dangerblond’s pleas: bring back our streetcars; send me your MREs July 29, 2006
On Thursday evening, I had a meeting over here for the Rising Tide planning group. I met the Mysterious Mominem for the first time, but the rest of this group is beginning to feel like old friends to me. As I was preparing for the meeting, David was scandalized that I had invited bloggers over here who I had not met yet. He asked if he should take all his tools home. “You don’t know anything about these people.”
I explained that “these people” were college professors, a lawyer, a scientist, a non-profit geek, and all of them are quality folk. Well, except for Oyster. I didn’t tell David that one of my guests calls himself “Your Right Hand Thief.” He said, “well, OK,” and then stashed all his stuff under a table. As it turned out, no on e walked off with David’s tools, but I found a camera and a cell phone while cleaning up! I was going to sell them on Ebay, but a hung-over Maitri came over to retrieve them.
It looks like we have a location for our meetings, panel discussions and workshops. The New Orleans Yacht Club is near the London Avenue Canal and was flooded. It’s under renovation. It’s very close to one of our numerous “ground zeros.” The name “Yacht Club” implies a snootiness that doesn’t exist. New Orleanians will know that the snootiest yacht club in town was the Southern Yacht Club, which we watched burn down to the water line, with firefighters unable to get anywhere near it, on August 30 last year. I remember thinking that the total destruction of the Southern Yacht Club alone would have been major front-page news had it not been in the middle of the shocking events going on around it.
I don’t think the Yacht Club is a completely done deal yet, but it is very attractive because it’s less expensive than a hotel and it’s very close to two or three of the hardest-hit areas of the city. We have all found that when visitors stay in the French Quarter or Uptown, they get the incorrect impression that we’re looking good down here in this part of the world. Well, some of us are and some of us very much are not.
Ray Shea (formerly in Austin, now in New Orleans), is taking on the organization of volunteer work crews from the Rising Tide Convention. There is currently a deadline of August 29 for people to gut their houses, so the weekend before the anniversary is a time when volunteers will be sorely needed. He is coordinating with groups that are already in operation to provide them with workers from among Rising Tide participants.
We are trying to get about 300 MREs. Does anyone know of a source for some MREs? Got any laying around from last year? If you have any MREs you can donate, or if you can get any donated, please e-mail me.
Maitri and Adrastos are organizing panel discussions concerning the disastrous political situation that we are in right now, the reality of what happened here vs. the myths, and the role of bloggers and new media in helping New Orleanians to find out what was really going on. We didn’t have time to get into the substance of the program as much because locations were a big topic and we need to know how much space we have before some programming decisions are made. Suggestions are welcome. I will start a discussion about this on the Wiki.
Speaking of reality, bloggers are still the best source for finding out what is really going on here. Every time some new outrage occurs or is discovered, which is almost daily, I have read the story on NOLA bloggers’ websites long before I read a blunted, stunted, tame version in the Times-Picayune, if they get around to covering it at all. An example of this can be found at American Zombie. Dambala has the goods on Greg Meffert and the guy who replaced him. Then Humid Haney started pounding on Ernest Collins. If we don’t want to continue to have our city run by the “what have you done for me lately” crowd, then we are going to have to smack them down. Sinn Fein!
Last night I met Kevin and Josh at the Delachaise just in time for us to take Josh home and dump him on his front porch swing. I hope he’s not still out there! Kevin and I had dinner after 9:30 at Coyacan on St. Charles Avenue. I recognized the pretty girl who waited on us, she has been there since they opened. New Orleans is the kind of place where people work in the same restaurant or behind the same bar for years. Part of the discombobulation of this disaster is that so many familiar faces are gone. It gives me a feeling of joy when I go to a place and see the same people who were there before the flood. Kevin and I had their delicious guacamole and some shrimp appetizer. Then I had a delicious plate of rib-sticking corn tortillas with chicken, corn, rice and beans. I can’t remember what Kevin had, but he loved it and then helped finish off mine.
Our conversation was about how much we both wish we had government representatives with integrity. Kevin’s a Republican, but he thinks David Vitter is a moron. I think the family silver is 200 times safer with a houseful of anonymous bloggers than it would be in a houseful of Louisiana politicians.
Driving up and down St. Charles Avenue, I noticed many more people walking than I have before. I wonder if there are more people coming back and they are on foot because they no longer have cars? I filled up The Exploder with gas and it was almost $50. Sugar Ray? We still miss our streetcars. They look really pretty and their sound is pleasant to the ear. With transportation being so expensive and some folks on foot, it sure would be nice if we could hop on one and ride down to the other end of the avenue. I mean, if you’re not too busy polishing up your act for Comedy Night.
- Posted in : main, new orleans
- Author : dangerblond
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