Sunday, January 31, 2010

Krewe de Vieux

The first parade of the carnival season, Krewe de Vieux throws down a pretty good party.  After some thinking and much internal deliberation, I think I have cracked the code on how to put together a good Krewe de Vieux float.  It seems to be a three step process:


Step One:
You need to choose a politician.  Maybe Mayor Ray Nagin could be a fine choice.  But no need to stick local.  You can go with national politicians too.  Anyone is fair game.

 
Step Two:
Take that politician and come up with some random quips about them.  Don't worry about these making any sense or even being too topical.  They don't need to.  Just as long as you put the politician and an insult or two in the same sentence, you are good to go.



Step Three:
Think of something perverted.  Like really perverted.  If you have children, imagine what you don't want them to see.  Take that image and construct a float out of it.

 
Good work.  You now have an awesome Krewe de Vieux float.  Now go drink a few too many beverages, walk down Royal Street, and have a damn good time.

- Editor's note: taking photos in large crowds of moving objects at night is pretty tough.  Who knew? -

Monday, January 25, 2010

Saints and Sinners

Everyone knows that the Saints squeaked out a victory last night over the Vikings, so I will spare the details.  I went down to Esplanade to watch the game with some friends then we migrated over to Bourbon Street - which was an absolute sh*t-show.  I have never been in a city before where the people are so eager to form into mobs of complete tom-foolery.  Expecting such a scene, I did not take my camera with me for fear of damaging/losing it - which was probably a good idea.

Two quick stories from the post-game bedlam:

1.
We were standing maybe 10 feet off Bourbon on a side street when a scuffle broke out.  The cops instantly descended on the ruckus-makers, threw them to the ground, and cuffed them.  After the troublesome pair were put back on their feet and the cops were deciding what to do with them, one of the dude's girlfriend walked up to him and pretended to talk to and hug him.  She proceeded to reach into his pocket, pull out a nice little baggie of drugs, pop it into her mouth, and swallow.  I couldn't see what was in the bag, but a friend said that it was white - aka cocaine.

Is saving your boyfriend from a little jail time worth the risk of that bag exploding and you dying from an overdose?  It sure is hard for some guy to love you when you're dead.

2.
After the game, I was pretty euphoric from the overtime victory so I was screaming and banging on cars etc.  One car drove past, and I thought that it was a good idea to keep up the revelry so I banged on that sucker.  Turns out it was a N.O.P.D. squad car.

Oops.

Cop hits the brakes, gets out of the car, and looks at me.

Cop: "Is there something you need from me?" (with a tone of anger, condescension, and wrath)
Me: "Ummm.  I apologize.  I'm just really excited about the win."
Cop: (gives the me death stare, then gets back in the car)
Me: "That's right, pig.  You're lucky I didn't pull out my 9 and put a cap in your ass!"

- Editor's Note: That last part is a lie.  I actually just stood there scared out of my mind, and let out a huge sigh of relief when he drove off -

Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

ESPN - Soul of the City

"The most important word in the English language is home."

This morning I was coming home from a quick trip to the store and I saw a TV crew right in front of my house.  I introduced myself, offered my plugs to power their film equipment, and met the ESPN crew filming a spot about New Orleans that will be aired this Sunday morning on NFL Countdown.  Based on the article written by Wright Thompson, the piece is entitled "Soul of the City" and will center around interviews with various locals including Chris Rose, a journalist for the Times-Picayune who lives a couple of houses down my street.



The crew was set up in the cemetery directly across the street from my house, and the interview dealt primarily with the role that the Saints play as the life-blood of this city.  Mr. Rose, who was part of the Picayune's Pulitzer winning staff during Katrina, summed up New Orleans when he explained that despite pop culture's emphasis to the contrary, the most important four letter word in our language is not "love" but "home."  He spoke of how the Saints were the first harbinger of this city's renewal after the storm.  Regardless of the derision about how New Orleans should be abandoned, this city has not and will not ever fade away - if only because the people who call NOLA home refuse to allow that to happen.


 


Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Rubenstein's

I am a simple man.  I am extremely easy to please.  A short list of my likes includes: delicious food, courteous people, fun friends, nice weather, and a cold drink.  Give me one or two of these, and you will put me in a good mood.

Sounds fine, but how does this relate to a menswear store?

The other day I was making my way down to the French Quarter to hang out at a friends house before heading out to watch the Saints game.  I swung by Rubenstein's expecting to grab some photos and do some looking around.  About 15 minutes later, having just met the store owner, I walked out with a whiskey & coke in my hand and a smile on my face.  A great testament to a business is when you don't purchase anything but still leave in a good state of mind.

I will go into more detail on Rubenstein's in the next few months, but it is essentially a high end menswear store carrying mostly European brands (think Canali and Zegna) with a strong family history, a great staff, and a great location right on Canal Street.

If you're downtown anytime soon, I recommend swinging by, meeting the staff, and taking a look around.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Saints Divisional Playoffs

Today, on the sixteenth of January, Drew Brees and the Saints waltzed over the Arizona Cards like a school-girl hopscotching over a line of ants on the sidewalk.  As a result, the French Quarter was beacon of fun and festivity on an otherwise dark and muggy gulf coast night. 

Tomorrow will decide whether we face the Vikings or the Cowboys in next week's NFC Championship game.  I personally hope that we face the seemingly more formidable Vikings with Favre and Peterson, so our path to a Super Bowl victory can leave no doubt as to who is the best team in the league.

In the next few days, I will post some photos of both the Quarter and Rubensteins - a great New Orleans menswear store.  But for now, I will catch some sleep and rejuvenate after today's victory.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Oak Street - Rue de la Course

You can usually learn a lot about a neighborhood - and city - by its coffee shops.

One of my older stomping grounds of Chinatown in Washington, DC literally had five Starbucks within a few blocks of my apartment.  Translation - yuppie central.  Near my mom's home in Birmingham, AL, the only local coffee shop is housed inside a Barnes & Noble found in a strip mall.  Translation - hello suburbs.


Here in Uptown on the corner of Oak St. and Carrollton lives Rue de la Course.  Many people argue that PJ's has better coffee, and that may be true depending on your tastes.  But what Rue de la Course does have is a great location and vibe.  This coffee shop is not part of a world-wide chain, housed in a Borders, or shoved into some strip mall.  Like many New Orleans establishments that have kept the class and dignity that comes with preserving older architecture, Rue de la Course has taken what used to be a bank and converted it into a coffee shop.  In a past life, this location was the Carrollton branch of the locally owned Canal Bank which went out of business in the 1930's, went through several other iterations as banks, before shifting to retail and now a coffee house.


Rue de la Course has a great aura as a result of its vaulted ceilings and antiquated interior.   It also seems to draw in a mixture of the young professional crowd grabbing a pick-me-up and also some of the more bohemian/hipster crowd as well.  While inside this morning, I snapped a quick photo of this guy rocking a badass top-hat, but I was unable to grab him to talk before he ran off.  He looked like he belonged in a magic show, though I would guess that this is just how he rolls.


Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Dream Home

Being a poor grad student, I have the unenviable privilege of imagining what it would be like to fully live large in New Orleans.  Unlike other parts of the country where people seem to take the most pride in their car (Los Angeles), their clothing (New York), or their overalls (Mississippi), New Orleanians can boast the most beautiful residential architecture in America.

I am an owner of one of the most adorable mutts alive, and as a dog owner I take my critter out for walks on an extremely regular basis - which means that I have the ability to scope out numerous awesome homes around the Uptown area.  My area of Uptown does not have the flash of St Charles Ave or the tourist appeal of the French Quarter, but it does boast a very eclectic array of awesome homes.

At the crack of dawn this morning I was out strolling with the pup when I came across one of my favorite Uptown homes.  This bad boy is located right on Carrollton Ave., and it is even currently up for sale.  With a kingly 6,000 sq ft, this place can be yours for the small total of..... $700,000.00.



Ouch.   I suppose that's why they call it a dream home.