On 19th Street close to Memphis there is a little restaurant called Jazz. Before I was 21, a few of my friends and I went here to eat dinner. One of my friends was taking a class called The History of Jazz, and she was required to go there once a month and watch a jazz band play. We decided to make an evening out of it, and all go together and eat some dinner. I absolutely love the food there. They call themselves a “Louisiana kitchen”, and they serve food that is Cajun. The atmosphere is what makes this place one of my favorites. It just has an older feel to it, all made of wood and really small and close together. I love bars that have little original things they do, and here people sign their names on dollar bills and then hang them around the restaurant, so you can look around and see peoples’ names that have been there or the pictures they drew on the money. Every week they have a live band play really good jazz music, so you can go in there and eat dinner and get a live show at the same time. They are getting more popular and have opened up a few new stores, but Lubbock is where it started. When I turned 21, we would go in there and eat and they have a good selection of bottled beers and a few selections on draft. Their happy hour is Monday through Friday, 3 pm to 6 pm. I would say this is a good place for a group to go and hang out, and also a good place to take a date.

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In Lubbock on the news for the past few days they have been talking about the increase in cases of HIV coming out. Last year, there were 11 confirmed new cases of HIV in Lubbock county total, and already this year there have been over 29 cases. So right now we’re sitting at around three times as many as last year. They’re blaming it on a lack of education, which I can see as being true. I just wish people understood that these are their lives. Not just, oh no I have to get some pills to fix this, but LIVES are at stake. I don’t understand why public schools refuse to educate kids before they get into these situations. We can turn a blind eye only so long, these new cases being evidence for that. I hope me writing this right now is at least getting to someone, if only one person. Simple education can help this. Wear a condom. Go get tested. Limit your partners. I’d rather you didn’t, but if you’re going to do it, be as safe as you can. Parents, talk to your kids. I understand it’s an uncomfortable thing to discuss but it’s on you to protect your children and educate them to keep them safe. If you never told them not to touch the stove, why wouldn’t they try it if they really wanted to? Warn them. Protect them. Educate them. TALK to them and let them know you’re there and not going to just punish them for being curious. This is something you just can’t pretend isn’t going on to make yourself feel better.

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A pretty popular club here in Lubbock is located in the Depot District. It’s called Klusoz. It’s a decent club, it has nice looking seating with TVs build into the back of the couches, and lots of TVs on the walls. There are lots of different places to sit and be comfortable and watch what is going on. They also have an outside area that is open when the weather is warm for a live band to perform. There’s a decent sized bar that has a nice variety of liquors, but not the biggest selection of beers. They do not have any beers on tap, but they do have a small selection of bottles available. They have frozen margarita machines and the bar is nicely decorated. The walls change colors, and just add to the atmosphere of the bar. It’s a nice place to go if you are looking for the club scene, there’s a decent sized dance flood and always a dj there. If you’re looking to sit around and watch the game and drink some beers I wouldn’t suggest this place. Usually the TVs are showing strange liquid displays that move with the music or a recording of what is going on on the dance floor. I do like the club scene, so I really like this place. They have really good drink specials if you go early, but after that it’s pretty average cost. So, if you like dancing and club scenes this is a good place for you to go to. If not, steer clear.

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Tomorrow night in Lubbock, my hometown foot ball team, the Dumas Demons, will be playing in their first playoff game. They are ranked second right now in their district, right behind Canyon High. Last year they made it to the first game of playoffs as well, but lost that first game to San Angelo Lake View and were eliminated. It’s pretty exciting they are back in it this year, I’m going to try and make it out there to watch them play. My little cousin plays for them, and I haven’t been to a high school football game for my home town since I was still in high school. I would love to see him play, he is the last person that I even know that goes to high school in Dumas, and I’ve never gone to a game that he’s played in. The beginning of their season didn’t look too good, they lost four out of five of their non-district games. But, when district started up, they ended the season winning three out of five games and getting to go into the playoffs. They are going to be playing Abilene Cooper tomorrow and I really want them to win! If I feel up to it I am going to go out there with a few friends of mine and support the Dumas Demons in their efforts to win!

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A relatively new bar in Lubbock is called Fire House. It’s located where Bleachers used to be, down in the Depot district. I went there for a Halloween party, and it was pretty crowded. There are a few different places to hang out, they have an outside area and an upstairs, a game room, and a main room with a dance floor. But, they only have one bar. One bar, where you have to wait at least 20 minutes to get a beer if there are people there. This is the only time I went, and before then I had heard pretty bad things about the place. One of my biggest pet peeves is being in a bar that thinks it’s okay to charge cover and then makes it impossible to get a drink the first half hour you are there. There were only two bartenders behind the one bar, with a mob waiting to be served. I didn’t much care of the place. I remember going there when it was Bleachers, and how cool it was. They had live music going, places to sit instead of a dance floor, and you could just go upstairs and get a drink at the bar there. So, I don’t think this is going to be a place that I frequent. I don’t really think this is a place that I’ll ever go to again unless I get drug along by some friends that want to go for some reason. Sorry, Fire House, you just didn’t do it for me.

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Another bar in Lubbock that I tend to frequent is Chimy’s. It is one of the coolest bars in Lubbock, because it started out being so small and they continue to add on more and more areas to accommodate the crowds. They have really good food, I love their fajita nachos. The orders are generous and always good. Then, what they are most famous for, their margaritas. Famous, because for me, I shouldn’t ever have more than two. One of those things will do the trick, but two and I’m done for the night. They taste different than most margaritas you would be used to, but once you get over that initial taste, they become better. The original margarita, frozen or on the rocks, costs less than six bucks. And let me tell you that six bucks goes a really long way, as opposed to six dollars worth of beer. They close at midnight, so it’s a place that most people like to meet at before they make their concrete plans for the night. I like to head out there pretty early and make sure to get a table, then usually get some nachos as a snack and a margarita to start the night off right. There’s never a cover, the lines don’t take long to get a drink, and the one bar has many atmospheres to choose from, like sitting on the deck, sitting outside, or staying in. Only complaint is that they can get pretty crowded and you won’t have anywhere to sit. And, just a warning, if you haven’t had one of their margaritas then… make sure you have at least three in the first hour you’re there.

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Back awhile ago, Crickets used to be one of my favorite bars to go to. They have over one hundred beers on tap, pool tables, shuffleboard, Foosball, and awesome live music. Their don’t have the best drink specials around, but the atmosphere was great. You can tell a lot of locals like to go there, because they have numbered mugs hanging on the ceiling, where you can sign up and pay a fee and get to have your own mug to drink from while you are there. You also get a small discount on each drink you purchase with the mug, and are inducted into the “Mug Club”. They also have a selection of cigars you can purchase while there, not that this matter to me at all. When I was first legal to go out, I loved going here. They have really good food, and it’s a good spot to catch a game because they have lots of sitting room. There are a few set backs to the bar though, other than the drinks being more expensive than most college bars. They only have one actual bar, so get ready to wait a bit before getting a drink. Out of no where here recently, it has been completely taken over by the “greek” of Texas Tech. It has became insanely popular, mostly because they let minors in too unlike most bars here. Most of the time, you can’t even find a seat.. It has eventually turned as bad as you can’t even go in with out waiting in a line, so I’ve just stopped even trying. The only time I go there anymore is if we go out on a random weekday, and it’s not going to be too crowded to even get a beer. It still gets my approval, though, for having such a large selection of draft beers. So go on a Tuesday and enjoy it without the crowd.

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Here in Lubbock, I frequent the bars… quite often, to put it nicely. I love going out. I love bars, I love clubs, I love anywhere with live music, I just love being out on the night scene. I’ve worked out on the night scene here in Lubbock at a few places, and I’d say that I’ve been to around 90 percent of the bars that Lubbock has to offer. So, I’d also say that that gives me a little bit of an expertise in what is decent here, what nights are the best, how the drinks are, what the specials are, all that crap that people care about. So… I’m going to give the low down on each of the bars here that I have attended, what it was like for me and what I think about going back there. I’ll start with writing about all the ones that I frequent, to the ones that I go to sometimes, the ones I’ve been to once, all the way down to the ones I’ve never been to if there’s a legitimate reason. Just check out the category “Bars of Lubbock”, and see if they get my approval or not. This is going to be fun for me and hopefully informative for some of you, if you’re not familiar with Lubbock. So, onto the first bars we go!

Check out the category by going Here. Hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoyed attending them.

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Last year, during the Texas Tech versus Texas game that was in Lubbock, it was a huge deal for the students. The game fell on the same weekend as Halloween, so it was already going to be a crazy time. For the entire week several students camped out at the stadium for what is known as Raiderville. There were tents set up all around the stadium for those who were already in line for the game, just a week in advance. A bunch of my friends had a big set up, and we would just stay out there all day and hang out. Different companies would come out there and donate stuff, so there was always free food around for our meals and tons of other snacks to keep us fed. We even got free t-shirts that say Raiderville on them. It was a really fun experience while I was here at school. I never slept out there because my apartment was right by the stadium, but it was really fun to just hang out all day with a bunch of other Tech students who were just as excited for the game as us. I even went out there on Friday night in my Halloween costume to hang out in the freezing weather. It was worth it all though, because that turned out to be the best football game I had ever been to while I was going to school here.

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Texas weather is wack. Our state is generally thought to have a warmer climate but I’m not real sure why people make this misconception. It gets pretty damn cold here in the winter folks. It’s nothing like the East Coast or anything but we can get some awful winter weather around these parts. I feel like Texas has a lot of extremes in its weather. It can be in the 90s one day and 65 the next. Talk about getting sick and staying sick! I’ve never seen anything like it. The worst is when it rains here in West Texas. It’s so damn flat that there is nowhere for the water to go. Once the ground is saturated, the roads turn into small rivers and you literally need a small boat to get around. You would think that someone would have taken care of such a HUGE problem by now but no such luck. Texas is also famous for having spectacular thunderstorms. Around the beginning of April they start rolling in and they can be hell. These awful storms can produce hail and even spawn tornadoes. I love watching the lighting that usually accompanies the dark clouds though. It lights up the sky and literally puts on a show for you. Amazing. Hurricanes also give the coast of Texas A LOT of trouble. The gulf coast seems to be right smack in the middle of every other hurricane that forms. Poor Galveston Island. They got it bad last year. It just goes to show what a few hours of wind and rain can do.

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