atkinreport.com

A postcard perfect view in Cancun

I was just about to write a piece about how despite all the rabid drug violence it’s safe to travel to Mexico–when the swine flu hit.  Media hype would have you believe they we’re all going to die of this disease, when the facts are that at this moment, very few people worldwide are affected, it’s not necessarily deadly and health agencies worldwide seem prepared to deal with any possible major outbreak.  While no one is disputing that parts of Mexico are being ravaged by drug gangs at war with each other, it bears pointing out the most of the violence is in border towns like Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, and not in the primary tourist destinations including Cancun, Riviera Maya, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Ixtapa, Los Cabos and Acapulco—which are hundreds and often thousands of miles from the northwest part of the country, where most of the killings have gone down.  Tens of millions of American and international tourists visited Mexico in 2008, and thus far not a single tourist from any country has been killed, injured or kidnapped due to the drug war. Mexican tourism authorities hope it stays that way, since tourism is the third largest business for the country, bringing in more than $13 billion in revenue, about 9% of the GDP. In fact, possibly because of better deals in a bad economy, tourism had gone up in the first few months of this year. Now, with the swine flu, all bets are off. Talk about hitting a country when it’s down. Let’s hope this “epidemic” runs its course quickly. 

…devoted an ENTIRE show to AI judge Paula Abdul? Yes, we heard all the promotion about the interview, but somehow thought it would be an ending segment. But the whole chunk of late night real estate? Note to Nightline: like clearly milllions of viewers–I know your ratings rival Letterman’s– I’ve stuck with you and even became an admirer of the three-anchor format with a lot of fun, lifestyle-y stories at the back end of the show, after some reporting on the actual news of the day up top. But really now, Paula Abdul and whether she takes painkillers or downs a glass of champagne before the show is just not that interesting. As a matter of fact, Cynthia McFadden’s interview…or, beating a dead horse in this case, was rather painful to watch. If you’re going to start doing stupid stuff like this for the entire show, here’s my suggestion: Michelle Obama’s arms and how she gets them that buff! At least that might be news someone could use…

Don’t you just love media hype? New media hype? The current battle between Ashton Kutcher and CNN has people a-Twitter. Who will be the first to get 1 million followers?

Easy vote? Not necessarily. I’ve done some celebrity sampling on Twitter and just so you don’t have to, here’s some:

RealHughJackmanJust landed in Berlin. Anxious to review your messages. sorry for the lack of correspondence these past few days. I have been flat with work

*Real, sincere, decent spelling and grammar: worthwhile

TinaFeyI think I can safely speak for America when I say, we’re not shallow, but please, Britain, do something with Susan Boyle’s eyebrows.

*Droll, in character, but posts few and far between

iamdiddyPtwitty Friday roll call!!!! : What’s your name? Where you at? What you doin?

*Inane, repetitive, obsessively overtweets

jimmyfallonPhoto shoot right now at Katz’s Deli, site of Meg Ryan’s famous ‘I’ll have what she’s having’ scene. I’m not having that.

*Cute, fun, usually promotional of his show–surprise

As for Ashton, or aplusk in the Twitterverse, as of this writing, he’s over the top. Good for the “little guy” against the big corporation!

It’s amazing to me how much money men will pay for new nooky. In Mel Gibson’s case, it could be close to a record half a billion dollars to extricate himself from a long marriage to Robyn Gibson, one that spawned nearly countless numbers of kids. You gotta give her credit….Braveheart’s wife has kept a very low profile, apparently content to leave the spotlight to Mad Max Mel, who’s been a lightning rod for controversy since his anti-Semitic comments promoting The Passion of the Christ in 2004 and then of course, during his infamous PCH meltdown in the summer of 2006.  Sugartits, anyone? Mel apparently wasn’t What Women Want, in Robyn’s case, after that drunk driving fiasco in which he proudly proclaimed, “I own Malibu.” Now his long-suffering wife will own half of his plentiful assets…

That was a wild ride. I think it may have been the first time I’ve ever interacted with a Chasidic Jew. The poor guy was trapped in a middle seat next to me on a crowded cross-country flight on American Airlines. He was in his early 20s, a self-proclaimed computer geek with an expensive laptop. Said he was a cancer survivor. He was writing a book about it, and wanted my advice on how to overcome writer’s block. (“Go do something else,” I told him, “But set a time to come back to it and adhere to your own deadlines.”) I couldn’t help but notice he was trying to write on the plane, at least an outline of the chapters. But then, taking my advice, he switched gears, and watched “Iron Man,” telling me it was one of his favorite movies. As I watched him grab his overcoats and hat from the overhead bins, I wished him the best. We couldn’t shake hands,  but we connected more than I ever felt possible.