A New Orleans Halloween: Dear readers, living in exile isn’t easy. Neither is driving around Houston to find a replacement for this year’s Halloween costume, as the one previously-chosen is now irrelevant and not currently available in New Orleans or Houston. While I will not be able to make it to All Hallow’s Eve festivities in my city this year, NOLA.com Wants To Party With You in its first annual NOLA FEST.
… a free two-day Halloween weekend party, with live bands, dancing, masking and more – all streaming live on the Internet to a world-wide audience. Two nights of local celebrity-filled revelry will celebrate the city’s unquenchable cultural landscape as locals and tourists alike are invited to dress up for Halloween and show the world their support and love for New Orleans and its rebirth.
Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers will be featured Friday night from 9-midnight at the iconic Fat Harry’s on St. Charles Avenue in Uptown [4330 St. Charles Ave. near the intersection of St. Charles and Napoleon], as New Orleans residents and special guests celebrate their return to the city, live on NOLA.com. On Saturday, the party continues to the sounds of the Storyville Stompers, also from 9-midnight.
If I had known of such a beast well in advance of my intention to celebrate the spirits of ancestors in South Texas this year, I would have made the trip back home, of course. Who would want to miss Kermit Ruffins at Fat Harry’s, my most favorite Tulane meat market ever, where the young patrons oft wonder out loud if I’m one of their instructors?
“Better make it top shelf, or you get an F!”
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Katrina Aftermath Video From The Officers Of The Sixth District: The men of NOPD’s sixth district, who serve the Garden District and Central City, have compiled a video/slideshow on Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath. Some of the footage is quite disturbing … I miss New Orleans.
These are my guys and girls in uniform and I know how they have suffered, with little to no pay and, more importantly, no relief in sight for months. They are tired and frustrated, but stayed behind to protect their city and, ultimately, created her such a tribute. That is love.
The NOPD-Aid.org forums are a great source of information on our police and how to help them. Please heed the following advice from one of the officers: “As a New Orleans police officer, I can tell you that any fund that is administered by any group within NO itself will be subject to mis-direction. The fact that it is earmarked for officer relief will not guarantee it will be given to those who need it most.”
If you would like to make a donation, please do some online and offline research of your own to find out what you are most comfortable with. Here are some starters:
Police Helping Police
NO Police and Firefighters Disaster Relief Fund
Speaking of firefighters, I wonder how the boys of the Magazine St. Fire Station 5 Blue Team are doing. Hope they are all around when we go home, so as to make good on the baked goods I promised them.
