What we do on Saturday nights...

I don't know if anyone has ever seen RENO 911, but it's basically a cop show that plays on Comedy Central. Now that Shadoe has a mustache (for Mustache March) he greatly resembles Deputy Travis Junior from RENO 911. The things we do on Saturday nights in the guesthouse... His interests are beer, NASCAR, firearms, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and last but not least his moustache.

NC friends in Nawlins, round one.

It's midnight on a Friday in New Orleans, and I'm trying to decide what to blog about. It would make the most sense to finish some thoughts on Mardi Gras, but I'm tired of writing about it. And I'm sure whoever our readers are out there are tired of reading about it also. Maybe I'll just write. The Hornets, beignets, Chicken Mart and Chartwell are all on the mind; we'll see what we end up with.

This week some friends from home (Cory, Trent and Leo) came down to hang out. I think they had a good time. They stayed with me at the guesthouse. They would wake up and venture around the city while I was in class/at Chartwell, and I would meet up with them afterwards. They did a lot in the 4-5 days they were here: explored the Quarter, strolled through City Park, wandered the National WWII Museum (which I need to check out myself, especially since military dependents get in for $6) and stopped by Café du Monde for some beignets literally every night. Trent loved him some Beignets, I wish I had a picture for you guys, haha. When I joined them in the afternoons, we saw a free screening of Slumdog Millionaire at Tulane (thanks to the India Association of Tulane). It is such a good movie; if you haven't already seen it, you need to. It deserved all eight Academy Awards it won. Wednesday night, we went to Preservation Hall, the supposed venue where jazz was first played. We saw a band called Sharron Powell and the Preservation Hall-Stars. They were unbelievable. Every member was so good at his instrument: the trombone, trumpet, piano, and drums were all very talented. Taking several requests, and, I imagine playing some originals, they really put on a show and kept the crowd rocking. The little things they did, like mentioning "this song is a very special song - why? - because it was paaaiiid for" after each request, or carrying on a conversation with folks in the crowd between songs made it a uniquely intimate experience. If you are ever in New Orleans, it would be a shame not to see a show at Preservation Hall. Here's a video of Shannon Powell, though we didn't take it, you can get a sense of the sound.

Thursday night, we volunteered at the New Orleans Hornets game vs. the Dallas Mavericks. Seeing the game for free with some of my best friends was nice, it was especially nice to see Chris Paul make Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and the Mavericks' idiot of an own Mark Cuban look like fools. Notice Cuban's disgust and the Slumdog reference as the video cut out at the very end, haha.

The energy in that building as the Hornets began to pull away was incredible. It was almost as exciting as a Carolina game, almost. I even found myself chanting Chris Paul's chant, C-P-3, M-V-P. Bring the Hornets back to Charlotte...I am still bitter, but starting to come around to the move. At least we've got the Bobcats. Well, it's almost 2:00am, I've got to sleep. Looks like I'll have to save more on the Hornets, the beignets, Chicken Mart and the Chartwell Center for later posts. 

Currently watching: that Chris Paul video, for the 9th or 10th time now.

Currently listening to: The Starting Line Say It Like You Mean It

FEMA

This past Wednesday President Obama announced the appointment of a new Director to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). The candidate, Craig Fugate, is actually qualified to hold the position and just waits confirmation by the Senate. Here is an article from the Times-Picayune detailing the appointment.

In Memoriam Miss Antoinette K-Doe

Last weekend I attended my first Second Line, a uniquely New Orleans street parade centered around a big brass band and characterized by unreserved dancing, singing, and general celebration. Second Lines are traditionally spontaneous and can be elusive—the starting point usually isn’t advertized—and sometimes the only way to catch one is to serendipedously be in the right place at the right time and, of course, to join in!

In this case, the Second Line was a “Jazz Funeral” for Antoinette K-Doe—the widow of Ernie K-Doe, famous New Orleans Rhythm and Blues Singer—who died of a heart attack on Mardi Gras morning. A local celebrity, “Miss Antoinette” was an earlier returner (Oct. 05) and a huge presence in the rebuilding of the city after Hurricane Katrina, supporting recovery efforts in many ways, from cooking up pots of gumbo that served hundreds of volunteers and community members to opening her lounge to local musicians struggling to find work. She also triumphed local rebuilding organizations like Hands On New Orleans and Katrina Corps.

The event was quite an experience—the music great, the dancing fun—and I had been looking for a Second Line since soon after I arrived and learned about the spontaneous, elusive celebration. However, I found myself feeling somewhat uncomfortable that day. The turn out was diverse, from close family and friends coming from the funeral to complete strangers who stumbled upon the procession and joined in (and who may not have even known what it was about). It is the last point that made me pause. I didn’t completely fall into the second group, as I was aware of the situation had accompanied a friend of Miss Antoinette’s to the parade, but ultimately I was an outsider—only having lived in NOLA for a little over a month and never having been lucky enough to meet her—as proved by the fact that all the information provided above I learned from friends and from reading about her online. On that note, this New York Times piece provides a nice description of the powerful woman and her importance to the city.

There I was, a relative outsider, parading in a t-shirt and shorts amongst the black-clad people who had known and loved her best. On the one hand, it seems that this diversity of people and motivation is the beauty of the Second Line tradition, but that day, I mostly felt the oddness and unease of this quality. I felt borderline voyeuristic and quite out of place entering into this ritual of the people who knew and loved Miss Antoinette.

However, the people who organized the Second Line made it public and no one betrayed disgust (self-consciously, I was looking for it) at the participation of outsiders like me. On the contrary, they seemed quite caught in the celebration and glad to be among others—whatever their connection or non-connection—in honoring the life of this incredible lady. Which, as a result of this provocative experience, I have learned more about and now, too, can recognize and honor. Though still thinking, this last point has helped me to reconcile my initial unease and, for now, I'm content to celebrate Miss Antoinette and all she did and, even in death, will continue to do for New Orleans.

Mardi Gras Season, it’s that time of year again

Determined to watch every parade parading down our very own neighbor St. Charles Street, and catching a few others here and there, I’ve gotten quite the taste of the ups and downs of Mardi Gras parades. There’s a parade out there for everyone, from political satire to all women’s to old timers to children pleasing to animal celebrating floats, and so much more. Although Muses and Zulu are definite must sees, I have to admit that two other parades caught my eye almost at the same level, if not more. One of the first parades to hit the streets of New Orleans, Krewe de Vieux, is certainly a spectacle to watch. As many warned me, it was satirical indeed and didn’t disappoint in the least in those terms. The theme this year was “Stimulus Package.” Just to give you a taste of the throws and the krewe, I saw skeletons with “boners,” received several separate millions in Persian money, received penis beads, a dradle, a “cock market investor tube,” tokens, men in barrels to represent our declining economy. Probably the most intense float I saw was Fanine Mae sticking it to Uncle Sam from the back. Yeah, figuratively sure…but she was also literally anal raping him. As if this parade wasn’t enough, I was equally fascinated by the police round up at midnight on Mardi Gras’ Fat Tuesday. We had been hearing through the grape vine that Bourbon Street gets shut down by police riding on horseback and decided we had to go there and see it for ourselves. We got that and so much more. Just a little after midnight, sure enough, hundreds of policemen marched down the streets of Bourbon lining the streets and telling everyone to step aside to neighboring streets. Bars closed and anyone who was in got locked in temporarily. The extremists who were walking around with signs entitled WWJD (Who Would Jesus Destroy, in this case) “lead” the parade. Well, they just didn’t move to the side yet. First it was men walking by foot, followed by men on horse, and then men in trucks! The men would even wave at the crowds and smile and laugh, as if they knew it was all in jest because soon enough, the streets would be packed once more. The trucks played their own music using their horns, just having a jolly good time. It was almost a mockery, nevertheless, a statement. The crowd cleared off for at least 15 to 20 minutes as they marched through…but that was enough. The police “krewe” got to parade through Bourbon Street and it’s a parade worth noting.

After reading about who New Orleans was named after, I would say it is a very befitting match for the city. Orleans was a man well known for his womanizing, often of opera house singers who were never known for their chasity, and speculated to have had many late night exclusive dinner parties with nights full of drunken mystery. The city seems to portray this well, the nights of debauchery never seem to end. But on the other hand, Orleans was smart and very well educated man, well taught in chemistry, mathematics and even music. From seeing Preservation Hall last night, the talents and skills of the city are equally endless.

Trouble the Water

Tonight I went to see the award winning documentary Trouble the Water. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary in 2009.

I thought I was going to go see a film about Katrina; instead, I saw a film about poverty, about people enduring through tough times, about America. The documentary focused more on the aftermath of Katrina and the government's response (or lack there of). It followed the lives of Kim and Scott Roberts, depicting right before the storm to the effect it was still having on them a few weeks, months and even years after. The film is so much more than just the telling of Katrina, it was the story of an American life. Trouble the Water was a very moving, powerful film that I highly recommended everyone and anyone to see.

You can find more info about the film here
The film is playing in New Orleans through March 12 at the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center.

Celebration of the African-American Child

This past Saturday I spent most of my day at a volunteer workshop with the Umoja Committee. The Umoja Committee is an organization that works to uplift New Orleans' African-American community (the word Umoja means unity). 2009 marks the committee's 20th year in existence. Their biggest event is the Celebration of the African-American Child which will be held on April 4 from 11 AM to 5 PM in Armstrong Park. The celebration is open to the public and provides educational games and crafts and important information to the parents. There is also a small parade that marks the beginning of the celebration and a stage for performers and vendors. After a few hours of being at the workshop, my understanding is that many of the people in the Umoja Committee hope take control of their own destinies. Through the Celebration of the African-American Child the committee works to expose black children to healthy lifestyles and good role models while also instilling in them pride and self-esteem.

My volunteer position primarily involves researching the Top 10 health issues that African-American children are facing in Louisiana. This information will then be presented to parents and teachers at the event. The day of the celebration I will be helping children to do arts and crafts activities, most of which are centered around African-American/African culture and history. For three hours on Saturday we created and designed new crafts and activities in preparation for the celebration. I got to make lots of cool crafts, all of which I got to keep (and ended up sending to my mother as a gift). This was a very refreshing experience for me because I was exposed to locals beyond the borders of Tulane and the Garden District. At times it even reminded me of events that my brother and I participated in as children in the South Side of Chicago.

If anyone is interested in volunteering don't hesitate to let me know. The committee would like to have at least 200 volunteers at this year's celebration (especially men lol).