Tag Archives: New Orleans

Photography 101 Challenge: Glass

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Here’s my post for Day 17: Glass in the Photography 101 challenge. I haven’t really been out to take pictures. Too busy trying to catch up on other things. But I found a couple of good ones on my computer (I sure WISH I could get the darn thing fixed!!).

I took these last time I was in New Orleans. I went on a plantation tour one day. We went to Laura Plantation and Oak Alley. I’ve never been on one of those tours before. I thought it was interesting how different they were, even though they were both built to do the same thing.

I liked the contrast in these 2 shots too. One is very old and also practical. The other is brand new and really serves no purpose other than decoration.

Photography 101 Challenge: Moment

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At first I thought it said movement, but then I saw it was really moment, but the assignment (Day 13) is still to play around with blur and movement. I think there are a lot of ways to interpret this one. 🙂

I’m still stuck in class all day and it’s way too cold out here for me to go out (and I have no transportation either), so I’ve been picking out old photos to try and illustrate the themes for the challenges.

Here’s a photo I took in New Orleans last winter. I loved watching this couple dance and listen to the band play in the street. New Orleans is really great for this kind of thing. 🙂

It’s not really blurry, but I hope you can get the idea of motion anyway. The couple was really dancing up a storm (swing, jitterbug, etc.), the musicians were all tapping their toes and swaying to the music and everyone was having a great time.

I didn’t think to buy a CD from this band, I wish I remembered their name. But I did get one from another one that was playing further up the street. Here’s a post I did about that one. Check it out, the music’s worth a listen. 😉

Video: Yes Ma’am- Weight of the World

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Here’s a video of the band I was talking about in my earlier post tonight. I saw them playing in the street as I was window shopping on Royal Street in the French Quarter (New Orleans).

It was a gorgeous Fall day and their playing was just perfect. It put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. They had a bunch of people of all ages/types, dogs, kids on bikes, etc all watching, listening, dancing. It was a great experience.

I bought a CD from them before I wandered off. I really like it. They deserve more notice. The commercial stations don’t play stuff like this, but if you try you can find interesting new music like this on the radio or the internet.

In Houston, I listen to KPFT, 90.1 FM . Its listener- sponsored, no commercials. They have EVERYTHING on there. I like how they have such a huge variety. Everything from Irish music to Latino to Heavy Metal to Zydeco. You really need to go online and check out the schedule. 😉

I’m not sure what to categorize this band as. Folk? Americana? String Band? Bluegrass? Traditional? Alt Country? Blues? They could be called any of that, but the do it all well!

Check out the video.

Video: The Be Good Tanyas- The Littlest Bird

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I’m taking a break today from the Zero to Hero Challenge. Todays assignment was to look around at other peoples blogs. Find something there you really liked (not content). I’ve been doing some of that but I haven’t seen anything today that I really MUST have on my blog. 😉

Actually, I did see something a while back, but now I can’t find it again. When I do, then I’ll do more of todays assignment. Or maybe not. 😉  In the meantime I haven’t been doing much with music on here lately. I really love music. All different kinds.

I really like this band. The Be Good Tanyas. I have a couple of their albums. I thought I’d post this particular video since I just did that post on New Orleans and this video was done there (and around).

I see the street performers around the French Quarter every time I go there. I bought a great CD from a band last time I was there. OK, I’ll do another post on them. But first…

Travel Journey of the Week: New Orleans

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I was looking around at the list of blog events for the Zero to Hero assignment for Day 22 and I found this one I thought would be interesting. It’s called the Travel Journey of the Week from Melissa at the Liberated Traveler’s blog.

I liked her idea of asking other people contribute by writing a post and linking back to hers. Since she seems to be focusing on FOOD, which of course New Orleans is deservedly famous for, I thought I would add to hers by posting some photos of places to find some great food in New Orleans.

I’ve got everything here from the Cafe DuMond for their famous chicory coffee and beignets to Rouses grocery store for the best muffaletta to the old JAX Brewery. World Famous restaurants Arnauds and the Bourbon House compete with less known but just as good local favorites.

You’ll find everything from classic French to Cajun and Creole. Old style steak houses. Oyster bars. Fresh seafood and local delights like catfish and alligator fixed a dozen different ways.

If you just have to have it, there’s always a slice of pizza to go with your daquiri. Hot dog stands supply snacks you can eat as you wander down Bourbon Street with your Hand Grenades and Hurricanes. It’s hard to miss a good meal in the French Quarter! 🙂

 

Here’s a link to the original post: Travel Journey of the Week: New Orleans at the Liberated Traveler blog.

She’s Off Into the Wild Blue Yonder

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Well, I’m out of here in the morning. Into the wild blue yonder. Or at least the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). I’ve had a longer vacation than I expected, schedule changed at the last minute.

I’m still not really ready to go back to work, but at this point I think I would need to be off for a few months straight to actually be READY to go back. 😉

I’m in New Orleans for the night, or at least a few hours. Usually, I have to get up at 2 AM, so they can come and get me at 3 AM, so we can be at the heliport in Fourchon by 5 AM, so I can sit around drinking coffee and trying to stay upright and keep my eyes open til around 9-10 AM when they get around to putting me on a chopper so I can finally get out to the vessel I’ll be working on.

Lots of people seem to think flying to work in a helicopter is really cool. I guess it might be, the first few times you do it. It is really nice to fly at a lower altitude and see things better then you can in an airplane but I never really liked it a whole lot. It’s noisy, it vibrates a lot, it’s cramped (more then a plane and you can’t get up to go to the restroom!).

I’m used to it now, it’s just part of working offshore to me. I’m just glad when I can finally get out to the vessel and start my real job. It’s like driving to work in traffic, do you enjoy that part? Or you’re just glad to finally get there? Same thing. 😉

crew change by chopper

crew change by chopper

I’m going back to the same rig this time as I was on a couple of weeks ago. I like that. It’s nice to go back where you know people and you’re familiar with how things are done on board. I think my job freelancing is perfect for me since I do get to go back a lot of times to the same familiar vessels, but before I get bored I might get to go to a new one. I also do a few different jobs, so it keeps me on my toes. 😉

A lot of ways they’re all the same, but they all have little differences. It takes a few days to get it all straight. I have the hardest time learning everybodys names. It’s not so bad on a ship, when there are only 18-25 crew, but on a rig there might be 250 people on board! Sometimes you might be working 4 weeks straight with someone and never see them til you go home on the same chopper!

Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up with this blog once I get out there. I’m sure it will be at least a couple of days before I can catch up on things, so don’t worry if you don’t see me for a while. 😉

I’ll be back! 🙂

Official: Super Typhoon Kills 10,000 in Philippines

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Official: Super Typhoon Kills 10,000 in Philippines | gCaptain

I don’t know how they can call this official since they say right in the article they’ve only found 300-400 bodies. It’s still terrible. Hearing of things like this, I wonder how is that possible? I’ve never been to the Philippines but I would assume that just like everywhere else, they do have communications with the rest of the world.

There was plenty of warning that this storm was headed their way and that it was going to be VERY powerful when it got there! They had the warnings, why didn’t they leave? There’s a world of difference in outcomes for people who get the warnings (and so can/do act on them) and those who don’t!

The Galveston Storm of 1900 killed ‘more than 6000’ people (estimates range from 6-12,000 out of a total of about 37,000). Considering that Galveston is a very low lying, flat island and there was practically NO warning back then, they were probably lucky that ANYONE survived. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia article about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane.

I’m very sorry for the people of the Philippines and I wish them a speedy recovery, but I just can’t fathom why this sort of thing still happens. I expect many people were just too caught up in their daily lives to worry much about ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ It happened here in the USA too. Remember Hurricane Katrina? It devastated New Orleans and many other coastal areas from Florida to Texas.

We had plenty of warning about Katrina too. Why did so many people stick around New Orleans when they should have known what would happen? After all, New Orleans is below sea level, it’s surrounded by water, and the levees are old and it had been stated many times in the past that they should not be expected to survive a bad storm.

Seems to me that most of the people who stayed in New Orleans were poor. Is it the same in the Philippines, that only the people who stayed in the low lying, storm devastated areas were poor (relatively)? I know the Philippines is a poor country, but what I’m wondering is: did so many people die there because of that lack of resources? Personal resources and community resources. Or were there other reasons? Why did so many people decide not to heed the warnings???

The reason I’m curious about that is because so many people here in the USA blame what happened in New Orleans on lack of resources. They say that the poor of New Orleans took the brunt of the damage that Katrina caused. They say that the poor had no way to escape the storm. They say that our government is responsible for causing the deaths of those people in New Orleans because they didn’t throw enough money and resources into the preparations.

I understand that the Philippine government does not have the resources that the US government does. Is that why the US government was blamed for the disaster in New Orleans? Is that why no one is blaming the government of the Philippines? Or is the difference in the people themselves???

What makes some people do EVERYTHING they possibly can do to take care of THEMSELVES? While so many others don’t?

 

PS-the question applies to more than just hurricanes!!

New Orleans

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Since I’m spending some time in New Orleans and my hotel is right on Bourbon Street, I thought this might be a good time to post these cute little signs. I didn’t take these pictures, a friend of mine sent them to me a while back. I haven’t really spent much time out on Bourbon street (yet), tho I did wander through a couple of times already. I was invited to a few good private parties the first couple of nights I was here. Today I went on a plantation tour and was just too tired to go out and deal with the crowds. I’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow. There’s SO much to do here, its hard to decide what to do when. 🙂

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New Orleans (Workboat Show 2012)

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House of Blues

House of Blues

OK, so sorry to all my faithful followers 😉 I’ve been SO busy! Since I got off work I’ve been going non-stop. I made it to the beach clean up (fantastic turnout there)! I managed to get some work of one of my rental houses done . I FINALLY got my taxes for 2012 turned in to my accountants (still was not really finished but there was no way to get all the information to them before time was up so I just had to drop off what I had). And now, I’m in New Orleans for the Workboat Show!

Yeah, its way early this year. Its usually the first week of December. That’s nice since the weather is cool and everything is all decorated for Christmas. It’s different this year, I didn’t think about it, but they’re already decorating for Halloween, so that’s pretty cool too.

I’m staying over a couple extra days to do some tourist stuff. I’m going on a plantation tour tomorrow and a 3-in-1 combo ‘witches brew’ tour Sunday night. I have not managed to get any pictures on the computer yet since I’ve been home, but just to whet your whistle, here are a few from last years show here.

Pat O'Brians, New Orleans

Hurricanes at Pat O’Brians, New Orleans

Preservation Hall, New Orleans P1010914 P1010923 P1010950

Voodoo Bar Bourbon Street New Orleans

Voodoo Bar Bourbon Street New Orleans

Street musician, Bourbon Street New Orleans

Street musician, Bourbon Street New Orleans

Facing Changing Climate, San Francisco Prepares to Share

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Facing Changing Climate, San Francisco Prepares to Share.

I can’t be sure just from reading this one article, but it is encouraging. FINALLY someone is doing something sensible! Taking care of themselves! Wow! What a novel idea!

As they say in the article, ‘it’s about knowing your neighbors, lending a hand, and sharing your knowledge’. Yes, that’s right. Why have we stopped doing that sort of thing and turning OUR responsibilities over to the government?

I disagree with their statement that we “should be able to count on government to respond”, we SHOULD already have learned that they’re NOT going to! We SHOULD have already been doing what they suggest now and helping ourselves and each other. We USED to do that years ago, til we let the government take over all that kind of thing.

In all sorts of disasters all over the world, the most successful ‘programs’ for actually getting the help where it’s needed and fixing things best, it’s been done from the bottom up. Neighbors helping neighbors. People who know what needs doing. People who just DO it. Sure, there might be some outside help, from either government or charitable organizations, but the MAIN driver for getting things done is the local people.

I get really sick and tired of hearing about New Orleans and Katrina. Nobody ever talks about any of the other communities devastated by Katrina, or Rita, or Ike, etc. It seems to me the major difference between what happened in New Orleans and all those other places was the total dependence on government to take care of everything.

Before the hurricane, everyone thought the levees (built by the Army Corps of Engineers) would protect them. But there had been reports for many years that the levees would NOT hold. People trusted the government anyway.

When Katrina was on the way, people counted on the government to take care of them instead of finding ways to get out of town like they should have. Then they depended once again on the government to take care of them in the shelters. How did that work out again???

Most people in New Orleans are STILL waiting for the government to “take care of them” in regards to their housing situation. From the f*cked up formaldehyde laced FEMA trailers to the totally screwed situation with them being able/allowed to rebuild on their properties, almost everything would have been better dealt with if they had just forgotten about any government and just found ways to do it themselves.

 

Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb.

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Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb. – Quartz.

OK, I have to admit, I REALLY don’t like cockroaches. Especially these big ones. Or the ones we get down South near the water where I live. We call ’em Palmetto bugs. I’ll never forget the night I was just falling asleep. It was a hot muggy night (so no covers) and one of those huge suckers flew across the room and started crawling up my leg. I must have woken up half the block with my screams!

So, the idea of people actually FARMING these things just gives me the creeps. Maybe its just me? The Chinese people seem to think there’s some real good medicine in these things. I just remembered this exhibit I saw at the Chinatown Heritage Center in Singapore last year.

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

I guess if you grind it up and add enough other stuff to it, you might not even notice it going down? I do try and taste different foods when I’m off traveling, but so far, the only bugs I’ve managed to try were some ants -chocolate covered- that helps 😉 – and some kind of grub they had at the ‘tasting kitchen’ at the New Orleans Insectarium (http://www.auduboninstitute.org/visit/insectarium). Those tasted almost exactly like that Honey Nut Crunch cereal. They did have other flavors, but I was OK with just trying that one 🙂

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Trying out some of the taste 'treats' at the New Orleans Insectarium

Trying out some of the taste ‘treats’ at the New Orleans Insectarium

I do see plenty of people in Thailand and Indonesia snacking on grasshoppers, water beetles, grubs, etc at the bars I go to. I always figured they must just be drunk. I never managed to work up the nerve to try any of those larger samples. Maybe next time…

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Or maybe not. I did read something recently where the scientists were recommending that we should ALL start eating insects. It would go a long way towards helping to feed all the starving people around the planet. Yeah, they are a great source of protein. Yeah, they cost a lot less to produce, they don’t cause as much damage as cattle, they’re easy to raise… yada, yada, yada. Personally, I would prefer people start using birth control before we’re all reduced to eating bugs for breakfast 😉