thoughts of new orleans

back from jazz fest and we had an absolutely wonderful time. there were 400,000 people there this year which was an increase of almost 100,000 from last year and, as far as we could tell, a good time was had by all. there were so many wonderful sights, sounds, tastes, expiences and people that i am almost at a loss for words to even come close to describing them all. here are some that stuck in my mind:

where we stayed: OLD TOWN INN on north rampart just off elysian fields. what a great place! an old inn that used to have stables, it was run by incredibly nice people who treated their customers as if they really were "guests", even to throwing a crawfish boil on friday night for everyone. they put out 200 pounds of crawfish for our enjoyment along with spicy corn on the cob; it was great. i am going to link my sight with theirs so, if you are ever going to new orleans, try these guys, they are reasonable, comfortable, just off the quarter and walking distance to clubs, restuarants and shops.

the people: everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, we had any interaction with in new orleans was as nice and polite as anyone could wish. the most common phrase we heard was, "thanks for coming!" from the people at the hotel, the ones at the festival, the bus drivers, the cabbies, the waiters, the storepeople, the ones we met on the street ...all were full of life, full of fun and all were helpful in any way they could be.

we are in a cab heading to the festival with a rather old mullato cab driver and the conversation gets around to katrina and he tells us that he and his wife were on the roof of their house and the water was still rising. he says, "now i am not worried for myself, 'cause i can swim jest a litl' bit and da house across da street is taller dan ours and i tink i can make it but my wife, now she dont swim atall and i dont tink i can get her and me over dere. so i says to her, 'honey, wat we gonna do if dey water comes any higher?' and she says, 'well, baby it's been a good life." they are moving back into their house, which they rebuilt themselves, this summer.

we saw art and aaron neville do their first show since katrina. in the gospel tent, they sang "do you know what it means to miss new orleans" and followed that up with "just a closer walk with thee". people were openingly crying. me too.

rhonda and i are in the quarter and go to DICKIE BRENNEN'S BOURBON HOUSE on the corner of iberville and bourbon for brunch. we order the special but about two minutes later the manager, christie, comes over and tells us that because of the huge crowd they had they had run out of the special (eggs benedict) and what else could they get us? i tell her that wow, i really had my heart set on a breakfast so let us think about it for a moment. she comes back right away and says that the chef said that he would whip us up something if we were willing to just wait a few minutes. well, okay. they then serve us up a magnificent breakfast of oysters on the half shell, poached eggs and their own bacon over grit cakes made with sausage. for desert, the chef made us his own recipe, strawberry with white chocolate bread pudding that was heavenly, the best i have ever had. we rave about it so much that he comes out and has coffee with us and they charged us less than we would have payed for ONE of the specials. where else in the world would that have happened at a five star restuarant?

stevie wonder in the rain along with maybe 30,000 people.

the second day of the festival, rhonda decides that she is too tired to go so anne and i go by ourselves. we are no sooner in than my phone rings and it is rhonda who says she feels much better and is coming down but i have walked off with her money and her credit cards so i have to go back to the entrance to somehow get them to her without leaving the festival which would cost me another 50 dollars. i get over by the gate and explain to the security guard, an old black man, the situation and he tells me that i can put go over to the fence and hand her the money. while i am waiting for her, he and i start talking about new orleans and when he finds out that i had lived there he sneaks rhonda in for free. i tip him 20 dollars and off we go.

"where the light and dark folks always meet" i do so love the people of new orleans.

steve riley and the mamou playboys. zydeco music at it's finest, every song in french, every song was beautiful beyond words.

rhonda and i are walking around the festival and it is hot that day so we go into the KID'S TENT to get in the shade and take a load off our feet. there are maybe 40 people in there, most with kids and the band, an almost all women band (that is how they promote themselves, an almost..) is playing "hookie pookie" and kids are dancing with their parents in front of the stage. this goes on for about ten minutes but when it ends the band goes into SUMMERTIME with I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD intertwined and the two singers go back and forth. it was maybe the single best rendition of any song i have ever seen in person! amazing. stunning. uplifting. the audience was enthralled beyond words. rhonda says when it is over, "they start their kids out right here, don't they?"

i do so love new orleans.

not that it doesn't have some drawbacks; it has always been a corrupt state and a corrupt city. to quote the head of the FBI in new orleans, "i am from boston and we have the mob up there and they steal the cream off the top; here in new orleans they not only steal the cream, they take the milk as well and then they go looking for the cow."

louisiana: where half the state is under water and the other half is under indictment.

i do so love new orleans anyway. the people are the best in america and the politicians the worst. but hey, fuck a bunch of politicians anyway.

thanks for reading me. thanks for coming out and seeing me. thanks for thinking i am funny.



anyway, that is all for now.