Joffre The Giant: Featured Pipe Smoker: Nick (And His Pipe)

Joffre The Giant: Featured Pipe Smoker: Nick (And His Pipe): "Nick (a.k.a. NickAndHisPipe, NickKimosabe) Profession:  Supervisor at UPS Location:  Louisville, Kentucky Website:  NickKimosabe Years..."

A new take on the name "Roll Cage"

Bones and a Kazoo

- A very good friend of mine and myself recently visited our favorite little local record store and while browsing the vinyl selection we found ourselves tapping our shoes to a familiar but different sound. We questioned the co owner about what was playing and he said, "That is part of my personal vinyl collection, a band called The Carolina Chocolate Drops". We listened to a couple more tracks on the album and we were hooked. Unfortunately I did not have my record player yet so I did not buy a copy of the vinyl, but he did.

- Here is an exert from the full bio on their website:
The band began in the summer of 2005. Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson, made the commitment to travel to Mebane, N.C., every Thursday night to sit in the home of old-time fiddler Joe Thompson for a musical jam session. Joe was in his 80’s, a black fiddler with a short bowing style that he inherited from generations of family musicians. He had learned to play a wide ranging set of tunes sitting on the back porch with other players after a day of field work. Now he was passing those same lessons on to a new generation.

When the three students decided to form a band, they didn’t have big plans. It was mostly a tribute to Joe, a chance to bring his music back out of the house again and into dance halls and public places. They called themselves The Chocolate Drops as a tip of the hat to the Tennessee Chocolate Drops, three black brothers Howard, Martin and Bogan Armstrong, who lit up the music scene in the 1930’s. Honing and experimenting with Joe’s repertoire, the band often coaxed their teacher out of the house to join them on stage. Joe’s charisma and charm regularly stole the show.

Here is a few videos of this amazing group of musicians, see for yourself:
Hit em up style
Cornbread and Butterbeans
Your Baby ain't sweet like mine (yes that is a sweet kazoo)

“Tradition is a guide, not a jailer. We play in an older tradition but we are modern musicians.”

—Justin Robinson

Visit their website

Joffre The Giant: What's The Matter With Menthol?

A very interesting video.
Joffre The Giant: What's The Matter With Menthol?: "ReasonTV has a great editorial piece on the banning of 'flavored' and 'candy' cigarettes', and what its repercussions might be."

Is there a better way to enjoy music other than Vinyl?

I was recently gifted a late 60s Magnavox Astro Sonic Phonograph cabinet. My mother in law, Pam, recently remarried and moved out of town to her new home. My family and I made the short travel to Indianapolis for the weekend to visit. Pam and her husband, Joe, purchased the house from Joe's mother after she moved into her new apartment. Some old furniture was left behind for Pam and Joe to do as they pleased with. So upon my arrival to their new home I immediately noticed the pristine phonograph in the formal living room with dust gathering in the corners. I asked about it and quickly learned that they wanted to get it out of the house as soon as possible. So 3 weeks later it sits nice and pretty in my living room. I began to clean it up today quickly realized that it needed a needle, but luckily found the extra factory replacement needle tucked away inside the back of the cabinet. I am very pleased with what is quickly becoming one of my favorite things in the house, and at absolutely no cost to me. I plan to eventually add a few more speakers to the cabinet, but for now I will begin my search for vinyl.

Joffre The Giant: Pipe Holsters & Other Nifty/Terrible Smoking Acces...

Joffre The Giant: Pipe Holsters & Other Nifty/Terrible Smoking Acces...: "A reader sent this older link to in today: 14 Smoking Accessories That Nobody Should Own. Most of them are, indeed, horrifically tacky. Wort..."

A very cool blog to follow.

Get your manliness on.
Joffre the Giant

CDL

I have been seriously contemplating a career in Trucking. From what I have found the best route is to train with a company and drive over the road for at least a year. This means leaving my wife and son for extended periods of time and driving a tractor trailer all across the country. I get nervous and sick to my stomach when I think about leaving them for 2-3 weeks at a time but then when I realize that in 2 years I will have enough experience to get a local driving job and be able to give my family everything they need and more. Starting salary is in the $35-$37k a year, which is a considerable increase from what I am making at this point. I work for UPS and have the option to attend school at no cost to me, but college doesn't appeal to me. I have tried but I seem to have a hard time getting interested in school and deciding on a major.

So my wife and I have some major decisions to make. As if this wasn't difficult enough, my wife just found out that her company is closing in 6 months, and we are in the process of trying to purchase our first home.

All comments welcome, especially if you have CDL experience.