Old Loose Caboose T-Shirt Design Cleaned Up

So it’s been over 10 years since the Loose Caboose Coffee House shutdown and stopped making all that racket in West Monroe & Monroe, Louisiana. I thought it would be fitting to post the artwork for the t-shirt that I was working on that final year. Before the Loose Caboose was morphed and resold to become the University Pub, then  Atomic Coffee & Tea, then finally Cottonport Coffee. I hear the espresso machine is somewhere in Ouachita Parish.

My wife thinks it’s a pseudo-self-portrait. It might be a little. Inspiration for it actually came from a Billy Goat performance at the Caboose. If you drank coffee, went to show, or loitered at the Loose Caboose in the 90′s you might understand.

It’s not like you expect to see great rockin’ performances in northeast Louisiana, but there were quite a few. I would list some of them here, but I know I would miss mentioning a few and it really wouldn’t be fair. I’ll just post my favorites in the comments instead.

Between 1993(?) and 1998(?) the Loose Caboose served coffee and mayhem to the population of Monroe and West Monroe, Louisiana. The coffee shop was originally owned by Shannon Willis and Mahlon (Lonnie) Davis. With the awesome support from a cool caffeinated community of culture lovers, they ran a barely accepted all-ages venue. There was good music, art, and conversation. I still eat my dinner at a table painted by Stacey Thomas.

Old Loose Caboose T-Shirt Design Scans

I got involved in 1995 after graduation from college and because circumstances with my roomate almost left me homeless. I moved into the house on Riverbend with Lonnie and Shannon. I did some design, website, and other work for the Caboose in exchange for coffee, food, and (yep) music. I got my first webmaster gig by meeting Tom Johnson at that infernal coffee house.

I really don’t want to gush over it too much, but it definitely was one hell of a once in a lifetime experience.

Boss threatened me with puppy

So I listened to the WordPress Weekly while my boss threatened telling my wife about this poor puppy that was abandoned at Nicholls.

I hope they find  him a home! If not contact Nicholls University Relations to find out where they went!

WordPress Weekly had a good interview with Matt Mullenweg over the issues with proprietary themes. I usually don’t get time to listen in on these things live while I work. I guess the puppy helped too.

Here is the complete collection of hurricane Gustav photos. These were taken while we were in Tioga and when we returned to Houma to “Look and Leave.”

We were very fortunate with very little damage to our house. The city of Houma is still quite a mess, but things are slowly getting back to normal.

Pop & Mojo Eating

We evacuated Houma this past Saturday and stayed in my parents’ house north of Alexandria, La in Tioga.

Of course, with our luck, Gustav hit this area either as a category 1 or darn close to it.

We’ve been without power since sunday night, but my parents’ scored the last good generator at a local hardware store.

We thought that the area didn’t have water, then we thought they busted the meter removing a downed tree, but it was a busted water line under my parents’ old trailer. It was a five minute fix. A hot shower after two stinky hard wet days was very welcome.

Mom & Pop

My wife Caidy used her mutant power of cuteness to acquire an extra 5 gallon gas can from a hardware store manager. He had it set aside for his son but we really needed it.

We are surviving fairly well. It’s the little things that would never be a problem that seem to become a real damn burden during times like these. We just got cell service, but no Internet since we have to make choices about what we can power. So, it’s the iphone for net access right now.

Tomorrow we travel to Houma to see if our house is okay.

Gustav Water Pipe Repairs

Jess

On Friday my dad and I boarded up the house on Levron St. in Houma, Louisiana. We grilled up some good steaks that evening. Caidy got us up at 6:30 am on Saturday and we headed north.

We got back from San Diego a couple of weeks ago, and of course the vacation wore off quick.

It was a blast with a wonderful stay at Caidy’s parents’ house. We visited Universal Studios Hollywood, Julian, La Jolla, and some fun sight seeing around San Diego.