From Jamie Roberts (on behalf of the Hammock folks who attended last night's Excel Awards presentation in Washington, D.C. -- the annual awards of the Society of National Association Publications):

Hammock Publishing had a great night at the SNAP awards gala.

MyBusiness looked smashing on screen as the Bronze award was announced for General Excellence. Plus, there were lots of audience laughs when the title was announced for MyBusiness' award for feature writing, "The Secret Life of a Tightwad."

And here are the judges' comments for our two Gold award winners:

Ride (Most Improved)"The winners were so far above all contenders that the judges did not choose a bronze winner. It was difficult to choose between the two top winners, but Ride's redesign took advantage of dramatic photography, improved writing and daring design. This is a magazine that truly knows its audience--jet-ski enthusiasts. It is a publication that is as exciting as its sport."

American Spirit (Design Excellence)"Overall the design, while conservative, in consistently classic and elegant. The photography is beautiful, strong and provides images relevant to the content. The cover images relate well to the cover story. The feature layouts benefit from a good use of color and an interesting selection of text for the headlines and decks and pull quotes. The print production quality is excellent."

--------

We celebrated the release of iTunes 4.9 today (the new version that integrates "podcasting" into the interface) by commissioning Summer Huggins to conduct one of her famous national polls (she sends an e-mail to everyone) to find out what the Hammorati are downloading to their iTunes/iPods these days. Here are her findings:

From America to the Brady Bunch to Coldplay, the staff of Hammock Publishing seem to have a wide range of musical tastes. Here is what I learned.

Barbara: I last uploaded a song called "Chicken Payback" by A Band of Bees off a CD sampler called SXSW Astralwerks New Music '05. The sampler also has "Jerk It Out" by The Caesars which has been used in the iPod TV commercial. So I can play this on my iPod and dance around. I'm so cool.

Laura: "The First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes

Bill:"The Spirit of Radio" by Rush

Jamie:I recently loaded the entire 100 Percent Funk album. (Kool & The Gang, Commodores, Rick James, et.al.)

Shannon: "Sister Golden Hair" by America. My extended family is getting together for the Fourth of July and I've started a playlist for the weekend...all Classic Rock songs my dad and uncles will love.

Summer: Robyn Ludwick's whole debut CD, For So Long. She's a singer/songwriter from just outside of Austin. Little sister of Bruce and Charlie Robison.

Allison: Well, I don't have an iPod (yet), but I loaded some stuff to my iTunes this morning. I don't actually recall all the songs, but here is a list of the latest artists showing up in my iTunes: Bowie, The Clash, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, John Coltrane, Sahara Hotnights.

Kerri: Like this would be a big surprise...the new Coldplay, X&Y.

Lynne: Suspicious Minds (Dwight Yoakam)

Leslie: The new Coldplay single, "Speed of Sound"

Lena:"American Pie," by the Brady Bunch. Before you judge me, I do have an explanation. So I really wanted the song, but to get the Don McLean version on iTunes, you have to buy the whole album. So I went with the Brady Bunch one, which, I'm pleased as punch to report, is not as bad as one might think.

Rex:The last thing I downloaded on my iPod was the podcast, "The Nashville Nobody Knows." The last music I purchased on iTunes and downloaded was five different covers of the Bill Monroe bluegrass gospel tune, "Working on a Building."

Blair: I have loaded a lot of music lately but I think my most recent addition
was the live 3CD set, How the West Was Won by Led Zeppelin.

Natalie: Lisa's husbands CD - David Ask - Rest

--------

Just about six months ago, a fire came within minutes of wiping out the historic (175 years or so sold) First Presbyterian Church of Gallatin that my wife and I attend. Much of the smoke and water damage to the newer parts of the building has been repaired months back, while some sections directly under the sanctuary, where the fire began and was contained, are being remodeled (for the better).

The sanctuary, though remains closed and largely as it was a few weeks after the fire, as the various committees work toward decisions about redecorating, what kind of organ to buy, whether to carpet the floors, and so on. Many of the decisions are interlocking - for instance, replacing the old plaster walls with drywall affects the acoustics, as does carpeting all or some of the sanctuary. That in turn affects the choice of organ and sound system. I'm glad I am not on the organ committee - their puzzles are many. For instance, tuning some kinds of big pipe organs can be expensive (and ours needed it long ago), but you can buy organs that are much easier to tune and require it less often - but cost more on the front end.

My visit was to discuss replacing the only stained glass window that perished in the fire - which started basically at that window. The window memorialized my father-in-law and brother-in-law, and was installed about 25 years ago. Since then, my mother-in-law also has passed away, so we will add her name to the window, and use some remnants of the original glass in the new design.

I learned a lot about how stained glass windows and pieces are made - artists such as Louis Tiffany layered different colors and textures to produce his stunning works - and also about our church during the tour. It was used by Union forces as a hospital in The Civil War, and under the current hardwood floor is another floor, made of poplar and stained in places by soldiers' blood. We could glimpse the handmade brick walls where plaster had been broken away, and see old beams and supports, cut log before anyone much dreamed of sending messages along copper wires to distant places.

No one seems to know when the restoration will be done, but all seem to agree it needs to be done right, with an eye to more generations of usefulness. There are windows that survived - but need attention - that are more than 100 years old, and I hope our new window makes it that long. I didn't ask the question, but figured there is some way they could someday add my name and my wife's name. That would be nice, I've always loved stained glass and would probably enjoy the light.

--------

From Julia:

The proud dad of Sienna Grace Willis just e-mailed us this photo from his cell-phone. She was born early this morning and weighs 6 lbs, 12 ounces. Mom (Natalie) and baby are doing fine. And, as he was able to e-mail us this photo, we presume Dad is, as well.

All together, now: Ahhhhh!

Update: Today is creative director Susie Garland's daughter, Sammy's, third birthday. (Happy birthday, Sammy.) Sienna Grace was born at almost the exact same time of day at which Sammy was born.

All together, now. Hmmm!

Update 2: A new picture of Natalie holding Sienna:

--------