Plumb to Jesus

Spotted this morning in Gentilly

Bandit signs

Aren't we in the process of removing Confederate monuments from display on the grounds that they are "public nuisances"? So what gives with this?

St. Charles Avenue is festooned with a variety of banners flapping from the city-owned lampposts along the 70-block-long neutral ground.

But the colorful flags promoting Loyola University’s latest fund drive, the services at Touro Infirmary, the anniversaries of local businesses and numerous other events and commemorations have been joined recently by banners with a more pointed message: 5-foot-tall images of a fetus and anti-abortion statements.

The campaign, sponsored by the Louisiana Right to Life Federation and New Orleans Right to Life, has raised questions about the propriety of using city property for political messaging.

Bipartisan signage

Y'all might have noticed these popping up around town during the campaign's final week.



I don't know who printed these. One assumes the campaign did but it could also have been one of the PACs. Here is an interview with GumboPAC's Trey Ourso discussing his organization's role in the election this year. 

NOLA.com: What ads did you produce that you thought were most successful?

Ourso: Looking back on it, the ad that really helped a lot was the one with (Republican primary candidates Jay) Dardenne and (Scott) Angelle where we took the clips of him from the debates. If you look at all of our commercials, we were speaking to the Angelle-Dardenne supporters. We weren't necessarily trying to appeal to the Vitter supporters, nor did we have to persuade the Edwards supporters. We knew if we could get a high percentage of Dardenne-Angelle supporters, we'd be in good shape.

That particular commercial, I think we launched it the Tuesday after the primary -- so about four days later -- I think in our mind it froze the race. It gave those folks who had voted for either Scott Angelle or Jay Dardenne a moment's pause to remember why they didn't vote for David Vitter and also give them permission not to vote for him" in the runoff election.

Clearly that appeal was effective.  Angelle's obvious antipathy toward Vitter plus Darenne's official endorsement plus just the runaway results of the election themselves demonstrate that there clearly were a large number of "Republicans for Edwards" in this election.

I'm less certain about these "Democrats for Landry" though.



It's hard to imagine a whole lot of people who still call themselves Democrats in Louisiana getting behind a Tea Party type for Attorney General.  At least we know where the signs came from.



That's the Landry campaign.  You can put just about any affiliation you would like on a sign. Once upon a time down-ticket candidates even tried to fool you into associating them with President Obama. Like, on purpose, they would do this. Seems like forever ago now.



Update: Regarding "Democrats for Landry" I was just informed/reminded by the tweeters of a few interesting points. Democratic also-ran Geri Baloney endoresed Landry during the runoff.

Baloney told the Press Club of Baton Rouge that she’s backing Landry because he wants to change the way the Attorney General’s Office does business.

“I truly believe that Louisiana cannot take another (four) years of Buddy Caldwell’s bad practices and policies,” she said.

“Geri and I both know the Attorney General’s Office under Buddy Caldwell has been about rewarding the desires of a few, over the needs of the many,” Landry said.

Uh huh.  Somebody's needs were met, anyway.

Also these sometime Democratic-aligned ministers. 

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Ministerial Alliance expressed its support for Jeff Landry for Louisiana Attorney General by issuing the following statement:

 “After reflecting on Buddy Caldwell's record over his past two terms as Attorney General, it is abundantly clear that his tenure has not, is not, and will not be in the best interest of the African-American community. He has done nothing to eliminate the school to prison pipeline. He has done nothing to protect disadvantaged businesses from scams or fraud. He has done nothing to uplift the least among us.

Prominent among these ministers voicing concern for the underprivileged here.. our old friend Leonard Lucas.  
 

Pet peeve

Not the biggest deal on Earth but this Lens op-ed struck a bit of a chord with me.

A decade or so ago, around the time we bought a little Pekingese puppy, I began noticing the birth of an increasingly powerful movement that I’m still trying to wrap my head around: the pooper troopers.

I’d feel their cold stares as I walked my dog. Somehow, while my head was turned, they had infiltrated the social and cultural consciousness of America. Under their watchful eyes and the movement’s fluttering banner (a plastic grocery bag), it had become politically incorrect, anti-social, downright disgusting, filthy and even criminal not to scoop your mutt’s poop.

I gave the matter deep thought. What is the purpose, I asked myself.

Aside from the obvious absurdity of wrapping biodegradable mass in unnecessary plastic, there's something psychologically weird about the dogshit obsession.  It's another sign that the city is becoming, literally, anal about stupid stuff.

Even so, despite the ascendancy of the scooping fetish, I somehow manage to step in it as often as I ever have.  (Seriously, ask Menckles. This happens to me so frequently that she jokes I must be doing it on purpose.) And, yet... you know... shit happens.

On the other hand, anti-poop fad has made for some interesting signage around town.  Here are some that I've noticed in recent years.

There's the simple approach.



That sign is from January 2006.  At this time, there were still flooded cars, downed traffic signals, and various other forms of debris and flotsam everywhere.  But someone decided dogshit was the real barrier to tidiness. The masking tape and plain paper approach was in keeping with the post-K DIY aesthetic.

This one is the polar opposite.



Very classy from 2008.   In the Garden District, of course.

You can get other sorts of professionally made dogshit signs too. Here's a cute little number I noticed on Napoleon Avenue a few years ago.



This one is even simpler.  Graphic, rather than language based.



Then there is the more official signage.  Or, at least, signage designed to look official. Like this one in the Marigny from 2006.



Is it really a $100 fine?  Who enforces that?

Here is an official sign at the gateway to the Crescent Park.  It's only been there a year or so at the most and already someone has embellished the message a bit.



Whoah.. I really wonder who might be responsible for enforcing that one.

The best dogshit signs, though, are the homemade ones.  Here is one I noticed during Mardi Gras 2009.  It's meant to be read at poop's eye level.



And then there's this one right around the corner from 45 Tchoup.



At first I thought the misspelling was cute.  But, when I noticed another one just like it, I realized it was an affectation and it became annoying all over again.  Kind of like the whole poop-scooping concern itself.

Adorable little signs

These little vertical signs are the fashionable thing this year for whatever reason.  Every neutral ground looks like a daintily decorated cupcake.

Hot and cold running llama faucet ahead

Hope you guys got plenty llamas on tap

What are you trying to say?

Found this on my windshield yesterday. Not going into that good night just yet.

And they're off

Qualifying ended just this past Friday. Candidates in municipal elections sure haven't wasted any time getting their signs up in time for your morning commute. These were all up along Broad St and St. Bernard Avenue Monday morning.







Not to be outdone by any of these people, Mitch Landrieu launched his first TV ad Sunday afternoon at the end of the first quarter of Saints-Rams game. The Saints at that point were trailing 0-14 thanks to two Drew Brees interceptions and some exceptionally poor tackling on defense.  Things would only go downhill from there. Not exactly the opportune moment to pop in with a, "This Quarter Of Saints Football Sponsored By Mitch Landrieu For Mayor" but it's a risk you run when you buy that slot. Well, that and the risk that voters will think you are running against Ronnie Lamarque.

It didn't help matters that Mitch's ad did something Saints fans have been screaming for the networks who carry Saints games to stop doing since before Landrieu even took office. It leaned heavily on imagery from the post-Katrina flooding of New Orleans.

Set to a gospel version of the last stanza of Bob Dylan's "Pressing On," the one-minute ad juxtaposes photos of inundated landmarks and neighborhoods, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, with their stages of recovery today. There are no spoken words, but it ends with the words "Let's Keep It Going" and Landrieu's mantra of "One Team" flashing on the screen.

The good news about this spot is that it is ripe for parody. 

One can imagine an ad set to "Ain't Dere No More" where people hold up photos of what used to be wherever all the new Walgreens and Dollar Stores are. 

Or we could hold up a photo of some musicians on a corner in front of that same corner where a code enforcement officer waives a decibel meter at us.

Or we could stand on Jackson Avenue and hold up the asking price of the Da Fresh Seafood Market.

But late last week, The Lens found the store shuttered and posted with “for sale” signs. The 1,000 square-foot building is on the market for $339,000.

In August 2012, the Fresh Food Retail Initiative loaned Kariker $117,000 — $17,550 of which was forgivable, according to the mortgage — to open DaFresh Seafood.

The store was the first beneficiary of the program, which has since loaned more than $2 million for projects including a Whole Foods in Mid-City and the reopening of the Circle Food Store in the Seventh Ward.

FFRI is a grant program designed to bring grocers into so-called "food deserts"; poorer neighborhoods without ready access to fresh healthy groceries. In practice, it's turning out to be just seed money for real estate flipping.

Or maybe we could shoot one in the Quarter where we hold a photo of Brennan's in front of a photo of a shuttered Brennan's in front of another photo of Brennan's while unpaid Brennan's employees wait patiently in the background.

That one is my favorite. More than any of these other images, in illustrates the static economic, social and political hierarchy of the city despite its many celebrated but superficial "signs of progress."

And I thought we only couldn't afford "C" and "I" anymore

Now we can't even afford whole words.

Head said she followed up Sept. 30 with each person who reported a missing sign to track the city's progress and was not happy with the results.

More than 45 percent of the signs had not been repaired or replaced compared to 28.4 percent that had been replaced. She said 25.9 percent of the people failed to respond to the update request.

"Constituents believe that Council members in some way have meaning in this city and we worked really hard to try to get the list of street signs and to try to help y'all do your job," Head said to Jernigan. " I am embarrassed that that diligence resulted in such abysmal failure on my part. I don't understand what happened and I think it's completely inexcusable."

The city has installed 8,200 signs this year including 2,700 street signs and is committed to installing an additional 300 street signs by the end of the year, Jernigan said.

The proposed 2014 budget would decrease the money for the city's traffic sign shop to $204,238 from $269,531.

Keeping it poper

I spotted this sign in the window at the Balcony Bar on Magazine Street yesterday. It has several interesting features.



The bar itself has undergone a significant transformation over the past year or so. They've taken all of the pool tables out and added some booths. Another sign in this window says they're now closing at 10:00 PM (!) on Fridays and Saturdays which seems incredibly strange to me. So much so, in fact, that I need to go check on this in person.

Anyway that little stretch of Magazine is constantly re-inventing itself.  In recent years the most notable change has been the Rue De La Course and the Puccino's coffee shops on either side of the street have become restaurants.  The coffee houses tended to stay open late. The restaurants don't. The Bulldog and the Rendezvous are still open nearby, of course. But the crowd each caters to is.. well, they don't have to be too anxious about im-poper attire very often.

None of this is particularly important except that this used to be a corner where a person could spend a lazy afternoon-on-into-evening with a few cups of coffee and then cheap domestics among an.. um.. eclectic sort of crowd.  That is probably still possible to some degree but less so now.

Viva la Bandit Sign

Coke sprays bandit signs all over the Hospitality Zone

New Orleans has been virally marketed upon and is reacting... um... virulently.

Lunanola writes:

The following is a letter I sent this evening to elected officials and law enforcement; I’m tired, so it was brief and to the point.

Honorable Mayor Landrieu, Councilmembers Palmer and Clarkson, and NOPD 8th District Commander Walls:

The attached photos depict advertising associated with the NCAA Men’s Final Four event for Coca-Cola products — spray-painted on sidewalks and pavement (including flagstones) in the French Quarter and Faubourg Tremé (and perhaps other) neighborhoods in our city. I ask, is this really how we want companies to behave when our city hosts national events?

This advertising is also prohibited by a recently adopted New Orleans ordinance

I've borrowed one of her photos here. I hope that's okay.



The ordinance she cites was passed last year by city council as part of their then very heated crusade against "bandit signs"

Tighter enforcement of laws barring illegal dumping and "bandit signs" will begin in earnest in mid-September, after an amnesty period designed to get violators to tidy up. Bandit signs include placards, posters and other advertisements affixed to trees, utility poles, light fixtures, street signs and parking meters. It also includes signs displayed in parks and playgrounds or along neutral grounds.

Starting Sept. 12, the city plans to dispatch employees to "photograph, count, log, remove and dispose of bandit signs and litter," according to a news release. "Owners" of most signs will be fined $25, with signs affixed to trees garnering a $50 penalty.

It wasn't immediately clear how officials will determine culpability if a sign's origin is unclear or disputed. A law authored by City Councilwoman Stacy Head and authorized by the City Council in June states that a sign itself serves as evidence that people or entities identified on it authorized its placement and can be billed for the cost of removing it.

Exceptions to the prohibition include newspaper display boxes, signs on public property leased to private businesses, and campaign signs, which may be posted 48 hours prior to and following an election. Realtors also may post signs 24 hours before and after an open house.

Here are some examples of the sort of signage the council members may have meant to shut down with this ordinance.















Meanwhile the giant Mercedes-Benz logo installed atop the Superdome this week doesn't appear to be much of a problem. But, of course, the Benz bandit sign is an example of the "public property leased to private businesses" clause in this ordinance and thus an exception. Probably we can say the same for the Mr. Peanut bandit sign park on Simon Bolivar Avenue. But these coke ads appear to have slipped through the cracks somehow.

Probably this is by design. Coke's official response today is that they have "misinterpreted their permits" but actually guerrilla marketing campaigns like this thrive because of the controversy they generate. In this case, the ginormous Coca-Cola beverage corporation wants to be seen as a roguish outlaw much like the kids in this TV advertisement they've created here.



You see The Man doesn't want you to be creative and express your subversive enthusiasm for a global consumer product. But Coke knows you better than that and they're going to express that enthusiasm for you, Stacy Head's stodgy ordinances be damned! All they're asking is that you "open your mind" as the tagline to this ad reads... presumably by imbibing the neurotoxic artificial sweeteners in Coke Zero.

Apparently the people at NOLA.com (itself pretty much a glorified ad company) were impressed. The headline above Michelle Krupa's report on this episode currently reads "Coca-Cola sidewalk ads spark fury among French Quarter residents, New Orleans officials" but that's only after it was changed from this more congratulatory statement which I screen-captured because.. well I had a feeling there would be some editing to come.



See the ads caused a "sensation" on the popular viral mediums. In other words, mission accomplished, Coke!

All we've really learned here is that when high-profile events come to town, our city is pretty much going to get painted like a whore by advertisers whether we agree to it or not. The city leaders have already demonstrated a clear understanding of this phenomenon and are currently taking steps to ensure they aren't left out of the action next time. Once the Mayor gets his "Hospitality Zone" board up and running, this sort of thing won't be a problem since there will then be an appropriate channel through which the bribes permit fees can be distributed.

And then it's the residents who will have to go vigilante. Anybody know where to buy a bucket of gray chalk?

All you need to know about Nagin and "Some people Uptown"

Just one line from this whole stupid signage story is all you need.

The former mayor was in that number, although he was more peacemaker than protester, according to Timothy Reily, who put up the signs. Reily, who noted he was an early supporter of Nagin during his first campaign for mayor -- campaign finance reports show he gave Nagin $1,000 in January 2002 -- invited the former mayor to come inside his house. The two men had a 30-minute discussion that Reily described as "congenial."

Bandit signs

Fridays are always so lame. Not much going on so I'll be spending what's left of the morning making up a few "bandit signs" to put out later this afternoon. And then... panhandling.

Actually, so-called "bandit signs" are part of what makes New Orleans great. See below for a collection of favorites from over the years.