NO parade season has begun

I'm way late but here's one on the Krewe of Boo, for Halloween!

Krewe of Boo

Video of this year's first Mardi Gras event, the Phunny Phorty Phellows. (My browser Camino, isn't showing it but Ssafari does. Go figure.)

Mardi Gras 2009 - Phunny Phorty Phellows

Shot by Jon Donley/Jester of the Bourbocam/TP writer/editor? (TP/nola.com site map is nonexistent so I can 't check.)

And there's this, also shot by Jon Donley, found in a Google search.


A tonier crowd than I would like to hang around with but a start to the Carnival season.

Mardi Gras is on the horizon

Mardi Gras is Feb 24 this year.

Here's the parade schedule for Uptown/downtown NO. I'll be watching
as many as I can. Will WDSU broadcast them? Will NOLA.com? Will there
be a Bourbocam?

(Times are NO time, one hour behind NYC.)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009
* Phunny Phorty Phellows - Streetcar, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
* Krewe du Vieux - French Quarter, 6 30 p.m.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009
* Krewe of Cork - French Quarter, 3 p.m.
* Oshun - Uptown, 6 p.m.
* Pygmalion - Uptown, 6:45 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009
* Pontchartrain - Uptown, 1 p.m.
* Shangri-La - Uptown, 2 p.m.
* Sparta - Uptown, 6 p.m.
* Pegasus - Uptown, 6:45 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009
* Carrollton - Uptown, Noon
* King Arthur - Uptown, 1:15 p.m.
* Barkus - French Quarter, 2 p.m.
* Bards of Bohemia - Uptown, 2:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2009
* Druids - Uptown, 6 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009
* Babylon - Uptown, 5:45 p.m.
* Muses - Uptown, 6:30 p.m.
* Chaos - Uptown, 7:00 p.m.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
* Hermes - Uptown, 6 p.m.
* d'Etat - Uptown, 6:30 p.m.
* Morpheus - Uptown, 7:45 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2009
* Iris - Uptown, 11 a.m.
* Tucks - Uptown, Noon
* Endymion - Mid-City, 4:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2009
* Okeanos - Uptown, 11 a.m.
* Thoth - Uptown, 11:30 a.m.
* Mid-City - Uptown, 12:15 p.m.
* Bacchus - Uptown, 5:15 p.m.

LUNDI GRAS, FEBRUARY 23, 2009
* Proteus - Uptown, 5:15 p.m.
* Orpheus - Uptown, 6 p.m.

MARDI GRAS, FEBRUARY 24, 2009
* Zulu - Uptown, 8 a.m.
* Rex - Uptown, 10 a.m.
* Elks Orleans - after Rex
* Crescent City - after Elks

Jazz Fest lineup 2009 announced

The preliminary lineup for Jazz Fest 2009 has
been announced. Here's who I'm looking forward to
hearing on 'OZ, plus so many others who I don't
know. Some of these names I know, some I just
like the sound of. I really doubt I'll be going
but who knows.

4/24 - 4/26 (first weekend)
Earth Wind & Fire, Wilco, Irma Thomas, Third
World, Robert Cray, Etta James & the Roots
Band!!!, Mavis Staples, Booker T. Jones, Johnny
Winter, Pete Seeger (that'll be fun), Sharon
Jones & the Dap Kings, Rebirth Brass Band Reunion
with Kermit Ruffins, Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys
(please may she have laryngitis), Tribute to
Mahalia Jackson featuring Irma Thomas, Mavis
Staples, and Pamela Landrum, Chris Smither, Henry
Butler (please may he have laryngitis), Papa
Grows Funk, Sonny Landreth, Mem Shannon & the
Membership, Willie Tee and Cypress feat. Tommy
McLain and T K Hulin, Don Vappie & the Creole
Jazz Serenaders, Amammereso Agofomma of Ghana,
The Dixie Cups, Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp
Band, Germaine Bazzle, Tabby Thomas, Spencer
Bohren, Savoy Music Center of Eunice Saturday
Cajun Jam, Dew Drop Inn Revisited hosted by
Deacon John feat. Wanda Rouzan, Eddie Bo, Allen
Toussaint, Robert Parker, and Al "Carnival Time"
Johnson, Leroy Jones presents the Fairview Brass
Band Reunion Tribute to Danny Barker, Bruce
Daigrepont, Dr. Michael White & the Original
Liberty Jazz Band, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the
Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians, Joe Krown,
Walter "Wolfman" Washington & Russell Batiste,
Jr, Pine Leaf Boys, Ebony Hillbillies, Hot 8
Brass Band, Herlin Riley, Mahogany Brass Band,
Ingrid Lucia, Lost Bayou Ramblers, NewBirth Brass
Band, New Orleans Night Crawlers Brass Band,
Butch Thompson, Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Smitty
Dee's Brass Band, Nine Times Men, Single Men.

4/30 - 5/3 (2nd weekend)
Aretha Franklin, The Neville Brothers, Bonnie
Raitt, Dr. John, Buddy Guy, Los Lobos, The
O'Jays, Toots & the Maytals, Allen Toussaint,
John Mayall, Solomon Burke, Doc Watson, Maze
featuring Frankie Beverly, Chuck Brown ( the
dancer?), Meter Men: Zig, George, and Leo,
Radiators, Aaron Neville,Tab Benoit & the Wetland
Allstars, Marcia Ball, Dirty Dozen Brass Band,
Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, Jon Cleary & the
Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Frankie Ford,
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Mississippi Mass
Choir, Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the
Roadmasters, the subdudes, Esperanza Spalding,
Deacon John, Bonerama, Preservation Hall Jazz
Band, The Genius of Sidney Bechet: A Tribute
feat. Bob Wilber, Dr. Michael White, and Brian
"Breeze" Cayolle, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas,
Chieck Hamala Diabate of Mali, The Iguanas, Treme
Brass Band, Big Chief Bo Dollis & the Wild
Magnolias, Soul Rebels, Steve Riley & the Mamou
Playboys, Luther Kent & Trickbag, C.J. Chenier &
the Red Hot Louisiana Band, Rumba Buena, Roddie
Romero & the Hub City Allstars, Charmaine Neville
Band, Eddie Bo, George French & the New Orleans
Storyville Jazz Band, Walter Payton & Filé Gumbo,
Dash Rip Rock, John Boutté, Midnite Disturbers,
Paulin Brothers Brass Band, D.L. Menard & the
Louisiana Aces, Red Stick Ramblers, Percussion
Inc., Pinettes Brass Band, New Orleans Mardi Gras
Indian Rhythm Section, Bob French & the Original
Tuxedo Jazz Band, Free Agents Brass Band,
Forgotten Souls Brass Band, New Leviathan
Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra!!!, Valley of Silent
Men, and Pigeon Town Steppers SAPCs, Original
Last Straws, Panorama Jazz Band, Hot Club of New
Orleans, Wild Tchoupitoulas, and Wild Apaches
Mardi Gras Indians, New Generation, and
Undefeated Divas SAPCs, The Electrifying
Crownseekers, Pinstripe Brass Band, Ebenezer
Baptist Church Radio Choir, Ninth Ward Hunters
Mardi Gras Indians, Famous Rocks of Harmony,
Highsteppers Brass Band, Lyle Henderson &
Emmanuel, Tornado Brass Band, New Wave Brass
Band, Young Guardians of the Flame.

I look forward to seeing who is searching for
their names and finding this blog from now on...

Rudresh Mahanthappa - Convergence (Kinsmen)

Heard a version of this on Rob W's Transpacific Sound Paradise on FMU tonight. Wow.

Went to the opera yesterday

I went to the Met's production of The Damnation of Faust at the City Center in White Plains yesterday. This was the second opera I've seen; the first was Boris Godunov seen live at the Met.

They project the opera onto a theater movie screen using HD digital video. I may have seen some HD video elsewhere, March of the Penguins?, but I was impressed with what I saw. The staging, special effects, dancing and set were breathtaking. The music wasn't that impressive to me; there are no memorable melodies. The singing may have been good but I am no authority.

There were a few technical glitches: at least 2 audio dropouts, one or two freezes and one or two digital video glitches. The sound was good and not too loud. Subtitles helped us figure out what they were singing about, not that it really mattered since most opera librettos are ridiculous. (And for some reason the theater didn't bring the lights up at the intermission soon enough so people were having a hard time seeing where they could go and left them on after the second act had begun.)

Once in awhile reflections were seen on the screen of the backdrop at the Met. Some reminded me of planes with their landing lights on which could have fit in  but I'm sure were unintentional. Another looked like a reflection of Maestro Levine's conducting. I don't know what any of them really were. Those were the only flaws I saw with the set.

If you are not an opera fan you will be impressed with what you see in this opera. None of it was meant to overwhelm the opera. The closeup of Marguerite singing behind the singer who was actually onstage came closest to being over the top. Other visuals that were stunning included the dancers underwater, gyrating in unexpected directions as only one can underwater, the dancers in white dazzling the eye each in their own windows, the acrobatic (Cirque du Soleil inspired) dancers standing horizontally out into space from the backdrop!, the motionless Christs on their crosses, the gnarly trees withering as Méphistophélès moved beneath each one are just a few that I can remember.

Too bad the music is so indistinct. You may love Berloioz but this doesn't have much to hold onto.

Go. You will enjoy it.

See some videos here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/detail.aspx?id=5792

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/detail.aspx?id=4426

Corn Toasties, day 1

Corn Toasties, or more properly Thomas' Corn Toast R Cakes ("Corn Toasties" are a product of Howard Johnson's and are square. These are round. I haven't seen Corn Toasties up here but you can buy them down south.) have removed the high fructose corn syrup completely from the ingredients so I am now back to eating them. Had my first one, post boycott, today. I had stopped eating them around Christmas last year because I was tired of all that high fructose corn syrup which turns up in EVERYTHING. I had been eating corn toasties for breakfast every day (except Sundays when I have waffles. ...When I find something I like, I stick with it.) for the past 35+ years. I like them.

This morning's batch were some that hadn't been baked enough which has happened sporadically in the past. They have that doughy taste. Next time I'll toast them through two cycles on the toaster and hope that fixes that. Normally one is all it takes.

So, I'll give them another chance. I'll post here if they don't make the grade. Then it will be back to Trader Joe's cornbread mix which is different and good but with it's own set of problems.

'Charlie Rose’ by Samuel Beckett by experimental filmmaker Andrew Filippone Jr.

From this blog:

A very good explanation of where we are and where we should go.

Watch the Charlie Rose that aired, Fri, 11/14.

It's eggnog time!

The eggnog season has begun; you can buy it in stores around here
(the NYC metro area). I love eggnog. It's one thing that makes winter
worthwhile up here although it disappears from the stores much too
soon, some time in January usually. Over the years I've collected
some notes on various brands. Here they are:

I just bought some Stop & Shop eggnog. It has a strong smell when you
open the container and isn't bad. An older review of probably the
same product: sugar milk, good!

The rest of these are older reviews.

Southern Comfort - tasty, w/ noticeable nutmeg
Hood Vanilla - vanilla taste, not too sweet
Garelick Farms - bit of a tang, thick, odiferous, artificial initial taste
Hood (no sugar added/fat free) - good!
Horizon organic lowfat - I've tried it but have no notes
Moovers (w/ Santa Claus face) - thick first taste, alright
Axelrod - good, clean
Turkey Hill - gummy intro, (thumbs down), bit of spice (I don't like
spicy eggnog in general. Nutmeg, yes.)
Stop & Shop Lite - almost vanilla taste but not quite
Southern Comfort Vanilla Spice - spicey!
Hood - plain and good
Chipwich - altogether different not unlike melted Chipwichs I'm guessing
Farmland - basic, wheaty taste?, good
America's Choice - strong smell and taste of some strange gas
Hanneford (Maine) - thick and sweet
Silk Nog (soy) - tastes like soy not egg nog.

I'll be sampling some more brands in the future so more reviews to come.

And a closing comment. A good chaser is ice tea. I pour it into the
same glass that the egg nog was in to give it that Thai ice tea
effect. Some may find this disgusting, I love it. It's tasty if
nothing is too spicy and it refreshes the palette so you can have
some more egg nog sooner.

Bravo

I didn't vote for Barack but I am happy he won. Bravo!

OK, can we impeach Bush now?

Wouldn't that be nice? This would be the perfect time to do it. The Democrats who didn't have the balls to impeach him before now, have nothing to lose.

Do it.

Chilling

Dubya says farewell with a song: G.W. Bush Vs John Lennon, GOD from John Callaghan on Vimeo.

And Happy Christmas / War is Over

voting today

I walked over to the polling place at about 10:30 this morning and
was back home at 11.

All went reasonably well. Not much of a line. Two tables were set up
for two election districts. I wasn't sure which district I was so I
waited in line abit and then went to the district table that wasn't
seeing much action. Turns out I wasn't in that district so I got back
in line, my place being saved. I fished out my voter registration
card and held onto it.

One of the election volunteers tried to put a man ahead of all of us
waiting in line but eventually relented and had him go to the back of
the line. Other than some confusion about organizing the people into
lines the election volunteers were competent. Some were even nice/friendly.

I got up to the table, signed in and went to the voting machine, one
of the old lever types that I am used to.

When I went into the machine, I looked for Nader's position. He was
way down on the bottom row, hard to see without bending over. He was
also on the same line as Bob Barr. I wish I had taken a picture so I
could remember if there were any blank lines inbetween the
independents on the bottom of the ballot and the entries for Obama
and McCain on the various party lines they were on. By putting the
independents so far towards the bottom it shows the clear bias the
two major parties have against them and is another tactic they have successfully used to maintain their power. Some day it would be nice if that sort of gerrymandering was
corrected.

Bush's brain

Michael P Smith RIP

Michael P Smith, the great New Orleans photographer who took so many
classic portraits of New Orleans musicians, died recently. I think I
first saw his work in my college yearbook in 1972. I've appreciated
it ever since.

See this for a good selection of his pics:
http://www.michaelpsmithphotography.com/jazzfest/pages/jazz1.htm

Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival, afterwards

My original idea was to write down the title of each poem I heard and then underline the notable ones and try to write something about them but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. So, what I have below is the next best thing. I only wrote comments about a few poems or poets. I have also included some links to whatever poems I could find on the net.

I noticed a higher proportion of humorous as well as extremely gut-wrenching poems than in the past.

***


I went for Saturday and Sunday. It rained both days, a little on Sat, tons on Sun. I saw/heard some poets new to me and some familiar ones. Some impressions:

I got there in time for the 11 o'clock session on Saturday. Wandaring around, I saw Susan Jackson, who had a soft voice but stunning poetry, Ken Hart - a poem about him dating was one I noted and I think it was Brenda O'Shaughnessy whose language impressed me as especially lively.

In the main tent from 12:45 on I heard Peter Cole, who is very interesting, Linda Pastan, whose (Disobedience? In The Garden?, "I was never meant to be a God.") I remember from an earlier festival or hearing it somewhere else. A great dog poem. Later, Chris Albani was both funny and grippingly real in his tales of cruelty.

(Here is Chris reading on Friday)




Sharon Olds' poem(s?) on the death of her mother were moving and she did some of her Odes.

I went to the Bray Pond tent to hear Coleman Barks, Ted Kooser and C.D Wright. I hadn't heard Coleman in the morning Rumi session but he read more of his own poetry in this session. Ted and C.D.'s poetry didn't move me to write any notes on them.

(Here is Coleman reading on Friday)

I then went to the Gazebo to hear people read Whitman. One man in particular had memorized various sections and brought them to life by picking up a blade of grass while talking about it and otherwise using what he had around him. Brilliantly done!

The evening program's poets and poems who stood out in my mind:

- Simon Armitage two poems, one on a childhood school physics experiment where he had to shout to see how far a voice could carry (called The Shout) and I Am A Sperm Whale.

- Patricia Smith's riveting poem about the people who were left behind in a nursing home in St Bernard parish during Katrina. "... Leave them there..." repeatedly whispered. Gut-wrenching. (See the book Blood Dazzler.)

- Robin Robinson, from Scotland: Wedding The Locksmith's Daughter.

- Martin Espada's poem Alabanza about the food service workers in the World Trade Center tower on 9/11, teaching, at the end, the others how to sing. Another emotionally wrenching poem. See a movie version of it here.

- Franz Wright's poem that had in it, or was it an aside, that the IRS doesn't allow deductions for cloudy days.

- Kevin Young's poems "Aunties" (from Jelly Roll) and odes "To Pork" and "To Boudan."

I didn't stay after the break because I had to go back home and give my cat her insulin shot as well as get up early the next day to do the same, so that I could make the Rumi session then.

Sunday

I arrived before the Rumi session started and it got off to a little bit of late start anyway. Some lines I noted, but are roughly paraphrased here: the world is drowning in sorrow. What is the point of trying to know God? Be like a dog howling for its master. In the yearning, you will understand. There are many ways to kneel, as each instrument is singled out. (I'm guessing that the sound crew didn't play a track that Paul Winter wanted them to. He kept signalling them but I didn't hear any sfx or backing track. They did play some whale songs last night... The sound, by the way, was better than last year. Other than the heavy rain drowning out Billy Collins at times, EVERYTHING was audible and excellently handled. That tent is a fishbowl acoustically. Last year it was muddy unless you were sitting in a good spot. This year, it sounded good, if not a little loud, everywhere I sat.)

I wasn't sure where I wanted to go after that, and despite the hard rain, I headed to the farthest tent, the Bray Pond tent, to hear talk of poetry and animals. Mark Doty, as always, read beautifully. His poems about grackles in Houston "Theory of Beauty (Grackles on Montrose)" and goldfish eggs and him saying the chief of the Nez Perce' indians had told him, life without animals would leave humans with a loneliness of spirit. Very true and we are doing it anyway.

Maxine, Joy and Billy's readings and poems were good but I didn't write down any notes on them. Maxine and Joy had several horse poems. I don't understand horses but they helped.

I then still wasn't sure who I really wanted to see so I picked Kevin Young. Coral Bracho was new to me. Her poems were interesting, especially the one about water, "Agua de bordes lubricos. Both the English and Spanish versions were beautiful. I was tempted to make a short film, trying to find the sights she saw. In my mind's eye, I could. I don't think I could do that on film/video though. I might try. Kevin's poems I noted were about grits and chitlins.

The rest of the day was spent in the main tent.

I'd heard of Robert Haas and never seen him before but I didn't "get" most of his poetry. He did have poems about the death of his brother that were poignant. The line that 'poetry is dreams sent to school', to roughly paraphrase it, stuck with me.

Maxine's poems didn't stand out for me.

Ted Kooser had at least two that I noted: one about a skater and another about his wife washing her hands. "That is I"(?) too?

I hadn't seen Charles Simic before but nothing stands out.

I've heard Billy Collins read a few of the same poems at every Dodge Festival I've seen him at and was hoping he'd do some different ones. He did but repeated these: Tension, The Golden Years, The Trouble with Poetry and Litany. (He also read The Revenant at the poetry and animals session.) A new one (to me) that I liked, was his birthday poem. (Some readings can be downloaded here.)

At the very end they played Pat Metheny's Are You Going With Me (originally on the Offramp album), a wonderful tune I have always loved and very powerful.

I was fairly uncomfortable in the chairs at most of the stages so I squirmed abit but my back is feeling better, now that I am home.

I was disappointed that the food selection was so lackluster. Lots of junk food, not much that was good. The frozen hot chocolate at one stand was VERY good, thanks! I am suspecting that the festival doesn't have much say in what vendors are there; I'm guessing the state dictates some of that. I hope next time it's better.

Also, the main tent should have been ventilated better. I watched them open up the areas by the entrances on Saturday afternoon but most of the time it was MUCH too hot in there. If there are tents with flaps that can be rolled up more easily, I hope they use them. You feel like cattle in the feed lot when the crowd sits there helpless because the people running it aren't doing anything about ventilating it better. That kind of thing makes the festival experience unpleasant.

Overall, lots of wonderful poetry, wonderful poets, plenty to think about and enjoy. I'd say there were equal amounts of laughter as well as strong feelings on death and loss as well as a myriad of other subjects. It looks like much contemporary poetry has more humor in it than it has in the past which is an interesting development. Only one or two poets raised their voices and swore, something I'd seen more when I was growing up in the 60s.

Anyway, I look forward to the next one. Two years is too long.

Oh, and look for Festival poets on YoutTube! Their entire recorded collection going back to the first festival will eventually be available. See my earlier post for at least one sample already up.

Nader Releases 10-Point Plan to Recover from Financial Crisis -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Nader Releases 10-Point Plan to Recover from Financial Crisis

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Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival next week!

It's that time again. The Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival is coming up next weekend. Go. You'll love it.

Here's a sample from last time.