I was browsing X today, looking for people to troll (one of my favorite pastimes, you know), and I stumbled upon a post about some neighbors in Puglia, Italy sharing a meal on one of their tiny streets on a summer evening. It's one of those streets that's barely three meters wide, with cobblestones and had a long, long table of perhaps 20 meters long full of people smiling and waving at the camera. Most of them looked in their 40s or 50s, some of them more. The lighting was perfect: a couple of warm street bulbs on the houses that ... [keep reading...]

People's expectations can negate the best intentions, and that reminds me how a Johnny Depp anecdote is outlandishly related to my rather private professional background - and a lesson in persuasion: While visiting Disneyland after the first Pirates Of The Caribbean movie hit the theaters, Johnny Depp was eager to pull a prank in the attraction of the same name. The idea was to dress up as Jack Sparrow, stay among the other animatronics, wait until people came over in the boats and then jump and scream. Simple! When the moment arrived, Depp couldn't contain his excitement. He remained frozen while ... [keep reading...]

Hugh Laurie had to work with a literal lion once, and his first question was obvious: what to do if it attacks me? the answer is both funny and insightful: So, Laurie was filming this documentary that featured these fluffy-maned killing machines, and at some point he had to literally be filmed pretty close to one of them. The little detail that rang his internal alarms is that the filming crew was conveniently wrapped inside an iron cage, while the Dr. House star was going to be out in the open, next to the animal. He asked the specialist on set, ... [keep reading...]

Most people would get uneasy about being spied, but this anecdote about an US diplomat proves you can live in a Peter Sellers movie every now and then: William Harriman was a US diplomat well known for his phenomenal hard work and wits. While being ambassador in Moscow in 1945, he was followed everywhere by the Soviet secret police. He was aware of this, and found their persistence amusing. One weekend, he was invited to visit a British colleague at a country retreat. The area was only accessible only by means of all-terrain vehicles, so thinking about the guys constantly following ... [keep reading...]

"Good Luck" is something you can control, like this F1 driver that avoided a fatal crash just by paying attention to the right signs: Beneath the Monaco sun, the roar of engines echoed. Argentine Formula One driver Juan Manuel Fangio, a five-time World Drivers' Champion, led the race. Swift and agile, his car danced upon the asphalt. But as he sped, a hushed alarm bell rang in his mind. Ahead, a treacherous curve unfurled. As Fangio approached, a peculiar sight met his eyes: The blur of spectator faces, usually indifferent, were turned away, their attention snatched by an unseen drama beyond ... [keep reading...]