Frolic: jazz, books, food

Jazz, Books, Food, and the Writing Life

Blogging from New Orleans, La

29 August 2008

Don’t worry, we’re getting ready but not freaking out. We’re pretty good at dealing with storms. Even the New York Times agrees:

It is one of the myths of Katrina that the people were caught unprepared and unheedful. In fact, with little notice — barely a day — a vast majority proceeded to an orderly evacuation after stern official warnings, filling the highways out of town but getting out safely. Of course, many of those who lacked the resources to leave — the city’s poorest residents — or those who did not heed the commands were not so lucky.

I’m off to buy some supplies for the road.

Posted by Todd at 8:03 am | Comments (2)

28 August 2008

If we do have to evacuate (and no, we won’t need to–I’m sure), I’ll be able to text updates to my Twitter page.

Posted by Todd at 2:32 pm | No Comments

Tulane will close at noon tomorrow and resume classes next Thursday.

Posted by Todd at 2:30 pm | No Comments

For my local readers, consult this handy Google contraflow map for the best path out of the city.

Posted by Todd at 2:09 pm | No Comments

Is New Orleans doomed or just a handy prop to get people prepared. Chuck Watson, who develops hurricane damage models for Kinetic Analysis Corporation, explains why the National Hurricane Center likes to see their tracking maps barreling down on big cities:

Operationally, the hype from the media and pressure from emergency managers is intense. NHC sometimes uses what they call the “forecast of least regret” (their words). For example, if the storm is forecast to brush the coast, they tend to show it making landfall, making a direct hit on a major city rather than an adjacent lower populated area, or call for the winds to be higher than either the models or unbiased forecasting would indicate. NHC has reportedly changed tracks at the behest of emergency managers to make them “scarier” and encourage people to evacuate, especially for high risk areas like the Florida Keys. I think this is a bad idea. The forecast should be the best possible rendition of where the storm is going and how strong it will be when it gets there. Fudging the tracks and, more typically, the intensities, tends to decrease the credibility of the forecasts and over time is counterproductive.

Check the Chicory for the whole, fascinating interview.

Posted by Todd at 11:03 am | No Comments

27 August 2008

Had to sign a photo release for boy’s new daycare. Does this mean he’ll be sharing Cheerios with the offspring of movie stars?

Posted by Todd at 8:06 am | Comments (1)

26 August 2008

I repeat, we do not want any:

And fuck you, Gustav, for making us nervous when we’re all scared as shit. What kind of third anniversary will this be?

Posted by Todd at 8:44 pm | No Comments

The same Louisiana musicians might be playing all the parties at the Democratic convention, but only a select few, according to a correction in the Times-Picayune, get to feast on the trademarked combo of cream and imported crawfish known as Crawfish Monica™:

Not the real Monica: A story Sunday about Louisiana musicians who performed at the official Democratic delegate welcoming party in Denver also described efforts by the Democratic Party to simulate Louisiana cuisine, including a dish of elbow macaroni labeled “crawfish Monica.” The genuine crawfish Monica dish of Jazzfest fame, made by Kajun Kettle, was not served at the official delegate party, and Kajun Kettle did not authorize the use of its name at that delegate party, according to company President Pierre Hilzim. Kajun Kettle’s trademarked dish was served later at a separate party, sponsored by the storm recovery organization Friends of New Orleans, that featured performances by the same Louisiana musicians.

I’ll never understand the appeal of this dish.

Posted by Todd at 7:44 pm | Comments (1)

We’re on the parade route! And not just for Thoth. This year Muses and Krewe d’Etat, two of the top night parades, will roll down Magazine Street two blocks from our house. Angus Lind of the TP has the whole scoop.

Surely the value of our home doubled overnight.

Posted by Todd at 11:34 am | No Comments

15 August 2008

Go away, Fay! We don’t want any:

Posted by Todd at 3:03 pm | No Comments

13 August 2008

Vodka is a silly drink. And vodka makers give out silly swag. At Tales of the Cocktail last month, Rain vodka gave me a nice, wide emery board. When I file my nails, it does make me feel a bit like a woman, which makes me think of Sex and the City, where the characters often drank cosmos. But it doesn’t make me want to drink a cosmo. Just the opposite. I it makes me want to belch and drink beer.

Lucky for me Pearl vodka gave me a nice bottle opener. Great for opening beer, useless for anything related to vodka. Unless the new trend is a beer and vodka cocktail.

To be fair, though, the Absolut rep gave me a Lewis ice bag at the Museum of the American Cocktail kick off. It even came with a mallet. That is some sweet swag.

Posted by Todd at 7:36 pm | No Comments

8 August 2008

If Detroit and New Orleans were the only two cities in America, C. Ray Nagin would be the best mayor in the country. It’s my understanding, though, that we have a few other cities.

Posted by Todd at 11:27 am | No Comments

5 August 2008

GQ searched the country for cocktails and made a list of the 20 best. It’s good to see that the Sazerac at Cochon made the cut:

Cochon’s crushingly tasty version of the Sazerac blends French panache (Herbsaint) with American guts (bourbon or rye), then claims the drink for New Orleans (with local bitters).

What exactly, though, gives the drink “French panache.” In New Orleans, many indigenous places and things have French names.

Posted by Todd at 1:15 pm | No Comments