JazzFest starts this Friday! One of my favorite things about New Orleans. I am a little miffed that ticket prices went up again and the big name jazz artist are absent this year, I guess it's to make room for more big name pop/rock and even country stars. But all the local greats are represented, except for Aaron Neville who still has not come back since Katrina. Next week I'll be taking a friend from out of town on the tour of destruction and will probably have pictures to show. I'm trying to remember that last time I drove the tour... Was it really last July when these pictures were taken? I also want to try and find Fats Domino's house. You may remember he had to rescued by helicopter when his 9th ward house flooded after the federal levees broke. And speaking of levees, Levees.org is a local group formed to investigate the levee failures after Katrina. Now that the Corps of Engineers have claimed responsibility, and has said levees in 28 other states are also compromised, the organization is expanding their scope nation-wide. And to debunk another Katrina myth, a recent study shows that most of New Orleans IS above sea level.

But now for a really important news flash...New Orleans is back to 100% the number of restaurants Pre-Katrina! This doesn't include fast food or chains. Food is such a part of the local culture. And one of the local icons, Camellia Grill, finally reopened this week with people waiting in line to get in. Food critic Tom Fitzmorris writes about this and have been tracking restaurants as they reopen after the storm. The growing Latin American population inspired the T-P to feature restaurants that sell Central and South American cuisine, including the post-Katrina taco trucks, in this Spring's Dining Guide.

Which brings me back full circle to JazzFest... not only amazing music, also incredible food and art. To me it's heaven on earth.

G and some of our civic-minded friends are forming a new group:

As the political season approaches, we invite friends, neighbors and colleagues to join our effort to create a new era of clean, responsive politics in New Orleans.

Come joins us for some light political conversation and a discussion of what can be. We welcome everyone from seasoned veterans to the newly engaged.

Politics on Tap
Thursday, April 19th
5pm - 8pm
Bridge Lounge
1201 Magazine St.

Please forward this information to others who may be interested in attending.

So I'm going to just ramble. It's an overcast blah Sunday, which fits my mood. Not blue, just blah. Had things gone as planned, I wouldn't be posting today. I would instead be deep underground in Carlsbad Caverns. However, due to the really bad weather in and around Dallas Thursday and Friday, my flight was canceled. I was pretty bummed. I had been packed for a week, Dorie and I had talked a few times about details, I had made our trip mixed CD of tunes and I was busy all week trying to get things done before going. A very nice and funny American Airlines representative tried for 20 minutes to find me a flight, but the earliest she could get me to Albuquerque, on ANY airline not just AA, was Monday. I was supposed to return Tuesday. I could drive there faster. Plus Dorie only had Monday off. So my ticket was refunded and we'll have to reschedule. But staying in town allowed me to go to the Geek Dinner III. Greg got to know one of the NOLA bloggers through the neighborhood stuff we've been doing and loves to read the blogs. Today I've spent good bit of time reading the blogs of the people I met last night, since after one glass of wine too many I'm not fit for much else. It was a large group of very interesting people who sure know how to cook and it was a total blast. I haven't written much about the recovery lately. I was inspired by the people I was around last night to go back to the topic of recovery. Life is good in the sliver. Most blue tarps are gone either from roof repair or just disintegrated in the elements. We only have a few trailers and you know, it really is true if you see something everyday, you don't even noticed it anymore. It's only when I venture out to Mid-City or some other area of town that got flooded that you can't ignore the reality that there is still a long way to go. The second best way to know how things are here, after coming in person, is to read the blogs. New Orleans Wiki has a list of blogs on their site.

The other day I met a guy who is living in the house behind us. He's with Habitat for Humanity and he moved here from California. He hosts groups of students who come into town to gut houses and do other needed things on their spring break. Instead of going to Cancun or Key West, these people are coming to New Orleans to gut and clean houses. Yes, there are still houses that have not been touched since the storm. Things aren't back to normal and we still talk about IT at parties and such. But we want people to come down here. That's the only way to understand what happened, what is happening and why we (everyone who lives here) love this City so much and stay. We want to you to come, have a good time, help if you want, spend your money at our shops and restaurants, then go back home and tell everyone. I'm thinking of taking photos taken right after Katrina and photographing the same place now and put them up. Maybe someone's already started doing that? But it will get me out of the house and behind the camera. Though with all the festivals coming up, that project might have to wait.

If you do wander over to some of the NOLA blogs, you'll see the hot topic is the new trash cans and sanitation contract. I took a photo of our new can. You can see the normal size 40 gal can next to it-this will give you a sense of scale and what people are talking about.




The T-P (newspaper) made light of the controversy today, April Fool's day, with staff artist's ideas for decoration the cans (I can't find the photos on their site though) and a Brief History of over sized trash cans. Which reminds me, I need to go scoop the cat boxes, oh joy!

Do you know what this is?

It's an official Disney©TM® Pirates of the Caribbean cookie featuring the likeness of Capt Jack Sparrow... who is...

Johnny Depp.

People who know me know I love Johnny Depp. My husband even knows this and accepts this fact. So imagine my shock to see, walking in to my neighborhood A&P grocery store to see these cookies. Has Johnny sold out? Did he know Disney was going to pimp his likeness out? The cookies were made in China so I suspect they were decorated by hand - the one turned over, his eyes are all cattywhompus. I mean, he's already on cereal boxes and fruit roll ups. Cookies? Got to love the candy "beads" in his "hair". But what is the red thing on the left? Am I the only one who find this bizarre?

I've started a new garden blog. Check it out here: http://deepsouthgarden.blogspot.com/

Saturday, we held our first St. Patrick’s Day party, which was a blast. We live next to the Irish Channel neighborhood and every year there is a parade, as well as parades in other parts of the city. It’s like Mardi Gras lite – almost all local, no elaborate costumes but lots of green clothing, lots of drinking, hanging out and good fun.

Along with the usual parade fare--beads, cups and toys-- cabbages, potatoes, onions and carrots are also thrown. I put corned beef on to cook that morning. After the parade, I threw in the veggies we caught and had a very yummy “Irish Boiled Dinner” (the secret is beer!) Typical parade day, the group of people we started out with, wasn’t the same one we were with at the end of the day.


In addition to St. Patty’s day, spring has sprung and everything is growing. And the oak trees are dropping their neon green pollen everywhere. ACHOO! I started my veggie garden early this year. Last month I planted lettuce, spinich, parsley and cilatro, which is now coming up. Planted a few tomato plants this weekend-hmm guess I forgot to take a picture of that. Saving room for cucumber and peppers. We put down plastic to keep weeds at bay. One gardener had a roll of FEMA blue roof that we used to cover the empty plots.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Almost everywhere else today is another Tuesday. People are at work, going to school, doing their usual thing. Of course here, it’s Mardi Gras Day, the last hurrah of the Carnival season, which started on 12th night and ends tonight at Midnight. Why? Because tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I’m not Catholic but when in Rome… Most people are spending one last decadent day at the parades, catching beads and things, drinking. Or maybe in costume in the Marigny, drinking. Or if you are tourist, on Bourbon street, drinking. I’ve spent the last 5 days at parades, hanging out with friends and complete strangers, catching beads and drinking. I am partied out. So how are we spending Mardi Gras day? How are we being decadent? By doing absolutely nothing. A normal day off Greg would be working on the house, I would be cleaning, doing laundry or running errands. But so far today I’ve read the paper, took a shower, laid on the couch for several hours finishing up a good novel. Then rode my bike over to Popeye’s so we could dine on hot, spicy, greasy fried chicken. Mmmmm so decadent. Why aren’t we out with everyone else? Because next month, there will be St. Patrick & St. Joseph Day parades, with more beads, costumes and drinking. April will bring Easter parades and festivals of all shape and size. May is Jazz Fest. I think you get the picture. There is no shortage of festivities to be had. So tomorrow, I’ll try to -- no I will -- restart that diet and exercise routine I said I’d start back on January 1. I’ll be extra good the next 30 days with everyone else observing Lent. And what do you know… just after 30 days have past, we can all cut loose for St. Patrick’s Day.

So if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go take a nap now.

My client/friend Neal just got back from the Bamako Run. As it's described on the website:

Julian Nowill from Devon, England thought the Paris-Dakar Rally was rubbish. Why spend tens of thousands of pounds on a rally car to cross the Sahara desert when a £100 clunker will, more or less, get you from England to Africa. His proposal? The Plymouth to Banjul Challenge in 2003 and now, the Bamako Run. Drive 4,000 miles from Plymouth England, through France, Spain, Morocco, across the Sahara desert and into West African country of Mali.

He ask if we'd do a logo for his team, and in exchange, we'd get our logo put on the car along with the other sponsors. Sure, why not? We also came up with the "Sahara Secondline" tag. Check out his site: http://www.saharasecondline.com/.

The purpose was to raise money for Unity for the Homeless. The blog has details of the trip and some great photos. Our Creative Zumo logo got a prime spot on the passenger side door.

If you are looking for a new Christmas CD this year, I highly recommend Putumayo's New Orleans Christmas CD. It's a compilation featuring different artists and a range of New Orleans musical styles. Plus a portion of the sales are donated to the NO area Habitat for Humanity's Muscians' Village. It's a win-win! Give one for a gift.

New Orleans is hanging in there and is making strides. Part of the historic St. Charles Avenue Streetcar line started again this week. The overhead power line get decimated by all those old oak trees on St. Charles Ave falling over during Katrina. The tracks and cars are OK, but the power infrastructure is being completely rebuilt. It's now running between Canal Street (French Quarter) to Lee Circle, about 1/4 the whole length.

New Orleans has also been named "Travel Hot Spot for 2007" - somebody in the tourism marketing department has been doing their job. Here's a fabulous video they put together summer of 2005. It features trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and singer Ingrid Lucia with beautiful shots of the city with funny and moving cameos of everyday locals. The song is called "Do they Play Jazz in Heaven." Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Everyone is thrilled about the Saints being division leaders and goin' to the play-offs, though the last game against the Redskins was heart breaking, especially after they stomped Dallas just the week before. I'll admit, I'm a fair weather Saints fan. I didn't grow up here, if I had I'd be true blue. But frankly, pro football just doesn't do it for me. But the excitement around the Saints if contagious and I'm happy to jump aboard.

The metro area got slammed yesterday by rain, the same system that dumped snow on the west. There was some pretty deep street flooding in areas. It was the first major rainstorm since Rita.

Greg and I will be driving up to his parents for Christmas. Hopefully the weather won't be too bad or rainy. It's supposed to be cold. You never know if it's going to be in the 70s and humid, or cold Christmas day. I vote for cold. Two years ago - the Christmas before Katrina - it snowed in New Orleans, a rarity indeed. We were in Baton Rouge and it didn't snow there, even though BR is north of NO. Go figure. Merry Christmas everyone!

GIVE ME NEW ORLEANS !!!!

give me a king cake baby
give me a beignet kiss
give me a french quarter morning that looks like this

give me the endymion krewe
give me the times-picayune
give me a drunk and lazy crawfish boil in muggy sticky june

give me a six pack of dixie
give me some assorted abita beers
give me a city where it only snows once every 10 years

give me a green neutral ground
give me a mardi gras ball
give me a medium rare burger at my grand old Port of Call

give me a glittery drag show
give me the streetcar line
give the House of the Rising Sun
give me a Tchoupitoulas sign

give me a shrimp and oyster poboy
give me lovebug season in May
give me my New Orleans-
I will definitely stay.

I little something that landed in my email in box today.

October 13th marked the one-year anniversary of the first time after hurricane Katrina Greg and I spent the night in our house. We drove from Houston with a load of stuff and to get a good look at things. We had been back but they were very short trips - only a couple of hours. We had managed to accumalate too much stuff to get everything back home in one car trip. So after cleaning up and getting a good look at everything we would drive back to Houston to get the cats, the rest of our stuff and a cooler full of groceries. It's nice to get another "anniversary" out of the way. Oct 19 will mark one-year we "moved" back home for good. Ironically we are out of town, visiting friends in San Francisco at this time. But it's nice to be away from home by choice and to get away from rebuilding. I will say when I was driving home from work Wendesday I was thinking about how much better things are now than they were a year ago. Certainly there is much still to be done, but the debris piles are fewer and smaller, you rarely see a fridge by the curb, at least in our part of town. But now it's time to get back to my vacation!

Less than 2 weeks apart are two monumental days - 8/29 Katrina and 9/11. I was reading an article from the LA Times “Anxiety Lingers in New York.” Replace “Twin Towers” with levees and “9/11” with Katrina and there you have it. That’s New Orleanians now and in 5 years I’m sure. This paragraph especially:

Well-intentioned outsiders have frequently urged New Yorkers to "move beyond" the trauma and "get on with their lives." But moving on is difficult when reminders of the event that caused such chaos are still a key part of city life. Indeed, the attack did not simply happen and then end; it has become a fixture in the city's physical and mental landscape. The debate over how to rebuild ground zero and construct a memorial is a daily story; New Yorkers are bombarded with images of the immense hole in the ground that once housed the towers.

It’s been 5 years and people in NYC still feel they can’t move on. The site - one NY city block - has not been rebuilt. And some people wonder why things here are still a mess, a mere one-year later? A whole city. A small city but a whole city nontheless. I do hope in 4 years there is a newspaper article that reads “New Orleans has made a stirring recovery” as this article says of NYC. Heck, I just hope there’s any articles about NOLA’s recovery in 4 years period.

G and I picked up the DVD collection of “The Lone Gunmen,” a TV series that was a spin off of “The X-Files.” My mind was blown while watching the series primier. In it, two of the characters board a flight out of Boston airport because the think there is a bomb on it. (Not very smart but it’s TV) As it turns out there is no bomb but the “bad guys” had some how managed to gain remote control of the plane’s autopilot and set the plane on a course to crash into the WTC. (Thanks to expert computer hacking the "gunmen" were able to disengage the autopilot, but it was a close call.)
“No body could have imagined using planes as missles” sounds just like
“No body could image the levees failing and flooding New Orleans” doesn’t it?
It took me a few days to shake that TV episode off.

Keith Olberman of MSNBC said it on on his 9/11 Special Comment. He's mad and he has every right to be.

Where's Waldo?

The T-P and NOLA bloggers have all been riding Mayor Nagin for his constant travel around the country and now there's a website devoted to tracking his movement wheresnagin.com. The big hoopla is his 100-day initiative he announced when re-elected - the hoopla over the questions: when is day 100, what where the goals and what has he done. This morning there was a open house meeting with the Mayor, members of his administration with the people of my district, District B. The turn out was good even on a Saturday morning. City Council Rep. Stacy Head started the meeting off and then turned things over to Nagin. I'd like to note Stacy was received with hardy clapping and whistling - not so for da mayor; he got more of a polite "golf clap" but people did refrain from booing. The mayor worked the room, he does best in these intimate settings, relaxed and confident, inviting straight-forwardness; he said subtlety is lost on him, be direct. People took him up on it.

It was a well organized meeting - there were handouts with information at the door, people collected handwritten questions from the audience, sorted them and directed them to correct person to answer it. And there was quite the spread of food. The mayor let his people answer the questions, stepping in from time to time. We stayed for 2 hours; topics covered included Entergy, NORD parks and pools, crime, the judicial system, the break down of the juvenile justice system, rental property, debris, schools, levees and Corps, FEMA and Road home money (or lack of)... I have no idea how long it lasted because it was still going when we left. I was wondering why this now, to a small portion of the city. It was excellent information, info all citizens would benefit from not just Dist. B. Why hadn't the mayor's office distributed this info before? When we got home I finished reading the paper and say that on Tuesday the Mayor is finally going to be talk, addressing the 100 day initiative. Maybe this was just to test the waters, see how people react? Today's paper had an abridged recap of the meeting.

Today's paper also had an article by Chris Rose criticizing the mayor. He's been generally supportive of the mayor up to now - I think this is telling how fed up people are. We are tired of waiting. Nagin said the money isn't flowing to the city or to the people. Several people in his administration talked about the FEMA worksheets they have filled out and the bottlenecks. Then Stephanie Grace wrote about that same thing today in regards to city park. OK now I'm depressed. I guess I'll go update the cat blog. That always cheers me up.

You don't have to be crazy to live here, but it helps.

I'm sure some body has said this of living in New Orleans, even before Katrina. It helps to be a little nutty to live here and have a good sense of humor. New Orleans is filled with characters. And excellent example of this is a web site my friend Kristen sent me Arabi Wrecking Krewe. It's a group of people who help musicians gut their houses. It's full of photos of people in ventelators and haz-mat suits hamming it up for the camera. Just go look at the web site, it will make you smile and will help explain the unusal mind-set of people who live down here in southern Louisiana.

The other day I was listening to WWOZ - the world's greated radio station - and a haunting song came on, about the black water line left on the city. I get goosebumps just typing this. I wondered who is this? Well, today on the cover of the Living section of our newspaper is an article "Songs in the key of K" and at the top of the page is a photo with the caption: Spencer Bohren waxes rhapsodic about "The Long Black Line" that failed-levee floodwaters left wrapped around New Orleans. My question has been answered. Here's the list of songs, click the link to hear the song. Enjoy.

1. Chris Thomas King, "Baptized in Dirty Water" from the CD Rise (visit site)

2. Anders Osborne, "Oh Katrina" from the CD Feeder Bands on the Run (visit site)

3. Cowboy Mouth, "The Avenue" from the CD Voodoo Shoppe (visit site)

4. Philip Melancon, "Lootin' In The Morning" from the CD Hurricane Romance

5. Spencer Bohren, "The Long Black Line" from the CD The Long Black Line (visit site)

6. Chris Thomas King, "What Would Jesus Do?" from the CD Rise (visit site)

7. Grayson Capps, "New Orleans Waltz" from the CD Wail & Ride (visit site)

8. David The Nac" Naccari, "Katrinalaya" (visit site)

Annoying Telemarketer calls from Sprint/Nextel

My cell phone (yes, I now have a cell phone) is with Sprint. A week ago I started to get a phone call, every day around the same time from 866-463-3020. I would hit ignore, but after it went on for a week I was getting annoyed. So I typed the number into Google and discovered this great web site WhoCalledUs.

People post comments about the calls. I learned that it was a sales call from Sprint/Nextel. I also learned how to block calls! The site said:

1. to block incoming cell calls do this: send text message.
2. in the TO: (type the number or email address you want blocked)
3. in the Message: type the letter b then a space then the number or text address you want blocked (example) b 8885551212
4. then send. your phone should you verification that you want to block. click yes. Number is now blocked.

I didn't get a verification option but the next day no phone call! It worked! However, only to start getting calls from a different number: 866-463-3020. Once again I typed it into Google and yep, it's Sprint/Nextel again. Other people have reported that the same thing happened to them. The answer they get from Sprint is they apologize and "are looking into it." We'll see what happens once I block this number. Someone had posted this:

I've written a complaint to Sprint/Nextel public affairs and encourage anyone who reads this to do the same. Her reply was.

"Thank you for your message. The 800 number you referenced is a number that Sprint had been using for some outreach to customers and we are eliminating the number in the course of improving our processes. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate your input.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Walsh
________________________________
Jennifer Walsh Kiefer
Sprint Nextel Public Affairs
6200 Sprint Parkway
KSOPHF0102 - 1B400
Overland Park, KS 66251
Tel: 913-794-2950
PCS: 816-305-7795
email: Jennifer.R.Walsh@sprint.com
www.sprint.com/mr"

So I sent Ms. Walsh an email expressing my displeasure. I got an auto response she is out of the office but to call her PCS... it's tempting, to bug her on her Labor Day holiday. If I block the second number and still get phone calls then I'll do.

I finally scanned this photo of us. It was taken February 27, 2006 - Lundi Gras day, the day before Mardi Gras, and also my birthday. We were sitting on Greg's cousin, Lyle's, balcony waiting for the parades to start. Pre-Katrina we would usually take advantage of the holiday to get out of town and avoid the throngs of people. This year was different. We don't need any more beads or doubloons but we were just glad to be back home, taking part of one of the many things that makes New Orleans special. The crowds were smaller this year and mostly locals. Uptown, where we live, is usually more subdue than the French Quarter. Uptown is families with kids who set up camp in the same spot their family has for generations. The Quarter is where all the drunk obnoxious tourists who feel compelled to drink until they puke and lift their shirts go.

Yesterday, I kept thinking about what we were doing this time last year - boarding up the house, looking for a gas station that still had gas, getting cash, packing our things, gathering important papers then finally getting on the road. At this exact time last year, we were at Greg's parents, watching the fury of the storm whip trees around, over 100 miles north of New Orleans. It was fascinating and frightening. You couldn't not watch the storm. We didn't know about the levees breaking yet. It was a long day.

Anyway, today we are breathing a sign of relief that Ernesto isn't coming this way and that it keeps getting downgraded, for my friends and relatives in Florida. They don't need any hurricanes either. All the Katrina stuff is overwhelming, there really is no ignoring it. I think we will commemorate the one-year anniversary with a quiet dinner at home, thankful that we are in our home unlike so many others who are still scattered across the country, or living in trailers.

Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Emotions are high and every sort of imaginable memorial service, concert, seminar, art exhibit, etc. will be going on. The threat of hurricane Ernesto doesn't help. In today's paper, along with the "looking back" articles are the "make sure you are prepared" articles. I had stocked our pantry at the beginning of hurricane season, but picked up a few more things and extra batteries this morning. If a Cat 2 or higher comes our way we will evacuate to Baton Rouge as we always do. I will post something here if that is the case. However, even if the storm heads west of us, we can still get a lot of rain and wind so it's good to be prepared. When we got home from the store, G pulled up the hurricane center's web site and Ernesto's path is now expected to swing around and hit Florida's east coast. But it is still too early to tell for sure.

Pictures and comments from my most recent hiking trip to New Mexico in July can be seen here. It was so nice to get out of town and away from work, rebuilding, humidity.

Speaking of rebuilding, Spike Lee did a four hour documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" about New Orleans. You have to have HBO, which we don't, but Greg's brother does and is taping it for us. Acts I and II premiere Monday, August 21 at 9pm (ET/PT), followed by Acts III and IV on Tuesday, August 22 at 9pm. All four acts will be seen Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00 p.m.-midnight), the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Visit the HBO website for details. I have friend who went to the premier and said it was very good. You even laugh at some points (New Orleans is full of characters who speak their minds.) It's probabaly going to be a media zoo here next week as every one rushes to cover the anniversary. Good.

Well I've certainly been a slacker on this blog. But I've been good updating the "Gonzo for Cats" blog. I've also updated our house renovation web site. It's only been more than a year...