The Glamorous Life

Ah, the glamorous life of life on the road.
I'm sitting in my hotel room with my dog, Sasha, and simply passing time waiting for the next show. That show time, btw, is at 5am tomorrow morning.
So no better time than right now to drop a blog entry, if I can concentrate over Sasha's barking at the TV as she sees a beagle in a TV commercial.
The Finger Lakes region of NY, where I m for three days, is beautiful. I would move up here if not for the immediate 8.25% percent cost of living increase just for NY sales tax alone. I live in Delaware where there isn't any sales tax, but not as much geographical beauty either.

I realize that I am supposed to write more about hypnosis in this blog and fail to do so every time I start to write. But this won't be the case (as Sasha now sees a cat commercial and is risking having us booted out for a noise violation.)
I really am very happy with my show in its current state. While the middle of the show has stayed the same I have re-crafted my induction and my awakening that is getting a much larger reaction than the previous ones did.

I have always preferred to use some sort of rapid induction process when inducing hypnosis on the volunteers in the show. One of the problems with the one that I used to use was that it was followed by a longer period of what is pretty slow and dull to watch before the skits start. This new one fixes that for sure. On my main page at www.marshalmanlove.com I posted up an example or two of it in a video highlight package.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3fyC81Pd14

This new induction grabs audiences attention like nothing I've been able to do before. When I'm doing it in places where there isn't a stage, people stand up and watch when they see someone fall into hypnosis within a couple of seconds. It's shocking to watch for these crowds.

My closing now gets audiences on their feet also. It pretty much never fails. This isn't anything about me and anyone's appreciation for me, it's a new understanding and appreciation for those who have been the show and what they have been able to accomplish for the previous hour.

So now I'm ready for a full-time gig in Vegas or Atlantic City. That's obviously easier said than done. I've done shows in both cities already but the goal is to live there and pound out a bunch of show every week and live the dream.

I've been trying to get in there but its hard. I'm not the only one who wants to do that, right? But I have seen the acts that are either in there or have been in there and my show is, at the very least, as good as any of them. Even as critical of myself as I am (hence the constant attempt at improving what I do) I know my show belongs there.

So if someone would be so kind as to start a massive petition drive to demand that someone book my show in one of the major casinos, I would appreciate it very much.


This should happen much sooner, rather than later, of course. At the age of 51 and having seen the news about author Vince Flynn (47) and actor James Gandolfini (51) dying yesterday I could drop at any moment. I'd rather drop AFTER reaching my goal than right before it, right?

Vince Flynn

James Gandolfini

What is nice about being in NY state right now is that I can watch NY sports shows and not those awful Philadelphia shows with which I am stuck to watch, if I decide to even watch them there.

I did watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals last night waiting for 1am to roll around so I could go do my show.
I didn't have a horse in that race and I thought that either way it went that the NBA would be happy with the outcome.
I did feel for Tim Duncan who had a chance to tie the game with two taps with less than a minute to go in the game. At 37 and with 4 NBA titles under his belt it would have been nice to see him win another. He is a class act, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and a great role model.
I watch with amazement at those who bash LeBron James, who now owns two rings, and is considered by many to be the best in the game. There is little doubt of that but haters be haters, right?
Speaking of class acts watching the Spurs coach Gregg Popovich right after his team lost congratulate James and Dewayne Wade was amazing also. Not only was he shaking hands and congratulating them, he hugged them and was smiling while he was doing it. It's one thing to be gracious in defeat but this was at another level. It was truly inspiring to watch for me.

America's Got Talent is back for another season on NBC and, as you may know, this is one of my favorite shows. The reason is simple and its because I am an entertainer and I love to watch people getting a chance to become discovered. I love the reactions of those that do as the producers of the show highlight them specifically. Watching people cry tears of joy because an audience appreciates their performances and validating their choice of becoming an entertainer.
Two new judges on AGT, Heidi Klum and Spice Girl Mel B. I don't know that they bring anything or take anything away from, the show but at least they don't ruin it.
Klum's presence is obviously because she is hot. She doesn't have a talent of which I know though and I think that's just not right.
Because as you know, if you have read this before, you can pretty much find out which acts are going to the finals right here in this blog and its analysis of the shows in upcoming weeks. THAT should be the criteria for a judge.

So, let's get another petition going, my friends. This one should be titled "Marshal Manlove for AGT Judge."

Thank you in advance.

Ok...those idiots Kanye West and Kim Kardashian just announced their babies name...North. So the kids name is now North West.
What a bunch of tools.

And the dog is now barking at a camel.

Big Brother starts this coming week and I am a big fan of that show also. Not so big that I will pay a subscription fee for 24/7 access, but a big fan nonetheless. I didn't apply this year as I did last year because my show schedule is busy, but I may do it next year regardless, unless I have that regular gig that the petition will hopefully result in sometime soon.

It's all I can do to keep from spewing out political rants here. It is one of the major reasons why I don't say much here recently. And I'm now actually afraid to do it because I don't want the aggravation of being on a watch list. But I am probably already on one because I didn't vote for the ass clown and his dummy running mate that won this past election. So...maybe next time I'll get into more.

Or come up with some other petition drives to start.


(LOL...like what I did up there?)

Done

Big Bang

Well, so much for that. What an unmitigated disaster that was. I’ve been back home for about 2 weeks now licking my wounds and planning how to recover from that “opportunity.”

Also, the supportive girl friend is gone but for a few other reasons. (See previous blog about smell) So it’s been a tough couple of months for this here hypnotist.

I’ve had time to catch up on TV shows and Dungeon of Manlove podcasts and baseball.

This blog was originally called Basenotism and I haven’t written anything at all about baseball…or anything else for that matter.

I have become a big fan of The Big Bang Theory. In particular Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper. If you haven’t watched this sitcom I truly recommend it. This character that Parsons plays is going to go down as one of the greatest sitcom characters ever, mark my words about it.
The show features one of the Dungeon’s Sexy 69 women of 2012, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki who was on Rosanne. But Parsons clearly stole this whole show.

Johnny Galecki

Kaley Cuoco...yeah

Simon Helberg is also great on the show and they dress him in the most ridiculous outfits in every show.

Simon Helberg

Melissa Rauch came onto the show in season three. She is funny, as one would hope, but probably hotter than Cuoco even though she is cast as a nerd and is garbed accordingly.

Melissa Rauch

The sixth season just ended and there is plenty of room for growth. I catch this show, even re-runs, whenever I can. 

I am a big Games of Thrones fan also. But this HBO show can be rather frustrating since there are way too many story lines involved in what is a very short season.

The show apparently stays true to the original story but if there are only 10 or 12 shows in a season there is no way to develop the story lines properly or with any real satisfaction. It seems more like a show with a bunch of clips rather than one which provides any real depth. It’s a shame too because some of these story lines are great and any show with a dragon or three in it is something I want to watch. 

I’m not real big of fan of President Obama but I don’t want to say anything else otherwise he will sick the IRS on me.

Oh well, let them come. I have nothing left anyway except my podcast.

Seriously, people still stick up for this guy? It makes NO sense.

Since I am single once again I have given thought to chronicling my online dating escapades. It’s much more difficult to even have a conversation with anyone now since I am 51 years old now, though. Not too many people that I would date even include that age in their online searches. So I might not have much material. 

Should that change I might just do it though because I have used the internet to date since it was available. Ironically, even though I perform in front of lots of people I have always been socially awkward when it came to dating. I am much smoother in writing than in person.

In fact, I have been so good at it that some years ago a friend of mine put his profile on one of the dating sites to which I belonged. After I read it, I rewrote it for him so he had a sliver of a chance. Within a couple of weeks he managed to meet the girl to whom he is still married.

She found out that I wrote his profile shortly after they were married and shouted out, “You mean I should be married to Marshal right now?!” A classic moment amongst my group of friends.

We have officially release Dungearoke II and III from the Dungeon show (I skip around with ADD fever, don’t I?) Hard copies on CD’s are available on Amazon and MP3’s of all three are available there too. Single song purchases can be made. So if you appreciate dirty lyrics take a look sample some and get some. They’ll make you laugh for sure… http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i_0?rh=k%3ADungearoke%2Ci%3Adigital-music&keywords=Dungearoke&ie=UTF8&qid=1369162847&ajr=0

Dungearoke IV is at the publisher right now too...

The Love Song Compilation

 

I can’t promise that I will return to blogging here with any regularity. Although it does help me keep track of my life and my thoughts I have to reorganize my life again. June, thankfully, will be busy with shows so I’ll be over the place again for a month or so.

Done for now.

Frozen Cheese

There are big changes coming in my life as my hypnosis career has taken a giant leap forward for me. I have accepted an offer from a company in Texas to travel around the country to do self-improvement seminars. These will all be done around my show schedule and I couldn't be more excited.
My work life will basically be about helping people overcome bad habits like smoking and overeating and then helping people laugh when I do shows. How can a career get better than that? It is everything that I can ask for in life.

I'll be on the road, perhaps for weeks at a time, at first. I love being on the road. I love the USA and seeing as much of it as possible.

It is not without potential difficulties. I have a very special girl friend whom I will see less and I have a dog which I will miss whenever I am gone.

Fortunately my girl friend is someone who is very supportive, unlike the last one I had, and I can probably bring my dog on the road with me. Obviously, the girl friend can come also, when she can.

So I am on the road right now, currently in Minnesota. I drove out here over the course of two day covering 1241 miles from point to point.

I have never been in Wisconsin or Minnesota, the former through which I had to pass along the way.
Traveling some of these roads, as you probably know, can be very tiresome since there are miles and miles of flatness and currently dead corn fields.

Driving along the Pennsylvania turnpike is fine for a few miles as it passes through a mountain range. Then it levels out again. There are signs for Pittsburgh and some hope that a glimpse of a building can be seen.
After not seeing anything there its in to Ohio and hopes get high that the Cleveland skyline will come into view.

Nothing.

Then more nothing.

Indiana is the next stop as the route traveled was I-80. More dead corn.

Finally, finally, finally, off on the horizon, and about 30 miles away on a clear day, the Chicago skyline starts to appear. I have never been in Chicago either so I woke up from my nap to take in the sights and sit in Sunday afternoon traffic.

Wisconsin, the big cheese state, was the next state and I was sort of dreading seeing cows for 200 miles. But I started seeing billboards advertising all sorts of things in a town called Wisconsin Dells. The town name barely shows up on the atlas which I had with me. But since I was at the end of a day in which I drove over 900 miles I thought I would stop there.

I was pleasantly surprised by what I found there. Although it was basically a ghost town since its a vacation destination, hence the small print on the map, there are all sorts of things to see and do there. Camp sites, waterparks, amusements parks, a zip line, an interactive science center, a paintball arena, laser tag, two theaters with resident magicians, miniature golf, a water skiing show, etc., etc. The main street of the town had just about anything you could imagine also and in case the thought ran through your mind (you dirty boys and girls) signs pointed to about a mile off the main street for a "gentlemen's" club.

While there I went to see one of the magicians/illusionists who had a show that evening. Since this town doesn't really revive each year until May, there weren't a lot of people in attendance, so I was basically in the front row. The guy I saw was Jeremy Allen www.jeremyallensgrandillusions.com  and I had a good time watching him and his hot girls perform for an hour.

The weather report called for cold and snow for Minnesota and as I hit the road from Wisconsin the following morning it indeed was cold and snowy.

Speeds were reduced although it was clear that the drivers from this area are much better at driving in the snow than they are in Delaware which basically has to call out the National Guard as soon as a forecast for snow flurries is made. 

St. Paul and Minneapolis are seen as soon as you cross the border on Routes I-90 and I-94 but I couldn't see much of it since visibility was poor and I had to concentrate on driving.

Once through there it was back to nothingness. The temperature dropped below 20 and the wind picked up in a fierce way. My trip took me off the Interstate, which was closed for about 150 miles west of where I had to get off.
The road that I traveled from the Interstate was a two-way road and for some of it I was driving in white-out conditions.

I have these very stereotypical images in my head of places where I have never been. In my mind when I thought about Minnesota I imagined that it was flat, cold, and full of snow. 




I was right on the money. 





For a couple of days I'll be training for the new opportunity in Willmar, MN. Um...not too much here

There is a lake I can see.

I did find a picture of where I am staying....and I live large when I am on the road!

When my training is complete and the schedule of where I will be is made (usually at least 3-4 weeks in advance) I'll post it along with my show schedule at www.marshalmanlove.com. If I am in your and you would like to come for a session or even take the opportunity to get trained to become a hypnotist, just reach out to me at dehypno@verizon.net

Done

What's That Stench?

There are two things that are bothering me right at the moment so its time to write something here. Ok, well, there are three.

I’ll start with the most important one and that was the Bachelor finale in which my pick didn’t win for the first time in the three years that I have picked winners and final fours.
So my pick, Lindsay Yenter, finished second. But that isn’t really what is bothering me. What bothers me is that the name of the winner was leaked around the time that the show started.
It seems as if there is some dude who has contacts at ABC and while the show was shooting he found out who the bachelor chose to ask to marry him. Then he posted it.

That ruins the whole game! There is a growing community of people who watch this show and make bets about who will make it to the final four, just like in college basketball. And if some dude has the scoop, how can I make any money predicting winners out there?

The one who won, Catherine Giudici, Sean Lowe, and the one who should have won, Lindsey Yenter

The next thing that is bothering me has to do with personal hygiene. I was in the gym the other day and there are signs posted around the gym asking people not to wear too much perfume or cologne.

Huh?

So instead we have to be subjected to nasty arm pit and ass stench all day long? On what planet am I living?

There is this completely bizarre growing movement, I guess by younger people, to go through the day more “natural” like those disgusting French people do. More people are growing fond of natural musky body odors that frankly make me want to puke most of the time.

There is a very good reason why perfume and cologne were invented in the first place – BECAUSE HUMANS STINK WORSE THAN COWS if left in their natural states.

We are now supposed to believe that soaps, deodorants are to be scent free and we shouldn’t use other scent enhancers these days. Otherwise we “smell like grandma and grandpa” or some otherwise insane comparison. 

The next thing that is bothering me is that the Christophobes are out in force this past week as a new pope has been elected.

This country, America, is roughly 85% Christian/Catholic and the Pope is the head of the church. But for some reason these days it is politically correct to bash this religion and its traditions.

I am agnostic, at worst, and don’t belong to any religion. I respect all religions, except one, and their traditions. For the record, I don’t respect Islam because of that little clause that suggests that non believers should be killed. Those who also believe that all Jews should be exterminated pretty much lack any credibility if they are citing any religious belief also.
But God forbid you mention anything like that out loud in this country, in which Islam is such a minority belief. Because if you do you are an Islamophobe, shunned from the mainstream and your clicky social groups, and you have to take the tour of all newspapers, radio and tv stations to repent your transgression.

So why in the world is it some how cool to bash the Catholic Church? I certainly understand that we all have freedom of speech but the church is covered under that same amendment and I never hear the church coming down and forcing people to retract what they have said about them. Muslims? They don’t react the same way. Draw one cartoon picture of their prophet and see what happens. In fact, there is probably a fatwa being drafted against me as you are reading this.

I’ll take the Catholic Church if I had to choose between the two. Besides that is the church that gave us Christmas, and that is the best time of the year for me. So for that reason alone its cool.  

With that said then, shouldn’t we now start to call those who make fun of, or bash, the Catholic Church, Christophobes? I think it’s appropriate. Its about time, in my opinion, that we turn the tables on this sort of stuff.

Pope Francis

For another example, I read the other day about a pickle company that sold real little pickles and called them Dill Midgets.
Somewhere in the last ten years or so the word Midget has become a derogatory name for dwarves, or little people, that is a kin to any other name someone with ill will in their hearts would call someone of another race.
One woman wrote a letter to suggest a different name for their product because she has a child with some sort of illness that makes him small and he will never be of “normal” size. ONE woman wrote the note and the company changed the name of the product.

I don’t get it. But if we are going to continue to be this effed up and sensitive about words then I may as well join the crowd.

I want the all of the following names of products changed…Animal CRACKERS…Graham CRACKERS…Goldfish CRACKERS…Nip Chee Cheddar CRACKERS, etc., etc., etc.

Now since I have done that and I am ONE person there should be immediate change.

Right? Sounds pretty freaking stupid doesn’t it? It’s all stupid. The entire concept of being “politically correct” is asinine. We should all be polite and respectful to all those who deserve it. 99% of the time we should continue to be polite even to those who don’t deserve it. 

This is offensive!

Another thing I can’t figure out is this thing about being allergic to peanuts or nuts in general. Some time in the last ten years or so this seems to have developed out of thin air.
I’m 51 years old and for roughly the first 40 years of my life I never heard of anyone being allergic to, or dying from, peanuts. Because when people my age were kids pretty much everyone ate peanut butter sandwiches. And I never, ever heard of some poor little kid croaking because he ate some Skippy.
Now, I’m not naïve, there are 6 billion people out there so it would stand to reason that its possible, but I have a theory that its psychological more than anything else. As someone who works with people to help them overcome subconscious defects as a hypnotist, I know full well that people can imagine themselves sick. A thought can get planted into someone’s mind that can manifest itself into all sorts of troubles and even physical ones. 

So if you are someone who can send me some actual proof of this I’d like to see it. I would also like to work with anyone who believes they have an allergy to nuts to try to fix the issue for them. Message me at dehypno@verizon.net.

Finally, for today, there is a pretty good chance that I will be traveling the country doing hypnosis seminars to help people quit smoking and lose weight. This will be for an outfit based out of Texas. I’m heading to Minnesota next week to check it out and if it looks like a good fit I’ll train with them there. This will be in addition to my regular show schedule so it could possibly be a dream situation for me.

This does NOT mean that the Dungeon of Manlove will stop though. You know, our adult-rated podcast which you can access here on this page. There are people on the cast who are going to take over more of the production and I can submit segments and reports from the road and certainly take the microphone when I am back home.

Dungearoke I inside CD case

After all, we have about 6 albums worth of dirty song parodies now with more to come. I have to stick around to help create it and promote it. Our first release is available at amazon.com. Its called Dungearoke I. Dungearoke II and III are at the publisher now and will get released some time soon. Take a listen to some of it if you like a good dirty song and to laugh a little. You can find some of them at www.marshcast.com.

That’s all folks. I’m done.

Got My Mickey On

I am just back from a Disney World vacation and I am re-energized and motivated once again.
Thanks to my awesome girlfriend for making my first vacation in a while possible.

Disney World simultaneously inspires me and depresses me. This was my third trip there; the first two I took during the week prior to Christmas. I have to say that even though its in Florida, it is impossible not to get in the Christmas spirit visiting WDW at that time of the year.

It may be obvious why WDW inspires someone like me who is an entrepreneur at heart and someone who is in the entertainment business as well.
But why would it depress someone like me? Well, for a couple of reason; 1- I always thought that I was a big thinker but when I take a look around that place I come to the conclusion that my dreams weren’t as big as I originally thought; 2- I always had a thing for theme parks since a very early visit to the Bronx Zoo, of all places, and in the back of my mind wanted to create something like that; 3- There is no way that at this point I could generate enough capital to start a huge project like I would want now. At the age of 51 now, I suppose that even if I stumbled across enough millions of dollars to start a new project I probably wouldn’t anyway since that would certainly be enough to retire and do the traveling that I would really want to do.
Sure, the second thought listed does sort of mean that I still dream big in a way, but the third one counteracts that so I may have to, let’s say…think elsewhere…to satisfy myself.

WDW impresses me simply because of the customer service that they offer. It is first rate and first class and no other place can touch it that I have ever visited. The very first place I went to eat after leaving WDW was a place at the Orlando Airport to eat. The people working there were just not WDW class and I was standing there watching them and waiting for them and all I could do was critique them poorly while doing so. 

One of the Walt Disney’s mottos was “If you can dream it, you can make it happen.”
I left WDW ready to restart ideas that have been on the back burner for a variety of bad reasons and even have a couple of new ones to kick off.
Hopefully the reality to which I returned won’t be an obstacle for me. With one of the things I have been trying to do for the last 3 months I am having an issue with a friend of mine who is a web programmer and I can’t get him to do the work that I need to get the website that I need up and running. He can’t “wrap his head” around my idea so he isn’t “so motivated” to do the work even though he’ll get a percentage of the project for doing it. Here is a guy who simply lacks the vision necessary to get him out from the cubicle in which he works and he hates.
He needs a trip to WDW himself.

While in Florida I took the girl to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports to watch the preseason opening game of the Atlanta Braves (who train there) and the Detroit Tigers.
First of all, it was a $100 for the two tickets, which was absurd. But I always thought it would be cool to go to a Spring Training game because these games are always played in smaller parks so all of the seats were good. This was true for this park too, which holds about 10,000 people.
At the game, which the Tigers won 2-1, I was able to get some good pictures of Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, the Upton brothers and a few others as well as Fred McGriff, the Crime Dog, who brought out the lineup card for the Braves.
The Braves held the Tigers without a hit for 7 innings and I started to think there was a chance to witness a little history until they scored 2 runs off some scrub in the top of the eighth to take the lead.
In the bottom of the ninth the Braves broke the combined shutout bid when non-roster invitee Joey Terdoslavich hit the first homerun of the year for either team.

All I could think of was the nicknames and the teasing Joey would have to endure in any of the dugouts in which he will sit during his baseball career. Because there is no way anybody can hold off calling this guy the Big Terd.
I can see the sports headline now…”Braves Cut Terd,” “Terd Flushed to Minors,” “Terd at Third,” etc.

The Big Terd

If I haven’t already done so I would recommend ABC’s “The Neighbors” for some comic relief. The “Neighbors” are aliens who live in a development into which an Earthling family moves.
All of the aliens have taken on Earthly names and all of them are names of famous athletes.
The leader of the aliens, Larry Bird, is played by Simon Templeton. His wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersey, is played by Olatokunbo Susan Olasobunmi Abeke Olagundoye (Toks for short) which ironically enough sounds alien itself. Olagundoye is pretty hysterical and I have seen her do a whole bunch of impressions that are outstanding. Her full name is actually and I kid you not.
Dick Butkus and Reggie Jackson are their two children’s names. Jamie Gertz plays the Earthling wife and may be the only name of which you may be aware on the show.

Larry Bird, Jackie Joyner-Kersey, Dick Butkus, Reggie Jackson
"The Neighbors"

I am a bit behind on the Bachelor, but I do know that I correctly chose 2 of the four women to make the final four on the show. This prediction was made on day one of the show, of course, and without the inside information from ABC employees. This isn’t as good as I have done in the past, but considering the fact that 26 women started the show, still isn’t too bad.

Well its off to prepare for a podcast taping tonight with my refreshed attitude and motivation. More new Dungearoke songs to record also.

Peace out.

Done