Showing results by author "Jerry Bader" in All Categories

It’s not what you know that counts; it’s what you need to know. Today analytics rule, and that approach may be just fine for some businesses; but as seemingly rational as number crunching may appear, it only tells you part of the story, and that can be misleading. Statistical analysis can tell you what people did, but it can’t tell you why; and it doesn’t tell you what they would have done if presented with an alternative. Even A-B testing won’t provide the answer to why people did what they did.

Noir I is four stories: "The Gold Cricket", "The Bastard", "Cine City", and "Killer Jazz".

It all started five years earlier with the murder of Peter "Pretty Boy" Chen, a low-level soldier for Benson Yeung's Hong Mian triad. Rumor had it that the statue that sat on the old man's desk, the symbol of his Dragon Head status as leader of the Hong Mian, was filled with priceless Pigeon Blood rubies, or at least that's what Peter thought. Whether he was right or wrong is a tale for another time and another place. What's significant is, his desire to get his hands on those rubies led to his brains being splattered all over the wall of the Green Dragon Restaurant.

What's the Big Idea? lays out 28 optional approaches for creating the high concept that can be the center point of all marketing decisions a business needs to make. By using one of these concepts, entrepreneurs can make the appropriate decisions to invest and use the numerous tactical marketing and advertising options available and, more importantly, avoid wasting money on fad, over-hyped tactics that may be suitable for some, but may not be suitable for everyone.

Jesse James, the daughter of a deceased mob-connected rug salesman, becomes a jockey working for the Hong Mian triad in order to feed winners to state Senator Somersby. The Senator is responsible for approving California gaming licenses. To date, only Native CANGV casinos are allowed to have slots. California horse racing will die if they aren't allowed to add slot machines to their venues. Benson Yeung, Dragon Head of the Hong Mian triad, and his chief lieutenant, Johnny Luck, have a plan to force Somersby to approve their Native partner's demands for off-reservation gaming licenses.

14 Ridiculous Tales of Sage Silliness is a compendium of 14 rhyming stories of cyborgs, vikings, pirates, puppeteers, dragons, politicians, a wueen, an umbrella salesman, a baseball player, and a toothless has-been super hero. Each short lyrical tale has a moral for children to learn, from staying in school, to listening to parents, to avoiding excess, and much more.

Virginia Collins is not what she appears to be. By all outward appearances the successful uptown psychiatrist is just another beautiful dame who hires a private investigator to find her missing husband: a weird little man who makes fancy umbrella drinks and dresses like something out of an old gangster movie. Collins hides her real motives, along with her tragic past, in order to win the affections of Raffy Rheinhardt, a cynical PI with an equally tragic history; a long forgotten shared incident resulting in damaged psyches and dead bodies.

We are all familiar with the classic tale of Casey at the Bat but that story was written a long time ago. I felt it was time for a new story about about the best sport there is, baseball. Baseball is unlike any other game, it requires great individual skill, as well as practiced team co-ordination. In terms of life lessons, baseball has a lot to offer children. The Ninth Inning is a humorous take on the game with a nifty rhyme. I hope you like it.

Why do we call mixed alcohol drinks "cocktails"? How do they get their exotic names — names like the Singapore Sling, Screw Driver, the Alamagoozlum, the Angel’s Kiss, the Hanky Panky, the Harvey Wallbanger, Sex on the Beach, the Monkey Gland, the Brass Monkey, the Margarita, the Japalac, the Lion’s Tail, and many, many more?

On Christmas Eve, 1984, two Mexican veterinarian dropouts broke into the Museo Nacional del Antropologia. They stole over one hundred ancient Mayan treasures found in the tomb of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, a discovery that rivals Tutankhamun in beauty, wealth, and cultural significance. The burglary became known as the El Robo del Siglo: The Theft of the Century.

The Sūn Collection auction of Qing Dynasty snuff bottles at the Shangri-la Hong Kong Hotel was highly anticipated. Three super-wealthy international financial magnates wanted the collection, but only one could get it. The winner, Canadian Kyan K. Tomkins, represented by Alastair Hughes, snagged the prize. Tomkins’ British competitor, Sir Benedict Foxcroft, had to settle for two miniature jade Fu Dogs. American Michael C. Bullock was represented by his daughter-in-law, Wu Jing.

Antonius Stradivari was the premiere maker of string instruments during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Only six hundred and fifty Stradivarius instruments still exist; each is worth millions of dollars. Like many historic masterpieces, these instruments, particularly the violins, have become the targets of thieves. Unfortunately for the thieves, Stradivarius violins are nearly impossible to fence. As such, only a handful have been stolen, usually by amateurs.

Ari Katz, an old friend and Israeli Lahav 433 Agent approaches Investigator Axel Webb to find the Saudi Blue, a 50-carat blue diamond stolen in 1989 by a Thai servant, Jira Bun Ma, working at the palace of a Saudi Prince. After a quick Thai police investigation, Bun Ma was arrested. Most of the gems were found and returned to the Saudis with great fanfare. Unfortunately, many items returned were fakes and not the original gems stolen. The most valuable of the missing gems was the Saudi Blue.

English artist Alice Bulbeck and her twin brother, Edward, approach Axel Webb to find a lost Shakespeare play entitled The History of Cardenio. The play, performed only once for James I, has been lost for 400 years. It wasn’t included in the 1623 First Folio published by Shakespeare’s friends after his death. It is the only known play credited to William Shakespeare that has never been published. The question is, why?

What would you do to be rich? Not just rich, but fabulously rich. Perhaps you are that unique soul that has no dreams, no aspirations, no agenda…. Well, if you are, good luck. It must be a very dreary existence. But if you’re like the rest of us, you have a fantasy, a vision of what could be, of what you could be. Maybe that dream is selfish, or maybe it’s altruistic, or maybe...it’s extremist. What if there was a family jewel, an exquisite 133-carat pink piece of perfection, a diamond that historically belonged to you, and what if that gem was stolen?

Crime...it's a dirty business, and eventually someone always dies. The thing is...you got to make sure it isn't you, or someone you love. That's the problem: the someone you love may just be the reason you end up on an aluminum table with some white-coated ghoul slicing you open like a prized Thanksgiving turkey. There comes a time when everybody has to make a decision...you're either all-in, or you cash out, if they let you. But you know in the end that's not going to happen. It always gets messy.

Art and artifact investigator Axel Webb is asked to investigate a lawyer, A. Barton Bailey. The lawyer claims he represents a client willing to sell a portfolio of paintings by 20th-century bad-boy, Welsh portrait painter, Augustus John. Bailey approaches the Art Gallery of Ontario, owner of what is arguably John’s best work, a portrait of the flamboyant Marchesa Luisa Casati. The bohemian excesses of Augustus John and Luisa Casati, his occasional sexual partner, friend, and muse for over forty years, are legendary.

In my business, you meet all kinds of people; some, let’s call them civilians, are ordinary, what the politicians call “folks;” then there are the characters, the peculiar sorts, people with strange peccadilloes: what an old friend of mine might call, “people who scare the horses.” Some, let's call them “the desperate:” come to me because they find themselves in a situation, sometimes of their own making and other times… well… let’s just say, imposed upon them. In each case, they have secrets.

The Man With 21 Faces is back. Private Detective Axel Webb is called to Japan by his Yakuza partner and friend, Hibiki Sato, to help the authorities find who’s behind the new threats. Axel’s expertise is finding lost, stolen, or misappropriated relics of great value, not people. However, the Japanese Naichō and PSIA requested his unofficial help in solving the problem. Axel has no choice but to help.

AudioZoo Podcast Drama Network Back in the day, radio dramas were called Theatre of the Mind; listening audiences could close their eyes and visualize the stories unfold in their heads as the audio played. Today, we have smartphones, the new entertainment platform of choice, a platform designed to deliver the rebirth of this immersive experience. The AudioZoo Podcast Drama Network is powered by a small, creative, and talented team of writers, sound designers, musicians, and voice actors who are passionate about delivering immersive and powerful entertainment experiences. You, the listener, ...