We’re giving away four tickets to Hoover’s June 1 music festival

Like great live music? And a beautiful spacious park in which to hear it?

Enter our special We Jazz June contest. Two lucky winners will win two passes (a $70 value) each to the second annual Preserve Jazz Festival on Sunday, June 1, in Hoover.

Founded by jazz guitarist Eric Essix and Jason Henderson, the festival returns to Moss Rock Preserve with an outstanding lineup of artists:

• Guitar and Saxes: Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Peter White and Jeff Golub
• Bob Baldwin and Joey Sommerville
• Kelley O’Neal Band with Cece Phillips
• Mart Avant’s Night Flight Big Band

We think it’s a well-done event, and you will, too.

To enter, visit our special We Jazz June contest page.

Hurry! Entry deadline is noon CDT, Tuesday, May 27, 2008.

Our thanks to the Preserve Jazz Festival for providing the passes.

Tortillas crisp in
bubbling oil. Rice, beans stew
on nearby burners.

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Stealthy pack leaves some
casualties: camera case, bag
of fruit, something else.

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The fishing village
shows itself in bold murals
crumpled by past storms.

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Shallow waters grow
more shallow. Walking trail skirts
shrinking surfaces.

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Music in May continues Saturday with a first fest from WZZK (104.7 FM). The station will hold its Downtown Throw-Down from 4 to 10:30 p.m. The five country acts are:

• Whiskey Falls
• Bucky Covington
• Kellie Pickler
• Blake Shelton
• Sara Evans, aka the soon-to-be Mrs. Jay Barker

Like last weekend’s Crawfish Boil, the event takes place next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex [satellite view]. Tickets are $15 in advance (meaning today) and probably more at the gate.
• Official site

Video previews, after the jump …

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College students with
backpacks and lattes thin out
as season closes.

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Sheriff applauds the
polite motorist. But still
writes out the ticket.

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How bad is traffic in the Birmingham metro area? Forbes magazine says we have the worst commute among small cities, costing us 33 hours a year. Some 37 percent make it to work in less than 20 minutes.

The city ranked as having the best commute among small cities is Corpus Christi, Texas.

What’s being done to save us? Well, Mayor Langford proposed free rides on MAX buses to help combat rising gas costs, but both the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority and the city council have balked. So far, City Hall hasn’t provided promised cash to actually pay for the free rides. Not that the transit system hasn’t been broken for years.

Perhaps a more innovative solution comes from CommuteSmart Birmingham, which will pay you $2 a day (up to $120 in three months) for switching from driving alone to an alternate method: bike, walk, carpool, telecommute or even ride the bus.

Does Birmingham have what it takes to fix the transportation situation? Or are we all doomed to spend more time stuck in our cars and more money at the pump?
• Forbes: In Depth: Best And Worst Commutes In Small Cities

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Patches of snow dot
patches of dead grass. Morning
sun frozen in sky.

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In the land of links,
the only true hazard is
roads and trees and such.

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Smack a piñata,
remember the Alamo,
maybe tequila.

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Drawn back to the coast,
drawn back to the need for me,
drawn back to service.

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Upstanding players
swarm blackjack table with cards
dealt by bored dealer.

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May means more more more when it comes to fun events and fresh air.

If you’re going to eat local, this weekend’s a good time to start.

The ninth annual Pepper Place Saturday Market starts its five-month run on Saturday. Local crops, local flowers, local music and demonstrations by local chefs fill the mornings from 7 a.m. to noon.

And don’t forget: Tonight and Saturday, check out the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil with Fergie, T-Pain, Gavin DeGraw, Flo Rida and 3 Doors Down. See and hear the lineup.

Will you be heading out to these local events this weekend? Tell us.
• Official site

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