I spent Thursday working on a grant application, asking for money to do a little something something with the artists I’m working with on a project that takes shape as it moves–my favorite kind. After getting a draft out to the co-conspirators I took the rest of the day off, hopping on the bike and heading down the hill to Harbor East to catch a movie. As I waited to cross Fayette from that tiny road between the church and the Brutalist postal office, one of the turning cars in the far lane stopped and waved me and a pedestrian across. I appreciate that kind of sharing, but as other cars backed up and started honking, I let it get to me and got off the road altogether, walking my bike across the cobblestones surrounding Shot Tower. Continue reading
movies and TV
Fan at the Top of the Stairs Crossing President at Fayette
It was another surprisingly cool and totally perfect late summer day (I can’t say “fall” yet–too real), so after a lazy morning I hopped on the bike and headed down the hill to Little Italy to take in a second day of fried dough–I mean the Feast of St. Gabriel. I’d been down the day before with N. and R. in a car, if you can believe that. Guess what? Way easier on the bike, though having those two to share the fried dough was a wise move. I locked up to a street sign next to the heavy police presence called for at events like this, apparently. I got my fried dough, ate it too quickly over Bingo, and slugged down their specialty cocktail, my blood finally running at full-sugar. That didn’t stop me from eating some of N.’s candy at the movie, however. Continue reading
Ken Burns at Loyola’s Nunemaker Auditorium
I love Ken Burns. Or, rather, I love his documentary films. I started watching them last summer, and they are just so good. I know the critiques: he is all nostalgia and no politics; he pretends to tell full histories, but he leaves out vital voices; he romanticizes the Confederacy, letting that reunionist Shelby Foote be the expert. The list goes on, but I am not really interested in that particular brand of cynicism when it comes to his films. Continue reading
Super Fresh Meat Market at 2nd & Danneel
Today was the last day of the Patois Film Fest, so I hopped on my bike early and headed to Zeitgeist for a full afternoon of movies. It was a ridiculously pretty day, and it was a bit hard to swallow to go into the dark, but it was totally worth it. My favorite was the last film, Cafeteria Man, a movie about Tony Geraci and his fight to change the Baltimore city school system’s cafeterias. Continue reading
A Frog in an Uptown Yard
It was blustery today–New Orleans hill training–so I spent my commute playing with gears and working to stay upright. In commuting news, that abandoned vehicle is still there with its warning sticker, and I wouldn’t be surprised to pass it for many weeks. That deep pothole on the downtown side of St. Charles right before Napoleon is just getting deeper. Continue reading
Robert King, Vadim Jean, & Emily Maw on Stage at Warren Easton High
Tonight’s ride took me over to Warren Easton High for tonight’s screening of In the Land of the Free as part of the Patois Film Festival. I was on for selling tickets, so I got there early and looked for a bike rack. I asked that kid with the trombone who was goofing around outside, waiting for his ride, if there were any bike racks. Continue reading
Empty Seats at the Audubon Aquarium IMAX Theater
I had the day free and I happily spent it playing hooky. I rode my bike downtown to a doctor’s appointment and then to the gym where I lazily lifted some weights and thought about what to eat for lunch. I went for a burrito and a beer, it being Thursday and all, before taking the bike to the aquarium. Continue reading
Greyhound Bus Station at Loyola and Pontchartrain Expressway
I was pretty tired from yesterday’s bike ride, but after taking Rhoda up to campus for some work this morning, I got excited to get back on the new bike for another zippy ride, this time downtown to meet D. to head over to Warren Easton High School for opening night of the Patois Film Fest and the documentary film Freedom Riders. I thought I was racing D. on my bike, her in her Mini Cooper, but she informed me that I was the only one racing–not the first time I’ve heard that one. Continue reading
Extras Restaging a Parade at Chartres and Kerlerec
Yes, Mardi Gras is over, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a parade today. Can I just say I’m totally over parades right now? But this was a recreation of the Krewe du Vieux parade in 2006, right after Katrina and the broken levees, and they were paying me $100 to pretend to not be over parades, so I hopped on the bike and headed down to Washington Square Park to hurry up and wait. Continue reading
Adjusting the Lighting For a Movie on Frenchman Street
I have a cold, which sucks, especially when it’s cold out. I couldn’t really breathe through the sinus pressure yesterday, so I decided to just rest. But today I wanted to get back on the bike, so I hopped on Rhoda and rode down to the CBD to complete a car-related errand and then to the Marigny for coffee and reading-for-pleasure. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 