Daily Blague

I can't write about it either, but thinking of it all the day long, yeah! I know to do that.
Thanks for the Ford link (nothing to do with cars!).

As far as New Orleans requiring decadence, I think there is a certain disheveled academic in our immediate circle who would argue that the reason to go to New Orleans is the quiet of its excellent book stores. I also have friends who come down to drink an iced coffee and comb the Quarter, ride the streetcar and eat some seafood. They don't even drink while they are there.

It's interesting that you do not mention Anne Rice's excellent piece from the Times. She discusses the city's history and heritage and is unafraid to point fingers. I have to say that, as a native New Orleanian, I was impressed.

I'm sorry you personally overlooked the breadth of the States' most culturally rich place while you lived in Houston. Why do you think that the South should not be a part of this country? This is hardly the time to say something like that given the fact that other countries have responded with more compassion, leadership and concern than that of George W. Bush. Clearly, he agrees with you that the South is hardly a part of this country. Look at his pathetic response to this tragedy. I don't think you want to allign yourself with the president. I think you might want to clarify what you mean by saying that you can't imagine the South as part of the country, or rather the South as compatible with New York.

I became upset last night watching Larry King try to interrupt Wynford Marsalis while he was talking about the crucial need for Americans to look beyond the skin of the people who were left in the city. As I have said for years, unlike most regions in the United States, New Orleans wrestles with the racism that exists all over the United States. They don't try to pretend it doesn't exist. What happened last week is a product of racism, inherent class issues and the sheer ignorance of people who fail to comprehend and respect science. We need New Orleans in these United States. We need people to look to New Orleans to remember America's potential for greatness. We need to look at New Orleans so that we try harder everyday to be sure that no one is left behind -- not just in a hurricane, but in terms of housing, education, economy, society.

ms.nola remarks are so true. we can all blame someone else...... so easy. Bush, FEMA. Whoever you want to point a finger at. BUT WE NEED THE SOUTH ESPECIALLY THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS. WITHOUT THIS, GRAIN SHALL NOT BE TRANSFERRED, WHEAT SHALL GO NOWHERE. CORN SHALL NOT BE TRADED. THE HELL WITH GAS, IT CAN COME FROM OTHER RESOURSES, BUT YOU CAN NOT SELL WHAT YOU CAN NOT TRANSPORT. TELL ME HOW ?????
SORRY YOU NEVER EXPERIENCED A NIGHT OF JAZZ OR A DINNER AT THREE SISTERS. YOU MISSED A WONDERFUL TIME TO SAY THE LEAST.
AND I HOPE IN SOME WAY SHAPE OR FORM, THEY SHALL RISE AGAIN.
WE HAVE MANY STAYING HERE IN VICTORIA, TEXAS. NICEST PEOPLE YOU COULD MEET. NO HOME TO GO BACK TO ...... BLESS THEM ALL

New Orleans is a great place from my experience of about six months in the mid sixties when my work left me a good deal of free time to roam around. I took, as most tourists and many first time residents of the Quarter do, to taking breakfast at the Morning Call and strolling around afterwards, sometimes all day until dusk. The bar scene did not particularly attract me after the first few days, although I was quite taken by the fact that they were open nearly twenty four hours a day. There was apparently a short period in the early morning, around seven as I recall, when the patrons would go to the street while the barkeep closed the door and tidied up. I particularly remember one bar where the patrons would sit on the curb and nurse a drink until it reopened. This was all very interesting for a young man barely out of his teens, but somehow not attractive. The book stores, the university, the library and many historic sites were all readily accessible by good public transportation and an ample number of taxis always seemed to be available at the end of bus lines and trolley runs. New Orleans was until I visited Manhattan a few years later the best place I had ever lived. My only hope is that it will remain as a workable city. The economic impact of the port closing that Carol mentions is simply immense, disruptions at the Port of New Orleans will reverberate through out the nation not just the Southeast. I do not think of myself as a Southerner but rather a Texan. Jokingly in my broken Spanish I often say that I am a purebred Texas gringo, un Tejano gringo puro. However, I do get a bit riled when someone asks how the United States could include the South. The South by whatever geographic definition you choose, although Southerners will say it is a cultural definition, has always been and will remain an integral economic and cultural part of America just like the Northeast, New York State, Manhattan, Chicago, San Antonio, Denver, Wichita, Fargo, Los Angeles, Petaluma, Las Vegas, both of them Nevada and New Mexico, and literally hundreds of other cities and towns I have visited and lived in over the course of nearly sixty years. There is no place like America in the world. For all its flaws, and they are many, it remains a unique place which may in the long run remain one of the guiding forces in the world, but only if we maintain the cohesiveness and tolerance along with the creativity that have made this nation what is today. A good deal of creativity will be needed in the next few years to recover from the Katrina disaster, the impact is enormous. Jobs are a big issue. Wal-Mart has announced recently that any dislocated employee from the disaster area will have a job at any store in America, all they need to do is walk through the door. Say what you will about Wal-Mart this is a brilliant and very helpful move from the boys in Benton. Oh yeah, the Waltons are, I believe, Southerners, the Arkansas branch, as I recall. We also call them ridge runners, razor backs, and now pretty damn smart and socially responsible. I'm sure RJ will respond to this, he is not in my experience a snob nor a regional bigot though his pride in Yorkville and surrounds is immense, and rightfully so, he is not a chauvinist. Mr Keefe has, as I often do and he seldom does, misspoken, I'm sure.