I am in a hammock T-shirt taken last week at Iowa 80 Truck Stop, The World’s Largest Truck Stop, at Walcott Iowa, just off I-80 at exit 284.

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

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), I’ve 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
Bicycling
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

According to new research conducted by Roper Public Affairs and commissioned by the Custom Publishing Council (of which Hammock Publishing is a founding member), 80% of Americans (the general adult population) is familiar with custom publishing and at least two-thirds of American adults read them.

The survey was conducted among 1,004 American adults to measure awareness of custom publishing magazines and newsletters. The survey was fielded from March 4 to March 6, 2005. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3 percentage points, and will be higher for subgroups.

Here are some highlights of the research:

Eight in 10 Americans have at least some awareness of custom publishing.

When asked how familiar they are with seeing or receiving custom publishing materials, eight in 10 Americans (81%) say they say they have at least some awareness of custom publishing[1]Over one in four say they are very aware of them (27%) and four in 10 are somewhat aware of these materials (40%).

Two in three Americans look through custom publishing materials at least occasionally.

Two in three Americans (66%) say they pick up custom publishing materials and, at a minimum, flip through them at least occasionally. An additional 27% does so rarely and only 7% say they never look through custom publishing materials.

While strong majorities of both genders do, more women than men look through custom publishing materials.

Women are more likely than men to say they look through custom publishing materials at least occasionally, however strong majorities of both say they do so (70% vs. 62%, respectively).

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.

• I saw Nixon (he was an ex-president then) in a restaurant in New York.
• I was a volunteer at a Nashville golf tournament Gerald Ford played in (he was famous for beaning fans with wayward shots).
• I shook hands with two presidents as they worked their way down rope lines: Carter (at Ft. Benning, Ga.,
• And Bush (41), at the Opryland Hotel a few days before he lost in 1992.)
• I was working in D.C. during Reagan’s first term and attended several functions where he spoke, including a big event at Constitution Hall (owned by our client, the DAR) celebrating the anniversary of the Country Music Association. For some reason, I had tickets a few rows away from the president and first lady, so it was hard not to watch them instead of whoever was on stage.
• And finally, I saw Clinton in a motorcade once and was sitting in the back of the room when he addressed an NFIB gathering, a speech later chronicled by David Broder.

—————–
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!)
——————-
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.
——————-
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

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.