Notes On New Orleans .net

by Richard Bienvenu. A Blog About the Music, Food, Events, Culture and Everyday Life in New Orleans, One of the World's Unique and Most Beloved Cities

New Orleans City Park: Step Aside for Louisiana Super Plants

So I was reading in the Friday InsideOut section of the New Orleans Times Picayune about this planting of Louisiana super plants that was going to happen in City Park today.

Louisiana Super Plants in New Orleans City Park

The reason they call them super plants is that they are easy to grow and seem to like our hot weather. In fact, they seem to thrive in our climate and have no problem wintering over. I’m all about easy gardening so I thought I’d high tail it over the park after lunch and check out what they got.

I thought it was going to be a big thick spread of plants but as you can see in the video the little buggers are space well apart from each others. I guess that gives them room to grow. In the video you’ll see butterfly pentas, serena angelonia, shoal creek vitex, and the shishi gashira camelia.

Me, I like to buy a bunch of flowers and just cram them all together to make them look full. But I guess it keeps them from attaining their inherent fullness and wisdom when they become mature plants. I’m all for the quick landscaping deal, with little patience for waiting and letting them fill out naturally. Accordingly, I guess I don’t get the results that I could get had I spaced them properly.

So I got some pentas in my yard and they are doing nicely, I just need to go to the nursery and get some of these other super plants to put in my New Orleans garden.

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Posted in New Orleans Life, New Orleans Videos.

Tagged with Bayou St. John, New Orleans, New Orleans City Park, Times Picayune.

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By Richard Bienvenu – June 18, 2013

Madam of the Mirliton: Garden of Eden in the Heart of Central City New Orleans

There are a few vegetables that grow almost wild in New Orleans gardens. One of them can be seen climbing trees or completely covering fences. That vegetable is the mirliton.

Madam of the Mirliton: Garden of Eden in the Heart of Central City New Orleans

Over the past weekend I discovered Jeannette Bell at an eat-locally-challenge event on Oretha Castle Hayley Blvd. and she has almost like a little farm in the heart of Central City in New Orleans.

For about ten years she’s had this huge lot with all manner of plants, flowers and vegetables. She calls it Fleur d’Eden and is located at 2111 Baronne right off Jackson on the downtown-lake side of the street.

The most spectacular thing there is the vast mirliton plants she has stretching on a trellis from the front of the property all the way to the back as this video shows.

Most of the time we get the majority of these light and flavorful vegetables from Mexico and they call them chayote. Only problem is they don’t last very long after you get them from the store and who knows what they put on them in the process of field to grocery shelf. Our local mirlitons are better.

I bought two of her young mirliton plants, one for me and one for my brother, and I’m going to plant mine along the fence. I tried doing this a few years ago in a pot and all I got were leaves. She told me they have to go in the ground so the roots can spread out. So I’m going to try again.

Around here the plants produce fruit in the fall, a time when New Orleanians prepare favorite holiday dishes like stuffed mirliton with shrimp or mirliton casserole. And these things are good just steamed or sliced and simmered in a little butter in a skillet. They don’t even need any salt. Yum, yum.

As I was leaving Jeannette told me about her Garden on Mars project she’s working on in another part of the city for reclaiming land and vacant lots for food production. And it’s on Mars Street.

As photos and articles attest on her site it seems like Ms. Bell is pretty much a celebrity in her own right. She says wants people to start growing more mirlitons and other local vegetables in their yards instead of having to import them from afar. It’s a lot healthier and better for the local economy and community.

I can get behind that. I’ll keep you updated on how my mirliton plant produces.

Posted in New Orleans Culture, New Orleans Food, New Orleans News, New Orleans Videos.

Tagged with Chayote, Garden of Eden, Jeannette Bell, Mexico, mirliton, New Orleans, new orleans garden.

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By Richard Bienvenu – June 15, 2013

How Orchids Grow in New Orleans

Nowadays you can see orchids for sale in almost any New Orleans grocery store. Over the years at our house we’ve had so many orchids that come by way of gifts and such and we’ve pretty much managed to eventually kill all of them.

Too much water, not enough water. So temperamental. It seems the less you do to them the better. I know this: they don’t like a lot of water and they don’t like direct sun.

How Orchids Grow in New Orleans

So we had all these orchids sitting in the window, getting direct afternoon sun. So I got the bright idea of just getting them out of the way and sticking them on the porch. If they’re gonna die well better to keep ‘em outside so at least they’ll be happy in a natural environment.

Turns out that’s the best thing I could’ve done. All the plants you’ll see in this video have been on the porch for months right through winter. And all of them have rebloomed including one of the oldest ones that had rebloomed once before. The blooms on this one are spectacular, 27 of them. Wow! I have never seen an orchid like this before.

So how do orchids grow in New Orleans? Well, as it turns out pretty danged great!

Posted in New Orleans Life, New Orleans Videos.

Tagged with Flower, Gardening, Home, Mother's Day, New Orleans, orchid, Orchidaceae, orchids in new orleans, Plant.

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By Richard Bienvenu – June 13, 2013

Hello Dalai! New Orleans Hosts Tibetan High Holy Man

Well, I can cross that off my bucket list. Although I did not actually meet the Dalai Lama I was close enough to him that I could have shook his hand had it not been for the state department guys that got in my way. But actually they were really nice guys, I spoke to them and they were very friendly.

Hello Dalai! New Orleans Hosts Tibetan High Holy Man

At first I thought they were Secret Service the way they were standing around in their dark suits. When I inquired into that one of them said, “No, we’re better.” Are you with a bodyguard agency or something? And the tall guy in front of me said, “John Kerry signs my checks.” Oh duh, I thought, of course, the State Department. Although the guy was standing in my way I got a good enough view of the Dalai Lama as he made his way to the front to shake a few hands and snuggle a baby then up the steps her went.

He wore a baseball cap through most of his talk, which was extemporaneous in his halting yet very effective English. He basically reiterated pretty much everything he’s said over the years familiar to anyone who knows anything about him.

His message of peace, love, forgiveness and compassion has never changed and it’s something that the world cannot hear often enough. It resonates with most Christians and anyone who sees love as the way to go in making a difference.

He told us how much he loves George W. Bush because he was one of the few leaders who didn’t go into any of the pomp and circumstance that the Lama is used to. He was immediately familiar to him and treated him as an equal, not as someone to be revered. He liked that about him.

Of course, the more liberal, politically correct people in the audience laughed derisively and groaned whenever Bush was mentioned as if the Dalai Lama was sharing some kind of inside joke. I mean come on, haven’t we had enough of Bush bashing? But he didn’t appear to be joking at all, I think he was being genuine about his feelings for Bush and indicated he just disagreed with the way he went about doing certain things.

Anyway, one take away I got from was this, that people can do all the praying they want for peace but real peace comes about through action, what you do in your family and communities and the way you treat people.

During the question and answer time someone wanted to know what makes him happy. He said that he gets up at 3 in the morning, meditates for a couple hours, does some chanting and some exercise and has breakfast. That first meal makes him happy because he has not eaten since lunch the day before as he only eats two times a day. He gets nine hours sleep and goes to bed around 6 in the evening.

So I can say that seeing the Dalai Lama was not especially spectacular or inspiring at least not in a grand way. But there was something about the simplicity of the person and his very simple unpretentious manner that was thought provoking. I guess that really is the best way to describe his presence: simple, unpretentious and thought provoking. And as someone who truly walks the walk of peace and compassion I think other than Jesus, there is no better example.

Posted in New Orleans Life, New Orleans News, New Orleans Videos.

Tagged with Buddhism, Dalai Lama, dalai lama in new orleans, George W. Bush, Jesus.

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By Richard Bienvenu – June 11, 2013

The Stereotypical New Orleanian is What Makes Us Famous

New Orleans is full of characters, but I think what makes us different is that we are all characters of some sort, all part of the weirdness and eccentricities that make up the fabric of this crazy city.

OK. We don’t think we’re crazy but when you look out into the world beyond us we can see that we are, well, different. Very different, strangely different, inconceivably different. What else can explain the food, the music, the Mardi Gras, the celebration of alcoholic beverages raised to a supreme art here in our many bars and joints.

The Stereotypical New Orleanian is What Makes Us Famous

New Orleans is full of stereotypical characters, and is what makes us famous.

This article from Where Y’at magazine written by a recent transplant seems to hit the nail on the head in describing our strange and what to others could be called wicked ways.

She points out the use of the word “for” rather than “at” as a telling example of our relationship to time.

We usually don’t say we have to be somewhere ‘at’ 7 o’clock we say ‘for’ 7 o’clock.

Now to me that means the same thing but that’s because I am pretty anal about being somewhere on time. I think it’s a matter of respect for the other person or just following through on what I committed to. And I know not everyone feels the same so I just make allowances for that.

Anyway, there is the sense that we have a Latin relationship to time because we have been so influenced by a Mediterranean culture that is so prominent here. So that is neither here nor there.

I remember when a friend and her daughter moved to the city a few years ago where the daughter did her senior year at a local high school. She very quickly started to adopt many New Orleaninisms much to the horror of her parent. I thought it was funny to hear her frantically trying to correct her daughter’s usage of the word “for” for “at.” It was not until then that I realized that there was anything strange about the use of the word “for.” We think nothing of it, but to a foreigner, that is someone from another state, they think it strange.

Anyway as quoted in the Where Y’at in the article from writer Suzannah Powell:

I have to mention the vocabulary that accompanies timing in the Big Easy. In no other place that I have lived or visited have people used the preposition “for” to describe a time. I didn’t understand people in my first months here. What do you mean the game is for two? Two teams? Huh? Most of America (it is only humble fear that keeps me from saying “the rest of America”) says “I have work at nine. The meeting is at noon.” “At” is precise. There is only one minute in the day when 3:00pm is accurate. “For” is vague; “for” is flexible. If you have to be somewhere “for 7,” there is room for error. What can I say? Even prepositions are unique in this town.

The social life here, however late it may be running, seems to have its motivations in order. Live to enjoy; sure, we have our flaws, but let the neurotic workaholics have some other town. Maybe that’s a function of living in such an old place. It feels both invincible and on a constant precipice, having gone through so many transitions, so many storms of the political and literal variety. Why not kick back? The city will still be here. Why not kick back? We may lose everything tomorrow.

It’s funny how it takes an outsider to really get to the heart of the matter and show us who we are and how we think and how we operate. What other people might think is strange and frustrating to us just appears to be normal.

And New Orleans is really one of those weird towns that offers so much but that can be maddening to pin down or totally understand. It’s a confluence of cultures and event and attitudes that’s further churned up by living on the edge of the waters of the always moving, always tumbling Mississippi River.

Posted in New Orleans Culture, New Orleans Life.

Tagged with List of people from New Orleans Louisiana, Louisiana, mardi gras, Metro Areas and Regions, mississippi river, New Orleans, Times Picayune, United States.

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By Richard Bienvenu – June 6, 2013

Ms. Bear’s Last Morning – New Orleans Professor’s Lament to His Beloved Canine

Tulane Professor Oliver Houck and his wife Lisa live across the street from us and I have watched them many mornings taking a stroll with their little bear-like canine in tow. This is the story of the dog’s final day.

Ms. Bear’s Last Morning – New Orleans Professor’s Moving Lament to His Beloved Canine

Tulane professor Oliver Houck and his dog Ms. Bear

Guest post by Tulane Professor Oliver Houck. This piece first appeared in the Times Picayune and is used by permission from the author.

My dog died Thursday morning. We’d found her 17 years ago on the side of a dirt road, coming out of the Atchafalaya swamp. The vet said that she was 5 or 6 weeks old. She was the size of a squirrel and all scab and mange.

I tucked her in my lap behind the steering wheel figuring I’d give her to one of my students, who were waiting at another landing. But in the period of that short drive, maybe 20 minutes, I became aware that I wasn’t going to give her to anyone at all.

“Looking back on it, Ms. Bear had told me it was time to go. And we found the perfect place to wait it out, under the morning sky.”

We’d since done many things together, roaming the batture, me looking for berries and she the sign of rabbit. Once paddling out of the Pearl, Ms. Bear up in the bow like a hood ornament, we passed a fisherman who looked over at us and asked, absolutely straight faced, “don’ he paddle?” There is a lot to remember.

Thursday morning was something of a miracle, indeed two of them. They say that a dog will tell you when it’s time to go, and we had been getting signals through the week. At this point she’d lost motion at the rear end, and her eyes were vague.

Still, I held out hope. But her last night was turbulent. The dog who never complained whined for hours, nothing was comfortable, so around 4:30 we got up, and I took her out onto the grass. Miracle No. 1, she quieted right down, and I held her, and we saw the dawn together in peace.

The first cardinal, a crow flew over, a mockingbird started up, my neighbor David dragged his trash container to the street, a junker car chugged right through the stop sign, the driver drinking coffee at the wheel.

Looking back on it, Ms. Bear had told me it was time to go. And we found the perfect place to wait it out, under the morning sky. What she was thinking out there I cannot say, but I’d say she felt wired to something huge and beautiful and that was enough. It is also enough for kids in trouble, for adults in pain, for all those folks walking along Bayou St. John and the oval at Audubon Park. There doesn’t have to be much nature. But it can do so much.

The vet came later in the morning, and we put her down. It was the kindest thing we could do.

Then the second miracle happened. Lisa and I went back inside to gather ourselves for the day. Neither of us had gotten much sleep. Lisa was still on the porch when I heard her calling to me. When I arrived, she was pointing to the neighboring yard where a tall white egret was stalking the grass. It went very carefully, a slow ballet, cocking the head, leaning the long neck down, zapping something, a quick swallow and then on.

It is still out there, as I write. I have never seen a white egret hunting in this neighborhood, ever, and it’s been nearly 30 years. It came this one morning.

My mother died a few years ago. She was 101, and it was her time too. We took her ashes to a field she had loved as a girl and stood in a line, facing the trees, while a minister said a prayer. As the minister was finishing, behind his back, a large falcon darted out from the woods and flew the entire tree line, wheeled, flew it the other way, and then was gone. I saw my mother leaving.

I am not a spiritualist. I do not worship birds and trees. But there is a connection between the peace Ms. Bear and I found early Thursday morning outside in the dawn, and the egret, and the falcon. I do not know exactly what it is, but it is.

Oliver A. Houck is a professor of law at Tulane University. He is the author of “Down on the Batture” a book of short pieces about his roaming the land between the levee and the Mississippi River.

Read Richard Bienvenu’s review of Down on the Batture here.

Get Down on the Batture now by Oliver Houck. Available in hardcover and Kindle.

Posted in New Orleans Books, New Orleans Life.

Tagged with down on the batture, mississippi river, New Orleans, Oliver Houck, Times Picayune, Tulane University.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 31, 2013

Destination Kitchen: Fun, Fabulous New Orleans Food Tours Now in Business

Destination Kitchen, a New Orleans food tours business appears on the scene and I thought it was worth writing about. I’ve actually taken one of the tours and it is really fantastic. I learned a lot about the city I did not know. But instead of me writing about it I thought I’d let the owner tell her story. She gives several tours in the city and this post focuses on just one, the Oak Street area in the Carrollton Section of town.

Guest Post by Julie Barreda

In 2006, I had an idea, a vision and a passion to share my love of the enormous possibilities of an epicurious world, diverse cultures and travel. I am Julie Barreda. My past experience in cooking, catering, special events, traveling and love for people of all cultures and backgrounds made it a go!

Destination Kitchen: Fun, Fabulous New Orleans Food Tours Now in Business

Destination Kitchen, a New Orleans company, now offers fantastic food tours.

Destination Kitchen offers food tours to diverse parts of New Orleans, France, Italy and Spain. We range from single event, day, weekend or longer. We call it Culture with a Culinary Twist. New Orleans by Mouth.

We welcome custom and private tours for individuals, groups and corporations. We also help individuals and businesses plan their meetings and special events.

I chose Oak Street as a tour because Oak Street is a very warm, friendly, gentle yet happening spot in New Orleans. There is much talent, good food and a huge selection to pick from. I love its history and its unique beauty.

An easy access and lovely destination on the street car and a pleasant ride with a lot to see without hanging on to a steering wheel.

Oak Street is a neighborhood, with its’ own pulse and twinkling, its own architectural mix and a special protected evolution for those who are from here or hold it near.

The dynamic of Oak Street is individualistic and like no other place in New Orleans. The heart beat is energetic, relaxed and positive. There are artisans, artists, and creative breaths everywhere you go. Many come to Oak Street in search of a time gone by.

“To me Oak Street and all New Orleans in general is like a homemade pie shell, beautiful, made with love and perfect with its’ imperfections. You can add slivered almonds, different kinds of crackers, sugars, flours, etc. to make the pie crust unique and special. One finds an old fashioned, beautiful customer service and hospitality that are offered by its’ business owners”.

What would a visitor get out of a tour? What experiences will I like for them to come away with? I think that a visitor would enjoy our tour, Taste of Oak Street, Bubbles and Bites and Riverbend as it is an invitation for his/her taste buds to savor some of NOLA’s finest flavors off the beaten path.

You will tour Oak Street and taste its many flavors with licensed tour guides and professional hosts that are ambassadors of our neighborhood and city. Also, it’s another activity in New Orleans, fairly inexpensive and an insight to stories and some culinary secrets. Explore a different part of the city and discover the not so hidden treasures it offers.

An area of uptown that is enchanting with “Main Street USA” (as many say) feel and a thriving heartbeat that ever evolves and enjoyed by all ages. The neighborhood is charming and you would make 5/6 stops to compare city and world cultures. It’s not a long walk, all together, about a 1 mile radius.

How do DK tours benefit businesses on Oak Street and Riverbend? Our tours hope to be of benefit to our visitors and locals that may continue talking about New Orleans, Oak Street and the Riverbend area of Carrollton.

Oak Street may be a new experience for many and I think that’s always good. We hope our businesses on Oak Street enjoy the new visitors their/our way and introduce them to our Oak Street family. It’s also new faces coming into our neighborhood and hopefully repeat business. We collaborate with professional, friendly and knowledgeable tour guides and ambassadors for our city that help spread the word about their experiences as well.

To find out about all of the tours available check out Destination Kitchen online!

Leave a COMMENT. Tell us what you think.

Your Own Personal New Orleans Tour Book Becomes Bestseller on Amazon!

Posted in New Orleans Business, New Orleans Food, New Orleans News.

Tagged with Business, Carrollton, Food, France, New Orleans, new orleans food tours, Oak Street, Spain.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 25, 2013

New Orleans Has 19 of the Coolest and Innovative Small Businesses

Over the last few years New Orleans has become a mecca for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Forbes has recognized it as one of the top places in the country to start a business.

New Orleans Has 19 of the Coolest and Innovative Small Businesses

The Napoleon House is now considered one of the “cool” businesses in New Orleans.

The Business Insider put together a list of 19 of some new and old companies in New Orleans as being especially innovative, and in their words, “cool.” Although I’m not really sure what that word means in this context. But thanks to them they do provide the “why it’s cool” explanation after each choice. They mention one of my favorite places in the world, The Napoleon House. And yes in my estimation that place to me fits every definition of the word “cool.” Just because, well, it is! That should be explanation enough.

Here is the Business Insider’s list of the 19 Coolest Small Businesses in New Orleans

One of their choices though, Ye Olde Original Dungeon in the French Quarter, where the wait staff have their teeth filed to make them look like vampires and only opens after midnight, is really just kinda weird. Cool, hm, don’t think so. But, as they say, ‘only in New Orleans.’

Here is a blog post I did that talks about some of the reasons New Orleans has become a mecca for entrepreneurs.

And you know they must have forgotten to list NotesOnNewOrleans.net. We just keep getting overlooked for things. Although I can’t, to be honest with you, figure why this blog would be listed as “cool” anyway. Can you think of any? If so, leave a comment.

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Posted in New Orleans Business, New Orleans News.

Tagged with Business, Business Insider, Cool (aesthetic), Forbes, french quarter, napoleon house, New Orleans, United States.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 15, 2013

Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace Wins Beard’s Best Chef South

What is it with Commander’s Palace? Why do they seem to have chefs who rake in all of the awards over the years. I mean we have Paul Prudhomme who’s won numerous awards, Emeril Lagasse who’s won the James Beard Award among many others.

Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace Wins Beard’s Best Chef South

Commander’s Palace does it again. Tory McPhail is named James Beard Best Chef South.

Now they have Tory McPhail who’s won the James Beard Award Best Chef South. Commander’s seems to be “da place.” I was listening to a female chef the other day talk about how Commander’s is viewed as the Holy Grail for cooks and being able to work there is like a dream come true. They all seem to want to work at Commander’s.

WWL-TV reported this story:

On Monday evening in New York, McPhail was announced as the winner of the Beard award in the regional category. Commander’s is a multiple Beard award winner, but this is the first win for McPhail, executive chef at the legendary Garden District restaurant.

“Ladies, this one’s for you,” McPhail said triumphantly as he recognized members of the Brennan family in the audience – Ti Martin and Dottie and Lally Brennan, who along with restaurant matriarch Ella Brennan are known nationwide for Commander’s Palace.

“You see it’s not just what’s happening in the kitchen, but it’s the ability to connect with people, to connect with your staff, your guests and create dining memories that people will cherish and enjoy for a lifetime,” he said of the lessons the Brennan family has taught him.

Well, I gotta say Commander’s is one of my favorite places to go in New Orleans. It’s not just the food but how they treat you. At Commander’s all the guests are treated like royalty. Which I guess is why they call it Commander’s Palace. Very appropriate name.

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Posted in New Orleans Food, New Orleans News, New Orleans Restaurants.

Tagged with Commander's Palace, Emeril Lagasse, Holy Grail, James Beard Foundation Award, New Orleans, New York City, Palace, Paul Prudhomme, tory mcphail.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 14, 2013

Anthony Bourdain Loves New Orleans Food Culture

Here’s a recent quote from a well- known culinary adventureur regarding New Orleans food:

“In America, there might be better gastronomic destinations than New Orleans, but there is no place more uniquely wonderful. … With the best restaurants in New York, you’ll find something similar to it in Paris or Copenhagen or Chicago. But there is no place like New Orleans. So it’s a must-see city because there’s no explaining it, no describing it. You can’t compare it to anything. So, far and away New Orleans.”

— Anthony Bourdain, host of the CNN travel show Parts Unknown, when asked in a CNN interview to name the one U.S. city he thought people should experience for food.

Anthony Bourdain Loves New Orleans Food Culture

Anthony Bourdain says “there’s no place like New Orleans.”

As a culinary expert that’s travelled the world Bourdain knows what he’s talking about. Myself being a New Orleanian who has also logged a lot of worldwide travel miles I have to concur with Bourdain. He’s right. For a great overall cultural food experience there is no place like it. In New Orleans it’s the culture of food everywhere, not just in a few restaurants.

I used to not like Anthony Bourdain. I’d start watching his No Reservations and would get turned off by his attitude, his sort of in-your-face brashness that just really irritated. His shows usually came on after Bizaare Foods’ Andrew Zimmern who I just really enjoyed. Bourdain’s manner was such a discomforting counterpoint to Zimmern’s charm.

But gradually I grew to really liking Bourdain. Something about his honesty and authenticity started to grow on me and now he’s one of my favorites. Both he and Zimmern are two guys I’d really like to get to know and hang out with.

Bourdain did a show in the Cajun country a while back about his experience at a boucherie, an all-day affair

That segment of the show started with the night-before-the-boucherie party where incredible Cajun food was cooked up. Then they invited him to be the one who dispatched the pig the next morning at 6 o’clock. I was amazed at his coolness at pulling the trigger and figured that was not the first time he had done it.

The remainder of the show was a demonstration of how the pig is used completely for a variety of delicious foodstuffs. One thing that struck me was when he admitted that it was the best food he had had anywhere. A pretty remarkable statement. And I think when he says “best food” I think he also includes the cultural aspect to it as well.

Anyway, after seeing the above quote I gotta say Bourdain gets it, like those who love New Orleans gets it. I also gotta say, hey, we love ya, Anthony.

Leave a COMMENT. Tell us what you think.

Posted in New Orleans Culture, New Orleans Food.

Tagged with Andrew Zimmern, Anthony Bourdain, Bourdain, CNN, Copenhagen, New Orleans, New Orleans Food, New York City, United States.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 10, 2013

Your Own Personal New Orleans Tour Book Becomes Bestseller on Amazon!

Well, I never thought it’d happen to lil’ ole me but my new book, Your Own Personal New Orleans Tour, is now a bestseller on Amazon. Well, shut my mouth and shoot fire. I am number 3, yep, that’s right, number 3 of the top 100 bestsellers in the East South Central Regional Travel category.

Your Own Personal New Orleans Tour Book Becomes Bestseller on Amazon!

So here’s an interview I did today with monster Internet maven Dion GeBorde about alla dat.

In case you don’t really believe me, because, you know, I have been known to stretch the truth here and there, here’s the screenshot of the Amazon’s bestsellers page.

Your Own Personal New Orleans Tour – bestseller on Amazon.com

So there ya go. You see over there to the right. Pretty nifty huh?

Anyway, it’s great that people like the book. Click on this link Your Own Personal New Orleans Tour to get your own copy.

Leave a COMMENT. Tell us what you think.

Posted in New Orleans Books, New Orleans Culture, New Orleans Videos.

Tagged with Amazon, Bestseller, Business, french quarter, Louisiana, Metro Areas and Regions, New Orleans, your own personal new orleans tour.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 7, 2013

New Orleans is Boom Town #2 in the Country

Well, hurray for us and alla dat. Bloomberg now lists New Orleans as the 2nd best place for growth in the country behind Austin. Seems like this news belies our good friend Geraldo Rivera’s, bless his heart, comment on a recent Fox news program about New Orleans being a “vast urban wasteland.”

New Orleans is 2nd Boom Town in the Country

Our good Governor Jindal stated recently, as reported by WWL-TV news:

“By fostering an environment where businesses want to invest, we are creating a new Louisiana,” the governor proclaimed. “The payoff for all of us is that our sons and daughters, our children and grandchildren, will be able to find the best jobs and the most rewarding careers right there in Louisiana.”

Seems like New Orleans has been recognized a lot in the last year for being in the top 10 places for business and vacations. In fact, we were rated the top place to start a new business by Forbes.

So seems like great things are happening here. And did you know that now Louisiana is considered THE top place to make movies in the entire country?

Yep, it’s good to be in New Orleans, ya’ll, now at this time. Well, it’s great to be here anyway, no matter what.

So, Geraldo, you were sayin’?

Hey Leave us a COMMENT. What do you think?

Posted in New Orleans Business, New Orleans Life, New Orleans News.

Tagged with Austin Texas, Forbes, Fox News Channel, Geraldo, GeraldoRivera, Louisiana, New Orleans, new orleans boom town, United States.

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By Richard Bienvenu – May 1, 2013

Renewal or Gentrification: New Orleans Exceptionalism vs Americanism

I found this article about this eternal conflict between poverty and gentrification. It addresses this thing about exceptionalism in New Orleans, how New Orleans has always been exceptional and that early on it was thought that Americanism would come in and plow it under and we would end up like the cities of the Houston and Atlanta and the like.

Renewal or Gentrification: New Orleans Exceptionalism vs Americanism

Home in New Orleans gentrified Bywater area.

The culture’s of these cities have been plowed up and under over the years and we’ve ended up with truly “American” cities that have lost their heart and soul.

But there is something about New Orleans that is unique.

People who visit and those who decide to stay and make their lives here come here because of that uniqueness, because of our culture and food ways and festivals and architecture.

We have sought and chosen to preserve that which really makes us different. It’s not because we have done that intentionally to be different, it’s just that the New Orleans culture and way of life revolves around celebration, the celebration of life and really the celebrating of itself.

It’s a way of life that is intrinsic to the neighborhoods and architecture and street culture and art and music. It is this way of life that is unique to the rest of the country and we here have resisted being taken over by a homogenized American way of life.

In fact, we are less American and more European/Caribbean. We revel in that. And it is that very thing that attracts millions of tourists from around the globe to partake in. It is that very thing that folks from other large cities decide to move here, buy up homes, fix them up and in the process fix up neighborhoods that have seen better days and return them to their original glory.

C.W. Cannon states in a recent article on The Lens referring to Richard Campanella’s controversial article on gentrification

Exceptionalists have celebrated New Orleans as a place where leisure is more meaningful than labor, aesthetics trumps functionalism, and the very notion of social mobility (the American Dream?) is held in suspicion. Yet the “creative class” movers and shakers who are now buying up the real estate are all about their careers. They demand a level of convenience comparable to other American cities (with their constant worry about parking permits), and have the ambition of putting New Orleans “on the map” when it comes to competing nationally for the continuing infusion of people like themselves (“brain gain”). In that respect, they are indistinguishable from the most unrelenting Americanists.

But here’s the difference.

As Campanella perceptively notes, many of these newcomers are deeply engaged with what they perceive to be the most unique features of New Orleans social and cultural practice: Carnival, second-lining, the cuisine, music, and, of course, the architecture. He calls them “supernatives,” and the shoe fits. It also pinches when, along with enthusiasm for the working class culture, the hipsters flock to the overpriced restaurants and precious boutiques that have effectively driven out the indigenous economy of corner stores and lunch counters.

Is there really that much of a difference between renewal and gentrification? In my view, gentrification is the natural order of things. Abundance will always eventually win out over lack. If poor people are displaced in the process that is unfortunate but the American spirit is all about opportunity.

The poor will always be with us, as Jesus says. And there have been many poor who have raised themselves to become successful and abundant. So the question is: do we allow neighborhoods to fall into ruin, which only breeds squalor, a sense of hopelessness and eventually crime? Do we allow that to happen all over a city just to “protect the poor” in the name o diversity.

Or do we do what we can to encourage these neighborhoods to come back by people who have the will, desire and the money to move into them and return the homes and eventually entire neighborhoods into fine examples of urban renewal? Places that are safe to walk in, live in, have businesses in, that celebrate the culture and contribute to a prosperous fabric of the city?

But what happens to the people that are displaced? Maybe we lose something of the character of New Orleans when once racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods become more homogenized. Perhaps we lose something of what New Orleans is all about, the mix of culture, race, and ethnicities that have contributed to the uniqueness of the place.

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Posted in New Orleans Business, New Orleans Culture, New Orleans History, New Orleans Life, New Orleans Neighborhoods.

Tagged with Atlanta, Carnival, Gentrification, Houston, Neighbourhood, New Orleans, new orleans bywater gentrification, New York City, United States.

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By Richard Bienvenu – April 26, 2013

New Orleans’ Official Response to Geraldo’s “Urban Wasteland” Comment

My previous post was my take on Geraldo’s comments on a recent O’Reilly Factor segment regarding the video of inmates in Orleans Parish Prison. The prisoners were apparently smoking dope, drinking beer and flashing a supposedly loaded gun.

The video, shot in 2009, was only uploaded recently to YouTube. Geraldo, instead of doing his research, decided to just give his overall opinion based on nothing more than, well, his opinion. The man, who has a penchant for making inflammatory statements, called New Orleans a “vast urban wasteland.” So after this can we really trust what Geraldo has to say about anything?

New Orleans’ Official Response to Geraldo’s “Urban Wasteland” Comment

The Business Council of New Orleans and River Region, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, Common Good and Greater New Orleans, Inc. penned this response to Mssrs. O’Reilly and Rivera. To wit:

Dear Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Rivera:

Your April 5 “Fridays with Geraldo” segment, “New Orleans prisoners gone wild,” was a disservice to New Orleans, America and the truth. Its broadly dismissive tone was all the  more disconcerting because as recently as February 4 you had proclaimed, “New Orleans  has come back big time from Katrina. It’s once again a great American destination.”

Now let us be clear: the truth is that the prison video is shocking. But it is also true that  the video is four years old, and that the prison has been closed. There will be consequences. And we are confident that we will fix this problem, because as you will  see below, the truth is that New Orleans has confronted and defeated an extraordinary  range of other challenges over the past five years.

On this theme, The Wall Street Journal recently ran a much broader, more balanced and  more accurate story – “The Real Super Bowl Winner: Why New Orleans Came Back  from Katrina Better than Ever”. In this piece, the Journal describes how New Orleans is now a national model for reform, suggesting “Other troubled cities and  Washington, take note.”

For the truth is, in the few years since the devastation of Katrina, the largest man made  disaster in the history of the United States, New Orleans has addressed long-standing  challenges with a speed and efficacy unprecedented in the history of our great nation.
* * *

In your segment you asked two basic questions about New Orleans: “Why can’t it  improve?” and “Why doesn’t it get better?” The truth is, it can and it does, dramatically.

There is a preponderance of evidence:

Education – Previously burdened with some of the worst schools in the country, New Orleans was recently named “America’s Best City for School Reform,” and the graduation rate has now passed the national average.

Our universities are booming too, with Tulane recently attracting more applications – 44,000 – than any other private  school, of any size, in the country.

Civic Reform – With diverse civic and business groups working in partnership with  political leadership, New Orleans has “enacted more major reforms simultaneously than  any other modern city” (Brookings Institution).

These include:

Establishment of Office of Inspector General – now a national model
Establishment of Independent Police Monitor – also a national model
Consolidation and Reform of Levee Boards – providing oversight to make post- Katrina Army Corps projects the most efficient and effective in modern history
Consolidation of Property Assessors – breaking up century-old political dynasties
Implementation of Master Zoning Plan with Force of Law – to guide planning for the next 20 years of New Orleans
Development of Public/Private Partnerships – based on national best practice models for economic development and youth recreation
Implementation of State Ethics Reform – taking Louisiana to #1 in the USA in  ethics disclosure laws (Center for Public Integrity)

Economic Development – Buoyed by business-friendly leadership, New Orleans has  been described as “the greatest turnaround of our lifetime” by Richard Karlgaard, the  publisher of Forbes.

Over the past two years we have been named #1 in the USA for:

Improved City for Business (Wall Street Journal)
Employment Growth (Brookings)
Technology Job Growth (Forbes)  The fact that global companies like GE Capital are choosing New Orleans for expansion  (300 new jobs announced in 2012) is hard evidence of this improvement.
Entrepreneurism – Post-Katrina New Orleans is also one of the most entrepreneurial  places in America, and now leads the USA by 30% in number of start-ups per capita. Underscoring this, the Tax Foundation ranked Louisiana as the #2 state in the country to start a business.
Talent – After decades of out-migration, people are coming back in record numbers. New Orleans is the fastest growing city in the USA since the 2010 census, and was named “America’s Biggest Brain Magnet” by Forbes for attracting people under 25 with college degrees.
Flood Protection – From $15 billion of new investment, to a consolidation of levee management, New Orleans now has the most advanced flood protection in the nation, and is in fact actively involved in the new task force to assist post-Sandy New York and New Jersey.
Tourism – Recently voted America’s Favorite by Travel + Leisure, a record number of tourists visited New Orleans in 2012, over nine million, and New Orleans led the USA in  RevPAR (room rate) growth, at a remarkable 33% year-on-year.

In the name of truth we should also clarify some false statements from the April 5  segment:

Our government is no longer dysfunctional. It is so good, in fact, from the  Governor down to the Mayor, that we were voted #1 Most Business Friendly  Government in the USA in a recent national economic development survey (Area  Development).
Your assertion that 60,000 out of 320,000 New Orleanians are in jail is simply  wrong. The truth is, the prison population is about 2,000 out of a population of 360,000. Your number is such a misstatement that it best belongs in Mr. O’Reilly’s “Hall of Shame” for distributing “defamatory, false…information.”
Our murder rate is unacceptable. But it is not 14 times New York City. And your  comparison to the remarkable turnaround of Times Square in NYC neglects the  fact that that process began with Mayor Koch in the 70’s and took over 30 years – and we have been at ours for about five.
The notion that “everything outside of the French Quarter” is an urban wasteland  is simply slanderous, and is utterly refuted by all of the preceding truths in this  letter.
Finally, perhaps the greatest inaccuracy in your entire story is the ending, when  you say that nothing changes in New Orleans because “folks aren’t demanding  it.”
Things are changing more dramatically in New Orleans than they have in  any urban environment in recent American history – because we are demanding it,  and because we are doing it.

* * *

But don’t take our word for it – please come back and see for yourselves. On behalf of  the business and civic community of New Orleans, we invite you to come visit us in New  Orleans, so you can witness firsthand the extraordinary people and organizations that are  driving, in the words of Mayor Landrieu, “a story about the resurrection and redemption  of a great American city.”

This is the truth about New Orleans.

Yours truly,

Business Council of New Orleans and River Region,  Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans,  Common Good  Greater New Orleans, Inc.

*****

Here is my final comment on this. The following program Bill O’Reilly showed a sentence from a letter that the founders of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans sent to him decrying the inaccurate statements made about New Orleans. He called these good women idiotic for not realizing the problem we have with our jail. I don’t know if Bill reads the entire contents of the emails that go out over the air or whether he has his assistants do that and then they just hand him snippets of what they want him to read. So I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone in the city knows that we have problems with our jail and it’s been shameful what goes on there.

What these good ladies were taking exception to was the “vast urban wasteland” comment and Geraldo’s dissing of 90 percent of the city outside the French Quarter which has nothing to do with what’s happening at the parish prison. What bothers me about Bill O’Reilly’s comments was that he did nothing to defend the city from Geraldo’s stupid statements.

So I think an apology is in order. But I’m not holding my breath that we’ll get one.

New Orleans and Geraldo Rivera’s Vast Urban Wasteland

Everyone in New Orleans knows the city government has been corrupt for decades. It’s a given. It is just something you put up with and hope that you can elect the right people to get the job done and turn it around.

New Orleans and Geraldo Rivera’s Vast Urban Wasteland

Geraldo Rivera Dishes on New Orleans’ Vast Urban Wasteland

Nagin, our last mayor, was a dismal failure. He embodies the worst of what a politician is. Not only was he incompetent but he was corrupt, a terrible combination in a politician.

Now we can tolerate our governors like Edwin Edwards who went to jail for ten years, but at least he was competent.

Few doubt that if he were governor during the time of Katrina things would have been vastly different. At least he knew how to get things done and the state of Louisiana would have been better off.

In Governor Kathleen Blanco we had someone who was honest but woefully incompetent and the state suffered because of it. Give me a dishonest, competent politician any day.

Of course, the best course is to have someone who is honest and competent and I believe we have that in our current mayor Mitch Landrieu. There seems to have never been a hint of scandal around the Landrieu family so I think we are lucky to have Mitch running the city. He is doing his best to clean up City Hall from the incompetence, corruption and cronyism that has plagued it for decades. I know it’s not easy but it can be done.

The Parish Prison Video

That brings us to Geraldo and his denunciation of New Orleans on a recent Bill O’Reilly program. I watch Bill regularly and like his program and his even-keeled approach to the issues of the day and I saw this particular segment. The point of the segment was to let Geraldo go off on the supposedly recent videos of inmates in the Orleans Parish Prison shooting up, brandishing a loaded gun, smoking pot and drinking beer.

Apparently, this video was shot in 2009 and it’s interesting that’s it’s suddenly come to light when the city is in the throes of trying to cast off an unfortunate agreement made with the feds that it would pay for upgrades to the parish prison.

The problem with this so called consent decree is that the city simply cannot afford it. It apparently would have to shut down crucial city services to come up with the money to pay for this. Rightly, the mayor is trying to back away from this as it would cripple the city.

But here are questions that need to be asked and no one seems to be asking them: who shot the videos, how did they get the videos online, how did these inmates get access to these drugs and gun, why in heaven’s name were the videos even shot, is there something else going on here that’s more than meets the eye.

And Geraldo, to be cute and cutting, says the city is not the Big Easy but the Big Sleazy. Oh please, Geraldo. OK, admittedly, there is something sleazy going on at the parish prison and probably has been going on for a long time.

But is there anything unusual about that as compared to other prisons. I mean, we hear all the time, see it in movies and documentaries that inmates seem to have no problem getting access to drugs, weapons and such in prisons. So when I saw that video I said to myself, uh, huh, yeah, that’s terrible and corrupt and shouldn’t be happening but, well that’s prison for you, it happens, what’s so unusual?

To me what I think is unusual is that someone videotaped it and got it online. So inmates have access to the Internet? Was the camera smuggled out and someone outside the prison posted it? And the question remains, why would they do that?

Geraldo Disses New Orleans

The next part of this is probably the thing that bothers me more than anything else about the Geraldo segment. He says the French Quarter and some other tourist stops in the city are nice but everything outside of that is a vast urban wasteland. I’m so amazed about this that just sitting here writing this I am at a loss as to how to respond properly.

Has Geraldo lost his mind? Has he ever been to the rest of the city, outside of what he would consider tourist areas? Has he seen the beautiful uptown neighborhoods all consider historic?

Has he seen what has become of the once squalid conditions of the numerous housing projects around the city now examples of well-built, well-designed urban neighborhoods made up of individuals houses, doubles and units that fit into the architecture of the city, real neighborhoods, not the dreary old buildings that looked like glorified slave quarters?

Most of the city is beautiful. There are a few areas that could be considered wastelands, but they are not vast. New Orleans East might fit the bill of vast urban wasteland only because it was almost completely destroyed by the flooding from Hurricane Katrina and very few have moved back. Even the areas that see the most crime I would not consider vast urban wastelands for these are real people living in real neighborhoods in real New Orleans homes doing their best to make the best of things.

Of course, we know Geraldo. He is given to hyperbole. We would just like him to come here and really get to know the city and he would see that it is not a vast urban wasteland by any means.

He does a disservice to the people here who love the place and never want to leave. It’s a real insult to the people who live here and work here and go to school here and have chosen to make their lives here in this beautiful city full of great music and fantastic food, wonderful customs, beautiful homes and neighborhoods. A place unlike any other city in the United States. Perhaps the inside of Geraldo’s head is a vast wasteland.

Stop and Frisk

One last point I want to get to is this: I actually agree with Mr. Rivera when he wonders why we don’t have a stop and frisk law. Why don’t we? We know the NAACP doesn’t like it because they see it as racial profiling. Well, the fact is that, it is. OK. And the NAACP is trying to stand in the way of that.

The majority of the crime in this city is committed by young black men. Nothing racist about that, it’s just a fact. Those good people in the black community are afraid, too, of young black men roaming their streets killing people. So the NAACP is willing to abandon these good people to violent neighborhoods to make political points to protect those who have already been proven prone to committing violent crimes?

Yes, there is no doubt that the New Orleans Parish Prison needs to be cleaned up and upgraded. No one’s denying that or making excuses for it. It’s just that, Geraldo, we’d love you to tell the truth about New Orleans, not take an isolated problem and spread it like Creole cream cheese over the entire city. It’s not right and it’s not the truth and is insulting to the entire citizenry of the Crescent City.

OK. I said my peace.

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