Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez.
August 29, 2009 2:32 PM Subscribe
Happy Katrina Day.
A little lagniappe:
Mourners please come join the second line.
Here's a short documentary.
A little lagniappe:
Mourners please come join the second line.
Here's a short documentary.
Thanks, I needed this! Feeling homesick.
posted by brundlefly at 2:40 PM on August 29, 2009
posted by brundlefly at 2:40 PM on August 29, 2009
Wow--completely forgot this was the anniversary. Or, I guess, it must have been there in the back of my mind, because just today I did what I said I needed to do a few weeks ago.
posted by MrMoonPie at 3:06 PM on August 29, 2009
posted by MrMoonPie at 3:06 PM on August 29, 2009
A good friend of mine is a direct marketing business reporter who fell utterly in love with New Orleans the first time he was ever sent there on assignment. He's been a New Yorker his whole life, and the only other city he is passionate about in any "ensuring its economic success" kind of way is New Orleans. Six months after Katrina, around Mardi Gras season, he approached his bosses and told them that he wanted to do a series of articles on the recovery -- he also insisted on paying for the trip out of his own pocket. He came back with some utterly fascinating stories -- some of which he wrote about, and others he just told friends.
The linked article tells the story about a couple he got to know over the years who opened a cookbook store after Katrina -- their story about how they almost left New Orleans for good, but then decided to come back, broke my heart. (I visited the store when I went myself a few months ago, and when I told them I was a friend of Richard's I was greeted like royalty. It's a fantastic little place.) But one of the details he mentioned about the trip which didn't make it into an article was how he saw that a lot of the parade floats had incorporated the blue FEMA tarps into their construction in places -- if someone had finished their house, they didn't discard the tarp, they saved it and repurposed it for the floats. I always kind of liked that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:07 PM on August 29, 2009
The linked article tells the story about a couple he got to know over the years who opened a cookbook store after Katrina -- their story about how they almost left New Orleans for good, but then decided to come back, broke my heart. (I visited the store when I went myself a few months ago, and when I told them I was a friend of Richard's I was greeted like royalty. It's a fantastic little place.) But one of the details he mentioned about the trip which didn't make it into an article was how he saw that a lot of the parade floats had incorporated the blue FEMA tarps into their construction in places -- if someone had finished their house, they didn't discard the tarp, they saved it and repurposed it for the floats. I always kind of liked that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:07 PM on August 29, 2009
Laissez les bons temps rouler.
posted by tastydonuts at 3:07 PM on August 29, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by tastydonuts at 3:07 PM on August 29, 2009 [1 favorite]
Laissez les bons temps rouler.
Ceux qui rient le vendredi, pleureront le dimanche
posted by nola at 5:23 PM on August 29, 2009
Ceux qui rient le vendredi, pleureront le dimanche
posted by nola at 5:23 PM on August 29, 2009
i had to run that through the google translator, nola
Those who laugh on Friday will weep on Sunday. seems especially pertinent since last year the city was planning a big anniversary bash. but then we had to evacuate for gustav. on the katrina anniversary. ain't no laughin' for me.
posted by msconduct at 5:39 PM on August 29, 2009
Those who laugh on Friday will weep on Sunday. seems especially pertinent since last year the city was planning a big anniversary bash. but then we had to evacuate for gustav. on the katrina anniversary. ain't no laughin' for me.
posted by msconduct at 5:39 PM on August 29, 2009
Yeah, it's the other side of the coin. In life there is always the other side of the coin.
posted by nola at 7:36 PM on August 29, 2009
posted by nola at 7:36 PM on August 29, 2009
I moved back home to New Orleans three days before Katrina. Lost 90% of my material possessions; I still miss about maybe 1%.
Four years later and here I am sitting in Boston with what has turned out to just be a named tropical depression about to blow by the coast late tonight/early tomorrow morning. OKAY, ATLANTIC OCEAN, I GET THE MESSAGE, YOU HATE ME. I'M MAKING PLANS TO MOVE WEST, JUST CHILL, OKAY?
posted by egypturnash at 7:39 PM on August 29, 2009
Four years later and here I am sitting in Boston with what has turned out to just be a named tropical depression about to blow by the coast late tonight/early tomorrow morning. OKAY, ATLANTIC OCEAN, I GET THE MESSAGE, YOU HATE ME. I'M MAKING PLANS TO MOVE WEST, JUST CHILL, OKAY?
posted by egypturnash at 7:39 PM on August 29, 2009
this makes me miss my partner (just put her on a plane back home to nola from boston)
posted by inquilab at 9:12 PM on August 29, 2009
posted by inquilab at 9:12 PM on August 29, 2009
I've never felt at home anyplace but New Orleans, and I only managed to live there a year before Katrina. It's like finally finding a pair of shoes that fit and are comfortable, and then having them suddenly burst into flame on your feet.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:46 PM on August 29, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:46 PM on August 29, 2009 [5 favorites]
It's like finally finding a pair of shoes that fit and are comfortable, and then having them suddenly burst into flame on your feet.
Or, you know...if the US Government was in charge of the safety of your feet, but they chose to cobble your shoes out of matchsticks and oily rags.
posted by ColdChef at 9:02 AM on August 30, 2009 [3 favorites]
Or, you know...if the US Government was in charge of the safety of your feet, but they chose to cobble your shoes out of matchsticks and oily rags.
posted by ColdChef at 9:02 AM on August 30, 2009 [3 favorites]
According to Barbara Bush, as far as she could tell, my feet were better off covered in blisters anyway.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:00 PM on August 30, 2009
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:00 PM on August 30, 2009
sigh the city will always have its history -- so much of it still untold, but the city will never be the same again. so many good things are happening in the city, but so much injustice remains.
posted by inquilab at 2:37 PM on September 5, 2009
posted by inquilab at 2:37 PM on September 5, 2009
« Older Sci Fri | It lacks a professional white background Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by vapidave at 2:37 PM on August 29, 2009