Spring 2009

Friday was the first day of Spring and the weather was all about spring: low humidity, cool breezes and nighttime temperatures in the 50's. You couldn't order better weather. Hubby and I spent the whole weekend sprucing up the yard (actually, I was in a supporting role, he did all of the big stuff) after a short but miserable winter. Coming out of Gustav and Ike, the yard was in pretty bad shape.
Click on pictures for larger size



One of our cypress trees was topped by a neighbor's tree during Gustav(which also took out two fences....we're still waiting for him to fix it). This little tree his blooming and we couldn't be happier!



The entire backyard was covered with this blanket of sticky weed. After pulling it all up, I ended up with two trashcans of the weed.





Looking up into the blue skies, it's hard to miss the legacy of Katrina's trees. I'm surprised these twisted messes are still standing, let alone sprouting new growth.



Our wild irises are blooming quite nicely.



Even our 13 year old cat ventured out today to soak up some of the warm sunshine.


A view from my patio at 9 this morning. Today was the third day in a row with this great weather. We enjoy spring so much down here because it's short and usually followed by months of 90 plus degree weather and that damn humidity.

But I wouldn't live anywhere else.

scuzzbuckets

photo courtesy of www.wunderground.com/blog/moonlightcowboy/com


AIG Executives for their efforts to screw the American taxpayer by awarding its staff $165 million in bonuses AFTER accepting a multi-billion bailout from the federal government.

-- The top recipient of the bonuses received more than $6.4 million.

-- The top seven recipients got more than $4 million each.

-- A retention bonus for an employee who left totaled $4.6 million.

My retention bonus isn't nearly as much.
;)

Also benefiting from the Government bailout of AIG were French and German banks .


Edward Liddy, chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group Inc., (AIG), is shown in this file photo. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Kin Cheung

You'd think that people making this kind of money would find REAL hairstylists, wouldn't you?


AIG executives have blamed each other for the company's financial woes with former CEO Martin Sullivan (front) casting much of the blame on accounting rules

After receipt of their first installment of the Government bailout money of $85M, the execs took a little "business trip" to discuss how to dole out the money.


Itinerary courtesy of huffington post.com Click here to see a legible version.

I'm with my homestate Senator Barney Frank that the government should assert it's ownership of AIG. We own 80% of this bucket of scuzzes. I do like the idea that some lawmakers want to tax these bonuses at 100%.


A history of AIG's "leadership" since Katrina.

I'm no college graduate and I have made it a point to NOT look at my retirement account since September. Well, I did peek when I got something in the mail after year end and it made me shudder. But these SOB's who have been part of running a company into the ground and then accepting government money to stay afloat and THEN do what these people did make them prime candidates for SCUZZBUCKETS.

Update on Highway 90 Sculptures

A while back I ran a post about the "recycling" if - you will - of the live oak trees that became victims of Katrina. Instead of tearing them down, local chainsaw artists have created beautiful sculptures from them.

Crafting Art from Destruction. Here's an update from the Sunherald dot com

BILOXI — The idea of creating art from trees destroyed by Hurricane Katrina grew and spread in two years, from the Biloxi Bay Bridge all the way to Waveland, and now there are more than three dozen wood carvings along the beach.



They’ve become one of the top tourist attractions on the Coast and a symbol of the comeback of South Mississippi. The drive along U.S. 90 to see all of them takes locals and visitors over the new bridges, along the water and past homes that were rebuilt and waterfront lots still empty.



Some new sculptures are in progress and more are in the works. Marlin Miller of Fort Walton Beach, Florida spent much of the past year donating his time to carve the tree trunks. This weekend he is carving the final feathers on an eagle at the Pass Christian War Memorial Park.

On March 28 the eagle will be dedicated in honor of the late Colonel Lawrence Roberts, father of “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts, and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen, the country’s first black military air corps.

A little to the east on U.S. 90, the eagles Miller carved soar with 17-foot wingspans near the entrance of the University of Southern Mississippi, whose mascot is the golden eagle. Miller said the university received so much positive feedback he was contacted by President Martha Saunders about doing a project for the main campus in Hattiesburg.

Also working on new carvings is Dayle Lewis, a professional chain-saw artist from Richmond, Ind. He gave an old oak tree wings when he carved a pair of angels into a tree near the beach in Bay St. Louis.



“It became the Guardian Angel Tree,” said Lewis.
The story goes that 100 years ago a member of the DeMontluzin family kept the tree from being cut when the road was built, said Douglas Niolet.

“I guess she saved it for us,” Niolet said, because he and two others found their way to the oak and hung onto it for more than three hours during Hurricane Katrina. The tree died after the storm and the survivors asked Lewis to carve it into the angels that watched over them.



Lewis said many people have told him how much joy and spirit the tree has brought to Bay St. Louis.

He has done quite a few carvings in people’s yards and created angels for their homes. He’s also donated his time and talent to help groups. The first year he worked in New Orleans and the second year raised money for a fire station in Kiln. This year he’s carving alligators, pelicans and herons to raise money for the Amish group CARE, so they can continue to rebuild homes on the Coast.


This is a map of the wood sculptures along the Coast, spanning more than 30 miles from Waveland to Biloxi. Zoom in and use your mouse to pan the image. Click on the green pins to see photos of the three dozen sculptures along the route.

View Larger Map

Miller started with a dolphin, birds and a sea horse in December 2007 and became more adventurous as he worked. In his latest piece in Biloxi, he carved a multi-layer sculpture with shadows among the osprey and he gave Waveland a carving where there wasn’t a tree.

As about 1,000 volunteers spruced up Waveland for the national kickoff of Keep America Beautiful on March 3, Miller worked on a sculpture at the intersection of U.S. 90 and Mississippi 603. A dead tree was moved to the site and cemented into place. With his chain saws, Miller worked several days on the carving — and past 10 p.m. on a cold, windy Sunday night. “People thought I was crazy,” he said, until they saw the three dolphins and a large turtle emerging from the dead tree.
“There’s no other carving like it,” he said.



The city is proud to have one of Miller’s sculptures, said Joy Norman, Waveland spokeswoman. ”It’s beautiful.”

Visitors enjoy the new attractions, as well.

“I think the carvings are awesome,” said Darlene Sauve of Rapid River, Mich., a snowbird staying in Biloxi for the winter. She was one of several people snapping photos of the carvings in Biloxi last week while a crew sprayed the sea-life sculptures with sealant to protect them.

Brian Thacker with Biloxi Public Works said the sealant, applied once a year, fights moisture, bugs and salt spray and even has a UV protectant so the carvings will survive the beachfront elements.

“We’ve got a new landmark,” said Biloxi Public Affairs Manager Vincent Creel, who has documented the carvings on the city’s Web site. The first sculptures were done by Sandersville, Miss., chain-saw artist Dayton Scoggins; Miller carved 16 of the 21 tree sculptures in Biloxi.

Miller said he’d like to carve sculptures at the welcome centers at the west and east entrances of the state so people traveling on Interstate 10 will be inspired to drive down to the beach to see the rest, and help local businesses.

here's a link to a
gallery of incredible tree carvings along Highway 90 on the Mississippi Gulf coast by chainsaw artists Dayton Scoggins of Sandersville, Mississippi
and Marlin Miller of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Thanks to Volunteers

From a Katrina blogger in Pascagoula comes this comment


We received a comment the other night on the blog that really touched us. I would hate for it to end up buried at the end of a miscellaneous post here -- and think it deserves a post of its own. It follows below with my emphases and comments.

I too lost a home in Katrina. Our house was built in the 1860's (yes eighteen sixties)and we truly loved living there in Bay St. Louis Ms. [The first two sentences took my breath away and then all the old Katrina-emotions flooded in. We were lucky - though it doesn't always feel like it - to have been left with a good chunk of our original home when the water receded. We grieve right along with you for the loss of a precious piece of our history. Well over 100 years -- gone in a few hours.]

We also took refuge on the second floor however when the water got chest deep on the second floor we took refuge in a pine tree. My wife and I were in the tree for three hours and later when we measured there was nearly thirty (30) feet of water below us. [I've often written here that our survival story was not very dramatic. This is what I'm talking about.]

We managed to get back on the roof as the water began to go down but the storm raged on. At dusk we walked a block to the beach across neighbors property that had been wiped clean of homes. We looked back to see the pile of rubble that was once our stately home, but we had our lives and we had each other. [Yes!]

I commend you for writing this to tell the world that the "Hurricane" did not end the night of August 29th, it is still going on.

We were driving on the beach (Hwy 90) today and commenting that some of the scars are beginning to fade. The beautiful homes are gone but our spirit remains. We will start over with our heads held high. [Amen!!]

Before I end this rant I would like to thank all the people that volunteered and continue to volunteer to help us rebuild. Without them where would we be? Families like yours dug out, ripped out and gutted, endured the heat and the mess, and can now hold your head high and be proud of what you have accomplished. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share your recovery effort.

Rich C

Is this for real?

Is this a joke or something?


New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will deliver the keynote address today at the Harvard Black Law Students Association Spring Conference in Cambridge, Mass.

will focus his speech on Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed, according to reports. It will also touch upon recovery efforts in New Orleans and the region.

The conference's theme is "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Effecting Change at Home and Across the Globe," according to the association's Web site.




What does this assclown know about recovery efforts in New Orleans and the region?

He's too busy deleting emails or screwing around with other nonsense.

And I thought Harvard had educated people. puh.

Another Fest for our itinerary

On May 16th in Bay St. Louis is the third annual "Bridge Fest", celebrating the reopening of the Pass Bridge.

The bridge was destroyed by Katrina in 2005



MDOT proceeded with the state’s first ever "design/build" contract, accelerating project completion by hiring the same contractor to oversee project design and construction. The new bridge was built higher, eliminating the need for a draw. The contract was awarded in January 2006 and it opened with one lane in each direction in May 2007, earlier than scheduled; and all work was completed on time by November 2007.



Hubby and I stumbled upon this fest last year when we went to lunch at Rickey's in Bay St. Louis. A small festival that's chock full or food, art, freebies and extremely friendly people.

Here's a link to a traffic cam for the bridge .

A Hero in many ways

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré issued a challenge to Southern University students to help Louisiana and the nation adapt to a “new normal” on Monday during the university’s “Founders’ Day” 129th anniversary celebration.



Honoré, a Southern graduate and Monday’s keynote speaker, painted a somber picture while discussing the national recession, fears of a viral pandemic, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a third war starting along the Mexican border concerning the war on drugs.

He bemoaned poor health-care services and obesity rates.

“People come to Louisiana because they like the food here,” Honoré said. “This food will kill you.”

Americans must learn to “live with less” as resources decline worldwide, he said. Southern’s researchers, students and graduates can be the ones to develop new technologies and oil-free energy sources, he said. Students must bring their knowledge back to their communities.

While discussing the distance between “Main Street and Wall Street,” Honoré said there also is a “Railroad Street” where land is cheap, schools are struggling and the police are more active. Many people from the Southern nation come from Railroad Street, he said.

“When things go bad on Wall Street, they get a golden parachute. When things go bad on Main Street, they’ll wait until next year to buy a car,” Honoré said. “But ladies and gentlemen, there’s always a disaster on Railroad Street.”

Calling New Orleans’ 9th Ward a “Railroad Street,” Honoré also discussed hurricane preparedness.

“We’ve got to stop waking up in Louisiana surprised there’s a hurricane coming,” he said. People should prepare for the upcoming hurricane season now with supplies and evacuation plans.

“There’s more mention of a tiger and a jaguar in this city than there is about a three-day supply of food and water,” Honoré said of the inflated importance placed on sports.

Mr. Honore has and will always be a hero to me.

Maybe he'll drive off the causeway

Unbelievable.

Last summer, after Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price was caught twice driving his city vehicle erratically after drinking, he reluctantly gave up the keys while he underwent treatment for substance abuse.

Now, after completing the 13-step program and finishing a final draft of a new vehicle policy, Price is back behind the wheel of the luxury Ford Expedition. The SUV now has city seals on both front doors, to comply with state law, but is still fitted with a "ghost plate" until the arrival of new public license plates.

Why I blog

Here's a piece of an email I received this morning:

I survived landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Why did I stay? I ALWAYS stayed. Do I regret it? No. It enabled me to salvage much on the house, and sell it, satisfying the mortgage. Left after 5 months, I now reside in Wacko, TX. I've seen the best and the worst of human nature, and learned lessons few will ever know.

I have, through fate alone, met others here from NO, out of Katrina. We all share the same conclusion, we say little if nothing about where we're from. It just makes our lives easier not to mention it. People here seem very resentful of us. Still. And it's very hard.

It has soothed my heart and soul to view your photos, read the blogs, etc.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

The Vatican.


From Suspect Device, the news that a senior Vatican cleric has defended the excommunication of the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion in Brazil after being raped.



Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Catholic church's Congregation for Bishops, told the daily La Stampa on Saturday that the twins the girl had been carrying had a right to live.

"It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated," he said.

Re, who also heads the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, added: "Life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian church is unjustified."

The row was triggered by the termination on Wednesday of twin foetuses carried by a nine-year-old allegedly raped by her stepfather in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.


Jose Cardoso Sobrinho...Is it me or does this dude have mean eyes?

The regional archbishop, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, pronounced excommunication for the mother for authorising the operation and doctors who carried it out for fear that the slim girl would not survive carrying the foetuses to term.

"God's law is above any human law. So when a human law ... is contrary to God's law, this human law has no value," Cardoso had said.

Thought that was bad? Here's more:

He also said the accused stepfather would not be expelled from the church. Although the man allegedly committed "a heinous crime ... the abortion - the elimination of an innocent life - was more serious".

Buras Update

click here to see the painfully slow rebuilding of Buras, Louisiana.

Let the Festivals Begin!

Ah, March. The start of spring and Festivals.

We have several coming up in the next month or so.
Taken partially from Clarence's festival webpage here are a few festivals we won't miss:

2009 Smokin' Blues and BBQ Challenge in Downtown Hammond , Louisiana. , which features BBQ Cooking (of course), Barbecue cooking classes, Sweet Tea Challenge and of course, music. You can sample the foods cooked at this festival on Friday, March 27th beginning at 4:30 PM and on Saturday March 28th after 10 AM. We went last year and got there too early to do a lot of sampling, but we DID get to try one plate for a donation and it was fantastic.

Here's a link to more festivals held in March for our local area

click on pictures for larger versions




On the weekend of April 4th is the Picayune Street Fair. A low key event, it's
fun to walk the Antique District of Picayune and eat some good barbecue at Stonewall's by the train tracks.

The Pontchatoula Strawberry Festival is April 3rd-5th this year. It's become a big festival in the past decade or so, but the crowd's laid back and the berries are plentiful.

On April 11th head on over to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for the Souper Mud Fest, where pottery bowls will be sold for $20 and filled with soup. Proceeds benefit Hancock County Food Pantry, local potters, and Old Town Mechants Association

The weekend of April 18th brings the Slidell Antique District Street Fair .

We usually hit this one in the morning and then head over to the sixth annual Crawfish Cookoff benefitting the Hospice foundation of the South.


If you have $20 and you like crawfish, get your tickets at Whitney Bank and head on out to Fritchie Park. The weather is ALWAYS great for this event and you can't beat the price.

One of our favorites, the French Quarter Festival will take place on April 17-19th.


Music currently booked is

The Radiators
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue
Irvin Mayfield and the NOJO Allstars
Rockin’ Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters
Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys
Bonerama
the Zydepunks
Soul Rebels
the Original Hurricane Brass Band
Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Review
Theresa Andersson
Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. & The Wild Magnolias
John Boutté & Paul Sanchez “Stew Called New Orleans”
Wanda Rouzan and a Taste of New Orleans
Susan Cowsill
Posse featuring Dave Malone, Reggie Scanlan, and Kevin O’Day
The Honey Island Swamp Band
Otra
Walter “Wolfman” Washington
Big Sam’s Funky Nation
Hot Club of New Orleans
Bamboula 2000
Soul Project


It's so good that you can eat all you want because you walk it off by walking from the foot of Canal Street to the US Mint and back!


One of NOLA's biggies, the 40th Annual Jazz Fest starts April 24th to May 3rd. Unbelievable lineup of musicians. And the variety of food and crafts will make you want to camp out at the Fairgrounds just to take it all in. If you don't mind the heat and the crowds it's worth the cost.



Here's a long list of the festivals held in April around here

May has a lot of festivals, too at this website .

June fests here

Although it's hot as hell and I'll get sunburned, I refuse to not go to the
New Orleans Vieux to Do on the weekend of June 12.



Formerly the Creole Tomato Festival, French Market Seafood Festival and the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival, the festival site includes the National Historic landmarks of the French Market and LA State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint. There will be free Music on 5 stages and Chef Demonstrations throughout the weekend. Over 50 Food, Beverage and Merchandise booths Fishermen, Arts & Crafts and Farmers Villages celebrating Louisiana’s extraordinary culture, music and cuisine.




Fathers' Day weekend has the Louisiana Bicycle Festival in Abita Springs. I've never been, but perhaps hubby and I will bike on over to Abita to check it out. We'll need the exercise after all of the food we'll be eating!

On July 4th weekend the Mandeville Seafood Festival, now held at Fontainebleu State Park. We've missed this festival in the past few years because the food frankly sucks. It was all fried food and who wants to eat hot fried food in July outside? Not me.

Instead we just may head back to Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis for their annual Crab Festival, held on July 4th. It's a small festival, but it's held right on the Gulf of Mexico and the crowd is mellow and music is good. Best of all THEY HAVE CRABS!!!!

Just a reminder

Ray Nagin still sucks.

I'm with Cliff

Cliff writes about Brad Pitt's efforts to secure funding to help rebuild the Ninth Ward.



Brad and Cliff are awesome.

LaProvence Restaurant

Tonight hubby and I dined at our favorite restaurant to celebrate our third anniversary: La Provence in the Lacombe/Big Branch area of St. Tammany Parish.

To all of your big city folks in NOLA: make plans to take a day trip on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy a laid back, delicious Sunday Brunch during the beautiful weather we've been having before it gets too hot. (we've already made reservations for April 5th) You will not be disappointed

click on the pictures for full-size versions



Springtime in St. Tammany Parish is as close to Eden as you can get. To complement the climate, imagine yourself sitting in this patio, choosing from this menu:



Please ignore the date of "March 1" because this is the current menu used each Sunday, not just March 1st.

La Provence has a new Chef de Cuisine, a very talented young man named Erick Loos IV. A Slidell native, as is his boss, Mr. Besh, Erick is an extremely brilliant chef. Allow me to validate my opinions with pictures and words.

Just as important as the presentation and quality of the food is service. The waitstaff is attentive without being exaggeratedly annoying ala any of Emeril's establishments. Our waitress was Kelly and she was extremely sweet and professional.


Upon seating, restaurant guests are treated to a great little starter of chicken liver mousse and warm crostini. Nice......



While we were dining on our crostini and mousse, Kelly surprised us with the offering of a pissaladiere, which is a warm tarte of onions, anchovies, olives, fresh arugula. Not sure if this is an invention of Chef Erick, but this is a beautiful dish which is also offered in the Sunday Brunch Menu



I could eat this all day.......while I was eating it, I imagined the delectably light crust with chocolate and powdered sugar or shrimp and cheese or muffaletta ingredients. An ambrosial dish.

As we enjoyed our pissaladiere, we were greeted by LaProvence Restaurant manager Dale Harvey. Another Slidell native, Dale is a great manager (front of the house man) for LaProvence. He has the personality to put everyone at ease and truely cares about his customers. We discussed our Katrina experiences (anyone who lived down here before-during-after the storm does that) and the menu along with our hope of procuring a pic with the owner to share with our kids at Chef John Folse's School of Culinary Arts: daughter and future son-in-law (more like a "nah-nah, look what I did, actually". ) We found out that Chef Besh just might show up on this evening.

I want to stop here to share the fact that hubby and I are typical Southeast Louisiana natives in the fact that we plan our lives around food. As the saying goes, in Louisiana we live to eat, whereas in the rest of the country they eat to live. We plan our lives around our meals. This trip to LaProvence had us excited for a few months after the reservations were cast. So the anticipation that we could actually meet John Besh in person was exciting to us because of his reputation as a good cook as well as the fact that he's a "Slidell boy". The Food Network stuff comes in second for us because the star factor is really not important to anyone who loves well done cuisine. I don't like using the word of "foodie" to describe ourselves because it's such a pretentious word.

Back to our trek to Big Branch's best restaurant (probably their only one besides a quick stop), after chatting with Dale, we had to decide upon our appetizer.

I apologize for the quality of the photos to come. We were not sure of the grade of the photographs until we got home. We WILL assure you that presentation was of the utmost importance to the LaProvence staff which they met exceedingly well





I chose the Shrimp Tajine because of the flavor (I'd had it before) and presentation. This appetizer includes a "merguez" made of shrimp which is
incredibly delectable




Hubby got the Charbroiled Oysters.

I got to taste an oyster and it was sooooooooooooooo good!!!
Delicious is not a good enough word to describe what we experienced.

Entrees were next



Decisions...decisions.....I chose the tenderloin of beef (medium rare) because I craved red meat; my honey got the scallops with risotto.


Served with bone marrow, porcini mushtrooms and "pommes dauphinois", I can't tell you what the best thing on this plate was. The bone marrow was mouth watering, the beef perfectly cooked; but those potatoes blew me away! (I guess that goes back to my Irish roots, my obsession with potatoes) :)


Billy now loves Risotto. I explained to him how this is a dish of love - because you have to tend to it like a child - until it is complete. Those scallops were buttery, sweet and cooked to perfection. The asparagus came from either the garden outside the restaurant or their farm in Folsom. I'm getting this dish on our next foray to LaProvence!



By this time we were giddy with the taste of food so well thought out.
I neglected to mention the great wine that we shared with our food.



Wonderful wine from that great year of 2005 (thanks, Katrina).

It really was a nice, dry red wine which complemented both of our dishes: meat and fish.

Dessert was awesome!!



Unfortuneately our dessert pix came out too blurry because we didn't take into consideration the lighting, but I will tell you that the Torte aux Chocolate and the Strawberry Sorbet were orgasmic. Ask anyone who was there.
:)

Thinking that the best of our evening had passed, Mr. Dale came back to our table and said that we were summoned to the kitchen. WOW




As we entered the kitchen we were applauded by the kitchen staff. What a fantastic end to a beautiful meal. Our thanks to all who participated to make this one of the most memorable meals and we applaud YOU!.


my apologies to Chef Erick for the quality of the photographs....your food ROCKS, Erick!!!

Here are links to previous posts about LaProvence and Chef Besh
This one describes our first visit to LaProvence as well as containing a video about their
Biodynamic Farm

Here are my thoughts about Chef John doing a cooking demo IN JULY at the Camellia City Farmer's Market

I discuss the release of the new line of Besh products at Rouses here