Off to a Good Start

On the travel and music front, 2007 kicked off with a terrific trip to Aspen.

Amy and I had hopped the incredibly convenient LAX-ASE route, which at a mind-bending 1 hour and 37 minutes makes Aspen closer than most of the driveable weekend destinations around LA — and at $225 round-trip is almost compulsory. We had blue-ribbon days on the mountain, with great snow, sunshine, some terrific meals, and no serious injuries despite our decision to play with snowboards.

I even got to see Austin stalwart Junior Brown, whom I’d never heard, but who is terrific and apparently well known not only to Austinites, but also to fans of Spongebob Squarepants and the movie version of the Dukes of Hazzard (in which he stands in the mighty big shoes of Waylon Jennings as narrator).

His musical style and stage presence are hard to describe and need to be experienced properly to be fully understood, but here’s his myspace (!!!), on which you can listen to a few choice samples featuring lines like “Cause you’re wanted by the police, and my wife thinks you’re dead”, along with a flickr photo set that captures some of the visual flavor.

There’s still plenty of time to see him on his 2007 tour, so do it!