Category: New Orleans

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What It Is: 11/15/10

What I’m reading: The Odyssey.

What I’m listening to: The Lady Killer, The Point of It All, and some gorgeous jazz music, courtesy of my old pal Paul Longstreth, who was playing the club at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon St. last night (btw: I’m in New Orleans this week)

What I’m watching: Week 2 of season 1 of In Treatment, the finale of Eastbound and Down, and a catch-up of Bored to Death episodes. On Sunday, I caught The Social Network at The Theatres at Canal Place, and enjoyed that. I haven’t liked Jesse Eisenberg in any previous film, but he did a great job with the role. The movie’s last act was kinda weak and, well, it just sorta stopped, but it was a fun ride.

What I’m drinking: Beefeater & Q-Tonic (on Sunday evening; there’ve been various other gins over the course of the week, including Fifty Pounds, Citadelle, and an alleged Hendrick’s)

What Rufus & Otis are up to: Lamenting the lack of a farmer’s market and missing their Sunday hike, since Amy wasn’t going to jam them both in the back of her Mini while I’m away.

Where I’m going: I’m in New Orleans, after a delayed Saturday night flight.

What I’m happy about: Just being in New Orleans. I know New York is the Greatest City Ever, but New Orleans is still my favorite. Oh, and getting to see Paul play on Sunday. That was just rapturous for me.

What I’m sad about: Being here without my wife. I’ve traveled to a lot of cities on my own, but it doesn’t feel right to be here without her. When I got in late-ish Saturday night, I went out from my French Quarter hotel to get some dinner. I ended up getting a fried catfish po-boy and Abita at Primo’s on Decatur St. I had a table on the balcony, and looked out to the river, and realized that I was across the street from the place where we got married. I felt a few moments of elation, recollecting that weekend five years ago. Then a guy down on the sidewalk began bellowing in a rage at someone on his cellphone, and the moment snapped.

What I’m worried about: Getting instant-onset diabetes from those beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

What I’m pondering: Whether the idea I had at the jazz club Sunday night for a movie script is totally awesome or just the hack result of too many G&Ts and an excessive emphasis on the romance of New Orleans.

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What It Is: 12/21/09

What I’m reading: Gould’s Book of Fish and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

What I’m listening to: Lots of random iTunes shuffling. I was really busy last week, putting together our big Contract Services Directory print edition. Like, 14-hours-a-day-at-my-desk busy.

What I’m watching: Liam Neeson going bad-ass in Taken, Bottle Shock, and our annual tradition: Bad(der) Santa.

What I’m drinking: DH Krahn & Q-Tonic. Hmm.

What Rufus & Otis are up to: Not being happy about the snow we got on Saturday.

Where I’m going: Louisiana, for Christmas with the in-laws!

What I’m happy about: Finishing that year-end issue (later today).

What I’m sad about: Having to leave the doggies while we’re away.

What I’m worried about: That they’ll gallivant and debauch with the two female greys whose owners will be taking care of them.

What I’m pondering: The ironies of a) having a mid-day blackout and b) nearly burning the house down during the Festival of Lights.

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New Orleans, Beijing: Same Difference

Nicolai Ouroussoff: still here, still batshit-crazy. He asks why, if China could make a major architectural statement out of Beijing, the U.S. won’t do the same in . . . New Orleans. No, really.

Somehow, he misses the points that

  1. Beijing is the capital of a burgeoning world power, while New Orleans’ economy is driven almost entirely by drunken tourists,
  2. New Orleans, we now understand, faces destruction by flood every hurricane season, thanks to its georgraphy, a series of incredibly short-sighted development decisions, and the admitted incompetence of the Army Corps of Engineers,
  3. “New Orleans” and “coherent vision” don’t belong in the same article.

Maybe he’ll propose Frank Gehry to design new curved levees.

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What It Is: 6/9/08

What I’m reading: Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill. Bought via Kindle while our plane was at the gate on Sunday. I still gotta get around to that Kindle writeup, but one of the big items in the “PRO” column is the ability to buy a book whenever/wherever I want. Sure, buying a novel (sorta) about 9/11 while sitting on a plane may not have been too wise, but hey.

What I’m listening to: Some of my Mad Mix playlists, but I haven’t listened to a lot of music this week.

What I’m watching: Still the third season of The Wire.

What I’m drinking: Coors Light, sadly enough. It was the drink of choice at the birthday party we attended in Louisiana this weekend.

Where I’m going: NYC on Tuesday to interview some people from Pfizer for a feature in my mag.

What I’m happy about: Rufus and his dogsitters got along just fine this weekend. (But one of them dropped his iPhone and cracked the screen.)

What I’m sad about: I got my ass handed to me by 3 women at Wii Bowling.

What I’m pondering: How one of the partygoers this weekend managed to get tanked on Coors Light.

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China on the Mississippi?

When I write about how the NYSun is the Official Newspaper of Gil Roth, please keep in mind that I’m referring to its arts, culture and sports writing. Its op-ed section, on the other hand, can get pretty wacky.

Take today’s piece by Gordon Chang, for example. A Communist-Made Disaster discusses how the huge death-toll from the earthquake in China can be chalked up to policies of the communist party (he doesn’t blame the earthquake itself on the party; that’s India’s fault) and the local corruption that the regime breeds.

Mr. Chang seems to be arguing that a democratic system would push for regulation of building standards, deter public officials from skimming off or mis-allocating taxpayer funds, and allow the people to hold the government responsible for building safer schools.

All of which made me wonder, “Has Mr. Chang heard of New Orleans?”

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Happy New Year!

Have a great 2008, dear readers! We’ll be spending today recovering from Amy’s dad’s last holiday gift to us from our Louisiana visit last week: a headcold.

Meanwhile, here are my two photosets from that trip: New Orleans and Oak Alley Plantation. Oh, and Amy wrote pretty extensively (with more pictures!) about our trip here and here.

If I’m feeling up to it later, I’ll try to write something profound about my hopes for the coming year. Meanwhile, we’re gonna chill out and get back to our Lord of the Rings marathon on the big TV.