Notes from a Friend's Town

I'd rather not venture into the political spectrum but Hurricane Gustav made me do it. The storm spared New Orleans a major blow but didn't feel obliged to grant the rest of Louisiana the same courtesy. Millions are still with out power, residential & commercial damages are significant, and food supplies have been interrupted. In the midst of all of this local officials have done a remarkable job making sure that the residents of the city fair better than they did following Katrina. City assisted evacuation points as well as the efforts of non profits in the Metro New Orleans area have done a remarkable job to make sure that as residents rebuild their lives in the city, that emergency preparedness is factored into the process. My complaint is with the National Guard being used as a peace keep force when the peace was never disturbed in the first place. Not the Guardsmen and women themselves, but with Governor Jindal's office & Mayor Nagin's office believing that...

1 . School started this past Monday. I've some interesting classes & more work than usual. The nerve of these professors! I'll do my best to post regularly just let me take care of the business first. 2. This Gustav ish is not cool. I'll post again soon from my safe location (if such a thing exist) 3. Let's remember to hold the Obama/Biden duo to realistic expectations once they arrive on Pennsylvania Ave. This mess wasn't created in 4 yrs and it won't be fixed that quickly. 4. Do remember after Labor the wearing of White is at your sole discretion but that won't spare you from ridicule.

Gnarls Barkley - Going On This track is from Gnarls Barkley's latest album Odd Couple . I played this song for hours one day as I was sketching out my 5 & 10 yr plan edits and it just made the whole process much more imaginative

It felt much like many other mornings in August. The sun had long ago decided to banish any clouds that were close by to the far reaches of the horizon, allowing her an interrupted view of within her reach. Through some miracle I managed to awake early on the one day I designated for sleeping in. Having moved through my morning rituals with remarkable efficiency, I left the house with the sole purpose of completing my rather short errand list in as little time as possible. I’ve travel one of three routes whenever I leave home depending on what my destination is but they all at some point cross the nearest main thoroughfare. Since the streetcar was the transportation artery of choice this morning, I was glad. The route that brings me to the streetcar stop is far more pleasing to the eye than the other two and it affords me a few city blocks of a utopia. I suppose my resignation to take a more hands off approach has allowed me to take in all that is quite familiar along my journey this m...

I awoke to the clouds chasing the sun in a fox trot that kept time with the wind Oaks extending their strong arms gracefully holding hands with old lovers and new friends cooling my afternoon while sparrows stand in court with blue jays defending them in front of pigeons who don't recall the owls that were merciful to them in the hour of their youth Cardinals take bribes from parrots as doves bemoan that all that was has given way to piles of rubble

This is has been one of the more enjoyable summers of my adult life. I've done some traveling, had a few long nights, some enjoyable dates, & still performed pretty well at work. It took a flat out denial for me to remember some of my hobbies & although I wasn't happy with the messenger, I really needed the message. School starts again too soon but I'd rather not think about it too much. I need to decide what that rabbit is going to do with the rest of his childhood. If I don't move quickly, I may find myself watching In Between the Lions more often than I should. I really want this young man do well in high school in spite of his dreams of going to the NBA & being Chris Brown off the court. Guess we'll have to watch Hoop Dreams & then jump straight into these SAT prep books. No child left behind was bullshit. Why do naive young liberals want to save the children of the world while ig...

Truth be told I had been going back & forth about catching this show. I've been a loyal fan for almost a decade & this was the first time I've been able to catch his performance, but I still wasn't dead set on being there. The venue (HOB) has grown old to me but it's the avg size venue of choice for a good number of shows that come to town. So I did what any loyalist would do & got there way early than I should have. I had my ticket & stood inline quietly, hoping to conserve as much energy as I could for the night that lay ahead. It's been a while since I've seen a performance that was so effortless, yet still very well put together. Mos barely followed a his set list & he performed the oldest material first, just to weed out the groupies. Truth Universal opened the night off right. Raw energy, gusto, all of the ingredients that make for a kick butt performance (or a serious ass kicking). The Dj did a pretty good job filling in the time be...