A federal justice report on policing in New Orleans since 2009 presents damning evidence of brutality, cop misconduct and systemic abuse of black citizens post-Katrina. The city’s jails are not far behind.
No limits to the law in NoLa
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Apr 25, 2011 -
111 comments
I'd like to welcome you all lords and ladies, gentlemen, ladies, time-ladies, time-lords, aliens and those of you in the cheap seats to a documentary produced and aired by WYES-TV New Orleans in 1986, focusing on Panopticon, the first US Doctor Who convention. (
1,
2,
3) (MLYT, in authentic multi-copy VHS fuzz-o-vision!)
[more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Apr 14, 2011 -
17 comments
"It was always about the intersection of creativity and chaos." So said Kirsha Kaechele, described at Wikipedia as an "American contemporary art curator, artist, and practitioner of sustainable architecture," of the avant-garde
Life is Art Foundation/KKProjects art happening that she carried out via Katrina flooding-devastated homes in the St. Roch area of New Orleans' Upper Ninth Ward. These homes now lie in ruins, as they did before. She owes back taxes on the homes, and city has placed tax liens worth $28,000 on two of them. While she can afford the back taxes, she says, the liens are beyond her means. A medicinal marijuana farm created to fund Life is Art failed to make enough money to fund the projects. In any case, she has spent the past five months in Tasmania with her boyfriend, professional gambler and art curator
David Walsh, where he has established something called the
Museum of New and Old Art. (Pause.) I believe that connects all the most relevant dots as succinctly as possible.
[more inside]
posted by raysmj
on Apr 4, 2011 -
23 comments
Drugs seeped into the band, and were accompanied by an entourage of lowlifes stuck in a dizzying cycle of despair. Theresa was uninterested in the drug world yet she was too afraid to challenge her situation in her role as backup singer and dependent partner of Osborne.
After nine turbulent years, the tension came to a head. Theresa had finally decided to confront Osborne about the drugs during a show at the famed Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans. The conversation predictably turned confrontational and with the usual crowd of partygoers surrounding the backstage area, Theresa snapped. She flung her violin through the window of the club. Glass shattered all over the ground and her violin lay broken beyond repair. It was over.
Such is the life, death and the rebirth of accomplished violinist and singer,
Theresa Andersson's music career.
[more inside]
posted by KevinSkomsvold
on Jul 6, 2010 -
14 comments
Let's say that you're Lenny Kravitz and you're relaxing on a balcony in New Orleans when you hear someone singing one of your songs. What do you do? Well, you could always
join in. (SLYT)
posted by ColdChef
on Jun 29, 2010 -
95 comments
2008's "
Glory at Sea"
[.mov] [vimeo] [youtube] is an extaordinary 25-minute short film in which
a group of mourners and a man spat from the depths of Hades build a boat from the debris of New Orleans to rescue their lost loved ones trapped beneath the sea.
[more inside]
posted by churl
on Feb 17, 2010 -
13 comments
The Who Dat nation is composed of
long-suffering,
widespread,
well-dressed,
ballsy,
divinely inspired (?),
stubborn,
parading,
boundary-crossing,
musical, and - as of tonight -
very happy citizens.
What's the deal with "Who Dat," anyway?
posted by honeydew
on Feb 7, 2010 -
87 comments
Just ease on into one of the most laid-back grooves to ever weave its way through a New Orleans junkyard, and join the procession as the estimable Dr. John is led through the rusting automobiles on a
mule. After that, you'll be ready to enter the Inner Sanctum of Deep Mystic Hoodoo, with the good Doctor as your intoning, night tripping guide through the
Zu Zu Mamou hallucinations. You won't be the same, afterwards...
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Nov 27, 2009 -
22 comments
It all started with a
t-shirt. When Tulane University art historian
Thomas Bayer posted a list of thirteen reasons why Brad Pitt, whose local
Make It Right Foundation builds post-Katrina homes in the devastated Lower Ninth Ward, should become New Orleans' next mayor (among them:
New Orleans will become the magnet for conventions of professional women’s organizations worldwide. The warm glow of pink Cadillacs will illuminate our Southern nights. This mass of sensually charged femininity will attract male visitors eager to contribute their economic stimulus. ), a local entrepreneur
whipped up a t-shirt designed to draft Brad.
With many anxiously awaiting the end of
Mayor Ray Nagin (
Nagin's Last Day bumper stickers have popped up in town) and the Jolie-Pitts known for their
New Orleans aid, the story's gotten legs.
[more inside]
posted by liketitanic
on Jun 26, 2009 -
50 comments
NEA Jazz in the Schools takes a step-by-step journey through the history of jazz, integrating that story with the sweep of American social, economic, and political developments. This multi-media curriculum is designed to be as useful to high school history and social studies teachers as it is to music teachers. Start with the
introductory video to get a feel for the place. The education outline contains
five lessons. If you just want to listen, all the
music samples are on one page. Perhaps you're more interested in individual
artist biographies, or a jazz history
timeline.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on May 21, 2009 -
11 comments
At Sammy's at 2016 Main, on September 8, a historic jam session occurred, an impromptu reunion of many of the city of New Orleans's finest musicians. Each player who walked in the door was much more than a mere musician that night -- they were an affirmation of life. Not only did their attendance indicate that they had survived the storm, but their collective presence also indicated that their music would survive, too.
The
New Birth Brass Band (and friends) tears it the hell up in downtown Houston post-Katrina. The
whole show is great, but if you're short on time, parts
one and
three are especially smoking.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas
on Dec 14, 2008 -
3 comments
The Isleños are
said to be a dying traditional American subculture.
Descendants of Canary Island immigrants of Louisiana, the name Isleños was given to them to distinguish them from Spanish mainlanders, known as "peninsulares." But in Louisiana, the name evolved from a category to an identity
. For a long time they were one of those rare subcultures that found a way to maintain a living tradition as the world around them modernised by carving out a livelihood as crabbers and 'shrimpers'.
Then Katrina hit and the wetlands, which were central to the Isleños identity, essentially dissapeared. Despite the blow to their economy, they still
have their songs and
annual fiestas, evidence of a strong culture which binds their community together, and their
rebuilding following Katrina demonstrated how strong that sense of identity and culture can be. So perhaps the Isleños shouldn't be written off just yet, then. After all, as Isleño Irvan Perez says, "
This is home. Where else would we go?"
posted by Effigy2000
on Dec 7, 2008 -
7 comments
In the French Quarters of New Orleans you are very likely to come across various street entertainers.
Grampa Elliott is
one such performer.
Elliott Small has had a smattering of recordings over the years like the 1976 Malaco record discussed here
Since that time no record lables have produced any of his work that I can find. He spent his time performing on street corners in the Quarter until Katrina, some people feared the worse, but he
turned up on Royal street in 2005 no worse for wear.
Here is a story by Rick Bragg of the NYT [more inside]
posted by nola
on Sep 24, 2008 -
6 comments
The Gulf Coast has just witnessed what's being called the "the largest evacuation in US history", but let's hear from those hardy souls who stuck around NOLA to ride it out,
shall we? Hey, where else are you gonna see National Guardsmen (charged with the task of enforcing curfew) put down their rifles and take the stage at a local bar for a little blues jam? And be sure to watch the video that accompanies the article: immensely entertaining!
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 3, 2008 -
16 comments
Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf, London street artist Banksy travels to New Orleans to put up some commemorative pieces, saying the city's levee wall offered "the best painting surface in the state of Louisiana." Some of the pieces are statements on the clean up effort, and some are protests against Fred Radtke, New Orleans' Grey Ghost, who has been described as a
street artist and an
anti-street art crusader.
Like him or hate him, expect more of the same from Bansky: propaganda, magical realism, cartoon rats, a lot of technical finesse and a complete lack of subtlety. See the pictures on
his site with irreverent/poignant commentary and then go to the
flickr pool to see it from a few local perspectives.
posted by elr
on Aug 31, 2008 -
74 comments
New Orleans after Katrina, as the world knows, is a bleak, desolate place, devoid of hope and perpetually awaiting the change that never arrives. Where better to stage
Waiting for Godot?
[more inside]
posted by Bromius
on Jan 7, 2008 -
31 comments
