Dirkmonster

Sniper Sully gets Guitar at Predators Dinner

Lyn and I had the opportunity to eat a fancy dinner on the floor of the Sommet Center Monday night at the Nashville Predators Foundation annual fund raising shin-dig.

It was a Hollywood themed event this year.   Lyn and I got our picture taken with Alexander Radulov, a true goal scoring machine, who I think was going for a Saturday Night Fever look.

Then there was the silent auction.  I really wanted the Gibson Les Paul Studio electric guitar signed by Vince Gill.  I was in it until the very end, when Steve Sullivan swooped around the net and bid $1,100. I was going to hip check him into the boards and raise him, but the poor guy has a bad back. Thanks a lot Sully! :)

"40"

This was taken from the commentary on my Bible reading today.

Psalms - The U2 fans out there will know that the band released a song called "40" in 1983 inspired by Psalm 40.  The band took most of the lyrics for this song straight from the early verses of this Psalm - and I quote here from the song, not the Psalm per se - "I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit; Out of the miry clay.  He set my feet upon a rock; And made my footsteps firm. Many will see; Many will see and hear."  The song also could have also been called "6" because the refrain is from Psalm 6 verse 3: "How long, O LORD, how long?"  A quote from Bono on the song is this: "'40' became the closing song at U2 shows and on hundreds of occasions, literally hundreds of thousands of people of every size and shape t-shirt have shouted back the refrain pinched from 'Psalm 6': 'How long to sing this song.' I thought of it as a nagging question - pulling at the hem of an invisible deity whose presence we glimpse only when we act in love. How long...hunger? How long...hatred? How long until creation grows up and the chaos of its precocious adolescence has been discarded? I thought it odd that the vocalising of such questions could bring such comfort; to me too."  Has anyone heard U2 play "40" in concert before?  I did twice - once back on the Joshua Tree tour way back in 1987 and once a couple years ago on the Vertigo tour.  It's a beautiful song - written really by David!

I have the live version of "40" in my iTunes now.

Positive Acxiom buzz

After working for private companies most of my life, the last 3 years have been an education in the ups and downs of a publically traded company.

Since Acxiom bought Nashville's SmartDM in 2005, there has been a hostile takeover attempt thwarted, an agreed to buyout plan by the same suitors...which ultimately fell through.  The stock has gone up and mostly down.  The CEO who took Acxiom public retired and a new CEO has taken over.

Anyway, there's some positive buzz this week.  Check it out.  BTW, Acxiom Digital rocks!

Quick Hits - 2/13/2008

Here's what's happening:

A quick hit snow storm whipped through middle TN during rush hour February 13.  It wasn't so bad in Nashville, but I heard that folks up north were stuck.  I took this video on the way to work this morning. After reviewing it, I know a few of my friends will give me grief over the song that happened to be on the radio while I was recording.

I spent Monday - Tuesday in New York City where it was cold and windy.  That city always intimidates me, even though I've lived there and visited there regularly my whole life.  Thanks to my co-workers up there for showing me a good time while we even managed to get a lot of work done.  Harold Ford, Jr. was on my flight back to Nashville yesterday.  I didn't get to ask him about the election although I wanted to.  He seemed to be too busy on his cell phone and blackberry to chat. I wondered what he'd been up to since he lost the Senate race.

Also, I discovered an application that I added to my facebook profile where you can put a virtual pin in a map of all the places you've been in the world.  Pretty cool. Check mine out.

• Create your own travel map or travel blog
• Visit TripAdvisor.com

Predators defeat Hurricanes (and tornadoes)

Bravo to the Predators who not only defeated the Hurricanes at the Sommet Center Tuesday night, but also protected their fans from the Tennessee tornadoes.

As the Predators were closing out their 1-0 victory, the weather was closing in.  With about 5 minutes left to play in the game, Paul announced to the crowd that there was a tornado warning in effect for downtown Nashville.  He told fans that the safest place they could be is right where they were.  As time expired and the Predators claimed victory, fans were further instructed to move in an orderly fashion to the north end of the building where the pro shop is located.  In the concourse, Police and Sommet Center security seemed to be well informed and coordinated.  The thousands of fans seeking shelter in the arena were calm from what I saw.  Of course, some made a run for it out into the night and the downtown emergency sirens could be heard as the doors to the arena opened and closed.

As a season ticket holder since "Day One", I'm proud to be part of an organization that knows how to handle the pressure on and off the ice.

Taste the Tennesseean.com

The Tennesseean has redesigned its web site in an effort to get more sticky through the use of social media tools.

As an example, there's a good thread going on over there today about proposed state legislation that would open up direct sales of wine to consumers in Tennessee.  On one side, you have folks who know the joys of wine tasting, and on the other liquor lobbyists who want to restrict sales to in state retailers.  Wow, that;s a tough call for me...not!