I enjoyed the New Orleans benefit at Riverspace last night. The readings were thoughtfully chosen and evocative. The singing was excellent. I hope lots of money
was raised. My $20 was the first in the cardboard box. It did go on a
little long though, I thought.
But let me be picayune (inside joke).
Two names were mispronounced. One was the Sho Bar, pronounced shoe
when it should have been show. Made it sound like like some NY fetish
bar, giving it some cachet which it probably never had. The other was
a street name but I forget which street. (And it wasn't a Bur-GUN-dy,
like the natives say, vs BUR-gun-dy, how normal English is pronounced,
kind of mistake.)
I did love the characterizations of Truman Capote and Andrei Codrescu.
Can anyone tell me what the Winona Ryder-like woman was talking about
in French?
The Jonathan Demme film wasn't much of a film yet. The first half
endless shots of the devastation that still remain thanks to George W
Bush, FEMA and the Republican party. The second half. an interview
with (? Parker?) in her dark shell of a house. I do look forward to
seeing the finished product. It is always good to see the humor that
defines New Orleanians present - "House for Sale, Needs some work" and
"One pissed dog" are two spray-painted messages I remember.
I wasn't sure what the music that played during the devastation scenes
was meant to say. A nice fiddle piece, reminiscent of the late great
Johnny Cunningham to me, but not relevant that I could tell, unless it
is a contemporary piece, hopefully by a New Orleans or LA musician.
(And did anyone notice that a French Canadian song was played during
the slide show? I love French Canadian music but I'm not sure what the
connection was there other than it being French.)
And for the food served afterwards, I'm no expert on gumbo but
shouldn't it always have roux? Wouldn't that prevent the sausage from
ending up looking unappetizingly waterlogged grey? It was tasty
though. (It is probably responsible for waking me up at 5 am to think
about these things and my getting up to write this before the sun
rose.)
A tip to the band who played the half-hearted New Orleans covers
(Walkin' To New Orleans, Jambalaya, etc). While New Orleans bands may
not always play on key, and thankfully you did, one thing they don't
lack is passion. I did enjoy hearing Holy Cow though...
Eh la bas.
was raised. My $20 was the first in the cardboard box. It did go on a
little long though, I thought.
But let me be picayune (inside joke).
Two names were mispronounced. One was the Sho Bar, pronounced shoe
when it should have been show. Made it sound like like some NY fetish
bar, giving it some cachet which it probably never had. The other was
a street name but I forget which street. (And it wasn't a Bur-GUN-dy,
like the natives say, vs BUR-gun-dy, how normal English is pronounced,
kind of mistake.)
I did love the characterizations of Truman Capote and Andrei Codrescu.
Can anyone tell me what the Winona Ryder-like woman was talking about
in French?
The Jonathan Demme film wasn't much of a film yet. The first half
endless shots of the devastation that still remain thanks to George W
Bush, FEMA and the Republican party. The second half. an interview
with (? Parker?) in her dark shell of a house. I do look forward to
seeing the finished product. It is always good to see the humor that
defines New Orleanians present - "House for Sale, Needs some work" and
"One pissed dog" are two spray-painted messages I remember.
I wasn't sure what the music that played during the devastation scenes
was meant to say. A nice fiddle piece, reminiscent of the late great
Johnny Cunningham to me, but not relevant that I could tell, unless it
is a contemporary piece, hopefully by a New Orleans or LA musician.
(And did anyone notice that a French Canadian song was played during
the slide show? I love French Canadian music but I'm not sure what the
connection was there other than it being French.)
And for the food served afterwards, I'm no expert on gumbo but
shouldn't it always have roux? Wouldn't that prevent the sausage from
ending up looking unappetizingly waterlogged grey? It was tasty
though. (It is probably responsible for waking me up at 5 am to think
about these things and my getting up to write this before the sun
rose.)
A tip to the band who played the half-hearted New Orleans covers
(Walkin' To New Orleans, Jambalaya, etc). While New Orleans bands may
not always play on key, and thankfully you did, one thing they don't
lack is passion. I did enjoy hearing Holy Cow though...
Eh la bas.
John L
