A2         THE TALL SWEDE JOURNAL     MONDAY, January 15, 2001
FUTURES & OPTIONS
Recap 2000: the Best; Funniest; Most Lucrative
BY BAMBI VINCENT
Special to the Tall Swede Journal
Sheer variety demands a recap and rating of the year 2000. In comparison with any other year, Bob Arno found that the past twelve months included:
  • more television exposure;
  • more corporate shows;
  • more international travel;
  • more satisfaction; and
  • more unusual corporate projects (see below).
In retrospect, Arno pulls out the following superlatives:
Most satisfying event: A lecture on distraction theft for the Las Vegas Police Department and casino surveillance detectives. Only days following the presentation, a criminal gang was caught in the act at a famous Strip hotel.
Most hilarious situation: tropical jungle theme party where attendees dressed in grass skirts and loincloths. Arno has an alternative show for these situations.
Most prestigious event: Millennium party performance in Monte Carlo, for Prince Albert.

A pickpocket's challenge: what can one steal from "natives"?

Most career-boosting appearances: ABC's 20/20 in November 2000 and February 2001.
Most enjoyable job: the combined world cruises of QE2 and Crystal Symphony, from Bangkok to Bali, and Bombay to CapeTown, via Mombasa, Zanzibar, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Most difficult: a show for all women, who expected the usual pickpocket feats.
Most unique assignment: attract internet hackers to the Security booth at the RSA Security Convention by showing Arno's footage of street crime in action.

The Arnos in Singapore, November 2000
"On behalf of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, our sincere thanks for an excellent presentation on distract theft teams.
The value of your seminar became evident [eight days later] when three members of a distract theft team were captured at a famous Strip hotel. Surveillance investigators applying your techniques were able to detect the team prior to the theft."
--Captain Mayo
--Lieutenant Spinosa
--Sergeant Shalhoob
Most lucrative: a cluster of 60 corporate events in the Far East in a ten-week period.
Most bizarre stopover: Zambia, when a flight was cancelled.
Most miles flown for a show: Las Vegas to Sydney for Australian Stockbrokers' Association; or was it Las Vegas to Tokyo for an appearance on Fuji TV? Or was it Las Vegas to Singapore to perform for Singapore Telecommunications?
Most challenging project: producing a film for the launch of Ericsson's new research facility in Berkeley. Arno's vision and communication skills were applied to wireless and 3G technology.
Most nerve-wracking moment: Stealing in the street for German television network ADR.
Most anticipated project for 2001: the imminent publication of Bambi Vincent's book, High and Dry on the Streets of Elsewhere, on street crime around the world.
Most surprising: a new year's eve show for a Japanese audience dressed only in kimono and yukata.
Most happy to decline: a West Indian resort sponsoring a nudest convention.

The book on pickpockets and street crime is almost complete

Destinations,
recent and future
Prince Albert of Monoco brought his entourage to see Bob Arno's Millennium Eve performance in Monte Carlo. Couture gowns and bespoke tuxedos were doused in the finest Champagne when the clock struck 12. Then the gentle audience donned their mink coats before stepping out in the 75° chill, and valets brought forth their Maseratis and Ferraris for their one- to two-mile drives home.
A Pacific Rim trend began with Tokyo in February, where Bob Arno was a guest of Fuji TV and starred on a Japanese TV show too odd to describe. Only days later, Arno was in Seattle, guesting on Northwest Afternoon and Evening Magazine. Three days later it was Singapore, where SingTel had Arno cracking up its merger partners. The year ended in Asia, too.
Counterfeit luxury items, manufactured in the far east and sold openly on the streets there, was the subject of the Arnos' research trip in March. Hidden camera filming in Thailand was combined with quality holiday time there, before they jumped over to Bombay.
On its world cruise, the QE2 collected the Arnos in Bombay and headed down the east coast of Africa to Cape Town, stopping in some of the world's most dangerous places. Arno gave his standing-room-only lecture, The Serious Side of Stealing, to high praise from grateful passengers. Fattened on the Queen's Grill's daily diet of Beluga caviar, bittersweet truffles, and whatever came in between, the Arnos were
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