Thursday, January 31, 2008
Lame
The rain looks to be over. They sooo could have rolled at least one parade tonight.
Labels: Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Rain on the parade
The threat of big bad storms has caused the postponement of two of tonight's parades and a cancellation of a third.
The Krewe of Babylon, which is typically one of the prettier night parades with its classic float design and heavy use of flambeaux now will be forced to roll Sunday during the day. That should be weird.
The Krewe of Chaos, one of the most anticipated and wittiest of the parades, will not roll at all this year. Chaos is basically a reconfiguration of the sidelined Knights of Momus which has long traditional roots in the history of Carnival and was renowned for its use of satire in its theming. I think many of the members of this Krewe are either in or intermarried with some of the other "old line" Krewes like Proteus and Comus whose social seasons are in high gear. There may have just been too many conflicts with rescheduling. Just a theory.
Luckily, the indescribably awesome Krewe of Muses has postponed one day and will cap off what is now a quadruple-header of parades Friday night.
So save tonight for whatever last-minute errands you may have left because after this it's time to hunker down for a big weekend.
Meanwhile, here are some shots I got of the Ancient Druids parade last night. My nighttime photography is pretty sucktastic so I put the camera away before the Krewe of Pygmalion (carrying local internet persons Clay and Candice) arrived.
The Krewe of Babylon, which is typically one of the prettier night parades with its classic float design and heavy use of flambeaux now will be forced to roll Sunday during the day. That should be weird.
The Krewe of Chaos, one of the most anticipated and wittiest of the parades, will not roll at all this year. Chaos is basically a reconfiguration of the sidelined Knights of Momus which has long traditional roots in the history of Carnival and was renowned for its use of satire in its theming. I think many of the members of this Krewe are either in or intermarried with some of the other "old line" Krewes like Proteus and Comus whose social seasons are in high gear. There may have just been too many conflicts with rescheduling. Just a theory.
Luckily, the indescribably awesome Krewe of Muses has postponed one day and will cap off what is now a quadruple-header of parades Friday night.
So save tonight for whatever last-minute errands you may have left because after this it's time to hunker down for a big weekend.
Meanwhile, here are some shots I got of the Ancient Druids parade last night. My nighttime photography is pretty sucktastic so I put the camera away before the Krewe of Pygmalion (carrying local internet persons Clay and Candice) arrived.
Labels: Krewes, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Because I couldn't write it this well
I give you Matt Taibbi on the remaining Democrats now that Edwards has dropped out.
As the Obama cultists like to say, I am inspired.
In Barack Obama versus Hillary Clinton, we've basically got Kennedy-Nixon redux, and I mean that in the most negative possible sense for both of them -- a pair of superficial, posturing conservatives selling highly similar political packages using different emotional strategies. Obama is selling free trade and employer-based health care and an unclear Iraqi exit strategy using looks, charisma and optimism, while Hillary is selling much the same using hard, cold reality, "prose not poetry," managerial competence over "vision."
As the Obama cultists like to say, I am inspired.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, politics, Taibbi
Daily Demolition
I was planning to get a pic of this myself this afternoon, but I see Cleophatra has beaten me to it. The building that once housed the Fortissimo deli (and before that Video Connection) on St Charles and Louisiana has been flattened. Fortissimo was a favorite place for me to get parade food during pre-K Mardis Gras. I liked the place but I didn't get the impression they were doing very good business. The deli was vandalized and did not reopen after the flood.
Video Connection is famous for having briefly employed my good friend, Rudolph, many years ago.
Don't know what's going up there in its place (Correction: the above linked Casa Verde post says it will be a bank), but I will miss that building.
Video Connection is famous for having briefly employed my good friend, Rudolph, many years ago.
Labels: demolitions, flood, food, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Daily Fire
What was not destroyed by flood....
Geez, we are so biblical today here at the Yellow Blog. Sorry. The problem will be rectified any day now... when Jesus comes back to judge us all.
Update: Meanwhile, it's FEMA to the rescue!
A suspicious fire at a vacant three-story building on Esplanade Avenue kept almost 60 firefighters busy for hours Tuesday night and destroyed what appeared to have once been an historic home, according to a New Orleans Fire Department spokesman.
Geez, we are so biblical today here at the Yellow Blog. Sorry. The problem will be rectified any day now... when Jesus comes back to judge us all.
Update: Meanwhile, it's FEMA to the rescue!
Labels: fire, New Orleans
Frontrunner
Now I'm really not getting on this bandwagon.
Quoth Rose: "But this is a whole new ballgame -- not your father's Hornets, for lack of a better term."
That only makes sense if you are say.... under five years of age. Or if your father lives in Charlotte.
Quoth Rose: "But this is a whole new ballgame -- not your father's Hornets, for lack of a better term."
That only makes sense if you are say.... under five years of age. Or if your father lives in Charlotte.
Labels: Chris Rose, douchebaggery, Hornets, sports
Nutty
A reading from the Gospel of McCain
8 And there were inthe samea Southeast Asian countryshepherdsPOWs abiding inthe fieldtheir cells, keeping watch over theirflockbowls of soup of undetermined content by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angelsaid unto themtapped unto them in special tapping code, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in thecity of DavidState of California a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find thebaberetired actor wrapped inswaddling clothesthe US flag, lyingin a mangerabout "welfare queens".
Labels: 2008, John McCain, politics
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
"Less Jobs! More Wars!"
Methinks the GOP has found its man.
Yes, there tend to be a lot of links to TPM during election season.
Yes, there tend to be a lot of links to TPM during election season.
Labels: 2008, John McCain, politics
Bye, Rudy
Listening to this speech, I'm wondering if part of his "deal" with McCain stipulated that he not say 911 tonight.
He's still talking so it could still happen.
Ha ha! And now Mitt has cut him off before he gets a chance to make an endorsement.
He's still talking so it could still happen.
Ha ha! And now Mitt has cut him off before he gets a chance to make an endorsement.
Labels: 2008, politics, Rudy Giuliani
Smart Guys
Is this SOTU fallout?
We get one tiny insignificant carrot in the President's speech and suddenly there's some sort of politicky-type event like two days later.
If you ask me, though, the timing couldn't be worse. New Orleanians will be busy Wednesday with Carnival parades and basketball games. On the other hand, New Orleanians aren't exactly the target audience for this bit of stagecraft in the first place in which case it makes perfect sense.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2008
***MEDIA ADVISORY**
SENATOR EDWARDS TO RETURN TO NEW ORLEANS TO DELIVER MAJOR ADDRESS ON POVERTY
Edwards will call on Americans to stand up and confront the moral challenge of ending poverty in America
New Orleans, Louisiana – On Wednesday, January 30, 2008, Senator John Edwards will return to New Orleans to deliver a major policy address on poverty, the great moral issue of our time. In recent days and weeks, national discussion of important issues like ending poverty has given way to sniping and personal attacks between the two frontrunner candidates. Ending poverty and fighting for the middle class is the cause of John Edwards' life -- and he will urge the nation to refocus on this important issue.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30TH, 2008
12:00 PM CT
Edwards to deliver major policy address on poverty and then volunteer on the Habitat for Humanity project at the Musicians' Village
Musicians' Village
4000 North Roman Street (Intersection of Roman and Bartholomew)
New Orleans, Louisiana
If you ask me, though, the timing couldn't be worse. New Orleanians will be busy Wednesday with Carnival parades and basketball games. On the other hand, New Orleanians aren't exactly the target audience for this bit of stagecraft in the first place in which case it makes perfect sense.
Labels: 2008, John Edwards, New Orleans, politics
Florida
My hunches are notoriously bad but for what it's worth I think McCain will come away with it tonight. And with that all the fun brokered convention fantasies could go out the window. Oh well.
The Democrats, on the other hand, could continue to be messy for a while.
The Democrats, on the other hand, could continue to be messy for a while.
Labels: 2008, John McCain, politics
Oh Noes!
BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed seven men to the board that runs the Louisiana Superdome and New Orleans Arena. Among them was Ron Forman, who was named the new chairman of the Louisiana Board of Commissioners Stadium and Exposition District.
Let me guess. Next week: Plans to knock down what remains of the New Orleans Centre to build a spectacular new golf course managed by one of Forman's "non-profit" endeavors.
Labels: New Orleans, Ron Forman, Superdome
School Tool
NOLA.com:
N.O. school guide hits the Web; database lists performance and registration info by site
by Darran Simon, The Times-Picayune
Tuesday January 29, 2008, 7:35 AM
An education advocacy group has launched a database with profiles of New Orleans public schools that includes information on test scores, extracurricular activities, admission criteria, and neighborhood and school demographics, all to help parents grasp a transformed school system.
The nonprofit, Save Our Schools NOLA, modeled the site after a service first developed by the 21st Century School Fund to keep parents abreast of Washington, D.C., public schools.
Save Our Schools culled information from the state Department of Education, the Recovery School District, the Orleans Parish School Board and other sources to develop the "Public Schools of New Orleans Close-Ups" project.
Labels: education, New Orleans
Monday, January 28, 2008
Bush Talking
Blah blah blah... more hardheaded demands for privatized retirement and medicine.... more bullshit about permanent regressive taxation... more simplistic "schoolchildren" vs. "terrorists" framing of Iraq and Afghanistan that even a third grader would be a bit suspicious of.
That's enough for me. Going to play trivia now.
Update: No trivia tonight! Oh well. More pie, then.
That's enough for me. Going to play trivia now.
Update: No trivia tonight! Oh well. More pie, then.
Labels: George W Bush
"As transparent as possible"
Jindal's dragonslaying is so awesome, it will have its own 527 PR machine.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, corruption, Louisiana
The real new RFK
Attorney General Edwards?
via Greg Saunders who is now taking up the Obama flag for laudable ABC purposes.
via Greg Saunders who is now taking up the Obama flag for laudable ABC purposes.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards
Saints "home" game in London
What Ashley said.
Also... I hope that season ticket holders aren't asked to "purchase" that particular game because that would be sooooo NFL.
Also... I hope that season ticket holders aren't asked to "purchase" that particular game because that would be sooooo NFL.
Quick thoughts with links
- Mary Landrieu is in for yet another very close reelection campaign in 2008. Treasurer John Kennedy is the most well positioned opponent she has faced in a career which has seen her barely squeak past two far less palatable individuals. Landrieu narrowly defeated Uptown New Orleans society Republican Suzie Terrell in 2002 and fundie wacko Woody Jenkins 1996. Plus her involvement in this less-than-above-board D.C. public school system earmark could be a problem if Louisiana is still in the throes of Dragonslayer fever by election time. But it's likely to amount to very little because
- I'm expecting the Dragonslayer narrative to have lost some of its thrust now that Jindal has been elected.
- It's hard to get Louisiana voters too riled up over something that doesn't at least appear to directly affect Louisiana.
- D-BB has been going after Landrieu (and anything else that stands in his way) as only D-BB can.
- Thank God (or thank Dodd) Hillary and Obama are doing the right thing on FISA. Despite what you hear, this decision can only help either of them if he or she becomes the Democratic nominee.
- Tonight is probably the final time the Union will be blessed with George W Bush's assessment of its State. This morning, a remarkable 50% of WWL radio's notoriously conservative listening audience described the State of the Union as "Pretty Weak" of "Very Weak"
- It's true. George W. Bush really is the Worst President Ever. And, in this country, kids, that is certainly saying something.
Update: For the record, Mary Landrieu is actually a worse Senator than Hillary today.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, George W Bush, Hillary Clinton, John Kennedy, Louisiana, Mary Landrieu, politics, surveillance
Well done
One weekend of Carnival gone and not one piece of trash or empty beer bottle deposited in the book drop.
Labels: library, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Weather is Irrelevant
It's cold. It's wet. It's Mardi Gras. I'm not sure if it's the suddenness of the early Carnival or the nasty weather but it is more difficult than usual to get fully into the spirit this year. But this weekend I have determined not to complain about this because:
As you can imagine, it started kind of slowly, the weather being what it was, the crowds anticipating the Krewe of Pontchartrain were a little sparse.
But that's not the worst thing in the world since it gives everyone who does show up plenty of room to move around and that means everyone. Especially the dogs.
Technically there are no dogs allowed on the parade route but you wouldn't know that this weekend as they seemed to be everywhere. A few years ago, Daisy and Susie and I discovered that the dog laws are far more strictly enforced on the second weekend of Carnival than they are the first. Which is only fair since the dogs do seem to enjoy themselves for the most part.
In fact, this year there were more than just dogs running around out there. All sorts of unusual animals were spotted along the avenue including this camel... which I seem to remember someone warning me about somewhere.
Also making the scene was the Beadmaster 2008 (formerly Beadmaster 2007). They tell me the lights are still broken after last year's pummeling but that doesn't stop them from making full use of the apparatus during the day parades.
Of Saturday's four parades Shangri-La and Sparta were the prettiest. I have a feeling that Pegasus is struggling finding enough riders these days. But, of course, the whole spectacle is worth standing in the cold. I'm not sure anything is worth the headache I ended the night with. Unless you count these Water Meter beads.
Luckily Sunday went a bit more smoothly. Maybe it was seeing the Sun for the first time in a week that kept me from falling out... or maybe it was that rum and orange juice I started the day with.
That straw is a very good friend of mine. His name is Harvey. Anyway Sunday was gorgeous. It was sunny and cool. Not too cold but nice enough for me to wear my big jacket with the big pockets... which are good for carrying lots of extra beer. Carrollton and King Arthur were both pretty good looking parades with lots of bands and, as I said below, a cameo appearance from Maitri. Here are a few shots which I don't think need captions.
You see what kind of a day it was. And still I have two questions both of which are law enforcement related. First, do you really have to be a cop to get a Hubig Pie at the parade?
Okay don't answer that one. I don't care. What I'd like to know is what the fuck is this?
You see at least one in every Mardi Gras parade. But what does it do the rest of the year? For that matter.. what does it do in the parade other than just roll through? How much money do these things cost to do... whatever it is they do? How many "Harry Lee Tanks" could we trade them in for if we ever wanted to do so?
After the parades, we made it down to the Quarter and eventually (inevitably?) to Fahy's where we (inevitably again?) threw darts with r and Goldschmidt until everyone was too drunk to stand it any more. And that's about where I am at the moment. Drunk... but not too cold... and definitely not sorry I decided to ignore the weather.
- There's nothing I can do about it.
- I am not a pussy
- Chris Rose is complaining about it
- Chris Rose is a...
As you can imagine, it started kind of slowly, the weather being what it was, the crowds anticipating the Krewe of Pontchartrain were a little sparse.
But that's not the worst thing in the world since it gives everyone who does show up plenty of room to move around and that means everyone. Especially the dogs.
Technically there are no dogs allowed on the parade route but you wouldn't know that this weekend as they seemed to be everywhere. A few years ago, Daisy and Susie and I discovered that the dog laws are far more strictly enforced on the second weekend of Carnival than they are the first. Which is only fair since the dogs do seem to enjoy themselves for the most part.
In fact, this year there were more than just dogs running around out there. All sorts of unusual animals were spotted along the avenue including this camel... which I seem to remember someone warning me about somewhere.
Also making the scene was the Beadmaster 2008 (formerly Beadmaster 2007). They tell me the lights are still broken after last year's pummeling but that doesn't stop them from making full use of the apparatus during the day parades.
Of Saturday's four parades Shangri-La and Sparta were the prettiest. I have a feeling that Pegasus is struggling finding enough riders these days. But, of course, the whole spectacle is worth standing in the cold. I'm not sure anything is worth the headache I ended the night with. Unless you count these Water Meter beads.
Luckily Sunday went a bit more smoothly. Maybe it was seeing the Sun for the first time in a week that kept me from falling out... or maybe it was that rum and orange juice I started the day with.
That straw is a very good friend of mine. His name is Harvey. Anyway Sunday was gorgeous. It was sunny and cool. Not too cold but nice enough for me to wear my big jacket with the big pockets... which are good for carrying lots of extra beer. Carrollton and King Arthur were both pretty good looking parades with lots of bands and, as I said below, a cameo appearance from Maitri. Here are a few shots which I don't think need captions.
You see what kind of a day it was. And still I have two questions both of which are law enforcement related. First, do you really have to be a cop to get a Hubig Pie at the parade?
Okay don't answer that one. I don't care. What I'd like to know is what the fuck is this?
You see at least one in every Mardi Gras parade. But what does it do the rest of the year? For that matter.. what does it do in the parade other than just roll through? How much money do these things cost to do... whatever it is they do? How many "Harry Lee Tanks" could we trade them in for if we ever wanted to do so?
After the parades, we made it down to the Quarter and eventually (inevitably?) to Fahy's where we (inevitably again?) threw darts with r and Goldschmidt until everyone was too drunk to stand it any more. And that's about where I am at the moment. Drunk... but not too cold... and definitely not sorry I decided to ignore the weather.
Labels: Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Small Town
Maitri is in every freaking parade.
Today she was in King Arthur. Tomorrow who knows? Anyway we caught these from her today. Somehow it seems fitting.
More soon. Too drunk to talk now.
Today she was in King Arthur. Tomorrow who knows? Anyway we caught these from her today. Somehow it seems fitting.
More soon. Too drunk to talk now.
Labels: Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Pink Thing
Friday, January 25, 2008
The problem with American politics
I Have A Snake
Storms wash out parades across metro area
As thunder increased, and light rain gave way to a steady downpour, the parades scheduled to roll on the first big night of the Carnival parade season were cancelled one after the other. Only Oshun, the first scheduled parade on the Uptown route, managed to make it on schedule.
And I wuz there.
Happy Mardi Gras
Labels: Krewes, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Stuff to do
Carnival Time, bitches!
It's unusually wet for winter in New Orleans. And the nastiness makes the exceptionally early parade season seem even stranger. I'll be out there tonight in the cold and wet, though, because 1) It's easy for me to walk one block to the parade route. And 2) I'm incredibly stupid in the first place.
They're saying it looks like a decent weekend after tonight's nasties go away. But I'll believe it when I see it.
Have fun. Be safe. Try to stay warm.
It's unusually wet for winter in New Orleans. And the nastiness makes the exceptionally early parade season seem even stranger. I'll be out there tonight in the cold and wet, though, because 1) It's easy for me to walk one block to the parade route. And 2) I'm incredibly stupid in the first place.
They're saying it looks like a decent weekend after tonight's nasties go away. But I'll believe it when I see it.
Have fun. Be safe. Try to stay warm.
Labels: Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Daily Fire
NOLA.com
Caption reads:
I find a lot of the fires around town suspicious these days. But I am not a fire prevention professional. You can tell because I have a roof over my head.
Caption reads:
New Orleans firefighters battle a 2-alarm blaze which destroyed the Saveway Food Mart on the corner of Freret and Washington Friday morning. Fire officials said it was the third blaze at the store in the past year.
I find a lot of the fires around town suspicious these days. But I am not a fire prevention professional. You can tell because I have a roof over my head.
Labels: fire, New Orleans
But who will slay the slayers?
Of course I've wanted to say a little something about the news that the Jindal campaign will have to pay a small fine for a minor ethics infraction regarding its failure to report an in-kind contribution from the the state Republican party.
I mean it sounds like a slam dunk snarky blog post. All I would have to do is quote Jindal delivering a stump speech in a heavily played campaign ad,
"We can't tolerate corruption"
And then link to the story. Then there would be a little block quote from the article explaining the "whoopsie" nature of what really is a minor mistake.
And then quote Jindal from the same ad,
"We can't tolerate incompetence"
Likewise, it would be embarrassingly easy to write "Awesome Dragonslaying", link to the story, and post a funny picture. A post like that practically writes itself.
When you go around demagoguing about how intolerant your administration is going to be then you really shouldn't expect to be tolerated back. But that's just Jindal's hypocrisy coming to light once again and picking on "reformist" pols for their hypocrisy is like shooting dragons in a barrel.
But there remains something icky about picking dragon nits even when done in jest so I'd prefer to just point you to Timshel where Ricky has a slightly better sense of perspective although I can't really get behind his rational argument for the need for ethics reform. In my mind, "goo goo" reformers (as Adrastos likes to call them) are almost always engaging in a circus to disguise or enable their own (often far worse) obsession with power at the expense of effective governance.
See also Suspect-Device for more on this and a gem of a quote from an LSU economist explaining what a blessing it is for Louisiana to be struggling with flood recovery during a national economic collapse.
Update: While the ethics oversight isn't worth freaking out over, it is certainly worth continuing to call Jindal out and hold him accountable to his over-the-top campaign rhetoric... like this.
Upperdate: WWLTV is now running a notice that says:
So this might be worth a few more yuks before it dies.
I mean it sounds like a slam dunk snarky blog post. All I would have to do is quote Jindal delivering a stump speech in a heavily played campaign ad,
"We can't tolerate corruption"
And then link to the story. Then there would be a little block quote from the article explaining the "whoopsie" nature of what really is a minor mistake.
William Potter, an accountant who has worked on Jindal's campaign financial reports, said he is responsible for the error. "He expected me to do things right," Potter said.
Potter said that during the campaign, he mistakenly left the item off the original disclosure forms, but when campaign officials discovered the error the campaign amended the report to include the contribution.
Potter told The Advocate of Baton Rouge that Jindal's campaign chief, Timmy Teepell, who is now the governor's chief of staff, failed to notify those preparing the campaign finance report about the party expenditures for Jindal.
"He just flat forgot to tell us," Potter said, according to the report.
And then quote Jindal from the same ad,
"We can't tolerate incompetence"
Likewise, it would be embarrassingly easy to write "Awesome Dragonslaying", link to the story, and post a funny picture. A post like that practically writes itself.
When you go around demagoguing about how intolerant your administration is going to be then you really shouldn't expect to be tolerated back. But that's just Jindal's hypocrisy coming to light once again and picking on "reformist" pols for their hypocrisy is like shooting dragons in a barrel.
But there remains something icky about picking dragon nits even when done in jest so I'd prefer to just point you to Timshel where Ricky has a slightly better sense of perspective although I can't really get behind his rational argument for the need for ethics reform. In my mind, "goo goo" reformers (as Adrastos likes to call them) are almost always engaging in a circus to disguise or enable their own (often far worse) obsession with power at the expense of effective governance.
See also Suspect-Device for more on this and a gem of a quote from an LSU economist explaining what a blessing it is for Louisiana to be struggling with flood recovery during a national economic collapse.
Update: While the ethics oversight isn't worth freaking out over, it is certainly worth continuing to call Jindal out and hold him accountable to his over-the-top campaign rhetoric... like this.
Upperdate: WWLTV is now running a notice that says:
Governor Bobby Jindal cannot quickly pay a fine to the state ethics board and end an investigation into charges he violated the state's campaign finance disclosure laws. Details to follow.
So this might be worth a few more yuks before it dies.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, corruption, Louisiana
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Priorities
When the Governor places Dragonslaying ahead of all actual governmental functions... there ends up being a lot of collateral damage. But you know... people like that re-form.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, health care, Louisiana
Right now
There is a five year old in the library singing the two lines of the Scooby-Doo theme that he remembers over and over and over and over and.... well you get the point.
Meanwhile via First Draft we find the December 2007 Journal of American History is Federal Flood centric. At least now there is something to read this weekend.
Update: Well so far the first article I've read in the JAH is already taking the "Stupid people shouldn't live there" line. But I'm so deeply tired of combating that kind of condescension by this point I'm just going to let it lie.
Instead I'll point you to this interactive map which accompanies the online edition. Who knew that Gallier Hall was in Marigny? Or that City Park was part of St Bernard Parish? The things you learn from professional historians!
Meanwhile via First Draft we find the December 2007 Journal of American History is Federal Flood centric. At least now there is something to read this weekend.
Update: Well so far the first article I've read in the JAH is already taking the "Stupid people shouldn't live there" line. But I'm so deeply tired of combating that kind of condescension by this point I'm just going to let it lie.
Instead I'll point you to this interactive map which accompanies the online edition. Who knew that Gallier Hall was in Marigny? Or that City Park was part of St Bernard Parish? The things you learn from professional historians!
Labels: flood, library, New Orleans
!
From Prytaniawaterline
WTF
Again the city has apparently issued Al Copeland a permit to erect a sidewalk obstructing stand in fron of his abandoned business at the corner of Napoleon and St. Charles. If our district councilperson hasn’t gotten the message yet, this kind of thing makes us mad. Copeland’s was a bad neighbor before the storm, with his huge potted plants blocking the sidewalk so that people in the neighborhood who use that sidewalk can barely pass. Or the rotten food on the sidewalks in the mornings, Copeland’s sucks. WDSU had a short report this morning on Copeland’s and neighbors concerns over the fact that it is still abandoned, the report finished saying that Copeland’s intends to reopen in the near future. I would would prefer if he lost his lease and a business that was willing to be a part of the neighborhood would move in. The food sucks at Copeland’s anyway.
WTF
Labels: Al Copeland, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
?
Aren't these already being installed? If so, doesn't that make this "vote" something of a sham?
Labels: New Orleans, surveillance
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Very Sad
Stuff I did not know about Ex LSU Tiger and Miami Dolphin QB David Woodley:
.....
Go read the rest
He was 24 when he led the Miami Dolphins onto the field in Super Bowl XVII. Only 51 men have made it to the Super Bowl as starting quarterbacks and, for many, their lives are never the same. They make Hall of Fame speeches and open restaurants. Maybe Woodley did have one thing in common with them. He was never the same, either.
Twenty years after he left that field in Pasadena, Calif., he died, alone, a sliver of the hunk that Suzonne Pugh, his ex-wife, met at a bayou bar in college. He'd apparently driven himself to the hospital. What happened in that lonely gap between the Super Bowl and his death in 2003 will always be confounding.
"He was always a loner," says former Miami quarterback Don Strock, who, like most of his teammates, lost touch with Woodley after football. "Came to work and did his job."
Super Bowl quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Eli Manning savor these days, standing on the biggest stage of the sports universe, all eyes on them. For Woodley, it was a job he never wanted but couldn't live without.
"The pressure overwhelmed him," Pugh says. "He drank to try and forget most of it, or make it so it didn't matter that much.
"You know, he could've been happy, and he could've been a great player if … everybody would've just stepped back and let him be himself."
When Woodley moved back to Shreveport, he put his NFL life far behind him. He drank alone. He had a liver transplant in 1992. He struggled through money problems alone and apparently made no attempts to cash in on his past. The Dolphins would occasionally see him at training camp, trying to peddle jewelry as the players walked to their cars.
Woodley never wanted to feel beholden to anybody. When he was playing for the Dolphins, a car dealership offered him wheels and money for what amounted to one or two appearances a year. Athletes weren't millionaires back then. Woodley promptly told the dealer no.
"It was a … they were going to take a part of his soul kind of thing," Cefalo says.
"David didn't care about money and fame. He shunned all of it. It was something thrust upon him. David was a tortured soul, but he had a kindness behind his eyes. He was trying to define himself to himself. He was his own person and trying to figure out what that meant."
Go read the rest
Labels: sports
Human Amusements at Hourly Rates*
Worst Democrats Ever
All mah internetz iz broken
First Haloscan gets all weird again and now Netvibes is down for maintenance. Geez now I actually have to click on a bunch of links in order to read stuff. Too much work.
Labels: internets
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
TBogg
In case you haven't noticed
Quote of the Day
Dangerblond on Fred Radtke (A.K.A. "The Gray Ghost")
Yup
If he was really motivated by a desire to clean up ugly and offensive defacements off people’s property, he would use different paint colors to more closely match the colors of the buildings he is “fixing.” But no, he doesn’t want to do it in your color, he wants it in his color. He wants everyone to know that Radtke was here. This guy is basically an aggressive dog, sniffing out the places where other dogs have peed, and peeing on top of their pee. That will show them!
Yup
Labels: douchebaggery, Fred Radtke, New Orleans
Today's Carnival Must-Reads
This week's Gambit features two excellent articles by Clancy Dubos and David Winkler-Schmit on bygone and endangered Carnival traditions. Dubos's is about the state of the remaining "neighborhood" parades that don't actually parade in their neighborhoods anymore. The krewe captains quoted all cite diminishing crowds among their reasons for reluctantly abandoning their traditional routes. But the most important factor is the prevailing pressure from NOPD and City Hall who are unwilling to manage more than one parade route anymore. Something tells me that this pendulum could swing the other way in coming years given post-Katrina upswing in neighborhood pride (at least in some areas that are recovering... particularly Mid-City).
Winkler-Schmit's cover story is about the long-established traditions tied to social institutions in Treme as a result of continued displacement and gentrification. The next generation of downtown indians, second-liners, and bone men could be lost... and it could happen sooner than you would think.
Winkler-Schmit's cover story is about the long-established traditions tied to social institutions in Treme as a result of continued displacement and gentrification. The next generation of downtown indians, second-liners, and bone men could be lost... and it could happen sooner than you would think.
Labels: Gambit, Krewes, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Information Overload
Is there such a thing as adult-onset ADD? I'm having difficulty focusing what with all the various things going on lately. It's Carnival season AND primary season AND NFL playoffs. Two weeks from today will be Fat Tuesday AND Super Tuesday happening two days after Super BowlKrewe of Hulk Hogan Sunday. I mean... how much can one man be expected to drink?
Anyway, the point is don't be surprised if I miss even more comment-worthy stuff than usual in the next few weeks. For example, I urge everyone to check out these posts from Adrastos and Moldy City regarding the latest bizarre episode of Times-Pic -kid-gloves-for-Nagin-ism published over the weekend. It seems that even after everything that has happened, the T-P editors will go to their graves proclaiming the dragonslaying awesomeness of Nagin's "reform" administration.
Anyway, the point is don't be surprised if I miss even more comment-worthy stuff than usual in the next few weeks. For example, I urge everyone to check out these posts from Adrastos and Moldy City regarding the latest bizarre episode of Times-Pic -kid-gloves-for-Nagin-ism published over the weekend. It seems that even after everything that has happened, the T-P editors will go to their graves proclaiming the dragonslaying awesomeness of Nagin's "reform" administration.
Labels: media, Nagin, New Orleans, Times-Picayune
More Democrats running for the GOP nomination
Daily Fire
Cyber Command
Oh yes I used to have that on my Atari 2600 when I was a young'n. Really, though, what is it that an Air Force Cyber Command Center actually does? You don't learn that from this story although WDSU is very anxious to attach Jindal's face and name to it because of his... you know... Geek Appeal.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, Louisiana, media
Sunday, January 20, 2008
KDV=Slow Hungover Day After
I didn't bring my camera this year but I'm sure there will be plenty photography from all of the various internetty participants.
Hangover-addled brief summary:
It was cold. Saw lots of folks. Adrastos gave me a Lafcadio Hearn bumper sticker. Dangerblond fed me some whipped cream. Saw Varg but didn't recognize him until he took off his Ignatius Riley hat. Went to Fahy's. Saw more folks. Got so drunk that we danced like morons in Fahy's. Had a shot at midnight to celebrate Shehateme's birthday. (It's also Daisy's birthday but she's in California) Got up thismorning noonish. Made some eggs. Want to go back to bed.
Hangover-addled brief summary:
It was cold. Saw lots of folks. Adrastos gave me a Lafcadio Hearn bumper sticker. Dangerblond fed me some whipped cream. Saw Varg but didn't recognize him until he took off his Ignatius Riley hat. Went to Fahy's. Saw more folks. Got so drunk that we danced like morons in Fahy's. Had a shot at midnight to celebrate Shehateme's birthday. (It's also Daisy's birthday but she's in California) Got up this
Labels: bloggers, KDV, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Sigh
The Democratic front runners continue their mad scramble to hit all the mythological talking points necessary to win the GOP nomination. Earlier in the week, it was Obama praising Reagan's "ideas" and today it's Hillary Clinton's husband bashing a popular Republican "Big Scary Labor" bogeyman.
Please tell me again how "exciting" these Democratic candidates are.
Please tell me again how "exciting" these Democratic candidates are.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, labor, politics
Friday, January 18, 2008
Stuff to Dieux
Let us stop here for a moment and give thanks
Thanks for how horribly wrong I was to ever assume that the Rudy! campaign had this thing in the bag. Rudy! is pure unadulterated awful.
Labels: 2008, politics, Rudy Giuliani
Too much fake money chasing after too little real wealth
It's always the same story, fundamentally
Which is another way of saying Wall Street, as clever as it is, can never imagine real wealth into being. If there aren't enough jobs and wages being produced by people making and doing real things then you don't get to pretend that you can sell these non-existent people any sustainable debt.
Everyone wants to believe in magic
Wall Street obliged by packaging and then slicing debt backed by mortgages, so that even the riskiest mortgages could earn a safe AA or AAA rating from Standard & Poor's, Moody's (MCO, news, msgs) or Fitch. It performed the same magic with credit card debt, with auto loans and finally with corporate debt -- even the riskiest kind, called high-yield because it pays out a higher dividend to compensate for its higher risk. It's known as junk because in hard economic times it can become worthless. (See my Aug. 10 column, "How Wall Street got into this mess.")
Everyone wanted to believe that Wall Street's magic worked. Investors from Citigroup to the Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida (exposure: $573 million) bought in. The more investors who bought in, the more of these new products Wall Street could sell and the more money it was willing to lend to home builders, home mortgage lenders and credit card companies; to the savings and loans and banks that created the raw materials (mortgages, credit card debt, auto loans) that Wall Street needed to manufacture its products; and to the hedge funds and structured investment vehicles that bought what Wall Street produced.
It worked out just fine until reality stuck a pin in the bubble. It turns out that you can't lend more and more money to less- and less-qualified home buyers without driving up the number of borrowers who pay late or can't pay at all.
Which is another way of saying Wall Street, as clever as it is, can never imagine real wealth into being. If there aren't enough jobs and wages being produced by people making and doing real things then you don't get to pretend that you can sell these non-existent people any sustainable debt.
Labels: economy
Dumb
I'll go out on a limb here and say that an Obama Presidency will not bring about a national ban on gambling.... regardless of what pointless mileage the Clinton campaign wants to get out his personal feelings on the matter.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, politics
My favorite part of primary season
Green Dot Day
Tomorrow Broadmoor residents will hold a small celebration in honor of that neighborhood's victory over the consutantocracy and the now-infamous "green dot"
The organizers of this neighborhood renaissance deserve to be congratulated. And, in typical Broadmoor fashion, they are obviously not at all hesitant to congratulate themselves. But when I think about this story I often wonder what could have been achieved for the entire city if the advantages and resources like those put to use in the saving of Broadmoor were purposed toward reviving more than just one neighborhood.
Note: Edited slightly post-publication to keep from sounding too gloomy
This Saturday, Broadmoor will celebrate the two-year anniversary of the “Dot.” At 3:45 p.m. at the Rosa F. Keller Library and Center, a brass band will lead a short parade back to the neutral ground on the 3700 block of Napoleon Ave, where it all began. There will be a green dot cake and folks are encouraged to wear a dot or two on their person. After all, it was partially due to the dot that Broadmoor that rose up and told the bureaucrats that they couldn’t turn our neighborhood into a drainage ditch.
The organizers of this neighborhood renaissance deserve to be congratulated. And, in typical Broadmoor fashion, they are obviously not at all hesitant to congratulate themselves. But when I think about this story I often wonder what could have been achieved for the entire city if the advantages and resources like those put to use in the saving of Broadmoor were purposed toward reviving more than just one neighborhood.
Note: Edited slightly post-publication to keep from sounding too gloomy
Labels: events, flood, New Orleans
Thursday, January 17, 2008
But he likes the "true" parts in Battlefield Earth
Mitt reads Drudge "several times a day" and finds it "more interesting when it's not (true)". I think that says a lot.
Labels: 2008, Mitt Romney
Here's a crazy thought
Dick Jokes
Adrastos reminds you that if you've got any good ones, now is the time.
Labels: bloggers, New Orleans
Clap Louder
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Jindal Signs Historic Dragonslaying Executive Order
Which... of course... gives all of his dragons a one year head start.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, corruption, Louisiana
Obama continues to promote GOP talking points and mythology
This one is particularly egregious.
I'm expecting the Obama cultists to rush in any second to explain how promoting patently untrue and damaging misinterpretations of history are somehow "politically saavy".
I can't wait to hear about how Hopeful and Audacious it is to contribute to the calcification of untruth for the sake of short-sighted political expediency.
Update: (Jan 17) Yup, right on time, here they come. Go see Oyster for more as I imagine that's where the discussion will be.
I'm expecting the Obama cultists to rush in any second to explain how promoting patently untrue and damaging misinterpretations of history are somehow "politically saavy".
I can't wait to hear about how Hopeful and Audacious it is to contribute to the calcification of untruth for the sake of short-sighted political expediency.
Update: (Jan 17) Yup, right on time, here they come. Go see Oyster for more as I imagine that's where the discussion will be.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, politics
Two Years Ago Today
The phrase "Chocolate City" entered the local political lexicon. The following day, this inspired one of our favorite mathematical equations.
Labels: George W Bush, Nagin, New Orleans, politics
Meeting the Challenge
Having already seen the gauntlet (or goblet as it were) laid down by the Krewe of Bacchus's naming Hulk Hogan as this year's celebrity king, organizers of the rival Superkrewe Orpheus knew they would have to dig deep to come up with some names to match that kind of vaguely trashy, sorta has-been, C-list cheese.
I think we can now safely say Mission Accomplished:
Adding: This morning I jokingly suggested to Clio that we might see Rhonda Shear here. Turns out I wasn't too far off.
I think we can now safely say Mission Accomplished:
Race car driver, reality TV star and one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive Helio Castroneves will ride this carnival season.
The popular all girl hip hop group Salt – n –Pepa, Young and the Restless star Christian LeBlanc, Guiding Light star Ricky Paull Goldin and Sidney Torres – the man largely credited with cleaning up the French Quarter – will also reign over the crowds this Lundi Gras.
Adding: This morning I jokingly suggested to Clio that we might see Rhonda Shear here. Turns out I wasn't too far off.
Labels: Krewes, Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Once more for the record
The Clinton campaign is truly hideously awful.
Labels: 2008, Hillary Clinton, politics, voting rights
Uh oh
Somebody better get cracking on those tough new ethics laws. Otherwise, people might get the wrong idea here.
For the record, I'm really not very enthusiastic about nitpicking and Dragonslaying. But what we have here is something very like David Vitter and his hookers. It wouldn't matter one bit if he wasn't such a pompous ass about "family values." This is the governor who campaigned against "even the appearance of impropriety" so I think he should be held to the standard he demagogues. Louisianians should demand to know what happened to every cent of this money. Local Dragonslaying publications like the T-P and Gambit should be watching each of these donors and reporting on what stake they have in the new governor's policy decisions.
Somehow I'm betting that all we'll get is unmitigated praise for Jindal's heroic stoppage of the nefarious football ticket fund though.
BATON ROUGE -- Donors contributed nearly $2 million to pay for Gov. Bobby Jindal's transition expenses and inaugural festivities before he moved into the Governor's Mansion.
Jindal, a Republican, released a list Tuesday of the latest round of donors, showing $541,954 in contributions raised from Dec. 16 through Jan. 14. Nearly $1.4 million was raised from Oct. 21 through Dec. 15, according to a previous report. More than 300 companies or individuals gave money to the new governor's transition organization.
However, in the list provided to the media Tuesday evening, it was difficult to determine exactly how those dollars were spent.
The release provided by the Jindal administration included a list of people and vendors who received payments totaling $354,920 from the last month of activities, but it doesn't describe what the spending covered. A similar list documenting $223,670 in expenses was released last month, lacking a similar level of specifics.
The list also doesn't offer any clue as to how much the three days of inaugural events, which culminated with Monday's swearing-in ceremony, may have cost.
Jindal spokeswoman Melissa Sellers said in an e-mail that the inauguration events were estimated to cost "a few hundred thousand" dollars, and she said more invoices would be coming in for payment, but she offered no other details. She didn't return a call for comment on Tuesday.
It was unclear how much money may remain in the transition organization account, though the documents provided so far left more than $1.3 million unaccounted for in spending. Another report would be released next month with remaining expenses and contributions, the governor's office said.
Though there is no legal limit on the size of contributions, Jindal capped his donations at $10,000 per donor, the same self-imposed limit set by former Gov. Kathleen Blanco four years earlier.
Among those who donated the maximum in the latest report were: Altria Corporate Services Inc., Bayou Health Care LLC, Central Crude, CH2M Hill Inc., Dave Roberts, Elanco Animal Health Dista Products Company, Gary and Beth Chumley, Helis Oil & Gas Company LLC, Innovative Emergency Management Inc., Joseph M. Bruno, LLB Consulting Inc., Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, Michael and Leslie McGuire, Robert Bruno, Ronald A. Goux, Settoon Towing LLC, SSH Management LLC, and Tammany Holding Corp.
For the record, I'm really not very enthusiastic about nitpicking and Dragonslaying. But what we have here is something very like David Vitter and his hookers. It wouldn't matter one bit if he wasn't such a pompous ass about "family values." This is the governor who campaigned against "even the appearance of impropriety" so I think he should be held to the standard he demagogues. Louisianians should demand to know what happened to every cent of this money. Local Dragonslaying publications like the T-P and Gambit should be watching each of these donors and reporting on what stake they have in the new governor's policy decisions.
Somehow I'm betting that all we'll get is unmitigated praise for Jindal's heroic stoppage of the nefarious football ticket fund though.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, corruption, Louisiana
Cold Rain
I'm thinking about running outside and singing Zippity Doo Dah in a few minutes. Who's coming with me?
Labels: random
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Shock Doctrine Recovery continues
It's kind of a boring playbook, really. Politically important people create their own contracting companies, magically end up with government contracts to do things like rebuild airports and sidewalks, lend each other money, lie about how much their contracts are worth, cash in on bogusly inflated stock prices.
The only mystery here is whether or not Clancy Dubos will write a column explaining how Ray Nagin's maintaining obvious relationships with these contractors (flying to football games on their planes and such) constitutes a "smart move."
The only mystery here is whether or not Clancy Dubos will write a column explaining how Ray Nagin's maintaining obvious relationships with these contractors (flying to football games on their planes and such) constitutes a "smart move."
Labels: contractors, corruption, Nagin, New Orleans
Quotes
Both of these popped up in my reader at the same time.
Ritholtz:
Krugman:
Ritholtz:
Ugly day today -- Dow off 280 to 12,500 as I type this, the Nasdaq down 2.5%. The natural process of washing out excesses will lead to gnashing of teeth and begging for the Fed to intervene. (After all, isn't it the role of the Fed to backstop speculators?)
My opinion: those people who only believe in free market so long as they are going higher aren't capitalists, they are socialists.
Krugman:
William F. Buckley discovers the virtues of regulation and calls for government intervention to help fix the mortgage crisis.
If conservative principles are abandoned so easily in the face of a bad economic situation, what was the whole thing about in the first place?
Labels: economy
"Ideological Independence"
Is a very desirable thing which is, of course, best fostered by vast personal wealth.
Labels: 2008, Michael Bloomberg
Awesome Dragonslaying
The city hands out yet another management contract to a politically connected firm for basically performing the functions of downsized city departments and that champion of Ethics In Government, Clancy Dubos rushes in to tell us why this is a "Smart Move".
Clancy's point here seems to be, "Well somebody has to do this job" and that's hard to argue with. But there are reasons why we've reached a point where they can say that. Plus, one would think the publisher of the Needed Alternative who harps so much on the need for more and better Dragonslaying wouldn't be so quick to cover for some of these Dragons.
Clancy's point here seems to be, "Well somebody has to do this job" and that's hard to argue with. But there are reasons why we've reached a point where they can say that. Plus, one would think the publisher of the Needed Alternative who harps so much on the need for more and better Dragonslaying wouldn't be so quick to cover for some of these Dragons.
Labels: contractors, corruption, Gambit, media, New Orleans
Progress?
Well... a little.
Karen and her people rock.
Also... once again the NOLA.com commenters prove themselves to be people I just don't understand.
Karen and her people rock.
Also... once again the NOLA.com commenters prove themselves to be people I just don't understand.
Labels: demolitions, housing, New Orleans
Monday, January 14, 2008
Stupid
Since the Democratic primary drama has gone from stupid to stupider, now is as good a time as any to link to Matt Taibbi's latest complaint (a rather tame one, by the way) about the stupid stupidity of the stupid process.
How did one of the most genuinely interesting primary contests in American history devolve into a Grade-D smack-down that even Vince McMahon would be ashamed to promote? The real story of the campaign has been its unprecedented unpredictability — and therein lies the problem. On both tickets, the abject failure of media-anointed front-runners to hold their ground was due at least in part to voters having grown weary of being told by the press who was "electable" and who wasn't. Both the Huckabee and Ron Paul candidacies represent angry grass-roots challenges to the entrenched Republican party apparatus, while the Edwards candidacy is a frank and open attack on his own party's too-cozy relationship with corporate America. These developments signaled a meaningful political phenomenon — widespread voter disgust, not only with the two ruling parties, but with a national political press that smugly enforced the party insiders' stranglehold on the process with its incessant bullying of dissident candidates.
But there was no way this genuinely interesting theme was going to make it into mainstream coverage of the campaign heading into the primary season. It was inevitable that different, far stupider story lines would be found to dominate the headlines once the real bullets started flying in Iowa and New Hampshire. And find them we did.
Labels: 2008, politics, Taibbi
Disturbing thought of the day
Today the Yellow Blog has officially lasted longer than the Blanco administration.
Labels: blogging, Louisiana, Meemaw
Obamarama
Menckles reports overhearing a recent meeting of local Obama cultists at CC's which was adjourned by the facilitator leading the rest of the coven in a chant of "Grass roots! Grass roots! Grass roots!"
Will somebody please direct these individuals to Pres Kabacoff's hippie center so that they may be effectively quarantined?
Will somebody please direct these individuals to Pres Kabacoff's hippie center so that they may be effectively quarantined?
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, douchebaggery
Shameless
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Votre lecon Francais pour aujourd'hui
Is this the business section or the society page?
It's stories like this that make me wonder. An honest headline would read,
Quadrillionaire real estate developer to apply a small portion of his considerable resources in money and contacts to flatter his hippie girlfriend.
Uh huh.
Here we have in one neat package everything that is wrong with hipster NOLA. A well connected real estate magnate, his new age "voodoo priestess" paramour, and a whole cast of self-important post-hippies who do things like "produce a series of essays and short films that paid tribute to the city" and then pat themselves on the back saying things like,
Scoured for paradigms? Wasn't that a Depeche Mode album? Anyway please be my guest and read the rest of this article for more unintentional hilarity. via Suspect-Device
Note: Actually I'm quite enthusiastic about the idea of a co-op grocery. But, as is often the case in such ventures, it doesn't really offset the costs which come in the form of all this self-congratulatory hipster snobbery and as Kabakoff so lovingly describes his girlfriend's hobbies, reiki and acupuncture and "things I don't even know about"
Quadrillionaire real estate developer to apply a small portion of his considerable resources in money and contacts to flatter his hippie girlfriend.
While the healing center is only in the planning stages now, its founders say it will occupy a unique niche in the city. Louisiana is one of only three states without a cooperative grocery store, in which members buy an ownership share and work shifts to offset the cost of groceries, and Kabacoff said there is no place in the city where people can find various types of alternative medicine, "from reiki to acupuncture to things I don't even know about," under one roof.
Uh huh.
Here we have in one neat package everything that is wrong with hipster NOLA. A well connected real estate magnate, his new age "voodoo priestess" paramour, and a whole cast of self-important post-hippies who do things like "produce a series of essays and short films that paid tribute to the city" and then pat themselves on the back saying things like,
"What we're doing is unprecedented," said Andy Antippas, a salon member and the owner of Barrister's Gallery on St. Claude. "We've scoured for paradigms, and there aren't any."
Scoured for paradigms? Wasn't that a Depeche Mode album? Anyway please be my guest and read the rest of this article for more unintentional hilarity. via Suspect-Device
Note: Actually I'm quite enthusiastic about the idea of a co-op grocery. But, as is often the case in such ventures, it doesn't really offset the costs which come in the form of all this self-congratulatory hipster snobbery and as Kabakoff so lovingly describes his girlfriend's hobbies, reiki and acupuncture and "things I don't even know about"
Labels: developers, douchebaggery, New Orleans
Saturday, January 12, 2008
When good luck goes bad
Carnival season began a week ago tomorrow. In New Orleans this is traditionally the time when people begin taking down their Holiday decorations and putting their Christmas trees out on the curb as a placebo to placate their collective anxiety over Louisiana's unrelenting coastal loss. This week is also a time for dealing with one more Holiday remnant.
This morning I cleaned out my refrigerator. I had a big grocery run scheduled for the afternoon which meant I needed space in the fridge. Which, in turn, meant it was time, finally, to deal with the large plastic containers that had been sitting on the middle shelf since January 1. They contained what was left of the massive vats of black eyed peas and cabbage I had made in order to keep with the long observed tradition of eating those dishes on New Year's Day, supposedly to bring good luck in the new year.
I don't know why I always cook at least three times as much of any food as we could possibly eat. But I can tell you that if you were to eat what was in those tupperware containers today instead of two weeks ago, you'd probably experience something very different from "good luck".
But back on January 1, it was good stuff. Here. I took pictures.
Black Eyed Peas
Notice how terribly uncomplicated and basic all of the recipes that appear on the Yellow Blog are. The simplest things are often the best. These peas go together exactly the same way a pot of red beans does. You throw 'em in a pot with one or more pork products and let 'em simmer 'til dinner time. Still, I know how much you guys like step-by-step instructions so here goes.
Before you run out for your New Year's Eve festivities, go into your giant walk-in dry goods pantry and retrieve a one pound package of Camellia brand black eyes.
Empty the package into the big blue pot you inherited from your grandmother, cover the peas with water, and leave them to soak overnight.
Go downtown and get drunk as hell on cheap champagne watching fireworks and freezing your butt off on the Moonwalk as yet another strange-ass year moves on out to make way for the next strange-ass year. Wake up early the next morning all bright-eyed and clear-headed and ready to take on the New Year and .... Yikes!
Okay then wake up sometime around noon on New Year's Day, make a big pot of coffee, shower and try to shake off the hangover. Now get back in the kitchen, drain the peas and set them aside while you chop your vegetables. Here's what you'll need.
That's onion, celery, bell pepper and parsley. No surprises there, I'm sure.
Oh shit, I almost forgot the garlic!
By the way, check out my brand new Wustof chef's knife in that picture. Pretty sweet, right? It was a good Christmas.
Anyway now you'll want to go back to that big blue pot on the stove. Heat up a little olive oil and then throw in the obligatory pork. It's up to you what form of pork you like here. In the past I've used smoked sausage, pickled meat, and hamhocks. All of these are excellent choices. This year I went with a package of chopped ham seasoning I picked up at Rouse's.
Brown the meat then remove it from the pot and set it aside. The process should have rendered plenty of delicious pork fat drippings. It's a nice start... but, of course, you'll still need about a stick of butter.
Mmmm butter. Okay now throw it in the pot and melt it down.
Mmmm pork remnant & butter soup. I know you want to start dipping your french bread in there but try to remember all that work you did chopping those vegetables. Yeah, now throw all that stuff in there and let it start cooking.
Once the vegetables cook down a bit, this is really just a matter of assembling things. Return your drained peas and browned pork to the pot, give the whole thing a healthy dose of the seasonings pictured below.
From left to right, that would be salt, thyme, bay leaf, basil, marjoram, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Add enough water to cover the peas, put the lid on the pot and leave to simmer. This could take between one and a half to two hours depending on how high you set the fire to go. In the meantime, well it's New Year's Day there's bound to be a game on TV.
Of course you'll need to make some cabbage too. I used to hate cooked cabbage growing up. But somehow my mother found a way to get me eat it every year... that's why I lead the lucky and charmed life I live today. But I still didn't look forward to cabbage on New Year's Day until I came across this recipe in the Times-Pic about five or six years ago.
You'll know the peas are done when the water in the pot reaches a milky consistency and the pork seasoning meat starts to fall off of the bone.
Eat up and repeat at least once a year every January 1st for... you know... good luck.
And while you're at it you may as well share some with the neighbors. This way you'll all have better luck this year... and maybe there won't be any leftovers to clean two weeks later.
This morning I cleaned out my refrigerator. I had a big grocery run scheduled for the afternoon which meant I needed space in the fridge. Which, in turn, meant it was time, finally, to deal with the large plastic containers that had been sitting on the middle shelf since January 1. They contained what was left of the massive vats of black eyed peas and cabbage I had made in order to keep with the long observed tradition of eating those dishes on New Year's Day, supposedly to bring good luck in the new year.
I don't know why I always cook at least three times as much of any food as we could possibly eat. But I can tell you that if you were to eat what was in those tupperware containers today instead of two weeks ago, you'd probably experience something very different from "good luck".
But back on January 1, it was good stuff. Here. I took pictures.
Black Eyed Peas
Notice how terribly uncomplicated and basic all of the recipes that appear on the Yellow Blog are. The simplest things are often the best. These peas go together exactly the same way a pot of red beans does. You throw 'em in a pot with one or more pork products and let 'em simmer 'til dinner time. Still, I know how much you guys like step-by-step instructions so here goes.
Before you run out for your New Year's Eve festivities, go into your giant walk-in dry goods pantry and retrieve a one pound package of Camellia brand black eyes.
Empty the package into the big blue pot you inherited from your grandmother, cover the peas with water, and leave them to soak overnight.
Go downtown and get drunk as hell on cheap champagne watching fireworks and freezing your butt off on the Moonwalk as yet another strange-ass year moves on out to make way for the next strange-ass year. Wake up early the next morning all bright-eyed and clear-headed and ready to take on the New Year and .... Yikes!
Okay then wake up sometime around noon on New Year's Day, make a big pot of coffee, shower and try to shake off the hangover. Now get back in the kitchen, drain the peas and set them aside while you chop your vegetables. Here's what you'll need.
That's onion, celery, bell pepper and parsley. No surprises there, I'm sure.
Oh shit, I almost forgot the garlic!
By the way, check out my brand new Wustof chef's knife in that picture. Pretty sweet, right? It was a good Christmas.
Anyway now you'll want to go back to that big blue pot on the stove. Heat up a little olive oil and then throw in the obligatory pork. It's up to you what form of pork you like here. In the past I've used smoked sausage, pickled meat, and hamhocks. All of these are excellent choices. This year I went with a package of chopped ham seasoning I picked up at Rouse's.
Brown the meat then remove it from the pot and set it aside. The process should have rendered plenty of delicious pork fat drippings. It's a nice start... but, of course, you'll still need about a stick of butter.
Mmmm butter. Okay now throw it in the pot and melt it down.
Mmmm pork remnant & butter soup. I know you want to start dipping your french bread in there but try to remember all that work you did chopping those vegetables. Yeah, now throw all that stuff in there and let it start cooking.
Once the vegetables cook down a bit, this is really just a matter of assembling things. Return your drained peas and browned pork to the pot, give the whole thing a healthy dose of the seasonings pictured below.
From left to right, that would be salt, thyme, bay leaf, basil, marjoram, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Add enough water to cover the peas, put the lid on the pot and leave to simmer. This could take between one and a half to two hours depending on how high you set the fire to go. In the meantime, well it's New Year's Day there's bound to be a game on TV.
Of course you'll need to make some cabbage too. I used to hate cooked cabbage growing up. But somehow my mother found a way to get me eat it every year... that's why I lead the lucky and charmed life I live today. But I still didn't look forward to cabbage on New Year's Day until I came across this recipe in the Times-Pic about five or six years ago.
- Chop and brown one pound of andouille sausage in a large pot.
- Remove sausage and sautee one regular onion in olive oil.
- Add one jar of Italian olive salad,
One can of chopped tomatoes, and Crystal or Tobasco hot sauce to taste. Stir.- Return the sausage to the pot and start adding your cabbage a little bit at a time until it all cooks down. You can cover this pot and let it simmer until the peas are done.
You'll know the peas are done when the water in the pot reaches a milky consistency and the pork seasoning meat starts to fall off of the bone.
Eat up and repeat at least once a year every January 1st for... you know... good luck.
And while you're at it you may as well share some with the neighbors. This way you'll all have better luck this year... and maybe there won't be any leftovers to clean two weeks later.
Labels: food, New Orleans, New Year
Deja Vu All Over Again
Anyone watching WWLTV this weekend is sure to have caught one of these spots touting that station's coverage of the upcoming Jindal inauguration. Watching these commercials, the uninformed viewer may mistake the event they anticipate for a Billy Graham revival... or at the very least, "A very special episode of..." insert your favorite TV drama in which the headlining characters are getting married or buried or something.
It's all very disgusting but not without precedent. WWL treated the Roemer inauguration in 1988 exactly the same way. Oh well... once a Dragonslayer, always a Dragonslayer I guess....
It's all very disgusting but not without precedent. WWL treated the Roemer inauguration in 1988 exactly the same way. Oh well... once a Dragonslayer, always a Dragonslayer I guess....
Labels: Bobby Jindal, douchebaggery, Louisiana, media
I'm glad I don't live in Chicago or Detroit or Minneapolis
Because then I'd probably be obligated to hate Brett Favre... and how is that even possible?
Also here's a shopping tip for you. The store-made chocolate chip cookies from Rouse's are unbelievable.
Also here's a shopping tip for you. The store-made chocolate chip cookies from Rouse's are unbelievable.
Friday, January 11, 2008
First, we kill all the lawyers
Now they've gone too far
Previously we've half-smilingly derided the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish and their continuing efforts to perpetuate a myth that Carnival in New Orleans is somehow not a "family-friendly" event. In order to be disabused of such a misconception, one need only take the time to observe the parade routes of New Orleans during the parading season to find neighbors and families (often families with small children) enjoying the sights and tastes and smells of Carnival. But such is the manner of most tourists or impossibly white people from Jefferson Parish; not to observe things.
Instead, the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish have taken it upon themselves to fill the imaginary need for "family friendly" events during the Carnival season. Thus the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish are presenting the second annual "Family Gras" (literally "Fat Family")a three-day Mardi-Gras-themed concert event held in the beautiful and undoubtedly "family friendly" environs of Metairie and Gretna featuring the musical stylings of such "family friendly" acts as Billy Ray Cyrus, Taylor Swift, the Bangles and Kansas.
Of course, since this is the second year the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish have graced us with these festivities, longtime readers will note that the subject has already been covered ad-nauseum and will wonder why we feel the need to even touch on this unpleasantness at all this time around.
Well I have good reason to bring it up today, and it is this. In light of my decided anti-Family Gras sentiment, I find it most disturbing that the Times-Picayune has chosen to associate my name with these events in today's headline. Worse than that, the editors there have made this libelous association through the employment of a particularly sensitive epithet. "Jeff Gras" (literally "Fat Jeff") is not only an uncharitable description of my temporary state of post-holiday mild chunkiness, it is also a very cheap shot. I demand a retraction.
Is there any King Cake left?
Instead, the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish have taken it upon themselves to fill the imaginary need for "family friendly" events during the Carnival season. Thus the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish are presenting the second annual "Family Gras" (literally "Fat Family")a three-day Mardi-Gras-themed concert event held in the beautiful and undoubtedly "family friendly" environs of Metairie and Gretna featuring the musical stylings of such "family friendly" acts as Billy Ray Cyrus, Taylor Swift, the Bangles and Kansas.
Of course, since this is the second year the impossibly white people of Jefferson Parish have graced us with these festivities, longtime readers will note that the subject has already been covered ad-nauseum and will wonder why we feel the need to even touch on this unpleasantness at all this time around.
Well I have good reason to bring it up today, and it is this. In light of my decided anti-Family Gras sentiment, I find it most disturbing that the Times-Picayune has chosen to associate my name with these events in today's headline. Worse than that, the editors there have made this libelous association through the employment of a particularly sensitive epithet. "Jeff Gras" (literally "Fat Jeff") is not only an uncharitable description of my temporary state of post-holiday mild chunkiness, it is also a very cheap shot. I demand a retraction.
Is there any King Cake left?
Labels: Mardi Gras, New Orleans, suburbia
Are the condos still okay?
Thank goodness e has the fortitude to put all of this together because I'm beyond the point of exasperation here. Unfortunately too many of us remain in the thrall of the Ed Blakely consultantocracy that has come to help us "reimagine" our city. It's going to take an awful lot of imagination to see a city on top of all these vacant lots we've been in such a hurry to create.
But at least retired persons in living in subsidized housing are now appropriately embarrassed about the size of their televisions. At least we got that done.
There really is no excuse for us to have allowed this to happen.
But at least retired persons in living in subsidized housing are now appropriately embarrassed about the size of their televisions. At least we got that done.
There really is no excuse for us to have allowed this to happen.
Labels: housing, New Orleans
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Shock Doctrine Recovery (Volume # 3 Quadrillion)
More Exploding Pies from the Economic Buffet. How soon before we reach the tipping point?
Manager to speed repair of N.O. assets
by The Times-Picayune
Thursday January 10, 2008, 1:23 PM
Mayor Ray Nagin's administration announced today that it has inked an agreement with a Colorado-based engineering firm to oversee a massive effort to rebuild hundreds of public assets damaged by Hurricane Katrina flooding.
The hiring of MWH, a company formerly known as Montgomery Watson Harza, will provide new expertise and administrative muscle to manage the repair and reconstruction of police and fire stations, streets, recreation centers, court buildings, museums, libraries, parks and other projects, according to a news release.
City Hall, which saw staff in critical construction planning departments reduced by at least half after the 2005 hurricane, has struggled to prioritize and keep track of rebuilding projects. Though officials expect the city to be reimbursed for the work under FEMA's Public Assistance program, completing the legwork to get the projects has lagged for more than two years.
The company is expected to earn roughly $6 million under the contract, although how much will be paid isn't yet clear because of the varying complexity of repair projects.
The Nagin administration scheduled a news conference at City Hall to discuss the new contract. MWH, based in Broomfield, Colo., has landed three major post-Katrina contracts in New Orleans, providing services in the areas of emergency debris removal, storm drain cleaning and assessment of the Sewerage & Water Board's water distribution system. About 30 people work out of the firm's office at 1340 Poydras St.
Labels: contractors, flood, New Orleans
I can haz punditry lisence?
Since I've resolved not to engage into too much fanciful speculation and to keep the "predictions" to a minimum... I will now engage in a bit of fanciful specualation about which I will make a prediction.
If for some unlikely reason the Democrats end up heading into their convention without a settled nominee, I predict that those pariah primary delegates from Florida and Michigan will end up getting counted anyway.
Now I iz punditing!
If for some unlikely reason the Democrats end up heading into their convention without a settled nominee, I predict that those pariah primary delegates from Florida and Michigan will end up getting counted anyway.
Now I iz punditing!
Elevating the Discourse
Shut up
Hillary did not "steal" New Hampshire. Stop saying shit like this. It makes you sound like an asshole.
Labels: 2008, Hillary Clinton, politics
The Big Baby End-Run Candidates
You know... the ones who won't play fair and accept the wisdom of our perfect-in-every-way two party system
(via Yglesias... via Atrios)
My question, though is this. Given the very very weak showing by Ron Paul in New Hampshire, is it time to give up on Paul running third party? Or is he a lock for the Libertarian ticket? Because without a significant extra candidate on the right.. Bloomberg really mucks things up for Hill-Obama.
Unity08 To Jump On Bloomberg Bandwagon?
A source familiar with the Bloomberg for president movement says the bipartisan Unity08 effort is poised to shut down its Web site, reconstitute as a Draft Bloomberg site and launch its own 50-state signature-gathering operation on behalf of the supposedly reluctant would-be independent presidential candidate.
(via Yglesias... via Atrios)
My question, though is this. Given the very very weak showing by Ron Paul in New Hampshire, is it time to give up on Paul running third party? Or is he a lock for the Libertarian ticket? Because without a significant extra candidate on the right.. Bloomberg really mucks things up for Hill-Obama.
Labels: 2008, Michael Bloomberg, politics, Ron Paul
Mixed-Income Housing
Defined as: A much smaller number of affordable units right next to vacant lots and stuff nobody wants to buy.
Labels: housing, New Orleans
Fraking Haloscan
This could be the Greatest Carnival Ever.
It's too early for the crowds to get ridiculous.
We would be remiss, however, if we neglected to point out the following error in the above-linked Times-Pic article.
John Pope is confusing the beginnings of Fat Tuesday observances in New Orleans (which, in fact, go all the way back to the arrival of the French in Louisiana) with the advent of what we recognize as the "modern" Carnival celebration with the first Comus parade in 1857. The way the article is worded leaves an entirely different and inaccurate impression. But we can't expect the T-P fact-checkers to catch everything... not when they've got so much work to do on the Jindal Family Scrapbook.
We would be remiss, however, if we neglected to point out the following error in the above-linked Times-Pic article.
The earliest date on which Mardi Gras can occur is Feb. 3, and the latest is March 9. While Mardi Gras hasn't fallen on Feb. 3 and isn't likely to do so anytime soon, it was on March 9 in 1886 and 1943.
Mardi Gras fell on a Leap Day in 1876, and it is scheduled to do so again in 2028. Since the celebration began in New Orleans in 1857, the dates with the most Fat Tuesdays -- seven -- have been Feb. 17 and March 1.
John Pope is confusing the beginnings of Fat Tuesday observances in New Orleans (which, in fact, go all the way back to the arrival of the French in Louisiana) with the advent of what we recognize as the "modern" Carnival celebration with the first Comus parade in 1857. The way the article is worded leaves an entirely different and inaccurate impression. But we can't expect the T-P fact-checkers to catch everything... not when they've got so much work to do on the Jindal Family Scrapbook.
Labels: Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Times-Picayune
T-P Jindal Family Scrapbook
Third in a seemingly interminable series of front page dominating fluff. There must be nothing going on in this town.
Labels: Bobby Jindal, Louisiana, media, Times-Picayune
King Cake Baby Number One
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Comments
Take heart, kids, your comments are reaching their target. Just because some of them have yet to emerge from the Haloscanic goo doesn't mean they aren't being read.
Labels: blogging
Look! A playground!
I wonder if this contributor to today's idiot page understands what it is that Allstate actually does.
Labels: flood, insurance, New Orleans, Times-Picayune
This is what you get
Yesterday, I used the temperamental and mysterious Haloscan to write a comment about the Obama cultists and their fixation on personality/identity politics. The comment finished thusly.
One day later, we find we are knee-deep in a campaign based on personality and identity politics bullshit. (link via Oyster) Yet another way in which these "exciting" Democratic candidates are "good for America."
In '92, (Bill) Clinton sold the same bullshit "youth movement" feel-good crap that Obama is selling now.............
But I don't think the cultists understand this. So I don't think I'm wrong to say that much of what we're seeing here is a campaign built on bullshit. At some point a price is paid for that. Whether it comes due before the election or during a failed first term is pretty much all we're waiting to learn.
One day later, we find we are knee-deep in a campaign based on personality and identity politics bullshit. (link via Oyster) Yet another way in which these "exciting" Democratic candidates are "good for America."
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, politics
Haloscan
It's a bit unpredictable today (eating comments... regurgitating them a few minutes later... and in some cases eating them again). Sorry' bout that. I'm sure some really important people are managing this crisis at this very moment.
Update: It seems that what's happening at the moment is comments are becoming visible in their threads on the site nearly an hour after they are made. But I can read everything by logging in to Haloscan. May be some kind of server overload?
Jesus... isn't this just the most incredibly interesting thing you've read today?
Update: It seems that what's happening at the moment is comments are becoming visible in their threads on the site nearly an hour after they are made. But I can read everything by logging in to Haloscan. May be some kind of server overload?
Jesus... isn't this just the most incredibly interesting thing you've read today?
Labels: blogging
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
One thing we learned tonight
We learned that people saying a thing over and over again on TV does not necessarily make that thing true.
High Popalorum vs Low Popahirum
From the Gospel of Huey:
From the Clinton campaign tonight:
"It's now a one-on-one race. Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama. We're excited"
Are you excited?
(Long) would tell how patent medicine men used to concoct a mixture to sell to Negroes as a hair-straightener. The makers called it "high popalorum" or "low popahirum," depending on how they manufactured it. They made the first by tearing the bark of a tree down, and the second by tearing the bark up. When Huey dismissed two political rivals by comparing them to the two compounds, his amused rural listeners knew exactly what he was talking about.
From the Clinton campaign tonight:
"It's now a one-on-one race. Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama. We're excited"
Are you excited?
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, politics
Whoops!
Tonight isn't looking quite as Obamerrific as the kids were anticipating.
Also... if not Huck at this point, who? McCain? No, seriously, who?
Also... if not Huck at this point, who? McCain? No, seriously, who?
All Handicapping All the Time 4-Eva!
Quote of the Day
Actually I'll give you two from the same post and just have you go read the rest since it makes the argument more clearly than anything else I've seen this election season.
QOTD 1:
QOTD 2:
QOTD 1:
First, it’s not vital that an ideology be entirely consistent or empirically well-grounded for it to win broad appeal. I recently read a brief little introductory textbook on political philosophy, written by a British professor. He dealt with all the classics – Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Marx, etc. For every one of these thinkers he was able to present a devastating counterargument (usually formulated by some later philosopher) that uncovered a fatal hole in the original author’s thesis. And these are the great thinkers of the Western tradition! Proving that a system of thought has serious flaws does not prove that the system is gibberish. That’s why the philosophy journals are still to this day publishing arguments by modern-day Lockeans, utilitarians, Marxists, etc., trying to improve and refine their arguments.
QOTD 2:
But there’s still that lingering question of whether an ideology is even necessary for success. I can’t prove that it is. But I’ll say this. In the long term, politics only really changes because of passionate minorities. Only superficially is it affected by the average median swing voter. When passionate minorities take shape – sociologists call them social movements – they exert a powerful, gravitational force on the rest of the public...........
Here’s my point: There has never in history been such a thing as a genuine movement committed to pragmatism and throwing the bums out. It can only happen with an ideology, a creed.
No ideology, no movement. No movement, no change in conventional wisdom.
No change in conventional wisdom and we will be alternating between Bushism and Clintonism – between 2002 and 1997 -- for the rest of our lives.
The real problem with Left Blogistan
Is that we don't spend nearly enough time talking about how truly hideously awful Hillary Clinton is.
Just for the record, Hillary is truly hideously awful.
Just for the record, Hillary is truly hideously awful.
Labels: 2008, Hillary Clinton, politics
In 1814 we took a little trip
Dixville Notch results are in already
More of a novelty than anything else but fun anyway.
Not much to say going into the New Hampshire primary but this. I think I've made it plain that I am not buying the Obama hype the same way a lot of people are.... but he's a lot closer to sewing up the nomination than I thought he'd get. This isn't exactly horrible news but forgive me if I don't Hope too Audaciously. At the moment there are two competing takes. One goes something like what Oyster is saying here
Speaking as someone who honestly doesn't expect himself possessed of the fortitude necessary to "hold my nose for Hillary", I can sympathize with that take to some degree.
But while Oyster is marveling at what he Hopefully (to once again pun excruciatingly upon that word) believes to be sneaky elegant strategy from the Obama campaign, I still can't help but reach the same kind of conclusion that Tom Tomorrow lands on here
In other words, are we really going to asked to suspend our disbelief one more time in exchange for... hope? I don't know. But hey, maybe Hillary will finish third again. That's sure to make some of the pain go away.
Meanwhile watch the GOP results for some unexpected shows of strength from Huckabee and our friends the Ron Paul crazies. Of course McCain and Romney will run 1 and 2 but that's neither here nor there. I think Huckabee is dangerous if he breaks 15% in New Hampshire with South Carolina on the horizon... particularly if Mitt goes down again.
Oh and the SEC is the best damn conference in America. End of story.
Not much to say going into the New Hampshire primary but this. I think I've made it plain that I am not buying the Obama hype the same way a lot of people are.... but he's a lot closer to sewing up the nomination than I thought he'd get. This isn't exactly horrible news but forgive me if I don't Hope too Audaciously. At the moment there are two competing takes. One goes something like what Oyster is saying here
Anyhoo, I'm having trouble articulating and explaining how impressed I am with Obama. How he figured out a way to win in Iowa, how he's taking advantage of the primary schedule, how he turned it up when he needed to, and how he's changing the context of the campaign for Dems and the GOP in a way that creates the possibility of a "wave" election, and perhaps a working majority. This is exciting to me. So is the prospect of not having to worry about apologizing and holding my nose for Hillary for the next four to eight years.
Speaking as someone who honestly doesn't expect himself possessed of the fortitude necessary to "hold my nose for Hillary", I can sympathize with that take to some degree.
But while Oyster is marveling at what he Hopefully (to once again pun excruciatingly upon that word) believes to be sneaky elegant strategy from the Obama campaign, I still can't help but reach the same kind of conclusion that Tom Tomorrow lands on here
I’ll support a potted plant against whichever race-baiting science-denying warmonger the Republicans finally settle on, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t prefer a candidate who actually stands for things I care about, like real health care reform and a speedy end to the Iraq debacle. Given that Kucinich is — sorry — unlikely to carry the day, that leaves me with Edwards. Who is also probably not going to make it to the finish line. And then, hurray!, the Democrats will once again be offering up a mushy centrist who speaks vaguely of hope and change, of bipartisanship and reconciliation. Why is it always the Democrats who have to reconcile, after these spasms of right wing extremism? Why is partisanship always such a one-way street?
In other words, are we really going to asked to suspend our disbelief one more time in exchange for... hope? I don't know. But hey, maybe Hillary will finish third again. That's sure to make some of the pain go away.
Meanwhile watch the GOP results for some unexpected shows of strength from Huckabee and our friends the Ron Paul crazies. Of course McCain and Romney will run 1 and 2 but that's neither here nor there. I think Huckabee is dangerous if he breaks 15% in New Hampshire with South Carolina on the horizon... particularly if Mitt goes down again.
Oh and the SEC is the best damn conference in America. End of story.
Monday, January 07, 2008
One way to make this better...
...is to go ahead and fire that bastard Miles anyway. They won't do it... and they will pay for that in the long run. Tonight, though, LSU is obviously the most talented football team in the country. I'd put that roster up against any of the other national pretenders provided it is healthy and reasonably coached... two things the Tigers were decidedly not for much of this season.
Also, the SEC is far and away the best football league in the country. Any argument to the contrary is beyond laughable. But I'm sure we'll continue to be blessed with fresh comedy in that vein.
Also again, tomorrow we'll be sure to look for the inevitable smug derisive comments about the "crass" and "obnoxious" behavior of the LSU fans in New Orleans... as if they were the first and only people ever to be so stupid on Bourbon Street.
Update: The Channel 8 News broadcast, this evening, wisely broke away from a report on the stupid Hillary Tears story to bring us live footage of Les Miles shouting "Wahoo!" at a press conference... which is just as stupid but slightly more relevant.
Also, the SEC is far and away the best football league in the country. Any argument to the contrary is beyond laughable. But I'm sure we'll continue to be blessed with fresh comedy in that vein.
Also again, tomorrow we'll be sure to look for the inevitable smug derisive comments about the "crass" and "obnoxious" behavior of the LSU fans in New Orleans... as if they were the first and only people ever to be so stupid on Bourbon Street.
Update: The Channel 8 News broadcast, this evening, wisely broke away from a report on the stupid Hillary Tears story to bring us live footage of Les Miles shouting "Wahoo!" at a press conference... which is just as stupid but slightly more relevant.
Geaux Paultards!
Carnival Time
- We spent our Twelfth Night (and day) in the French Quarter harassing shopkeepers and playing Tiger with the rest of the LSU folk who are in town for... some sort of football contest tonight. Tiger fans are loud and rowdy... like a football crowd. And the scene in the Quarter is appropriately Carnival-like what with all the whooping and hollering and such.
This sort of behavior is commonly tolerated and even celebrated by the shameless promoters of the New Orleans tourism-plantation economy who are all too happy to welcome frat boys and weekend warriors to town to break things and pee on stuff so long as they tip well and pay their hotel bills.
Funny, then, how the number of complaints about this sort of thing become markedly more noticeable... and tellingly more snotty... when LSU is in town. Why is that?
Anyway, LSU has Ohio State outmatched talent-wise tonight. Plus, the Tigers are healthier than they've been since early in the season. But if this thing comes down to coaching... well that heavily favors the Buckeyes. - Also in the Carnival spirit is "Boomer" David who demonstrates for us a way in which our Carnival Royalty are "royals" in the material as well as the make-believe sense.
- Finally, today... the official second day of Carnival season... some of the neighborhood kids were sitting out on the library steps singing Indian Red this morning. Happy Mardi Gras.
Labels: LSU, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, sports
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Watching more C-Span
I get carried away sometimes
As a result, some of the stuff that gets written here probably should remain little theoretical thought bubbles instead of big declarative statements. For example, the post below this one looks like it might be halfway to crazy town if it's taken outside of the context of me just thinking about stuff that might be happening. I'll try to write more about what actually is happening in the future. But I can't promise anything during the wacky political season.
Labels: blogging, douchebaggery
Friday, January 04, 2008
Read This
E is on to something. Read it. He's about half right.
Okay he's more than half right... but he still has to ditch that Obama-as-grassroots-populist description. I think Obama is on the other side of a possible realignment that E seems to have his finger on.
I also don't know if "it all starts in the 60s". The threads of history or so tangled it's hard to make the argument quite as succinct as that but still... I think the kid has a point.
Here's the deal. Call them what you will but "religious conservatives" in the Republican party and "economic populists" among the Democrats constitute what I perceive to be real political "center" in America. The next few election cycles may bring about a major realignment where you see the emergence of something very like a New Deal/Religious Right coalition on one side and a Wall Street Imperialist/Yuppie Left coalition on the other side. I think there are signs of this in both parties for various reasons. But it all comes down to class.
What makes it hard to see in this election is the continued ascendancy of consensus elites like Obama and McCain and the rest of the Broderite Unity '08 crowd.
But there is a storm brewing out there. You can see it in the appeal of Democrats like Jim Webb, a little bit in John Edwards's late populist pose, and yes, in the Huckabee insurgency... and a little bit in the Paultards...although I think they are a special case since they are an unholy blend of Right wing nuts and Yuppie douchebags. But I think you'll see all sorts of unlikely pairings in this vein before things begin to coalesce.
It's going to be a very interesting next decade or so. How much longer until we're rid of Bush?
As Obama and Edwards have won big big big with the rhetoric of change and promises to buck the old way of the Democratic Party, Huckabee has represents an anti-establishment Republican. His charisma is remarkably Obama-like. He's young, he's an outsider. For grassroots Republicans, he's clearly disconnected from a presidential administration and republican mainstream that has sandbagged party popularity for the upcoming race and stabbed evangelicals in the back by failing to produce results on any number of social issues. This makes, for grassroots Republicans, Huckabee just as "electable" in a general election as a Rudy Giuliani or a Mitt Romney or a John McCain.
Okay he's more than half right... but he still has to ditch that Obama-as-grassroots-populist description. I think Obama is on the other side of a possible realignment that E seems to have his finger on.
I also don't know if "it all starts in the 60s". The threads of history or so tangled it's hard to make the argument quite as succinct as that but still... I think the kid has a point.
Here's the deal. Call them what you will but "religious conservatives" in the Republican party and "economic populists" among the Democrats constitute what I perceive to be real political "center" in America. The next few election cycles may bring about a major realignment where you see the emergence of something very like a New Deal/Religious Right coalition on one side and a Wall Street Imperialist/Yuppie Left coalition on the other side. I think there are signs of this in both parties for various reasons. But it all comes down to class.
What makes it hard to see in this election is the continued ascendancy of consensus elites like Obama and McCain and the rest of the Broderite Unity '08 crowd.
But there is a storm brewing out there. You can see it in the appeal of Democrats like Jim Webb, a little bit in John Edwards's late populist pose, and yes, in the Huckabee insurgency... and a little bit in the Paultards...although I think they are a special case since they are an unholy blend of Right wing nuts and Yuppie douchebags. But I think you'll see all sorts of unlikely pairings in this vein before things begin to coalesce.
It's going to be a very interesting next decade or so. How much longer until we're rid of Bush?
Counting "Change"
Geeky Political Map Porn
Thursday, January 03, 2008
These are mixed results
I'm glad to see Hillary 3rd, but I can't make myself believe that this is a good result overall because she's only marginally in third and this kind of a finish damages Edwards much more than it does her.
Obama is in first in Iowa by a large margin. I do not believe that Obama will be the nominee so it doesn't really matter to me what he does outside of how it affects the dynamics of stopping Hillary which, in my mind, is really what this primary is all about.
If... by some unlikely chance... Barrack Obama were to win the nomination, it would mean that the Democratic party is mildly interested in making some very superficial move in the right direction. But I would like the party I will probably vote for to give me more Audacious things to Hope for than mild superficial non-changes.
But, again, Obama will not be the nominee so someone else has to be. And if the only other viable candidates are Hillary and a now damaged Edwards, well I'm not very Hopeful. But still, it's nice to see Hillary in 3rd.
On the GOP side this is probably a race between Huckabee and McCain. McCain has a slight advantage because he has the establishment money and media behind him... but I still think people are consistently underestimating Huckabee.
Plus, if Huckabee is the GOP nominee, I guarantee you a win in the general... particularly over Hillary or the (unlikely) Obama.
Remember... I am very very likely to be wrong about all of this. For example, I seem to have called this caucus incorrectly... at least on the Dem side.
Obama is in first in Iowa by a large margin. I do not believe that Obama will be the nominee so it doesn't really matter to me what he does outside of how it affects the dynamics of stopping Hillary which, in my mind, is really what this primary is all about.
If... by some unlikely chance... Barrack Obama were to win the nomination, it would mean that the Democratic party is mildly interested in making some very superficial move in the right direction. But I would like the party I will probably vote for to give me more Audacious things to Hope for than mild superficial non-changes.
But, again, Obama will not be the nominee so someone else has to be. And if the only other viable candidates are Hillary and a now damaged Edwards, well I'm not very Hopeful. But still, it's nice to see Hillary in 3rd.
On the GOP side this is probably a race between Huckabee and McCain. McCain has a slight advantage because he has the establishment money and media behind him... but I still think people are consistently underestimating Huckabee.
Plus, if Huckabee is the GOP nominee, I guarantee you a win in the general... particularly over Hillary or the (unlikely) Obama.
Remember... I am very very likely to be wrong about all of this. For example, I seem to have called this caucus incorrectly... at least on the Dem side.
All Handicapping All Day All The Time
E chimes in
He's got Hillary 3rd... which makes me happy but I'm still not buying it yet.
Also, here's when you know you have a problem. An old friend you haven't seen in five years and haven't heard from in three suddenly calls to say she's in town and wants to hang out and a little tiny part of you thinks, "But I might miss some of the Iowa Caucus coverage on C-Span". That's when you know you have a problem.
Update: SL also has Hillary 3rd. My, the imaginary results are going quite well so far.
He's got Hillary 3rd... which makes me happy but I'm still not buying it yet.
Also, here's when you know you have a problem. An old friend you haven't seen in five years and haven't heard from in three suddenly calls to say she's in town and wants to hang out and a little tiny part of you thinks, "But I might miss some of the Iowa Caucus coverage on C-Span". That's when you know you have a problem.
Update: SL also has Hillary 3rd. My, the imaginary results are going quite well so far.
Labels: 2008, politics, predictions
T-P Jindal Family Scrapbook
Is it really the paper's job to publish the Governor's family scrapbook on the front page of multiple editions? Isn't it more their job to cover his administration and its policies... and maybe, if we're lucky, do so with at least some professional skepticism?
Labels: Bobby Jindal, Louisiana, media, Times-Picayune
What Atrios Said
All handicapping all day
Adrastos has some picks up.
So does Rolling Stone.
And Greg Saunders who writes:
My God, is there any actual news to report on today? According to the Times-Pic, apparently not.
So does Rolling Stone.
And Greg Saunders who writes:
On the Republican side, I think Ron Paul is going to win because he’s the only candidate that cares about the constitution and freedom. Also, his supporters rented him a blimp.
Okay, let’s try this again…
My God, is there any actual news to report on today? According to the Times-Pic, apparently not.
Labels: 2008, politics, predictions, Times-Picayune
Typical
It's Caucus Day and my home internets are suddenly not working.
Also, why do all the crazies go to Hillary HQ? (The ones who don't work there, I mean)
Also, why do all the crazies go to Hillary HQ? (The ones who don't work there, I mean)
Labels: 2008, internets, politics
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Caucus Eve
Here's what I think FWIW
Dems:
GOP:
Just a hunch.
Dems:
- Edwards
- Clinton
- Obama
GOP:
- Huckabee
- Romney
- McCain
Just a hunch.
Labels: 2008, politics, predictions
Something Less Useful
Kucinich strategically backing Obama
Without this "urging" on the part of the candidate that his supporters make Obama their "second choice" at the Iowa caucuses, one imagines much of that support would have gone to John Edwards.
This could make the Democratic Iowa results much more predictable and boring than we would have hoped.
Without this "urging" on the part of the candidate that his supporters make Obama their "second choice" at the Iowa caucuses, one imagines much of that support would have gone to John Edwards.
This could make the Democratic Iowa results much more predictable and boring than we would have hoped.
Labels: 2008, Barack Obama, John Edwards, politics
What, no Taco Trucks?
The Jefferson Parish exercise in anti-Carnival paranoia known as "Family Gras" (literally Fat Family) announced its improved menu for 2008.
I hope all of these vendors meet with the exacting aesthetic standards required by Jefferson Parish law.
I hope all of these vendors meet with the exacting aesthetic standards required by Jefferson Parish law.
Labels: Mardi Gras, suburbia
Something Useful
I make a lot of fun of Ron Paul and his wacky supporters here because I think he is an awful person in general and a humorous candidate around which to build a rEVOLution (whatever that means).
But make no mistake, I expect the Paul candidacy to do some very entertaining and useful things during this election season... the first of which might be blunting the John McCain comeback in Iowa.
Note: If the GOP Iowa finish is Huckabee- Romney-Paul, that's a win-place-show finish by two guys who "reject evolution as a theory" and one who may or may not reject whatever you may or may not ask him to reject provided you approve of his magic underwear. Those are some very exciting Republican candidates!
But make no mistake, I expect the Paul candidacy to do some very entertaining and useful things during this election season... the first of which might be blunting the John McCain comeback in Iowa.
Note: If the GOP Iowa finish is Huckabee- Romney-Paul, that's a win-place-show finish by two guys who "reject evolution as a theory" and one who may or may not reject whatever you may or may not ask him to reject provided you approve of his magic underwear. Those are some very exciting Republican candidates!
Labels: 2008, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, politics, Ron Paul
Here's a rarity for you
Back in Early September, an exquisitely improbable event in Yellow Blogging occurred. I correctly predicted something.
We should probably take a closer look at this. Not only because the staggering unlikely event of a Yellow-blogging prediction coming to pass in reality demands further examination, but also because the holidays have led us to neglect our football commentary over the past few weeks and it's better to just blow it all out now so we can begin 2008 with a clearer conscience.
And so now, a look back at the 2007 Saints: (There are photos. Most of them are stolen, as always, from NOLA.com)
This offseason, we'd like to see a few things happen. First, if Reggie Bush has to come back, perhaps he'll work on dating fewer C-list celebrities this summer and start watching film of former Brown-Falcon-Charger Eric Metcalf. Metcalf entered the league as a running back. But his slim body and finesse running style suited him more to the receiver position as a pro where he excelled after making the move. Bush has similar talents to Metcalf and has already demonstrated that he contributes the most to the Saints' offense when lined up as a wideout. If Pierre Thomas is going to get more playing time, and especially if Deuce can come back at all, Coach Soupy should consider making this move.
Speaking of Soupy, the best advice we can offer the coach in 2008 is calm the fuck down before you kill any more Grandmas. Payton's tendency to prioritize the cute over the effective in his play calling cost the Saints at various crucial moments this year, most famously the final moments of the pivotal home game against Tampa. Payton's unnecessary aggressiveness also led him into questionable decisions to go for it on fourth down late in the Bears game and at the start of the third quarter on the goal line vs the Eagles. In each of these circumstances a field goal would have had a beneficial impact on the game. In the Philly game, the goal line stand may have been the deciding moment. Soupy strikes me as smarter than a lot of the cretins who populate the coaching profession. But he could still benefit from a bit more even-headedness in crucial game situations.
Finally, Saints fans need not despair. As I've stated repeatedly throughout this season, there is no reason to panic. The 2007 Saints lost two more games than they won this year. They weren't a great team. They weren't even a winning team. But they certainly had their moments. Besides, if you honestly only find the experience rewarding when your team wins, are you sure you're going about this sports fan business correctly in the first place?
With only one obvious exception that I can think of, this was a team made up of players who you genuinely like to pull for. As long as you still have the opportunity to do so, and as long as they still wear your Fleur-De-Lis, there really isn't any reason not to come back next year and watch this bunch (plus or minus a few "marquee" free agents) win another 7 or 8 games.
But for now, it's Carnival Time. Until next year, try not to Cease to Love.
Given all of this, it seems likely the Saints can play every bit as well this season as they did last year and still finish with something like only 7, 8 or 9 wins. And factoring in the fact that the kicker sucks, I'll have to err on the down side of that and say we're looking at a very exciting, but somewhat disappointing 7-9 in 2007.
We should probably take a closer look at this. Not only because the staggering unlikely event of a Yellow-blogging prediction coming to pass in reality demands further examination, but also because the holidays have led us to neglect our football commentary over the past few weeks and it's better to just blow it all out now so we can begin 2008 with a clearer conscience.
And so now, a look back at the 2007 Saints: (There are photos. Most of them are stolen, as always, from NOLA.com)
- The season finale in Chicago actually began on a high note. We caught this one while taking advantage of the free Indian buffet provided by Nirvana to the patrons of the Rendezvous Tavern on Magazine Street. As the Saints emerged from the tunnel, I exclaimed over my plate of chicken, "Alright here come the gold pants!" At that same moment, the bar broke out in applause over the Saints' entrance. But I like to think they were applauding the pants. As well they should have been.
This season, five of the Saints' seven wins came while properly panted in their traditional gold. The Saints managed two wins in the black bicycle leggings although one of those wins was against the Jacksonville Jaguars who themselves sport a similar inappropriate black pant causing us to declare that game a pants push. This means that the 2007 Saints were a respectable 5-3 in gold pants and 1-6 in the black pants (minus the disqualified Jacksonville game).
Rumor has it that next year the Saints are due for some sort of uniform redesign. While we are hoping for a pleasant outcome, we are not optimistic. The Saints' basic uniform is one of the more classic and understated looks in professional sports with none of the offending swoops, body-length stripes, or superfluous teal we see so much of nowadays. There are so many ways they can mess this up. We already know what doesn't work.
When your Saints dejectedly trudge off the field, you want them to do so in a dignified uniform. Please don't screw this up next year. - Key stat of the 2007 season:
Reggie Bush 157 rushing attempts 581 yards (3.7 yds per carry) 4 touchdowns 8 fumbles
Not Reggie 191 attempts 792 yards (4.1 yds per carry) 6 touchdowns 2 fumbles
Against Chicago, Pierre Thomas alone had 105 yards rushing plus 121 yards receiving and a touchdown. Thomas and Aaron Stecker were the only Saints to go over 100 yards rushing in a game in 2007. Deuce McAllister was the best football player on the team in 2006. Any of these individuals is a far preferable backfield presence than the Reggie Bush twist, hop, and dive-for-the-sideline show.
Key stat of the 2007 season (1-A):
Mario Williams (Houston Texans): 59 Tackles 14 Sacks 2 Forced Fumbles 1 Touchdown.
You may continue sending your Thanks to Houston for selecting Williams one pick ahead of Bush if you are so inclined. Meanwhile, the rest of us are wondering if Bush is even worth a fourth round pick at this point.
Not Reggie appears to flo more freely than Reggie anyway - The Saints' defense could have used a defender of Williams's caliber. At its best this season, the Saints' D managed to appear to be more than the sum of its parts. Despite a stretch of eight consecutive games without surrendering a 100 yard game, the Saints still managed to finish a rather average 13th against the run. Against the pass, they were downright terrible.
The Saints gave up an average of 245 yards per game through the air placing them 30th out of 32 teams. Despite carrying two highly regarded and well-paid defensive ends in the starting line-up, the defense could never get a consistent pass-rush going. They totaled only 32 sacks as a team. Will Smith (7) and Charles Grant (2.5) combined for fewer sacks than Houston's Mario Williams racked up on his own. Things seemed to improve marginally on the few occasions when Brian Young was on the field and healthy, but it's obvious that the declining and fragile Young isn't the answer there either. I'd be surprised if he's back next year at all.
Where's the QB? Saints defenders had difficulty getting to the opposing passer all season long.
But it isn't just the line that's a problem here. At the end of last season, we remarked that the Saints' best linebacker and fan favorite, Scott Fujita would likely be a third or fourth guy on a decent roster. With this team, he's the leader. During the offseason, the Saints tried to upgrade this position signing free agents Dhani Jones and Brian Simmons. Neither could unseat Mark Simoneau or Scott Shanle as starters. Jones didn't even make the team. And so the Saints face another offseason of trying to plug the same hole they failed to plug this year.
The secondary was a mixed bag. Unfortunately the bad bits in that bag were really really bad. Roman Harper looks like he'll be around for a while. Harper is a versatile player who tackles well in run support and... unlike most of the D-line... creates pressure on the quarterback in blitz situations (his 4 sacks were better than Charles Grant's 2.5). Harper was second on the team in total tackles with 90 (only five behind Fujita). He's not the fastest guy, and we'd like to see him make a few more picks but he may get there yet.
Mike McKenzie had his best year as a Saint. Sure he only picked off 3 passes, but he brought two of them back for touchdowns. His score vs Jacksonville was the deciding play in that game. The bad news for McKenzie is that he doesn't have much time to recover from what looks like a pretty bad knee injury he suffered not recovering a Donovan Mcnabb fumble on a typically Saints-ish play early in the Philly game which resulted in both a devastating injury and a painfully stupid touchdown.
McKenzie can't believe what just happened despite having lived through four seasons as a Saint
When safety Josh "Never Mind The" Bullocks missed the Arizona game with an injury, Kevin Kaesviharn filled in so well that many fans figured him to have earned a starting role. But no, Bullocks was right back in there the next week and went on to have two particularly poor games.
Opposing quarterbacks combined for a 96.9 passer rating vs the Saints' defense. No other NFL defense was worse in 2007. Everything listed above contributed to this ignominious distinction. Well, all of that and one more thing... - Good Jason David: David, the Saints' marquee free agent acquisition of 2007, was good enough to save his best performance of the season for the final week against Chicago. In that game, David, surprisingly, was not seen falling down or peeking into the backfield or trailing behind opposing receivers as they streaked toward the end-zone. In the fourth quarter, David even made an interception that could have gotten the Saints back in the game were it not for subsequent unnecessary bravado from Coach Soupy.
Bad Jason David: Well there certainly was a lot of that. The Saints' marquee free agent acquisition of the offseason was a spectacular joke right from the very first game in Indianapolis where David was repeatedly humiliated by Colts receivers. In that game David alone surrendered 147 yards and three touchdowns. It was the first of many such disastrous performances for David who, over the course of 2007, developed from shameful disappointment to reliable scapegoat before finally attaining the status of supreme absurdist humor goldmine.
The ultimate punchline in the ongoing Jason David joke is that with McKenzie battling a career-threatening injury, David goes into 2008 as the Saints' most reliable starting corner. Obviously, this position will receive attention during the free-agency period and the draft. Let's hope it does not again receive the "marquee" attention it received last offseason.
Jason David. It only took him 16 games to figure it out. - I tend to be hyper-critical of Drew Brees. He had one of his bad games against Chicago where he often threw behind open receivers with occasional disastrous results. But it isn't necessary to harp on this because everyone knows that Brees is not the problem with this team.
In 2007 Drew Brees set an NFL record for number of passes completed in a season (440). He set team records for touchdown passes (28) completion percentage (67.5) and for passing yardage (4,423). But it's not the numbers that tell the tale of Drew Brees's performance in his two years as a Saint. Brees is not the biggest, strongest, or fastest of NFL quarterbacks but he is among the most efficient. When he makes occasional mistakes, they usually come in the form of slightly inaccurate passes. But we can live with that as long as he continues to display the excellent decision making skills and pocket presence that have kept this offense from falling apart the way it might have under less steady leadership.
At 28 Drew Brees is in the prime of his career. If the Saints find the right talent mix to put around him, and if his arm remains attached to his shoulder, there's no reason to believe he can't be a championship quarterback. But there's a lot of work to be done elsewhere.
The one-armed man is good enough to get it done... if he can keep that one arm from taking too many hits like this - One thing that needs to happen is the Saints need to have a better draft in 2008. Midway through the Eagles game, Brees had a pass batted back into his hands for a completed pass to himself. It was the second such play this season. Jim Henderson pointed out over the WWL broadcast that this means the Quarterback now has 2 more pass receptions than the receiver taken with the team's number one draft pick. That shouldn't happen.
- Uh oh the kicker sucked. How badly did that hurt? It may have been the factor that kept the Saints out of the playoffs. Observe.
In a comment below the Colts recap, Leo suggested that a missed kick at a crucial moment in that game helped swing the momentum in Indianapolis's favor. I observed a similar moment in the following game at Tampa Bay. Since both of those games were blowouts we'll count them as partial-kicker losses.
Mare's bumbling clearly cost the Saints the first Carolina game giving rise to speculation that he might be replaced. Instead, he survived long enough to badly injure himself at Atlanta allowing Saints fans to finally enjoy some kicking that didn't suck courtesy of Martin Gramatica and his amusing hair.
Gramatica contemplates his choices in hair care products... before deciding to simply buy more Soul Glo
Now, if we count the two partial losses together as one, we could conclude that the kicking suckery made a win-loss difference of two games this year. Give the Saints those two games and they're in the playoffs.
But it's probably only reasonable to count the Carolina game as a kicking loss. Even then, this means that not only was my predicted number of wins on the mark, but also my specific reasoning for going with 7 instead of 8 or 9 wins was spot on as well. This should really freak you out.
This offseason, we'd like to see a few things happen. First, if Reggie Bush has to come back, perhaps he'll work on dating fewer C-list celebrities this summer and start watching film of former Brown-Falcon-Charger Eric Metcalf. Metcalf entered the league as a running back. But his slim body and finesse running style suited him more to the receiver position as a pro where he excelled after making the move. Bush has similar talents to Metcalf and has already demonstrated that he contributes the most to the Saints' offense when lined up as a wideout. If Pierre Thomas is going to get more playing time, and especially if Deuce can come back at all, Coach Soupy should consider making this move.
Speaking of Soupy, the best advice we can offer the coach in 2008 is calm the fuck down before you kill any more Grandmas. Payton's tendency to prioritize the cute over the effective in his play calling cost the Saints at various crucial moments this year, most famously the final moments of the pivotal home game against Tampa. Payton's unnecessary aggressiveness also led him into questionable decisions to go for it on fourth down late in the Bears game and at the start of the third quarter on the goal line vs the Eagles. In each of these circumstances a field goal would have had a beneficial impact on the game. In the Philly game, the goal line stand may have been the deciding moment. Soupy strikes me as smarter than a lot of the cretins who populate the coaching profession. But he could still benefit from a bit more even-headedness in crucial game situations.
Finally, Saints fans need not despair. As I've stated repeatedly throughout this season, there is no reason to panic. The 2007 Saints lost two more games than they won this year. They weren't a great team. They weren't even a winning team. But they certainly had their moments. Besides, if you honestly only find the experience rewarding when your team wins, are you sure you're going about this sports fan business correctly in the first place?
With only one obvious exception that I can think of, this was a team made up of players who you genuinely like to pull for. As long as you still have the opportunity to do so, and as long as they still wear your Fleur-De-Lis, there really isn't any reason not to come back next year and watch this bunch (plus or minus a few "marquee" free agents) win another 7 or 8 games.
But for now, it's Carnival Time. Until next year, try not to Cease to Love.
Do you remember?
Remember those first few months after the flood when some of us correctly surmised that the city was likely to act in bad faith towards residents seeking to return until such time that the results of this neglect would provide a rationale for bulldozing vast tracts of neighborhoods?
Remember how silly some people thought that sounded?
It seems very far-fetched now.
Remember how silly some people thought that sounded?
It seems very far-fetched now.
Labels: demolitions, New Orleans
With all that money...
...just think of how much evolution you could deny. Hell you might even be able to get the existence of primates written out of the science books altogether.
Labels: 2008, politics, Ron Paul
Ding! New Word for the New Year
Cheesemonger
This increases to three the number of things I can name which are commonly "monged" rather than sold.
The other two are fish and whores.
This increases to three the number of things I can name which are commonly "monged" rather than sold.
The other two are fish and whores.
Let's hope it's a good one
In which nobody knocks your house down
I sure hope the condos are still okay.
I sure hope the condos are still okay.
Labels: demolitions, housing, New Orleans
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Hopefully and Audaciously
Go Dawgs
Hawaii has become the darling of the local media. That irks me.
Also, enough with this Haka bullcrap. It's either incredibly unsportsmanlike or incredibly gay.
Either way it doesn't belong in football.
Also, enough with this Haka bullcrap. It's either incredibly unsportsmanlike or incredibly gay.
Either way it doesn't belong in football.
Labels: sports, Sugar Bowl
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