A wish?  Some will sit down today and make all these “resolutions”  that are never made into reality.  Why do you think that is?  I really can only state an opinion of course.

This year, me and the girls are going to have our New Year’s dinner and make one real New Year “resolution”.  In my opinion, one resolution should be enough, but that is only because you can only take (1) day at a time.  The resolution should be some sort of a goal that is attainable.  This time last year, I was thinking about “quitting” smoking….I didn’t make it a resolution; in fact I can’t remember the resolution I actually made…..sad, I know.  But in the Spring of 2009 I decided one day I was going to quit smoking and I just did.  Ooooh…..the taste of a cigarette was awesome, but I needed to do it to take care of myself and be around a little longer for the girls, maybe give them away someday..If I am going to die, I believe God will take me the way he chooses, not because of my selfishness or “vice”.

When I quit, I had made up my mind that I was going to pick up a different vice……the Bible and that still works today and everyday..for ME. 

I do have 1 resolution for all my friends, members, and family…..if you worry about tomorrow, it may never come..so worry about today…make a few goals for the year and take one day at a time, period…

If you continue to do what you do now, you may not feel the change that you truly are looking for.  The resolution that you wish for this year….may not ever come….so just worry about right here and right NOW!  You can only change the present, the future will move the direction of your change TODAY .  I do realize that we all have worries and problems in our life, but don’t worry about what you can’t do anything about….change what you can, do what you can, and LIVE how you CAN….TODAY….for TODAY, may be the day that your New Year’s resolution may actually come to pass..

May everyone have a Great New Year and may your life be blessed, starting today…

Clayton

Before I launch into an alternative way of looking at characters, let me wish you all a truly wonderful Happy New Year. I hope writing on 1 January 2010 tops your New Year’s resolution list.

I recently started reading the works of Abraham-Hicks who consider humans to be transmitters and receivers of vibrational frequencies. More common, or palatable expressions include characters radiating “positive” or “negative” energy, “being in sync” or on the “same wavelength”, having “good vibes” or a “good feeling” about someone. Whatever your preferred model of human behavior, it all relates to the same thing; understanding how we operate, and for writers, how to enrich your characters.

Very briefly, the teachings of Abraham define humans as having a Source, or a vibrational core. All vibrations flow in a positive, joyous stream. There are no negative vibrations. We only affect their flow by either allowing or resisting them; much like a light switch with a dimmer. We attract joy by focusing on what we desire, and resist it by focusing on what we don’t. We experience an emotional discord when the external vibrational patterns are misaligned to our Source. This basically means that we react negatively when our desires are not met by our environment.

We operate on a scale of 22 emotional set points ranging from positive to negative, as follows:

1. Joy/ Knowledge/ Empowerment/ Freedom/ Love/ Appreciation
2. Passion
3. Enthusiasm/ Eagerness/ Happiness
4. Positive Expectation/ Belief
5. Optimism
6. Hopefulness
7. Contentment
8. Boredom
9. Pessimism
10. Frustration/ Irritation/ Impatience
11. Overwhelment
12. Disappointment
13. Doubt
14. Worry
15. Blame
16. Discouragement
17. Anger
18. Revenge
19. Hatred/ Rage
20. Jealously
21. Insecurity/ Guilt/ Unworthiness
22. Fear/ Grief/ Depression/ Despair/ Powerlessness

We all strive to move to the highest set point as possible. How does all this relate to creating characters in your screenplay? We generate tension and interest in a scene by inviting our audience to travel with our characters through as many of these emotional set points as possible. Otherwise known as an emotional roller coaster or journey. Make’ em laugh. Make ‘em cry. And everything in between.

If the basic template of of any story can be reduced to a hero battling a problem and it’s resultant emotional imbalance until a resolution is reached, we can essentially say that a their goal is to move to a higher emotional set point i.e from fear to joy.

Donnie Darko (2001) reduced our emotional states to a continuum of either fear or love. Some psychologists reduce basic emotions to five, while others to eight. I strongly recommend studying the following link summarizing basic emotions. Regardless of which theory you chose, the same types of emotions arise in each one. It is also of interest that joy and fear are considered hard-wired emotions, while surprise, disgust and acceptance are considered to arise from biological or learned responses.

As writers, it isn’t essential to delve too deeply into the psychology of emotion, but rather understand the different types in terms of character development.

Preface – Read the book “Success: The Glenn Bland method”
Introduction: Don’t let your goals and resolutions fall by the wayside. Chances are that to achieve your dreams and live a life you love, those goals and resolutions are crucial. Goal setting and goal achievement are easier if you follow these six steps for effective and successful goal setting and resolution accomplishment.

1) You need to deeply desire the goal or resolution. Napoleon Hill, in his landmark book, Think and Grow Rich, had it right. “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.” So, your first step in goal setting and achieving your dreams is that you’ve got to really, really want to achieve the goal.

2) Visualize yourself achieving the goal. Lee Iacocca said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” What will your achievement feel like? How will your life unfold differently as a result? If the goal is a thing, some gurus of goal setting recommend that you keep a picture of the item where you see and are reminded of it every day. If you can’t picture yourself achieving the goal, chances are – you won’t.

3) Make a plan for the path you need to follow to accomplish the goal. Create action steps to follow. Identify a critical path. The critical path defines the key accomplishments along the way, the most important steps that must happen for the goal to become a reality. Stephen Covey said, “All things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation of all things. You have to make sure that the blueprint, the first creation, is really what you want, that you’ve thought everything through. Then you put it into bricks and mortar. Each day you go to the construction shed and pull out the blueprint to get marching orders for the day. You begin with the end in mind.” He’s right.

4) Commit to achieving the goal by writing down the goal. Lee Iacocca said, “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” I agree completely. Write down the plan, the action steps and the critical path. Somehow, writing down the goal, the plan and a timeline sets events in motion that may not have happened otherwise. In my own life, it is as if I am making a deeper commitment to goal accomplishment. I can’t fool myself later. The written objective really was the goal.

5) Establish times for checking your progress in your calendar system, whatever it is: a day planner, a PDA, a PDA phone or a hand written list. If you’re not making progress or feel stymied, don’t let your optimism keep you from accomplishing your goals. No matter how positively you are thinking, you need to assess your lack of progress. Adopt a pessimist’s viewpoint; something will and probably is, going to go wrong. Take a look at all of the factors that are keeping you from accomplishing your goal and develop a plan to overcome them. Add these plan steps to your calendar system as part of your goal achievement plan.

6) Review your overall progress regularly. Make sure you are making progress. If you are not making progress, hire a coach, tap into the support of loved ones, analyze why the goal is not being met. Don’t allow the goal to just fade away. Figure out what you need to do to accomplish it. Check the prior five steps starting with an assessment of how deeply you actually want to achieve the goal.

This six step goal setting and achieving system seems simple, but it is the most powerful system you will ever find for achieving your goals and living your resolutions. You just need to do it. God bless you, prosper you and keep you safe in 2010.

Chris Hammond

Agency Technologies Incorporated

513-200-6056

Are you looking for some good networking in Cincinnati?  I would say that if you are in business for yourself, a sales rep, or a small business owner, you are looking for ways to network your business in Cincinnati.  Here at Tri State Business Network we offer not only our own networking ( for a list of meetings go to http://tristatebusinessnetwork.ning.com), but some of our members are apart of some other networking groups for you to access in journey through networking and increasing your business in 2010.

• Market and Profit (MAP) – contact Linda Dektas at 513-984-1200 (event driven) 

             www.marketandprofit.com

• Women’s Idea Networking (WIN) – contact Debbie McCurry at 513-520-4595(monthly meeting for women only)

             www.womensideanetwork.com

• Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce (NEC) - contact Tracy Nickell at 513-509-5563 (networking and event driven) 

             www.necchamber.org

• Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce – contact Jennifer Prine at 513-579-3159 (networking and event driven)

             www.cincinnatichamber.com

• RainMakers Ohio – contact Sharon Miller at 317-385-2475 (networking and white board driven)

             www.gorainohio.ning.com

We at TBN Cincinnati, believe in GIVING and NETWORKING period, so if you wish to grow your business in 2010…..here’s how you can. 

If you need pricing or a list of venues, please feel free to contact those listed above or visit our directory at http://www.tristatebusinessnetwork.com.  For their profiles on our TBN Member’s only Social Networking site visit http://tristatebusinessnetwork.ning.com. 

Clayton R. Hicks

TBN Founder

This lower than scum pond was arrested this morning. I’m sure I am not the only one that wished he had put up a small fight.

Hicks was cooperative during the arrest, said he knew why he was being arrested and indicated that it was because he was “a bad person,”.

Hummmmm….you think?

Follow the updates at the Jennifer and Ema Morgan Forum

Genuine turquoise can cause us to feel rejuvenated with our current outfits.
Personalized lockets can be added to a charming necklace that would show off your personality.
By using jewelry you can spice up your current wardrobe.
Your current wardrobe can have an entirely new look with the proper jewelry accessories.

Pat Hemmings

Jewels by Park Lane

513-703-2619

The harder you work, the luckier you get.

People do not care what you know until they know that you care.

You can get what you want by helping others get what they want.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

The man who makes decisions will make mistakes, but he will never make the biggest

mistake of all, not making a decision.

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

Its not what happens, it’s how you handle it.

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.

People are best convinced by things they themself discover.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence…

As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big!

Life is way too short to be ordinary

Can’t never did anything!

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

If it were easy, then everyone would do it.

Resourcefulness is the ultimate resource.

Joseph Okum 

Heits Building Services NCGD

513-371-5295

937-550-5295

I’m a little cranky today.  The last two days I’ve been waking up feeling lousy because I’m not sleeping well—which really sucked yesterday since I met my CT friends for brunch and was so overtired/hung over that I had to leave the table for restroom breaks about every 20 minutes due to my pointless attempt to re-hydrate my shriveled liver.

Today I wake up in a similar place, and set about working remotely early, which sucks.  But I have a plane to catch and can’t afford to take any time off.  And on top of that I tend to get a little cranky when I have to move—have to leave.  I wasn’t excited to come home and leave Seattle, and now that I’ve come to get used to being at home and being with my family, I get upset at the idea of having to go back home to Seattle and leave them all behind.

So I’m a little grumpy as I set to work this morning, a pit of anxiety in my stomach.  I routinely take breaks so that I can pack a little between assignments.  I’m sure I’ll forget something, but Kevin flies out tomorrow and Stephen in a week—there will be time if I discover what I’ve left behind.

*                                                                        *                                                                        *

The goodbyes happened about 10 hours ago and I am on my last 2 hours of my flight to Seattle.  The airport goodbyes to my parents were a little reserved—either we’ve gotten so used to it that this has become routine, or we’re all sad enough to warrant bottling up our feelings in public.  I feel like it’s the latter because I’m very sad to leave.

Again I almost wish that it were culturally acceptable to go live together again.  I’m sure we’d get on each other’s nerves, but I miss my family.  Graduate school cause me to miss out on that period when graduates move back with the family for a while after school, and I miss out on dropping by my parents’ place for Sunday dinner because I’ve never independently lived in the same city as them.

And I miss talking to my parents—and not over the phone, because I hate that.   I worry at times that they think I’ve moved away for some reason other than to explore.  I certainly haven’t.  I’d love it if they were closer, and in fact I envy those friends of mine who get to see their parents on a weekly basis.

A frequent topic of conversation with my mother when I’m home is the “I wish we could have had the money we have now back then”, and until this last visit, I didn’t realize how strong those feelings my parent had were.  I almost feel like my parents feel bad for not being able to give us the things they wanted to when we were younger, but—and it’s easy to say now—I’m glad I grew up the way I did.  Don’t get me wrong.  I took a lot—a lot—of shit for the way I did things and the way I dressed.  While my friends adorned themselves in designer clothes, I wore the generic stuff because it was what we could afford.  Once a friend who I’d gotten into an altercation with that left grass stains on our clothes yelled that I’d wrecked his Nautica shirt.  I retorted that he’d ruined by Eddie Bauer shorts (I had happened to really like Eddie Bauer during that period).  He snarled that I wore Eddie Bauer because it was the only designer clothes my family could afford.  This was true, but I didn’t stop me from wanting to smash his face into the pavement.  It’s rare in one’s life that oversimplified 80’s movie plots of rich assholes vs. underdog kids come into such stark manifestation, but when it happens, you notice.  I am sad to report that I did not end up beating him in a ski race to save our rag-tag team of skiers from being fired, nor did the prom queen choose to kiss me instead of him on prom night, and I can’t say that I had a grand speech at graduation that made him apologize for his arrogance in front of the whole school.  But I did get good enough at weaving words to openly mock him without his realization, so I’ll take that.  Whatever, we’re Facebook friends now.

The fact is that I feel like I have a good grounding that I appreciate.  I was fortunate enough to have been loaned a car during grad school, and my parents have always made sure that didn’t want for anything essential. I wish my student loans were a little more reasonable, but that’s the price you pay for going to UNH instead of UCONN.  But I now have a car that I bought—my first one at 27—with my own money.  And I appreciate it.

During my time teaching in NH I had an interesting group of students that ranged from four-wheelin’ hick boys to spoiled rich kids.  Prior to the start of class one day I heard one of my students complain about the car she wanted her parents to buy her—a Denali with built-in DVD player and in-seat televisions.  She was complaining that they didn’t want to get it for her.

I was blown away.  I still am.  Because even if that car were given to me, I wouldn’t be able to afford the insurance on it.  And she didn’t even seem like she’d be grateful for it—she seemed to think she deserved it.  And she was a good student, but not the type of student you’d expect to rise to the top of her class at Harvard Business School.  That’s the type of entitlement that I’m glad I don’t have.  I don’t feel like I’m owed anything by anyone.  Sure  I complain about my job, and sure I think I deserve more money, but it’s because of the work I do and the skills I have—not just because I want more.  You’ve got to bring something to the table, and if you still can’t get what you’re looking for, you’ve got to have the ability to move on and learn something new.

So I find it a little strange that my parents feel that they’ve come up short in some way when in fact I feel they’ve indirectly helped me to learn one of the hardest skills an adult must master.  You don’t get everything you want (though I’m far less responsible with my money than I should be) and you must make choices. And more importantly, the world owes you nothing.  I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted for anything, and I know my parents would do almost anything for me so I can’t pretend that I’m out in the wilderness on my own, but I appreciate that on some level I was cognizant of the struggle they had in our childhood.  I’m sure younger me wouldn’t appreciate it, but it was an important lesson to learn.

Do you have a vision or dream for your business for 2010?  Do you dream about serving your clients or do you dream about making a TON of money?

Wikipedia says Dreams are a succession of images, thoughts, sounds, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history.  That is a pretty good definition…but how do you describe it?  Tell us your dream..

This is an interesting topic because most just dream about making a ton of money someday, but as you grow older your dreams will change.  My dream or goal has always been very vague….”to help as many people as I can, without regard for what I get back”.  I do need to be more exact so that maybe my goals for 2010 will come true.  My goals for this year does include adding more members to TBN, in fact doubling the membership.  This will allow me to help even more in the community by giving them more opportunity in and around the Cincinnati area.  This will also give me the chance to teach more about the foundation of social media and how they can use it to give themselves a fighting chance in an arena they may not be familiar with. 

What is your DREAM for 2010?

Clayton

Hicks, Robert
Historical Fiction

Summary from The Washington Post reviewer Charlotte Hays:  “After one-legged Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood led his men to crushing defeat in the bloody Franklin-Nashville campaign of 1864, soldiers sang — to the tune of “The Yellow Rose of Texas” — a ditty about how “the gallant Hood of Texas / He played hell in Tennessee.” Robert Hicks’s riveting new novel takes up Hood’s life after the war. In New Orleans, he married Anna Marie Hennen, a Creole society girl, fathered 11 children and ultimately failed in business. Like the Hood of history, the Hood of this novel is engaged in writing a self-serving memoir designed to redeem his tarnished military reputation. Hicks’s Hood, however, also has a second, secret memoir: Though filled with chilling adventure, it is really about the more important campaign for personal redemption. Dying of yellow fever, Hood summons a friend named Eli Griffin, whose history has intertwined tragically with his own. He wants Griffin to publish his secret memoir, but only if his former comrade, now working as a hit man, approves of the project. The action unfolds through Hood’s diary, letters from Anna Marie to their oldest daughter, and Griffin’s account of his adventures while fulfilling the general’s strange, last commission. Hood made reckless decisions that cost thousands of lives during the Civil War, but Hicks depicts a scene before secession when, as a young officer in Texas, Hood orders his troops to commit an atrocity against the Comanche at the aptly named Devil’s River. This horrific, well-written episode introduces Hood’s diabolical protege, Sebastien Lemerle, another New Orleans Creole who plays a major role in the novel. Anyone who has ever lived in New Orleans must be prepared to be made homesick, and the bizarre cast of characters, including a dwarf, a burly priest and a boy of mixed and mysterious parentage, wouldn’t seem right in any city but this one. I read “A Separate Country” with breakneck speed for that most old-fashioned of reasons: I wanted to see what happened next. And then I eagerly read it a second time to make sure I got the complicated twists and turns. Is there a better recommendation?”

My Thoughts:  This was a very unique book.  It is composed of three journal-like records (written by General Hood, Anna Maria Hood and Eli Griffin) that, together, attempt to disprove the mistaken beliefs about one of the Civil War’s most infamous Confederate generals.  Rather than focusing on his war activities, it focuses on his life afterwards and attempts to portray him as a changed man who learned a bit too late the value of life and the unimportance money, status and ambition.  Changed by his failures and his wife, he was finally transformed into a general whom we can admire and respect, recognizing that he, like the rest of us, was a faulty human who made many mistakes but learned from them in the end.  Although the timeline of the book gets a little confusing as it skips back and forth between the three journals, it flows smoothly enough to hold the reader’s interest throughout due to its interesting cast of supporting characters and the intrigues and adventures in which they’re involved.  Each character both influences and is influenced by Hood as the strings of their lives are permanently entwined and it is interesting to watch the result of these relationships in each of their lives.  One of the most striking examples is that of Sebastian Lemmerle.  I found Hick’s idea that we have the power to create and foster evil  as well as good in other people very interesting.  More compelling, though, is the image the book provides of Hood and Anna’s marriage.  Like most couples, they experienced the headiness and passion of first love and the loss of those things that often comes with long relationships.  Watching the way their relationship survived and, in fact, metamophosed into something more beautiful and lasting is the best aspect of the entire book. 

The book is filled with many interesting passages about the meaning of life, the vanity of wealth, racism, understanding, compassion and other philosophical topics but my favorite quote was at the end, in the last pages of Anna Maria’s letter to her daughter, Lydia:  “…I have discovered courage in the abandonment of the past…I have walked away from a girl…who would have lived and died ignorant of life’s bounty only because she had assumed that it would always be bountiful, that she was infinite, and that those for whom it wasn’t bountiful lay accursed.  I see no farther than the house now…and within those bounds our lives are more complex and more interesting.  I know the freckles on the back of your neck now, Lydia, when once I might not have known they were there at all…The vessel of our lives is small now, but life has filled it.”

The second book by Hitt titled Pleasure Ground — this is different from the Kozy Books Pleasure Ground.

‘Tis another one of Hitt’s backwoods novels, similar to Ellie’s Shack: it’s about poor white trash living in a shack near a lake, land that isn’t theirs, owned by an old fellow who died.  His daughter, Sandra, went out to Hollywood and appeared in a few movies.  She has returned with her older, 51-year-old husband (she’s 23), a TV producer who lost a lot of money in the quiz show scandals, to fix up the family house and sell the property — which means all the poor shack folk around the lake will have to leave.

The narrator is Eddie Miller, a 21-year-old who is 6′4″ like most Hitt heroes.  He lives in a shack with his no good drunk father named Crab, who blowshis monthly disability check on beer and booze, his wearied mother, and his bombshell sister, Gloria, 19, who sometimes makes money posing nude for an artist, like many Hitt women do.

Eddie makes money picking berries, like Ellie did in Ellie’s Shack, and fishing for eel and catfish at the lake.  He has a girlfriend, Cindy, who is bugging him for marriage and a baby; he eludes her because he has no desire for marriage, she’s just a girl to hang with, fish with, and fuck with.

He has his eyes set on the starlet Sandra, whom he meets at the lake, sunning in a red swimsuit. She hires him to paint the house for $1 an hour. He takes the job because he thinks, husband or not, he can get somewhere — “It’s not every day you get to make a girl whose been in the movies,” he muses.

The opening chapter has a fellow from the finance company looking for payment for a loan Eddie’s father is late on — similar to the opening of Sheba. Right off we know this family has some problems, like Hitt’s white trash families always do.

The third woman for Eddie — remember, the Hitt hero almost always juggles three gals — is Beth, Sandra’s secretary, a five foot tall hellion dwarfed by Eddie’s six-four frame.  One finds it a tad disappointing that Eddie does not care for oral love:

She clung to me, whispering things I didn’t understand, and her fingers hurt as she dug into my hair.  She tried to push my mouth down to her breasts and after she had done that she was as wild as they come.  She made an attempt to push my head lower and when I wouldn’t let her do that she said some men did.

“I’m not some men,” I reminded her. “I take my sex straight.” (p. 54)

Say what?!  Is this just backwoods hillbilly fear of the vagina, or was our pal Hitt a prude?  Surely Eddie would not say “no” to a blowjob, but it would be rude and selfish of him if he took it.  We’ll never know, because even that is more sexual detail than we usually get in a 1959 paperback (and I do wonder if it was added in my an editor).

As for Sandra, when he tries to kiss her one day in the car, she stops him and says they have to wait until the time is “right,” when she knows it means something.  But we know this dumb hick has to be getting the set-up: first Beth warms him up, and there’s the talk about Sandra’s husband being worth $200K in life insurance should be croak, double indemnity if an accident,  and how he drinks all day and is overweight and the doctor has warned him.  We have seen this patsy set-up in other Hitt books and even other noirs, much like Jerry M. Goff’s excellent Wanton Wench! And as it is with many men in these books, money is a greater seduction than the women who talk them into committing homicide:

Jesus, it was a lot of money, more than I coukld imagine. This was going to cost the insurance compay plenty [...]When I was done with him I could do anything [...] Four hundred thousand dollars.

No more poverty. No more wanting the things I couldn’t have. No more needing her and being able to own her, to strip her naked and take her body to me, giving her my love. No more being careful with her. I would be rolling in money and I’d give her a child as soon as I could. I would see her grow fat and I would love her because she grew that way. (p. 158)

Meanwhile, his sister is pregnant and the guy who did it refuses to marry her, saying someone else did it, like the “artist” she poses for; he has found some pictures of her for sale, in sets — similar, again, to Sin Doll, I’ll Call Every Monday, Campus Doll, Naked Model, Nude Doll, Party Girl, The Promoter, and many others where the picture racket is involved.

Mainly, Pleasure Ground is very similar to Two of a Kind, or maybe it’s the other way around, as Two of a Kind was published a year later. The patsy set-up and the truth about the evil vixens’ sexuality is the same — that’s right, he’s being set-up by a lesbian!

This is Hitt’s only title with Bedside Books, which paved the way for 60s-style sleaze.  They also, reportedly, had a bad habit of not paying writers, which may be why Hitt didn’t sell them any other books — or, perhaps, Hitt couldn’t sell this one to his usual 1959 markets, Beacon and Midwood, because it was too much like previous titles.

The elements here appear in plenty of Hitts: the younger woman marrying the older man thing, the nude model racket, the insurance scam and murder plot, the pregnant sister, etc.

On the Hitt Scale, a 7.5, points for good writing, minus for traveling the pleasure ground always stomped on.

Can you possibly mix face to face networking along with online networking?  Yes, you can.  Tri-State Business Network group is successfully doing it.  If you visit one of our meetings, you will see you can…..If you visit http://tristatebusinessnetwork.ning.com, you will see you can….

Tri State Business Network group is doing it…..and doing it very well.  Some may say that TBN is not always the ”most professional” because we love to have fun…we just do.  What is wrong with having fun while networking your business professionally?  Nothing..We all know why we are there…we all know what we need to do…and above all we love being there.  When you go to our online networking group, you will also see all the action going on.  Who would have thought that all these people wanted to change with TBN?  If you would have asked me a year ago, I would have told you that the online side was just bumping around….not anymore.  We have seen a huge increase in activity on our Member’s only site.  In October, we only had 8 blog posts.  In November, we had 37 blog posts.  Up to this point in December, we have 33 already.

As you can see, TBN members are getting it.  They understand how important it is to be online networking as well as, networking face to face.  You must have both to increase your networking next year…do you have more than 1 way to network your business next year? 

TBN Membership Benefits: $100 per year
1. Ability to attend any/all 28 meetings per month.  Member Directory site http://www.tristatebusinessnetwork.com
2. $25 referral fee per member you bring into TBN
3. 3 minute commercial once per quarter at any meeting you wish that week
4. E-Blast Communication between members for blogging, events, and other information you may need to get to other members you may not always see.
5. Member’s only website http://www.tristatebusinessnetwork.ning.com
6. TBN Education – we will teach you “How to build your profiles”, “How to communicate more effectively with the other TBN members” and “Why blog?”. This will allow you a better opportunity to market your business better through social media. TBN Education is FREE to paid Members.

Clayton R. Hicks

TBN Founder

D – 937-671-6238

http://www.tristatebusinessnetwork.com

http://tristatebusinessnetwork.ning.com

http://twitter.com/TBNfounder

http://www.linkedin.com/in/tbnfounder

Hundreds of law enforcement officials throughout the country have trained with Ozark Police Officer Phil Dodson for a skill he has had for more than 30 years.

In the past year, some of them have also trained with Dodson’s partner Grizzly, a 3-year-old long-coat German Shepherd with experience in tracking down suspects or discarded evidence as well as searching open areas.

Grizzly is one of four K-9s with the Ozark Police Department and Wiregrass Violent Crimes Task Force. He and Dodson are expected to lead in expanding the local K-9 program in Ozark in order to better equip local departments for patrol and narcotics investigations.

Dodson said plans in the expansion include continued weekly training for the police dogs and their handlers, as well as Dodson’s search for donated dogs for Ozark and other agencies.

A Belgian Malinois, Riky, was recently donated to the Ozark department from Dothan Police Department to be used for the task force.
By expanding, Dodson said the unit affects law enforcement throughout the southeastern area.

“We’re all in this together, and when I train a handler or a dog to be a better law enforcement officer, it’s helping all of us. That’s why I don’t charge any law enforcement agency who wants training with their dogs and truly can’t afford to pay for it,” Dodson said, with Grizzly nearby.

“I retired from this years ago, but the calls during my retirement from other officers who were thankful for the experience they had with their dogs in investigations led me back to continue this job.”

Ozark Police Chief Tony Spivey said four police dogs — two Belgian Malinois, one German shepherd and one Labrador retriever — currently serve in his department and the task force.

Spivey said the K-9 partners are beneficial in officer protection, immediate back-up, and quicker searches in narcotics. They already train on various issues in the department, as well as receive regular veterinary check-ups and maintenance like a personal pet, Spivey said.

Ozark Police Capt. Tim Hicks said the strength of the K-9 program lies in the commitment the police dogs have to their human partners.

Officer Clinton Buggs, Ozark PD

Ozark Officer Clinton Buggs, who is currently training to be a certified dog handler with police retriever Max, said the relationship between a handler and K-9 is developed both on the job and at home.

“Our dogs come and live with us, and in that time I find myself growing closer and closer to Max. He’s become family, which makes me even more comfortable when we’re out on a call together,” Buggs said.

Dodson, who has been a civilian K-9 trainer for the past 14 years and a military trainer for 18 years, said a misconception of police dogs is that they are “attack dogs.”

In the future, he said he plans to teach Grizzly how to search from an aircraft, as well as raise money for Grizzly and other police dogs to have protection vests like their handlers.

“These partners are like officers. They respond like we respond. When they sense a threat, they are our eyes and ears, but their primary objective is not to attack anyone,” Dodson said.

The dogs retire with their handlers, Dodson added.

“Just like us, Grizzly comes home and enjoys his regular life outside of work. When we’re done and ready to retire, then I expect Grizzly to be right there with me,” he said.

By Ebony Horton

LINK/VIDEO

No, really…people really are this stupid.

1. You drop 5-10 eggs on your period…

This young girl just had a kid too…her second…she’s 17(she meant this as a usual, normal occurance), when I challenged this theory, I had a tater tot thrown at my face

2. Brown people have brown sperm

…and ignorant people will increase their chances of being sterile after I sucker punch them all in the nuts
3. You have an orgasm if you sneeze three times in a row

It’s not a fucking genie, if that were true people would be snorting lines of dust

4. Someday people will evolve and they’ll merely be able to express their emotions just by touching each other…

Wow, umm sex? (Ha, I can’t call other people stupid…this one was MY thought…)

5. Best of all, a girl told me when guys got a vasectomy they were castrated.

Because any guy would willing chop his balls off

Liverpool’s below par form saw them make an uncharacteristically early exit from Europe’s premier competition when their single goal victory was rendered irrelevant by Fiorentina’s success over group leaders Lyon by the same score. Benitez’s men have lived a notoriously charmed life in the tournament since his arrival, but with no poor refereeing decisions apparent, no dubious goals awarded and no outrageous 30 yard thunderbolts from the right boot of Steven Gerrard, Liverpool fans were forced to come to terms with their own mortality… that and the mediocrity of their squad.

This is not something the Liverpool faithful are very good at however, spoiled by years of cooing from elder statesmen who are all too willing to regale stories from the glory days of eras gone by, the red army of Anfield have believed themselves a breed apart for so long that all this not being very good has stirred up some fantastic theories on the terraces. The Corridor of Uncertainty has taken a look at some of these theories and their plausibility:

1.  “The Yanks don’t like each other.”

The much publicised spat between Liverpool co-owners George Gillette and Tom Hicks has caused as much consternation in the Liverpool dressing room as it has in the director’s box where frantic seat swapping has been a feature of every Liverpool home game since the fallout. Seen as a measure of how well the two American businessmen (affectionately referred to as “those fucking Yanks” by nine tenths of the ground) are getting along that particular week, the varying number of seats between them is thought to have had a direct influence upon Liverpool’s performance. Such a division in what has been a historically harmonious club, united in their delusions of grandeur, has had consequences previously unthinkable happen upon their Melwood training ground. Cooperation between the players is at an all time low as they side with their preferred American, the first signs of this becoming apparent at the Hawthorns last year when Alvaro Arbeloa was thought by Jamie Carragher to have insulted his favoured Yank George Gillette with an exclamation of “his razor’s are fucking shit!” as Marc-Antoine Fortuné (a renowned user of Gillette’s products) narrowly placed a shot wide of Pepé Reina’s post. More recent examples of this division have been noted this season with Martin Skrtle having fallen out with the match ball since Tom Hicks began to sponsor it, this is widely thought to have been the reason for his refusal to approach it on various occasions at Anfield this year.

2. “Karma”

Liverpool’s only goal against Debrecen was scored by French cheat David Ngog. The youngster has looked much more spritely these last couple of weeks, this is thought to be because the Batman to his Robin of footballing con-artistry, Thierry Henry has shown himself to be the orchestrator of global injustices whilst Ngog remains and the unsightly dive merchant and somebody who Lee Carsley would like to punch. Such is the belief in fate, karma and deity that is Fernando Torres (“A child born unto us”), on the Kop that Liverpool fans are starting to wonder whether the latest foul play on behalf of Ngog (full name: Ngogdownlikeashortscotchatafuneral) and his recent alignment with Henry (full name: Henryplaysicanbeseentakingthelaceout) is bringing about bad Karma for Liverpool in what is normally their most charmed arena, the Champions League.

3. “Who are you and what have you done with Benitez?!”

Rafael Benitez’s demise from tactical mastermind to hapless enforcer of bizarre substitutions has come as such a mystery to Liverpool fans that the only explanation left unexplored before they admit they are now rubbish, and therefore the obvious explanation to their woe is… Rafa’s goatee. A clean shaven Benitez is immortalised upon many oversized flags waved bi-weekly on the Kop, showing him in his famed ‘sitting down to win the Champions League’ pose and accompanied by some tenuous James lyrics. Whilst the difference in managerial ability of that sitting champion compared to the floundering fact finder that frustrates the Anfield faithful today is incredible, the only physical difference to be found upon that enigmatic mask of Hispanic calm is a tidy goatee beard, cultivated just around the time of his demise! Benitez is clearly suffering from what has until now been known as Phil Brown Syndrome, condition in which an ageing man develops a malignant brain addling growth on his face that, fully formed, arrives in the shape of a goatee beard and renders the sufferer unable to make any educated footballing decisions. Benitez is thought to be in the early stages of his condition and the Anfield DJ is on standby to cut short any attempt by Rafa to seize the microphone and make an idiot of himself by giving the incredulous fans a version of ‘Ring of Fire’ over the PA system, assistant Sammy Lee is also locking the dressing room door at half time in case of any sudden decision by Benitez to give his half time team talk on the pitch. These are all symptoms only normally found in long-term sufferers and they follow a suspicious tanning of the skin, Benitez seems to only have been affected by the loss of managerial ability thus far.

Antenna Wilde welcomes special guest blogger, Cousin inbred from Myspace.com

llama Kill, a Retort
By Cousin inbred
11/21/09

First off, u should read Purdy Poo’s blog befor readin mine.
Now, Purdy Poo done think she can go steelin the spot-lite wit her storeeze of poopin lambas, and how rightieous she is by settin ‘em free? Well, yer cuzins got sumpthin to say bout that., cuz it just so happens that I waz the one drivin the pick-up truck that killed them lambas, and i didn’t feeel bad about it one buit. Fact is, I fed my whole family wit thos lambas, cuzons and all.

I waz drivin the trusty ol Chevy on route 2, same as any night after workin the night shift. It waz 6AM i rememebr cause that’s when I always have a “just-got-off-werk” shot off Jaxk Dansliels (special reserve) And these giant turkeys come staggering stupid-like across the road, and I hits em intenshunal-like cause i’m all happy when i gets a good road kill fer free, no worries on the highway gettin it fressh right there. But these lambas were big ol heavy fuckerz! HA! You shoulda seen them smack dab BAM fuckin SLAM on the hood and roll on out over to the sides of the road. One was dead fer sure and the other was brethin coughy rasp until i took my shotgun an plugged his head real good and overflow.

So i skinned em at home, gut em clean an fixed up the periferals. We called lots of people, lotz came. Cuzon greg came by wit some grease form Amy Bahkers and we made all kinds of funny edibles. Point is, you can feed a great many peoples with 2 llambas. Purdy Poo’s gota keep that in mind, how to see it in the true lite of nature; we being hungry animals and all, and needin feedin. Llamba poo may smell horrendible, but the meat is purdy sweet marinarded in beer and spices, put on the spit a while. Come on down, Purdy! We wont bite —much! heh heh heh.

Couzin Inbred

: : : : : : : : : : :

… but they sho dint let that stop ‘em ..

“Now see here Billie-Bob .. eff’n I lets you hav the red dress fer a spell, ah gits ta wear the blond wig … deal ?”

58. William Warner – Beautiful Swimmers : Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay
59. Bill Hicks – Love All The People
60. Caleb Earle – Martha Furnace Diary

A.C.E. – All Crew Easy

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Vibe Bar
87-95 Brick Lane
London, United Kingdom

Ed Solo & MC Darrison – Live PA

Session (DJ Set)

Substatic – Live Band

Flashfry Records – Live P.A – featuring Reps, Uncle Dicky, Skill Mega, Zeeny & Rup

Max Air – DJ Set

Dukes Of Have It (Chick Peasy & Rolls Royce) – DJ Set

Live Art Battle – Secret Weapon

Secret Wars – Teck1 & Hicks – London
vs.
Weapon Of Choice – Lokey & Nik Ill – Bristol

Clothing giveaways from Imperious Rex & More!!

Photography by Jaysus!

Free before 8, just £4 to get in after, usual Vibe Bar treats, including BBQ and courtyard carnage!

One thing I can say is Teck1 & Hicks aint gunna know what’s hit ‘em, seeing as there up against two of Bristol’s finest! Lokey & Nik Ill

doors are being opened…