Walkin' in Memphis: Part 2

More good food from the Blues Capitol of the World:
--Elfo's: This swanky restaurant sits out in Germantown, having recently moved east from parts closer to Memphis-proper. Everything about the place is chic. Understated white exterior, understated white interior with most black accents. Our table had a black-and-white photo of the old Elfo's liquor store hanging over it. The bar was well-lit; the actual restaurant had the usual soft-light-with-a-candle-on-the-table thing going on.
The food was great. Elfo's specializes in Italian cuisine, much more than your average spaghetti and meatballs. I chose the Mezzo, a combo plate featuring spaghetti in their fancy meat marinara (I think they called it "Tuscan gravy") and ravioli stuffed with various goodies (including meat, cheese, and spinach). It was delicious. Rachel went with the Elfo's version of chicken Parmesan, which, judging by the one bite I had, was also quite good. My favorite part, as usual, was the tiramisu. Simply to die for. Very light, semi-sweet, well balanced on the flavors. A+. On the night: 2 entrees, 1 basket of bread, 1 glass of wine, 1 tiramisu= $70.
--Blue Plate Cafe: The quintessential small American restaurant. The dimensions were roughly that of a small 50's starter home that had been freshened up with a coat of bright yellow paint and (you guessed it) blue plates everywhere. Judging by the menu, the place is apparently known for its pancakes. Half of us at the table had pancakes. I chose the Swiss chocolate chip. Good choice. The place is certainly not fancy, but it has a refreshing down-home feel (especially in a bigger city), and the food is good quality. There was also a line the entire time we were there. B+/A-. I couldn't tell you the cost of the meal; I love it when other people pick up the tab.

That's pretty much everywhere we went that's worth reviewing.

Driving/walking through Memphis is both an art and a skill. The art comes from enjoying the nicer parts of the city. What we saw of downtown was mostly clean and well-planned. Beale Street carried with it the odor of urine, but that's familiar to just about any famous street in America (Bourbon Street, anyone?). Travelling east through Bartlett-Collierville-Germantown, the streets are well-maintained, the neighborhoods are at least nice, at most utterly luxurious (even if the million-dollar homes only have about 5 feet between them). Something I really love about the drive: they allow the trees to grow which (a) makes for a scenic drive and (b) provides some extra shade on the road. The Mud Island community, of course, had the beautiful river scenery. Memphis has done a pretty good job of utilizing its riverfront property (not quite the level of Chattanooga, on par with Nashville, much better than Clarksville or Knoxville).
The skill comes from carefully staying within a certain corridor as you travel east-west. DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH-SOUTH!!! We found that out as we were trying to get on the interstate. We were told when we first go to Memphis that this was the routine. The middle section of the entire county had been developed and improved for the new professional class in town. However, both to the north and to the south still have the "ghetto problem." This is were project housing is still predominate, the crime rate spikes, and people with common sense just don't go. The good news is that, with all the development, these areas are pretty much self-contained and isolated from the rest of the city, and most people have no reason to venture through there. If only someone had told that to my Garmin...

Still to come: why Memphis is better than Knoxville.

Walkin' in Memphis: Part 1

Over the weekend, Rach and I went down to Memphis/Germantown to visit a firm that has extended her an offer. I learned a lot about Memphis that, maybe, I had been keeping away from myself. It's actually not as bad as you might think (as long as you don't travel too far north or south). Here are a few highlights:
--Huey's: With several locations all over the Memphis area, Huey's is not to be missed. We ate lunch at the downtown location. The burgers were great, but they were not for the faint of heart. These things were heavily seasoned. I think most of what I tasted was salt and pepper, but I'm sure they added a few other spices as well. And it's fitting; Huey's is known for their distinctive burgers. But it's what they don't advertise that really blows you away: the HUGE ONION RINGS! Not only are they huge, but they're hand-battered and just too good.
Dessert followed a similar vein. We chose the homemade fudge brownie a la mode (and sans nuts). Two bites of heaven were really about all we could stand before popping. The decor is hole-in-the-wall, more like writing-on-the-wall (we left our mark over our booth). Highly recommended.
--Gibson: One of Gibson's three guitar manufacturing facilities is in Memphis; it's where they make the hollowbody styles. The tour they offer is up-close and personal-- at only one point are you behind protective glass: the paint booth. The rest of the time, you are out on the floor, mere feet (sometimes inches) away from the people and raw materials that go into making a quality instrument. I was amazed at how little attention they paid to any of the tourists, but I guess they're used to it by now. For $10, this is easily a must-see attraction in downtown Memphis.
--The Rock n' Soul Museum: Located just across the street from Gibson, this Smithsonian affiliate is packed with history and artifacts. The movie at the beginning sets a great tone for the rest of the exhibit. In high-tech style, each customer is given a headset at the start of the exhibit. With it, you can listen to the self-guided audio tour, or you can just listen to the wealth of oldies on hand (there's actually a jukebox at each "era" featuring the associated songs of the time). The only problem Rach and I had was that we ran out of time and had to speed through the second half of it. Still, definitely felt like we got our $10 worth.
Still to come: more reviews; driving through the city; why Memphis is better than Knoxville; pictures

Zepp Tour

I haven't blogged in quite a long time. I thought I should at least throw out some fodder on the off chance that someone comes looking around again.
Led Zeppelin is back on tour. I think that's: a) pretty darn cool and b) too cost prohibitive for anyone like me to actually attend. Of course, I'm also glad to see the continuing trend of older artists going back out for another round of touring. I mean, before the days of sound recording, that was pretty much the only way the minstrels made their money, right?
I have been lucky enough, however, to have gone and seen a few of my favorites from yester-year. Going to Nashville to see Gordon Lightfoot was huge for me. I can remember being a wee lad, even before starting school, with Mom teaching me to play "Gord's Gold, Vol. 1" on vinyl.
It's also good to go out and see the stars who are still active, but are closer to the end of those year-on-the-road days. George Strait and Bruce Hornsby are two that I've seen that come to mind. Both have had active careers spanning more than two decades. Both still put on incredible shows (in their own ways, of course). I'm glad I got to see these shows when they were still full-on musical productions, unlike Mr. Lightfoot, whose show was stripped down to the man, four of his closest friends, and a few background drapes. It was as pure and simple a show as I have ever seen, but I wish I could've been there for the 70's...
Go to a concert already!

Smoke and mirrors, anyone?

It appears as though both candidates/parties have decided to start gaming the abortion issue. The Democratic Party today tweaked its platform to "strongly" support a woman's decision to have a baby. How very noble of them. On the other side, John McCain has said he is entertaining the idea of a pro-choice VP pick. How very open-minded.

All this does is add yet another chapter to a debate that will never end using pawns that make no difference. How many Democrats actually ever get around to reading their party platform? Furthermore, it's painfully obvious that neither party has followers who support or follow the party platform 100%. This latest change is just cheap lip-service to try to steal some pro-life votes over to Obama. Obama, in the meantime, has not changed (and doesn't yet have to change) his position on abortion or Roe v. Wade.

McCain's latest veep-tease is similarly useless. No doubt a significant part of why he made the statement is to keep this marathon fascination with he VP thoughts somewhere on the media radar. But I've never known any VP to have any influence in the thought process of the White House, the Supreme Court, or the party with whom they are affiliated. A pro-choice pick would only be an appeasement to persuade America that, hey, McCain reaches out to everybody.

I hope that Americans see both of these tricks for what they are (cheap, mindless pandering) and dismiss them by day's end. Republicans hate abortion and the choice of women to have one. Democrats care nothing for the useless proletariat that disagrees with them.

Of course, if nothing else, drawing a few of the other team's players over to your side has at least one advantage: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

I now have a website.

Check it out here.

I'm still trying to get some good content on there, but at least it's sort of up and running.

Kudos to J.R. for talking me into it. And kudos to godaddy.com for calling me and actually talking me into a cheaper package.

I'm Gonna Go Ahead and Call It: Mike Pence

Mike Pence for Vice President!
If ever there were an election year story, it is brewing in Washington right now. The stand by House Republicans is momentous, and it comes at the same time that most pundits were saying something will, must, happen to define the election season. The time has come. Energy problems (and, more importantly, energy solutions) will be the trademark of this election. And one man has been rather prominently displayed: Mike Pence.
The Congressman from Indiana has just about everything going for him. He has solid conservative credentials. McCain desparately needs some of that in his campaign right now. With both McCain and Obama teetering with base support, a McCain/Pence ticket could be the first to jump out and solidify a party voting block.
Pence also has something else that McCain desparately needs: "the look." Obama has risen as much on his look as he has on anything. But it's gotten him quite a long way. The flowing speeches, that distinguished gaze, the look of a man entering his prime, all these things play heavily to Obama's favor in a culture that bases 99% of a person's content by what they see on the outside. Pence can bring in the well-spoken, distinguished, prime look that is currently missing from the Republican campaign.
Something else about VP credentials that is always a must: the candidate must have an attack mode. Few have been more notorious in attack mode and heat-seaker than Dick Cheney. But it happens with every VP candidate in every election cycle. It's something that turned me off about John Edwards in '04. The shift from kind, gentle, Southern hopeful to Democratic attack dog was too blunt, too blatant. He couldn't even leave Cheney's daughter out of it.
Mike Pence has already shown both his ability and his penchant for going on the offensive. This latest moment is history is but one example. In my time on the Hill, he was always one of the more recognizable (once you knew who he was), vocal, and solid Congressmen. To put it simply, he was and is unforgettable.
I'm not sure if he thinks it will be a risk to jump into this particular campaign or not. I don't know if he's flying high enough on McCain's or anyone else's radar screens. But at this moment, I'm putting Mike Pence on my ticket. He's the best thing for the Grand OLD Party, and the time is now, right now.

I'll let you know my Dem pick as soon as I get a feeling. This is quite a feeling today.

Entertainment Within Reach, or Slowing Down

So, a couple of things happened in the last couple of days that got me thinking.
First, had a bad storm come through Knoxville yesterday. Knocked out the power at my place for about an hour. I took part of the time in silent solitude to contemplate what defines entertainment and, by extension, existence.
The first thing to pop into mind came while I was staring at the temporarily useless t.v. And I thought to myself, as long as there is no power, no one knows what's going on in the rest of the world, Hollywood in particular. And from there, you can't be jealous of possessions and fame if you can't see them (because that's basically all they're good for, is to be seen). Then, it was refreshing to know that, while I sat there without power, I couldn't reach Hollywood, and Hollywood couldn't reach me.
So then I got to thinking, if not the media, what do I have to entertain me? It's amazing what people can have at their own fingertips that requires zero electricity (although candle light might be useful). Pleasure reading was the first thing to pop into mind (speaking of which, I just started The Reagan Diaries- I'll let you know how that goes). Also, I love to play guitar, and no electricity is a great time to go unplugged on the acoustic. Suddenly the world becomes much more natural. No fans buzzing, no refrigerators humming, just pure musical sound. Maybe cutting the electricity off for an hour a day wouldn't be such a bad thing (so long as it wasn't 100 degrees outside, I mean, thank God for the rain and clouds keeping it cool).
Then I took the rest of my power outage in the form of a nap...
***
The second dumb thing came this morning. I was driving back to the office from a trip to Probate Court, when both sides of Neyland Drive traffic came to a dead stop. For what, you ask? A flock of geese. It took them about 2 minutes to get completely across all four lanes of traffic, what with the waddling and short legs and all. Add to that the lack of a concept of time.
And there it was: our concept of time. How often in a day do we slow down? Who exactly controls our concept of time, anyway? I believe there are very few people who say they are in control of their own time, timing, or destiny. No one marches to the beat of their own drum anymore. It is constantly drowned out by the pernicious beating of everyone else's drums, beaten with impunity and entitlement. "My drum's just as good as yours, so you have to listen to mine!" "Will you listen to my drum if I listen to yours?" "Of course not! Listening to your drum will harm my drumming!" "What about my drumming?" "You're drum sounds backward, you white redneck male!" But I digress, that has nothing to do with geese...
The point is this: all to often, we don't find time for ourselves anymore. We don't slow down and enjoy the view. We're so worried about not letting life pass us by that we forget to look at it. A lot of us probably wouldn't know life if it did pass us. So stop and smell the roses. And while you're at it, help the geese across the road.
Next time, more technology. And a gratuitous picture:
A pool party during the Federalist Society Student Leadership Conference. An awesome time. Venue was pretty cool, too.

My Long-Term Study: Ubuntu vs. Windows

If you look around the internet, it's pretty easy to find solid reviews and data on the latest version of Ubuntu (8.04 Hardy Heron). Plenty of conspiracy theorists are saying that Windows is due for a market shock (judging by what I've seen from my friends, this skepticism is well-founded). So I decided I'd take my old desktop and see how the two stacked up.
First, a little overview for those of you who didn't immediately seek out the Ubuntu website. Ubuntu is a free, open-source (free is not the same as open-source) operating system based on the Linux kernel. On the screen, it displays characteristics reminiscent of both Windows and Mac. For instance, the menu bar is located on top (Mac), but there is also a window tab bar on the bottom (Windows). Graphics are also a bit of a hybrid: it's got Mac's good looks and Windows' functionality.
It's also surprisingly user-friendly. When I first heard about Linux, some years ago, I was frightened away by all the text-based commands and complexity. Ubuntu is certainly not your father's Linux-based OS. It's overwhelmingly graphically- based (GUI, for you nerds), but it retains the old Linux terminal for the purists and ultra-savvy-- this lets you perform brain surgery on the OS (admittedly, I haven't gone there yet). That said, a lot of Windows operations must also be down in the text environment, so it's not that much of a stretch to acclimate these days.
Where (most experts agree) Ubuntu rises head-and-shoulders above the competition is in the amount of bundled applications. With a single installation cd (free, more on that later), you have access to a wealth of drivers (sound display, keyboard, webcam, printer, etc.), a complete office productivity suite (OpenOffice.org), internet browsing (I'm a Firefox fan now), e-mail, cd-burning, instant messaging (Pidgin works with every IM protocol), and much much more. And if that's not enough for you? Add/remove programs is basically a shopping mall of free and open-source applications for your computing pleasure (I recommend downloading the VLC media player immediately after install). At this point, on a Windows system, you would have spent at least $400 on software. Ubuntu: still free.
There are also the inevitable drawbacks. The aforementioned pre-installed drivers, while highly convenient, don't work with 100% accuracy. This is the case with almost every peripheral I've plugged into Ubuntu. Commercially available drivers (almost universally made exclusively for Windows) are designed to get the most out of their hardware counterpart. For instance, all those extra buttons on a Logitech wireless keyboard. Logitech designs a driver that makes them all work. The good folks at Ubuntu have to make a driver that works kinda well with that particular keyboard as well as every other keyboard made by every other manufacturer. And since they're offering all this for free, you can bet they aren't devoting every waking moment to ensuring that your particular piece of hardware is working at 100% capacity. Same with my printer, camera, and webcam. All work in Ubuntu, just not as well as in Windows.
That said, let us not forget the great software divide. Windows software does not work with Mac or Linux software. Linux software doesn't work with Windows or Mac. Mac, either. Different variations on Linux don't always work with each other, either (thank you, Red Hat). And, unfortunately, you can't count on Windows emulators or other programs, like Wine, to bridge the cap. For the same reasons that Ubuntu isn't focused on your particular needs, neither are the emulators. They are constantly developing and back-door-ing into Windows readability as companies put out new products. It's a never-ending process for these guys.
So where does that leave us? These days, I use Windows and Ubuntu pretty evenly. This post was written in Ubuntu; the last one was written in Windows. There are a lot of things I have for free in Ubuntu that I would have to pay big bucks to get in Windows. But there are things in Windows that I have to have and Ubuntu simply cannot provide.
So why would you want to try it? For thing, it's a liberating feeling knowing that there is a vast world outside of Windows (and even Mac, you Apple junkies!). Ubuntu is a clean, easy system that, like Mac, is still pretty impervious to virus attack. Also, it's free and easy to try out. When you first download and burn, or otherwise acquire, an Ubuntu install cd, it's in a format called a "live cd." Basically, the system runs in limited format from the cd until you do a full install. Just stick it in your cd drive and turn your computer on. Like what you see? Install it, right beside Windows. Like me, you can go to both whenever you want. Ubuntu can even access files (documents, music, etc.) from the Windows side of the drive!
Don't like Ubuntu? Fine, shut down your computer, take out the live cd, and restart in Windows. Your Windows OS is none the worse (and none the wiser).
What have you got to lose?
Find it here: Ubuntu
Windows, Apple, Mac, and Ubuntu are all property of their respective comanies, don't endorse me, yadda, yadda, yadda...

"Everyone needs 100 acres."

For Independence Day, my girlfriend and I went to my aunt and uncle's house in London, KY. For those of you who will never go there, it's a small town in the midst of beautiful foothills and rolling terrain. I'll try to post some pictures at some point.
Anyway, we were at a friends and family barbecue when I was talking to a rather interesting friend of my uncle's. Super-nice guy, Harley rider, occasional land speculator. While we were talking about life and the future (he was particularly interested in the future(s) of Rachel and me), he said "Everyone needs 100 acres." Now, at the time, I'm sure it was more the speculator talking, but I also thought that it went much deeper than that. I've spent the days since then trying to get to the bottom of what he was saying.
Now, certainly, there's not enough habitable land in the world for everyone in the world to have 100 acres. And, honestly, most people wouldn't know what to do with it. But, philosophically speaking, everyone has something in their life that represent this man's "100 acres." I love land, be it farm land, open land, wooded land, etc. I love gazing over vast tracts of land. So for me, a literal interpretation is just my idea of heaven.
But for everyone else, there must be found that "100 acres" of what is loved. 100 acres represents an investment. It also represents serenity, security, and a safe-haven. It's away from the burdens of a world traveling too fast. When you look at life, "100 acres" is everywhere.
Some people find their "100 acres" in reading. Some find it in music, poetry, visual arts, sports, or even blogging. Those of you who have already found it know what I'm talking about. Those of you who haven't, maybe it's time you started scouting out the terrain.
You can't buy "100 acres" in a shopping mall, on the internet, on the telephone, watching television, or in a bottle. In terms of open land, those places are like New York City. Fun, absolutely, but they represent none of what "100 acres" is all about. So enlighten yourself. Find something that it takes only you to enjoy. Then find yourself wrapped in it for while. Then, the next time you leave your "100 acres" for s stay in "New York City," you'll find you might just be a little more refreshed. You might even have a new perspective on things.
UPDATE: Here's a pic of the uncle's farm:

Obama: Keepin' It Between the Ditches

A friend of mine just sent me a link to this article. I think it speaks fairly well to what's going on in the campaign at this point. Rest assured, it happens every time. I think what's so poignant and crushing about it this time is that, this time, the far left actually thought they had a champion.
I was also talking (listening) to the parents of another friend over the weekend talking more about the Hillary fallout. One reason a good number of the older females are still bitter is that, since they helped build the modern feminist movement, one of their goals was to see a woman in the White House. For many, Hillary represented the best shot at that goal before they die. With her defeat, the thought now is that the older generation of feminists won't see it.
No doubt the far left is probably feeling the same about Obama at this point. During the primary season, they really thought that this was the best chance of their lifetime to see inside the Oval Office a man who firmly espoused far left principles, as well as a man of action on the vague ideals of "hope" and "change." Now, as the move center has taken on so much notoriety, it's time to come to terms with the fact that Obama is simply more of the same, a populist in love with power who will say what's necessary to garner a majority.
Welcome to the club, leftists. Republicans have felt this way for a while.
BTW-- Thanks for the tip, J.R.

The Opener

Welcome to the Journeyman Report!
If all goes according to plan, this blog should be very diverse, as are my interests. My main interests are music, politics, law, technology, pop culture, and food. The bulk of my writing will reflect those main topics, but rest assured, there will be many offshoots.
For anyone who cares to know, I am currently a law student at the University of Tennessee College of Law. I am the 2008-09 president of our chapter of the Federalist Society [of Law and Policy], and, yes, I do consider myself quite the renaissance journeyman.
Knowing a little about a lot-- it gives you just enough information to start a conversation and begin listening to those around you. If you're lucky, your conversation will include a genuine expert on the subject who will enlighten you and appreciate your interest at the same time. More often than not, however, you're likely to run into some blow-hard know-it-all who will, if nothing else, provide you with some internal comedy and make you appear sociable to others in the room.
There is a minimum threshold, however. My business law professor in undergrad once said, "I want to teach you just enough so that you know to go ask someone else." Darrell Waltrip has also been credited with saying, "You don't know what you don't know." Two key points lie in these quotes. If you know absolutely nothing about a given subject, how can you know which questions to ask? It's not as important to know everything, but you need to know enough about a subject to know where to turn for help.
If I do anything at all with this blog, I want to help people know where to turn, at least for the topics of my interest. Buckle up-- it should be a fun ride...
--The Journeyman