FAREWELL

THIS BLOG IS CLOSED.

DÉSIRENT ARDEMMENT LA NOUVELLE-ORLÉANS DE PHASE!

Never Forget.

JUNE 5, 1968 REDUX

From NOLA.com today:

"Using even the most generous population estimate, New Orleans finished 2006 as the nation's most murderous city by far, with more killings per capita than other notoriously violent cities, including Gary, Ind., and Detroit, according to FBI statistics released Monday."

Today is the 29th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy's assassination. It just happens that I watched Bobby on DVD over the week-end, purely coincidence since I really had no idea when he was killed. At the end of the movie they ran one of Bobby's speeches - I had never heard or read it before but, as I listened, I thought how much it spoke to our situation here in NOLA with regard to crime.

I searched online and found the text of the speech which I'm reprinting here in total.

Is anybody listening? Nagin, Riley, Jordan???



City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio April 5, 1968

Mr Chairmen,Ladies And Gentlemen

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lost their cause and pay the costs."

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

BETTER THINGS TO DO

Warning: this is a post about art.

3)which are your best life lessons?why?Life itself.Why?

"Because through life and hard times I have learned to persevere and not be afraid to try.I do not whine and cry but just get up and say ok lets get going and one step at a time.Life is to full to live and things to do ,theres just no time to feel sorry for myself,I have better things to do and enjoy."

Exerpt from an interview with Jessie Lavon, folk artist, by Helenina on Create a Connection.
Words like these are truly a reality check.

Jessie's blog is named Purple Cucumbers Folk Art and she lives in Alabama. I've talked about blogs or art with "an authentic voice" ---- well, this is a perfect example. I especially like what she writes in the "about me" section:

"I love art,children,animals,gardning and sitting on my fron porch visiting with my friends & in blog land. All of us kids decided to add something about MaMa.She is quite a Southern Lady. Has not only worked in the fields much of her life but has a great head for marketing her art, she never meets a stranger,is trained in Go-Ju Karate with 3 belts and at one time was a certified gym trainer for 7 years in a fitness gym, We tought her how to read and write and she has given her life to being a devoted mother and making sure we all had a great education and ops in our lives."

Wow. This is real. This is what life is all about.

WATER

Late night YouTube browsing.....it started whimsically when I found an animation of one of my favorite poems:





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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: LITA & JOAN

Pussy cat dolls? Gimme a break. Joan & Lita were hot without even trying - no make up person, hair person, dresser or director needed. Raw and real. AND they could actually play instruments. Imagine.

YOU MAY SAY I'M A DREAMER.......

The piano on which John Lennon composed his beloved song, Imagine, will be photographed here in NOLA as part of the Imagine Piano Peace Project. Photo sessions will be held at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. The AP story states the photo session is to bring awareness to our "hurricane-sticken city"........I say add to that our crime-stricken city.




From Lennon Piano.com:

I

Imagine a world without violence, a world of peace. This sentiment echoes the lyrics to John Lennon’s 1971 song, “Imagine”.

The concept of the tour was conceived after the piano was showcased at the IMAGINE exhibition at Goss Gallery in Dallas, Texas, 2006

The photographs will feature in a book which will spread a worldwide message of peace, transcending time, cultures and boundaries.

SCHIZOID BLOG ENTRY

Schizoid blog here. Now for something completely different.....I have brain overload so this is the only news I can absorb tonight:

News for Blondes!!

HOW DO YOU SLEEP?

A very powerful song by Pink set to gut-wrenching images on this Memorial Day.

Dear Mr. President

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER?

"The tangled, long-running dispute over how much money New Orleans firefighters should be making has become too complicated for City Hall to figure out, and the whole issue has been dumped in the lap of the Fire Department's administrative staff. "

I don't even know what to say.....except I'm not surprised.

Pathetic.

HAVE A MMMMMMMMMMERMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day.
Barbeque ribs, chicken, sausage, pork chops, hamburgers, hotdogs, jambalaya, boiled crawfish, crabs, corn, potato salad, slaw, beer, beer, beer.........

Ya'all have a great picnic and think of me...................
at work

Are ya'all mmmmers when you eat? I am! I truly enjoy and savor my food with many mmmm's and sighs. I found this video with an mmmmer that rivals even me. Observe and learn. TM




And once your bellies are full, don't fall asleep! Watch this!
Happy pic-nicing to the diaspora.....come home soon!

N'AWLINS FOOD

Well this should be interesting. Fleur de Lisa has tagged me for an "Eating Out" meme. Haven't eaten out tonight......drinking in. I am not responsible for whatever I may post here. :)

Here are the rules:These are the rules:
1. Link to the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Include the state and country in which you live.
3. List your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location (locally).
4. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.

There are boucoup restaraunts in New Orleans, as you know. Many I haven't been to and many I haven't been to in a long time. So I will just post the top 5 memorable ones.

1. Commanders Palace - My FAVORITE restaurant, hands down! Consistently delicious food and they serve you like royalty. Impeccable service. I have never had a bad meal or dining experience there. We always request the Parlor or The Garden Room for seating - beautiful views from the second floor. Fresh, fresh, fresh seafood with a medley of ingredients/flavors that will always please your palate. If you go in the spring be sure to get the strawberry shortcake for desert made with uber fresh Ponchatoula strawberries and a sweet biscuit with cream. Heavenly! Oh, and during the week they offer $1 martini's. Woo Hoo! One will do!

2. Mandina's - A neighborhood restaurant with basic Creole-Italian cuisine.....comfort food for New Orleanians. Great turtle soup, gumbo and trout almondine. Great red beans and rice. Great veal and spaghetti. Get there early!

3. Casamento's - First you have to know I LOVE oysters. This place has the best oyster loaf in the world. Nothing can beat it. Great oysters on the half shell too. Yum, yum, yum!

4, Johnny's Po-Boys - Another great oyster po-boy place - in the French Quarter. Nothing fancy, just great po-boys.

5. Five Happiness - Chinese - Love their Shrimp Egg Foo Young. I had it just last week. My office does take-out from there alot. It was one of the first places I dined when I moved here many moons ago.

I'd like to tag some of the NOLA bloggers to get their recommendations, but I don't find they participate in this kind of thing too much. BUT if any of you want to, please do!

RIGHT TO RETURN TO NOLA

Heads up, America!

RIGHT TO RETURN: NEW HOME MOVIES FROM THE LOWER NINTH WARD , filmed by Oscar-winning film maker Jonathan Demme, airs on Tavis Smiley's Late Night on PBS beginning Monday, May 29 through Friday, June 1.

Demme focused on residents of the devastated Lower 9th Ward, following their journeys for more than a year after the hurricane. The more time he spent in the neighborhood, "the more the enormity started to emerge," he said. "I realized, this is what America needs to know about."

Here's the local schedule.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

So I had all good intentions of doing a past-week flashback review of all the blog posts I read and loved but......well, I dilly-dallied and never did it. Must confess right now I'm too lazy to do links so.....here are some of my loveable blogs to whom this song is dedicated....links in the sidebar or on the sidebar of casa de Charlotte della luna:

Fleur de Lisa
JezebelsRiot
AnimaMundi
Ray in New Orleans
Ole Blue the Heretic
Crabapple Lane
williebaronet
Depth of Field
The Moronosphere
Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans
Gentilly Girl
Da Po' Blog

And to ALL Nola blogs and others in my blogroll AND all my readers from England to California to New Zealand - Message of Love by The Pretenders. Yeah!

(I so love that I can manipulate the date/time on Blogger!)

(OK, so I got a second wind and did the linkie-linkie thing)

LANGUISHING

this afternoon was/is the perfect late spring day.....overcast, balmy, a slow steady drizzle of rain.....the quiet rumble of thunder in the distance. the old oaks look like they belong in a primordial forest, as they once did, dripping spanish moss and rainwater. the carpet of ferns beckon me to lie beneath the trees, swaying as in a mysterious, pagan dance in the light breeze.
the moments were inexplicable - you just had to be there. rainy days like this, with this ambiance, are rare. another reason I love New Orleans.

break is over. up into the bowels of the old building and back to work I go.

This is the song playing in my mind as I sit at my desk, gazing out the window and day-dreaming of being on a second story screened porch, languishing (love that word) on a wicker swing with tons of cushy pillows..... just listening to the rain and the music...up in the old oak trees.....

this is the perfect song

MOSAICS & BOCCELLI

Sunday I visited the Vatican Mosaic Exhibit at the Old Ursuline Convent in the FQ. The mosaics were absoloutely stunning! The 37 mosaics represent religious and secular works by mosaicists beginning in the 15th century and have never been seen outside the Vatican itself. One doesn’t have to be Catholic or even religious to appreciate the artistry and skill of these works. It’s so amazing to me that anyone would have the patience and skill to apply the thousands of tiny stones that make up the whole and the different techniques that produce either a matte finish or a sparkly one. I took some photos and here are my top three favorites. Others are posted on my Flickr.

The exhibit will be here only 10 more days…..I urge you to see it!

I never made it to the Firefighter benefit…….grrr….
After all the walking in the FQ and practically running to catch the ferry home while lugging a large bag full of clothes, I was toooo tired. And hot. And sweaty. And missed the ferry by mere seconds….. which turned out not to be so bad since I spent the time people-watching and sweat-drying. Always entertaining!

Seeing the exhibit put me in the mood for some Andrea Boccelli so here's a YouTube.
Now I know nothing about opera, he could be singing about potatoes for all I know, but it sounds like romance to me!
Italiano! *kisses fingers*

NOFD FUNDRAISER SUNDAY

This fundraiser is to help renovate the N'awlins firestations. BE THERE for a hot, hot time!!

Cleveland and South Robertson in the CBD, 2- 12 pm Sunday May 20.

SUPPORT THE NEW ORLEANS FIRE DEPARTMENT !!

NOLA ANIMAL LOVERS REJOICE!

The Dorothy Dorsett Brown Campus of New Orleans’ SPCA, located at 1700 Mardi Gras Blvd in Algiers, opens today at 10:00 am! This is phase 1 of our new SPCA, the N.O. Animal Rescue and Care Center (ARCC). An important part of this phase are the seven exercise yards where dogs can run and play, then rest in a nice shaded area. An onsite veterinary clinic will provide medical care for the animals as well as a classroom for community education. Tours, refreshments and give-aways throughout the week-end will herald this giant step forward for New Orleans’ lost and abandoned animals.

Post-Katrina, the SPCA had been working out of a warehouse in Algiers due to the devestation of the Japonica Street shelter. I went shortly after the storm looking for a vanished neighborhood cat. The cats were housed in the warehouse while the dogs were housed in a large tent on the grounds. I didn’t find the cat (she showed up later) but I witnessed the hard and somewhat thankless job the people do for the animals at the shelter.

In the early ‘90’s I adopted two dogs from the Japonica Street shelter – one was on “death row” at the time. I had many years of loving companionship from those dogs. I’m hoping the ultimate goal will be a no-kill shelter, a concept that’s catching on in more and more U.S. cities.

I think I’ll check out the new digs this week-end and maybe find that small dog I want.
Ya’all come on over to Algiers and support our SPCA too!