new orleans

A (Call And) Response To “White Savior Industrial Complex”

March 21, 2012

While appraising items made in, say, Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic or China for purchase, I wonder who made it, under what conditions, how they live everyday and, almost concurrently, how this purse will look against a pair of slacks in my closet back at home or that hard drive will satisfy my space requirements, [...]

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Joyeux Mardi Gras!

February 21, 2012
Thumbnail image for Joyeux Mardi Gras!

Friend of a friend was walking down a New Orleans street last week when a woman stopped him to say, “I’m looking for the Mardi Gras.” Friend wished he had answered, “Duh. St. Claude and Dumaine.” Badumbum. Even after a decade of being a part of Carnival, I stand amazed and awed by it all. [...]

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Because It’s Carnival Time

January 6, 2012

So not making this stuff up. I was at my desk this morning basking in the warm glow of the giant dual screen setup seriously scrutinizing seismic data when the iPhone spontaneously started to play Al Johnson’s “Carnival Time.” Not only is the girl growing scarily self-aware, she has good timing and great taste in [...]

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Halloween 2011: Coastline Retreat Is Scary, Kids!

October 29, 2011

It started with me walking across the family room in a nude bathing suit and D looking up from his laptop with a “What the …” “I’ll be right back,” I said, putting on flip flops before walking into the frigid-by-Texas-drought-standards garage. “There’s some makeup in the car that I need.” And D got that [...]

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Happy Deepavali

October 26, 2011

Apropos of the reason for this Hindu festival: Questions Lit Up, in which Pratap Bhanu Mehta takes on the Delhi University ban on teaching A.K. Ramanujan’s essay on the Ramayana and chides the Indian left and right for hijacking the culture for political gain. … The Right commits the mistake of assimilating all tradition to [...]

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August 29th, 2011: Six Years

August 29, 2011

Today’s New Orleans Times Picayune A new Army Corps of Engineers rating system for the nation’s levees is about to deliver a near-failing grade to New Orleans area dikes, despite the internationally acclaimed $10 billion effort to rebuild the system in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, corps officials have confirmed. As Ray drove us through [...]

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My Favorite Rising Tide 6 Photo

August 28, 2011

Three of the six winners of the Ashley Morris award for excellence in New Orleans blogging to date. These are phenomenal people. Ashley winners from left to right: Cliff Harris (2010), Dedra Johson (2011) and The Zombie (2009). Photo by Derek Bridges.   Tweet

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Scientists On Twitter, Treme Bloggers

July 28, 2011

The American Geophysical Union’s blog interviewed a number of physical scientists on why scientists should use Twitter. My response reflects two important requirements I have of science: that it is increasingly inter-disciplinary and shares findings with the public as much as possible. *** OffBeat Magazine: Treme Bloggers – Ray Shea and I were part of [...]

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Québec City Was Founded On A High Cape Of Utica Shale

July 18, 2011

Québec City sits between the Laurentian highlands of the southeastern Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield and the Appalachian Mountains that were formed during the Taconic and Acadian orogenies. Bedrock here is the Upper Ordovician Utica shale that “overlies the predominantly shallow marine carbonate facies of the Cambrian-Ordovician St. Lawrence Platform” (or St. Lawrence lowlands).The [...]

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Messing With Reality In Real Time

June 23, 2011

Katrina’s Secrets. It’s a new book by Ray Nagin, the ex-former-gone-but-comes-back-like-exzcema mayor of New Orleans. Self-published. Mmmm hmmm. Barely ridiculed on The Daily Show. The title reminiscent of a discount lingerie store where, as I said on the twubes, there is always a “50% off sale on purple-green-gold thongs, misspelled tourist tees & adult diapers [...]

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