ellen - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I'm a recovering attorney turned photographer, and an ardent music-lover (by "music" I mean "blues") who's unable to carry a tune or play an instrument. So, I combine my photography and my love for music: I go out to the blues dives and record the magic.Look for my videos at Video.Google.com. Use the search box to find them by searching for the name of the band or musician and/or the name of the venue; you can narrow the search results by including my name or the word 'Atanta.' Most of my videos are of Atlanta-area blues-musicians--but there are also some of Todd Rundgren. That's what I love: blues, and Todd Rundgren.What else.... Books--I love books: history, biographies, law; Gabriel Garcia Marquez & John Irving & John Updike & Nathaniel Hawthorne & John Steinbeck; Hunter S. Thompson....And aminals--I love dogs, cats, rabbits..., all Godd's creatures (except for spiders, which terrify me.) I have a preternatural ability to spot stray aminals, and an inability to pass them by; at times I've had as many as 15 strays at my house, waiting for their owners to claim them, or waiting to be neutered and adopted (or kept.) Currently, we have two dogs (DogJewel, a pit-bull/black lab mix; and PupHunter, an Irish wolfhound/German shepherd mix) and three cats (PepperPot, Dinah, and BabyRabbits--all black & white short-hairs.)And my children--I've got two near-perfect ones: William Douglas Hamby-Hopkins, and Brennan Kathleen (Kate) Hamby-Hopkins. William's a student at University of Georgia, majoring in religion and philosophy. Kate's in high school; she'll be leaving for college in a couple of years--where she plans to study religion, philosophy, and history.

My Interests

Blues; History, especially US southern history (how the fuck did we get this way?!!?;) and medieval European history; aminals; photography; gardening; Todd Rundgren.... ------------------------ --------------------------

I'd like to meet:

STILL LIVING: Todd Rundgren(again;) Jimmy Carter (again;) George McGovern; Bonnie Rait; Stephen Colbert; John Irving; Tom Waits... then Todd Rundgren (again.)PASSED ON: Charles Bukowski; Hunter S. Thompson; Thomas Jefferson (and Sally Hemmings;) Cleopatra; Eleanor of Aquitain; Anne Bolyn; Justice William O. Douglas; Clarence Darrow; Abbie Hoffman; Robert Johnson; J.B. Lenoir; Jim Morrison; Gram Parsons; Eleanor Roosevelt....

Music:

Blues. And more blues. Especially that place where blues meets country: mulatto-music, I guess; music of the poor, rural southerner--black & white; Fat City Wildcats and Damon Fowler capture it perfectly! Also: Jackson Browne; Todd Rundgren; Alice Cooper; Todd Rundgren; Tom Waits; Todd Rundgren; Neil Young. Oh, and the blues! And Todd Rundgren! ------------------------------

Movies:

Albert Castiglia, 2007-03-23 (03-cut) "Messin' With The Kid" ----------------------------------------------- Albert Castiglia, 2007-03-23 (01) "Further On Up The Road" --------------------- ---------------------------------------

Todd Rundgren, 2007-05-03 (02) 'Black And White' ("Faithful," 1975)

Todd Rundgren (guitar & vocals,) Jesse Gress (guitar,) Tony Levin (bass,) and Jerry Marotta (drums;) Recorded 05-03-2007 at Atlanta's Roxy Theatre. c. Ellen Hamby (ellen's eyes) . http://www.TRConnection.com http://www.TRBazaar.com http://www.MySpace.com/ellens_eyes-------------------------

Todd Rundgren, 2007-05-03 (04) "No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator"

Todd Rundgren (guitar & vocals,) Jesse Gress (guitar,) Tony Levin (bass,) and Jerry Marotta (drums;) Recorded 05-03-2007 at Atlanta's Roxy Theatre. c. Ellen Hamby (ellen's eyes) http://www.TRConnection.com http://www.TRBazaar.com http://www.MySpace.com/ellens_eyes---------------------

Todd Rundgren, 2007-05-03 (06) "Tiny Demons"

Todd Rundgren (guitar & vocals,) Jesse Gress (guitar,) Tony Levin (bass,) and Jerry Marotta (drums;) Recorded 05-03-2007 at Atlanta's Roxy Theatre. c. Ellen Hamby (ellen's eyes) http://www.TRConnection.com http://www.TRBazaar.com http://www.MySpace.com/ellens_eyes-----------------------

Todd Rundgren, 2007-05-03 (07) "Mystified" / "Broke Down And Busted"

Todd Rundgren (guitar & vocals,) Jesse Gress (guitar,) Tony Levin (bass,) and Jerry Marotta (drums;) Recorded 05-03-2007 at Atlanta's Roxy Theatre. c. Ellen Hamby (ellen's eyes) http://www.TRConnection.com http://www.TRBazaar.com http://www.MySpace.com/ellens_eyes-------------------------

Todd Rundgren, 2007-05-03 (08) "Slut"

Todd Rundgren (guitar & vocals,) Jesse Gress (guitar,) Tony Levin (bass,) and Jerry Marotta (drums;) Recorded 05-03-2007 at Atlanta's Roxy Theatre. c. Ellen Hamby (ellen's eyes) http://www.TRConnection.com http://www.TRBazaar.com http://www.MySpace.com/ellens_eyes----------------------

Todd Rundgren, 2007-05-03 (11) "Hawking"

Todd Rundgren (guitar & vocals,) Jesse Gress (guitar,) Tony Levin (bass,) and Jerry Marotta (drums;) Recorded 05-03-2007 at Atlanta's Roxy Theatre. c. Ellen Hamby (ellen's eyes) http://www.TRConnection.com http://www.TRBazaar.com http://www.MySpace.com/ellens_eyes------------------------

Television:

The Daily Show; The Colbert Report; Da Ali G Show; Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann; Boston Legal; Reno 911; NYPD-Blue reruns. MOVIES: A Streetcar Named Desire (except for the final scene, which fucks with Tenn. Williams' ending;) Dr. Doolittle (the original version;) Gone With the Wind; The Hotel New Hampshire; The Inlaws (the original one;) Interview With The Vampire; Long Day's Journey Into Night; The Nine Lives of Thomasina; Pulp Fiction; Raising Arizona; The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao; Taxi Driver; Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory; The Wizard of Oz.

Books:

FICTION: FAVORITE BOOKS: John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany;" Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude;" W. Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage;" John Fowls' "The Magus;" Alan Gurganess's "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All;" Reynolds Price's "The Promise of Rest;" Christopher Moore's "Lamb: The Gospel According to Bif, Christ's Childhood Friend;" Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind."FAVORITE AUTHORS: James Baldwin, Charles Bukowski, John Fowles, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gunter Grass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Irving, Joyce Carol Oates, Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Rice, Judith Rossner, John Steinbeck, Ann Tyler, John Updike, Tennessee Williams.NON-FICTION: John Howard Griffin's "Black Like Me;" "The [Thomas] Jefferson Bible;" C. Van Woodward's "The Burden of Southern History;" Eugene Genevese's "Roll Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Made;" Norman Graebner's "Ideas & Diplomacy;" Clarence Darrow's "The Story of My Life;" Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted Word;" Lester Grinspoon, M.D., "Marijuana: The New Prohibition."

Heroes:

Jane Addams; Thomas Beurgenthal; Clarence Darrow; Frederick Douglas; Justice William O. Douglas; Mohandas Gandhi (and Mrs. Gandhi;) Abbie Hoffman; Thomas Jefferson; George McGovern; St. Patrick; Eleanor Roosevelt; Margaret Sanger. Oh, and Danny "Mudcat" Dudeck.

My Blog

NEW YEARS EVE SHOWS

Music on New Year's Eve --- Monday, 12/31/2007 [As I update the music calendar, I'll add to this list.] Poco @ The Swallow At The Hollow ($100) 1072 Green St Roswell 30075 (678/352-19...
Posted by ellen on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:10:00 PST

SUN DOMINGO IN NORTH-METRO ATLANTA 11/1 & 11/8

Sun Domingo is one of my favorite bands, probably my very favorite not-blues band (not-blues band that's also not-Todd Rundgren, that is.) I hadn't expected to much like the band, and went to se...
Posted by ellen on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:23:00 PST

Jacobs Ladder in Gwinnett Co. (Duluth) Tonight, 10/11/2007

I'll be damned: there IS good live music up here in Gwinnett County! And it's tonight--Thursday, 10/11/2007. JACOB's LADDER: http://www.MySpace.com/DavidNorthripMusic http...
Posted by ellen on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:24:00 PST

***Salvador Santana+B-Side Players+Cipes & People @ Smiths Thurs 10/11

This promises to be an evening of great music, even though it's not blues (and not Todd Rundgren.) Who:1. Cipes & The People http://www.CipesAndThePeople.comhttp://w...
Posted by ellen on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:13:00 PST

PUPPY LOVE

See those puppies in my photograph? Those are six lab-mix babies, abandoned on the side of the road by their asshole hooman, & found in the middle of the road by a good hooman...
Posted by ellen on Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:51:00 PST

DAMON FOWLER at Darwins Sat 09/22 9---1

It's finally here: Damon Fowler at Darwin's!! In my list of favorite musicians in any genre, Damon is in a three-way tie for second place. Only Todd Rundgren places higher. In fact, ...
Posted by ellen on Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:23:00 PST

MAYHAWS Tonight--Sunday the 16th at 7pm--at Crimson Moon in Dahlonega

The Mayhaws are playing tonight (Sunday the 16th) at The Crimson Moon Cafe in Dahlonega. They're a fine little folk/bluegrass band, and my own sweet sister-in-law, Carrie Kastner Hamby---my brother's ...
Posted by ellen on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:48:00 PST

MUDCAT MAGIC Friday 08/31/2007

Tonight's Big Fucking Deal (IMHO) is Danny *Mudcat* Dudeck at Darwins. Mudcat's solo show last night at Darwin's was indescribably delicious; tonight he'll be there with the full band as well as...
Posted by ellen on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:05:00 PST

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION

..> IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political ...
Posted by ellen on Wed, 04 Jul 2007 10:29:00 PST

Thursday Nights at Darwin's

Some of the very best blues I've ever experienced has been at Darwin's on Thursday nights. Kay rarely books an out-of-town band on Thursdays; rather, those nights a...
Posted by ellen on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:19:00 PST