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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, what’s the deal?







That is our Prime Minister representing all us Canadians at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland. The photos are supplied by one or our journalists from India and so we get some sneak peeks of our elected representatives that our main stream Canadian media does not usually cover. What I want to draw your attention to is Justin Trudeau’s socks! What on earth is that! What was he thinking about? This was a formal meeting between Canada and India and he wears those socks? Anyway, the photo is from a short article about the meeting and can be found here:



http://iaij.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=953



In other news I slept in but surprisingly I am all caught up on things. I am a free man when I post this update. So with dry warm weather I will go look at cars for awhile and enjoy the sun.


One last thing. I have noticed that if you open up on you physical problems it connects you on a more intimate level with the reader. Like having cancer or mental illness and so on. But I am pretty healthy. The only physical malady I have at the moment it this injury to my lip that I noticed after a dental appointment. It is either an small venus lake or cyst on the inside of my lip. I originally thought it was a canker sore but this has been there since November. So what to do? I will probably take care of it after New York. If it is not a cyst, lasers should do it. Otherwise who knows. I really don’t feel it and it is invisible except for when I really get the mouth going and you se this red spot. Anyway that is the physical problem I obsess about. The stuff teenagers obsess about before the school prom. But it could be stage four pancreatic cancer and I just don’t know it yet. So I may live, and like that quip in the movie “The Blue Max”, people like it when their hero gets shot in all the right places. So I have a spot on my lip but I can still kiss the heroine without the audience going yuck as would be the case if it was herpes – there is always that! So do you feel closer to me now - no - whatever…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can’t sleep, so an actual evening bedtime update.....


The reason I can’t sleep yet is that I was out and about with the Mustang (at like 2:00am). Yes it’s late January but the last couple of days were warm and all the snow has melted, so it’s sort of like late November around here. You don’t have to worry about salt, snow or ice today – so like an oasis in the desert – everyone who is into cars brought their babies out for a mid-winter spin! I had almost forgotten what it was like to open up the Mustang, this being winter and all, but there was that engine roar just like I remembered it. Anyway, to take a break you meet at a 24hrs Tim Hortons, sort of like the cheap imitation of “Cars and Coffee” in the States.





I would be tempted to take a pic to show you what it is like but everyone would think I am a narc, no faces, no identities, no locations and no licence plates. It’s almost a cult nowadays. You only get a coffee when the staff finishes talking to someone outside about cars or ogling some exotic. Then they come back in and you can order – never seen anything like that at the corner Hortons in Toronto! My only gripe about all of this has nothing to do with cars, but the rather portly nature of the young people there. I am this old fart and I have to flog myself to keep my weight down but these kids have like 80 extra pounds on me for the same height! What up with that? Anyway, I include a picture of cars and coffee in the States while not divulging anything on my fellow Canadian car enthusiasts.


This was also the first time I got to see the 2018 Mustangs on the road. Most people would not see any real difference, but we car guys do. I am lucky here as the V6 is no more so it is not replaced by anything. Plus I think (and I am not alone) that the 2018 refresh looks worse than the 2017, mostly due to changes for international passenger collision safety. So I am still a happy camper. Sure it would be nice to have a 5.0 like back in my salad days; but those cars are almost double the price of what I paid for my car, so no go there! I get so much for getting the cheapest sports car I could get into, so I can’t complain.....


About the only thing that came out tonight is that I may change the wheels on my car. Maybe put real snows on the current 17” wheels and get some real performance wheels for the summer. What I do is get the lightest wheels possible that look good, and then swag some quality all-season tires on it. Light wheels for acceleration and performance, and the all-seasons to keep from smashing the car up! That is my personal secret for successful fun with your sports car. When all this other stuff with the orgs settles down I may get my final all out sports car (like a Corvette) instead of being the low man on the sports car totem pole like I am now, but at least I am back in the game; it has been a while (so at least I got that with the new car).....


Now, for the weekend it is just taking it easy and doing some taxes – that, and getting ready for my upcoming trip.....



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXubRNroKYo&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The car weekend continues.....


Saturday night was cruising downtown in the Stang. Things have changed. First of all going up Yonge Street would be packed and everyone wanted you to squeal the tires at the stop light. It actually is easier for me to do it in this car than my old 5.0 believe it or not – due to the extra gears, but nothing like that happens anymore. Then I took a drive down the trendy club areas and all the rest. The usual backlog of traffic and women all dolled up showing lots of leg even in this weather. I always think I should get into that stuff like when we were actively juggling multiple artists back in the day, and then you remember how old you are.....







So I got on the highway and drove up north, way north. Not much going on but this guy in a car like mine did the “I can do better than you” game with a Mercedes and the last one by merc-man was truly impressive I must say. But rather boring and back home. I’m having fun just before my car looks like last year’s model in the eyes of the public. It is last year’s model and Ford like GM is successfully making turbo fours look more exciting than the V6s they are phasing out. But physics is physics and the small motors are more highly strung and break much earlier and far too easily and sound like crap. Like the V8 guys, I roll down the windows in tunnels and gun the engine to hear it roar! The four pot guys keep their widows up and listen to canned exhaust music emanate from the speakers to mimic a motor with more cylinders (I kid you not it is all true). So seeing I could not afford the V8; the V6 still rocks! RIP V6 Mustang..... Anyway, I did watch “Water World” last night which was cool to finally see it after all the bad publicity. Actually I found it alright with some really memorable spots. The ending was rather corny though but overall it was better than I thought.


I was a bit depressed about life. Since you look at things in an automotive way this weekend I guess you could say that I was a performance car back in the day but I was too small and not very practical to convert to family uses. So the cars I laughed at in my youth carried on getting married and raising families as they aged but were still serviceable. Me. I tried but the cramped 2+2 quarters would never work and now you are left with this old worn out performance car that is still impractical for family use. The car is worn out much like your life. The car still has a strong motor but anything can break and repairs are not worth it anymore due to age. The styling is old. The interior is worn and like the rest. You just keep going until the thing breaks up as it will – ultimately, and then that is it and off to the junkyard it goes.


Actually that analogy is closer to the truth than you know. A two seat sports car will never be a family sedan. Not saying I’m a two seat sports car but you get the drift. To try to be a minivan is just ridiculous, it won’t work, and anyone looking for a car with a family in mind would pass on that car. The minivan can do things the sports car can’t and vice versa. It just is what it is and for one to become the other is impossible. You can whine and lament all you want and nothing will change those facts of life. I can do things my family oriented contemporaries can’t, so just roll with what you were meant to do..... Go to Manhattan and do your thing. Make the plays while you still can!



And that was Saturday.....



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTFRRDfyhTw&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sunday was nothing more than more of the same and taking advantage of seeing no snow anywhere for a change – all that changes Monday.


So for Sunday I did things I normally did in the summer and fall before winter returns. Also I slept a lot. I decided to have my sister look at the bump/lump on my lip and try as she could she could not see it. So I turned my lip inside out to more prominently show her and she said it could just be a cyst from stress and all. She was not impressed, so I will leave that till after New York. For Monday I will take a walk around the house to make sure everything is normal before snow locks me out from the back yard. I am actually getting ready for the trip - just getting toiletries together. The tiny tooth paste and all that sort of thing. I also stocked up on food items if I actually get socked in with the snow. Mostly I am just thinking about things.




Dave Getchell on the Fortress TV Show!



One thing I thought about was the use of the record label. When I engineered Fortress I needed the music as this was for the kids and music is important to them especially when you have change in mind. Dave was perfect for that first show in the park! I have all the aspects of media set up and ready to go if we need them and music is no different. Thinking outside the box. If you ever watch “2001: A Space Odyssey” nothing is said for the first half an hour and after that it is mostly music and breathing. You can use media in so many interesting ways to get an idea across. Anyway we continue on with all guns blazing. We keep creating. There was a reason for all that data-mining when we first applied to the UN. We had something on the go and they knew it. It remains to be seen what impact this thing I created will have in the end. But it is a player and by extension I am a player. I am going and learning and developing as fast as I can. Not being at the UN last September was a setback and maybe a mistake, though more accurately I was not ready yet. It is frustrating to see that you need time or space to be adequately prepared to keep developing toward a certain end. But I am ready now; we just have to see if they let me in this year.


At the end of the day I can’t see anyone else strategically positioned to do what I am doing on the world stage. Certainly nobody that is not backed financially or spiritually by some other mentor. I did this all on my own. I am sure I have some fans and people who helped open doors for me, but what we have here is a guy and organization that owes nobody anything. And by that I mean we operate from the purest of intentions and objectives. Nobody is working my strings. That is rare, that is unique, and we are positioned to make our plays.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to winter.....


From no snow to snow everywhere and more on Wednesday, but that is life where I live. I can actually start monitoring weather for when I go to Manhattan so I have to put a wiggle in it. I still have not cut the sales tags and the threads that hold the vents to the new suits yet. I have to make sure my suitcase still works and does not have any rips in it. This trip is primarily to take care of several things but most of all to get me back into the groove.


You get used to this but I recall that even having consultative status was a “pipe dream” two years ago. I used to fantasise about having it and all; so strange that. I thought we might never get it or that when we did I would no longer be at the helm, but we did get it and here we are. Look if you go back far enough, that speech on the floor of the General Assembly was supposed to be my ultimate goal of the lifetime, a goal you would never get and thus always had something to strive for. That one came fast and I am in a situation where I am constantly moving the goal posts. Like right now. I am constantly moving the goal posts and chastising myself for not acclimatizing myself to that new reality fast enough! That last idea was to be a permanent part of just disseminating ideas on the world stage and when we had that side event – that goal post got moved up and the idea was upped to advocate member states directly at the UN to endorse ideas like that positive mandate. You have to see what a quantum leap I am making in my consciousness whenever we quickly surpass our previous goals.


This is what I do. This is what I will be remembered for. This is all there is of importance in my life. Nobody cares what kind of car I drive. Nobody cares about a lump on my lip unless it is cancer and does me in quickly. Nobody cares about the weather and how it affects my daily life. All that matters is what I do best. The idea of the experiment and how it is disseminated on the world stage and the mass media. It is all happening now by the way.....


That positive mandate for humanity, that voting cell phone app for a global vote on issues of interest to all at the UN, even the acceptance of citizen journalists and bloggers as legitimate media workers – it’s all good! Even if it is all failure from now on it is all good! I hope I have paved the way for others of like mind to go where I went and do it one better. There is always that. Was it worth it – You bet it was! Would I be better off to not have done anything and just saved my pennies for retirement like the actors wearing business suits and standing behind wood paneling and a bank logo would tell you? Not it would not! My best friend did that and died before he could enjoy any of it. I did what I wanted to do and it worked out. Like I said yesterday, I did this in a very unorthodox way. I was unabashedly ignoring “optics” and just did what I wanted and had to do to get to where I am today. By doing that I owe nobody anything. There is no influence in the shadows, as I do as I please on the world stage. That is an accomplishment of sorts. Most people would not even try to do what I did because the optics are not the usual ones for people who go where I am going. But that is the point. That I could so easily step out of the every man’s life and into this other one. That empowers others if nothing else. US polititcs aside: When Jesse Jackson tried to become the first Black US President he failed. But he got noticed; he made the idea of a Black President a talking point and not some science fiction. He opened the door for Barack Obama to later become President of the U.S.A.. So his effort was worth it in the end. Movies are full of impassioned speeches to get funding to carry on with an idea. I don’t need any of that. The impassioned speeches are for change at that place where change can happen! I am there. And you just have to keep pushing that envelope, pushing past your fears, and moving those goal posts until you can’t anymore.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIprPXNEXGY&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Snow scuttled things I wanted to do this morning. I had to do some stuff and so slip slid away with the Mustang and got them done. I should convert some money to US bucks for the trip. The other issue was whether I was going to do the once in a life time Kamikaze submission to a large broadcaster I have no right to deal with. I think the best thing to do is to go ahead and copy the discs and make a handful of cover letters for several broadcasters in the area, and then play it by ear and submit to one!


So there will be a couple of things going on when I get there. In the end this is really just a recognisance but you keep pitching. I just didn’t want to cut that umbilical cord with the UN by absence. So we go now and hopefully in September and maybe in-between if something important comes up. Traveling is not that expensive when you know how to do it. Cheaper if you drive also. I may be doing much at that place and nearby when I really get into it, so the office thing and all that is very real. All that gets done in less than a week now.


The preparations are much more laid back now. As it should be. This could be a regular thing from now on. I remember my first trip, didn’t know if they would let me into the US as I’d heard stories. Then learning how to function in New York like where to eat and how to use the subway. Even social things like where to meet for a drink or dinner. Where to get things like a comb and all those little things. What I don’t need to know is where to find a Starbucks. Every street has one as you walk up from 1st to fifth and beyond all the way to Broadway. Starbucks everywhere and a Duncan Donuts here and there. Wendy’s and McDonalds and especially Subways all over the place. So you learn how to live there.


I still have trouble sleeping though the night there, but it isn’t as bad as the first time. I was so dejected then I just wanted to go home early. But now it is just this home away from home.








So back to Manhattan we go. I am only there for two days really so I may not get back to the Museum of Modern Art. I love that place as I got to see the real paintings that I used to have on my walls – How cool is that? I just hope they got rid of that box exhibit – A room of boxes, need I say any more.....









Goodnight.....




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMfz1jlyQrw&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It’s late in the morning and I have to get this thing going.....


I did get my US cash for the trip and with this push to give a pitch to this A list broadcaster I have to keep this short and sweet and get to the printers and make another series bible and some stuff for promotion. I will craft the cover letter which hopefully gets me around some of their shields to this type of pitch. We actually stand no chance but you never know and I will be walking past the place – so why not!



Until The End Cover Design!


So things continue but the rest of the organization moves along. TWENTY6HUNDRED’s upcoming album “Until The End is deep into the artwork and we finally have the cover sans the artists watermark. But you know what – why not show the artist instead of a watermark on the cover:




Amy May! (Twitter)


Yes that is Amy May in the bottom picture at some event. I really should give more shout outs to artists that involve themselves in projects with our organization. So there she is!


All of a sudden things are getting busy. What was clear sailing for the trip to New York now may include snow and by extension delays. That is life, that is life. You just role with the punches.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It took 2 days but I have our presentation kit of The Fortress Experiment ready for our big broadcaster in New York.....


We actually have virtually no chance but as I constantly walk by the place while in New York it is worth the attempt. It adds spice to the trip if nothing at all comes from it! So those two days are for the UN stuff, the TV stuff and the office stuff. That is enough. I don’t consider these trips vacation as there is very little relaxing, but they are really business trips. At the end of the day you see that you are realizing that dream do doing business in relatively big ways. Corporate business with some of the biggest corporations in the world. Of course, those big corporations would consider me at best, a fly they just try to swat away but a fly can get attention just by being a fly – before it gets swatted and squashed. The idea here is to convert the annoyance into interest before that happens.


We shall see.....


So I print off the rest of the kit Friday morning and just continue with the preparations. There really is not more to the trip than that. I am talking with my gang and everyone is getting older and mostly we are all as a group worn out and spent, but the experiment is finished and broadcast would re-invigorate people one more time to get out there. Actually, I am one of the few not really worn out and spent, that happens after all the frustration, failure and rejection. But sooner or later my expiry date will come and pass. But for now I have to keep making the plays and pitching.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrrtCVfOnEk&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFs1cRxEQQc&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well it is all about packing for that trip now.....


New York is the UN and TV with a little office stuff on the side. I need only two days for this. I have been in Manhattan so many times there is no vacation here, it is all business. With the United Nations stuff it is the 56th Session of the Commission for Social Development. For the TV stuff it is continued pitching of our stuff at the big businesses in New York.



The first photo and first view of the United Nations Secretariat Building back in the day!



The UN stuff is just to keep me connected and attached. I am now a know person there and things have moved onto the next flavour of the month. But I have my own crusade or mission and that still is there. You have opportunities just by being there and hanging around. If you aren’t there nothing will happen because you aren’t there. That sounds obvious because it is true. So back to the United Nations I go. Back to walking up those steps like I envisioned as a kid.....





We had some success in New York just getting noticed. With AMC we actually made it to Joel Stillerman’s office! He was the guy behind Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead (some of the most popular shows in the world). So to make it there even if we got the quick “heave hoe” was a big deal. A good idea goes far..... NBC got our stuff at 30 Rock (30 Rockefeller Plaza) and sent it to California and then sent a message from their lawyers (in California) back to me (most submissions get thrown in the garbage and that is it). We are still sort of in limbo with MGM/United Artists Media Group or as they were know back then as One Three Media owned by Mark Burnett and the Hearst family. Back then the Hearst’s had there main building (now known as Hearst Media) near Central Park. Anyway their development people started to look at it and then they got bought out. So we continue with this tradition of rejection but with a more complete package. I can glean stuff by the way we are rejected so it is all good in the end. Sometimes career moves open the door to a repeat opportunity. For example, Joel Stillerman has moved from AMC to Hulla. You just keep at it at home and in New York and maybe even Los Angeles.



You just keep pitching



That is it for now. The more earthy things like that small lump on the inside of my lip will wait till later. Nobody has a barely noticeable lump on their lip in Manhattan – do they?






Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not much more to say but get to New York – as it snows all day and after Super Bowl Sunday.....


First off is to get to the airport, not a sure thing with the weather we have. I have ordered a cab but if that goes poop there is always the trusty Mustang. Then there is getting into the States which is never a sure thing these days. In fact the reason I doubled up the voting app with the positive mandate idea at last year’s side event was to get it all in there before anything weird happens, like not getting back to the States, or never getting access to a side event again. There just aren’t any guarantees in life. So if I get access then I am still at the airport waiting and that is the third, delays due to the weather or Super Bowl Sunday, then getting off and getting to New York.


Then I do the UN stuff first and then check out the office. After that it is the TV thing which will be a chance and wait and see thing while there. Those are nothing but Hail Mary crapshoots much like the Super Bowl Games. But that is the plan and then back home on Tuesday night on the red eye flight.





If I get everything done on Monday I will plan a subway trip in if I get an invite to September when the big Annual Meeting is with mresidents and Prime Ministers in attendance. The hotel I am staying at tomorrow is expensive enough now but will be like one grand a night during those festivities, so I will have to have a plan where I get a hotel far enough away but still an easy trip to Grand Central by subway. I also get the airport shuttle at Grand Central so that plan has merit. So I’m thinking more and more of Long Island and get to Manhattan by subway. I should have that planned out on Tuesday. So I’ll give that a try.


The rest I will just play by ear.



Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m at the Airport. Checked the baggage and cleared US customs. Just waiting to board. I took the cab in instead of the car. The snow was a part of it but I just hate leaving a new car there to get banged up or vandalized. The old car was perfect for that but not this one. So I paid up his time.


What else?


I need to spruce up my appearance. I’m not a wrinkled up old man yet but you see that if you just gave your face and neck a good scrubbing and cleaning you would still look good. But I am probably hitting the wall now anyway but it would be nice to turn back the clock one more time.


And there you have it. You’re this old guy now flying to Manhattan multi-tasking several business dealings. Never saw that happening, never saw that happening. And the reality is always different from the fantasy. That does not make sense since I said I never saw that happening, but I guess I never fantasized it happening to me. That’s just wack in so many ways. It is what it is and the future is never rosy. But I have something - at the end of the day I still have that - for however long that lasts.


Later.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 7:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What a day! And not in a partularly good way.....

I did get everything I wanted to do in New York done; but it was a fight. Everything that could go wrong did, but I managed to overcome. I arrived in the Big Apple a little after 8:00am and took the shuttle with the stewardesses and saved like fifty bucks right there and got closer to the hotel than if I took a cab. You have to understand that in Manhattan, especially mid-town it is this maze of one-way streets and so you get raped by the cabbie and not let off at the hotel, but a block or two away because to get there would take an extra 10 minutes and you just can't take it anymore.....


So I hopped into a suit and got into the UN and registered for the event so we get credit for participation when our four year review takes place. I get to Conference Room 4 and sit in on the proceedings. Then around noon I took off to the cafeteria and finally ate some real food. But there were problems; my 2018 ground pass would not work anymore on the turnstiles and so back to the issuing office I went and had to re-apply again. This takes time so they gave me a temporary pass in the meantime. This was the type of pass that looks like a regular pass but does not have the ability to swipe through check points like the yearly pass does. But it works and I was back in action. The funny thing about all of this is that even though we have consultative status, you would be hard pressed to see the difference in effectiveness between me now and before we were offciially let in! Just strange that. We shall see if we can get it done tomorrow or it will wait until the next time I am there which looks like September when those yearly passes are not used anyway. And so goes the reality that is my existence. I did get to hang out with a well-known ambassador while there. Everyone knew this guy! I didn't know who he was until the people started introducing themselves to him, but a cool moment none the less. So you get the indignities thrown at you and then have access to people like this all at the same time. And that is life at the United Nations. You think the whole thing is useless - but then you get the kind of access to the people who can do things - and that keeps you strung along to continue the fight.....


After the UN stuff, I checked out the offices at 245 Park Avenue. This place looks great and later I will show you some photos I snapped while there. I have the price list of everything we need to do business there, they just charge me as we use them so the office is all setup. Finally, the location is settled!


I also passed by our mysterious vetted broadcaster and even went inside and looked aound. More later on this but that got done also.


So I am a free man right now. Tomorrow I can do as I please. I will probably pop by the UN at least one more time before I boot out of Manhattan. But I want to just chill and walk around some familiar haunts and take some of the town in. I may or may not take the train to Long Island. That was not on the original intinerary but just a target of opportunity. I still don't know what will happen in September but may play it by ear and make cost be the big feature. So it could be long Island or somewhere else. So that trip may just be a waste of time in the end. More than anything this was a business trip. Even here punching it out in this office I am alone while everyone is out and about having a good time on the boss's dime. This is on my dime so I make it as productive as possible. But tomorrow is more laid back.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Home.....







I am back in my warm bedroom. I actually came back around 11:00pm and got in early enough I popped by my dad’s place for a quick meal. I am getting the hang of this. I left Monday on the early flight which you avoid long line-ups at the airport and arrive in New York at around 8:00 in the morning. Funny thng is that "The History Channel" contacted me just before I left about a job for one of my gang for intros to one of their shows. The problem is Actra so I’m not sure how that goes but the pay is good for one day’s work; so we shall see how that goes. Anyway, on the return flight I pick the latest departure which is 9:30 at night which gives me all the leeway I need to finish anything happening that day – but since these return flights are almost never full, that gives you the ability to go on stand-by for the next plane out. So I arrived at the airport at 6:20 got on stand-by for the 7:35 which boards at 7:00; got through screenings and all that by 6:45 and in the plane I went – Perfect! More on that later as I also get to and from the airport very cheaply too. The only sore spot was paying Toronto cabbies to and from the airport which is highway robbery. Next time it is Uber or something else, cause that is the last cost to be whittled down. As it stands I can do the New York thing on a moment’s notice and very cheaply. So with the office done I have everything in place to do business commercially or in advocacy without any hiccups due to me being in New York. I even did the subway thing and I am comfortable commuting into Manhattan!


Like I said much more later as I can debrief over the next couple of days. Lots to cover and I did everything I wanted to do. Now though – I just want to hop into a warm tub and soak.....



Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had to take Wednesday off.....


I did nothing on Wednesday but watch movies. It snowed in the morning and I just didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere after that exhausting trip to New York. Even punching this out was a grind. Anyway, on Monday I went to the UN and sat in on the 56 Session of the Commission for Social Development. That day we had oral statements from NGOs which I love to sit in on. Mostly young people making their first speeches at the UN. Just great stuff and you feel like a veteran now that you have like 4 of those speeches under your belt.



The 56 Session of the Commission for Social Development!


Now getting to the Commission required my UN pass and then registration at the front and a couple of passes for the AM and PM sessions. These passes are needed as you can get to Conference Room 4 through a rather public area, so there was an armed guard at the entrance that vetted the participants. member nations were in attendance so the extra security was needed. In the photo above you can see this long window at the top where the general public can see the proceedings. This is what freaked them out a coupe of years ago when I sat in on the session in there and then looked at the session from the pubic gallery. In fact some of the visitors took a picture of me as they were impressed!




This is a plain shot of Conference Room 4 from the visitor's observation deck in 2015!




The visitors took this photo (2015) as they were impressed I was actually down in there in the action and all!



So for me so far so good, The problem with the grounds pass came later when I wanted to get some chow and sit in on some side events. These are in the restricted areas and as I came to the turnstiles I swiped my card and – nothing – the card did not work. One of the guards (there were two of them at this station) checked the card and it came up expired even though it said good till December 31, 2018. They called the issuing office and they said send the guy over, so I did not get in but got in-line at this office on 45th Street to sort it out. The folk there were mystified how I got the two year pass but confiscated it and told me I would have to reapply for another one. This could take a day or two so I asked them if I could get a temporary pass just for this event. I had a letter they used to verify so they gave me another pass which looked like the annual but had a two day expiry date with daily hours on it and no electronic swipe strip on the back. So this worked but the guards had to physically look at the card to let me in, not perfect but it worked.



My first Annual UN Pass!



So it was Tuesday when I got the email by security to get the new annual pass. So off I went to the same office with the letters. I get there and one of the ladies recognizes me and takes care of me. She takes back the temporary card and gives me my new annual card good till the end of the year. The new card looked familiar because it was my old card from before with the same scratches on it; all they did was reprogram the information on the electronic strip! Why they could not have just done this all along is beyond me but there you go! Anyway above you can see what my previous annual card looked like and the one I have now below (rocking a novel SDG neck band BTW) – from the back with all the text and the strip and all the other markings. You can’t counterfeit these cards as they have holograms embedded on the front and that electronic strip on the back. The system worked as it stopped me cold on the first day. And without the extra security arrangements to get the passes for Conference Room 4, I would not have gotten into there either. So their system does work even though it was a pain in the ass for me on Monday. At the end of the day I really did get an actual 2 year pass as I will have that same card for two years – I guess that makes me special.....



My new pass – same as the old pass!


I went back down to the UN and checked it out and it worked this time, I had access just like the other regulars to the UN! And that was basically the UN portion of the trip. I did meet people, some important and some just like me. The highlight is the food there. I eat well at the UN even if it is in a Styrofoam plate with a bottle of Coke as I get this great view of the East river.....




Great food and a great view!




More tomorrow - Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now I’m taking things easy like a vacation.....


So Thursday was just getting back into the usual groove. All my clothing and stuff from the trip was all put back and all. I did decide to phone up my doctor and have him look at that lump on my lip and I got an appointment the same day at the end of the day. So I go to the office and didn’t have to wait long and waltzed into one of those examining room cubicles. In comes the doc and opens up my file on his computer which had very little since I never to go a doctor. So he asks what was wrong and I told him about the lump and he started looking. Like my sister he couldn’t find it at first and I showed him by pulling out the lip and he said it was a small cyst off some ganglion I can’t remember. He said there is some cream for that (just like my sister said) but that they don’t really do anything anyway so best to leave it and check back in a month if I want to. Meh! So since I was there I decided to go through all my physical problems all at once and not have to go back there unless I had a real ailment. But the only other problem was some fungus under one nail that was already on its way out. He looked at it and looked at me and told me I was not impressing him. Then he told me that you can take medication for this but you would have to take it for a year and it would work the same way it was going away for me –oddly – naturally. It slowly goes from the root of the nail outward just like it was with my nail. I was like two thirds there already. So he didn’t think any action was needed there either. And that was how it went. All my problems were cosmetic and so I thanked him saying at least I know now I’m not going to die and he said (pointing at the ceiling with his hand): “YOU WILL DIE! Just not anytime soon.....” So he kicked me out of his office and got ready to go home.


And that was my trip to the doctor.....


Anyway I felt good that nothing bad happened on that visit. I thought maybe he would want to take a biopsy of the lump to check for cancer or something – but no. He didn’t even feel the need for a physical or anything like that as I looked really healthy for my age. So I booted out of his office and the mall and decided to celebrate with some greasy chicken and wine! I am not going to die! It was like a man – blind all his life – suddenly given sight! No that is not quiet how I felt. But you did feel like you could forget about your mortality for a little while longer and have fun being Man of the World or whatever I wanted to do. The spectre of mortality and death is off the radar scope - for the time being. This has the effect of focusing you on what matters to you. We have to get those ideas into the minds of member nations at the UN and make them flesh. I have to run the companies like companies because I am in this for the long haul. I praised myself for getting my little V6 Mustang instead of like a Corvette because we need that cash we save for the orgs because; again I am going to be around for a while. Sort of felt like that. So now all of you know my deep dark secrets. You have seen me now warts and all (really tiny cyst and minor fungal infection in one toe in remission and all), but do you feel closer to me, and do you empathize with me? No? Oh..... And so ends that experiment.....


Ok, back to my trip to Manhattan, New York, New York:


So we settled on our office at 245 Park Avenue which will be our go to office for mail in and mail out and booking conference rooms or even office space for short periods. What follows are some photos I took on Monday.





So above is the reception area minus the receptionist and below is the gathering area by the reception desk.








Above is one of the conference rooms and below is an area to plug in your laptop or do short term work and stuff like that.





I like this office space. It is cool and modern – just the ticket for our young staff and members! These are pricy but that is Manhattan, but far cheaper than signing a lease. I also went in there in civies and they have tight security but they let me up with a temporary stripe pass (passes everywhere you go in New York it seems) so if you don’t wear a suit you still get in this rather exclusive office building. So it was confirmed. 245 Park Avenue is our office in Manhattan. Done!


Later.....
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