying this guy is a fucking sport-killer. This guy is from another planet. I've never even seen anything like it in my life.

Q: What about Dan Henderson's injury?

DW: He's got a partial tear in his MCL. He'd like a little more time to take this fight but we can't be in the same position. We can't be sitting around all worried about if Dan can be ready for the 22nd and he said the same thing. We'll see what happens. It's not like Dan has to go in and he needs surgery but he's got a tear in his MCL and he has problems with lateral movement and some other positions so he couldn't do the fight. Jon Jones is in shape and he's ready to go. Machida is next in line and Dan's hurt so that's the fight that's gonna happen. It's in Jon Jones' head that he didn't prepare for this guy. I don't know know, man. In the history of the UFC, Tito's been the most difficult guy in the history of the company since I've been here and Tito Ortiz didn't not take fights.

Q: How will Jon Jones' image be affected and what are your feeling on his 'business-like' approach to fighting?

DW: I don't think it's great. The first fight ever cancelled in UFC history since we owned the company and the first champion to ever turn down a match. Let me tell you what. (laughs) I always laugh when I hear a fighter say, "I'm a businessman." No you're not. You're a fighter. You see moves like this and other things where if they were real businessmen, we wouldn't be having this conference call right now.

Q: Will Dan Henderson still be the number one contender when he comes back?

DW: You know how that always works. Look at Rashad. If you don't get that shot right when it's there and available, all kinds of crazy things can happen, or maybe it will be available right when he comes back. Who knows? I can't answer that question.

Q: Why did you decided to scrap the entire event:?

DW: Because we're eight, seven, I don't know how many days away we are to the fight and this thing went right down to the wire right before we got on this call. We don't have time. We're strapped for time. If Dan Henderson would have gotten hurt two weeks' ago, this would have been a different story. But eight days and Jon Jones acting like this and all this other bullshit, we can't do it.

Q: How does this change your relationship with Jon Jones:?

DW: A lot. Jon Jones has been one of these guys with as much as he's won and all the things he's accomplished in a short amount of time, he burst onto the scene a year and a half ago. He's ripped though the top guys. He's been a champion that hasn't been very popular, you know? I don't think this is going to do wonders for his popularity. As far as his relationship with us, me and Lorenzo are both disgusted.

Q: ehat are the ramifications of cancelling the show:

DW: It's a major, major deal. We lose shitloads of money, money that's already been spent. We're eight days out. We spent shitloads of money on this fight. I could sit here and we've been talking about it all morning about how far this goes and how bad it hurts but I don't know because we've never done it. I don't know what I don't know yet.

Q: What about ticket refunds and the financial backlash?

DW: They'll get refunded. Just if you were going to a boxing match or a concert and the thing got cancelled. You call Ticketmaster and everything gets refunded. Cancel your flights and hopefully everything is refundable and you can switch them to Toronto or another fight if you want to. {The financial backlash], it's huge. The prelims were gonna air on FX and all the marketing that's been spent. We don't play. We spent some money. We've got billboards in Time Square, New York, all the money. You've seen television ads that've been running. The list goes on and on. It's a massive, massive hit.

Q: What are your feelings about Greg Jackson

DW: I'm very confused by his whole fucking business plan. I don't give a shit what Greg Jackson thinks. This guy is a fucking weirdo man. Turning down a fucking fight, saying if he doesn't turn down a fight with Chael Sonnen it would be the biggest mistake of his entire career because he's not ready for that guy? Greg Jackson should never be interviewed by anybody ever again except by a psychiatrist.

That's a wrap. Thanks for stopping by!

BAD MEDIA: Porn Ruining Relationships

There's good media and bad media.

I know in the days where I used to work with The Walt Disney Company, if you had a client on your roster that was even remotely close to pornography, your business relationship would be in serious jeopardy. Porn is very bad for work, we all know that, but now we are starting to realize that it's even worse for home.

These days, the glimpse of a naked body after being misdirected to a porn site is no shock to the average internet user. What may prove more surprising is the pornography industry’s statistics, compiled worldwide, wherein a second is worth 1,000 images -- or more:

• $3,075.64 is spent on pornography … every second
• 28,258 internet users view pornography … every second
• 372 internet users type porn terms into search engines … every second

“There have been several surveys about who’s viewing internet pornography and what consequences they’re experiencing, and the findings are disquieting,” says Jim Wysong, author of The Neutering of the American Male (www.TheNeuteringoftheAmericanMale.com).

“In a 20,000-person study recently conducted by TED.com, porn is the most prevalently cited obstacle for romantic relationships between men and women in their teens and 20s. Women say guys are emotionally unavailable, and men say porn makes them less interested in pursuing a relationship.

“In reality, men have been compromising their masculine nature for several decades.”

A lack of involvement by fathers in raising their sons; the overuse of prescription and illegal drugs; and uncertainty about their gender role have set American boys and men back, Wysong says.

“We all have a need to feel significant, to be accepted and loved, but those issues  prevent some males from developing fulfilling relationships,” Wysong says.

“Sexual intimacy is typically a byproduct of emotional intimacy. Unfortunately, when people don't have a fulfilling relationship, their sexual desires don't disappear.”

Men are often more visual and physical, so they’re able to use pornography to meet some of that need in the short term. But in the long run, they also need the emotional support, nurturing and deeper connection with a partner, he says.

“It becomes a vicious cycle: Males turn to pornography seeking to satisfy unmet needs, and pornography addiction makes it extremely difficult to achieve the balanced, loving relationship that would meet their emotional needs,” he says.

A Canadian study found that one in three teenage boys are “heavy porn users,’’ and an Italian study reveals that a large percentage of men there suffer from “sexual anorexia,” a temporary impotence, in their 20s because they were heavily into pornography in their teens, Wysong notes.

Parents, especially fathers, need to sit down with their sons and discuss sex. The lack of dialogue leaves young males to seek the answers to their curiosity on their own. Unfortunately, many turn to porn, which does not portray sex in a healthy and balanced way.

One of the most destructive things about it is that it portrays women as something to be used rather than valued and respected, Wysong says.

“Fortunately, this is something that can be remedied, both on a physical and a mental level,” he says.
If you’re concerned that you or a loved one is addicted to porn, Wysong suggests taking this self test from www.recoveryconnection.org:

1. Do you feel guilty or ashamed after looking at pornography?
2. Do you look forward to being alone so you can look at pornography?
3. Has pornography negatively affected your personal relationships, your job, or your finances?
4. Do you find that you have been looking at an increasing amount of pornography over time?
5. Do you look at pornography when you are bored, anxious, or lonely?

A yes to one or more of these questions may indicate a need for a quality treatment program. The Media Guy agrees wholeheartedly.

Dreaming of a Career in the Movies?

Hollywood Director Offers Tips for Hopeful Writers, Actors, Cameramen


Film and TV director/writer/producer Guy Magar has worked for more than thirty years in the industry with some amazing credits: “La Femme Nikita,” “The A-Team,” “Dark Avenger” and “Blue Thunder.”. Recently, he published his Hollywood memoir, “Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot: A Filmmaker’s Journey into the Lights of Hollywood and True Love.”

From the box-office smash “The Avengers” to the summer hit “Madagascar 3” reigniting the 3-D craze, movie lovers are more enthralled than ever with film magic, and many fantasize about becoming a part of it. Their annual Westward migration from every film and acting and writing school in the country is as active as ever as they seek their chance to wield the Hollywood wand.

In such a competitive and crowded circus tent, how can a person ensure they catch that elusive trapeze? Here are five tips from Magar...

• Find out if you really love it. “The movie business demands passion and dedication; the work is difficult and exhausting, the journey fraught with disappointments and financial stress,” he says. “So you better find out if this is truly something you want and you’re ready to sacrifice whatever it takes.” The best place to do that is at a film school or a university filmmaking program. “This is where I fell in love with the cinema and forged my commitment to the craft,” he says.

• Find out if you’re any good at it. When you discover that less than five percent of the 125,000 actors in the Screen Actors Guild ever make a livable wage in any one year, the reality check about how competitive this business is can be quite intimidating, Magar says. So it’s not enough to love it – you have to have an aptitude for the craft if you want a chance at bat. “You better be one of the very best directors or writers or cameramen or actors wherever you’re studying and developing your work, so you can gain the self-confidence to throw your talent in a very crowded ring,” he says.

• Get your showreel ready! No one is going to hire you unless they can see what you can do. For a director, you better have an award-winning “wow” short. If you’re a writer, have some dazzling, unique screenplays. Actors need a great reel with diverse scenes showing range from comedy to drama. Cameraman? You need a reel that sizzles with cinematic visuals. Don’t come to Los Angeles without a reel. It shows who you are, what you can do — and why you’re worth paying to do it.

• Networking! Networking! Networking! “The movie business is first and foremost a people business,” Magar says. “Regardless of your talent, you better be good at schmoozing and an extrovert at heart.” It’s all about who you know, who can introduce you to whom, who likes you, who is willing to help you move forward, he says. If you’re a great networker, you have a better chance at a career than if you’re talented with no social skills. Introverts do not apply!

• Enjoy your journey or the dream will be a nightmare. Don’t put off having a life until you “get there,” he says. The big secret is to enjoy the journey and to have a life in the industry, regardless of the amount of work and accolades that may or may not come your way. You must commit to making a fulfilling life for yourself if you’re to find happiness in Tinseltown. Family, friends and a soulmate are as important and fulfilling as career gains. “They will sustain you in much deeper emotional ways than winning a spot on a softer toilet paper commercial,” he says.

“Between the words ‘action’ and ‘cut’, I get to make my magic … my visual storytelling,” he says. “I fell in love with making movies and have continued loving it for more than 100 production credits in my career.” says Magar.

Welcome to Hollywood. Break a leg!

The Chuck Norris Chat

Q&A: CHUCK NORRIS TALKS ABOUT 'EXPENDABLES 2'
By the way, he's not 72: 'I'm 39 years old with 33 years of experience' 

WASHINGTON – "The Expendables 2" opens in theaters nationwide and some of the mega-action stars are talking up the movie. But arguably the biggest action icon internationally gave his first exclusive interview on the project to his favorite news source – the one that serves as the flagship for his weekly political column and his weekly health column. That would be Chuck Norris and WND. Several WND news editors did the grilling. The sequel stars Norris, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Terry Crews, mixed martial arts fighter Randy Couture and "rookie" Liam Hemsworth. By the way, not to give anything away, but they do not all make it out of "Expendables 2" alive.

WND caught up with Norris just before he headed to Hollywood for the screening Wednesday night and had the chance to conduct this exclusive interview.

Question: We've heard that Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis might share some of your conservative views? Did you have a chance to talk politics at all with your co-stars? What are they thinking about the 2012 election?
Answer: We only had one thing on our minds and that was making "Expendables 2" the best it can be.

Q: Did you have fun making this movie with other top action stars?
A: It was great working with all the guys. I have known Arnold since the 1960s, Van Damme since the 70s and Willis and Sly since the 80s.

Q: Is this going to be a classic for the ages?
A: Anytime you get action legends together, it has to be a classic.

Q: Any funny stories you can relate about the making of the film?
A: Sly said to me, "These Chuck Norris Facts are everywhere, why don?t we put one in a scene?" My wife, Gena, said, "I have the perfect one for the scene." It is really funny, but you'll have to see the movie to find out.

Q: What was your reaction to seeing the final cut?
A: I haven't seen it yet. But have heard great responses from the screenings.

Q: What's the most redemptive message of the film?
A: Legendary heroes defeating the bad guys.

Q: You are 72. How can you possibly be doing action movies?
A: Because I'm 39 years old with 33 years of experience.

Q: Like you, some of your fellow cast-members, including Randy Couture and Jet Li, are real-life martial artists. Did you ever spar with any of them?
A: We were too busy working.

Q: What was your favorite scene in this film?
A: Too many to mention. It is an action-packed film (I love action) that will keep you riveted to your seat the whole time.

Q: Why did you turn down the offer to play a role in "Expendables 1"? A: I wasn't offered a role in "Expendables 1," and I'm a guest star in "Expendables 2."