Thursday, April 16, 2009
Gone to Carolina in My Mind
Keeping with the italicized song lyrics theme...this is Old Crow Medicine Show's song "Wagon Wheel." My song for our upcoming road trip From Bourbon Street back to Franklin...
Headed down south to the land of the pines
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
And pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight
Sintha out. Word.
Peace New Orleans, for now.
Currently Listening to: Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show
Currently Watching: University of Minnesota Dance Team 04
World War II Museum
After visiting the WWII museum this past weekend I found out just why it is located in New Orleans -- and it makes perfect sense! A man named Andrew Higgens manufactured boats in New Orleans. Specifically, he invented the LCVP, also known as Higgens Boats. General Dwight Eisenhower claimed that Higgins won the war for the Allies -- all because of his boats! The boats allowed troops to land on an open beach and without them the entire strategy of the war would have been different! Just think, D-Day never would have been able to have happened. Here's a picture of one of his boats:
The museum was originally entitled the D-Day museum and focused solely on D-Day. Believe it or not, it is the only museum in the nation to address D-Day. Currently it is undergoing an expansion that will quadruple the size of the museum! The museum will expand its exhibits to include all of the campaigns of WWII and provide visitors with a comprehensive history of the war. It is scheduled to be finished in 2015, so I will definitely be back sometime after then to visit the museum again!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A Real World Experience
;-) Goodbye bloggers,
Mariama
Traffic Stop
Anyways, so here's a picture of another traffic light down...both figuratively and literally. It was just lying next to VooDoo BBQ, still flash dancing it's lights from red to yellow to green. It's Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. I guess you can never know around here...
Oh don't mind that faded image to the right...it's just the ghost of Shadoe. Creeper. Haha
Currently Listening to: The Vowels by Why?
Currently Watching: UNC's Bhangra Elite at AKD in 06 I miss dancing
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro is borderline garbage
Friday, April 10, 2009
Scrap Booking 101
^Look at that! Isn't that intimidating! I know friends who even go out and buy scrap book supplies! I don't even know what that means! One day though, I plan to document my university hopping adventures of Tulane, Clemson and UNC. One day. Til then, I'm all over that Walgreen's deal because it's "as cool as a fan." I mean, that's a badass deal right there.
In the mean time, I need to figure out a way to renew my driver's license before it expires on my birthday in early May...without actually having to return to my home state SC. My adventures continue. Speaking of adventures, during our UNC road trip...T.I.'s song "Dead and Gone" played towards the very end of our trip there, and then again on our way back...and I was totally feeling it. "Ohhh, I've been traveling on this road too long, just trying to find my way back home..." Sigh. It was perfect. Ironically, I didn't realize Justin Timberlake was doing the chorus and Mariama didn't realize that T.I. was rapping. But we both did separately realize we love the song.
Currently listening to: Dead and Gone by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake
Currently Watching: the time go by as I get back to my nocturnal habits
Thursday, April 9, 2009
The University of National Champions
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
NOLAYURP
For more information on NOLAYURP you can click here!
The Princess and The Frog
That's right! It takes place in New Orleans! And Disney is going back to the Broadway-style musical, hand-drawn animation that their classics are known for! The film will also feature Disney's first African American Princess, Tiana.
The plot is in essence a twist on the classic Frog Prince fairly tale. It will be an American fairly tale set in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age. Prince Naveen from Maldonia is transformed into a frog by an evil voodoo magician. The frog prince asks a waitress named Tiana to break the spell by kissing him, but she ends up a frog as well. The two embark on a journey through the Louisiana bayous to the banks of the Mississippi and back in time for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The accompanying cast will include a 200-year-old voodoo priestess, a lovesick Cajun firefly, a Jazz singing, trumpet playing alligator, and a spoiled, southern debutante.
I do not know if the film will be good, or even worth seeing, but it is definitely a step in the right direction for a company that has been relying a little too much on CG animation recently.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Buffalo Buffalo, and Bare Bears
Anyways, so yeah I grabbed some random articles of clothing that I knew I wouldn't wear anytime soon. I skipped over to Buffalo Exchange, hoping for at least a $20 profit in order to buy this semi formal dress I saw there that was only $16! I get there and they keep adding numbers and by the time I'm done...they tell me I get either $86 in cash or $128 tax free in exchange money. First of all...wow? I think my jaw might have dropped when they told me. I figured I'd get the dress and just look around to see if I wanted another thing. Poor logic on my part, especially since Shadoe claims I am illogical. Or moreso, just not following a normal person's thought process. He clearly doesn't mean I'm weird by that statement though. Yeah, so I looked around and before you know it...I walked out with $-0.25 in cash. Yeah, well it might have been before you know it. But I sure spent 3 hours there, so I sure knew it. I spent all $128 of exchange money and paid $0.25 for like 6 new dresses and 4 new tops. Ridiculous. And yet, somehow still doesn't solve my problem of having too many clothes. So ideally, it has the potential to save my problems...if I just want it to happen, which I clearly don't still. So I've pretty much been hooked to the store since then. The workers there are probably the most interesting part about the store. They all have a trendy, hipster, bohemian, completely random mix of styles. I think a requirement to work there is having a piercing, a tattoo, or a paschmina scarf. So basically, I'm in love with this store. And I really wish we had one in the Carolinas!
In the mean time...here's a picture of my Buffalo Exchange outfit (well really just the skirt and vest are from there) that I rocked while in Carolina. =) The skirt is my favorite right now. Or at least favorite of the ones I have photographic documentation of thus far. Word. Yeah, we're all doing the Hans-y face.
Currently Listening to: Buffalo Buffalo by Nurses Call the Shots...shoutout to Shadoedoe and Daniel!
Currently Watching:
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
NOLA Pyrate Week
For more information on NOLA Pyrate Week click here!!!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tourists
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Beautiful
Make It Right
Here are some photos of the homes:
Here is an interview Brad Pitt had with Ellen Degeneres, a supporter of his foundation:
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
-Noia. It's Time to Pretend.
During spring break, Shadoe and I attended a forum discussion at Tulane University. The topic was entitled, “Toward a Meaningful Educational Opportunity: Ensuring Equity in a System of Choice and Autonomy.” Yeah, the discussion itself was quite a handful of jargon also. While I couldn’t understand some of the jargon the panelists used, I did get that they were discussing New Orleans recently radicalized school system. Okay well first, let me try to recap what some of these panelists touched on. The first speaker was Dr. Warren Simmons, an executive director at some institute for school reform from Brown University. His opening statement was that he was neither a proponent, nor an opponent of choice. He felt that if we establish choice as the lever for urban school reformation, there should be more thought placed into exactly how this choice is organized. If “choice” is the answer to poor schooling, he wants to be sure that choice will in some way ameliorate the disparity in where different schools start out (i.e. their resources) with the use of autonomy and freedom…to choose. Dr. Warren firmly believes that it is crucial that some guy above the school system and who has a direct impact on the school system will think about this question of choice in order to provide a more equal distribution of resources so that all schools have an equitable starting point. An equitable starting point doesn’t necessarily have to mean all schools should be given the same thing, because most schools excel and are week in different aspects of their curriculum, resources, etc. Instead, schools should be analyzed on an individual basis and provided with the necessary equipment, tools, and resources to bring all schools to an equitable starting point. Dr. Warren suggests the community think about constructive support for schools, not necessarily to be delivered singularly…it can be a combination of local home grown providers as well as national providers. Also, he feels that this said person or entity above schools should also be the tool assessor/reformer for kids with disabilities so that they do not get lost in these charter schools.
The last thing he brings to attention is the dire need for communication. Communication is crucial in school reform discussion because choice and autonomy can mean different things to different groups of race and language. For example, the term autonomy does not exude wonderful, pleasant feelings to the blacks in the South because it was a term used to legalize black schools being separate from white schools. It is important to translate these terms cross-culturally in order to develop and establish a common meaning for common good.
You know, speaking of terms that can be twisted to associate with both positive and negative feelings….this reminds me of one of the many enlightening conversations I have had at the St. Charles Guesthouse. By the way, the St. Charles Guesthouse never ceases to impress me. Yesterday, the word “inversion” was brought to my attention. It’s a very cute word actually. One of our fellow housemates saw the book at a thrift shop and was compelled to come back the next day to buy it. According to the author, inversion is the “language of dehumanization.” Inversions happen everyday and it’s basically when a person takes something positive, twists it, and makes it negative and criticizes another person for it. For example, take a person who has absolutely no obligations, no tasks or errands that must be run all day. They are essentially free, free of restrictions, monotony and limited choice. Now another person may see this, and here comes the trick, twist this freedom and instead call them lazy. This can apply especially well for hippies. Society doesn’t think too highly of hippies, instead of being free to do as they please, they are instead viewed as a worthless group who doesn’t make “use” of their time or contribute to society. Honestly, I can’t say my own thoughts are always guilt free of inversions. I will, however, make a more conscious effort to be sensitive to these types of dehumanization through my own use of language.
Anyways, I got lost in thought. I’m sure the concept of inversions can be applied to the schooling system here but I’ll postpone that analysis for now. Finally, I’d like to mention the last speaker, Dr. Luis Miron, the Dean of College of Social Sciences at Loyola University. He used a very applicable quote that impressed me. I can’t recall it word for word, but he basically said that creating the Treme Charter School was similar to the concept of “making Creole gumbo.” He quoted someone saying that the generic ingredients will always be things like okra, seasoning and so and so forth because everyone has their own recipe…but the main ingredients of administration, teachers, students, and parents, should be held constant. This component is crucial in the quality of the “cuisine.” ‘Not everyone who has tasted gumbo before can cook it, and even then, some cook better than others. Similarly, not everyone who has attended a school before can run one.’ I think this analogy is a true one for the Louisiana school system, I hope more people adopt this point of view and that it will help for the better.
Sorry, one more thought. Ever heard of the word paranoia? Most likely. Ever heard of the stems para-, ortho-, and meta-? Maybe you have from your last organic class, or a friend annoying you about his last organic class? Well most of us know that paranoia is about excessive fear or anxiety, that others are constantly trying to sabotage you. So basically, you live your life thinking of the world as a threat to you and thus live constantly consciously aware of others. Now, have you heard of metanoia? To my understanding, which can be blatantly wrong so forgive me if I mislead, metanoia is when you constantly change your mind about everything or anything that is encompassed in life..constantly reshaping not only your own thought process, but yourself. This is a persons constant struggle with their own mind whereas paranoia is the constant struggle and worry about other people’s thoughts. Wow, I don't think I used the words "constant" and "struggle" enough to describe these meanings. Don't mind that. Moving on now, orthonoia on the other hand is living unthreatened by all, including yourself. I would have never stumbled upon these words if it wasn’t for my brother who sent me MGMT’s album and then I heard one of our Guesthouse workers repeat those words to me. Here’s a random link to the British epidemic of orthonoia. Haha. I guess their tabloids hadn’t successfully put them in a state of paranoia like America’s have…
I've come to test the timber of my heart
The past few days since I've discovered him, I have been listening to Joe Pug nonstop. Not only listening to him, but running a campaign as epic as Barack's for everyone I know to hear him. Apparently, Pug was a student at Chapel Hill before he, literally, one day decided to redirect his life completely. Dropping out and moving to Chicago to play his guitar seems to have been the right choice: his debut album has made a lot of noise -- The Nation of Heat -- and has been referred to as a sublime lyrical masterpiece (an understatement at best). He will be at Local 506 in Chapel Hill on May 15th, as will I.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
It's bracket season, baby!
Notice the only thing that matters, besides Carolina going all the way, is Duke going down in the first round.
Bourbon Street
This is Shadoe and I trying to record the clearing of Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras at midnight. It wasn't as spectacular as we expected...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Cafe Reconcile
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
"Crawfest, yeah you right"
Alright, first, buy pounds and pounds of crawfish. The rate right now is around $2.25/lb and each bag can carry anywhere from 15 to 20 lbs. Apparently, crawfish is best between the middle of March and early May, with you being lucky if you get crawfish the size we were fortunate enough to get this early in the season.
Next, fill the bucket with water to wash and remove mud from the crawfish. Drain and repeat the process again for better results. Any crawfish that are noticeably dead, separate and throw away because you never know how long they've been TKO'ed and this will change the taste of the meat.
Third, pour salt into the bucket and stir. This is done to make the crawfish throw up in order to clean and wash their insides out.
While I wasn’t much help in picking up the runaway crawfish after draining, I at least helped clean them off.
Next, pick a crawfish and have a race, or a crawfight. We chose to crawfight. A circle was drawn using chalk and the bad boys were carefully picked up and placed in the arena. Yeah, it took me a long time to finally attempt the crawfish pick up. It's crucial that you grab them at the center of the body, away from the tail or claws so that they won't snap at you, although they will still try.
Whichever crawfish steps outside of the circle loses. Ours kind of cowered and avoided each other, or played dead so it wasn’t much of a fight.
Then after enjoying the sport of crawfish battling, boil the crawfish in a pot. It’s recommended that you add sausage, corn and potato into the boil…or at least I would because Tosh’s dad did and it tasted ridiculously awesome. The crawfish will turn from a black color to a vibrant, lobster red.
Set up a table, cover it with newspapers and spread the final product across the table. Call family over, and after mention of crawfish, they will immediately drop whatever they are doing to appear on your doorsteps. Oh yeah, it’s that good.
Now the process of eating crawfish is also an art. Most people prefer the tail meat, if you’re like Rory, you can take your time with the claws.
If you’re native, you also suck the juice from the body after tearing the tail off. After hearing that the yellow squishy-looking part in the body is actually crawfish intestines, I was a little hesitant to try it at first. After gathering the balls to do it, I have to admit that it’s an essential compliment that adds to the taste of the tail meat. Mmm succulent. I loved the kick of the spices!
The time difference in stripping the crawfish down to the meat becomes apparent when compared with someone who has already mastered the art of crawfish-ing. You can tell by the crawfish piles who’s the native, but Katie ate herself a fine share too so props. You’d be surprised how fast the pounds of crawfish go by.
Finally, place your crawfish scraps on a huge plate to throw away and get ready for another set! Oh yeah, believe it. There were three sets boiled tonight! I must’ve eaten at least “17 lbs of crawfish….that’s like a little baby.” Haha.
Really, beyond the awesome taste of spicy crawfish, it’s really the family environment surrounding the tradition that makes it such a warm and neighbor friendly event. It’s the conversation and the company you keep that really make it what it is. I have Tosh and his family and my friends to thank for making this experience an unforgettable one. I can’t wait for Crawfest 09 baby!
Currently listening to: "Now You're Gone" Basshunter.
Currently viewing: http://www.geocities.com/thefirethread/ (a site Cassandra stumbled upon)
Sample sign:
If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Savantism
I guess it's only natural that working with kids ASD four days a week would eventually lead my interest to savant syndrome. As I've come to understand it, a person suffering from savantism seriously struggles with developmental disorder. Often these individuals are completely unable to learn to read, write, and cannot understand their incredible talents in areas like math, music, language, etc.
Society has become most familiar with autistic savantism through Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise's 1988 Rain Man, based on Kim Peek. Though he is not actually autistic, Peek apparently has a "photographic" (eidetic) memory and thus, his mind seems an endless capacity for information. I've not actually seen the movie yet, but I'm looking forward to checking it out now that I have a little background on the syndrome.
This article, though its credibility is questionable, has fed my interest to reading more about highly radical theories on the concept of intelligence. Like the string theory (if you have plenty of time on your hands, you should probably watch those videos, they are awesome) in physics, these theories are highly abstract and characterize intelligence as a capacity not contained within the dimensions of space and time. Whaaaat? Yeah, I know. I'm still reading about all of this and trying to grasp the concept too.
One of the students at the Chartwell Center, I believe, may have a modest savantistic ability. On the way to City Park last Thursday, Mr. Adam told me about Sami's familiarity with the calendar. If asked what the date the Thursday two weeks from now would fall on, he would tell you with no problem, other than understanding the question, that it's April 3rd. I found it strikingly similar to the amazing calendar calculation abilities described in several articles. We didn't test him on dates that were too difficult, like what day Mardi Gras would be on 2029, but I am interested in finding out how well he knows or can calculate the calendar.
In addition to but unrelated to savantism, several different people have told me about a story called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a story written by British writer Mark Haddon from the perspective of a boy suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's falls on the autism spectrum and is characterized by empathetic social interaction, language acquisition and use abnormalities and often things like obsessive or compulsion movements or preoccupations. A lady I met on the street car one day and a friend back at UNC both recommended I read this story, and I plan to as I finish writing this. The link above is to an online copy of the book if anyone else is interested in reading it.
There is soo much to learn about so many things in life. It's unsettling to think about how much there is to know. Here is just another topic that will obviously open doors to even more,like physics theories and philosophies on intelligence, haha. Just something to think about.
p.s. forgive all the wikipedia links. Though they're often less credible, I think they are good places to form a basic understanding and start research on a topic. Here are some additional links:
http://encefalus.com/cognitive/amazing-brain-autistic-savant/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=savants-cognition-thinking
Currently watching: Segen Max, the two-year-old drumming phenom
Currently listening to: The Beatles Let it Be
"COLD DRINK"
This week my supervisor at the Advocacy Center explained to me what exactly a cold drink in New Orleans is. This is what some of us would call a soft drink, soda, or pop (if you're in Chicago!)... It really doesn't make sense since most drinks are cold, but that's neither here nor there...
Just the other day I finally got to hear this term used in real life! I was at the Popeye's on St. Charles Avenue (grabbing lunch as usual) when a man told his girlfriend that their son had spilled COLD DRINK on himself.
Next time someone in New Orleans asks you if you want a COLD DRINK... you'll know what they mean. :-)
Currently listening to: the Lupe Fiasco radio station on Pandora.com (getting ready for the concert on Thursday, Shadoe!)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
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.
Friday, March 6, 2009
NC friends in Nawlins, round one.
FEMA
In Memoriam Miss Antoinette K-Doe
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.