Finding Lost Voices

It's not funny, but he is. The Michigan Mike Ball is a humorist, columnist, author, and now singer/songwriter. He has a great cause.

His Lost Voices foundation helps incarcerated and at-risk youth. It provides writing and music programs to help the kids find their creative selves...and maybe eventually careers along with goals and self-confidence.

His folk produce workshops in creative writing and music performance. More description and pix appear at their Facebook page.

This Mike Ball's effort grew out of a career day he participated for incarcerated kids in 2005. His background appears here. His foundation now gets support, and performances, from Michigan-based folk and blues singers as well.

Good on him.

West End Anti-Hero

Our most famous namesake is at it again. You don't stage a successful musical in London or most of Europe without Michael Ball as the male lead.

This time, he wows as Sweeney Todd in the current production at the Adelphi.

He's matured and the Financial Times likes it. Sarah Hemming writes that "Michael Ball, as teh murderous barer, is a revelation.Gone is the dimpled cherubic individual who beams at us from the programme pages; in his place is a brooding, taciturn lump of a man..Ball lets us see the wild emotons bubbling beneath the surface..." 

Right Side of Love

Another Mike Ball for marriage equality...this one a Republican in New Hampshire.

J. Michael Ball is a conservative House member. He favors letting people be free in many ways. On marriage, he says, "I believe that adult citizens of New Hampshire possess the unalienable right to order their personal relationships with other adult citizens in the manner in which they see fit."

A bill to overturn the 2009 legalization of same-sex marriage is before the legislature. Republicans like Mike may well defeat this.

As he told the Concord Monitor, he and other Republicans view this as a liberty issue:

"As someone who grew up in the South and went to a segregated elementary school, I know what segregation looks like and that's exactly what this bill is," Ball said. "The idea that we are the party of small government and more liberty flies in the face of this attempt to use government to micromanage a certain group of people's lives. That is not acceptable."

Our Alabama Man Picks Big Race

Wow, I have not been updating here. I'll re-try.

The Mike Ball in the Alabama House regularly makes political news there. Click below to hear him on The Takeaway as part of a podcast on GOP power in the South this year. He talks recent history and trends.

He and NY Times reporter Campbell Robertson kick around the angst of Southern Republicans. Rep. Ball speaks to the need to blend winger POTUS candidates' traits. He also suggests the best VP candidate to get them to close ranks.

Rocking Racing, Sans MB

Wowzers, it's been awhile since posting and amusingly enough, I can do back-to-back jeans guy/cycling team posts. The last one was here.

The denim fashionista (should we coin fashionisto for a guy?) claims not to be back in the cycling racing biz, but his Rock Racing brand exists right now on the amateur level in Italy. He dropped his team when his Rock & Republic went bankrupt early last year. However, Cycling News reported today, "...last week Italian businessman Roberto Tronconi told Cyclingnews that he was set to relaunch the brand in Europe after long negotiations with Rock Racing founder Michael Ball."

MB though says he's not involved, "...not supporting it or anything. I know that they’re out there racing in the colours though. So I’m not coming back and I’m not going to be in the ProTour any time soon."

The amateur incarnation presently has no name professions, just a former big cycling team name.

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Tags: Mike Ball, Rock Racing, cycling

Whirring and Wired

Shame on me note: Oops, I haven't been updating this blog. I promise to do better. Now that many posts are likely outdated, that relieves me of the sense I have to index it. Search at top if you want to find things.

Today, it's back to the jeans magnate/cycling sponsor Michael Ball. See previous post here.

News now is that disgraced Tour de France cyclist Floyd Landis used hidden audio and video recording equipment for a sting on this MB at his California home. Finally fessing up to doping after adamantly swearing on the honor of his Amish parents that he never, ever did or would, he seemed to caved to the feds' pressures.

As Yahoo and other sports news report, Landis' hidden camera recorded the contents of MB's apartment fridge — with what appears to be human growth hormones and other forbidden baddies. Landis has been after seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong, who was never on MB's Rock Racing team. However, in one degree of separation, other Armstrong teammates like Tyler Hamilton had been.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set up the surveillance. Subsequently, MB's place was raided.

There haven't been any charges so far. However, MB's Rock and Republic company went bankrupt and Rock Racing is inactive. The drug investigation seems to be tangential to an effort to go after Armstrong.

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Tags: Mike Ball, Rock Racing, cycling, Landis, Armstrong

Generics Hit the Racks

The jeans deity Michael Ball (here and here) was the lead example in a fashion piece in the Financial Times. Creative director and founder of Rock and Republic, he has applied what he considers the concept behind 1970s supermarket trends to his clothing.

Emulating generic packaging from over 30 years ago, his company has a Plain Wrap line. It starts at a super-bargain for him, at $35. The tops and bottoms have large-type labels saying exactly what they are, as shown in a grab from the RandR site.

His new line sells alongside the pricey designer ones.

This MB said thinking of packages marked just CHIPS or DOG FOOD, "I thought it would be fun to do the same thing with clothes."

A couple of other designers have followed suit, if you pardon, this season.

The Rotterdam Version

Michel Ball in Amsterdam sent an electronic greeting. He was pleasant, following his links to his many websites, I see that he included a correction. A four year old post had a bad link to his paintings, which I have corrected.

Meanwhile, see his amazing set of sites here.

Serious About Cycling

All last year, jeans god Mike Ball's pro cycling team raced here and there around the world. His Rock Racing has hired the likes of Santiago Botero and Tyler Hamilton.

Apparently, this Mike believes you can't be too colorful or confident personally or professionally. He is not shy and his team shows up in a fleet of Cadillac Escalades. See the Darrell Parks' pic Mike Ball & his girls for a hint.

The team had an okay first year, with a real busy sked.

If you can't make it to England, Spain, Boulder or Colombia to watch, you can consider some amazing jerseys and cycling accessories.

By the bye, this seems to be the only team that intends to avoid any doping allegations. It has its own internal testing that runs through Scott Analytics.

Yet, wait...

In the more stereotypical world of pro sports comes a tale of spite and anger. Rider Braden Cooke is ready to sue the team and owner Mike, according to a piece in Cycling News. The boss says he'll only pay another six months out of pocket and they have to get sponsors to go beyond that. TBD

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Tags: Mike Ball, Rock Racing, cycling

Mike the Swapper

Arrrr. Damn. I can't use my airline points before the deadline. I'll lose 'em.

A Mike Ball is part of the solution for that. At LoyaltyMatch, they take a couple of bucks from the transaction to swap such airline and other corporate rewards points for goods or cash.

This is another Canadian MB, based in Waterloo, Ontario. The prez and founder, Brad Ball, may well be a brother.

Mike is CTO and chief architect. His online profile reads:

Mike has over 22 years experience building and leading high technology development companies. Mike was one of the architects of Bell Sympatico and Advantage Business Internet Solutions, served as VP Technology for SpiderTop Rich Media Internet Corporation, and is an accomplished game developer and author. He is a computer science graduate of Confederation College and a member of OACETT.

His pic is jolly and makes him look like he stepped off the dance floor.

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Tags: Mike Ball, LoyaltyMatch, Mike Ball, waterloo

Ball and Chain Still Stomping

What they lack in subtlety they have in enthusiasm. The leads of Ball and Chain, Michael Ball and Jody Benjamin (shown from a 2003 CD release) have Cajun-ized their Ottawa community and beyond.

After not getting around to writing up a promised review of their live at the bayou CD, I rechecked them. Their main website has been static for two years, including tour dates. I figured I had totally missed my chance.

No so.

They seem to have left that old site in favor of the trendier MySpace version. That has four full tunes to hear, but not download.

The CD Baby sales site for live at the bayou and for Trouble All The Time have multiple short, incomplete clips.

Like Cajun and zydeco or not, you have to admit that these are folk who have terrific fun with their music. They've made a living of it up where there are no bayous and where Cajuns were a forced export from the Atlantic end of the country a long time ago.

As most reviewers already note, there's a lot of Hank Williams in Benjamin's twangy renditions. Ball comes on mostly with the hyperactive fiddle. This is much more my wife's style of music than mine, but I could do an evening at a club with them on stage quite happily. Moreover, Williams was hard to look at and I rather doubt he ever wore a skirt with flounces, much less twirled it while he sang.

By the bye, Ball and Chain has four shows coming up in Ottawa in the early part of 2009.

Saddle to Jeans

Jeans god Michael Ball made the Financial Times this weekend. The Pedal Power piece on bicycles as the new fashion accessory reports that he's gone beyond serge de Nîmes.

The CEO of Rock and Republic is a cycling freak. As his company's site puts it:

Recognizing that Michael needed structure, his mother got him involved in sports. It proved to be the perfect place for him to channel his rebellious. Cycling became his sport of choice, and the key to adding structure, focus and direction to his life.

Cycling taught Michael team skills and the rewards of competition. But it was the bright colors and bold graphics of the team's uniforms that inspired his sense of design...

The FT notes that this Michael Ball, "...began his professional life on a bike. A track cyclist for years prior to starting his jeans line, Ball has also launched a racing team, Rock Racing. It includes two Olympic gold medalists, three Tour de France stage winners, and Oscar Sevilla Rivera, possibly the best young rider in the current Tour. Cyclists' clothing is also available via its website. 'The Rock Racing line is designed with a fashion eye, so that you're grabbed by the cyclist when he goes by,' says Ball of the range. 'It's a bit flamboyant, but also aerodynamic.'"

Another Blogging Mike Ball

Uh oh, this occasionally updated blog could become PR for the Alabama state representative with our name. I've run a good-sized bag of posts on him.

Now, I've found out that he is a regular blogger on Daily Dixie. That blog is run by a young political junkie, Dan Roberts.

Our Mike in Birmingham seems to be posting every week or two. He writes on legislative action...and inaction. To see samples of his posts, go here.

How Many Mikes

A chum, who is not one of us, sent me a link to a site alleging to use U.S. Census bureau to calculate how many of a first/last name combination were in the country at the 2000 count. HowManyOfMe.com lets you type in your names and search.

Note: There's no provision for middle names.

At the high end is the predictable John Smith, with 50,192.

I think if you want to feel special, you can use a nickname or a custom spelling. However, to get real on this, I found:

1,365 people named Michael Ball (and only 98 named Mike Ball).

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Tags: Mike Ball, Census, Michael Ball, HowManyOfMe

Mitt's Transient Honor

On the eve of Super Tuesday, 2008, our guy in Alabama joined the Leadership Team for Willard Mitt Romney. According to the Maritime Sentry blog, Mike led the state leadership group.

The blog reported:

Boston, MA – Today Governor Mitt Romney announced that several new Republican leaders in Alabama have joined his state Leadership Team. With Alabama's primary tomorrow, these Republican leaders will help mobilize Governor Romney's grassroots support in the state.

Announcing that these new Alabama leaders will be joining Romney for President, Romney Alabama Chairman Kay Ivey said, "Throughout this past year, our campaign in Alabama has grown steadily and is ready to mobilize Governor Romney's grassroots organization for tomorrow's primary. Today's announcement is yet another indication of the support Governor Romney enjoys in the state. We are all proud to be campaigning for his message of conservative change in a Washington that is fundamentally broken."

The Alabama Leadership Team Members:

- State Rep. Mike Ball
- State Rep. Chad Fincher
- State Rep. Barry Mask
- State Rep. Pat Moore
- State Rep. Elwyn Thomas
- State Board of Education Member David Byers
- Judge Kelli Wise
- Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby
- Vestavia Hills Mayor Scottie McCollum
- Randy and Kelly Owens
- Bob and June Russell

Of course, a few days after the massive set of primaries and caucuses, Romney abandoned his race. Mike remains high profile in Alabama Republican politics.

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Tags: Mike Ball, Alabama, Representative, Mitt Romney

Mike as Edna

Our namesake the U.K. singing star is on stage in London again. This time, he's in a fat suit.

Michael plays the mom, Edna Turnblad, in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

The Financial Times review includes:

Michael Ball as her mother Edna is grotesque because s/he is basically a pantomime dame in a fat suit (all those costume changes!), and moreover is filling the shoes of the late Divine, whose entire career was founded on bad taste...However, in every other respect, this is one of those pesky shows that absolutely refuses to be disliked. Ball is terrific as Edna Turnblad; he relishes the "draggier" moments (the extravagant frocks, the sudden drop to basso for a word or two), but also knows how and when to - well, I hesitate to use the word "underplay" of a show like this.

This Michael is trim and must be pretty comfortable with himself to take the role. Good on him.

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Tags: manymikes, singer, London, Hairspray

'Bama Mike Fighting Poverty

Wow, talk about empathy, the Alabama Rep with our name knows from poverty and is leading a front on it at home. A poignant recounting in the Decatur Daily News reveals how he earned his understanding.

Mike (shown here in part of a family picture was born in 1954 in a California charity hospital. His early childhood in Stockton was poor. He knows that this puts him in a position to understand and help others. As the article puts it:

"Poverty is a complex thing; every family has a different story. There is no one-size-fits-all solution," Ball said. "My perspective is not from reading research papers and looking at surveys. I have a different take on poverty." Ball said it is important to teach people how to make good choices and how to discourage bad choices. He speaks with the authority of someone who lived both ways as a child.

He had a tough life in many ways, including seeing his father killed in a sawmill accident. He made his way through school and earned a spot at the table.

He now co-chairs the new House Task Force on Poverty. He doesn't believe in, and doesn't believe it is necessary, to throw money at the problem of poverty. Instead, the article continues,"Ball said it is important to teach people how to make good choices and how to discourage bad choices. He speaks with the authority of someone who lived both ways as a child."

Blog note: You can search above for "Alabama" in this blog to find numerous other small posts on this Mike Ball.

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Tags: Mike Ball, Alabama, Representative, poverty

Mike and Moe -- Two Days Only!

The talk radio Mike Ball is back with his old co-host buddy Maureen Egan (Moe to fans) tomorrow and Friday only. [The regular fans of Mike and Moe in the Morning who check in here will surely hope this leads to more of the team, maybe a full-time show again.]

Catch them April 26th and 27th from 10 a.m. to noon. If you're near Nashua, New Hampshire, tune to 1590 AM, WSMN. You can listen over the web too, from anywhere. Navigate to www.wsmnradio.com, and then click Listen Live! at the top of the home page.

The word from Mike is:

For those who missed Mike and Moe in the Morning, here's your chance to hear us again (for a limited time only) while we fill in for Jennifer Horn. We would love to talk to you tomorrow or Friday so please make plans to join us -we'll be featuring "Open Lines" so any subject you want is up for discussion.

His promo for the previous morning show was:

Mike got an early start in broadcasting when, at the tender age of 9, he impersonated sportscaster Howard Cosell in an interview with a house full of kids. Sadly, the rest of Mike’s career has been a slow but steady decline from this pinnacle of broadcasting excellence. Even more troubling, tapes still exist of this interview. Born and raised in Orlando, Mike spent childhood summer vacations perfecting his accent with his cousins in Thomasville, Georgia. Mike graduated from William R. Boone High School in Orlando in 1984 and enrolled at the University of Florida to pursue a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After a couple of semesters, Mike and his high school sweetheart, Janine (A.K.A. She Who Must Be Obeyed), were married. First daughter Ashley was born in December of 1987. The arrival of the little bundle of joy caused Mike to switch majors to his other passion, History, in an effort to get on with his career and actually make some cash. After graduation in 1991, Mike got back into the family construction business, working first as a laborer and then as a project manager for his dad’s company. Mike stayed in the construction industry, accepting a project manager’s job in 1994 in Columbus, Ohio. The Ball family (now with new members Stephen, born in 1990, and Allyson, born in 1992) moved to New Hampshire in 1998 due to Janine’s career relocation for a major retailer. Mike continued in the construction industry for another year before hearing the siren call of broadcasting once again (O.K., in reality, Mike was listening to the Dan Pierce Show while on a construction site when he heard an ad for a board operator position - so maybe “siren call” is a bit over the top). Mike started out as the overnight board op on what was then “New Hampshire’s Action News Network”. In a classic case of being in the right place at the right time, Mike was promoted to weekend news producer and sportscaster when the previous producer left to join the U.S. Army. Shortly thereafter, Mike was promoted to producer of The Woody Woodland Show when the morning show producer retired after 20 years on the job. Mike was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be the “fill in” host whenever Woody was away and this led to the creation of The Big Show with Mike Ball which airs Saturdays from 6 – 9 AM. A major reshuffling of the morning news lineup gave Mike another opportunity. This time as Sports Director and co-producer of New Hampshire’s 1st News with Marga Lynn and Dan Pierce. Mike gained valuable experience working with these 2 news veterans and upon the next reshuffling, Mike took over as co-host of the morning drive program with Maureen “Moe” Egan on November 5, 2001. Mike and Moe then transformed New Hampshire’s 1st News into “Mike and Moe In The Morning”.

And now....The Big Show with Mike Ball will become the all new Weekday Morning Show as well!

Live at a Station Near You (Maybe)

Mike Ball fans -- and which of you reading this isn't a fan or a Mike Ball? -- get several shots this week to hear the broadcaster again.

He's filling in all this week from 10 to noon on the On the Air With Jennifer Horn show. That's out of Nashua, New Hampshire, at 1590 AM.

If you are out of area, you can listen live from www.wsmnradio.com. At the top of the site, click (cleverly enough) Listen Live! to hear the stream.

This is talk radio and he is famous for his call-in segments. You can join in during the show by using the station's number, 603-883-9900.

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Tags: manymikes, talk radio, New Hampshire

Who's Calling My Name?

I listened to Mike Ball on New Hampshire AM radio this morning. I'm not close enough for the signal, but the stream worked fine on the WSMN's site. In a week or so, the podcasts of the two hours should be up for listening.

Several of his fans called in. Of course, it was talk radio, so they had comments and questions. However, they also greeted him personally. Typical was Bob saying, "Nice to hear you on the radio again."

When they asked him if it was true that he would sign on to a local radio station soon, he replied, "You never know. You gotta keep your options open."

We also learned that while he was in Florida, he got a realty license.

Personally, I found it disconcerting to hear callers say his name repeatedly. I involuntarily looked up. Aren't I Mike Ball?

By the bye, while our politics are divergent, I find him enjoyable to hear. He has a nice tone and delivery. He's calm and not at all strident or catty like so many conservative talk show hosts. He doesn't say things just to get a rise out of people.

Good on him.

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Tags: manymikes, talk radio, New Hampshire