Frolic: jazz, books, food

Jazz, Books, Food, and the Writing Life

Blogging from New Orleans, La

31 May 2006

My friend Bart (a.k.a. Editor B) reports on the state of New Orleans nine months after Katrina. Myself, I’m feeling more hopeful, but my mood depends on the day.

Posted by Todd at 10:35 pm | No Comments

30 May 2006

The flying termites have returned. They’re harmless but persistent. Turn on a light at night, and they sneak between the windows and cover every surface. Last night, to avoid them, we wandered the house in the dark.

Posted by Todd at 10:40 pm | No Comments

25 May 2006

Another reason I live in New Orleans: My roommate is purging 20 lbs. of crawfish in the front yard. Tonight there will be crawfish bisque in the house.

Posted by Todd at 1:04 pm | No Comments

22 May 2006

Rep. Jefferson claims that he’s innocent. I agree with with Jack Ware of Metroblogging on this one:

As a general rule, if someone hands you a briefcase with $100,000 in cash to you in the parking lot of a hotel, something illegal is going on. Additionally, if you are storing $90,000 wrapped in aluminum foil in your freezer, it probably came from illegal activity. I’m sure there are one or two very special circumstances where someone would hand you a briefcase with $100,000 in it, you’d take that money home, wrap it up in aluminum foil, and stick it in your freezer; keeping $10,000 out for miscellaneous expenses. I do not, however, think this is one of those times.
I don’t know if he’s guilty or innocent, but I think he’s an asshole. I’ve thought that since the story came out about him high-jacking the National Guard to take him to his house to rescue valuables while people were drowning in their attics and I think that now. I don’t even care if he took the money, let’s convict him of being an asshole - the legal system can’t do it, but the public can.

Last year, I felt I didn’t know enough about New Orleans politics to get involved. Now that I’ve thrown in my lot with the post-Katrina city, I have every right to speak my mind about the politicians.

Tomorrow I will write Rep. Jefferson a letter telling him to resign.

Posted by Todd at 9:07 pm | Comments (1)

You might have heard that we elected a new mayor in New Orleans. I know these local election don’t get much national coverage, but maybe you saw a mention or two that C. Ray Nagin was reelected.

Nagin wasn’t my candidate, so I didn’t celebrate Saturday night. I’ve heard a lot people asking how Nagin could have won. A lot of the comments are tinged with bigotry (any comparison to Marion Barry is really about bigotry). Other people are just genuinely surprised that the city didn’t blame Nagin.

All the conservative bloggers should realize that Republican voters gave Nagin the margin of victory. He was officially endorsed by Republican candidates and organizations who couldn’t bear the thought of another Landrieu in power.

Although I think Nagin wasn’t up to the job of leading New Orleans after-Katrina, almost no one argues that he isn’t one of the most honest politicians this state has seen. His administration has been free of scandal. He cleaned up several offices.

Landrieu also ran a terrible campaign. I know that charge is common the day after a lost election, but I think it’s fair here. I voted for Landrieu, but I was literally begging supporters to give me a reason to vote for him. I was finally convinced by a guy who had worked with Landrieu. I was looking for reason to support Landrieu, and it was hard to find. How could he convince voters who weren’t already leaning his way.

On a bright note, we kicked out half the city council. Entrenched politicians were replaced by successful professionals.

For the people claiming that New Orleans has no interest in change, I’d like to know when your town last voted out half the city government?

Posted by Todd at 11:57 am | Comments (3)

18 May 2006

David Maisel’s aerial photos show how man has altered nature. They’re dramatic, but anyone in New Orleans will tell you that nature still has some fight left in her.

Posted by Todd at 8:34 am | No Comments

17 May 2006

Are you still thinking about voting for Nagin? Read this damning timeline on Landrieu’s site. It might change your mind.

Posted by Todd at 7:54 am | No Comments

14 May 2006

Other People’s Prose:

Recently, I found out my across-the-street neighbors, Kristen and Rimas, sold their house and are moving to Austin. Kristen is not completely happy about leaving but it’s the right thing to do. She’s happy she won’t be in New Orleans for the next hurricane season.
I’ll miss Kristen and Rimas, and all of the other people that came back for awhile but then found it was time to leave. Perhaps I’ll leave too. It’s really hard to say what’s the right thing to do. I want to smile and so I do. But, then, I feel completely insincere sometimes.
New Orleans has a long way to go and it will be years before the city is truly functional. A lot of us are in complete denial, which is good. That’s probably the only way you can survive here. So, for now, I guess I’ll keep on smiling.

Ernie the Attorney on life in New Orleans.

Posted by Todd at 7:34 pm | Comments (2)

13 May 2006

Buy a few things from New Orleans. Apple has a showcase of New Orleans musicians at iTunes. Local designers Dirty Coast have a whole line of New Orleans t-shirts. If you don’t live here, some of these shirts won’t make sense. Perhaps that’s a reason to move here.

Posted by Todd at 12:08 am | Comments (1)

11 May 2006

The crew of Hispanics continues to rebuild the house outside my window. Since they started, their English has improved. They can now say shit man like a gringo.

Language acquisition has to start somewhere.

Posted by Todd at 9:18 am | No Comments

10 May 2006

It was smoky this afternoon. With the recent rash of fires, I thought that half of Uptown might be burning.

Turns out it’s only the Yucatan Peninsula that is on fire. The smoke has spread across the gulf region. What a relief.

Posted by Todd at 7:54 pm | No Comments