Welcome Spring

This is probably the best time to live in the Gulf Coast area. The overwhelming heat and humidity have not yet taken over, the nights are still cool and we aren't on the lookout for tropical disturbances. Everything is awakening from a long (well, long by Southeasteners' standards) cold winter and looking very nice.

I had a gut feeling this morning about visiting the The Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippiand I'm glad we followed through. Although it is situated along side Interstate 59, the Crosby Arboretum is a world apart from everything. I believe that all of us need to get back to nature every once in a while. If you haven't done it lately give it a try. You won't believe how exhilarating it can be.

From the website, here is a brief description of Crosby:

The Crosby Arboretum is dedicated to educating the public about their environment. This mission is carried out by preserving, protecting, and displaying plants native to the Pearl River Drainage Basin ecosystem, providing environmental and botanical research opportunities, and offering cultural, scientific, and recreational programs. The Arboretum displays three basic habitats found in this ecosystem. They are a Savanna exhibit, a Woodland exhibit, and an Aquatic exhibit. Both drastic and subtle changes in landscape patterns can be observed within each exhibit. In addition to the 104-acre interpretive site, the Arboretum also collectively maintains 700 acres of off-site natural areas that are preserved for scientific study.

The most stunning part of Crosby is the Pinecote Pavillion. It is located on the pond in the Aquatic exhibit. Its design fits into the surrounding landscape as if it grew there. Check it out for yourself.

Click on pictures for larger versions




After you check in and pay the $5 admission fee, you're given a baggie of fish/turtle food. Walk out to the end of the pavillion and start tossing the food into the pond.



The turtles living in the pond will soon welcome you. The fish are also ready to welcome human visitors who have food.



Here are more photos of the aquatic exhibit












Just outside the aquatic exhibit is the Pitcher Plant Bog. Pitcher plants may be related to venus fly traps. Check out the following signs.









The following series of photos are random shots we took as we walked around the Crosby Arboretum. I highly recommend a visit if you enjoy a few hours away from the craziness that is our every day lives.







find the dragon fly




We discovered the Damsel Fly here. It appears to be a cross between a dragonfly and a butterfly. Beautiful creature!







These trees intrigued me. They look like they withstood the winds of Katrina




The place is rife with wild azaleas.








If you are hungry after touring all of the different parts of Crosby I highly recommend the the Kobe Grill less than 1/2 mile from the Crosby Arboretum. Great service, great Japanese food and sushi.

Scuzzbucket of the week 2

It's been a busy week for animal abusers. Today's scuzzbucket hails from the great state of New Jersey. This 27 year old woman was charged Tuesday with "torture and torment of a living creature."

Kisha Curtis of Newark, New Jersey.

The 1-year-old pit bull, hailed by animal care workers as a "miracle dog," was discovered March 16 by maintenance workers inside a garbage chute at the Garden Spires apartment building -- a 550-unit complex in Newark notorious for drug trade and other crimes.

The dog was found so brutalized his bones protruded from his fur and he had no body temperature. Animal care workers with the Associated Humane Societies/Popcorn Park called it one of the worst cases of cruelty they've ever seen.



Sweet little Kisha starved the dog, put his nearly lifeless and emaciated body in a plastic garbage bag, then threw him down the garbage chute in a Newark apartment building.

Curtis faces 18 months in jail or a $3,000 fine if convicted

Here is a link to a Facebook page setup for the dog - named Patrick - for more information on how he is faring.

There's a special place in hell for people like Kisha.

Scuzzbuckets of the week

Too rich for his own good, GoDaddy's founder Bob Parsons is the lowest of low.

Parsons recently posted a video of his trip to Zimbabwe, where he shot an elephant.

I didn't watch the video at this link due to the description from the post as follows:


We all shoot vacation videos, but most of us choose to keep them to ourselves—or, at worst, share them with our Facebook friends. Bob Parsons—the CEO of the Internet hosting firm GoDaddy.com, which you will know from its lame Super Bowl ads and absolutely nothing else—likes bigger exposure. Parsons recently posted a video of his trip to Zimbabwe, where he shot an elephant. See below:

Now, there are so many things wrong with this video that it's hard to know where to start. First off: is it really appropriate to score a scene of hungry villagers in Zimbabwe tearing apart a dead elephant to the tunes of AC/DC's "Hells Bells"? And I can't be the only one who found it creepy that Parsons had outfitted nearly everyone in the area with bright orange GoDaddy baseball caps. Not to mention the fact that this is all taking place in Zimbabwe, a broken country oppressed by the tyrannical Robert Mugabe, where 64% of the population lives under the poverty line and nearly 100% live in fear. This is one step up from taking spring break in North Korea.

He thinks that because he has the bucks made by foolish people spending moneyh on his product that he has the right to destroy an animal in its own habitat?

Again, from the above link Parsons defended himself on his blog, arguing that his target was a "problem elephant" that had been destroying the crops of a nearby village:

I stand by my decision to help African villagers. I believe elephant management is beneficial. I have the support of the people who really matter in this situation, the families of Zimbabwe -- people who need help to survive. I have the support of tribal leaders and the government.

If you'd like to see how professional "bobby boy" is visit his grown up blog

Scuzzbucket

Heroes in Japan

New Orleans' Beauty

The historic French Quarter balconies live together with the modern day skyscrapers in New Orleans. I love this city.

BP may be charged with manslaughter

 (Reuters) - Shares in oil major BP (BP.L) fell 2.0 percent on Tuesday after a media report that the company's managers may face manslaughter charges following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and an analyst downgrade.

U.S. prosecutors are considering whether to pursue manslaughter charges against BP managers for decisions made before the explosion on the rig that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history, a report from Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

BP has admitted mistakes in the run-up to the rig blast but has denied accusations that it was "grossly negligent", a charge that could add tens of billions to the final bill it pays for the disaster.

"A manslaughter charge makes a charge of gross negligence more likely," one dealer said.

If BP is found to be grossly negligent, the maximum possible fines it faces would rise to over $21 billion from around $5 billion.

Also, this may mean the company is unable to force its partners in the well to pay their 35 percent share of the total clean-up bill -- now estimated at $42 billion.

It could also open the floodgates to legal claims worth many billions.

BP declined to comment.

 

The entire article is here:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/29/us-bp-shares-idUSTRE72S1M220110329?feedType=nl&feedName=usbusinessearly

 

 

 

Why I love Hoda Kotb

HODA KOTB at her finest...Gotta see this video we took of Hoda "getting down and funky" while singing the New Orleans Saints Swag...this weekend at the Hall of Fame for Louisiana Center For Women and Government

Scuzzbuckets of the week

It would be employees at the DMV Salt Lake City, Utah. Here's an excerpt from the Pride In Utah website

Local resident Amber Anderton watched a horrifying scene play out in front of her this past Thursday at the DMV:ca transgender woman sat down at the photo station to renew her license. “When the DMV worker looked at her,” says Amber, “he immediately left and got another employee, whispered in their ear and they both began laughing as they looked back at the woman. They both then went and got security who escorted the woman back to a supervisor’s office. When they came back out the woman was taken to the restroom where she had to scrub off her makeup and pull her hair back before they would let her take her license photo.”

Amber goes on to describe how the original two employees were seen walking from office to office, and several other employees came out to laugh and toss anti-transgender slurs around.

Mortified at what she was witnessing, 29 year old Amber approached the woman (who is remaining anonymous) and apologized for the treatment she was receiving. She asked if the woman planned on filing a complaint, but was told that although the abused woman as livid, “I really don’t want to cause a scene.” Amber than asked if she would allow Amber herself to make a complaint which the woman agreed to.

Marching up to the supervisor (who refused to identify more than his first name, John), Amber said, “How dare you treat people this way! Would you make any other woman take off her makeup to get her licensed removed?” The supervisor coldly responded that “That is not a real woman, it’s a man.”

According to the Utah DMV website, the phone number for that location is as listed below. Do not let this story pass! And I want to give an enormous thank you to Amber Anderton, a citizen who stood up for what is right, and faced down the tyranny and bigotry of these DMV workers and made herself a hero.

Fairpark DMV:
801-965-4437

Letters for Japan

 Former CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch hopes to fill her mailbox several times over with letters written to Japan.

Koch, who was reared in Bay St. Louis, is asking South Mississippians who survived the ordeal of Hurricane Katrina to write letters of support and encouragement for those now suffering in the aftermath of a destructive earthquake and tsunami.

She calls the project “Words of Hope for Japan.”

Kathleen Koch

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• Story: Where to write:

“I felt like we understand,” she told the Sun Herald by phone from her home near Washington, D.C.

Koch wants to deliver over a quarter-million pieces of mail to the Japanese Embassy, which has agreed to deliver the well wishes to people in Japanese shelters. She said more than 270,000 people in Japan are living in shelters and she wants each one to have a handwritten letter or a hand-drawn picture from those too young to write. Most people in Japan can read some English or have access to a translator, Koch said.

Donations are an obvious reaction to the catastrophe, she said, but Koch wanted to do more.

Then she remembered a book she owns, “Letters from Katrina: Stories of Hope & Inspiration.”

The book was filled with letters written by children around the country to the children of the Gulf Coast after Katrina.

“They were so inspiring and meant so much to the children,” she said.

She’d like to do the same thing for Japan that others did for South Mississippi, except letters should be sent to people of all ages. Writers should designate on the envelope if the letter is for a child. she said.

“If we could just send them letters and let them know ‘You can get through this,’” she said. “We understand. We care. Don’t give up hope. You’re not alone.”

Koch, who is now an author and speaker, also challenges the leaders of Coast cities to find a city in Japan to adopt. The people of Japan can be encouraged from South Mississippi’s resilience.

“Just knowing that someone, somewhere cares and understands I think can get you going,” she said.

Koch will expand the project to include the rest of the country soon.

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2011/03/23/2968010/koch-seeks-letters-of-hope-to.html##ixzz1HY3zKyDR

 

Need something to do this weekend?

  I just found out about this festival.  It’s the “New Orleans Roadfood Festival”.  From their website:

 

“Six blocks of Royal Street in the heart of the French Quarter will be lined with dozens of top Roadfood cooks from New Orleans and all of Louisiana as well as across America, each offering a unique specialty.   This is NOT typical and expected festival fare:  it  is a tase of America’s most celebrated dishes, all gathered in one place:  a foodie’s dream.  Portions are right-sized and priced to provide everyone a chance to taste the maximum number of great regional eats as they stroll through the French Quarter inhaling delicious smells that range from real Texas pit barbecue to Pecan Pie to artisan boudin sausage made by Cajun country’s most beloved butchers.  There is no admission fee, just bring plenty of appetite”.

 

Some of the food to be served:

          Seafood chowder from Maine

          Muffalettas

          Sausage & Brisket

          Oyster Foch PoBoy from Antoine’s

          Crawfish Enchiladas

          Duck Cracklin

          Crawfish & Meat Pies

          5 Way Chili from Cincinnati

          Shrimp Remoulade Poboy

          Grilled Oysters

 

There’s more, but I’m getting very hungry.  Hoping we can be there this weekend!

Here’s the website:  www.neworleansroadfoodfestival.com

 

Bon Apetit!

 

History of St. Aug and Mardi Gras

NOLA Blogger Bayou Creole retells how The Marching 100, St. Augustine Purple Knights endured there first Mardi Gras parade at this link. It wasn't pretty and it gives you insight into why they are THE Marching Band at Mardi Gras.