Battle of the Bands

Attention all INMATES, it's that time!  Poor the drinks.  Turn down the lights.  And cue Michael Buffer...

Join The Parole Board this Tuesday night, September 30, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. at the Gas Monkey in Dallas for a Battle Royale of the music variety.  Come watch as four musical acts compete for a chance to have one of their songs featured in the upcoming Life Behind Bars movie.  And as if that wasn't enough, the winning musical act will also get a trip to Cancun, Mexico!  The four musical acts are (in no particular order):

1. Kendall Beard;
2. A Life In Arms Reach;
3. Generation Wasted; and
4. Evening Crowd.

Plus there will be a special performance from Matthew JC and the Allstars Band!  

But a winner can't be declared without the INMATES casting their votes.  So, come ready to sip some tasty cocktails, listen to the great music and exercise your right to vote.  You can buy presale tickets for the Battle of the Bands events here for the discounted price of $5.00.  All presale tickets will be available for pickup the night of the event at will call.  Just make sure you bring your ID. 

Also, the Life Behind Bars film crew will be live on location during the event to capture footage for the upcoming movie and to interview INMATES that are in attendance.  Does the camera love you?  If so, you might just find yourself making a cameo in our movie.  

 TOAST!   

INMATE Expansion

I was looking at the analytics for the LBB blog and found it interesting that in the past week, we have had pageviews from Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Germany, the UK and Mexico.  Pretty cool.  If this was the board game Risk, Life Behind Bars would be well on its way to global dominance. 

If you happen to be in a country outside of the United States and you are viewing this blog, please let us know about it by emailing us at info@lbbinmate.com.  Also, if you want more information about Life Behind Bars, check out our website here http://www.lifebehindbarsisthebomb.com.  Toast. 

Going Back to Cali

Since The Parole Board released the teaser video for Life Behind Bars The Series, we've received a lot of inquires about the project.  Many INMATES have asked how they could be a part of the show.  One thing we keep letting everyone know is, assuming we are able to get the funding that we need, we will begin casting calls soon.  Also, the plan is to use original music in the series, so we will be searching for musicians to assist us in writing a soundtrack.

However, before any of that can happen, we will have to raise enough money to fund the project.  Hence our recent campaign on Indeigogo.  If you don't know what I am referring to, click here to watch the teaser video, to learn more about the show concept and to see how you can help http://www.indiegogo.com/lifebehindbars/x/1849014?c=home 

We have set a goal of $50,000 and have given ourselves 88 days to get there.  Already we have received several donations and we are extremely happy.  Of course though, we are a long way from our goal.  But, get this, today we received calls from Fox and from the producers of American Idol and X Factor.  And that's not the first time producers in L.A. have contacted us about the show.  And, just like before, both of these companies were interested in the concept and wanted to learn more.  Can't really tell you how exciting it is that Hollywood wants to know about Life Behind Bars.

Again, we are still at the very beginning of this process, but so far, things are going well.  My plan is to keep you updated each step of the way. Raise your glasses, this is an exciting time for Life Behind Bars and all the INMATES.  

TOAST.

Life Behind Bars The Series

Alright INMATES, I promised you a look at the teaser trailer for Life Behind Bars The Series and here it is.  Below you will find a link to Indiegogo, the website we are using to help raise enough capital to commence the filming of Life Behind Bars The Series.  

In the past, many of you have asked The Parole Board, "What can I do to help Life Behind Bars?"  The INMATES are amazing...constantly volunteering their time to assist LBB's growth.  It's quite remarkable how loyal of a group the INMATES are.  Which is exactly what LBB is all about - uniting the service industry.  And with this project, we hope to do just that.

As you know, despite the generosity of the INMATES, we don't solicit financial donations.  The Parole Board is completely against that. Reminds us of the tactics Robert Tilton, Ed Young and so many other televangelists have used to help fatten their pocketbooks.  They promise you a blessed life in exchange for your hard earned money.  Meanwhile, innocent people are giving their grocery money to the church while the pastors are living lavishly on their Lear Jets   Not our style.  It's complete bullshit and that's not what Life Behind Bars is about.

Rather, we aim to give back to the INMATES through the group page, the events, the insurance fund and so much more.  We love facilitating INMATE connections across the map.  And we enjoy raising money for charities, injured INMATES and for people in need.    I believe that anyone associated with LBB would agree.

All that being said, for the first time, we are asking INMATES for help.  In order to produce Life Behind Bars The Series, we need enough capital to hire the team and get to work.  We are offering incentives to each person that contributes money to the cause.  Even $5 helps.  If you click on the link below, you will be able to read all about the project, what we need and what our goals are.  You will also find more information about the incentives we are offering in exchange for financial donations.  

So, although I can't promise you that your donation will get you that ticket to heaven, I can assure you that your money will be spent on creating Life Behind Bars The Series, a show that will show the world what being an INMATE is all about.  More importantly, your donation guarantees that you will be a fundamental part of the entire process.

       

Please click on the link below, check it out and spread the word.  Until next time, TOAST!

http://www.indiegogo.com/lifebehindbars/x/1849014?c=home

Guess Who's Back?

Well, it's been a while.  Too long, some might say.  But please believe that still waters run deep and despite the lack of updates on the Life Behind Bars blog, The Parole Board has been busy.  Actually busy doesn't adequately describe what has been going on behind the scenes.  And that is exactly why this blog needs to be resurrected.

I just left a Parole Board meeting with The Lifer and The Warden and wanted to take a few minutes to let the INMATES know what's on the horizon.  Many of you might be aware that the Life Behind Bars teaser video premiered at the Magnolia Theater recently.  For those of you that aren't in the know, the LBB teaser is a short video that serves as a preview for our upcoming project (below are a few screen shots from the video).

The Parole Board is really excited about the teaser video because we are finally turning a decade long project into a reality.  We have been working on a script for a show about Life Behind Bars for years.    Taking notes during and after bar shifts since the start of the new millennium, the plan from day one has been to create a show that details the lives of INMATES by taking an authentic look into the service industry lifestyle.  The show will feature several unique characters each complete with their own struggles from balancing bartending with working in the corporate world, to dealing with relationship problems, to just trying to make ends meet, all while living one shot at a time.  Life Behind Bars the show will serve as an insider look at life in the service industry and will have an Entourage-esque vibe. 

We are currently putting together the final pieces before we commence our global campaign to raise enough capital to complete the project.  As of now, we have a lot of prospects and many interested investors.  However, before we can go down that path, we have a little more housekeeping matters to attend to.  But, don't fret, we will keep you in the loop and just in case you missed the premiere of the teaser video, you'll get a chance to see it very soon.

Until next time...

- The Lawyer  

DAMN THE MAN!

INMATES - Congress is attempting to pass legislation that, despite it's plausible good intentions, could affect freedom of speech on the internet. If passed, the bills would make unauthorized media streaming a felony and hold the web publishers and hosting services responsible for curbing their users from posting copyright-infringed content.

What this means is that a wide range of online communities like YouTube, Twitter,Facebook and Life Behind Bars would have to censor users or get shut down and ordinary users could be imprisoned for five years for posting any copyrighted work.

Considering how much we value our ability to speak our minds, especially within this forum, I highly recommend you read more about this and if you decide you are against this legislation, click the link below and sign the petition (it takes less than 30 seconds).  Make your voice heard.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

More Money, MORE Problems?

I had a conversation with The Lifer tonight that was rather entertaining.  The first part of the call was strictly business.  We were discussing numerous details about the upcoming event.  It seems The Parole Board will not be getting much sleep in the next few days! 

The last minutes of the call were spent laughing about how broke we are because of LBB.  You see, each one of us on The Parole Board puts in a lot of money, time and effort into the company.  To say that we are passionate about LBB would be an vast understatement.    

At times, we all question whether we are going to be able to get LBB off the ground as we envision.  We never did start this to make money.  The original idea was just to share some stories.  That's been the plan for years.  But, since the formation of the facebook group, things have accelerated faster than any of us could believe.  The growth in popularity has pushed us creatively and allowed us to conjure up some great concepts/ideas for the future (in my opinion).  However, in order to take LBB where we want to go, we will definitely need money.

So, there have been several instances during The Parole Board's daily meetings where at least one of us mentions the fact that we need more money to take LBB to the next level.  We know we are on the right path, but it's a difficult one.  This is not a company funded by investors.  There is no bank loan.  And we aren't wealthy individuals.  In fact, we are all broke.  And we are putting in a lot of hours into the company.  I know that I am personally putting in about 30 hours a week in LBB related work.  I would say The Lifer and The Warden each work at least that much on the company also.  This is, of course, in addition to our other jobs.

Without a steady cash flow we will never be able to start our non-profit organization (charity).  We want to create a charity that will help raise money to pay for living expenses of INMATES that are injured/sick and cannot work.  Most INMATES, if they aren't working, don't have a way to pay bills - the plan is to help them out.  Maybe we won't be able to pay too much to each individual person, or maybe you have to work a certain number of hours per week to qualify, but some assistance is better than nothing.  We don't have all the details worked out yet, but what we do know is that if the Screen Actors Guild offers catastrophic insurance for actors, INMATES should have something similar.  We also know that it takes money to run a charity.     

Anyway, the point is, we have a lot of ideas that will help benefit the service industry but without money, none of those will happen.  This was discussed in tonight's conversation with The Lifer.  We laughed about how much we work for nothing.  Running LBB is akin to unrequited love because we all love LBB despite the company not showing us much love in return.  Each dollar we make goes back into the company with what seems like $4 or $5 of our own money!  The Lifer said in jest that he's so broke he can't even afford to replace his old ragged boxers so he's just going to have to start wearing the LBB boyshorts.  That proceeded to start us down a path of laughing so much that my stomach hurt.  And we ended up the call on a positive note. 

Anyway, I'm not even sure what the point of this article is.  I do know that the best part about running a business with two other people that are as dedicated as you is, knowing that every minute I spend working on LBB, my business partners are doing the same thing.  And I can promise you this, the fact that the INMATES have been so supportive of the company helps motivate The Parole Board to work even harder.  Accomplishing our goals means every single person that has supported LBB will benefit and have fun along the way. Toast! 

LBB Website

We are quickly approaching the start of 2012 which means two things for Life Behind Bars.  One, the New Year's Casino Riot is right around the corner.  And two, we have a lot of late nights ahead of us over these next couple weeks in order to get our website ready to launch. 

Creating a website is a very involved process.  Prior to this, my only website creating experience was for my law practice.  Maybe I am using the wrong terminology when I say "create."  I did absolutely none of the coding.  I'd be better off attempting to translate hieroglyphics than to explain what HTML 5 means.  I simply told someone what I wanted it to look like.  Anyway, the point is, the website I used for my law practice was quite simple.  Only a few different pages of information. 

On the other end of the spectrum is the website for Life Behind Bars.  There are a lot more than a few pages within the site and there are a ton of functions.  We hired a really skilled web designer to take our ideas and implement them into the site.  Things are going well, but we still have a lot left to do.     

We have a lot of ideas and it's important that we don't sacrifice the quality of the site for the sake of releasing it as soon as possible.  The plan was to launch the site by the next event (January 1, 2012).   Jerry, the web designer, is definitely capable of getting it ready by then.  The issue is that the more we work on it, the more ideas we get.  And with each new idea, means more work for everyone.  And more work means delaying the launch date...again.

That being said, we don't mind more work.  In fact, we embrace it.  For once we have found ourselves in a situation where work does not equate to misery.  Running Life Behind Bars is actually fun.  It's time consuming and can be stressful but, we love it.  We have met some amazing people and can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for LBB. 

But, I digress.  I was just talking about how with each new idea for the website, we have to delay the launch date.  At least that was our mentality.  Now we are looking at things from a different angle.  Instead of trying to complete the site and then launch it, we are instead going to get the website to a good point and then launch it with the expectation of having the site change as new ideas surface.

I suppose Mark Zuckerberg (the creator of FaceBook) was right when he said, "The site [Facebook] will never be finished, that's the point.  The way fashion's never finished."  It's a strange comparison, but it's true.  Fashion is never finished.  It simply evolves.  As will the LBB website.  We now understand that we will never arrive at a point in time where we step back and tell ourselves, the site is complete.  That's just not going to happen.  For if it did, that would mean we were selling ourselves, and more importantly, the INMATES, short.  

Soapbox Derby Race

So, I was on the phone with The Warden earlier and he told me something rather interesting.  Red Bull apparently has a national soapbox derby race.  This year, the race was in Los Angeles.  This competition looks like a lot fun.  According to a reliable source within the company, Red Bull considers anything less than 50,000 in attendance to be a failure.  The size of this party is really beyond the comprehension of most people.

Here is a little background info about the event (taken from the website):

The race is open to anyone who not only thinks they can build the greatest thing on four wheels, but is actually willing to drive their creation downhill. One car will race on a closed track. You will actually be racing against the clock. Not literally, of course. Clocks don't know how to drive soapbox cars. But, winners will be selected, in part, based on their course times.

Drivers must be 18 years of age or older, and four “mechanics” of any age will make up your pit crew. They’ll give you the push you need to get you off the starting ramp. But no engines, gas, batteries, electrical cords or catapults are allowed. And nothing can be mounted, screwed into or glued to the pavement in any way, shape or form. The vehicle definitely should have brakes, however, because we can’t be held responsible for stopping you.

Your soapbox car must weigh less than 176 lbs., not including the driver. You don’t want your mechanics pulling a hammy. Also, all vehicles must be less than six feet wide and 20 feet in length and no more than seven feet high. Also, no pre-fabricated vehicles allowed, which is just a fancy way of saying that you have to come up with the design yourself.

In 2012, the race is coming to Dallas.  Austin Ranch to be exact.  Anyone that has been there, knows about the steep hill on Windhaven Parkway.  Well, that is the exact location this race will take place in the fall of 2012.  So, The Parole Board decided that the race needs an INMATE car.  After some brainstorming, we came up with a great idea (at least we think so) for the design of the soapbox car.  I don't want to give away anything yet, but I promise to keep you updated as we make progress. 

To read more about the event, click here http://www.redbullsoapboxusa.com/.   

Welcome

I plan on using this blog to give INMATES some insight into my thoughts and more of a behind-the-scenes of what goes on with Life Behind Bars.  The Parole Board has a lot going on right now and I want to document the growth of the company.  So, I will post updates, stories and various things pertaining to Life Behind Bars and also interject some other thoughts along the way.