It's one drum-haulin' machine.

Here it is...the newest edition to our family. We finally put our money where our mouth is this morning and got ourselves a new Honda Element. It is a 5-speed, front wheel drive, 5-door durable car. The color is called "shoreline mist" (basically a beigie-silver color). We've been pining over one for about three years...so it is about time! We worked a great deal (about $320 over dealer cost) and our excellent credit earned us 1.9% interest rate to boot. Can I get a WHOOHOOOOOO!?!? John can fit TONS of drums in it. The Element is very functional...it is "all business." IT ROCKS.
Posted by Hello

Come out tomorrow night and call Lightning 100...

Hey...if you're looking for something to do that will work off that big Turkey-Day indulgence...Have I got THE show for you.

Tom Hambridge CD Release Party

(followed by Jeffery Steele.)

Saturday (TOMORROW)

Nov. 27

9:00pm

MERCY LOUNGE

1 Cannery Row (off 8th Ave. S.)

251-3020

Count on at least four hours of non-stop, great music
with Tom and Jeffrey takin' turns at the wheel!

Also, PLEASE help Tom get the word out about his new CD. CALL Lightning 100 to request "Milk And Honey." The request line # is 615-777-5100. OR...use this link to E-mail your request.

Thanks!
Hope to see you tomorrow night.

J

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TOM HAMBRIDGE is a Grammy Nominated Singer, Songwriter, Producer and Drummer. Tom has just released his new CD "BANG AND ROLL" featuring the single "Milk and Honey." This is the follow up to his "BALDERDASH" CD that produced two hit singles "Long Way Home" and "Opposites Attract"

So far this year Tom has produced, performed or written songs on Disks that have included 3 Gold records, 2 Top 10 CD's, one Grammy nominated CD, and Two Greatest Hits CD's one of which went to number one on the Billboard Blues Charts. He also Produced the new Johnny Winter record for EMI/Virgin including writing Johnny's new hit single "Lone Wolf." Tom's work can be heard on new CD's by Nora Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Montgomery Gentry, Susan Tedeschi and George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

Tom who has won numerous awards for his drumming has performed and or recorded with over a hundred artists including: Chuck Berry, James Taylor, Boston, Ben Orr (The Cars), Jimmy Buffett, Del Shannon, Roy Buchanan, Jonatha Brooke and Bo Diddley to name a few.

Tom's new CD "Bang and Roll" will be available at the performance.
Visit Tom at www.TomHambridge.com

ATTENTION: Cell phone talking drivers

Just picked up this e-mail message from Denice:

"...I had a really bad day yesterday. I was driving to the office in the Stanza and was broad-sided at 43rd and Minn. by a Dodge pick-up truck, driven by a cable guy who was talking on his cell phone. He hit the driver’s side front left and hood it’s smashed up pretty bad, so it’s probably totaled as it’s worth less that what it would cost to fix it. He got a ticket for failing to yield. "

START RANT:

OK.
I'm really pissed at this guy for smacking into D.
But, let's face it.
We all do it (talk on the phone while we're driving).
Well...
STOP IT.
Today.
I mean it.
Encourage everyone you know to do the same.
It is just NOT SAFE...
and it's WAY TOO DISTRACTING.
(yes...I am yelling.)

END OF RANT.

UPDATE:
Research on cell usage while driving.

The Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) is a census of police-reported fatal accidents occurring in the US.

In one analysis of fatalities involving cell phone use, the cell phone-using drivers were all in the striking vehicle. That is to say: they struck something stopped in front of them, or left their lane of traffic and struck a vehicle or object.

In these crashes:
75% of the drivers were engaged in conversation
13% were dialing their cell phones
13% were hanging up

Of those engaged in conversation, one third were using mounted phones in the hands-free mode.

In the case of collision, according to a University of Toronto study, "Association Between Cellular-Telephone Calls and Motor Vehicle Collision":

1. The risk of collision when using a cell is 4 times higher regardless of the age or the driving experience of the driver
2. Hands-free cellular phone units offered NO SAFETY ADVANTAGE over hand-held
3. Note, in all cases the driver wasn't necessarily "at fault" but it still slowed their ability to avoid a collision caused by someone else.

BOTTOM LINE:
Please don't "cell phone" and drive.
The life you save may be your own.

NFIB Communications Retreat was GREAT.

BOCA RATON, FL -
The NFIB Communications retreat in Boca was excellent. While we really didn't get to see much more than the hotel, we did get to spend time with the DC communications team and the five regional media people (who we rarely get to see face-to-face). Good stuff.

Wednesday, 11/17:
Wednesday night we had an open bar, a yummy dinner and then we all went bowling. What a hoot! AND...believe it or not (with no help from me...my score was 68) my team won overall! ROCK.

Thursday, 11/18:
We had information / communication sessions all day to talk about the plans for 2005. We also got to see the plans for upcoming research. Good stuff. With the exception of a new media person being a little negative and disruptive, the day went well.

Then, Susan (VP of Communications) gave us a cool team building assignment that was due on Friday. She divided us into "Apprentice" teams to make 'faux' NFIB awareness commercials. Each team was given a prop budget of $60, an outline of rules and a video camera to shoot the spot. And, like the show, each team elected a project manager (me...whooohooo!) and created a name for their "business." We were Risky Business Productions.

Most people hadn't planned to have to work on something Thursday night...so there was a little dissention in the ranks at first. But, once we settled on a concept, everyone figured out the plan and specific tasks were assigned to each team member, things went a little smoother.

Our concept: Go ahead...Take the plunge! Join NFIB.

Most everyone on our team was able to go out Thursday night while four of us stayed behind to write the script. We finished writing at around Midnight or so. Then, everyone went to their rooms and I went to the business center to type up the script and create a shot sheet. (This whole exercise made me miss TV terribly.) It was crazy, but I ended up not getting to sleep until 2 a.m. Craziness.

Friday, 11/19:
The Risky Business Team met at 7 a.m. to walk through the script, determine prop needs and finalize tasks. At around 7:30 we broke to get things ready to shoot at 9 a.m.

Basically, Erin (DC media guru) volunteered to "take the plunge" in our hotel pool. The script talked about how she was living the American Dream by owning her own business. However, until she got into it, she hadn't realized all the pitfalls (taxation, regulations, etc.) of owning a business. She joined NFIB to have a voice for small business. The whole time the script is talking about this, we are showing a tight shot of clothes being dropped onto a pile near the pool. (no skin...yet.) At the end of the spot you see Erin in her bathing suit as she runs and jumps into the pool. "Go ahead...Take the plunge! Join NFIB."

We had a blast pulling it all together. Erin deserves an Emmy for her performance!

A 11 a.m. we met up with the other team in the meeting rooms to watch each others spots. Of course both teams ended up using the pool as the setting. Their concept was about "drowning in government regulations" and their "small businesses were on main street not Wall Street." Both turned out pretty well. Susan (otherwise known as "The Donna") declared the effort a "tie" and everyone is getting "You're Hired" T-shirts from "Apprentice."

Most of us had 2 p.m. flights back to Nashville on Friday, so we all hopped in our rental cars and headed to the airport in Ft. Lauderdale. I was home by 7 p.m. and asleep by 8:15. Didn't wake-up until 8 a.m. on Saturday. I was WIPED OUT.

Overall, it was a great trip.
Feels good to be home.

The Thanksgiving Parrot

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back.

John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Boca Raton...here I come...

I should be in bed, but have a few things to wrap up for a trip to Boca Raton for work. Leave this morning and will be back on Friday evening.

Never been to Boca...but I've heard it is cool. I'll tell you all about it and maybe even post some pics this weekend.

Have a GREAT week.
Catch you again this weekend.
BB

Tonight's round at The Commodore

Just got home from a writer's round with Steve C and Cat Miller at The Commodore. It went well. (Love playing with those guys.) And, I even mustered up the courage to play piano. Didn't do too bad. May have to try it again sometime.

AND, as I was walking out the door, another songwriter asked me for my number. She said she wants me to do some demo work for her. Hope she calls! WHOOHOOOOO.

Carville Cracks Up To 'Press'

The yolk's on Clinton political guru James Carville - who shocked everyone on "Meet the Press" Sunday morning by smashing a raw egg on his head.

The point?

To dramatize the fact that he had egg on his face after wrongly predicting that Democrat John Kerry was going to win the presidential election.

"Meet the Press" host Tim Russert and Republican strategist Mary Matalin, who is Carville's wife, jumped out of the way to keep from being drenched by the flying egg white.

Carville - known as the Ragin' Cajun for his fiery partisanship - predicted Kerry would get 52 percent of the vote and President Bush 47 percent.

That projection was really scrambled because, in the end, the final tally turned out to be eggs-actly the opposite of the eventual vote tally. (New York Post)

Cleveland reporter becomes part of the story.

Sharon Reed's Body of Art
http://www.actionnewsnow.com

(Online Promo for Monday's WOIO newscast)

What do you get when you combine a beautiful Sunday morning, a Downtown Cleveland venue, a world-famous photographer and over a thousand Clevelanders ... completely naked?

How about art?

It all happened recently, and 19 Action News (WOIO, Cleveland) anchor Sharon Reed was there.

But Sharon didn't just report the story, she became part of it -- posing nude with over a thousand others for a groundbreaking and controversial photo that all of Cleveland will be talking about.

Our cameras were rolling as the unbelievable scene took place.

So, YOU be the judge. Is it art? Or is it something else? See it to believe it. (Action News 19 - Cleveland)

The Incredibles is INCREDIBLE.

John and I took in "The Incredibles" this weekend. It was so good I wanted to go back and see it again on Sunday. There were times I laughed so hard that I missed the next scene.

Definitely worth the price of the ticket and worth seeing in the theatre.

JTC Performs for the Troops

JTC played for the troops in Mississippi last night with the Coasters, Drifters and Platters. He said it was a great show...but very rainy.

Somehow coverage of the performance even ended up on Nashville TV stations: WTVF - Channel 5 and WSMV - Channel 4.

Here are some of the reports I found on Google about the event from other news sources:
Hattiesburg American
Newsday, NY
Sun Herald

Found my way to San Jose...

And returned from San Jose yesterday.

The "Don't Make Me Think" Workshop was INCREDIBLE. I'd recommend it to anyone who designs, programs, markets or pays for websites.

It was a great idea to host the workshop at the Improv...somehow not having to sit in a stuffy conference room really helped me sponge up the information.

AND, the hotel I stayed at was DIVINE. I would recommend the Hotel Montgomery and its restaurant to anyone visiting San Jose, business or pleasure. I seriously think I'm going to try to imitate the feel of the hotel in our house...THAT's how cool it was.

Reality of it all:
I'm glad to be home.

Can't wait to see John tonight. Haven't seen him since early Monday morning. Whoohooooo!

BB's Christmas Wish List

OK...it's getting close to Christmas. Every year Gertie asks us, "What do you want for Christmas? Send me a list..."

And, every year I'm at a loss for what I want. So, I've been compiling a wish list at Amazon.com that will hopefully help out.

I'll add more items as I think of them.
BB

HELPFUL TIP: If you click the link to look at the list, note the drop-down menu sorting options above the items. You can sort the wish list by priority, price, etc.

Denice Visits Nashvegas

Halloween weekend we had a not-so-scary visitor: Denice.
WHOOHOOOOOOO.

It was GREAT.

THURSDAY:
She arrived Thursday afteroon. Thursday night we went out to BB Kings to see our friend JC play with Anthony Gomes

Here are some shots of the fun:


It's a little dark...but here's a shot of JC playing with Anthony Gomes.


BB and Nicie...so happy to see each other.


JC and Denice during the band's break.


Anthony Gomes

We had soooo much fun. Met some cool people and didn't go to sleep until 2 a.m. or so.

FRIDAY:
I took Friday off from work so Denice and I got to spend the entire day together. We woke up and talked for a couple hours...just hung out on the porch. It was great.

Then, we went to RuSans (sushi) for lunch. We had a BIG time there. The food was GREAT and we laughed sooo hard. Can't even remember what we laughed at...but it sure felt good. (I forgot my camera...so I'll post pics of that when I get a copy of Denice's photos.)

After lunch we went to a paint-it-yourself ceramics place in Hillsboro Village to get creative.

BB & Denice's masterpieces from our "All Fired Up" adventure.

After eating and painting...there was only one thing left to do. We went to Fido's for a cup of joe. We definitely needed a pick-me-up to get us through the night's plans.

At 6 p.m. we headed over to Frist . These women can ROCK.


The girls of Kentucky Thunder performing at the last Frist Friday of the season.


Jonell singin' her heart out with KY Thunder.


Somewhere around 9 p.m. we met Johnny the Clock at Douglas Corner to see the Jamie Hartford Band. I took some photos there, but they didn't turn out. It was fun... but needless to say...we were all wiped out. By 11:30 we were sleeping like babies.

SATURDAY (Halloween!):
JTC, Denice and I went on a road trip to Brackin's Blues Club in Maryville, TN. JTC was playing with Blue Mother Tupelo that night so we decided to make a little overnight adventure of it. The gig was good and it turned out to be a very interesting night. There were all kinds of people dressed up and acting crazy. There was a well-endowed monk, the devil, a kitty cat, MiMi (from Drew Carey Show), "Death Man," and a VERY drunk angel. Of course, I was having such a good time people watching that I completely forgot to take photos of these FREAKS...so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Here are a couple of the pics we did get:


BMT on Halloween.


Mmmmm...yummmmmmy.

It was a really late night...not only because the gig went late but also because we turned the clocks back an hour...so BMT played an extra hour for all the freaks at Brackin's. YIKERS.

SUNDAY:
We left Maryville to return to Nashville around 10 a.m. CT. Stopped at Quizno's for lunch along the way and ended up back at home around 1:30 or so.

Then...we all decided to take a nap. HA.

After the nap...JC and Tessa came over for supper. (Tessa was visiting from Sioux Falls, too.) JC and JTC bonded while Denice, Tessa and I laughed and told stories out on the deck. It was a good time.


Denice and Tessa.

Ultimately...once JC and Tessa took off...it was the end of the weekend. Denice went home bright and early Monday morning. The time went entirely TOO FAST.


Best Friends.

Thanks for coming to visit.
(When are you moving to Nashville?!)

Love you, Denice.
XO,
BB

Do you know the way to San Jose?

I'm going to San Jose for a web usability workshop next week. (Leave early afternoon on Monday, 11.08, and return late afternoon on Wednesday, 11.10)
Can't wait.
It's gonna be GOOD.

Here's a link to the workshop:
Don't Make Me Think: The Workshop

It's actually being held in the San Jose Improv.

And, I'll be staying at the Hotel Montgomery a couple blocks away. From the looks of it on their site, it looks like a pretty cool hotel. (There are CD players in the room! Whoohooo.)

Anyone want to come along?!
(LindaDblu?)

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Never hold your farts in.
They travel up your spine,
into your brain,
and that's where you get those shitty ideas.

The Sync That Sank Ashlee: '60 Minutes' Has It Covered

By Lisa de Moraes
Washington Post

About 36 hours before the polls open on Election Day, CBS News's "60 Minutes" will release a report that blows the lid off the Ashlee Simpson lip-syncing scandal.

When Simpson ran off the "Saturday Night Live" stage last week after her lip-sync flap, "60 Minutes" cameras were there to record her embarrassing exit and the reactions of show creator Lorne Michaels and other shocked staff members, the newsmag announced Thursday afternoon.

"The exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the incident will be part of a Lesley Stahl report about the making of the venerable comedy program" set for Halloween night, CBS News said.

It reports that Stahl and her cameras also caught the dress rehearsal of Simpson's performance when she also ran offstage "because her voice failed her."

"SNL" had allowed "60 Minutes" at Saturday's show to tape one of those pieces about how the show is conceived, written and produced each week, because we've never seen that before.

Simpson has claimed that acute acid reflux disease left her without a voice the night she was the musical guest on the live late-night show, leading to the decision to use a recording of her voice while performing. (In her letter to fans posted on her Web site, she called it "acid refux," but you can't expect a faux pop star to also be a medical expert.)

That leaves unexplained why she was able, at the end of that program, to shout boisterously to the studio audience, and to viewers at home, that her band was to blame for the snafu, in which her voice could be heard singing "Pieces of Me" while her microphone was at her side and her mouth was closed, causing her to panic and walk offstage.

"I feel so bad!" she said loud and clear and with no sign of hoarseness as the show was wrapping. "My band started playing the wrong song! I didn't know what to do!"