Archive for the Tide Category
01
09
2010
Posted by: Varg in Tide
NOTE: This post should have lots of links but doesn’t.
After a year of planning the Conference was set to pop. I picked my wife Romy up from Tulane with a Toyota full of extra chairs and tables and electrical wiring none of which we would eventually need but were there as a back-up. My wife told me she had been smooshed on an amusement park ride earlier in the day by two large 225+ pound men who were on inside of a centrifuge.
We arrived at the Springhill Suites around 3:30 p.m. with some Ginger Ale and a bottle of Myers Golden Rum.
Check-in went something like this…
Varg: Yeah. HI THERE! My name… is, uh, Varg Vargas. I’m on the list, that’s for sure. Free lunch, final wisdom, total coverage. I have my attorneyyyyyyy, with me, and I realize that his name is not on that list, but we must have that suite! Must have that suite. What’s the score here? What’s next?
Desk Clerk: Your suite isn’t ready yet. But someone was looking for you…
Varg: [seeing her morph into an eel] Why? We haven’t done anything yet!
We managed to check in and I met Tim and Rob across the street as they were finalizing internet and chairs. We were later joined by Loki who refused drinks but smoked and drank Red Bull.
After four representatives from Cox managed to get us wired (yay Cox), we returned to the hotel and got ready. The boosterism on the hotel’s channel was curating New Orleans to death.
Food at the Howlin Wolf that night was tasty. Minglers began drifting in but the bartenders seemed to constantly be struggling with the taps. When the beer poured at all it came out with a head at least an inch high. This must be some sort of Howlin Wolf standard.
I know I met and chatted with lots of folks this night and the day of the conference but time and age must be catching up to me because the whole thing became a blur as I ran up and $80 bar tab and endured its hangover the next day.
At night’s end, I protested the lack of itemization of the tab but the bartenders excuse that they “just write it all on a cocktail napkin” was irrefutable. In a more sober state the next day I realized they were probably correct and the total had not been tampered with. No night is worth its expenses unless there is at least one regret. That was an epic tab.
Back at the hotel that night, I walked into this scene in Dangerblond’s room…
Dangerblond: Music, man. Put that tape on.
Sophmom: What tape?
Dangerblond: Jefferson Airplane, “White Rabbit”. I need a rising sound.
Sophmom: You’re doomed. I’m leaving here in two hours and then they’re going to come up here and beat the mortal shit out of you with big saps. Right there in that fucking tub.
Dangerblond: [Splashes and screams]
Sophmom: Alright, I’ll do it. But do me one last favor, will you. Can you give me two hours? That’s all I ask man, just two hours to sleep before tomorrow. I suspect it’s going to be a very difficult day.
Alli declared we all needed to be there by 7 a.m. in the morning and if the world was 30 minutes slower I would have made it. The hangover was strong. In my later years it seems to have moved from a general malaise to fortifications in my head and stomach. Jeffrey offered me some Aleve which I accepted but didn’t take. I don’t like to mask my physical pain the way I do the emotional kind. Better to suffer through it so you know exactly where you stand. Always strive for a deep intimacy with your own suffering. There are less illusions that way. We also had a conversation comparing hangovers to Lent. It was brilliant in a commiserating sort of way.
Hillary from Laurel Street Bakery arrived with coffee from PJs and pastries which she awesomely delivered for us this year. The pastries were delicious as always.
Sophmom, Leigh and Valerie McGinley (you rule) were rockin’ the check-in and things were sure-as-shit starting on time. Wh-what?
Chief Serpas came in and when shaking his hand I noticed that this dude is large. His hand engulfed mine. He’s also a bit of a card, cracking jokes and such before the panel and during. Alli mentioned her speeding ticket from the other day and the progress being made on police actions in that area of Religious Street. She called the previous incident there “shenanigans.” I was actually there Monday and saw the Popo with their lights on stopping traffic and pulled a u-ee before I could get caught up in any shenanigans of the ass-beating or fine-paying kind.
The public safety panel went off without a hitch, the crowd wasn’t quite rowdy and animated yet but WTF, it was still morning. I liked Peter Scharf the moderator. Serpas was pushing “you lie, you die” and there is some commentary about that below.
My hangover was going strong and I encountered Erster who advised me to take a hit out of the little brown bottle in his shaving kit, saying “you won’t need much, just a tiny taste.”
“What is this shit?!” I asked.
He replied, “Adrenochrome! That stuff makes pure mescalin seem like ginger beer, man.”
Up next was Mac McClelland and she was holding a hangover cure in her hand. I particularly enjoyed her “Bloody Mary as prop” style of speaking. I think several people were already drinking by this point including domestic lager aficionado Pants. I think Alli was two Bloody Marys ahead of Mac.
Mac’s speech had a very conversational tone to it with a bit of ire and frustration showing through. More reading on what she said and audio can be found below. I would also like to take this moment to say Pants was a victim of context in that post further down there and he was simply waiting to ask a question. The glow around Mac and the position of her onstage makes it seem like some sort of genuflection is happening but that wasn’t what occurred.
[just sayin] Although…he was very giddily showing off her lengthy dedication to him in her book. [/just sayin]
I missed much of the environmental panel as I finally relented and tried some hair of the dog as a hangover cure and sort of lingered around outside the main room and caught up with folks.
Lunch was great and the line moved very fast. Mad props to Howlin’ Wolf for knocking that out.
I would like to apologize right now to my fellow committee members who my darling wife said may have been trying to nicely chastise me for getting lunch before many of the attendees. Sorry guys. In hindsight, I should have waited. My hangover compelled me and the delicious brisket was sufficient in quelling it for good.
After lunch we were starting to reach a good density of myth dispellers. Probably the largest concentration of myth dispellers in any one place that weekend.
Politics panel got underway without a conservative and I was outraged! Not really, he showed up shortly thereafter “way overdressed” as described by Pants on Twitter. I think this was the portion of the Conference when I was like Tweet…, Twitt…, … I was on Twitter.
It should be noted that every panel has used cuss words this far. The best usage being “Bobby Jindal is a douchebag” by the keynote.
It seemed like after the politics panel things were beginning to get spirited. We were right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo, and somebody was giving booze to the goddamn things. Wouldn’t be long before they tore us to shreds.
There was a bit of a scare when a chemically, burning smell began spreading that Cousin Pat and I weren’t convinced was burning duck tape but could not find any other source of. Right in the middle of that several attendees were having connectivity problems and I was sure this was where things were going to take a turn. But the smell went away and we solved the Internet problems by using Howlin Wolf’s pipe. I was actually under the impressions before that they didn’t have one but they must because a lady I was helping was using it. There was certainly something fruity going on with Apple computers and the internet that day.
By the time of Tim’s presentation, the spirited attendees were gathering in the bar area. I thought we may see some fireworks when Sandy Rosenburg got up to ask a question but it was all very tame.
Much love to Clifton Harris of Cliff’s Crib, this year’s Ashmo Award winner.
Treme panel came on and though some folks thought it was tame, I thought it was perfect. No complaints here. What kind of action do you want at a panel on a TV show? Maybe if it was a panel on “The Wire” though. Omar comin!
Even though the after party was decided on a few days before no one thought to check if maybe, I don’t know, the bar in question, right on St. Charles, may, perhaps, be closed for a private party that night? This fiasco was worse than the Fahey’s /Avenue Pub split we had last year. It only got worse before everyone finally ended up at the Half Moon where tired but jovial remnants of the conference drank beer, did shots, listened to the likes of Fugazi, Rancid and “Purple Rain” before slowly trickling out into the night.
In the end, it was a classic affirmation of everything right and true in the national character. A gross physical salute to the fantastic possibilities of life in this country. But only for those with true grit. And we are chock full of that, man.
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30
08
2010
Posted by: Varg in Tide
2 Comments »
28
08
2010
Posted by: Varg in Tide
2 Comments »
24
08
2010
Posted by: Varg in Tide
4 Comments »
Perhaps in time for this?
Also…
Rising Tide 5 Treme panelist Eric Overmyer recently spoke at the Clinton School in Arkansas and offered some glimpses into next season…
‘Treme’ to get more ‘Wire-y’ next season
Overmyer revealed that next season of “Treme” will jump a year in the future from where last season left off and focus on crime, the police force and New Orleans’ severely troubled public school system.
This is fantastic news for my vision concerning the return of Genghis Glover to the Treme cast. I know he is in jail for murder but how hard would it be to write a storyline that get’s him out? Misdemeanor murder any one?
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06
08
2010
Posted by: Varg in Tide
There may be a few late additions but this is our most complete program for the Aug. 28 new media conference…
| Keynote Speaker: Mac McClelland – Mother Jones.com |
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Mac is Mother Jones‘ human rights reporter, writer of The Rights Stuff, and the author of For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question: A Story From Burma’s Never-Ending War. She has "been on the Gulf Coast since the early days of the Gulf oil disaster, and… documented every last drop of it."
Mac has reported from locations including Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Micronesia, Burma, New Orleans, and Bhutan on subjects such as the hot young Bhutanese king, Post-Katrina recovery efforts, South Pacific conservation initiatives, being embedded in dumpster-diving culture, posing as a high-class freelance call girl, and the decline of American manufacturing.
More important, she is, according to The American Prospect, "a total bad-ass."
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‘Down in the Treme’
Treme Panel Moderated by Maitri Erwin |
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Maitri Erwin
moderator
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Maitri is a geoscientist, blogger and all-around technology geek. She is the founder of Back of Town: Blogging Treme, author of Maitri’s VatulBlog and reporter for VizWorld.com. She is also Indian Languages advisor to Project Gutenberg, the first producer of free electronic books.
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Eric Overmyer
panelist
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Eric is a playwright, television writer and producer. He is the the co-creator of Treme and has written and produced numerous TV shows, including Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire and New Amsterdam.
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Becky Northcut
panelist
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Becky is most likely better known to NO bloggers as VirgoTex, and she will answer to either name. In addition to being one of two non-NOLA ringers blogging Treme at Back of Town, she sometimes writes about pop culture, the environment, and politics at First-Draft.com, so she’s practically a digital cousin to some in the NO online community. She created the short-lived Got that New Package! blog about The Wire, and was lucky enough to share that obsession with Ashley Morris and Ray Shea, among others. She is a queer, a naturalist, a music lover, and a Texan, none of which she had any choice about.
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Dave Walker
panelist
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Dave has been TV columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune since September 2000. Before that, he worked as TV columnist and pop culture writer for the Arizona Republic, and before that he was a feature writer and columnist for the Phoenix alternative weekly New Times. Born in Kansas City, raised in Chicago. His American Rock ‘n’ Roll Tour, the first guide to pop music landmarks, was published by Thunder’s Mouth Press in 1992.
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Davis Rogan
panelist
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Davis is a New Orleans musician who began his broadcast career on WTUL at the age of 10, and was a DJ at WWOZ for 13 years. He first came to prominence in the New Orleans music scene with his eight piece funk group All That, for which he was lead singer, band leader, principal songwriter, arranger and producer. Davis is also script consultant for Treme and makes periodic appearances on the show.
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Lolis Eric Elie
panelist
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Lolis Eric Elie is a staff writer for Treme. His television work includes include Faubourg Treme, the PBS documentary directed by Dawn Logsdon. He was also a columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune for 14 years.
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‘Why Can’t We Get Some Dam Safety in New Orleans?’
Presentation by Tim Ruppert
Engineer and NOLA Blogger Tim Ruppert exposes inequities between the Federal government’s design methods for dams and levees. For his Rising Tide 2 presentation, “In Levees We Trust,” Tim explained why the so-called “100-year level of protection” is completely inadequate for a highly developed and populated area such as New Orleans. This year Tim expands upon that topic and asks why dams and levees alike are not designed as life safety systems.
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‘Paradise Lost’
Evironmental panel moderated by Steve Picou
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Steve Picou
moderator
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Steve Picou is a lifelong environmental activist, musician and futurist with a systems-oriented perspective. He is an outreach agent with the LSU AgCenter in the New Orleans area where he helps people and organizations reduce their impact, save energy and find ways to develop sustainable lifestyles and businesses. A blogger since 1997– when he established the website of the (now-defunct) Louisiana Music Commission and served as Assistant Director from 1992 to 2005–Steve expresses his thoughts on the environment, politics, music and social justice primarily via nolamotion.com and highlights eco-abuse at dyingoaks.posterous.com.
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Robert Verchick
panelist
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Robert Verchick holds the Gauthier-St. Martin Chair in Environmental Law at Loyola University New Orleans. He is currently on leave, serving in a government position in Washington, D.C. Professor Verchick is a graduate of Stanford University and of Harvard Law School. An expert in environmental law and in the developing field of disaster law, he has taught at several American law schools as well as at universities in China and Denmark. His newest book, "Facing Catastrophe: Environmental Action for a Post-Katrina World," has just been released by Harvard University Press. |
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Len Bahr
panelist
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Politics Panel
Moderated by Peter Athas |
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Jason Berry
panelist
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Jason Berry is a documentary filmmaker and IP media consultant from New Orleans. His first full length documentary was completed in 2006 with fellow filmmaker, Vince Morelli, titled, Left Behind: The Story of the The New Orleans Public Schools. Berry began his blog, American Zombie, in 2006 as anonymous source reporting on corruption issues withing New Orleans City Hall. After breaking numerous corruption issues within New Orleans city government Jason went public with his identity in 2009 after being threatened with a libel suit by a New Orleans’ city official.
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Clancy Dubos
panelist
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Clancy DuBos is the chairman and co-owner of Gambit Communications, Inc., and the political editor/columnist for Gambit weekly newspaper in New Orleans. He also is the on-air political commentator for WWL-TV (Eyewitness News Channel 4) in New Orleans, and a licensed attorney. Clancy and his wife Margo have owned Gambit since 1991, and he has been an attorney since 1993.
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Jeff Crouere
panelist
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Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m.weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com.
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Stephanie Grace
panelist
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Stephanie Grace is a political columnist with the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, focusing on local, state and national politics, and since Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Before moving to the op-ed page in 2003, she spent eight years as a political reporter for the paper.
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Jaques Morial
panelist
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Public safety panel
Moderated by Brian Denzer |
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Brian Denzer
moderator
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Brian Denzer was intiated into the New Orleans crime problem when friends became murder victims in 1995. He went on to become the principal developer of the New Orleans Police Department’s COMSTAT crime mapping system, which has been used for over ten years. He has also provided technical support to the US Attorney’s Office, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. For the last three years, he led a successful advocacy campaign through CitizenCrimeWatch.org, and NolaStat.org,
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Jon Wool
panelist
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Allen James
panelist
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Susan Hutson
panelist
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15
07
2010
Posted by: Varg in Tide
 I hate to say “best yet” but this year’s Rising Tide is looking more and more stellar as it comes together.
And it isn’t because it will be on the 5th anniversary of the Flood and not because we are (along with the entire Gulf Coast) in the midst of another disaster this one too the fault of men.
And it isn’t because after five years the committee that put the whole thing together is more experienced and skilled at putting on a show.
It’s going to be a good show because the content really rocks.
A few of the panels are still coming together and a few more are already looking to be pretty snappy
I was very intrigued with Tim Ruppert’s RT2 presentation “In Levees We Trust” on hundred-year flood protection. In fact I have repeated many of his key points over and over again when arguing with jerkys about New Orleans’ levees versus Netherlands’ Delta Works I walked away from it feeling like I had some vital tools to discuss flood issues in New Orleans.I have used those tools many times discussing New Orleans with outsiders.
So this year’s discussion “‘Why Can’t We Get Some Dam Safety in New Orleans?’” has me intrigued. From the Rising Tide Web site…
Engineer and NOLA Blogger Tim Ruppert exposes inequities between the Federal government’s design methods for dams and levees. … This year Tim expands upon that topic and asks why dams and levees alike are not designed as life safety systems.
So that’s going to be awesome. I have always been impressed with Tim. Merely because it takes testicular fortitude to work for The Corps and hang around New Orleans bloggers. I must impart though that his RT5 presentation will be as a private citizen and not as a member of the ACOE. Either way, I can’t wait.
I’m also very excited about Maitri’s “Down in the Treme” Panel. Mostly because even though the show has been thoroughly dissected cell by cell, episode by episode at the Back Of Town blog, this will be the first discussion where fans, creators and critics will all converge to discuss the show. Full list of panelists is below. I will take this opportunity to petition Eric Overmyer for a return of Anwan Glover’s character next year. We love ya Slim!<
Maitri Erwin
moderator
Maitri is a geoscientist, blogger and all-around technology geek. She is the founder of Back of Town: Blogging Treme, author of Maitri’s VatulBlog and reporter for VizWorld.com. She is also Indian Languages advisor to Project Gutenberg, the first producer of free electronic books.
Eric Overmyer
panelist
Eric is co-creator and executive producer of ‘Treme.’
Becky Northcut
panelist
Becky is most likely better known to NO bloggers as VirgoTex, and she will answer to either name. In addition to being one of two non-NOLA ringers blogging Treme at Back of Town, she sometimes writes about pop culture, the environment, and politics at First-Draft.com, so she’s practically a digital cousin to some in the NO online community. She created the short-lived Got that New Package! blog about The Wire, and was lucky enough to share that obsession with Ashley Morris and Ray Shea, among others. She is a queer, a naturalist, a music lover, and a Texan, none of which she had any choice about.
Dave Walker
panelist
Dave has been TV columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune since September 2000. Before that, he worked as TV columnist and pop culture writer for the Arizona Republic, and before that he was a feature writer and columnist for the Phoenix alternative weekly New Times. Born in Kansas City, raised in Chicago. His American Rock ‘n’ Roll Tour, the first guide to pop music landmarks, was published by Thunder’s Mouth Press in 1992.
Davis Rogan
panelist
Davis is a New Orleans musician who began his broadcast career on WTUL at the age of 10, and was a DJ at WWOZ for 13 years. He first came to prominence in the New Orleans music scene with his eight piece funk group All That, for which he was lead singer, band leader, principal songwriter, arranger and producer. Davis is also script consultant for Treme and makes periodic appearances on the show.
Lolis Eric Elie
panelist
Lolis Eric Elie is a staff writer for Treme. His television work includes include Faubourg Treme, the PBS documentary directed by Dawn Logsdon. He was also a columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune for 14 years.
Check the Rising Tide Web site’s program page for more info on the fledgeling politics, public safety and environmental panels. There are going to be some more names added to them very as soon as they are finalized.
Oh and there is supposed to be a helluva keynote speaker this year as well.
Perhaps it may even be good enough to get Judy B there? I’m calling you out girl!
5 Comments »
13
11
2009
Posted by: Varg in Tide
Last night’s Blogging 101 event was a success and I wanted to extend the invitation to all who attended to feel free to ask anyone in Rising Tide whatever questions you may have.
Also, mad props to Max at Bridge Lounge for not only being a swell cat but also providing the room to us. Check out the Bridge Lounge next time you want to have an Irish Channel beer.
Also to the “nameless” benefactor of our beer. We salute you!
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27
08
2009
Posted by: Varg in Tide
Just a few thoughts about this year’s conference…
- It is always a succinct pleasure getting together in large or small numbers with this group of bright, chaste and sincere folk. The group, as always, was truly magnificent. Much love to all the organizers. In an era where all everyone wants to talk about is how America is going down the tubes you are all exemplary and inspirational in your love and devotion to your neighbors.
- There was a batshit lady harassing Leigh at the door and whining about the fee. She kept saying something like, “you wouldn’t charge rats to run through a maze would you?” I was tempted to ask her what the hell that meant but just calmly continued to alphabetize name tags. If I wasn’t so uncomfortable with the awkwardness of confrontation I would have. This lady stayed until the very end but my defense mechanisms knew where she was in the room at all times. If it was later in the day I may have called 211 but I didn’t know what it was at the time. If anyone is wondering who I may be talking about it was the lady who needed more support.
- Another lady opened the door and asked when John Barry was going to speak.
- It was hard to decide what pastry to eat and decided on a big ass bagel. It was so delicious.
- I had my doubts about the brewing on site of the coffee but it ended up quite awesome. Mad props there. So much better than cambros.
- Here are a bunch or words that can describe MC Loki: animated, anxious, ardent, avid, crazy, devoted, dying to, eager, earnest, ebullient, exhilarated, exuberant, fanatical, fascinated, fervent, fervid, forceful, gaga, gone on, gung ho, hearty, intent, intense, keen, keyed up, lively, nutty, obsessed, passionate, pleased, rabid, red-hot, rhapsodic, spastic, spirited, tantalized, thrilled, titillated, vehement, vigorous, wacky, wholehearted, willing, zealous. Everybody pick one. I am going with enthusiastic. I admire the fact that he seems to be keenly aware of his own energy level and just accepts it.
- Culture panel was a great idea. Great panelists. Perfect. Perhaps the main focus next year could be what can everyone do to help preserve them. I think we all know some are in trouble. So what can we do about it? This year’s group was awesome. Stellar choice putting Susan Tucker in there. Sustenance is such a part of who we are. Even the most mundane folks can come together over food.
- Net2NO presentation made it sound like a perfect organization for local techies. The speaker seemed uncomfortable speaking before a crowd and said so many times. This made me uncomfortable. Public speaking is a huge fear of many people and I salute her for it. But when a speaker says how uncomfortable they are, it really bleeds into the whole crowd and everyone wants it to be over. But the group sounds damn cool.
- Dear Harry Shearer, you do indeed rule! Thanks for coming. Our conference was greatly helped by your name recognition. Thank you also for all your hard work defending New Orleans. You are a true warrior of Care Forgot and I hope you stay one for many years. I say that last part because there were a few things you said that made me think you may be growing weary and I’m worried. At the onset of your speech you asked yourself if your affinity for New Orleans was some romantic fascination and then quickly talked yourself out of that. Then you said the battle for the truth about the flood was “lost” rather than losing. That indicates there is no hope left. And your exasperation at playing the inside game when we all know it is a slow process made me wonder in the back of my mind how much you had left in the tank for us. Even if you gave up tomorrow, you have done so much. I hope my vague intuition was off base.
- Lunch was great soul food and it made my tummy all warm. It wasn’t super greasy. It tasted robust with flavor and there were even healthy options.
- Muffin’s politics panel was quite entertaining. So much to talk about. It was also however, very agreeable. The panelists agreed on many of the points and the folks in the room agreed with them as well. So great panel but more discourse could be a goal for next year.
- Lipper’s health care panel was insightful because I didn’t expect it to be as focused on local health care as it was and that really jived with me. I especially liked learning about the 211 number because I see any number of folks every weekend who could qualify. I didn’t have a chance to ask Cecile Tebo if the person in crisis has to use the number for them self or can others call for them.
- The Ashley award was given to Keyser Soze. I’ve not been bashful about how uncomfortable I am with bloggers using fake names. We all have responsibilities in this world. Not taking responsibility for your actions means there is less accountability because the character remains unscathed. If we are going to allege serious grievance against other people we should step up and take responsibility for them. Truth is absolute. Our words and actions are stronger when we stand behind them. We face those who we accuse and allow them to face us, not in some digital realm but in the community we are a part of. Mad props to Keyser for his devotion to New Orleans. Somewhere in there perhaps there is a hero. But until we know who we are talking about, should we call him one? What do we know about him? And if there are certain people in the know about him, where does that leave the rest of New Orleans? Out of the club I guess. One may say Keyser would lose his accessibility by revealing himself and if that’s the case he can operate just like Deep Throat and act as a source for journalists who can reveal their identities. I hope one day to meet Keyser and we can discuss this further. I don’t mean this as an attack on his character (because I am in no position to judge it).
- Pants’ sports panel was unfortunately poorly attended and that was a downer because a devotion to the Saints is a huge part New Orleans folk. Not sure the Hornets apply so much. But the Saints, and their arrival in town just before the population began to decline, make for many meaningful moments and a rich custom of success and failure. Like the food in the first panel, it is these seemingly less analytical things where New Orleanians culture reveals itself so richly. With some critical thought into why, these are vast topics.
NOTE: This post would have been awesome with links and stuff.
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24
08
2008
Posted by: Varg in Tide
There was a lot going on so I can’t present much of genuine article covering the event so I will just result to bullet points…
- Buffa’s was energized and kinetic. The bleu cheese coleslaw was delectable. My particular favorite part was IG Robert Cerasoli quoting Jeffrey to Jeffrey. It seemed to be a moment where he and all the bloggers listening realized this stuff we hammer out on our keyboards and post into the aether can one day put us right in front of its subject. That said, Cerasoli was a mensch. Did you know he sleeps on an air mattress and lives out of luggage?
- After a chaotic morning running cambros of coffee and fresh baked pastries around in “Nancy” my two-door Toyota Tercel, I made it to the conference and indulged coffee that mixed oh-so-well with the fried potstickers and jalapeno quiche from the night before.
- The room was sultry and cavernous.
- I liked the “Oprah” setup but perhaps next year we can negotiate some risers. I know some folks who can do wonders with 3/4″ plywood and cinder blocks!
- I liked John Barry’s speech. I need to read his book. Unfortunately, he often left the more interesting stuff out and noted that it could be found in the book. I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all but a lot of what he said was review for me. It slips my mind which blogger I mentioned that to who replied they like to hear such things in person because it is more “nuanced” and I see her point. Must read that book.
- I was moving around a lot and drawn into several conversations during the education panel but the one thing I drew from it was I would be up at night worrying about my kid’s future if they were subjected to the chaos. The panelists were superb and received many raves from the folks around me.
- Lunch by J’anitas rocked but there was some discussion as to what the white meat was. I was convinced it was Turkey but many others said it was pork. I guess I’ll defer to the popular opinion on that. The tater salad was off da hook!
- Jeffrey’s media panel was the highlight of the day for me as it featured Lee Zurik’s line of the day, “My eyebrows are real!” I’ve never doubted they were but the real questions are: Are they manicured and how often? Mad props to all the panelists. I do think someone from talk radio and a Times-Picayune columnist would have rounded out the panel but what we had was also unique in that it presented the bloggers and those who have embraced them.
- I hated to ask my question on anonymity on the Internet after Nola.com blogger Big Red Cotton just finished asking a question stating she blogged anonymously, but the subject means a lot to me. How can anyone get behind what you say if you can’t get behind it yourself? It’s a lot easier to dismiss a username. And yes, my name is Lance Vargas and I am a resident of New Orleans, I can be reached at 250-1643.
- Next up was Sandy Rosenthal’s Levees.org video which was actually another review. I am sure it will play well to people who need education about Katrina but everyone in this crowd was pretty well educated about it in the first place. I do want to thank Sandy for buying breakfast though!
- The politics panel was up next and I liked having it at the end of the day as the audience was much looser and enjoyed it better as a result. I didn’t like hearing an actual candidate speak from the audience as I always thought the Conference was for citizens and not politicians.
- Also, when asking a question at one of these things there are a few simple rules: 1.) Please introduce a short context to your question then ask the question. 2.) Actually ask a question.
- All the deserving awards were given out and all were very appropriate. Sure did miss Ashley Morris today.
- I enjoyed meeting for the first time Brad V., Scott Harney and Ali Dejong who also happens to be hardcore.
- I happened to have a need for a .44 for an upcoming art project so when I saw Pistolette kicking it in the crowd with armory silk screened on her shirt I figured she might be the one to ask. She did not have one but said she knew someone who did. Hook a brotha up! Even though she seems like a chick who would cut your balls off on her blog, she is quite nice and has a good sense of humor.
- My man Clay showed up in style again! This time he went with seersucker over linen!
- Didn’t get to talk to Swampwoman or Mermaid enough.
- Phrase of the day: Tits on a Bishop!
- Afterwords at the conveniently named Rendezvous I watched football with Jeffrey and enjoyed meaningful conversations with Dangerblond, Racy Mind, Mominem, Folse, Sophmom, G-Bitch and DSB.
Edit: I also enjoyed speaking with Celcus (who should blog more) and ole Tim Ruppert.
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