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Posted 10:58 PM by Jackson Cooper |

After a long, frustrating day at work, I went out to take in some great music last night.

Of course, I didn't leave until the tornado passed. Or to be more accurate, until what looked on radar kind of like what might under some conditions turn into a tornado-producing storm. Sometimes. But the sirens were wailing, and the teevee was bleeping, so I stayed in until what turned out to be a little bit of hard rain passed.

Then it was down to the BBC for a completely packed Roundabout show. These guys are the cream of the crop in Louisville bluegrass. And even though most of the people in the BBC were just there for the Oktoberfest, they really seemed to enjoy the show. But the place really was packed, so it was even more difficult than usual to get a drink.

After that show ended, a couple of my friends and I headed down to Longshots to catch the wonderful Johnny B and his Honky Tonk band. Normally, Johnny is joined by Steve Cooley on guitar. But last night we were treated to the guitar wizardry of mister Guthrie Trapp. This guy is ridiculously good and is equally impressive playing honky tonk, bluegrass or jazz. Top notch.

And as a result of that night of fun, I slept until noon. But in the interest of keeping-up my streak of bad nights of sleep, my calf pulled itself into a tight knot in the middle of the night. I leapt out of bed, trying to pull the muscle back into its natural position. When I hit the floor, putting weight on that leg brought forth a horribly high pitched squeal of pain from yours truly. The cramp eventually relented and I fell into bed, quite relieved that I didn't have to get up in the morning.

So, around noon, I was pulled down from my cloud of late morning sleep by the ringing of my phone. Of course. It was my boss.

He wanted to make sure I knew that I needed to come in and fix this goddamned monitor before Monday. It sure was nice of him to let me know.

So, to work for the fourth weekend in a row. Awful.

Then I swung by dad's to pick up a baseball bat for the big game tomorrow, ate some kick-ass stir fry, and played him in a few games of pool. I managed to win one - out of five. I was considering going up to the BBC again for the Rockabilly show, but I've given them soooo much of my money lately that I thought I'd give my wilting debit card a rest.

I may get up there tomorrow for Fire the Saddle, but only for a little while, because it's baseball day tomorrow at 4 o'clock! Kick ass!

Posted 10:19 PM by Jackson Cooper |

There are few things I like less than installing and configuring Windows. And that's what I've been doing. All day long. I'm trying to set up a little wireless network for us to use at IBMA, and it's not going well.

I've never messed with this wireless business before, but it seems pretty simple. I'm working with pathetic old leftover machines. And that's complicating matters quite a bit.

I'd currently rather be in the dentist's chair, having my teeth removed with a ball-peen hammer.

Posted 5:12 PM by Jackson Cooper |

They have rules for what can and cannot appear on a vanity license plate, right?

If so, then I wonder how the freaky-looking dude in the Lincon TownCar managed to get what he got. Because, as I was driving down the Waterston on the way to work today, it struck me that:



might be construed as inappropriate by some.

Maybe it's just me.

Posted 5:04 PM by Jackson Cooper |

I have pictures on this website. But I am by no means a good photographer. And as is painfully evident, I am not a talented web designer. My training is in the nuts and bolts programming end of things. I like to think of myself as creative, but I am not trained in the arts and my talents in that area are not refined.

So, like I said, I'm not a photographer. Nor am I particularly skilled in creative web design. However, this beautiful and talented young woman is both. Very much.

This pencam photo essay centers on places all less than a mile from my apartment, and they have never looked better.

Posted 11:05 AM by Jackson Cooper |

These are hilarious. Snoop and Willie Nelson tie for my favorites.
(link via the excellent BlogCritics)

Posted 5:25 PM by Jackson Cooper |

Nice. I was this guy's Louisville Link of the Day.

Posted 9:28 AM by Jackson Cooper |

As I type, The Kruger Brothers are playing no more than ten feet away. They came by the shop today for a little visit, since we sponsor them. From Switzerland, the Krugers are one of my favorite Bluegrass groups...

Damn. Sorry. I had to go back and listen a little more. Those guys are sheer genius.

Anyway, The first time I saw them was at last year's Merlefest, right after I started this job. That was the same festival where I saw Gillian Welch (with whom I am completely in love), Alison Krauss and Union Station, Patty Loveless, Doc Watson, Nickel Creek, Tony Rice, Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, and so many more. But the Krugers stood out in that crowd. Jens' banjo work is phenomenal. It sounds like Beethoven if Beethoven was a Swiss Bluegrass musician. Uwe's guitar playing is equally impressive. His giant hands floating up and down the neck, in between the frets, the notes dance in step with the banjo. And then there is Joel's resophonic bass. I've never heard a more pleasing acoustic bass sound in my life.

So, as they play, right now, in the next room, I can only sit here in awe. How can everyone in the world not love these guys and their music? (Listen Here) Go buy their cds right now.

Aw man, and now Mike Cleveland, fiddle player of the year, jumped in there on mandolin! I can't stand it!

Posted 2:49 PM by Jackson Cooper |

Many thanks to Julz of Complex in the city, another fine Louisville weblog, for her advice regarding law school. This still is my primary goal, and I've been seeking advice on that topic from many sources.

Aside from the aforementioned advice, I read a good series by Pejman Yousefzadeh over at the Pejman Pundit
Part One: Getting In and Surviving Your First Year
Part Two: Extracurricular Honors
Part Three: The Job Hunt - aka - The Real Reason You Came To Law School

I also had a nice conversation with local journalist Paul Curry at the Paul Burch / Caitlin Cary show at Headliners. Curry, who's CD and dining reviews I enjoy very much, is also one of the cheapest lawyers in town. He basically was in the same position I am in now when he decided to go to Law School. And although he took out a bunch of student loans to get through, he says it was one of the best and most intellectually rewarding times of his life. I picked his brain for details, and was rewarded generously. After that night, I was pretty much sold on the idea.

Posted 11:46 AM by Jackson Cooper |

I usually stay out of political commentary on here, because there are so many others who do it so well. But JESUS CHRIST! I was watching ABC's This Week w/Stephanopoulos when he interviewed David Bonior and Jim McDermott and just about shot my TV.

I'm not sold on the war with Iraq. I'm in favor of disarming Saddam, and if it takes a war, so be it. But I'm not chomping at the bit to get it on.

But damn damn damn. These two idiots were broadcasting live out of Baghdad for their interview and although I wasn't alive for Jane Fonda's trip to North Vietnam, I can imagine it came across something like this interview. And what's worse, these two are elected officials!

I'm relying on memory here, but they said we should take the Iraqis at face value when they said they'll let inspectors in. Didn't Iraq just say they wouldn't? Or at least not unfettered access, which would be absolutely necessary for disarmament. And then they say we should at least let them fail to comply before going to war. But are we at war right now? Who said we won't let them fail? Even though they've essentially turned us away already.

And in what shocked me almost as much as hearing those two morons, Stephanopoulos actually called them on it. He did a good job. But they squirmed and fell back on the well-debunked half a million dead Iraqi children myth.

Then they start to talk about how they think Bush is willing to lie to get us into war with Iraq. RIGHT AFTER saying that we should trust the Iraqis! Unbelievable!

Like I said, I'm not much of a political pundit, but I couldn't shut up about this one.

Posted 8:32 PM by Jackson Cooper |