Monthly Archives: September 2006

Day 397: O Isis Und Osiris!

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Bless German classics, Deutsche Grammophon and Karl Böhm – I’d forgotten how much I adore Die Zauberflöte and why it is my favorite opera of all time. Along with its great overture and arias (listen to Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen and report back on the goosebumps), this final large production of Mozart’s is a true soap-operatic allegory of politics, society and attendant treachery back in late 18th-century Europe. Wolfgang would have had a field day in modern-day New Orleans.

The liner notes on the beginning of Act Two:

The priests assemble to hear Sarastro give an explanation of his actions: the gods have ordained that Pamina and Tamino shall marry; their union will ensure that the theocratic realm of the Sun will resist the destructive chaos that threatens at the hands of the Queen of the Night. But before Tamino can be accepted in the circle of the illuminati and marry Pamina, he must undergo the difficult and progressively more dangerous rituals whereby the Order tests the worth of those who would join it. The priests, by no means certain of a successful outcome, pray to the gods to assist Tamino and Papageno (Aria and Chorus: “O Isis und Osiris”). In the temple precincts, Tamino and Papageno are prepared by priests for their trials (The magic flute and glockenspiel have already been taken from them). Tamino is ready to face every ordeal, even at the price of his life. Papageno, the “natural man”, who wants nothing more than a little wife, takes a very dim view of trials and privations. The first of the three trials is to preserve silence, whatever happens …

What the liner notes would read had Mozart written Die Leveesbröke:

The LRA/GNOF/CSO assemble to hear Nagin give an explanation of his actions: the feds have ordained that New Orleans shall receive rebuilding funds; this union will ensure that the money owed the city will resist the destructive chaos that threatens at the hands of the Unholy Triumvirate: the Army Corps of Engineers, the Levee Board and City Hall. But before New Orleans can be accepted in the circle of civilized cities and receive said funding, it must undergo the difficult and progressively more daunting rituals whereby the system tests the worth of those who would fight for their home. The LRA/GNOF/CSO, by no means certain of a successful outcome, have Nagin pray to the gods to assist New Orleans and its people (Aria and Chorus: “Please Pray That A Hurricane Doesn’t Hit Us In The Next Three Weeks And The Levees Hold”). In the City Hall precincts, New Orleans is prepared by the LRA/GNOF/CSO for its trials (The old plans and levee board oversight have already been taken from them). New Orleans is ready to face every ordeal, even at the price of its sanity. However, the city gangs, the “natural man”, who want nothing more than to sell some crack, take a very dim view of trials and privations and decide to shoot up some rivals in their old ‘hoods. The first of the three trials is to preserve silence at the Pavilion of Two Sisters in City Park, no matter that this is the start of a “democratic process” …

Starring Nmon Ford as Nagin, Montserrat Caballé as Kathleen Blanco, Wolfgang Windgassen as Stephen Bingler and New Orleans as its colorful self.

Day 396: Love This Life, Though You’ll Never Know Why

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Ever since Katrina, the death of D’s mother a few months after that, and now with my grandmother’s passing, I’ve pondered the utter lemon that is life followed by death. What do I mean? You’re born, you do so much, make somewhat of a difference in your life, touch the lives of others, become a better or, at the least, older and experienced person, and then you die. Moksha, nirvana, karma, heaven and hell are all fine and dandy, but I want it and I want it now! You still don’t capisce? Follow along with what I wrote my friend, Joel, in reply to his condolences:

“You, of all people, being Jewish and terribly sensitive to these things, may recognize that it’s hard to observe the body’s decline. Those like you and me, steeped in the knowledge of our roots back to God, are so attached to family, stories, abilities and elders that, when they pass on, a living tenet of who you are, and I don’t mean a part of you, goes with them.

“My grandmother was so energetic, so talkative, so capable (crochet pieces she made me at the age of 90 with failing eyes sit here waiting to be framed) and so mighty. And the life graph plummeted in the last few months leading to her sudden death. Poof. Gone. Vanished.

“I can’t call after her with, ‘Wait, there are so many unanswered questions. Tell me more about Dad when he was a child. What did you like most about my Grandpa? What is your favorite color? Just talk to me some more.’ It’s so final, so stiflingly final, that even a download of her brain before death could not mirror the affection and affectations she infused in her stories. The way I sat at her feet and she rubbed the palm of my hand when imparting those tales, the pride I felt when she told me how much like my mother I look, the loving glances she gave my father … who records that? Where is the justice in the world losing that? Why are we made to love and attach, and equally fragile and mortal? Death is so bloody frustrating that way.”

Of course, as a Hindu and a Vedantin, my head-heart-soul complex understands impermanence. But, just because I get it doesn’t mean I have to like it. This is the portion of the program when I equally appreciate my attachment to people and yearn for my doctor brother’s clinical outlook on being and everythingness.

Day 396: Announcing The Second World eBook Fair

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Remember the 1st World eBook Fair from back in July?  From July 4th to August 4, 2006, users downloaded their selections from 1/3 million free eBooks.  Well, the second one is now here!

In the 90 days since The 1st World eBook Fair as many eBooks have been added as you can download from Google’s entire eBook collection first known as Google Print Library, and now as the Google Book Search, and more are on the way.

Three additional eBooks collections of between 100,000-200,000 are being created as we speak, though it is possible none will be ready for release during International Book Fair Month, the month of October.  However, they are on their way in certainty and when added to the current 400,000+ will create collections in excess of 2/3 million eBooks well ahead of this schedule of eLibrary growth schedule as announced last spring

No Long Waits . . . Bigger, Better, Faster, More: The 2nd World eBook Fair has purchased the biggest and fastest wire possible to insure that all visitors get a prompt service response time in both search engine results and downloads.  New software and hardware arrangements will keep search engine traffic and download traffic from interfering with each other, thus speeding up response time even further, as you can search for any author’s name, book title, or even quotations from the vast majority of the books and then download instantly.

In addition, 5,000 Mobile Books are available for cellphones.  Download away!

Day 395: This Mortal Coil

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“A man’s dying is more the survivors’ affair than his own.” – Thomas Mann

My father’s mother passed away in India last night and will be cremated early tomorrow morning.  It hasn’t been a year since his little brother’s death, so I worry about my dad’s state of mind.  Utterly useless to my family while in New Orleans, I remember my grandmother the only way I can, by writing about her:

Despite never having spent a substantial amount of time with her, I know Bhavani Patti (Grandma Bhavani) because I am her – she is the storyteller, writer, historian, people watcher and mocha-colored, Rubenesque pear-shaped woman in me. She was the inspiration for VatulNet and her death has kicked my rear into working harder on the genealogy portion of the site.

Patti’s children and grandchildren are almost everywhere in the world – India, Europe, Australia and the United States. Now, more than ever, is when we wish we could all miraculously converge in space and time to commiserate and grieve. But, time zones and logistics do not always militate in our favor.

… you may understand my chagrin at not having had or made the time to spend with the woman who created and raised my father, uncles and aunts. Yet, during this blink of a geological eye, I was privy to her company and advice whenever possible and grew a hearty appreciation for home and family. For that, I am grateful.

My grandmother went in the best of conditions – at 94, in her home, with minimal pain, surrounded by close family members and during an auspicious time of the year for us Hindus.

I love and miss you, Patti.

Day 394: Ahem, Elections This Weekend!

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Superdome During The Pre-Party

Forgive and celebrate with the Saints and their fans for they are justified, but the volume of heated conversation generated by football (especially the LSU and Tulane variety), as opposed to that on reconstruction and local government, makes me wonder about people’s inherent motivations. This is not to criticize the traffic garnered by sports, crime and sex talk on the local internet, but will the same number of people show up for Louisiana Election Day (Saturday, September 30, 2006) as they did for the circuses? I. D. Reilly of The Third Battle says,

“… this LSU/ESPN-related posting generated 61 comments in 48 hours? I was amazed at the interest in a sports-related post, and the lack of comments generated by recent New Orleans recovery-related posts. By the way folks, this is what our politicians and government agencies are hoping for, a distraction that takes the pressure off of their efforts, or realistically their lack of efforts, to acheive any real recovery for metro New Orleans.”

Well, this is what politicians and government agencies have hoped for since the dawn of the three Estates. I’ve already belabored the point in my most recent Metroblogging post. So, please just make sure to spend the next four days of post-Saints euphoria perusing the proposed amendments to the state constitution (ballots 1, 2 and 3, among others, are very critical to New Orleans). Don’t forget that there are humans running for office, too.

Go vote!

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Related posts:
* Da Po Blog: Jesus In Cleats
* WetBankGuide: Win, Lose Or Draw

Day 393: The Cradle Of Musical Culture

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I lied, for I’ve made the time to watch the Saints on TV … in my black tank top with the gold fleur de lis on it. The sniffles began when The Goo Goo Dolls made a passionate case for New Orleans on WDSU, and they grew into all out tears when Irma Thomas sang the national anthem. Through his incessant supply of “you know,” Johnny Rzeznik managed to inform viewers that a lot remains to be done here, that New Orleans should be preserved with its spirit because it is the “cradle of musical culture,” and that the band will support this city on their website with videos of their visit here.

Holy Mother of Superdome, it hasn’t been a minute and a half and the Saints just scored a touchdown. They want it so badly, I can feel the desire through the little television over my computer.

Daaaaaamn, do I want to stay home and watch on TV while the city erupts? We are going to remember this game for the rest of our lives.

Day 393: My Mother, The Saints’ Empathizer

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If you haven’t noticed, Saints fans have been tailgating downtown since 8am today – seriously, it’s like Mardi Gras day or something and I’m the only one wearing hot pink.

Quite frankly, I don’t have the time to be excited for the Saints. Nor was any found to watch the Packers beat Detroit this past weekend, if it makes you feel any better. I did, however, manage to eke out a moment to announce, “That’s what Michigan gets for their Wolverines beating our Badgers the day before.” Yeah. Punks.

“So, I hear the Superbowl’s reopening on Monday,” my mother started our harried Saturday conversation. Superbowl? Superbowl … “Ohhh, you mean the Superdome, mom, it is indeed reopening this Monday” I replied. My mother shot back, “Bowl, dome, whatever; are you excited?” Fair enough. Understand that my mother’s verbal acknowledgment of sports is a momentous occasion unto itself.

“Am I excited? Yes and no. To see a place re-emerge into its NFL glory, that was the symbol of New Orleanian misery during the flood, is a great thing. But, the undue attention given one small aspect of New Orleans, when there are miles and miles to go before we sleep, is nuts. Even life-long New Orleanians have told me they’re sick of hearing about the Saints. And, if we talk about anything Saints-related on our blogs, all kinds of commenters crawl out of the ether to make their voices and knowledge of football stats heard. Where are all of these people when we invite discussion on The Great Government Letdown and Rebuilding Debrisville? It’s bread and circuses all over again, I tell you!”

Not missing a beat, my mother shut me down (but sweetly), “You can’t be like that, Maitri. Give them a break. Do you know what this means for city business? It sends a message inviting people to come to your city – that it is safer – and the money and cheer that comes in from game attendance will be such a boost. Then, more and more people will come and see what New Orleans is really all about today. You have to start bringing them in somewhere.”

Maitri’s mother, the Indian-American Saints’ Ambassador to Ohio. I am … proudly stunned. She is such a surprising woman.

09/24/2006

Mom also reminds me of the hurt I felt each time I drove into the city from Houston last fall and saw the torn-up facade of the big alien spaceship. So, in the spirit of craic, Gemütlichkeit and Green Bay Packer goodwill, I wish the Saints and their fans a joyous return to the Superdome. Here’s hoping you beat the dirty birds!

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The joys of office plumbing and how typically New Orleanian the whole thing is – Toilet #1 has a broken flush.  Toilet #2 perpetually flushes, wasting enough water to bathe a small nation.  Toilet #3 was just right, until this floor’s water pressure plummeted … again.  Blackilocks here is not happy.  This reminds me to purchase The Fourth Bear, the next installment in the Nursery Crimes series by Jasper Fforde, current possessor of Douglas Adams’ soul.  The Big Over Easy kept me sane for a few après-diluvian days.

Day 390: Do The Tree Shuffle

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The Picornaviridae have been conquered and fast internet access is (miraculously) once again mine.  Let the backlog of VatulBlog posts flow.  *insert mental image of me in a one-person second line down Magazine St. and attendant trumpet blares and drum beating here*

But first, let me address two items from today’s T-P, which when put together puzzle me:

$500,000 Of State Money To Replant Private Westbank Golf Course

The additional aid to the privately operated Tournament Players Club Louisiana is tucked into the state budget passed by legislators this spring and signed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco. The budget lists the $500,000 expenditure as a “forestry program for the planting of trees and other native plants due to losses sustained from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” without mentioning the golf course.

London Canal Trees On The Chopping Block

“It’s unfortunate that we must remove these trees after New Orleans has suffered so much loss of its tree canopy,” [landscape architect Michael] Stout said. “But we have no choice.”

Is the state replanting trees on public New Orleans land ”due to losses sustained from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?”  What’s growing in place of the many magnificent oaks and magnolias we lost to the flood?  Educate me.

Also, thanks to Ryan who noted that several New Orleanians and I featured in a recent San Antonio Express News article on hyperlocal blogging.