Posts Tagged ‘New Orleans’

So when I heard that you could drop off hair, fur and nylon at (of all places) the Ritz Carlton, I was a little confused. It’s to help absorb the spilled oil in the Gulf, and while anything that helps is worthwhile, I couldn’t imagine how stuffing used pantyhose with cut up hair was going to help.

Here’s how, and it’s all pretty amazing:

Crossposted to NoteworthyInNola

I was dropping off some Jazzfest guests to the Fairgrounds when I noticed a bunch of filming in the cemetery. On the way back I stopped to check it out, and got talking to the director of live music, a local guy in Saints gear, relaxing on the back of a supply truck in the shade of an oak tree. I was surprised that they were still filming, and he said this is the season finale and he had one last big job before the wrap- another second line.

He told me that his job title was specific on purpose- all the music from the series is caught live, which makes his job interesting, to say the least. The episodes are tivo’ed, but I told him I was happy they’d focused on the second line’s hoopla under the I-10 overpass in the premiere, and he laughed. He’d watched every show and movie about the city and knew exactly what they’d missed- like how the bands let loose in the echo-y concrete under the highway, always a magical moment.

I realized I had video of the actual event- HBO put out a call to recreate this, the first Second Line, post Katrina. There was just no way to duplicate it… it was a magical day.

(a few more pics can be found here.)

Every spring around this time we get tons of these guys, and I’ve always just shied away from them, leaning on the idea that the orangey color was mother nature’s warning to stay away. But when someone mentioned they thought it might be a relative of the Black Widow, I figured I’d better look it up.

Turns out the scary colors are false advertising, which seems to be a pattern in our local spiders. The banana spider looks like it could rip your face off, but it’s the brown recluse that’ll do the serious damage.

If I ever really decide to turn tail and run away from New Orleans, I swear it won’t be because of the dysfunction, the heat or the hurricanes- it’ll be the critters that does me in.

After this winter’s gawdawful freeze, pretty much everything died. Things I didn’t think would ever be killed, even by flamethrower gave it up. Even the bananas haven’t come back up yet, which is shocking.

But guess what has come back with a vengeance? The absolute last thing I’d have guessed.

The freaking roses. They’re blooming all over the freaking place. I haven’t been able to keep them alive, at all, ever, but there they are.

The dead stick that had been Ebb Tide is blooming:

The Lady Banks went crazy:

St. Joseph’s coat is busting out:

For the first time, even Zepherine Drouhin put on a show:

And even Double Delight is living up to its name:

I’ve been at a total loss to explain this. I have watered, fed, pruned, and watched for blackspot with a level of paranoia that I didn’t have when Alison was learning to ride a bike. For naught. They die. Until they were subjected to true abuse…and then they thrive. Honestly? How contrary is that?

Roses are referred to as female, and women are generally contrary by nature. Maybe that’s the only answer there is.

Or maybe they were trying to lull me into a false sense of security, all the better to break my heart later. Which, in the end, might not be unrelated to the woman-thing either.

Walking home from getting coffee on Magazine Street, we came across this gorgeous bunch of Wisteria:

The day was grey and threatening rain, which would knock the delicate clusters off, so I grabbed the shot while they were still there.

I will admit to a certain amount of jealousy here- we have the stuff in our backyard, but it’s never really bloomed at all, although it spends the entirety of the warm months trying to reach out and strangle anything it can. I swear I’m going to do a time lapse over the summer to show just how fast the stuff grows. I’m constantly wacking it back, and for a show like this it’d be worth it. Around August I’m always wondering if an execution is in order, I’m so tired of it…but hope springs eternal and I always think “maybe next spring- maybe this will be the year!”

At least now I know where I can go for my spring purple fix.

The herons are busy in Audubon Park these days, molting and nesting on the Island Rookery.

The number of birds on these few trees is staggering- especially when you take into account that each one is around 3 feet high:

I’ll go back in a month or so and see if we can get pics of chicks.

I just love their backs, so crazy.

And when we finally get some Fuschia, I’ll know we’re really out of the cold.

Last week Rob was in town, and we were graciously invited to come down to One Eyed Jacks to watch him and Exodus (with GoatWhore opening. Really.). They’re out on the road with Megadeth but had an evening off and decided to make a pitstop in a more intimate venue.

A show that starts at 11:30 on a weeknight? Wow. That’s a rough night for the olds. But Rob had kindly scoped out a spot out of the fray, so Charlie and I took our Geritol and headed out, happy to see him regardless of the hour.

Backstage at the club was about what you’d expect:

Not exactly the lap of luxury, but they guys got in late afternoon and took off right after the show, so nobody really cared.

How was the show, you ask? Well, too loud for my poor camera, which in thrash metal= excellent:

The club’s small, but the audience was dedicated- still going strong at 1am on a Wednesday night. The band was impressed, but then again they hadn’t been through New Orleans since before Katrina, so I think the fans would’ve stayed all night, they were just so glad the band was here.

And with that ::poof:: they were gone, on the bus and outta there after signing a few autographs and packing up, hopefully to return soon on a longer, more social visit.

Yesterday was Super Sunday, rescheduled from last week, when it was windy and rain threatened. Instead it was absolutely gorgeous… both the weather and the suits, of course.

We’ve been going long enough now to recognize many of the players, but the person who caught my eye most was my favorite little Indian:

I’ve got pics of her strutting her stuff last year, and 2008.

I didn’t upload as far back as 2007, but now I’m going to have to go back and see if I have pics of her then, too. She’s fascinating to watch, totally self possessed and in charge. This one’s gonna be a heartbreaker, folks…if she’s not already.

And while she’s growing up, the next generation is on the scene:

While their elders are there to show them the way…

Like I said, a gorgeous day all around. To see more of the Indians, click here.