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New Orleans Magazine December 2008

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Carpe Diem…

Belle du Jour (above) Diamond white, strapless, sweetheart neckline, dotted organza gown with ruched wrap bodice and self sash by Melissa Sweet from Town & Country; single strand white and tan coin pearl necklace; yellow button pearl earrings; and platinum, fancy yellow radiant cut, 4.06 ct total weight diamond engagement ring, all from Boudreaux’s Jewelers; […]

Countdown to Beauty: All Eyes on You

Planning a wedding can be a hectic, crazy process that might leave you stressed out and not exactly looking your best, but here is an essential beauty timeline that will ensure you’ll be gorgeous for your wedding day, just in time for all eyes to be on you. 6 Months PriorSix months away might seem […]

Picture Perfect

Choosing a photographer for your wedding isn’t like choosing your location, bakery or menu. The photographer is the person in charge of capturing the special moments of your wedding – the ones you see and the ones you may miss. Richard Najdzion of Cowboy UP Photos reminds his brides that, “Having an open dialogue with […]

It’s Party Time!

Chaos is king as the big day draws ever closer. Friends and relatives can’t help being underfoot, unintentionally contributing to the lovely knot of stress living between your shoulders, and all the women in your life struggle to find common ground outside of yourself. Groups of acquaintances are beginning to clash or section off. You […]

Ask the Experts: Bridesmaids

Being picked as a bridesmaid is a tremendous honor – an honor that’s usually bestowed upon close friends, sisters and other relatives of the bride. The details of a wedding are important, and if you’ve been chosen as a bridesmaid you should be flattered, not frazzled.    While you may have to take orders from the […]

Commentary from New Orleans Magazine’s Errol Laborde

Marshall Truehill’s final political battle was his greatest. I last saw Truehill this past October when he was working vigorously for passage of a city charter amendment that would allow for the creation of a meaningful Master Plan. Though the amendment was way overshadowed by the election of Barack Obama on the November ballot, it […]

Commentary from New Orleans Magazine’s Errol Laborde

We know that Catholic Archdioceses throughout the country have had to close churches within their jurisdiction.            We know that the reasons for the closings are related to shifting population patterns, financial troubles and a shortage of priests.            We know that since Katrina, other religions have seen some of their buildings closed locally because of a […]

Commentary from New Orleans Magazine’s Errol Laborde

We speak the words "Merry Christmas," but the term is especially challenged when part of that day is spent in an Alzheimer’s ward.            Two Christmases ago it became evident that there was no longer any point to bringing gifts. Whatever curiosity the brightly colored package may create and whatever appreciation the contents may evoke, they […]

Commentary from New Orleans Magazine’s Errol Laborde

For Anh Cao there is bad news and there is good news. First the bad: Anyone elected to Congress usually faces stiff competition the first time he is up for re-election. That happened to Charles Melancon in the 3rd Congressional District and to Steve Scalise in the first. Both of them were able to withstand […]

A Scentless Christmas

It was my Christmas with no smells. I decorated a Christmas tree and couldn’t smell a thing. I cooked a Christmas dinner that had no aroma,” says Patty Huntsinger, who owns Liberty Lumber Yard Uptown with her husband Thomas. “Three weeks before Christmas, we decorated the tree. We always have a real tree for Christmas […]

Closer to God – and Hollygrove

Peggy Wilson bristles against public indifference to New Orleans’ nation-leading homicide rate,  including those killed in the ‘drug game.’ “People say as long as drug dealers and users are killing each other, it doesn’t matter,” says Wilson, the first Republican woman on the City Council (1986-’98) and a former candidate for mayor in 2006. “It […]

Leslie Jacobs

I’m finally face-to-face with Leslie Jacobs, the woman who was once described to me as the “bulldog” of education. Nothing intrigues me more than a backhanded compliment, so I set out to meet the “bulldog” who dedicated 23 years of her life to reforming education and got spit on for the trouble. We meet in […]

UNO Opens St. Roch Gallery

A part of town where small, often-edgy art galleries have been proliferating recently is also now home to a new gallery from one of the city’s largest institutions. The University of New Orleans opened its UNO Gallery at 2429 St. Claude Ave., near the St. Roch Market, where it showcases new local artists. It may […]

Read and Spin

Lisa Hilton, pianist, producer and composer of Sunny Day Theory, has created an album resonating cool jazz sounds popularized by Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck in the 1950s. Hilton’s composition highlights drums by Lewis Nash, tenor sax by Bruce Winston and Larry Grenadier on bass. “After the Fire,” inspired by devastation on the West Coast, […]

Songs for the Season

We pause, in the gathering darkness of the global economy, to celebrate songs of light that give December exalted meaning. In the manner of the ancient Greeks I shall now pass over the programming of Christmas songs choc-a-block on the right side of the FM dial, the better to endorse Baby Face’s version of “Have […]

Biking Through New Orleans

With flat terrain, mild winters and a compact urban grid built largely before the dominance of automobiles, New Orleans should be a bicyclist’s dream. But local cycling advocates say that dream has long been stymied by the lack of a bike-friendly infrastructure or even much public recognition that bicycles belong on New Orleans streets. That […]

Restaurant Insider

The Abita Brewing Company has released Abita Beer: Cooking Louisiana True a cookbook featuring recipes in which one of the dozen or so Abita beers stars as an ingredient. The book includes dishes submitted by an all-star cast of local chefs, including Paul Prudhomme, Susan Spicer, Emeril Lagasse, Poppy Tooker and John Folse. Each recipes […]

Finer Diners

The humble diner stands in stark contrast to all of December’s holiday obligations, parties and functions. At a diner, one won’t find any medallions of foie gras drizzled with 25-year-old balsamic and Bartlett pear compote. No prefecture-specific beef flown in from Japan on a chartered Gulfstream V. No lettuce whose ancestry can be traced back […]

Graffiti Wars

The irregular squares and rectangles of paint, usually gray, appeared so rapidly and efficiently over fresh graffiti that the man responsible for them became known on the streets as the Gray Ghost.     Lately, however, the Gray Ghost and his helpers have getting some unaccustomed scrutiny. Fred Radtke, the former Marine behind the graffiti-fighting gray […]

Deacon John

Deacon John – a name, if you’re from New England – that instills an aura of Puritan like piety. However, if a person is from New Orleans, there’s only one Deacon John – the bandleader, vocalist and guitarist who has entertained generations. As native New Orleanian Marcelle Saussy says, “Ask Deacon John how long he […]

A Christmas with Fewer Churches

We know that Catholic archdioceses throughout the country have had to close churches within their jurisdiction. We know that the reasons for the closings are related to shifting population patterns, financial troubles and a shortage of priests. We know that since Hurricane Katrina, other religions have seen some of their buildings closed locally because of […]

Julia Street

Dear Julia,In the 1930s I attended an elementary school, Frank T. Howard No. 1, at Cleveland and Lopez streets in New Orleans. I believe there was an F.T. Howard No. 2 somewhere in the Uptown area.My question is: What other philanthropic endeavors are attributed to Mr. Howard and, was he a contemporary of John McDonogh?Myrtis […]

Marquee – December

Decking the Halls – and the French Quarter The French Quarter always seems to have magic in the air, but during the holidays it’s even more magnificent. French Quarter Festivals Inc. will produce the 10th annual Christmas New Orleans Style to warm the hearts of even the grumpiest Scrooge. Throughout the month, special exhibits and […]

Christmas of the Mind

We speak the words, “Merry Christmas” but the term is especially challenging when part of that day is spent in an Alzheimer’s ward. Two Christmases ago it became evident that there was no longer any point in bringing gifts. Whatever curiosity the brightly colored package may create and whatever appreciation the contents may evoke, they […]

Mel Rue

“Owww, ya  &$&# $&%& #$%#!” – Blessing by shade tree mechanic in Peoria, Ill., after the wrench slipped and said mechanic busted his knuckles. Mechanic was arrested for obscenity. “Owww, ya mutha rue!”– Blessing by shade tree mechanic in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, after the wrench slipped and said mechanic busted his […]

Street Musicians

“First I must explain how our quartet used to do its hustling so as to attract an audience. We began by walking down Rampart Street between Perdido and Gravier. The lead singer and tenor walked together in front followed by the baritone and the bass. Singing at random we wandered through the streets until someone […]

Last Call

It must be in human DNA. Even those of us who grew up in these temperate climates, with little contact to hearths, chestnuts or frozen water falling from the sky, still have an appreciation, even knowledge, of what this season means to our senses. And the experience goes back a long way. This time of […]

Etc. Editorial

An eye on St. Charles Vision UptownSpecializing in high-tech eye exams, treatment of eye diseases, difficult contact lens fittings and innovative eyewear, St. Charles Vision Uptown is owned by Dr. Charles Glaser, who started the practice in 1975.  Glaser says his goal is to take care of patients’ visual needs in a caring and attentive manner. […]

NOLA by the Numbers

1902Louisiana state seal, featuring a pelican feeding its own flesh to its young, is adopted. 1796The first opera in the U.S. is performed – in New Orleans! 4,287,768Population of Louisiana. (U.S. Census 2006) 26,800Number of farms in Louisiana. (U.S. Department of Agriculture 2007) 1901The first oil well in Louisiana is drilled in a rice field […]

Dining Features

Carondelet CafeCarondelet Café, located at the Hampton Inn on Carondelet Street, offers a fresh and refreshing alternative to the sometimes-heavy fare of typical New Orleans eateries. Open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday, Carondelet offers a “Classic café menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, plate lunches, pastries and gourmet locally roasted coffees,” says owner Glen […]

Christmas in New Orleans

Just when you thought there was still time to return the Alpaca-fur swimsuit Cousin “X” got you last year, the season of giving has snuck up on us again. The economy has been rough; sadly, Santa stopped handing out freebies at puberty and, with the president-elect’s universal health care plan, holiday illnesses like Claus-trophobia and […]

30˚90˚ Calendar

Dec. 3, 6, 10, 19, 22. Hornets’ Home Games; New Orleans Arena. Information, www.nba.com/hornets. Dec. 3. Pat O’Brien’s 75th Anniversary Block Party; 718 St. Peter St. Information, 525-4823, www.patobriens.com. Dec. 4. Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra’s Holiday Concert; Pontchartrain Center. Information, 523-6530, www.lpomusic.com. Dec. 7, 28. Saints home games; Louisiana Superdome. Information, www.neworleanssaints.com. Dec. 11. “PhotoNOMA”; New […]

Stirring It Up

Keeping up with restaurants in New Orleans has always been a challenge; since Hurricane Katrina it can be a full-time avocation. Not only are there new ones opening in some places where other restaurants once stood, but in many cases the old ones also have a new look or at least a new chef. We […]

Dangerous Streets

Lisa Z. works at a hotel in the French Quarter. At midnight on July 6, she was walking home from work, headed to the Faubourg Marigny, when a trio of thugs knocked her to the ground, robbed her at gunpoint and left her lying in the street scared and hurting. “I was in the 1100 […]

After Dark

(Above photo): Evening Star  Fit and flair, black lace overlay on peridot bodice cocktail dress from Perlis; crystal chandelier earrings, ruby and rhinestone necklace and matching bracelet, all from The Red Carpet. Statuette Beauty  Black, one-shoulder, feather and rhinestone, jeweled beaded waist, mermaid gown from Elizabeth’s; Swarovski crystal floral hair pin from Saint Germain; crystal […]

Christmas Sweets

Like all Creole cooking, Christmas candies are different when stirred up in the kitchens of south Louisiana. Yes, we may make some Southern-style fudge or divinity, but the pride of local cooks, and what quickly disappears from the bon-bon plates, are the pralines, meringues and sugared pecans. These confections originated with the combination of French […]

Counterinsurgency

Ed. Note: Baghdad Dispatch is now written by two female Marines with local connections; Marine Capt. Mary Noyes, an attorney (right); and Marine Maj. Meredith Brown, an Iraqi Women’s Engagement officer (left). Their respective columns will appear in alternate months. Noyes moved to New Orleans in 2006; Brown is a native of Marrero. The American […]

Healthbeat

Thirty-nine Ochsner Health System nurses have been honored in the annual “100 Great Nurses of Louisiana” list. Patients and fellow nurses select honorees based on the individual’s humanity, community and professional contributions. In an effort to boost the number of qualified medical professionals in the local area, East Jefferson General Hospital is teaming up with […]

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