Fortune could not have planned it any better. The Sazerac bar at the Roosevelt hotel is now reopened, coincidentally, just in time for the 150th anniversary of the drink after which it is named. Also, Tales of the Cocktail, which…
A bad bill was defeated, but it was so damn close
This Tuesday, June 23, is St. John's Eve, which is a high holy day in the world of Voodoo - a celebration of the summer solstice. By tradition Voodoo dancers have gathered along Bayou St. John (which by happy coincidence…
3 Things That I Wish the Mayor was Doing Last Week Instead of Being Quarantined in China and Speaking About Global Warming in Australia
Flag Day is this week. That was always a very special occasion for my late father, who was decorated in World War II, and who very much loved that flag. To his generation, the flag was quite lovable. In World…
I found myself feeling more emotional than I expected when I walked alongside the staging area for the D-Day parade, especially when I saw a military truck carrying veterans from the 101st Airborne. The date was June 6, 2000, opening…
While on vacation last week I sent an e-mail to the gang at the office. Toward the end, I added a line saying, in an attempt at inside-the-industry whimsy, that that day I had seen Michelangelo's David but that I…
During the first weekend of the 1984 world's fair I glanced up at the gondola system that was stretched from the fair's grounds across the river to a point near Blaine Kern's Algiers float dens. Riding in a capsule dangling…
We'll assume that the operator of a particular booth at the Jazz Fest did not consult one of those fancy Madison Avenue marketing firms to come up with the name for his business, "Fatty's Cracklings." Properly made, cracklings (or cracklin's-…
Ernie K-Doe once gushed to the crowd at Jazz Fest that he was, “the best thing that ever happened to New Orleans – in all its history.” He wasn’t totally wrong, although other contenders might include fellow New Orleans rhythm…
April is one of New Orleans’ best months – unfortunately it has also become a sign-post for one of the city’s most dreaded months. As this week ends, we are only a bit more than a month away from June…
Baseball season, having begun anew, brings to mind Nellie Fox, who once played second base for the Chicago White Sox. Fox was distinguished for the wad of tobacco that puffed one of his cheeks. I know, because as a kid,…
I suspect that each new generation, increasingly used to action that is "virtual," rather than actual, was getting less enchanted about the site of live bunnies quietly snuggling or performing an occasion hop en route to a piece of lettuce.There…
Tennessee Williams hit it right when he changed the name of his play from The Poker Night to A Streetcar Named Desire. Not only was the latter title far more intriguing, it immortalized the New Orleans trolley. In recent years…
We are now in the first full week of spring, a time that symbolically represents a renewal after the dead of winter. Though there is not much of a weather change in New Orleans, local history has certainly had its…
As late as the 1960s some (but not all) white politicians used race-baiting as a way of trying to obtain or cling to power. Until the mid-'60s state elections often centered on racial issue. There were some notable exceptions. In…
"Why do whites want reform now that blacks are in power, yet they never worried about it when they were in power?"
After the waters began to recede from the great flood of 1927, some refugees who had spent time at a Red Cross camp began to return to their homes in rural central Louisiana. When they got to their houses, everything…
We came really close to having a perfect Carnival. The krewes did their part (Zulu even ran a little ahead of time). The weather was great. The crowds were large. The parade quality was improved. Police and sanitation did their…
Carnival is a fragile season that is often threatened, though I am amazed at how the spirit seems to survive. There are signs that people really do care and really want the season to have class, significance and style. They…
I got to interview Morgus the Magnificent this past week. During the 1960s Morgus was the rage in local television when, on Saturday nights, he would introduce horror movies on television. Between segments, he would have skits featuring his mummy…
