Although it was a far cry from the X-wing Fighter he once commanded a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away, this 63-year-old Boeing-Stearman Model 75 made a fine ride for Hammock Editorial Director Bill Hudgins on a crisp late February morning. The plane is one of several vintage craft owned and flown by Warbird Sky Ventures in Hudge’s hometown of Gallatin, Tenn. The Model 75s hold an honored place in the defense of our nation, as they were used to train WWII fighter pilots, including our 41st President, George H. W. Bush.
Hudge recalls his flight:
“I’m not a pilot. I had flown in single engine planes (and hot air balloons) before, but never in an open cockpit craft. I wasn’t really nervous; in fact, I had been singing “Snoopy vs. The Red Baron” all morning. The pilot, Jerry Kirby, explained everything he did, including how finicky this restored 25-foot-long beauty is to handle. We flew over the town, my house, and a huge quarry hardly anyone sees because it is nestled behind a hill. Moving about 100 miles an hour in the air, it seems like standing still and there is plenty of time to look.
“We did about 10 minutes of aerobatics at the end of the flight, including loops, wingovers and barrel rolls, pulling around 3Gs. Literally up in the air, upside down, Junior Birdman. Too cool. I wanted to go again. Back on the ground, with the engine shut down, my wife shot the obligatory Hammock T-shirt shot, with a scarf Jerry conveniently had in his pocket. Then I took my best girl for a few root beers at the aces’ cafe.”
Forget the fact that half the country is still freezing and parts of the West Coast are, tragically, turning into goop too thick to drink and too thin to hold up houses. Spring is SO close, and the hot-off-the-press March-April issue of Ride Personal Watercraft Magazine makes waiting even harder. We publish Ride for the American Watercraft Association (AWA).
For this issue, Editor Bill Hudgins pried himself away from 500 hours of bowl games on New Year?s Day to go riding with some local folks on Old Hickory Lake, near his home in Gallatin, Tenn. “It was about 60 degrees that day, but was sleeting just a couple days earlier. That’s what passes for winter here,” recalls this one time Manhattanite.
Covering the wide world of watercraft, our writers and editors spared no effort to find cool places to ride. One of them gaped in awe at 50-foot-plus waves in Hawaii, while others found out that South Dakota is a great place to take a PWC vacation, and that watercraft can help keep beaches from eroding. And they met an 87-year-old woman who outruns riders a quarter her age. Who knew?
Ride is available as part of an AWA membership and also at AWA-supporting PWC dealers.
A detail from a quilt in the DAR Museum collection graces the cover of the March-April issue of American Spirit, the award-winning, bimonthly magazine we publish for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
Unlike Hammocks own Lisa Ask, an aspiring quilter, I couldnt sew if my life depended on it, says American Spirit Editor Jamie Roberts. Still, I was inspired by the collection of 19th century quilts featured in this issue, and even more so by the patriotic quilts and samplers on display in the DAR Museum’s current exhibition.
Not everyone can make it to Washington for a tour of the DAR Museum. That’s why we make it easier to see inside the museums impressive, unique collection with our new department, National Treasures. (NOT to be confused as a plug for Nicholas Cage’s latest movie.)
There were other ways that our ancestors captured images of their lives, and one of those crafts lives on in the hands of a modern artist practicing the classic art of silhouette portraits.
Speaking of ancient arts: Bestselling author Dan Da Vinci Code Browns forthcoming novel is about secret societies. American Spirit takes a closer look at one such societythe Freemasons and digs through the myth and misunderstanding surrounding the controversial group.
But what about women? An excerpt from Gail Collins’ book, Americas Women, gives just a glimpse of how much there is yet to re-learn about women and early America.
Information on how to subscribe to American Spirit is available at the DAR Web site .
We here at Hammock are as patriotic as the next folks, and like most small businesses, we demonstrate our patriotism on Presidents Day by contributing to the GDP.
We did take a little time from our work day to commemorate our nation’s chief executive office (Just a warning…you’ll want headphones for that link if you’re at work today, too.).
Many folks have read about our boss Rex’s recent brushes with presidential greatness, meeting President Bush twice in the last year. Not content with those stories, he had to one-up himself with this tale:
I’ve met, or at least been in the same room with, every president since Nixon.
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Lena Basha’s presidential reminiscence:
My only brush with presidential greatness took place last summer, as fellow Hammorati Shannon, Jamie, Summer and I were in Washington covering NFIB’s Small-Business Summit. Since the event was PACKED, we barely made it in, finding seats only on the press platform (technically where we belonged, as we were covering President Bush’s speech).
The other reporters on the stand didn’t look as excited as I felt the president was their regular beat, after all. As for me, I’m sure I resembled a crazy person, smiling giddily as I frantically tried to write down every word he said. Even though I wasn’t his target audience (he was speaking to the small-business owners in the room, not me), it was exciting I was in the same room as the president! And of course, I still have my ID badge with the Secret Service seal of approval on it.
As for brushes with first lady greatness, Sarah Childress Polk (the wife of 11th president of the United States James K. Polk) and I are alumnae of the same high school (Find out more in the May/June issue of AmericanSpirit!)
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Former ace reporter Bill Hudgins chips in with a classic:
In 1980 when George H.W. Bush was vying for the GOP nomination against Ronald Reagan, he made a stop in Chattanooga, not far from where I was working as a rookie reporter. At the time, Reagan was strongly ahead and looked certain to be nominated. I begged the publisher to let me cover it. Bush met the press in an airplane hangar, and to my brash, green ears, they tossed softballs at him. As the Q&A was about to wrap, I asked him if he’d accept the VP slot. He looked me in the eye and with absolute conviction said he would not. I even read his lips. So I had my lead, and soon thereafter, we had a VP candidate named George Herbert Walker Bush.
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Some presidential trivia for you on this Presidents Day:
Thomas Jefferson was the nation’s first known speleologist.
What happened to Washington’s Birthday? Presidents Day used to be two holidays.
Appropriate to consider during spring training, Benjamin Harrison was the first prez to attend a Major League baseball game.
Youd be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated bunch of movie fans than the folks at Hammock Publishing. So when, in honor of Valentines Day, we asked for favorite romantic movies, we got plenty of nominations, and some of them were a bit, um, unusual. In no particular order, here are the flicks that say lovin’ to the Hammorati:
Sleepless in Seattle
-Submitted by Carrie Wakeford and another Hammock employee who remains nameless because she doesn’t want people to think she’s sappy
Amelie and Sense & Sensibility
-Both submitted by Alison Lund and Jamie Roberts (they have similar tastes!)
My favorite, the classic, An Affair to Remember, an old Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr movie–also a great book, referenced in Sleepless in Seattle
-Submitted by Julia Boklage
Schindler’s List
Pulp Fiction
Deer Hunter
-Submitted by John Romance, not my strong suit Lavey
The sad ones:
The Way We Were
English Patient
Life is Beautiful
-Submitted by Jamie Roberts
Dirty Dancing
-Submitted by Shannon Who didn’t want to cheer when Patrick Swayze said, No body puts Baby in the corner! Scully
Casablanca
Chocolat
-Submitted by Barbara Mathieson
The African Queen
Bedazzled (1968 version with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Raquel Welch)
The Lord of the Rings
-Submitted by Bill Love’s just part of the story Hudgins
From Lena Basha, Hammorati’s official T-shirt travel and Hollywood gossip blogger:
No, Im kidding. I brought it back.
Here I am in San Francisco visiting my friend Miriam. We did all the typical San Francisco activities walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, visited the sites immortalized by one of my favorite movies, The Other Sister, sat in a park and ate an Its-It and saw MANdonna. We also did some shopping in Haight Ashbury, the district made famous by those crazy hippies. Oh, and I saw a man whose entire face was tattooed and I wanted to take a picture of him. Scared that he might beat me up, though, I used my better judgment and refrained.
All in all, a great time!
Judging from the quantity and quality of homemade goodies that flow into our offices, you could jump to the conclusion that we will work for food. So, just in time for SuperBowl weekend, here are some quick-easy-hope-for-overtime dishes for the last real football weekend of the 2004-2005 season:
Laura’s Black-Eyed Pea Dip
1 can black-eyed peas
1 can field peas
1 can shoe peg corn
1 c. chopped onion [I used sweet onion]
2 garlic cloves, minced [I used more]
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar [I used more]
1 t. Tabasco
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 t. pepper [I used more]
1 c. chopped parsley [I forgot it]
2 T. chopped fresh basil [I forgot it]
Drain & rinse peas & corn. Mix with onion & garlic. Add everything except parsley & basil; add them at serving time. Serve with Fritos.
Note from Laura: I think black-eyed peas just soak up seasonings, so I kept adding ’til I was happy with it. Of course, I just tend to cook that way, using recipes as a suggestion. It makes my mother nervous but it works for me.
For this and more great recipes like I’ve been bringing into the office all week, get the Notably Nashville cookbook at www.jlnashville.org.
Blair Tangos (chocolaty peanut butter and oatmeal snack)
2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup of cocoa
1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick of butter (none of that wimpy margarine stuff)
3 cups of oatmeal
1/3 cup of peanut butter (low fat peanut butter won’t work well, so don’t try)
Mix sugar, cocoa and milk together and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Melt butter and mix with oats. Combine into milk mixture. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Mix quickly. Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper on cookie sheets. Chill. Store in refrigerator.
Allison’s Rum Cider
If it is cold outside, a great warm drink recipe:
Hot Cider with Buttered Rum
5 cups apple cider
10 whole allspice
8 whole cloves
2 tbsp. sugar
cinnamon sticks
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup (or more if you like) dark rum
Combine first 5 ingredients in saucepan over med. heat. Bring to a boil stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter and rum and stir until butter melts. Serve while hot. Garnish with extra cinnamon sticks.
(You will want to keep this warm on the stove or pour into a crockpot set on low.)
Susie Dips (Artichokes)
Easy and Delicious Artichoke Dip
Ingredients:
1 can Artichoke hearts
1 can chopped green chillies
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
Drain artichoke hearts and chop. Add all ingredients, mix and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Dip is good with any crackers, chips or veggies, but my favorite is melba toast.
Summer Sausage Dip
Every Super Bowl party needs a great dip!!! This is a dip that one of my sisters-in-law made for a party last fall. Super easy and super yummy with chips, crackers and/or fresh veggies.
6 pkgs cream cheese
3 cans Rotel
2 pounds cooked sausage (one pound regular and one pound spicy)
Dump everything into a crock pot and warm it up. It can stay warm on low for snacking all through the game, and it also heats up very well the next day.
“Patriots” Burns Mexican Dip
This is an easy mexican dip?
In a baking dish spread on the bottom a layer of salsa, then spread a layer of sour cream over the salsa and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Put in a microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until cheese is melted and serve with tortilla chips.
The current issue of Folio: Magazine (the one with a photo of my publishing friend, Cam Bishop, on the cover) includes a story with some quotes from me about the potential impact of blogs on magazines. The article is available online here. I need to go read it to see what I said.
Shannon Scully, MyBusiness magazine’s managing editor, writes:
Barbara The Production Director has finally thawed after her trek up north to Wisconsin for the MyBusiness press check. And while she’s glad to be home, we’re thrilled with how great the February/March issue turned out. Over the next few days, NFIB members across the country will be finding copies in their mailboxes.
So what are some of the must-read stories in this issue for small-business owners? We love the one on becoming the perfect leader . Who doesn’t dream of an office where everyone works hard, gets along and goes home happy every night? (Not to brag, but that’s about how it is at Hammock.) For small businesses looking for ways to grow (who isn’t?), we suggest taking a look at the story on how to decide if you’re ready to take your business overseas. Besides, writing-off trips to Europe doesn’t sound too bad to us.
Speaking of write-offs, the February/March issue includes our annual guide to small-business taxes. With April 15 just around the corner, you’ll want to check out all the ways you can keep more of your hard-earned money. As always, this issue is chocked full of ideas and tips on running your business, plus a lighter look at the life of an entrepreneur.
And if you like getting free stuff (like a lifetime membership to NFIB and $20,000 in Dell equipment), be sure to enter the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award. (Applications available beginning Feb. 8.)