Ok, so here are a couple things that may or may not be related. I leave that for you, kind reader, to decide.

First, since I'm planning to go see the new Harry Potter movie with some folks I thought it would be a good idea to see the first one. I haven't spent many nights at home doing nothing in a while, so I decided to take advantage of a free Friday night to rent some movies. In addition to the wizard flick, I grabbed Lord of the Rings. I had plans to see that one when it came out. But I never did. And then when it was initially released on DVD I had every intention of going right out and renting it. But I didn't. So with the sequels to both of these movies on the verge of coming out, I saw both for the first time.

I've never been much for the fantasy genre, but I enjoyed both. Even more than the movies, I enjoyed the night at home doing nothing at all.

So here comes the second topic.

I need to start going out on dates. Lots of them. There are many things that lead me to say this, but primary amongst those is the fact that I am going out all the time and doing things. And believe me, I'm having a lot of fun. But the things I do are not particularly suited to meeting nice, smart young ladies.

Take for example the weekly Bluegrass jam. There is a decent crowd there every week. And the waitresses there are all gorgeous. But they are paid to be nice to you, and I'd feel like a total creep trying to make time with someone I pay on a regular basis. So how about the rest of the crowd? Well, as you can imagine the bluegrass crowd is not very young, on average. And as I've stated before, most of my best friends are all around ten years older than me. Most of their friends are either married, involved, or not interested in 23 year-olds. At all.

There are other young ladies who happen by the BBC on Wednesday night, but I'll be damned if I have ever seen one come in without a boyfriend. Or girlfriend.

And so goes the story. Just not that many opportunities to meet available young women.

I don't think I'm alone in this dilemma. I've hit the personal ad sections of all the big websites. MSN, Yahoo, and best of all, The Onion. But that creepiness factor is unavoidable. I am not going to go to one of those places, set up a profile saying how I just want to find someone smart and witty in town who's looking to have fun and then eventually have to pay to send pitiful electronic applications for attention. Too creepy. And man, if you start browsing the ads for dudes looking for chicks, you realize very quickly that there are a LOT of us out there. And the few poor girls who set up their profiles must be inundated with weird guys' requests.

I'm a witty guy. And I don't have a problem talking to the ladies. I mean sure, I don't have much luck when I do, but who does? Josh Hartnett?

So what am I looking for here? Advice? I don't know. Does anyone out there have advice? Probably not. Tony Pierce talks a lot about going out on dates with amazing women. He's got a great attitude about it. Who knows if he's getting serious with anyone? As it says on his BusBlog, "nothing in here is true". But he's obviously got the right idea. Get the hell out there and go out with 'em. It certainly can't hurt to ask. Well, actually it can, but it won't kill you.

I'll bet there are lots and lots of ladies out there who would love to be asked out. To hell with not being the best looking dude on the block. If I waited until I was, I'd never meet anybody.

Alright, let's tie it all back in here. Less movies about elves, wizards, dragons, demons and ogres and more dating. So look out ladies. You may be on the receiving end of a bold proposition real soon. And if you're going to say no, just be gentle.

Posted 12:46 AM by Jackson Cooper |

Man, what year is it? 1992?

Posted 5:30 PM by Jackson Cooper |

I'm heading up to Cincinnati Saturday to see THE BLASTERS! And since I've been recently added to the list of folks who can submit to Blogcritics, I might make the write-up my first submission. That assumes, of course, that the notoriously unreliable Blasters do not cancel.

Posted 10:45 AM by Jackson Cooper |

Without reservation, I implore you to go immediately and pre-order Tony Pierce's as of yet untitled BusBlogBook. Tony was one of my main inspirations for starting this site and he continues to be the standard up to which I hold myself. This book will contain, along with other special surprises, the best of his blog entries from the past year. It may be the first of its kind, but being such a good idea I can't imagine more people not following Tony's lead.

Go now! Buy early and buy often. Support the one of the most creative and interesting writers on the net.

And while you're in the book buying mood, you should get Ken Layne's Dot Con. It's full of crime, hi-tech intrigue, gonzo journalism and murder. It's a terribly fun read.

Posted 10:35 AM by Jackson Cooper |

Here's an update on the Louisville Blogger Party idea.

***Correction*** As you can tell from Caleb's comment below, I may have jumped the gun on the party location. For that, I apologize. Here's the correction:

Unless things change, the proposed Louisville Blogger Party will be at my apartment on December 14th. It's not huge, but will accommodate enough people. I think. If anyone out there has a house and is willing to play host, drop me a line. E-mail me or leave a comment if you have any ideas.

Rhondalicious of Very Black is excited and votes no for bars. I think that's already out as an idea, so stay excited!

Michelle of On A Path is also excited about a party and not excited about a bar. So that's two definite votes against bars. What do you people do with your free time if you aren't drowning your sorrows in alcohol? Am I missing out on something?

p.s. Ciscley over at On My Mind has another good idea about a blogger get-together. I'm up for it, but I guess I should at least see the first movie first, right?

Posted 4:39 PM by Jackson Cooper |

I added a link to my buddy Tom's site over there on the left. But it is worth explaining in further detail. Tom is a good friend of mine, and we have spent many, many Friday nights talking music, politics, movies and literature. He's an ex school teacher, ex punk rocker (maybe not all the way ex, right Tom?), current printer / graphic designer and excellent cartoonist to boot. In fact, you can see a bunch of his print work hiding in the pictures from Jamfest. And I swear I didn't know that when I took the pictures.

But really folks, go check out his site. He's got some of the most interesting music writing I've read in a long time. And links to some fantastic MP3's and Real streams ( including this live unreleased recording of Johnny Burnett and the Rock 'N Roll trio and this MP3 of Bill Haley's last recordings.)

And I included him in the Louisville Links section even though he's a filthy stinkin' New Albany-livin' Hoosier.

Posted 10:40 AM by Jackson Cooper |

After a hard workout last night and a late bedtime, I was dragging this morning. Nearly a full hour of 'snooze time' after the alarm sounded its first shrill bleep I rolled out onto the floor. Even the cold air and bathroom floor after a hot shower were not enough to get me going. But I did leave early. Early enough to get to Lyndon City Hall, my designated voting location.

There were lots and lots of well dressed fortyish women arriving to vote. Admittedly, this was an unscientific survey, but I guess it may say something about the voters in my area. Or maybe not. It was too early to try and extrapolate. But not to early to vote.

So I wandered from numbered table to numbered table until I found the one with the book with my name. The nice lady handed me my ballot, reminded me to fill out both sides. "Oh, I will. I wouldn't want to miss out on voting for the judges. You never know when you'll need to have one of those guys on your side, heh heh heh." She was busy writing in the book, making sure they had my ballot number next to my name and signature, and failed to catch my early morning humor.

I stepped into the plastic voting booth where the main pencil had already been abused; its tip hanging precariously as if the last voter became overwhelmed by the pressure, leaning with his or her full weight on the point while filling in the bubble. "Any white space and my vote for County Director of Purveyance and Management of Resources may not be counted. Disenfranchisement!" SNAP!

The main pencil was obviously not built to handle such important tasks. But thank god for the backup pencil. Sturdy yellow number two. The proper instrument of implementation for all important bubble-filling operations.

Looking for the first time at my two-sided ballot, I went straight for the familiar names. Anne Northup vs. Jack Conway for U.S. House, Jerry "Mayor for Life" Abramson vs. whatever chumps lined-up to be humiliated for Metro Mayor. Then on to the other important decisions: my local nominees for Metro Council. It's an attractive young Republican woman vs. the Lyndon fire chief. The primary job of the Metro Council will be to sort through all the laws, organizations, rules and regulations of the city and county; forging a new stronger and bigger "Metro Louisville" or "Greater Louisville" or whatever name we will call this new merged behemoth. So I decide which of these two I think will be best suited for this job. The self-described homemaker/volunteer who managed a Northup campaign, or the fire chief.

They were all very hard decisions. Except maybe for the two thirds of the ballot containing only one unopposed name per race. I was initially disheartened by these choiseless races. "I guess I should have voted in that primary." I thought to myself. But then I saw the Lyndon City Council race, and there were seven choices! Fantastic. Finally, a race with some competition. Oh, but of course. A quick look to the top of that section revealed the words "Choose seven." Damn.

The entire back side completed, I checked the front again. Nope, nothing missed. All done. A little anti-climactic, sure. But I'm glad I participated.

In most of the races, the candidates provided very little specific information about issues. They relied mainly on painting their opponents as horribly corrupt, lying, cheating, puppy-kicking monsters. Which only half of them really are. The candidates hope people remember the pretty face on the yard signs when they see their name on the ballot, and the sweating, screaming nazi from the TV when they see their opponent's name.

But I'm left thinking: "Is this the one who wants to improve health care, or increase jobs in the area? I hope it's the latter, because I sure hate sick people." And ultimately, it really just comes down to who I think will do the job better. I'm not tied so tightly to any one issue that it will play a deciding factor in my choice. And with so little information, it doesn't matter anyhow. I look at the way they ran their campaign. And I look at what kind of things they've done in their civilian life. Then I close my eyes and randomly pick a bubble, covering the names and party affiliation with the handy "blind-voting cardboard sheet" the lady handed me along with the ballot

As I left City Hall, I saw that the rain had started. I passed an older man standing outside under an awning, smoking a cigarette and he said: "This awful stuff is supposed to last all day."

"It sure is", I reply. And the rain is supposed to stick around too.

Posted 8:59 AM by Jackson Cooper |