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.

thoughts on the Republican convention, 9/2 - 9/4 and some of the music used

8:59 Tues
Something weird before Lisa Keegan. An attempt to be hip. Fairly awful.

The Repubs become non-partisan for a moment when asking for help for
the Gulf Coast. Soon enough, they discard that and go back to being
jerks.

Polls say the delegates are pro-Bush, pro-McCain to a great extent
whereas the majority of Republicans DO NOT favor Bush or McCain at
all. Should be interesting. These are the guys who drank the Cool-Aid.

Also disappointing is the fact that reporters outside the convention
are being arrested and abused. Like most Republican conventions, free
speech is in danger and protesters will get abused. They too will
cause trouble but the police will overreact and innocent people will
get hurt or arrested.

Repubs are using fear to get elected as usual. That and an overdose
of patriotism.

Fred Thompson on now. A joke of a man. Amazing that people would vote
for him. A macho idiot.

Jolting Joe Lieberman on now. How bizarre to see him there.

***

Wed

They play Sly and the Family Stone's Everyday People. Great song. I
think this is an alternate version or they have edited out, or are
using an edited version that has the 'different strokes for different
folks' part out. Why? Maybe they just are missing a channel. I
suspect they edited it out.

Next, they play the rockabilly song (Rock This Town - by?, very familiar).

Kenny Loggins next.

Happy Republicans dancing to some cowboy song.

Earth, Wind & Fire - September. These white folks are abit retarded,
dance-wise.

Guiliani had to mention 9/11...

Sarah Palin's a pit bull with lipstick. I can't wait for the
Photoshopped pics that won't be flattering to her. But then, she did
ask for it.

Thurs

They go for the 9/11 angle.

Kenny Loggins sings - ..."we're gonna take you to the danger zone"...
Yes they will. Not the best choice for a song I'd think.

Lindsay Graham's argument about Iraq only points out that the
Republicans and Bush would have kept going on the same course if the
surge hadn't been tried, over their protestations. The soldiers on
the ground said this isn't working? Why didn't Bush, the Republicans
and the Dept of Defense listen?

Sarah Palin film
Mother, moose hunter... great. They show a pic of her as a child with
food on her mouth. Nice. Over the rainbow shot at the end blows the
tone.

Having that large screen behind the speakers reminds me of the Apple
1984 commercial. All the willing lemmings eating it up.

The movie that plays after Tom Ridge speech for Cindy McCain has a
first musical theme that sure sounds alot like this Land Is Your
Land, not a tune I'd think they'd want to use given the Pete Seeger
connection.

Cindy with black folks in Africa. She must be a good person.

She appears. Her hair has gotten bigger.

She's "blessed and honored to be part of our national conversation."
That's a wierd thing to say.

"Get the federal government out of our way." She's one of those...

Ralph Nader is on a live webcast now so I'm watching that.

'Let all of those who are locked up for non-violent drug "crimes"
go. Then, have massive prosecution of corporate crooks.'

They're using a handheld camera. They should have used a tripod...

'The US people don't want very much.' That, alas, is why Ralph won't
do well. Most people don't care enough to think things through. If
they did, he'd do better.

What makes anybody think that the Repubs or Democrats will "ever get it done."

CEOs should outsource their jobs too!

The Repubs are showing McCain in Viet Nam again.

McCain is standing in front of a green screen (later blue). Perfect
for lots of people to put something in for the background that may
not flatter him.

Nader webcast is hard to hear...

Nader: We're putting kids in front of screens in education when they
should be doing more worthwhile things.

I agree. "Only human beings should have constitutional rights. Not
corporations." And corporations should not be able to lobby either.

It's kinda cool to see the Repub convention-goers cheering while I
listen to Ralph's webcast! And to have McCain mouth Ralph's words!

Nader will be on 45 state ballots!

The audio is too hot. Distorting but it's still hard to hear the speakers.

The speaker that follows Ralph asks for a $2300 contribution. The
room doesn't respond at first then we hear someone say 'I will.'
They're doing some fundraising now.

I turn the volume down on Ralph's fundraising and listen to McCain.
McCain is now saying we will embark on a big project to make us
energy independent. Drill now? That's the WRONG strategy, my friend.
More nuclear power plants. Clean coal. All bad ideas.

Actually, we know better than what you're suggesting.

Q&A for Ralph now.

On 9/11: Would have worked with other countries to go after the
attackers with a laser-like focus.

Full Medicare for all.

Next week will get together with Bob Barr, Ron Paul, Cynthia McKinney
(the Green party candidate for President) and some others to say
they are for all for repealing the Patriot Act and treating the
massive deficit (and more).

'The word "spoiler" is a politically bigoted word reserved for third
party candidates... No one blames Pat Buchanan for the 2000 election.
Gore should have won his own state of TN. etc.'

McCain seems to be done. We see a big flag behind the speakers most
of the time.

Bush and Cheney (and Rumsfeld) are subject to criminal prosecution
after they are out of office.

Replace health insurers with Medicare.

Repubs play September again as McCain walks through the crowd.

I agree, the Dems are only interested in self-preservation.

The federal government of 1933 could have done a better job with Katrina.

Hurricane Gustav, Tuesday, 9/2

I tune in to DSU about 10:45 NY time.

Jindal is having another press conference.

People are heading back even though they won't be allowed to enter some places.

Randi Rousseau's profile looks like my old girlfriend...

Mr Moore, a neighbor who lived near and worked on a house that had
collapsed, will have more work... (Remember that song, don't have any
more, Mrs Moore?)

They show a shot of the entrance to the Palm Lake subdivision in
Slidell. It's a lake alright.

No levees breached in Orleans parish. Good. Water is still coming
over the top of the Industrial Canal though!

Danny Prinze and his wife moved to Slidell because they like the
water. Well, they got water now, as we seen them walking into it to
check out their home.

Rep Cedric Richmond: "We have to be sure we don't rely on the Coast
Guard", re: the ships in the Industrial Canal. That should be
interesting.

Plaquemines has 8 places where the levees are being overtopped. They
show footage shot yesterday of work by Braithwaite.

DSU's Dan Milham: "It looks like Hannah may go to Savannah."!

Various rivers are flooding.

DSU anchor doesn't have a blow dryer as a way of being sympathetic to
those who don't have enough money to stay away any longer. I'm sure
some will be upset with that comment but it was meant to be humorous
and that's how I took it.

Haskell baskets.

Billy Nugesser is pissed that the Corps hasn't figured out how to get
the levee fixed near Conoco. He agrees that they are frustrated as he
is.

Mayor of Slidell jokes about getting the sewage, "things", moving.

Billy Nungesser: "We're sitting around with our hand up our ass"...
He wants to cut through red tape, environmental reviews, etc to get
the levees in better shape. I hope they don't skip the environmental
reviews.

Helos (helicopters)

Ceeon Quiett is a spokeswoman for the city of NO. A quiet spokeswoman...

Heath Allen standing in water up to his knees as he makes his report
from Mandeville.

Reporter reads info provided by the military for the pictures they've
sent them verbatim. They should leave out the hype/self-promotion
they provided.

4:42 NY time: DSU: We're seeing some training going on. What's
training? This was in regard to bad weather, tornados or possible
tornados.

Tornados seen. Adding insult to injury, many must think 'what a place
to live.' They certainly have their hands full.

Levees overtopped in Plaquemines.

Crevasses.

Nungesser owns Elkland, an exotic animal tourist trap.

We see JIndal, Mitch Landrieu and MIchael Chertoff touring around.

Tempers are flaring with drivers who want to come back. We're not
seeing that but I am sure it is happening alot. People are impatient.

5:36 NY time. They are starting to let some people back in some places.

They show a tornado warning which they think will bring it to Audubon
park at the same time it is due in Lafayette. I'm not sure what that
was supposed to be.

They also say:
4:59 Audubon Zoo
--- Lower Garden District
5:01 Tulane.
Anyone who knows about Audubon Park will know that Tulane is across
the street. That's a little ridiculous, tracking anything to that
small level. (It's now crossing the street at such and such a
location...)

On the banner "leaders say the", that's it. Oops.

More tornado warnings, maybe 3, for Orleans parish. Oy.

7:05 NY time. The twin spans have reopen! It also seems the tornado
activity have quieted down but no, more to come. NO is still not
admitting people. Report of a tornado touching down in Abita Springs.

9:39 NY time: Things have quieted down mostly.

30% of the residents of St John Baptist parish stayed through the
storm, according to Buddy Boe.

WWL and VUE are showing commercials. DSU isn't yet.

Seeing that many places are letting people back in. Good.

I may check back in but I think this is it for blogging this storm.

Take care New Orleans and all those affected by the storm.

Cheers,

John L

One last one:
From a parish president as reported on DSU: "if you don't need to come back please have a compelling reason to do so." Hunh?

Hurricane Gustav, Monday, 9/1

Monday, 9/1

I start watching at 10:20 NY time

Anchorwoman calls the Rigolets, Rigolees.

We see water at the top of the Industrial Canal. It will probably
overtop any minute.

There are some ships/barges loose in the Industrial Canal. Great. A
fire at Broad and Esplanade.

We hear, "Tornados. I need to go on."

The New Orleans side of the Industrial Canal is at risk.

We're losing the audio and the entire signal often.

Watching water coming over the Industrial Canal, the Orleans side. Very sad.

I wonder if a second wall behind these first walls would help. The
second wall wouldn't have to be as well entrenched. It could just be
enough to hold whatever spilled over or if the first wall broke, a
smaller force of water, not the full force of the water in the canal.
Would that help?

Shut up Travers.

Anchors talking to Sen Vitter: "Obviously no one is jumping the gun."
"Obviously" is one overused word and inaccurately used in most cases
so far.

Bush: "The co-ordination of this storm is a lot better"... If you say
so. All that says is you are covering your ass. What are you doing to
help? He is still an idiot.

Jindal: 3 more hours of peak water on the Industrial Canal.

Lilly pads!

Jindal is giving excellent info.

Norman Robinson, DSU: ..."in Southern ship yard"... should be In THE
Southern shipyard...

Some city councilman are going to make sure that vessels won't be in
the Industrial Canal during hurricanes. Good idea.

Cynthia Willard-Lewis is wandering in her answer.

I am feeling better that the city will survive with few problems. The
water is not overtopping as severely near the Judge Sieber Bridge,
where DSU's Travers Mackel is. Other reports indicate that things
seem to be getting better. That could change though with one break.

Ron Smiley has calmed down. Good. We'll get better info if he isn't breathless.

3:16 NY time: DSU: The Army Corps of Engineers isn't overly concerned
about the overtopping of the Industrial Canal. The city pumps will
take care of it.

1/4 of US oil production is from the Gulf. It's all shut down. 40% of
US refining capacity is shut down. The Strategic Oil Reserve is at
record levels.

The Red Cross director is saying all the right things.

Billy Nungesser via a DSU reporter: "We didn't dodge a bullet. We
dodged a cannonball"!

Heath Allen's audio report of the North Shore is horrendous. Cell
phone garbage. 'There was a lotta, lotta, lotta, lotta, lotta, lotta,
rain out there.'

Smiley laughs as they say that 'people who evacuated to get out of
the way of this, are now getting slammed.' Real compassionate. He's
laughing because it came out so differently than they had expected
and that is human but it just looks bad.

They're relieved that the expected worst in New Orleans hasn't
happened but what about the rest of LA?

DSU (guest) reporter Sandra Shaw..."as you can see some of the EMS
workers had to help him out." No, we aren't seeing that.

4:30 NY time: Cat 1 now.

Ron: ..."we have a lot of friends back in the Mississippi"... He
meant to say the 'Mississippi area' but he had too much to say so he
skipped it. Idiot. Slow down. Engage brain before operating mouth.
...back in the Florida... signs that says...

Richard Angelico is filing some good reports.

Ron: "When you're looking at this eye kind of thing"...

DSU: Rachel Wulff: "Occasionally we'll see a huge whiff of wind." A whiff?

Keli Fulton: "We saw several trees down literally".... Hunh? Literally?

Good to have phone reports from all the reporters.

5:10 pm CNN: WGNO is reporting a levee break? Caernarvon.

5:30 NY time: "Plaquemines parish residents must leave now." The
levee will be overtopped.

These newscasters/weatherpeople have to stop using the word
"obviously". Please.

They interview john Green. He thinks people will stay the next time.
He's probably right. People are lazy. If they don't have to move to
get out of danger, they won't. Of course, they may die if the storm
goes one direction rather than the other.

CNN's John King: "St Bernard's parish." No, it's St Bernard parish.
Others have made that kind of mistake too.

I watch the News Hour. They mentioned that the traffic was one-way
but all the video they showed was of highways with traffic going in
BOTH directions. They also showed a graphic that had nothing to do
with the issue of overtopped levees and the scouring that occurs,
which was what they were talking about.

I am under the impression that the Corps is only rebuilding to a Cat
3, not a 100-year storm. The Corp spokesman said they are rebuilding
for a 100-year storm. But since Cat 3 and 100-year storm are
different ways of looking at it, who knows what they really mean.

Ron: Both the West and East banks are in danger of overtopping by
Caernarvon ... "if I'm not getting this correct." No, you mean 'if
you're not getting this incorrectly' or 'if you're getting this
correctly.'

Jindal on again.

7:12 NY time: The T-P announced at 4:43 pm that the Caenarvon
Mississippi River diversion will be opened. DSU is still wondering if
that will happen.

7:54 NY time: I am not sure if the diversion was opened or not. DSU
aired a report that didn't indicate that. It looked like they were
patching the levee rather than opening it up.

8:08 NY time. DSU: Levee no longer at risk. Good but I am not sure
which one. "The Gulf is rising", in a report shot earlier.

I can't tell what Ron is talking about. The fence? Ascent? Air moving
over water. Enunciate.

They show a map that has the track inland. They list Tues, Wed and
have Sat 7:00 Pm in bigger letters for some reason. Why are they
mentioning Saturday? Are they talking about last Saturday? Next
Saturday? It doesn't make sense to me.

Fetch? Dan Milham mentions it too.

Aaron Broussard on now. One guy demands that Entergy had better be
working on restoring power as soon as the winds go under 25 mph.
Alright.

A pretty Senator Julie Quinn praises the difference between Gustav and Katrina.

We've told you your homes are protected, etc. Stay away until
tomorrow night when they make the decision.

"The winds were declining, not inclining"...

DSU plays first promo since the storm started.

Nagin press conference: Only 2 arrests in the past 24 hrs in NO! Fire
at Esplanade and Broad was due to someone who stayed behind, using a
generator.

DSU headline: "City operating on Skeleton Crew, Working on back-up
power." That could be a headline during Mardi Gras!

The Saints will be back by Monday. Great. (That's a sarcastic great, folks.)

Nagin: 'We need to push the Engineers, the Corps of Engineers, to get
the levees back in shape and the wetlands in the best shape
possible.' Good.

Nagin wouldn't do anything different except maybe calling this the
mother-in-law of all storms!

Nagin thanks Americans.

It looks like this event is over. Yea!

Well, almost over. There are a few levees that may still be in danger
including the one in Plaquemines. One also in St Bernard.

Anderson Cooper: "La fayette."

Fox: Shepherd SmIth: "The governor of New Orleans"...

I see flooding but don't know where it is. And places like Houma and
SW LA really got hit but we'll find out about that tomorrow.

Michael Brown on MSNBC!

DSU is showing what they are calling a live image but it shows late
afternoon and it is now 9:30 NO time. Other stations, CNN included,
are doing that too.

Task Force Gator... (LA National Guard)

11:46 NY time: DSU: Mandeville mayor: Had 8" of rain in the past 2
hours. All the power is out there, except for where there are
generators.

Gina Swanson files a good report from Lafitte. The cameraman/woman
didn't have the light on for awhile but she carried on regardless.
Good for her. More portable levees! They get filled with water.
Brilliant!

Terrebone parish won't be open to people until Friday! That's how bad
things are there.

12:08 NY time. I go to bed.