Seen On The Streets of New Orleans

Addendum: My photo's have shown up on a blog in Farsi. Any advice on how to translate it is greatly appreciated. Link

HB 780: The Little People VS Goliath

Last week the Senate Education Committee deep-sixed House Bill 780 which would require that LSU produce a legitimate business plan to pay for the proposed $1.2 billion LSU Academic Medical Center in lower mid-city.

It's just common sense to have a sound financial plan in place to pay for a project whether it's a dog house or The Taj Mahal. Most especially before you kick out people who have worked and lived for years on the designated property. How would you like it if the government told you to move out of your family home/business and you had NO CHOICE, without even the assurance the project would actually be completed. Read Save Charity.com's post today to hear what some lower mid-city property owners have to say. Whether you are for or against the proposed LSU Medical Complex, as a property owner and American citizen, you must see the sense in this bill. Please email or telephone your state senator and demand HB 780 be revived and passed before the end of the legislative session. Here is a direct link to the list of LA state senators with links to email any or all of them. Please take 5 minutes and let your voice be heard.

(Cross posted from Casa de Charlotte Della Luna.)

Valentine's New Blog

Head ups, New Orleans!

One of my favorite local poets, Valentine Pierce, has begun a personal blog Poet Sense and Sensibilities. I've written here about her since I first discovered her poetry back in 2007 with the publishing of her book Geometry of the Heart. Here is a sample of her work and one of my favorite poems of hers:

Rivers of My Soul
by Valentine Pierce

My soul has grown deep like the rivers, he said:
Euphrates, Congo, Nile, Mississippi.
I close my eyes, repeat the words
over and over and over.

I know these waters;
my spirit has lingered in these waters.
my soul understands
even though the only river I’ve ever known
is the muddy Mississippi.

I loved my first love there and remember
the world pausing in the sweet joy of it;
shared my secret dreams with a friend
as we sat on the jagged rocks of it’s banks;
cried my life’s sorrow on it’s shoulders
as the sun rose and danced on tugboat waves;
got lost in the saxophone solos and guitar strings
of sidewalk musicians at twilight.

The muddy Mississippi —
It’s bittersweet rememberances
will linger in my soul for all eternity
and my soul, too, will grow deep like the rivers.

(Published with the author’s permission.)

Valentine participated on a writers panel at Rising Tide 2 in 2007 that discussed how their experience of Hurricane Katrina had affected their work. Maitri wrote her impressions of the writers panel here. (Speaking of Rising Tide, click here for information about this years' conference coming in August.)

I hope you'll visit Valentine and give her your support in the newest work from her heart.


Valentine and me at Rising Tide 2

(Cross-posted from Casa de Charlotte Della Luna.)

Sir Lattimore Brown's Excellent Adventure

Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm a huge fan of Red Kelly's blog, The "'B" Side, which "is dedicated to the poor, neglected "B" sides of all these 45s I have." His special interest (and mine) is old skool blues, R&B and Funk with a liberal sprinkling of New Orleans-based musicians mixed in. The vinyls he transferrs onto his site is from his own collection, many of which are unobtainable now.

It had been a while since I visited Red due to my (ahem!) busy social schedule so I went over the other day and bam! did he ever have a dynamite post. What a story! It's all about 80-something Lattimore Brown living in obscurity in Biloxi, MS until Red found him. The story is a remarkable tale about Red & Lattimore's journey from a room by a soup kitchen to performing at The Banks Street Bar during Jazz Fest and The Ponderosa Stomp.

The video's and photo's in this story are awesome. If you're a fan of this genre, especially the music of New Orleans, you MUST read and listen to this post.

Link Here.

Kids Carry On Indian Tradition

I went to Super Sunday yesterday on Bayou St. John with some friends and had a most awesome experience from watching and listening to the Indians chant beneath the oaks to second lining with Rebirth Brass Band all the way down Orleans Avenue. Yeah, I hung! I took some amazing photos and a little video that can be found on my Super Sunday 2009 Flickr set.
Here I'm posting some of the photo's I took of the kids that costumed and paraded so beautifully, continuing a long cultural tradition in their families.
For the history behind the Indians of New Orleans, go here.

Holt Cemetery: Neglect of the Deceased Poor

I literally just finished watching Bill Capo's Action Report on WWL-TV about the disgraceful conditions in Holt Cemetery. A friend and I went to Holt back in March and were appalled at the condition of the city-owned cemetery. The only name we knew it by was Potter's Field, a universal name for cemeteries everywhere that interr the poor. Located on City Park Avenue kind of behind and to the side of Delgado Community College, it's a wild, unkempt field of weeds, fallen headstones and even bones of the interred lying in plain site on top of the ground. Something I noted and commented on to my friend was the amount of war veterans buried there and I thought, what a shame. Men and women who served our country in such a disrespectful condition brought tears to my eyes. And not only veterans, but everyday people who lived their lives in New Orleans and, because of their poor circumstances, rest in such a sad, neglected place.

A cursory google search turned up that Buddy Bolden, considered by some as the father of jazz,is buried there - his grave long since unmarked and forgotten. Jessie Holt, another jazz singer, is buried there with a hand-made marker marking his grave.

I found this Endangered Cemetery Report about Holt from 2001. Obviously not only has nothing changed, it may be in even worse condition.

Bill Capo's report isn't yet online so I can't link to it but, according to the city, they are in the process of cleaning up Holt. It was noted a local volunteer group had been cleaning it and the other 16, I believe, city cemeteries once or twice a month. What a daunting job that must be if all are in such dire condition.

I thought of posting about this when I took the following photographs but, somehow, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It really made an impression on me - I thought about for weeks how sad and disrespectful it all was.

Bill's report tonight gave me a good shove to write this post and publish my photographs. Once his report is online, I'll add it here.


Link to WWL video.












Here is a blog post dated July 2007 with photos about the conditon of Holt Cemetery. The only difference from then to now is the Fema trailers are gone, the standing water is gone and the weeds are higher.

The Dreaded E-word

Anyone who has never been forced to evacuate their home cannot imagine what a logistical and emotional nightmare it can be.

The possibility of evacutation is a way of life in New Orleans, it's true. Tonight I heard the E-word on the local news for the first time this year and so the hurricane hype has begun. Ok, maybe that's not fair - after all there is a certain level of responsibility to residents who live in Hurricane Alley. Maybe it's just my dread of another hurricane season that makes me so sensitive to any mention of hurricanes and evacuations before June 1. I mean, can they not at least wait until June 1 to begin the hurricane media orgy? *sigh*

Evacuation stories abound here - everyone has a horrific experience to share.

My evacuation for Katrina was a rushed experience because she came upon us so quickly. I remember on Friday not having a care in the world and on Saturday my whole world changed. I was lucky because I evacuated with the hubs and my mother-in-law in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We were practically the only vehicle on the inter-state even though it was already in contra-flow. The prep for the trip was a whirl-wind of boarding up the house for about 4 hours while the dogs barked and howled (animals are intuitive like that) and my mother-in-law asked the same questions over and over. It was unnerving. We evaced with the two of us, my handi-capped mother-in-law, 2 dogs and 1 cat in a Monte Carlo. Yeah. Very little room left for clothes and valuables. We had to leave our other cats behind simply because we didn't have room and that means putting out copious amounts of dry food and water and litter pans. And hoping they would survive. Not fun.

For Gustav last year it was a different yet even more difficult story. We had installed hurricane windows and shutters on the house so the board up was easier. But this time we had both the mother-in-law and the father-in-law living with us. And I had a hubs who refused to leave because of our Katrina experience with being banned from returning to our home. This time it was myself and the two elderly people on a 10 hour trip that normally takes 6. This time it was bumper to bumper traffic and the worry of how I would handle the possibility of assisting my passengers should they need a pit stop. The drive to my parents home was exhausting and emotionally draining. My husband was left behind and I had no idea if he would be alive after the hurricane passed. I will forever be in debt to my parents for taking us in, finding a sitter for my in-laws and supporting me.

My hubs and I have discussed preliminary plans in case of evacuation again this year. Mother-in-law is in a nursing home now, but father-in-law still lives with us. We have come up with two scenarios:
1. I evacuate with mother-in-law to wherever the nursing home has designated. Dad stays home with hubs.
2. I evacutate with dad, mom goes wherever nursing home has designated and hubs stays home.

Either way, hubs is staying put.
Either way I am leaving with one of them.

After the painful experience of Katrina, most New Orleanians have a plan. I just hope we don't have to implement it this year.

The St. Joan of Arc Project

St. Joan of Arc etching at St. Roch Cemetery
Photographed by me.

The St. Joan of Arc Parade rolled at Mardi Gras for the first time this Twelfth Night, January 6, 2009 and now has expanded into the multifaceted non-profit Joan of Arc Project.

Amy A. Kirk-Duvoisin founded the parade and project with the vision of putting "the French back in the French Quarter and the artistry back into Mardi Gras" with the traditional Mardi Gras walking parade, emphasizing the creation of handmade costumes and throws. The second annual St. Joan of Arc Parade will roll again on Twelfth Night 2010.

The Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc's French heritage and artistic events throughout the year can be found at The St. Joan of Arc Project. Yay! More reasons to party!

BENEFIT FOR KELLY ISRAEL'S ART HOUSE

NOOMOON is hosting an Art Auction & BBQ at the Coumpound
823 St Roch Ave, New Orleans, 70117
Saturday, May 16, noon - 8pm

To raise money to keep the Art House from being repo'd from the bank.

Bring food to pass, drink to refresh, and art to share.

After party at the Skull Club following.

Sponsored by

NOLARising.com
NOOMOON.net
Skull-club.com
FUNROCKN.com
Miller High Life

NoLA Rising Art Auction

The prep for the NoLA Rising silent auction this week-end begins *today*. I'm doing my little bit here to call for volunteers to help hang art and various other prep activities Wednesday and Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm. This is a good opportunity to check out the art and decide which pieces you want to bid on!
Volunteers are also needed for the event itself which runs this Friday and Saturday, April 24 th & 25th, from 9am to 5pm at the Old U.S. Mint. We need volunteers to help with the Silent Auction, to tend the bar, run the merchandise table and help with the information booth.

A three hour commitment would be fantastic but we'll be happy to accept any amount of time you can give.



The goal of the fund-raiser/auction is to raise money to fund a major mural arts program that's to be kicked off in the Lower Ninth Ward and eventually spread to other areas of the city. Read here about NoLA Rising's meeting recently with regional levee commissioners to discuss the possibility of 65 local artists painting shotgun houses on an Industrial Canal floodwall as a tribute to those who died when the levees breached and to help rejuvenate the Lower 9th Ward. (Over the protestations of the dreaded Fred Radke.)



Many in the city have rallied around NoLA Rising and Rex's battle with Mr. Radke's destruction of public art in the name of "Operation Clean Sweep". Support for NR's work in the community has been gratifying and wonderful. Please continue your support by volunteering at the auction, attending the auction and going home with a one-of-a-kind piece of art that is not only great to look at, but really means something to you and this city we love so much.

(Images in the post are actual artworks in the auction. - The first one is mine, mine, mine!! Which means I'm bidding on it.)

SAVE CHARITY HOSPITAL.COM

If you look to my sidebar on the right you'll see I've added a link to Save Charity Hospital.com which is the brainchild of E. from We Could Be Famous fame. Thank God for energetic, enterprising and community-minded young people! (And old.)

This is a short post because I don't want you reading my opinion (but you can read a bit of it in my archives) -- I want you to go to Save Charity Hospital.com and read the very thorough information E. has compiled in this excellent site. Whether you support reopening Charity or support the building of a new medical complex which will destroy an historic neighborhood or if you have no opinion at all, go read. Be informed. Form an opinion. Participate in shaping the future of our city. It's your right and your privilege.

Studio at Colton to host the first ever Mardi Gras Indian Fashion Show and "Art for Our Sake" Photo exhibition on Easter Sunday

WHAT:

Studio at Colton is proud to host the first must-see Mardi Gras Indian Fashion Show and photo exhibition this weekend on Easter Sunday. The two-part Easter Sunday event, presented by New Orleans Circle of Chiefs, will begin at 2 p.m. with a viewing of “Art for Our Sake,” a photo exhibition on view in a space located off of the Studio at Colton Gallery (on the Spain Street side of the school). The Mardi Gras Indian Fashion Show will begin at 4 p.m. and will feature seven categories to be judged by six Chiefs from a selection of New Orleans tribes. Featured suits will include those of youth participants (0-17 years old), Spy Boys, Flag Boys, Gang Flags, Wild Men, Queens, Chiefs and Big Chiefs.

“Art for Our Sake” is a one of a kind, collaborative photo exhibition featuring photos of suited Mardi Gras Indians of various tribes and tribe roles. The collection of more than 50 photos features a range of portraits of several individual, often photographed but rarely credited Indians in their breathtaking, handcrafted suits from a span of years past. Each photo featured in the show was provided by the pictured Chief, Spy Boy, Flag Boy, Wild Man or Queen and has been marked with the Indian’s name, tribe, tribe position and the year the photo was taken. All photos will be for sale and proceeds will go directly to the Indian pictured and/or his or her tribe.

WHEN:
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009
“Art for Our Sake” photo exhibition preview
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Mardi Gras Indian Fashion Show
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Studio at Colton
2300 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, La. 70117

WHO:
The “Art for Our Sake” photo exhibition and Mardi Gras Indian Fashion Show were supported by grants from the Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. Additional support was provided by Creative Alliance of New Orleans (CANO) and Sweet Home New Orleans.

Partners include Circle of Chiefs Membership, CANO and Studio at Colton, WWOZ and DJ Bob French, the Guardians Institute (book distribution), Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame and National Performance Network, Metro Disposal, Clarence Dalcour and DAL Construction and New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council.

Red On Snooks & Antoinette

I've just finished reading Red Kelly's soulful tribute to Snooks Eaglin and Antoinette K-Doe, two of New Orleans' own who recently passed within the 10 days of each other. Red posts a wonderful narrative of Snooks' life in music and the music in his life and his words and memory of Antoinette are touching.
This is a post not to be missed for New Orleans music lovers. Go now.

Hie Thee To The Canary Gallery Saturday Night

SATURDAY, MARCH 7th, 6-9PM

The Canary Gallery, 329 Julia Street

NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE
Mitch Paone and Bryce Wymer present "Many Outlets"

New York based artists Bryce Wymer and Mitch Paone have come
together with a body of work depicting explorations of social
realism. Oils, resins, and collage are utilized throughout the
collection. Yet all works hold down a subtle neo-classical tone,
with a heavy eye for design.

Bryce Wymer is a visual artist currently living in Brooklyn,
New York. His works address human social progression. He is
also the creative director at a motion graphics studio in
New York called Digital Kitchen. Personal works available
at www.brycewymer.com

Mitchell Paone is a multi-faceted creative who moves in between
the disciplines of Graphic Design, Typographer, Fine Art, Film
and Music to invokes thought and emotion. Mitch currently works
commercially as an Art Director & Graphic Designer for a variety
of advertising agencies and creative production studios
worldwide through the moniker of Dreamers Ink Aesthetics. In
his spare time he is either working on fine art endeavors or
is performing with his jazz funk fusion band Non-Static which
includes some of New York City's finest jazz musicians.

NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE PERFORMANCE

Following the opening Mitch and Bryce will be performing at DBA
Frenchman Street from 10:30 onward into the night. Please make
it out to see the final piece of the creative outlets both of
them share with each other.