In 2017 I played that song with the Murray Symphony that I wrote at 17 for my future wife, Rita.

 

After the concert, one of my buddies came up to me and said I'd raised the bar too hight for the rest of the guys.

Yeah, I'm a hopeless Romantic. We've been married 60 years.

Below is a link to the performance. Enjoy.

I met this future movie star at a Dominican Republic orphanage

 

Three decades ago, I arranged to pay off the mortgage of an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. I found out about this from my next door neighbor's father. Missionaries Tyler Engar (pictured Left) and his companion Kirby Heyborne (right) donated a day a week at Casa Lubian, a sad place where people from the DR left their retarded, ill, or deformed children.

In later years, Kirby starred in several movies and numerous television commercials. He's now host of the Emmy-nominated BYUTV show MAKING GOOD. He's also currently serving as a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I predict you'll see more of this genuinely nice guy.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

My best bike trip ever: Sporting my USA jersey in Paris

 

For those of you who think Paris is a hotbed of anti-American sentiment, my experience in Paris doesn't fit that narrative. On April 30, 1999, I snagged a hotel room with my #2 son Matthew, and just paid for the round-trip airfare. While he attended meetings, I rode my bike around Paris. I didn't meet a single rude Frenchman (or woman).

In fact, I inadvertently sailed onto the JFK Expressway in Paris, missing the no-bicycles sign. It quickly became apparent that I'd blundered into freeway traffic. In my helmet-mounted mirror, I could see an ocean of cars coming toward me. Peddling as hard as I could, I heard the beep-beep of a Taxi to my right. The driver motioned me in front of him, offering to block me from certain death. But moments later, a furniture truck passed us and I quickly drafted onto him, quickly accelerating to freeway speeds. Shortly thereafter, I spotted my off-ramp to salvation.

As I blew off the Paris JFK exit ramp, a group of French bicyclists parked nearby gave me a round of applause.

I have nothing but fond memories of my two cycling trips to France. But this trip happened to be the greatest bicycling trip ever.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

Springtime at the Pirate Cottage

 

(L to R) Plumb, Kwanza Cherry, and Choke Cherry Trees bring the promise of a great new year. Happy Spring, one and all. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

The Greatest SOUTH PARK episode ever? I played this at a Sunday church meeting and brought down the house.

 

Of course, nobody was a SOUTH PARK fan and they thought I created this myself. I had to disabuse them of this, as they gave me far more credit than I deserved. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

Why do I try to use humor in my guerrilla warfare? Here's the greatest episode of TAXI in history.

 

BTW, I had a buddy who was a neighbor of Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd wanted a "TAXI" license plate on both of his cars. My buddy, Dave Ledeen, told him to make one "TAX1". Dave was very smart. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

GREAT Glenn Frey (Eagles founder) clip from Miami Vice

 

There are several all-time-great clips I've collected over the years. Here's Eagles founder Glenn Frey in a guest appearance on MIAMI VICE. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

One five-star review for my 3rd novel: THE LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF HARLEY AND HIS DOG

 

5.0 out of 5 stars
So good.
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Awesome, could not put this story down. Exactly what I was wanting to read. Great story. Believable characters. Funny humor, talking dogs. Yeah. Was sorry it came to an end. 🥰

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

Great review from filmmaker Jeff Hays. for my 2nd novel, DADDY'S LITTLE FELONS.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars

 A great read
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2013
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
I was familiar with Rick Bennett's advertising writing, which mixes intelligence, wit, and "stick your finger in the eye of the biggest guy on the field" ballsy-ness. So, I hoped his fiction would live up to his 9 to 5 writing. With Daddy's Little Felons, Bennett delivers. I like my heroes a little larger than life, (think Jack Reacher) and DLF's protagonist satisfies. As a documentary filmmaker, I'm never asked about casting decision in narratives (their loss!) but it's easy to see Jason Stratham in the lead role. A fast paced page turner, kudos to Rick Bennett on his new book.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

The closest thing I've come to a sermon in my advertising.

 

Happy Easter!

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
God's Ad Hit Man

Here's the auido book of first 20% of my sci-fi novel THE LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF HARLEY AND HIS DOG.

 

If you're into audio books, I think this is a passable job of computer-generated voices.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

The 2nd-greatest ad in all of human history: Tony Schwartz's DAISY

 

A video from one of my guerrilla warfare lectures.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

How I used Final Cut Pro to change the name of the Armageddon commet to Bill Gates

 

Before the days where AI could do anything whimsical. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

I always liked granting a "Get Out of Jail Free" to my client's clients.

 

Remember this, old friend Adam Joseph?

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

With book reviews like this, you'd think I'd have a best-seller.

 

Just goes to show that I haven't cracked the code. Yet. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

Finally a great book review from the hard-boiled former editor for Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler, and Hunter S. Thompson.

 

"…wonderful fun to read, from start to finish…convincing and compelling for even a skeptical cynic like me…winner here…thoroughly credible…a wonderful vision…a splendid conception, brilliantly executed…deep, spiritual piece of work…" Alan Rinzler (former editor for Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler, and Hunter S. Thompson. My literary agent asked former editor Alan Rinzler to look at one of my early novels. He didn't like it. I asked if it needed editiing. He said it needed a blowtorch. Yikes, that bad? Conventional wisdom, I later found out, was that you should burn your first million words. I took that to heart and paid attention to "learning my craft." The same agent submitted my manuscript for DESTROYING ANGEL to Rinzler for his critical review, and he gushed over it. One of the biggest ironies of my life is that I never swung a movie deal for a book that could have made the careers of many women actors. Sigh. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

A wasp decoy that replaces the wasp killers that capture and then starve them?

 

I'm getting soft in my old age. Last year we replaced the wasp death traps that torture them in favor of decoys. The theory is that wasps are territorial and will not venture into other wasp's nests. These decoys seemed to do the trick. We did the same thing with vole repellant, rather than the chemicals that not only kill the voles but the predator birds that eat the dead voles. My wife just stuffs moth balls into the vole holes. Moth balls drive voles off our property. I call this positive messages (advertising) to pests. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Humane Ad Hit Man

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how good you looked doing it!” David Lee Roth of Van Halen

 

My buddy Charlie Engar and I had a bike ride that didn't interfere with showing up at Arlyn Anderson's son's wedding reception. It was down the hill from us, so we just dropped in. Arlyn had his photographer queued up to get this photo, which he sent to us. Standing behind me, Charlie died last year of a brain tumor. The day before he died, I showed him this photo from my phone. He laughed one last time. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

My creative for Post Modern Computing scared them so badly, they never hired me. Maybe my pitting them against Microsoft's OLE was a bad idea?

Sigh. Sincerely yours Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

The old TV show HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL inspired this headline.

 

Interestingly, MR Rangaswami and Jorge Lopez went on to spectacular careers as VC/Indiaspora founder and Gartner guru respectively.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

Forest Gump, another image that has become iconic.

 

"…helping so many ordinary systems professionals become extraordinarily successful." Great message. Very successful ad.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

Regards to MR Rangaswami