Monthly Archives: April 2006

Day 242: A Little From Each Category

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Something for everyone. This should take care of my blogging responsibilities for the rest of this weekend, don’t you think?

New Orleans: On Tuesday, several of us from work volunteered (wo)manpower to Jazzfest pre-production. From bunting and putting up signs to painting canvases and filing, we spent a day helping prepare for the two most exciting weekends in New Orleans after Mardi Gras. Beginning tomorrow, if the pre-sale numbers are trustworthy, tens of thousands of people will pack the Fairgrounds Racecourse and proceed to congest all of our city’s main arteries. It’s okay – please enjoy yourselves, spend a lot of money, tip well, don’t puke on the sidewalk and drive through.

Guvmint: Taking a break from painting in the Grandstand building, I decided to get some pictures of the inner courtyard. What is up with my tendency to trip over every political event within a five-mile radius? Blindly sauntering into the courtyard, a gaggle of reporters and entourages came into view, as did a shiny, bald head with a very familiar voice. It was Ray Nagin, along with Mitch Landrieu, a state senator and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, addressing Fairgrounds Race Course personnel, Jazzfest staff and the press on the grand reopening of the venue. In essence, I’d walked into a major gratitude-and-suck-up fest with Churchill Downs on the receiving end. Oh well, at least I got some pictures (and a conversation with Quint Davis) out of it.

Mayor Nagin Addresses The Media Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu
Nagin And Landrieu Work The Press

Music: Take a look at the Jazzfest schedule. On this first weekend, I can’t wait to see the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, The Iguanas, The Soul Rebels, Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello (squee!) and Bruce Springsteen. The second weekend will see me in Wisconsin on a geology alumni mission, but I make up for missing Jazzfest by catching Mike Doughty live (double squee!) at the High Noon Saloon.

What is life without water? What is living without music?

***

Wisconsin: Speaking of Wisconsin, (imaginary) boyfriend, Brett Favre, has returned to the helm of my beloved Packers for yet another season. And if Bart says Brett has “many good years left,” who are we to argue? N-so?

A reminder: We still rule hockey. (Thanks, Sparky!)

Wisconsin - The New State Of Hockey***

Books, Internet & Public Domain: Project Gutenberg is in the news once again. The WaPo did a piece on better readability with the new generation of eBooks.

Perhaps most comparable to an iPod for books, e-book readers — a breed of upcoming devices designed to hold thousands of text files and display them at the same resolution of a printed page — could change the landscape of how books are both purchased and read.

For users looking to download free texts to an e-book reader, Project Gutenberg is an Internet-based effort that has placed more than 17,000 public domain books online for download — everything from the Bible and “Hamlet” to “Don Quixote” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

This after a Project Gutenberg title made it into the New York Times editorial page (registration required). The article, entitled A Blogger Ahead Of His Time is available in its entirety for free at the International Herald Tribune and speaks of Hilaire Belloc’s 1918 work, The Free Press.

… an extended essay examining the history of what Belloc calls the “Official Press” in England and the emergence of a rival “Free Press” in the form of small, often short-lived journals.

Small, often short-lived journals? Hmmmm, do these sound in any way familiar? B … bl … blogs, you say? What an interesting concept! Read on.

… There are whole paragraphs in Belloc’s essay where, if you substitute “blogs” for “the Free Press,” you will be struck by the parallels.

The free press that Belloc describes was a horde of small, highly opinionated, sometimes propagandistic papers that arose in reaction to “the official Press of Capitalism.” What characterized the free press, Belloc wrote, was “disparate particularism.”

He notes that the journals of the free press seldom pay their way and that they often suffer from the impediment of “imperfect information,” simply because it is not in the politicians’ interests to speak to them.

… “the Free Press gives you the truth; but only in disjointed sections, for it is disparate and it is particularist.” (For “particularism,” Belloc offers the synonym “crankiness.”) To get at the truth by reading the organs of the free press, you have to “add it all up and cancel out one exaggerated statement against another.”

But his point is that you can get at the truth.

Blogs, the new generation of the free press. Disparate, particularist, cranky … and a much-needed alternative for free thinkers who respect informed choices.

And with that, I bid you adieu for now. If you’re in New Orleans this weekend, have fun at Jazzfest (drop me an email if you want to get together). If elsewhere, have your own party.

Day 239: Mortal Kombat Style

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May 20th. Let the showdown begin.

Yeah, sure … I’m more interested in this graphic.

Observe that the votes follow the flooding following Katrina. There are three main regions as follows: 1) the dry “Sliver OnThe River” minus Uptown, 2) everywhere that flooded minus Lakeview and 3) Lakeview and Uptown.

The Sliver minus Uptown – A mixed bag of votes for Nagin, Landrieu and Forman. Looks like the Quarter, Marigny and Bywater went Landrieu, however.

Flooded New Orleans minus Lakeview – A sea of Nagin red.

Lakeview and Uptown – Forman and Landrieu, in that order. Nagin booted.

(I love how City Park voted for Landrieu and Audubon Park went Forman.)

Given their fully deluged homes, Lakeview’s outrage and desire for regime change is understandable. But, why the sharp demarcation between two adjacent areas on the sliver that are relatively fine, i.e. Uptown (District A) and the Garden District (District B)? Is this Uptown’s chance to “relieve” Nagin of his duties? Of course, I wonder if the divide is racial, economic or Batt-driven.

May 20th. Get ready for the goat rodeo. My only hope is the contenders entertain us.

Crossposted to Metroblogging New Orleans

Day 236: Motivated Outlaws Of The Marsh

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Over a load of good cheese last night, Machelle and I talked of the fatigue and absence of coordination experienced by the hard-working local rebuilders of this city. Folks here are simply tired and lack the motivation to get together and arm themselves with scythes and pitchforks with the intention to collectively demand change of elected city, state and national officials.

One of the four top works of classical Chinese literature is Outlaws Of The Marsh, appropriately-named for our purposes. In ancient China, “the rulers’ legitimacy is based on morality. Therefore, resistance against unrighteous ruling is justifiable. Peasant uprisings would either become a means to a change of regime or surrender to the rulers.”

Sure, a number of these mutinies were doomed, but at least they tried. Besides, this is the modern-day United States. What are they going to do now? Off with our heads? Oh, wait … sssshhh.

Chinese Peasant Revolt - Courtesy China Central Television

This is not a desultory expression of outrage. While it desparately needs protection from the assured recurrence of the hurricane-flood combo, our area hasn’t come back from the first big punch. The journey isn’t over. Summer. Sweltering heat and humidity. Unannounced rain. Roach and mosquito season. Mold bloom. On returning to New Orleans to help rebuild their lives and communities, where and how are people expected to live? The Katrina death toll is as yet incomplete – our people continue to die of improper health care, unacceptable living conditions and the accompanying trauma, stress and depression.

The government cannot deliver promised FEMA trailers, utility companies are disorganized and tardy, and abandoned homes are not going to be bulldozed until August 29th. And Chris Matthews wants us to play Hardball with the nation? Our government, sir, promised us anything to help us rebuild. Please don’t ask us to justify ourselves when we are taxpaying Americans and we are the ones still on hold.

As I just said at Metroblogging New Orleans, we are incredibly collaborative, synchronous and disciplined in our music. Why, oh why, can we not apply this innate ability to come together, raise our voices in unison and save our own? Peace, love, the blues and jambalaya are but temporary in the face of reality.

The conversation turned to cultural notions of success – why are some cultures overall more apt to make it? After talk of my ultra-disciplined female Indian ancestors and her energized Eastern European ones, Machelle mentioned Freakonomics and one of the thrusts of the book – motivated and successful people come from motivated and successful mothers. Exceptions to the rule exist, but I buy that theory. [For the most part - Machelle and I are bums compared to our moms.]

Which caused me to think of the economic depression experienced by this city for decades now. Would New Orleans be a business hotspot, would we be as badly off, would we be more valid in the eyes of America had we simply created and encouraged motivated parents everywhere in the city?

The discussion ended with the acknowledgment that there are no simple answers. For New Orleans or for the topic of nurture. The best ideas, enacted in unison, may eventually lead to our destruction. Even the best mothering, schools and socioeconomic conditions have created miscreants and misanthropes who contribute nothing to their society. It’s just something else to think about in building a new road back to home.

So, I ask you: Is the road to heaven paved with bad intentions? *smile*

Day 234: Fun With RSS

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This afternoon sees our fearless antagonist geeking out on geospatial feeds (tested in NewsGator, incidentally). Here are a few helpful ones:

Location Intelligence
Google Blog Search: gisuser
GISUser.com News Feed
GISCafe Headlines

As June 1 approaches, everyone around here is going to have at least one eye stuck to the TV/computer screen: National Hurricane Center / Tropical Prediction Center RSS Feeds

While searching for earth science image feeds, I discovered the Live Science RSS Feeds! Stories, headlines, blogs, amazing images, Skepchics, and more …

A study recently commissioned by Live Science finds that 60 million Americans in the 18-54 age group are scientifically curious.

More Americans are interested in science news and information than is commonly thought, a new study suggests. But not everyone wears the intrigue on their sleeves. In fact some people are downright silent about their scientific interests, perhaps not wanting to be perceived as nerds.

What exactly is wrong with being perceived as a nerd, I ask you? Some just don’t know what they’re missing.

… About 40 percent of [among the roughly 150 million Americans age 18-54], or 60 million people, were found to be “intellectually curious” about politics, the arts and science, all spending significant time with newspapers, related television channels and online media. Further study of the intellectually curious segment revealed three distinct groups.

Science with Passion (14 percent of the 18-54 group): This group contains the geeks and nerds. They don’t need to be prompted to share their love of science … Prime interests: nature, medicine and the environment. This group is 53 percent female.

Money, Success and Science (11 percent of the 18-54 group): These people are also very interested in science. But they’re unlikely to discuss it. Prime interest: technology. This group is 64 percent male.

Style with Science (15 percent of the 18-54 group): This high-income group follows science but would rather be throwing a party or out on the town than watching TV or having a quiet evening. Prime interests: technology, weather and nature. This group is 57 percent male.

Yes, the convenient pigeonholes of polls, what would we do without them? What about passionate scientists who like technology and throw sexy parties? I guess we have skipped over to the realm of the scientifically irredeemable.

Day 233: Crime Down?

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nola.com presents NOPD’s comparison of crime statistics between 4th Quarter 2004 and 2005. Violent crime is down 89% while non-violent crime is down 64%. However, in the latter department, general theft and auto theft have reduced drastically while burglary is down only by 24% (1214 in ’04 to 920 in ’05).

With a severely diminished population, what we really need is a comparison of crime stats between Q4 2005 and the present. Wouldn’t that be a more reliable gauge of the current evolution of crime?

Q4 2004 Crime Stats - Times Picayune
Courtesy Times Picayune

To quote one of the smarter things that emanated from G. Gordon Liddy’s mouth, “Obviously crime pays, or there’d be no crime.” Burglary is the only resort for the new New Orleans criminal.

Also, all violent crime categories have taken a big hit except for rape, which is down only by 62%. Conveniently ignoring this statistic, the police proclaim that “all violent crimes, including murders, rapes, aggravated assaults, and armed and simple robberies, were also down — 89 percent — from a total of 1,085 during the fourth quarter in 2004 to 115 during the same time in 2005.”

Have rug, will sweep under. Then again, if I didn’t need this before the storm, I may have no use for it now.

—

Amusing and related rant of the day from the nola.com forums: “No $ for courts, thugs in jail and SOME innocent people, I sure hope the NEW folks in silly hall give serious thought to fining heavily anyone littering, solve 2 problems at once, fund the non working criminal system and make a FORTUNE stopping slobs who continue littering a city that is already overflowing with trash.” Amen.

Day 232: When Faced With Elections, Grow A Garden

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What did I do this weekend besides get dolled up and party with law students at their end-of-semester and Easter celebrations? Why, I journeyed to Harold’s in the Bywater, the best plant nursery this side of the Mississippi, and bought plants and potting soil. Harold’s is a place I would take my father – a plant lover’s dream with its endless and winding paths lined with every variety of green thing that can transform your backyard into one in India. Having lost all but one outside potted plant to Katrina’s winds and the days of scorching sun that followed, it is now time for my gallery to bloom once more. A second trip is in order to purchase another mandevilla and a basil plant. Until then, here are the results thus far:

My Hibiscus Collection Red Geraniums This Year The Only Outside Potted Plant That Survived Katrina
Aren’t they lovely?

Orleans Parish elections are next Saturday and I still don’t know who to vote for mayor.

Landrieu – out. What exactly was he doing as Lieutenant Governor before, during and after Katrina? I understand that his position is purely ceremonial, but I have reservations about anyone associated with the Blanco administration. I’ll keep him in my back pocket if he says or does something that changes in my mind in the next few days.

Forman – out. Four deputy mayors, two black and two white, will run this city while Forman is off drumming up business out of state. WTF. My city will be run by an elected mayor and not a cabal of politically-correct appointees. Read Ashley’s post on this

… who’s black and who’s white [especially in this racially-mixed city]? If part-time New Orleans resident Lenny Kravitz wanted to be a deputy mayor, would he have to be a white deputy mayor or a black deputy mayor? I guess next, he’ll tell us how having 2 Blacks and 2 Whites will prove that he’s a uniter, not a divider.

Wilson – out. New Orleans as a tax-free city will open up this place to plunderers. How will New Orleanians take ownership for their home and prosper off no federal, state or local taxation? Besides, it’s an old idea that was previously shot down in D.C. It’s all about Peggy and she sees herself in the runoff with Nagin. As we say in Wisconsin, crap in one hand and wish in the other, see what fills up faster.

Watson – out. We need a doer, not a preacher. However, I agree with him that “[City Hall does not want] to engage in honest dialogue about race because they don’t want to offend anyone. They’re scared.” That’s about all the Reverend has going for him.

That leaves me with Virginia Boulet or good ol’ Ray, and I haven’t really seen much action on his part since he ushered in the new year at Jackson Square. What’s a girl to do but get her hands dirty with potting soil to get away from it all?

More yard work is in order – the front yard is littered with dead magnolia leaves and the ferns need a-trimmin’. J has promised to attack the backyard if I take care of the front yard and driveway.

A word of caution to New Orleanians and newcomers: The weeks surrounding French Quarter Festival and the first weekend of Jazzfest are when this area heats up without warning. Anything longer than shorts and tank tops will begin to fuse with your skin, ingested water doesn’t go as far as you thought it would and the heat will have you on your knees in seconds. While I enjoy this time of year and the summer that follows, I advise all of us to drink a lot of water, stay indoors with airconditioning as much as possible and style your way outside in one of many chapeaux available in this fine city of dress-up. Especially in our current state of stress and scarcity of hospitals, passing out and other heat-related ailments are something we can avoid.

Or, at the least, leave it for until after the election results are announced. :-)

Day 229: Happy Tamil New Year!

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Puthaandu Vaazhthukkal! Or greetings of the new year!

The earthquakes, floods and tornadoes didn’t stop on January 1, nor did they cease on the Chinese New Year or its Kannada equivalent. Now I hold out hope for the year on this first day of the month of Chitra, according to the Hindu Panchangam. Today is also Vaisakhi in North India, Vishu in Kerala and Good Friday in the western world. The coincidence with a Christian holiday is just that, incidentally. I hope my Jewish friends enjoyed a great seder two days ago.

So, why two different South Indian calendars? While the people of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh adhere to a lunar almanac, the people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala follow a solar one. How interesting is that, especially given that most harvest calendars stick to a lunar schedule.

Today I wish I were in Tiruvadaimaradur, a major Saivite pilgrimage destination, the site of an annual New Year car festival and right next door to the childhood home of my maternal grandmother.

Tiruvadaimaradur Temple
Tiruvadaimaradur Raja Gopuram (or Prime Pyramid) . Courtesy The Hindu

An important destination for Saivite pilgrims [is the] 1,200-year-old Sri Brahat Sundara Gujambal [and] Jothi Mahalingeswarar temple. Popular for all the three factors namely sthalam, moorthi and tirtham, the temple has seven gopurams, seven prakarams, 32 holy tirthams and 27 celestial star lingams …

… Saiva saints, Pattinathar, Pathragiriyar, Arunagirinathar, Varagunapandian and Karuvoor Thevar have all sung the glory of Mahalingeswarar. It was here that Adi Sankara was said to have been enlightened on the supremacy of Advaita philosophy.

Instead, I cook paruppu (better known to you as daal or lentils), pray for peace and refrain from ingesting anything … ahem … bad for me. Such is the transmogrified reverence of a Midwest- and Louisiana-soaked Brahmin Saivite geologist.

So, are the locusts going to do an about face now? We shall see.

Day 227: 99 Red Helicopters

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Pursuant to listening to Fred, Fred and nothing but Fred all day, the following question propels forward from my current New Wave coma.

Did anyone catch the 99 Luftballons loop on VH1 on Sunday, March 26th?

The music video presentation, to air Sunday (2 p.m. EST), caps off the cable channel’s “Pay to Play for Hurricane Katrina Relief,” which raised over $200,000 for Mercy Corps, a humanitarian relief organization.

Viewers could request one video to be played on VH1 Classic for every $25 donation. For a $35,000 donation, they could select an hour’s worth of music videos from the 1960s through the early 1990s … one viewer chose something different for his allotted hour, requesting continuous playing of [German group Nena's] “99 Luftballons” …

Great, it’s one step above a bake sale. Speaking of bake, the past tense of that word is the condition I would have to be in to watch one hour of Nena singing “Hast du etwas zeit für mich, Dann singe ich ein lied für dich …”

P.S. Can you point me to a good feed aggregator that is not Google? My BlogLines and NewsGator accounts will continue to lie idle until someone convinces me that they have any use.