Favorite Things in NOLA 2011

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my second year favorites in a nutshell. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2010 is marked with an Asterix*. Though there are too many “ties,” revealing an inability to “just pick one,” I promise you there were so many more things I wanted to include, so many more people and places I felt deserved mentioning.

L.A. to N.O.LA’s Favorite Things (in NOLA) 2010

I can’t get you all of this stuff, Oprah-style, but every item has links to their site. If you’d like to know more about why each is my favorite, use the search window on the lower right to find photos, videos and stories.

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my first year favorites in a nutshell.

Treme Brass Band in the Treme

Friday night, NOLA Defender, the paper I write for, hosted a Trick or Treme party behind the Hotel Storyville on Esplanade.

http://www.hotelstoryville.net/index.html

The backyard/event area was a wonderland of lit seating areas, food and beverage kiosks, a stage and a wonderful wooden decking area emblazoned with the event banner. There was jambalaya like your mama makes and sauced chicken wings among many savory items, and a chocolate cake decorated with a cemetery complete with an open grave.

Harvest the Music (lots of photos)

Before I moved here, my favorite places here would have been restaurants and bars in the French Quarter that my cousins and I frequented over the years. Another would have to be Jackson Square, including Cafe du Monde and the stairs down to the river. I’ve added many more reasons to love Jackson Square but I’d have to say my new favorite place in New Orleans is Lafayette Square. I fell in love last Spring during the Wednesday at the Square concert series benefitting the Young Leadership council. The Square is a beautiful town center surrounded by regal buildings with a streetcar line rolling past.

Dude, check out my articles

In July, I confessed that I’ve been writing articles for a locally-base online paper, NOLA Defender. For those of you who’ve enjoyed my articles and in an effort to give you an easy reference, here are links to my latest articles.

The first links are part of an ongoing series of interviews with Jeff Dowd, the inspiration for The Dude in “The Big Lebowski.”

If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise

I’d set my TIVO to record part 1 of “If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t  Rise,” Spike Lee’s follow-up to his documentary, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” But, the bar where my newspaper, NOLA Defender, holds its weekly meetings (don’t judge) hosted a viewing of the special for those who don’t have HBO in their homes. As we were meeting, I noticed the bar filling up far more than usual, then the music shut off and we all turned to watch Phyllis Montana LeBlanc’s impassioned outcry.

Brunch

Yesterday, my neighbor , Christina, and I went Uptown for brunch at Patois. The word patois means local language, something we have plenty of here. The food at Patois is prepared with ingredients from local gardens and dairies (Louisiana cheese? Who knew?) and, of course, the once gorgeous and fruitful Gulf.

The Dude Abides

I first saw The Big Lebowski in 1998, when it was released. Because of my deep love for movies I was working one day a week tearing tickets at the largest theatre in the world at that time, the 18 screen multiplex at Universal City Walk. I’d stay after work and see movies nearly every Sunday.

I’ve been cheating on you

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I sometimes drop off the map for a few days. Yes, there are times when I’m just too busy living to write about life. But, the truth is that I took a position writing for a local paper and writing articles takes even more time and energy than writing my blog posts.