After When the Levees Broke

As I said earlier... today was hard. For a while yesterday we thought that maybe the city would close its offices for the day in observance of... you know. We spent the entire day waiting for the call to come. It didn't come. We spent today going through the motions.. our minds miles (and a year) away. The internets were full of images... startling... hearbreaking images. The mayor played preacher during today's interfaith service. It sounded hollow. The President said.. something... but whatever it was America was listening to some vaccuous TV bimbo talk over it.

I emailed my mom to say I love you. Dad emailed me some hair-brained disaster-proof homebuilding scheme of his. Daisy emailed me from San Jose.. it made me sad. Consuela called me from Memphis... she wanted help with her homework. I invited r over for dinner. She couldn't make it.

I spent this evening cooking a big Louisiana seafood gumbo. When faced with unpleasantries some people do yoga.. or Tai Chi.. or say the Rosary... or run for mayor. I cook. It helped. Well maybe the eight Restoration Ales helped as well but at least I felt like I had done something worthwhile afterwards.

Tonight I watched Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke. Here's what I observed:

Spike put a whole bunch of people on TV.. some you know.. some you don't... some you like... some you don't. Some people you like say things you like.. some people you don't like say things you like.. some people you like say things you don't like.... some black... some white.. MANY from St Bernard and from Gentilly and from Lakeview and from Uptown, and yes MANY from Lower Nine... but there is an obvious sense of family here. Everyone is talking about their home.. our home.. and it's something they all care about passionately and you share that with them.

And they tell you why they care.. and the reasons they care are the reasons you care. The reasons they are angry are largely the reasons you are angry. The issues they push (federal culpability for flood protection, coastal restoration, oil lease revenue sharing, right of return) are the issues you care about.

And they tell you why New Orleans is different.. why, if lost, it cannot possibly be recovered.

In short, this movie speaks to New Orleans, about New Orleans in the voices of New Orleanians. Watching this film on the anniversary Katrina is the best decision I could have made today. Spike Lee has my gratitude.

I came away from When the Levees Broke having learned one thing above all else and that thing is T-P's DAVE WALKER IS A FUCKING WANKER. Thank God my life doesn't revolve around reliable media criticism.