From Lena, Hammorati entertainment correspondent:

We Hammock Publishing folks LOVE American Idol. OK, I love it and deep down, I think Rex does, too. In getting pumped for tonight's final results show, there has been much discussion around the office as to which Idol contestant (the beautiful and talented Carrie "Crooner" Underwood or the grizzly but unfortunately likeable Bo "Bad Hair not to Mention Bad Habit" Bice) will be named the next American Idol. Here's what some of us (those who admitted to following the show, at least) had to say:

Meredith: "Bo is scary looking."

John: "I like that little Clay fellow. He's great."

Allison: "Bo. I think he offers up something a little different than all the other pop stuff out there."

Rex: "Bo will win, but Carrie will move to Nashville and have a huge hit country album, then die in a tragic plane accident, after which she'll develop a cult following who dedicate their lives to perpetuating the belief that she wast the greatest country singer ever."

Barbara: "Paula is sleeping with Bo. No contest."

Blair: "Carrie is a 5-7 favorite according to Vegas odds makers, so I go $1 on Bo."

Laura: "Give me a rerun of 'West Wing' any day. "

Jamie: "Bo. He's from Alabama, the birthplace of another Idollittle Ruben Studdard."

Carrie: "Well, I am for Carrie just based on the way she spells her name..."

Leslie: "Gotta go with Bo!"

Me: "Bo is stupid."

So there you have it. If Hammock Publishing accurately represents the American Idol voting population, Bo will win. Blech.

From Summer:

I knew that Hammock Publishing folks love magazines, but now I have a better idea of just how much we do. Last week, I thought it would be fun to poll everyone and see what we read. Here's what I discovered.

According to my highly scientific research (I sent everyone an e-mail), the average Hammock employee subscribes personally to 5.6 magazines. (Summer, Laura and John top the list with at least 10 each. And we all have lots more office subscriptions to magazines related to our work.) I've also decided, based on our magazine preferences, that the average Hammock employee is also very well fed, nicely dressed, highly educated, in shape, well traveled and just plain cool.

Here are titles that topped the list of magazines subscribed to by Hammock employees (at least the ones who responded to my e-mail): Lucky, Real Simple, Cooking Light and National Geographic. The list also contained some off-the-wall titles such as UFO Magazine, Mad Magazine and Mental Floss.

Barbara, Blair and Rex probably have the longest running subscriptions. "Without a doubt, National Geographic Magazine is my favorite. I've received National Geographic since birth - 27 years - but I'll admit I only looked at the pictures those first few years," Blair says. "I have subscribed to Prevention magazine since the mid 1970s. I read it before most of Hammock's employees were born. It is my favorite title of all time," Barbara says.

Rex says hes never not had a subscription to Time. Since birth (and thats a long time ago), Ive lived in a household with a subscription to Time. Even in college, I had a student subscription. I dont know how to not have a subscription to it.

Heres a rundown of the magazines we (at least, those who responded) subscribe to:

Alabama Heritage Alcalde Allure Bicylcing Consumer Reports Cooking Light Cook's Illustrated Dwell Economist Elle Entertainment Weekly In Style La Cucina Italiana Lucky Mad Magazine Make Martha Stewart Living Mary Englebreit Home Companion McSweeney's Memory Makers Mental Floss More National Geographic New Yorker Newsweek No Depression "O" the Oprah Magazine Organic Style Outside Oxford American Paste People Performing Songwriter Popular Science Prevention Racing Fan Real Simple Rolling Stone Runner's World Shape Shop, Etc. Southern Living Sports Illustrated Texas Monthly The Smithsonian The Upper Room This City Paris Time Tin House UFO Magazine Vanity Fair Wall Street Journal

The folks at Hammock Publishing are happy to welcome all those attending BlogNashville this weekend. We're happy to be one of supporters of the event.

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