We may eventually create a blog for Caroline but until then . . .here are a few quick pics.

So this Tapout thing is heating up. I first posted on this back on June 18th. http://hampton.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/tapout-guys-what-the/   I saw the show and posted my thoughts. Wow. . .2,700 views and several very passionate comments later I thought I’d jump in and leave an updated post on this topic.

Here’s the deal, I like the show. I like what the guys are doing for these young fighters and I like the way the show tells their story. As a businessman, I like the way Mask runs his business. The whole “If I’m not having fun I’m not going to play, Jimmy Hendrix wants to play his music not BB King stuff” I like that and couldn’t agree more with how he runs his business. I also really like Punkass. I think he’s a cool dude and has his head on straight. I really don’t need to comment on Skyscrape b/c nobody can really take him serious.

That being said, I still think they are bad for MMA. It’s the XFL of the NFL. The XFL failed b/c we want serious fights not fluff. We don’t need a circus freakin’ sideshow. You cannot seriously believe that this is where we want MMA to go. With animated cartoon graphics and facepaint. What’s next? Masked fighters and camel clutches???

I think Charles (Mask) is probably a pretty good guy. I like his commitment. He is, however, hurting the sport with this show. A new viewer cannot think this is serious.

So here’s what I’m thinking. . . I would like to blog about twice a week. I’ve got friends who I think would prefer that also. So why can’t we have a blog with multiple posters? If it’s read with a feeder then it’s would more than likely have new posts daily and I think people would enjoy checking that out.

Thoughts? Would that be blog taboo?

So I am what you’d call a High I/D personality. According to the DISC personality profile that means I am pretty outgoing driven person. I also have very little S (nurturer) and Zero C (detail / analytical). According to this profile I should not over analyze things and for the most part I don’t do this hardly ever except in sports. Specifically golf.

I literally wear myself out over my golf game. I think about it constantly and it just creates a mess for me on the course. This was most recently evidenced last weekend when I went up to play a 3 day tournament in Michigan. I made it 16 holes and then decided to go do something else for the day / weekend. Pitiful I know. I just was playing horrible and not having any fun as a result.

As I was getting ready to come back home my Dad gave me the following quote and had me read it out loud in the car. It certainly puts things in perspective and it is my hope that I will be able to apply this line of thinking to my golf game. I think I’ll enjoy it more. . . Enjoy. . .

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear or embarrassement or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be rapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Steve Jobs
CEO of Apple 

Here’s the deal. . . I’m not a car guy. Cars are really not that important to me. I’d like to have a nice one some day but there are many, many things I want more so I choose to drive an old car and spend my money on those other things. One of those other things is a nice vacation. I really, really like a nice vacation and especially a nice hotel.

What I’ve found is that it’s not so much the hotel that I like. . . I mean the amenities and service are nice, don’t get me wrong but in the end it really all comes down to the showerhead. Seriously, a great shower from a great showerhead. One that is properly placed high enough so I don’t have to duck down and one that just blasts you with big heavy streams of water. Not one that stings but one that soothes. (Tell me you can’t feel it as you read this) Yes, a great showerhead is a wonderful thing and I’ll add, by the way, that at a lot of nice hotels the same showerhead keeps popping up. . . It’s the Speakman Anystream. From the Montage in Laguna Beach to the Pierre in NYC the Speakman Anystream seems to be the showerhead of choice. I’m pretty obsessed with it.

Anyway, would you not agree that of all services that a hotel offers doesn’t it really just come down to the shower? Yes, the Westin has it’s Heavenly Bed and the Doubletree has warm chocolate chip cookies but if the shower sucks then it really ends in disappointment doesn’t it?

It’s a lesson to all hotels. . .spend money on the shower. Get that right. You can save money in other areas but don’t scimp here. It’s all about the shower.

OK. . . so I’ve been gone a really long time. So if you’re reading this I really do appreciate you checking in. I’m going to try and re-engage with this blog and the album that I listened to over the last couple of days will make it easy.

You really need to check out Brad Paisley’s new album, “5th Gear”. Look, I’m not a huge Paisley fan but I do like his stuff. He’s found his niche with kind of silly heartstring songs. You know what to expect with him. “Ticks”, “Celebrity”, “Mud on the Tires”. . .all great fun songs. You also get songs like, “He Didn’t Have to Be” and “Little Moments” with him. Slower songs with lot’s of meaning.

So he’s written another one of these slower songs that I think is absolutely fantastic. It’s called “Letter to Me” and you’ve got to check it out. It’s basically a song about a letter written from a mid-30’s guy to himself when he was 17. It’s a letter from the future. Fantastic. Chad. . .you will love this song.

If anyone has this song and can tell me how to post it for others to hear that would be great. I’m such a rookie.

So I sat and watched TV the last two nights and the shows that are on are getting a little crazy. To sum up the shows that I’ve watched they would basically be called, “So America, do you think you’ve got the talent to impersonate a dancing inventor?”

This summer you can watch dancers, singers, impersonators of dancers and singers, and inventors do their thing and always. .. yes always there’s at least one british person either hosting or judging. These shows are all the same thing! But, I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And it’s clearly drawing viewers so. . . onward and upward.

So my brother posted this on his blog this morning. Have you ever had one of those songs where you were pretty much obsessed with it the first time you heard it? Yeah. . .this would be one of those.

Enjoy.

In a bit of a blog posting rut here. Not much in the mood to post right now. Hang with me. I’ll be back soon. Life is good.

One quick note. . . be sure and go check out the most recent post on my friend Michael Morton’s blog. (Which Wich Embraces Social Media)  I think this is a great story. I’m really excited about it. Which could lead me to my next post. . . hmmmm. .. has to do with consistently doing something well and stepping out with new ideas. . .

I was listening to the radio this morning and heard a very simple song. Nothing special (although it became a huge hit) and I thought. . . “Man, that’s a really simple song. Why couldn’t I write a song like that? I know that song. I’ve lived that song or I’ve felt that song. I wish I’d written that.”

I’ve had this thought before. Many times. They are usually songs that are so basic I think, I could have written that. Of course, I can’t think of all of them at this very moment but I will list a few for you.  Now, to all my music purist friends out there who only like bands that no ones ever heard of, I’m interested in hearing from you to. Here are some songs off the top of my head. I will add to this list as some others pop into my head.

1. Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue. (The Angry American) – Toby Keith

2. A Moment You Would Die For (Ty Herndon)

3. Live Like You Were Dying (Tim McGraw)

4. I Can Only Imagine (Mercy Me)

5. My Little Girl (Tim McGraw)

6. Stay Forever (Hal Ketchum)

So have you had this thought before? What are your songs?