Not a clue

What the hell is wrong with Ray Nagin?????

How many lives were lost, how many people have become homeless? How many people still can't come home?

Where's his plan for the future of New Orleans?

Check out the city's website
here is the url http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=1&load=~/PortalModules/ViewPressRelease.ascx&itemid=3647

He's got a hoopla planned for the first anniversary of Katrina. Huh?
What's wrong with him? Are we STILL living in an alternate universe?????
Ray, you can plan this shit, but not the future of New Orleans?
You assbite.

Here's the current plan of events:
(my comments are in blue font.

New Orleans Mayor and Wynton Marsalis Outline Katrina Anniversary Schedule

Anniversary Expected To Attract Thousands

(New Orleans, LA) Mayor C. Ray Nagin and U.N. Messenger of Peace and Multi-Grammy Award Winner, Wynton Marsalis today outlined the three-day commemorative days of reflection surrounding the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the Rebirth of New Orleans. These three days will be one of rebirth, remembrance, and renewal.


The chairpersons of the Katrina Anniversary Planning Committee are Mrs. Seletha Nagin, First Lady of New Orleans, Bill McFarlin, Executive Director of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and Dan Carlin, Chairman Emeritus of the NARAS/GRAMMYS.
Mizz Nagin, what are you bringing as far as talent/knowledge to this "fete"?

Why is a grammy dude involved? Is it going to be Ray's New Orleans essense fest?

A press conference announcing further details will be forth coming.




Sunday, August 27, 2006
Noon - Midnight
**Kazanjian Jewels for Charity Silent Auction (bid and view)
Harrah’s Casino
8 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
What're ya gonna auction off...debris?

3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
*Gospel Concert
Convention Center Auditorium
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd.,
New Orleans, LA 70130


9 p.m. -11 p.m.
**Ambassadors of Swing Talent Search
Harrah’s Casino Theatre
8 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
How does Swing Talent memorialize Katrina???

Monday, Aug 28, 2006
Noon - Midnight
**Kazanjian Jewels for Charity Silent Auction (bid and view)
Harrah’s Casino
8 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
More debris auctioning

1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
**Cooking With Music featuring Emeril Lagasse and Wynton Marsalis
-An educational program for children
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Emeril finally comes to New Orleans

6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
**Exclusive Food Experience
Restaurants all Over New Orleans
-Restaurants To Be Determined
Food Experience....are they feeding New Orleans' poor and needy?

9 p.m. -TBA
**Comedy Night
Harrah’s Casino Theatre
8 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Oh yeah, Katrina left us a lot to laugh about

Tuesday, August 29, 2006
8:30 a.m.
*Prayer Breakfast
Asia Baptist Church
1400 Sere Street
New Orleans, LA 70122
pray that you're not recalled, Nagin

9:38 a.m. - First Levee Breach
*Ringing of the Bells/Laying of the Wreaths
City Hall
1300 Perdido Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
-Laying of the Wreaths will take place at each levee breach in the City Council respective districts
One appropriate item

Noon
*Ecumenical Prayer Service
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Convention Center Auditorium – Hall H
900 Convention Center Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70130


Noon - Midnight
**Kazanjian Jewels for Charity Silent Auction (bid and view)
Harrah’s Casino
8 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
more auctioning off debris???


2:00 p.m.
*One New Orleans Procession
In the tradition of a Jazz Funeral - Convention Center to Superdome
-Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré will be the Grand Marshall of the One New Orleans Procession
-Honoring 1st Responders, the lives lost in Katrina, and the rebirth of New Orleans
-Everyone is invited to participate
I can't believe Honore agreed to be a part of this shit.


3:30 p.m.
*Pre-Concert Community Event begins at the end of procession
-For the community to come together as One New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
1500 Poydras St.
I'm gonna puke


6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
**New Orleans: Rebuilding the Soul of America...One Year Later Televised Concert
New Orleans Arena
1501 Girod Street
so the rest of the country can laugh at us some more? partying and dancing while the city lies in a near coma


8.30 p.m. -TBA
**Post-Event: Masquerade Gala (Diamond & Platinum tickets only)
Harrah's Casino
8 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
A Gala? How nice, how available to the poor of New Orleans.

9:30 p.m.
*Fireworks – Rebirth of One New Orleans
Riverfront
Fireworks? Yeah, that's a nice way to remember Katrina's victims.

Ray's many business relations.

Anyone interested in participating in these events should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com, or for Wynton Marsalis’ Events please contact Mary Lee Murphy at murphym@peteramayer.com or at (504) 210-1320.


this certainly sucks.

Twenty Years

 I remember creating this blog in 2006, right after Katrina.  

I was a babe of 50 years and had just gone through an experience of my lifetime, along with the rest of the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

I'm now 70 and am dying of fucking cancer.  So I'd like to finish this up with this last post.

This blog encompasses our collective fear, loss, sadness and rebirth.  I'm proud of what I've put into it:

It contains posts about Ray Nagin, mayor of "The Chocolate City".

LINKS:  https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/31361101?q     

                              *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Post Katrina was the era of the New Orleans blogosphere.  Some VERY GOOD writing came out of this.  Here are the links to the writing of those folks from that time.  

Combing thru my list of Katrina related blogs created in 2006, I am making a list here of the blogs that are still available to read.

Toulouse Street , in my opinion the best Post Katrina blog. The writing, the feelings and pictures Mark Folse creates were addicting to me.

Michael Homan's (RIP) account of going through the storm and the aftermath was riveting as well as heartwrenching.

Mosquito Coast, written by Swampwoman. You'll get a good feeling of how it was back in July of 2006.

After the Deluge, by Josh Newfeld . Josh remembers events via comics (not the funny kind), using real people's experiences after the flood.

Varg Vargas, an artist and reverend, recalls the haunting and hilarious after the storm in New Orleans.

NOLAblogger brings back those "great memories" from 2006.

Library Chronicles . Jeffrey - who acts like the grumpy old man he WILL BE in 40 or so years - will give you a great perspective of what was happening in his world back then.

Metroblogging New Orleans. Check out the list on the right side of the screen for the blog authors. The ones that begin with 'no_' are your post Katrina blog observations. Good reading here. Especially Craig.

MANY  more bloggers at this link:  https://archive-it.org/collections/7625


If you read any of the links above, I hope you will come away with a bigger picture in your mind about the way this area has healed since Katrina the bitch visited us. Thanks to all.

   *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

If you need a laugh, take a look at my #MondaySmile posts

https://thanks-katrina.blogspot.com/search?q=Monday+Smile

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For a while, I shared my  photos of interesting windows in the NOLA area

https://thanks-katrina.blogspot.com/search?q=windows+wednesday

                                   *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Here are posts detailing the rebirth of the Gulf Coast, from 2006 to 2010-ish

   https://thanks-katrina.blogspot.com/search?q=rebirth

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Thanks for reading this blog.  And goodbye.  

Rebirth on Bayou Liberty

Almost seven years after it was swamped by Katrina, St. Genevieve Catholic Church on Bayou Liberty has been rebuilt. I pass the church on my daily commute, so I watched in January 2007 as they demolished the old church , built in 1958. I have followed and chronicled her rebirth for the past five years .

On January 15, 2012 St. Genevieve opened to her parishoners. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

This is what she looked like before Katrina

During the groundbreaking in October of 2010, parishioners were asked to place a small amount of dirt from their home into the groundbreaking hole in celebration of their unity.

The doors to the church were donated by Dr. John Breaux and were produced in Honduras. They depict the history of the parish from the time it was a mission until the present new church.

In 1852, a brick chapel was built by Mrs. Anatole Cousin on land she donated.

In 1914, Father Francis Balay renovated the old church and rededicated it

In 1950s another Bayou Liberty Church - St. Linus - was merged with St. Genevieve

In 1958, a new church building was built and dedicated Dec. 28 by Reverend Joseph Rummel.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the church. Immediately following the storm, Mass was celebrated under an oak tree for several weeks and then in the parish hall.

In 2011, the new church was completed!

 

From watching this steeple lying on the ground during deconstruction of the old church,

 

It was such a good feeling to see the old steeple rising toward the heavens again

The original stained glass windows are used in the new church (photo by Slidell Sentry News)

The altar looks out over Bayou Liberty

The old Chapel is shown here after the church was razed

And now the Chapel is once again united with the church

After Katrina, St. Genevieve's pastor is quoted as saying: "The church is not the building, but the people, we are the church."
~ Reverend Roel Lungay

I salute the strength and faith parishioners of St. Genevieve and congratulate them on this long-time coming occasion.

Fun in the Sun

This past Friday hubby and I left the house with cameras in hand, off to discover changes that have taken place since our last trek through the outer reaches of New Orleans East.

One of the stops we made was the Bayou Sauvage Ridge Trail on Highway 90 (Chef Menteur Highway). This nature trail reopened last August after being completely flattened by Katrina.

click on pictures for a larger size





The ridge trail boasts bathroom facilities as well as a covered picnic area.




The boardwalk runs about a mile through what used to be lush swamp growth. Currently the land surrounding the boardwalk is in rebirth stage which is pretty lush for its size.







Along the boardwalk there are benches to allow the visitor to relax and contemplate the peaceful surroundings. I wouldn't recommend contemplating too long in the summertime.



The boardwalk comes to an overlook section that illustrates just how much damage the inundation of salt water from Katrina caused. This was once an area covered with native cypress trees.



But the people at the Wildlife and Fisheries have replanted hundreds of new cypress trees in this area. Everywhere you see a blue tube, you're looking at a baby cypress tree.







Leaving the overlook, we head back to the boardwalk. Taking the right at the fork, we are now passing through an area with different types of flora.



These trumpet flowers grow on vines on the trees. This beautiful flower attracts butterflies as well as hummingbirds. We noticed a few butterflies during our trek thru the ridge trail. But what we noticed was the number of grasshoppers during our visit there. All along the boardwalk we could see and hear the grasshoppers flying around. Hubby got a great shot of one of the grasshoppers resting here.



While looking at the ground on either side of the boardwalk, my husband spied what appeared to be some sort of vine growing freely in this area.



Some of the vine had this flower attached to it, while other had fruit



Upon closer inspection, the fruit appears to be watermelon!



The swamp melon is growing for a good 1/2 mile along the boardwalk. The fruit is small, probably due to the lack of rain and the heat, but it's growing nonetheless.

While looking at this, I was reminded of the phenomenon of the watermelon growth after the storm.

Watermelon growth was spontaneous after Katrina hit this area four years ago. I'm thinking that the watermelons in the Bayou Sauvage Ridge Trail is related to the other watermelon surge after Katrina.



The Ridge Trail is a great way to spend an hour or so if you're looking to be a tourist in your own backyard. And it's free. Can't get any better than that. We plan to revisit this area after summer's over to gauge the rebirth of this precious resource.

It's a great spot for birding as well. Here's a link to what birds can be seen, as well as directions to the Ridge Trail. Enjoy!

Rebirth is a slow process

This slide show details our vision of the rebirth from Katrina in ground zero, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, including our two favorite places for great burgers AND Serious Bread: The Mockingbird Cafe and the Buttercup. Also include in this slide show are pictures of Lake St. Catherine, which just recently is realizing the rebuilding boom from the storm. I've also tried to show that recovery is "one step forward, two steps backwards" process sometimes; with the one two punch of hurricanes Gustav and Ike last year set recovery back for some. But it seems that despite these drawbacks, the area is still moving forward with recovery. Please excuse my typo's. Trying to get this done. :). I have done a blog post on everything featured in this slide show if you want to find out more. Just use the search feature at the top left of this site.

Please note: the big beautiful houses in Waveland in no way depict what's happening in that city. Still very, very far from being where they were in '05, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Gulfport and other points are still undergoing major infrastructure rebuilding as well as other recovery efforts.

People Powered Rebirth

New Orleans' people- powered rebirth
an article by Jonathan Capehart

…….People are now trying to say, 'Been through the stages. How do I move forward? What can I do?' "….
What they are doing is driving the recovery. "Recovery is being done by the people, not by government,"

The excitement builds

It feels like the last weekend of Mardi Gras around here, except football is the main focus. To those outside of this area who cannot understand the local feelings regarding Monday night's game, Chris Martel so eloquently speculates in this post....

Here's the last paragraph:
Monday night's game is perhaps the biggest in Saints history. It may not be the biggest on paper, but symbolically, it's huge. The team and the city have never shared such an intimate bond. Their story is our story. Their rebirth is our rebirth. Of all the significant events since Katrina, this might be the only one not mired by controversy and division. Monday night will be one of the first times since Katrina that we're all unified in the pursuit of a common goal and dream. And that's definitely something worth celebrating.

New Orleans' Rebirth

It's not an easy rebirth by any account of the imagination.

Here is a link to

a landlord being called out for her lousy management of a house in Mid City.

It gives a good feel to the day-to-day goings on in Post K New Orleans, the characters people meet and the crap residents have to put up with.

Enjoy.

thanks to b rox

Be a Tourist in your own backyard

Spring is here at last and to me it is the finest time to enjoy the bounty offered by the Gulf Coast area. Nearly three years post K, this area's denizens have shown the strength and determination within themselves by coming back bigger and better.

Hubby and I are rabid festival-goers and this is prime time for us. It's not just the festivals we enjoy, either.



Last Saturday we ventured down to Napoleon House for lunch. The bruschetta was mouthwatering and I could eat their muffaletta every day.



By the time we finished, it was late afternoon, which proved to be a great time to snap pictures of the classic architecture of the French Quarter.



This Sunday is dubbed "Super Sunday" in NOLA. Wish I could be there to witness the Mardi Gras Indians. Hat Tip to Ashley Truely a treasure, the Indians will strut their stuff, so bring your cameras. Their artistic costumes are like nothing you've ever seen!! My hubby works on Sunday, so I'll be one of those folks enjoying the blogger reports, like Ashley's, on Monday.



About a mile from our house is the Slidell trailhead of the Tammany Trace where bikers, walkers and horseback riders have the opportunity to experience a quiet off-the-road tour of five communities along the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish: Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Lacombe, and Slidell. It's a great way to get away from your hectic week for a few hours. You have the opportunity of biking 40 miles in a few hours. Talk about burning calories!!! We've biked from the Mandeville Trailhead to the Abita Brewpub , had lunch and burned it all off by the end of our roundtrip. Now THAT'S my kind of exercise!!




The last weekend of March is the St. Bernard Crawfish Festival. We've never been, but crawfish WOULD be nice.....



Speaking of mudbugs, April 19th is the date set for the Crawfish Cook-Off - St. Tammany's Biggest Cook-Off Event at Fritchie Park in Slidell.
This is the third annual cookoff and it gets bigger and better every year.
50 Teams will compete for the title of "Best Tasting Crawfish". Live Musical Entertainment Lost Bayou Ramblers,Four Unplugged and Top Cats.
Money raised benefits the Fund for "End of Life" Care. Over 45,000 lbs. of Crawfish to be boiled. Tickets may be purchased prior to the event at any Northshore Whitney Bank and at the gates the day of the event.


On the weekend of April 5th the Picayune (Mississippi) semi annual street fair happens . This is a really great fair which spans for miles through one of the city's main thoroughfares. There are always plenty of assorted vendors (approximately 250) selling Antiques, Arts & Crafts, Woodwork,Plants,Iron Work, Preserves, Jewelry,Unfinished Furniture and a variety of foods. If you're a people watcher, this is a fair for you!!



The springtime is a great time to take Highway 90 to the Gulf Coast. While driving towards Biloxi, be sure to look out for the incredible carvings done on oak trees killed by Katrina along the median. Heck, pull over to get a real good look at them. The details are incredible.





While you're over there, support the economy's rebirth by having lunch at one of the lesser-known eateries, like Rickeys in Bay St. Louis. Or Los Tres Amigos in Waveland. Both places serve up some great food.

French Quarter Festival which is IMHO one of the best festivals around.



Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, it runs from Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13 the FQ Fest offers 250 hours of free entertainment, featuring more than 150 musical performances on fifteen stages throughout the French Quarter. Nearly 60 food and beverage booths located in Jackson Square, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, and elsewhere will make up the “World's Largest Jazz Brunch,” a signature event featuring authentic local cuisine from renowned area restaurants.

Also on that weekend is the Pontchatoula Strawberry Festival



It's held in downtown Pontchatoula and is a festival you have to attend at least once in your life. Irma Thomas will be entertaining on the Sunday of the festival.

So be a tourist in your own area and boost the economy by having fun.

Fort Pike's Rebirth

After being ravaged by Katrina and being damaged by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, Fort Pike is on its way back to life. We visited recently and were very happy to see the results.

click on photo for larger version



The Fort is fully open to visitors, although it is not completely renovated. Apparently a good deal of the historical pieces related to the Fort were shipped up to Shreveport before Katrina and many are still there pending completion of the resurrection of this historic site.





For two dollars you can enter the Fort and explore all it has to offer. I'd say it was money well spent on our part. I'm not much of a history buff, but I found the Fort fascinating.



Right inside the entry way is an oar that shows the flood levels from previous hurricanes.



As you can see, the oar is as tall as the doorway.



The line for Katrina's floodline is higher than the oar.

The first room to the right of the entryway holds all sorts of ammunition.












A little archway brings you to the interior of the Fort.





There are doors along the walls of the Fort that lead to different functional areas. I enjoyed looking at the details in the brickwork.



We entered one of the arched doors and were presented with this awe-inspiring picture



(at least I found it awe inspiring!)

In this photo, the area down the middle of the floor was used to bring the cannons in to place them in the windows looking over the Pass.



Back out into the main area, we found the citadel



This looks like where the current refurbishing effort is taking place. The walls are all painted white to provide the visitor with a "pleasing" view of how life used to be at the Fort.



Across from the citadel is the blacksmith's shop. This room was most interesting, as what appears to be the actual tools are in this area. Decide for yourself from these picutres.



















Nearby the Blacksmith's Shop is the Commissary







This plaque, hanging outside the Blacksmith Shop, is a dedication to those Indians that were brought to Fort Pike during the Seminole War.



My thinking is that they were put in the bricked in "jail" section in the middle of the Fort.



This photo depicts the old world versus the present. Touring Fort Pike does bring one back in history. As I said before, this is definitely worth the $2.00 entry fee, even for non history buffs.