After Monday night's drubbing of the Patriots, Saints QB Drew Brees is starting to get mentioned in the same breath as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And if you saw Brady staring dumbfounded from the sidelines as his team got thrashed Monday night. I'd say Brees has earned his elite' [...]
Now that I've published Pops, people are asking me which Louis Armstrong recordings I like best. That's a fearsomely tough call. The greatest jazz musician of all time started making records in 1923 and kept at it until 1970, a year before his death.
And he didn't play favorites.
"Ain't nobody'" [...]
Architects Ila Berman and Mona El Khafif have written an ambitious book about rebuilding the city:
URBANbuild: local/global (William Stout Publishers, $60) was conceived when the pair was at Tulane University School of Architecture, working to heal the landscape scoured by Hurricane Katrina while trying to make the case for neighborhood [...]
Now that some of the Make It Right Foundation houses in the Ninth Ward are being lived in, what does the community think of them? This piece chronicles how everyone gives actor Brad Pitt props for his efforts, but some find the disparate architectural styles unsettling. For example:
James Dart, a [...]
New Orleans had a good month as far as job creation goes. More than half the jobs were connected to schools and universities. The construction and travel industries were notable exceptions, posting job losses.
[...]The answer to that question is a no-brainer for most of New Orleans this year: Super Bowl. One krewe has already canceled its parade for Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7) in the hopes that the beloved (and still undefeated) Saints just might get there this year.
[...]Booklist singled out Steve De Jarnatt's "Ribiaux Rising" for special notice in their review of The Best American Short Stories 2009:
"....a powerful and ironic piece set in the midst of Hurricane Katrina."
I have no idea where it first appeared but it's nice to see it make it into the [...]
In a podcast over at Ed Rants, author Rebecca Solnit talked a bit more about Katrina and also her difference of opinion author/reviewer Dan Baum over some of the violence that occurred after the levees failed. Unfortunately, Solnit couldn't quite hold it together when pressed on the subject, which' [...]
I'm never one to pass over a good dig on National Public Radio. Here's a nice one from Harry Shearer:
Robert Siegel last night said "I know the people in New Orleans don't regard the damage inflicted by Katrina as an act of God so much as an act of Government" [...]
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina.
...
Duval awarded the plaintiffs $720,000, or about $170,000 each, but the decision could eventually make the government vulnerable to a much larger payout. The ruling should' [...]
Could it be because we don't have any more spare money lying around?
Louisiana's state-licensed casinos, continuing to wade through the economic downturn like their counterparts in other states, recorded a 6.9 percent drop in gambling revenue last month from the previous October, state police reported Tuesday.:
' [...]From our friends at Press Street:
Draw-a-thon is a twenty-four hour, action-packed community art event. In activities led by local artists, both beginners and professionals of all ages explore a variety of techniques and materials. Draw-a-thon attracts participants from diverse communities across the region, learning and creating side by side.
Along with [...]
And Randy Newman does (most of) the music:
Dr. John sings the opening number, "Down in New Orleans," which Newman hesitates to describe except to agree that "it sounds of the place and of the period. Bessie Smith could have done something like it.
"I thought they'd ask me to do it,"'" [...]
Government aid was denied for arsenic cleanup after the levees broke because the arsenic levels were deemed a pre-existing condition, to borrow a phrase in vogue today. But a scientist's diligent research shows that the high rates of arsenic in New Orleanian soil were indeed brought about by Katrina. Now [...]
When it comes to sports, it seems to me that New Orleans really only cares about two: Saints football and horse racing. The Saints are undefeated, and if the team can beat the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday, that would set up a Monday night showdown between the Saints [...]
Not a good year for Nicolas Cage. But perhaps all this bad news -- including the sale at a foreclosure auction of his two New Orleans homes last Thursday -- is what fueled his performance in Bad Lieutenant. If I were Samuel Levin, Cage's former business manager, I don't think' [...]
A cruel combination of too many apartment vacancies and exorbitant rent have left the working poor in New Orleans with few if any options. This from the AP:
The problem is outlined in a study released Thursday by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center and the Urban Institute. It says [...]
Next Saturday, New Orleans will be partying for their favorite sandwich and beating up Subway's Jared with a French loaf:
[I]n what organizers are calling a French Bread Fight, a combatant portraying Jared Fogle, the calorie-conscious Subway pitchman, will square off against a combatant representing John Gendusa, the baker who, in [...]
The city had to wait an extra day because of tropical storm Ida, but finally, after more than four years, the mammoth Carnival cruise ship is back in New Orleans:
The 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph, one of the biggest ships in the Carnival fleet, will make its debut in the Big Easy [...]
This list of recommended restaurants will make your mouth water. Here is one of the more affordable ones:
Casamento's. Casamento's on Magazine Street, opened in 1919, is a no-nonsense period piece (the interior is all glazed tiles, small tables and fluorescent lights) that celebrates the monarch of mollusks, the oyster. Whether' [...]
Eight and 0. Since the Saints' inaugural season in 1967, the football team has never started a season 8 and ... until now. Could this be the year? There will be some tests in the second half (New England and Dallas, for example), but damn, they look good. And the' [...]
Susan Larson wrote an excellent preview to last Saturday's NOLA Bookfair, and I just stumbled across it today. If the date and the verb tenses were different, it could pass as a wrapup, so I'm passing it along to you.
' [...]Via Andrew Sullivan's blog at The Atlantic:
“I read the versions of the House [health reform] bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding – if they are able to obtain health care at all. Louisianans needs real options for [...]
The National WWII Museum just opened another wing. Sounds like an interesting museum:
"Beyond All Boundaries" puts viewers into the battlefield where they can feel the zing of bullets fly by their heads and see their wounded friends reaching out to them. The production relies on layers of screens and sets [...]
The vilifying of Acorn continues:
State investigators raided Acorn’s offices here on Friday, taking hard drives and documents in an investigation into accusations of embezzlement and tax fraud when the group’s national headquarters was in New Orleans.
“This is an investigation of everything — Acorn, the national organization, the local organization and [...]
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that Orleans Parish criminal courts have to comply with probable cause laws that say a suspect can't be held more than 48 hours without a show of probable cause. It turns out that that law has been widely ignored, much to the dismay of several' [...]
Don't forget: Tomorrow's the 9th annual NOLA book fair. We'll be there with some new titles and T-shirts. Come say hi. Buy Dave a beer, and he might slip you a free book, you never know.
[...]A message from Silence is Violence:
Start the holidays by supporting the peace efforts of SilenceIsViolence and the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force. A fundraiser will be held Sunday, November 8, 7-10pm at Rock n’ Bowl, 3000 S Carrollton.
More info at the organization's website.
[...]
I'm sure you remember Charles Evans from an famous piece of post-Katrina/flood footage:
Charles was taking care of his whole family...searching for water and food. He knew he needed help, so he approached an NBC cameraman and said he had a story to tell. He took me by the hand' [...]
Senator Vitter got cornered by a rape survivor who demanded answers as to his "No" vote on the Franken amendment:
Last month, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) opposed a congressional measure to prohibit the government from working with contractors who deny victims of rape or assault the right to bring their cases [...]
Happy Halloween everybody. Don't forget that one week after the tricks and treats it will be time for books and booze at the 8th annual New Orleans Book Fair. We'll be there with some new items (Oh! by Todd Shimoda, galleys of Big in Japan from M. [...]
From Richard Campanella's book Bienville's Dilemma:
Ask an informed American citizen today to ruminate on Dallas or Atlanta or Phoenix, and you will probably get small talk, lukewarm pleasantries, and a brief conversation. Ask them what they think about New Orleans, and you are in for not only an [...]
Excellent long article in the current issue of The Atlantic on new buildings going up New Orleans. And it's not all about Brad Pitt! Huzzah! Check it out:
The terms we, as long as it takes, and help turned out to be fairly elastic. The Federal Emergency Management Agency shuttered its [...]
US News has a profile of their choice of a couple of dozen of "America's Best Leaders" which is an eclectic group including everyone from Senator Orrin Hatch to choreographer Twyla Tharp. Xavier President Norman Francis also made the cut:
As New Orleans's governmental services collapsed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, [...]
More ghosts paid off with hush money:
The Church admitted that many of the sexual offenses dated back as far as 50 years ago, and most stemmed from incidents occurring at Hope Have and Madonna Manor Orphanage in Marrero.
WGNO interviewed Stacey Brown, a victim since dead, five years ago.
Brown claimed that [...]
I haven't been a fan of Senator Vitter for a while - his whole "I'm a family man committed to family men everywhere except that period where I was frequenting prostitutes, please ignore that and listen to me talk about being a family man" bit really put me over the [...]
The landmark restaurant Antoine's has had to adapt to a new New Orleans by dropping its coat-and-tie rule, adding a bar and a jazz brunch, and planning for a casual eatery.
[...]The Washington Post editorial writers see some hope in the rebuilding of New Orleans. This one jumped out at me, though:
Public housing is an area for hope. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan broke ground Thursday on the redevelopment of the last of the four big housing projects. The [...]
Remember the school that Barack Obama visited in the Lower Ninth Ward? Well, here's the inside story about how they came back from a near-death experience.
[...]Miss Amanda takes us on a tour of the home of the creator and star of the Fleur de Tease burlesque show, Trixie Minx. Ms. Minx says she's trying to move from the current "crackhead chic" to "funky bohemian."
[...]Nic Cage is in rare form in this trailer for the Bad Lieutenant remake by Werner Herzog that's set in New Orleans. Anyone seen this one yet?
[...]So here's what the President has done and is hoping to continue:
Greg Rigamer, a New Orleans urban planner, said that the president's coming "is a sign to many of the residents who are still struggling: 'You're not out of sight; you're not out of mind. I see'" [...]
New books set in New Orleans:
Tragic Magic by Laura Childs. (A new entry in her scrapbooking mystery series) From PW you get this review: "The murder of jeweler Melody Mayfeldt, an enthusiast of the supernatural, at Medusa Manor, a New Orleans mansion being converted into a haunted house attraction" [...]
The city has Saints fever -- a real bad case of Saints fever. The team is off to an awe-inspiring start, blowing out teams for four straight weeks. Will it last? Oh how we hope so. The Saints are the only team capable of turning this city into a sports [...]
Tracey Tangerine, author of Buddy Zooka: In the French Quarter and Beyond (coming soon from Chin Music Press), will be performing this Saturday with Buddy Zooka and the Planet Posse at the African Heritage Celebration in Algiers. They'll take the stage at the Village Ovah de Rivah (200 Patterson Ave.' [...]
Six- or seven-day workweeks, no pay raise in 24 years and a lot (we mean a lot) of flak from constituents. All with a salary of $42,500. Any takers? Clancy Dubois argues for a pay raise for NOLA's city council.
[...]The big new medical center planned by the city comes with a cost. Old neighborhoods are going to have to be leveled to make room for it. One victim will be the Deutsches Haus, center to New Orleans' Oktoberfest celebrations. This piece from the AP shows us the anger and' [...]
The academic journal Project Muse, published in collaboration with John Hopkins Univ Press, has devoted its fall issue to New Orleans. Here's the summary from the Preface, "What is Disaster?":
One of my favorite moments in this volume occurs when Johari Jabir turns to Mahalia Jackson’s performance in the film Imitation [...]
After a slow August and September, tourism-related businesses are hungry for things to pick up:
"We are waiting for October," said business owner Elie Zaher. "We are taking it month by month -- August very slow, September very slow. We are waiting for October. I hope October is not going to" [...]
Rep. Steve King of Iowa lit a fire under New Orleanians recently when he said his proudest legislative vote was his "no" vote on $51.5 billion in aid to the Gulf Coast right after Katrina hit. He says his vote was principled because he wanted oversight for the spending.
Of [...]
