Forgetfulness occurs when those who have been long inured to civilized order can no longer remember a time in which they had to wonder whether their crops would grow to maturity without being stolen or their children sold into slavery by a victorious foe. . . . They forget that in time of danger, in the face of the Enemy, they must trust and confide in each other, or perish. They forget, in short, that there has ever been a category of human experience called the Enemy. And that, before 9/11, was what had happened to us. The very concept of the Enemy had been banished from our moral and political vocabulary. An enemy was just a friend we hadn't done enough for -- yet. Or perhaps there had been a misunderstanding, or an oversight on our part -- something that we could correct. And this means that our first task is that we must try to grasp what the concept of the Enemy really means. The Enemy is someone who is willing to die in order to kill you. And while it is true that the Enemy always hates us for a reason -- it is his reason, and not ours.

9/10/2003 10:43:00 AM|W|P|Jackson|W|P|Those of you that know me already know how much of a fan I am of My Morning Jacket. So it will come as no surprise to you that yesterday was a big day. The band released their third full-length album, their first on RCA subsidiary ATO records: "It Still Moves". I don't care much for album reviews, so I won't bother you with one here. I'll just say that it's a great album. For people that liked their live shows but may or may not have cared about the previous recordings, give this one a listen. It's much more representative of the live experience, and bares the marks of an album of songs written on the road. It's full of beautiful, emotional and flat-out-rocking music. MMJ is my favorite band by leaps and bounds, so I can't be trusted as an objective source. But for what it's worth, this is the best new album I've heard in years. I haven't been so excited about a band since I first heard Nirvana. I'll be there for both shows at Headliners on Sept. 26 &27, and you should be to.|W|P|106320502572555236|W|P|The other album out on Sept. 9th.|W|P|jacksoncooper@gmail.com9/08/2003 11:37:00 AM|W|P|Jackson|W|P|I'm glad to participate in a spirited political discussion here or anywhere else, as many of you know. I just want to make it clear that if we get into that, I want everyone to stay as high-minded and detached as possible. There should be no hard feelings if I get into it with one of you. You can expect the same from me. I chose to lay out this disclaimer right now partly because of what I have to say about Dean. He's got a snowball's chance in hell of beating Bush in '04. He's McGovern all over again and I believe he will face the same fate. What's more, I hope my assertions are correct. Despite my disagreement with some of his decisions, I think Bush is the one to lead the country through our current war. Dean stated recently that he was against the war in Iraq from the start, but realizes now that we have to finish the job one way or another. That's reassuring in the sense that he recognizes the importance of victory. But it also makes me wonder how sincere he is on that point, or what he really means by "finish the job". To me, this means staying there long enough to be sure that Iraq does not become a fertile ground for the ideas and influence of it's rather unpleasant neighbors. If Dean thinks we shouldn't have gone in the first place, what is his idea of a satisfactory outcome? A decisive exit strategy or a decisive victory?|W|P|106303547953336875|W|P|Politics, Howard Dean, etc. (response to this post)|W|P|jacksoncooper@gmail.com9/08/2003 10:03:00 AM|W|P|Jackson|W|P|To all contributors: Send me a little bio info and whatever picture of yourself you want to use (if you want to use one). I'm putting together a page with introductions, so everyone knows who everyone is. It will be linked on the front page and be out there for the public to read, so only include info you want everyone to know. Send the info to me at: admin - at - lostinlouisville - dot - com.|W|P|106302979084706031|W|P|Contributor Bios|W|P|jacksoncooper@gmail.com9/08/2003 09:59:00 AM|W|P|Jackson|W|P|I couldn't for the life of me remember "Peep Show" the other night. Somehow or another the "Explaining Hand" came up in a conversation, and I couldn't remember the name of the comic. See, that's why I could never ever be a comic geek or a 'music journalist' because as much as I like some things and as much impact as they have on me, I can't drop names to save my life. And it's not some sort of moral stance. I can describe a record in detail, or a book, or an article, or whatever. But when it comes time to impress people with my culture and knowledge, I just can't remember the names. I couldn't think of Frank Lloyd Wright's name the other night when discussing some ridiculously obscure connection between one of his favorite design techniques and the opening sequence of "Gangs of New York", a film by that one guy. You know, the one that did those other gangster movies. He did the one with The Band, oh crap, you know who I'm talking about...|W|P|106302958134170802|W|P|Namedropping, partially inspired by the previous post.|W|P|jacksoncooper@gmail.com9/04/2003 09:18:00 PM|W|P|Jackson|W|P|Dear Oxford American Music Issue, I don't normally write letters like this, but I couldn't help myself. We first met on the Internet. I saw you at the My Morning Jacket webstie. You had some real nice things to say about my favorite band, and there are few things you could have done to catch my attention quicker these days. A few weeks later, I walked into the "soon-to-be-Borders" Hawley-Cooke and there you were, wrapped in plastic on the shelf. You caught my eye again, and remembering our earlier meeting, I decided to give you another look. You dropped some more impressive names through your wrapper, and even offered me an awesome mix-cd. So I offered to take you with me. I was heading to a friend's house, so I figured it would be a nice informal setting in which to get to know each other a little better. Well, after getting past your plastic wrapper I couldn't seem to leave you alone. My attention was yours entirely that evening, to the complete exclusion of my friends. I put on the cd and read and read. It's been a while since a magazine made me loose track of my surroundings. But you said all the right things. You told me things I didn't know about some of my favorite artists and introduced me to several I hadn't known before. There is no straighter path to my heart. Sure, I spent a little more on you than I had with the other magazines, but I don't regret it. I doubt I'll be seeing much of them any time soon. I'm not asking for any kind of commitment here (even though you tossed a couple of those subscription cards my way). I know you've been seeing other people. Hell, even my friend had a pretty intimate moment with you when you were going on about Chris Bell. Just know that I like having you around and that I'll be there when you come around again. You can count on it. Regards, Jackson |W|P|106272469732326059|W|P|Devotional|W|P|jacksoncooper@gmail.com9/02/2003 04:08:00 PM|W|P|Jackson|W|P|

Ok, now we're rolling. I just got my high-speed uberconnection to the Internet, so I'll be able to give this the proper attention. If anyone's interested, the old Lost In Louisville weblog which featured just me is still out there at this location. It will not be updated at all. With the new direction I decided to start from scratch, so as not to confuse myself. Updates to the layout and whatnot will come shortly. Also, people should introduce themselves as they are included in this GROUP effort. If you want to be a part of the group, drop me a line and tell me why. And in the mean time, you can browse my gallery, or check out Ben's gallery. It's like a cruel game, wherein we all try to take the worst possible pictures of each other and post them for everyone to see.|W|P|106253332973838978|W|P|the ball: rolling|W|P|jacksoncooper@gmail.com