transportation

IMGP0046-2, originally uploaded by jilly71.

I'll be home in a few hours. It was a fabulous trip. I wouldn't do anything different. Thanks New Orleans.

corner of St. Peter & Royal, New Orleans

IMGP0054, originally uploaded by jilly71.

I hired a poet on Frenchman St last night.

New Orleans- Stormy Weather

New Orleans sleeps under the river,
And the lake that hug her shoulders,
In a no- time, clothed in clapboards,
Strewn with colored beads of many years.
Promising to drown one day,
Already inhabiting our memory.

I remember our first rendezvous
With this dreaming candy- woman.
The night in the pink parking lot,
Gravel gleaming on the pavement.
Moisture gleaming on my forearms.

A part of me was struck by storm,
Checked and reeled and thirsted,
Grew mold, decayed, and marched
Its family to the afterworld,
And came back after the storm.


We both grew in these 5 years.
I brought my boots to wade through
More flooding. But the sky was washed.
The moon chiseled the outlines
Of epic, monstrous clouds.

A storm is brewing now to see me off.
There's talk of oil rain,
There is colling in the air
Unseasonal and sweet, while swirling.
Hysterical winds slash their way

Towards this nodding shore
When they get here
I won't be here anymore.

Erin Lierl
Poet for hire
New Orleans
June 28, 2010

painted pony

IMGP0059, originally uploaded by jilly71.

a walk through St. Louis Cemetery #2

Red Beans and Rice Postcard recipe

1 pound dried red beans
1/4 cup green onion tops
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
Onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/2 pound smoked sausage (Andouille or Chorizo)
Boiled rice

Soak beans in cold water overnight. Drain and add enough water to cover beans in a large soup pot.. Add all ingredients except the sausage and rice. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 3-5 hrs. Add more water if it gets too dry. Stir occasionally. Cut and brown 1/2 inch slices of sausage in a hot skillet. Add 1/2hr before serving.. Serve over cooked rice with French Bread. Serves 4-6.

Jambalaya post card recipe

1/2 pound smoked sausage, sliced
1/2 pound of ham, cubed
1 cup onions
1 cup bell pepper chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup green onions chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 16ounce can tomatoes, drained, reserving liquid
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup converted rice
1 1/2 cups stock or water
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 pound peeled shrimp (optional)

Saute sausage and ham in heavy Dutch oven until slightly browned. Remove from pot. Saute onions, bell peppers, celery, green onions and garlic in meat drippings until tender. Add tomatoes, thyme, pepper and salt. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in rice. Mix together liquid from tomatoes, stock and Worcestershire Sauce to equal 2 1/2 cups. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and add raw shrimp, ham, sausage and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes or until rice and shrimp are done. Serves 12.

Do Not Demolish

IMGP0023-1, originally uploaded by jilly71.

I woke up early this morning; my bike rental was going to end at noon. My destination was the 9th ward. The 9th ward was the area most destroyed by Katrina. I wasn't too sure what I was going to find. You have to ride over a bridge to cross a canal that dumps into the Mississippi River. Once across the bridge, the 1st house I saw was pockmarked with gunshots. It was not going to be pretty, I thought.

It wasn't as bad as I imagined. There were definitely some pretty bad looking houses. I'll admit, this was an area that I had no interest in checking out the insides of these houses. I haven't gone into any abandoned houses in New Orleans. You still see alot of Katrina markings.

Houses would be checked and an X was spray painted on the front of the house. The north quadrant would have the date the house was checked, east would identify who was there, west would identify if there were animals, and south would identify entry or no entry (or some version of this). In some neighbouhoods, they just knocked on the door.

I rode around and I saw people mowing lawns, sitting on porches, walking around, ,fixing cars. I said hello to anyone I passed and kept on riding. I rode past a dead dog, which was pretty grim. I don't think it had been there long. When I noticed the car with the blacked out windows more than once, I figured my holiday in the 9th ward was over.

It's a poor neighborhood, but I saw a transit bus. No businesses seem to be open, but people were there and living and trying to rebuild. I hope New Orleans makes it.

IMGP0017-1, originally uploaded by jilly71.

on desire street

IMGP0058-1, originally uploaded by jilly71.

dueling trumpets

Last night I headed to Frenchman Street, which is less tourist- more local and closer to my Guest House than the quarter. OMG. There was this group of horn players on the street playing for money. Good thing I brought my little video maker...



The truly amazing thing that I couldn't capture on video was that there was a competing group of horn players on the opposite corner. It was insane! There were people everywhere. The music was all that you could ever expect from New Orleans. Ellis Marsalis was playing, and I hoped to hear it from outside because I didn't want to pay the $30. I popped into the Spotted Cat and listened to a set of The Cottonmouth Kings who were also tres amazing. This video looks like it was shot right where I stood last night and I heard almost the same thing. (not my video)

Gas off

Gas off, originally uploaded by jilly71.

new orelans- day 3

I got up this morning and went for a 3 hr bike tour. I would have preferred less talking and more biking. I can't recall most of what was said to me today. Which is kind of sad for $45. I did see some neat things and learned about the post Katrina marking on the houses and what they symbolize.

Then I came home and napped for 5 hrs. This heat...I went for a walk in the "suburbs" of Baywater and Marigny. I don't know what people are on about New Orleans being dangerous. If it is.. I haven't seen or felt a shred of it yet and I was walking where it was getting sketchy.

I had a great light diner at a place called Satsuma. Had a lovely young spinach salad with bacon, egg, onions and tomatoes. Mint ice tea and a side of crispy toast.

I'm off in hunt of some good music ala New Orleans. Ellis Marsalis is playing a few blocks away...

new orelans- day 2

Today I set out to do nothing but see where I went. I had one minor objective simply because it was close to my B&B.. was to find a Banksy graffiti job. I did find it, but it's been mostly covered up.

I wandered through the French Quarter in the muggy morning, staying on the shady side of the street. I know Louis Armstrong says 'life can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street' but it's also scorching hot. I took a lot of photos. You can see what I've been up to here..


side note: I bought a pair of Toms shoes in Toronto. They were incredibly comfortable and kept my feet cool.

Some things I did/ saw today..

• Bought postcards and wrote them all. They'll be mailed in the morning
• Bought a cool can of coffee called Cafe Bustelo

• went into a out of the way shop: The Voodoo Spiritual Temple and bought a bar of African Black Soap. It's kind of strange. 
• road the Canal Streetcar from one end to the other and learned I can buy a $5 all day transit pass
• wandered into a Photography Gallery and learned that New Orleans has an annual celebration of photography called PhotoNola. I also saw original Bellocqs, Arbus, Weegee, Adams.. wow
• saw a man riding a bike, wearing what looked like a tight curl black wig.. made out of yarn.
• saw a lot of for sale signs in the quarter and wished i had a million dollas to make a perfect B&B dream come true.
• happened upon a group of men in shorts, tube socks, gold spray painted shoes dancing in the street
• met a woman who looked exactly like Janis Joplin but from the 80's. I should have taken her photo. 
• noticed the flood lines on some buildings
• ate at Mother's
• wore myself out and came back to my room at 7pm and didn't leave

Tomorrow at 9am I have a 3hr bike tour booked with Confederacy of Bike Tours.

New Orleans

IMGP0054, originally uploaded by jilly71.

...but it also looks like Paris, Havana, or Brussels..

a brief look at the B&B

starting..

I have to admit.. reports that a huge methane gas cavity in the Gulf of Mexico could rupture and take out the ocean floor causing multiple tsunami's.. I almost booked my way back to safety and holiday boredom. Then I thought, what if I do and then what if nothing happens and I forfeit my B&B and my flights? I'd regret it. Would I regret being swallowed in a giant methane bubble? Probably. But I wouldn't really know. This way I have adventures under foot.

My first thoughts were.. it's like Havana & Cuba. It's hot and muggy. The French Quarter is alot like Havana Veija but not as run down. The bougainvillea flowers are in bloom, like in Cuba.. and the smell of damp wood and musty spices fill the air.

I'm safely in my lovely B&B. It's cool and quiet. In fact, I have the whole joint to myself tonight. The fridge is stocked with English muffins, bagels, peanut butter and juice. There's cold cereal and milk and I can help myself all I want. The ceilings are high and everything is really comfortable. Nice big bathroom, nice big room, a TV, WIFI, books, a common area, tourist pamphlets..etc. Honestly, we does anyone EVER stay in a hotel?

I don't smell any gas, but apparently a hurricane is due on the weekend. So is the gay pride parade.. 2 blocks away. I don't know what's in store for me except I hope I never have to fly on United's tiny wobbly planes ever again.

the beginning

I stayed up WAY too late last night and drove at breakneck speeds to the Calgary Airport this morning. I'm now in Denver, CO enjoying free WIFI while I have 4 hrs to kill at the airport. Too much time to get bored and not enough time to leave..

 I've gotten an email that my B&B in New Orleans is equipt with WIFI and now.. lugging my lap top with me makes all the sense in the world..


I can daily blog my New Orleans adventures and I expect to see an email or 2!

backtracking part 2

After my brief sojourn in the Manitoba prairie, I landed myself in Toronto for a 2 week get together. Toronto is a sprawling metropolis that in sideways glances reminds me of Europe and specifically Prague with the street cars you run out into the street to jump on. It's a vibrant city, full of colorfully dressed couples. If it was foggy, you might mistake Toronto for the 1950's where men wore suits and hats and ladies matched their gloves to their handbag and shoes. It's noticeable. Especially, when where you normally live everyone looks like they shop at Mountain Equipment Co Op.

I was there for work and thus, stayed in an apartment right downtown. What that meant was I close to everything and that included the preparation for the G8/G20 Summit. It got pretty hairy the last week I was there. The fences were going up. The trees were coming down and I even saw them hauling away giant installed public art fixtures and gluing down the rocks.The cops were out in full force, but I figured it was for the free Iggy and the Stooges gig headlining the NXNE music festival (that I was going to miss). I did see some fine graffiti though...

During my stay on the 36th floor, my lovely sister came to stay. We wandered up and down Queen St where I battled her for going into button shops while she tolerated me going into cheese shops. She's much more tolerant of cheese than I am of buttons. We took photos and got caught in a torrential rain storm. We admired figurines and then found our own. We ate lunch and made our feet sore finding it and when we had just about had it, we were rewarded with noticing one of our few mutually favorite musical groups happened to be playing a gig.

It was a real treat to find the First Aid Kit- the beautiful harmonizing sisters from Sweden were playing. And opening for them was the startling beautiful Samantha Crain,  who made me a fan that night. We bought the CD, the T shirt and gave away the free poster. I think it was the 1st gig I have ever seen with my sister ever. It was a perfect accident to stumble upon in Toronto.

Other fantastic adventures..

Finding Ashley at the Distillery district for her Supersonic Gypsy Cookies and other vegan treats.

Looking up to see the sign that said Vince Gasparro's Meat Market.. only 1 letter off the name of a very dear friend of mine.. who incidentally has had photographs of this location sent to him over the years.. What's odd, is that I was wandering aimlessly from trying to locate a friend of mine and happened upon it by accident.

Finding and visiting with an old friend who I was reminded on how smart and clever he was. The years haven't been good to him and we shared a few minutes that meant so much to me.

I found other dear friends that I hadn't seen in a long while. Gosh it's good to see old friends.

Toronto was good to me. It was hot, it was cool. It rained. It was muggy. It made me laugh and it made me cry. It fed me well and kept me awake at night and kept me entertained. It also reminded me of the kindness of strangers where I was walking down the street and encountered a group of people who were trying to do right by a small falcon who for some reason didn't want to fly. It did fly when there was an attempt to get him to a box, but there was something not quite right for this bird. 4 strangers came together to make calls to animal rescue, keep the bird out of the street, care about the what would happen and take it into their hands to make sure this small life stayed alive.

Thanks friends. Thanks Toronto.

one day, I will drive down this country road

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mutiny on the mailbox

mutiny on the mailbox, originally uploaded by jilly71.