Welcome

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Stephen Hammill

This is the official site for the works and music of Stephen Hammill.

A digital communications specialist with several years experience in media and public relations, I’ve worked to create content utilizing new media while training others to do the same.

A New York native, I now live in Portland, OR. My resume and portfolio can be found here. Click here for my music both as a solo artist and member of the band Life of Pi.

For my blog, look below. For more timely updates, read my Twitter feed to the right. For everything else, use the menu at top of the page.

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PPSC, the Portland Pick-up Soccer Club, reaches 250 members

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Stephen Hammill

Fellow Portland soccer player Andrew Callaci began the Portland Pick-up Soccer Club (PPSC) on Facebook a little over a year ago. In that time, we’ve grown the group to more than 250 members.

PPSC features seasonal fixed weekly games, plus a bunch of on-the-fly games.

All skill levels are welcome to join PPSC. No membership, fees or player’s card required. Just join the group, see a game you’d like to attend and show up. Bring a light and dark shirt to help even out the teams.

If you live in/near Portland and are looking to play some footy, check out the PPSC group here at http://www.facebook.com/groups/PortlandPickUpSoccerers/.

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We play soccer inside to get away from the rain

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Stephen Hammill

Here are some cool action shots, taken by Andrew Callaci, during a game at Soccerplex in Beaverton.

Continue reading →

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The Google+ circle conundrum: searching for new names for my “friends”

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Stephen Hammill

One thing Google+ forces me to think about — something Facebook never did: What do I call all these digital acquaintances of mine?

In Facebook world, everyone is a “friend,” which is simple enough, if not true in real life. Google+ offers circles, places where we can box-in the people we know into as many customized categories as we see fit.

The obvious circles are, well, obvious — coworkers, colleagues, family, people you went to school with, exes. But what about the big vague one: your “friends?”

Within the first few days of using Google+, I realized my “friends” circle was starting to look like my Facebook friends list: an expanding collection of people with whom I had extremely varied levels of contact, from the daily to, well, the never.

I realized what I really need are some new names for these types of friendships. If the Eskimos have 1,000 words for snow, I should have more than one name for my friends. What I need is a new taxonomy. Continue reading →

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Planes, trains and ferries; travel to New York by way of Boston

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Stephen Hammill

It was a busy week/weekend of cross-country travel for me. I took the red-eye to Boston Wednesday night for a two-day meeting/site visit with the good folks at Health Leads. We did some hands-on social media training and also took the first steps toward building their new website to launch next year.

Friday saw me take just about every conceivable method of transportation (minus helicopter) to get down to New York for a relaxing weekend with the family. The ferry ride across the Long Island Sound — during a zero-visibility rainstorm, at dusk — was a little harrowing.

It being just a week removed from my mom’s 60th birthday, it was great to spend some quality time with her and enjoy some good meals and time outdoors in the sunny New York July, something I’ve not experienced in years. On my last day out before flying back to Portland, we lunched in Port Jefferson. Some pics: Continue reading →

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Posted on June 27, 2011 by Stephen Hammill
Coding. A time-suck, but also occasionally monastic in nature. #ZenPHP
June 27, 2011 12:15 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@stephensolo
Stephen Hammill
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My top 5 favorite bestest U.S. cities

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Stephen Hammill

A native East-coaster now living on the west coast, I’ve finally reached a place where I can say I visited every U.S. on my wish list.* A friend asked for my current favorites, so here they are (in alphabetical order):

Austin, TX
Awesome: great food (cheap but good); affordable living; bars; music; cowboy hats/boots on non-cowboys; weird; liberal
Con: lack of good public transit, too hot, it’s in Texas

Chicago, IL
Awesome: affordable living; bars; music; ocean; public transit; good sports culture
Con: way too cold in winter; far from the coasts

New York City, NY
Awesome: good public transit; liberal city; bars; music; great sports culture; cultural panoply
Con: too expensive; really spread out in some boroughs; cold in winter

Portland, OR Continue reading →

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A true football derby on American soil: 500 strong from Portland to Seattle

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Stephen Hammill

Last weekend I had a chance to be part of a traveling football supporters group for the first time, as along with 500 Timbers Army members I took a bus caravan up to Seattle for the first-ever MLS match between America’s most bitter soccer rivals: Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders.

It wasn’t just a first for me. This was the largest-ever traveling contingent for a soccer club in the history of the United States, and it would have been even larger had there been more tickets made available.

The national sports media was there (I managed to make it on ESPN a few times, without doing anything that would make my mom blush). The league, and, to some extent, the entire North American footballing culture, were watching to see if the hype was just that, to see if the rivalry would erupt, and to see if we’d behave ourselves. Continue reading →

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Helping a friend make the movie Birds of Paradise

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Stephen Hammill

If you have a few bucks to spare, please check out a film project some friends are working hard to get funded.

The movie, Birds of Paradise, is to be shot in LA with some very talented people, including my friend, writer Sarah Gerard.

They’re trying to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter before June 8 and if they don’t reach the goal, none of the money comes through. You can check out a teaser trailer for the movie here.

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Song of the day: “Of Up and Coming Monarchs”

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Stephen Hammill

David Bazan feels very Portland to me. This one’s been in the earphones walking downtown and while flying around the country lately, from Pedro the Lion‘s It’s Hard To Find a Friend.

“Of Up and Coming Monarchs”

Lyrics:

sunken ships rest
upon the ocean floor
where i’ve made my home
to dodge the draft once more
there once was a time one could flee to the north
but Canada’s not what she used to be
boycott the war when she could not afford to
thanks to the new American queen
swim with me
and we’ll escape all the troubles of the present age
finally free

the mermaids teach us
how to breathe beneath
the line that now divides
actions from apathy

swim with me
and we’ll escape all the troubles of the present age
finally free

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