Ups and Downs

Another JazzFest has come and gone. I only went two days this year - the first Saturday and Thursday. The Thursday has always been my favorite day. "Locals Day" much smaller crowds, no lines for anything.

Saturday we saw: Bonerama, Papa Grows Funk, Big Sam's Funky Nation,Terence Blanchard, Treme Brass Band, Dr. Michael White. We saw the first half of Simon and Garfunkle but were somewhat dissapointed so we scooted over to the Blues tent to catch the second half of Tab Benoit's set. He was tearing it up! We also saw the parade " Kirk Joseph & the Sousaphone Symphony Parade honoring Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen" with 15 tubas!

Thursday the weather was perfect. I saw Dumpstafunk, Sunpie Barnes, Steve Martin w/ Steep Canyon Rangers (yes that Steve Martin), Soul Rebles, 101 Runners and Elvis Costello. The day was more laid back in all ways.

Soul Rebels - the nice thing about Thursday you can get up closer to the stages.

We were up front for Dumpstafunk. This is looking back at the crowd.

The down was the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and the oil leak (leak? geyser is more like it) that followed. 11 men lost their lives, hundreds of fishermen will lose their livelihood and thousands of marine animals and bird are suffering not to mention the damage to the coastlines and beaches of 4 states. And BP is hemmoraging money for the clean up. As of this time still waiting to hear why this happen. Here in New Orleans people are eating and buying up seafood for the very real fear it will be in short supply for years, which of course will drive up the cost. It remains to be seen how this will affect shipping in the ports of New Orleans and Mobile and the price of gas.

Another Up - New Orleans has a new mayor! Mayor Mitch Landrieu was sworn in to day. Can I get an amen?! I'm more excited about the departure of Ray Nagin but I do hope Landrieu can turn things around and actually get things done and be accountable. It's pretty easy for him to look better and accomplish more than Nagin.

I was shocked and surprised to read today's headline in the T-P that Inspector General Cerasoli quit due to health reasons. I hope his health returns to the better soon and thank him for all he's done and has tried to do. He had to work against great odds and resistance from City Hall. Cerasoli is from Boston, another town known for government corruption. The article says "One main goal has just been to simply identify the entity that is the city of New Orleans, " Cerasoli said. "Nobody can give you an organizational chart." I bet there are a ton of people on the payroll who are unnessary and know that they are but keep mum. I hope we can hire another person willing to go up against Nagin and his crew. On the bright side, we are saddled with Nagin for only one more year and I have hope we can elect someone who will clean City Hall up.

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Ephemera"


I got this packet o' crap for the City of New Orleans last month when I went to the "Mayor's Round Table for Neighborhood Association Leaders." The Mayor was a no-show, he had an "emergency" and couldn't attend. It's probably better he wasn't there, he'd be a distraction. There were representatives from every imaginable city department. Brenda Hatfield took the reins and made the opening remarks for Hizzoner. "The recovery's going great, blah blah blah" then opened up the floor for questions. Everyone was very patient, answering questions, except Veronica White. She needs to work on her people skills. She made it clear that this was a waste of her time. One person asked about garbage collection at a neighborhood park. Parkways picks it up and they are very underfunded and understaffed. The person asked "why can't Richard's pick up the trash when they come through the neighborhood?" All Ms. White would say "It's not in their contract." She refused to explain or even converse with the man. Someone else stepped in to explain it to us peons who do not understand the clusterf*ck that is city hall. Hmmm... that sounds bitter doesn't it? Overall I didn't think the meeting was a complete waste of time. I thought is was good the city was reaching out to us, so we could spread the word to the people we represent. And I want to thank you Mr/Ms tax payer for the finger sandwiches and cut veggies we snacked on. Lilette's would have been nicer but I guess after the credit card hoo-haw they thought better of it.

I have lost all confidence C. Ray and as I said before I'm glad he wasn't at the round table he called, like everything else he'd be a hindrance not a help. I think the Gambit put it perfectly in their Commentary "The Feckless Mayor":

No, Mr. Mayor, you need to stop. If anyone is hurting New Orleans' recovery, it is you.

Maybe throw in Blakeley too.

It's here, it's here!

The new phone book?

Nooo! The brand spankin' new City of New Orleans web site. Glory be!

http://www.cityofno.com/

Now let's see if everything works and if I can find what I'm looking for.

My initial comment: Ick! Who picked the color palette? (Well I am a design snob)

UPDATE: Oooh there's something called "My CNO" you have to register to use (doesn't say what exactly what it allows you to do) and you get to share with the City a "Shared Secret."

I just sent a question to NORD about the Lyon's Center at Louisiana and Tchoup - when the heck is the FEMA infrastructure going to be gone and the park and center returned? I'll let you you know if and when I get a response.

Is this their attempt at humor? Go to Residents > Dept of Sanitation and down on the right hand side - just above Veronica White's photo - click on "How to make Debris Disappear"

Bamboozle is the word for the Weekly Photo Challenge.

I present to you, hizzhonor, C. Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans.

The photo belong to Nola.com and credit goes to T-P staff photo by Matt Rose.

"The Good Neighbor Program"

Need I say more?

Here is what the city said it would do LINK

And here is what happened LINK

I think it's appropriate the photo was taken during his "state of the city address" May 30, 2007.

President Bush was a close second, but he didn't bamboozle me. I knew he was rotten through and through.

Dave and Glenn have the whole list. Some really creative entries this week!

I'm exhausted. From a long football season, from holidays... and it ain't stopping anytime soon. As one of my friends put it:

The holidays keep coming and I'm too stupid to stop!

I love it! I may put that on a t-shirt.

I know you are all just dying to hear about my hiking trip to Natchez. But that will just have to wait. If you read today's paper you know there was a letter from Hizzor C. Ray in the Metro section:

We selected 17 target areas throughout the city to begin our recovery implementation. Several high-profile projects are already under way, such as the opening of the Freret Market, planning for the future of Circle Foods, demolition of the former New Orleans East Plaza, redevelopment activities at I-10 and Carrollton Avenue, and several miles of street work completed to date, with many more miles planned for repair and improvement in 2008.

Now, I know the people who started and run the Freret Market; we help them with their marketing. That market exists not because of anything Nagin or Blakey did. They tagged their name to it, which probably help the market get some initial good press. But it was the group of citizens who wanted to help lift their neighborhood up and revitalize the Freret Street area who deserve all the credit. Gee, that sounds a lot like everything Post-K in New Orleans doesn't it? I know the Freret Market would have happened even if Freret wasn't one of the 17 target areas. It makes me wonder what else is the Office of Recovery Management is taking credit for.