Well, word on the street, at least amongst my contacts, was that Wednesday’s eclipse was beautiful to behold, at least if you were living in Minnesota. It seems that there was one huge, single cloud covering the rest of the United States. So Maddie Potter and I harrumphed a bit about that, then placated ourselves by making spaghetti and splitting a bottle of red wine. All in all, not a bad evening. (more…)
For someone who regularly grumbles at sunny weekdays observed through the prison bars of my office window that then give way to rainy weekends, I have to give ups to the Universe for dealing Baton Rouge two stellar weekends, weather-wise, in a row. Even two lines of storms passing through saw fit to do their dirty work late at night or in the wee hours of the morning on both Saturday and Sunday this last weekend, leaving dawn clear and cool and the days sunny and warm. (more…)
Well, I survived my weekend of carnival, but I have to say that two days of it was plenty enough for me. The guys down in NOLA are slowing trickling back into the real world after their week long Celebration O’ Excess, and I have to say I don’t envy them much on that score at all.
There’s little of import to report over here in Camp Ashes. A real, for true, honest-to-god, wet, grey winter has descended on the Red Stick, which has left me with the desire to do little more than make stews (an excellent turkey/potato affair was conjured over the weekend), drink dark beers (mad props to this death-defying wonder) and/or whiskey*, watch movies and read.
Late last year I somehow snuck myself into the line-up for the first run of Culture Candy‘s (an arts incubator here in Baton Rouge) Sweet Tooth, a free art criticism publication to be distributed around the city with the task of “evaluating the pros and cons of art in Baton Rouge.” The fact that I’ve got an article in such a publication is a little laughable considering my history of disdain for published criticism (and I can’t wait to see what they think of my article “Why Football is Art”). Yeah, I’ve got some critical opinions on any number of things, but in our media saturated age where any ass-hat with a website or television/radio talk show can voice theirs, it’s not really an arena I’ve felt worth entering. That is, unless I am complaining about serial complainers (I’m ‘dvc’ in the comments). What can I say? I’m the sum of my contradictions. (more…)
Congratulations to the Bayou Bengals, Louisiana State’s Fighting Tigers, on their second national football title in five years. I’d said that I’d felt like good things were coming for Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole with the New Year, and the Tigers made good on it early. It was great to see New Orleans hopping with activity and by all accounts the bowl season saw the most people in the city and the most tourist dollars spent since Hurricane Katrina. I hope that the exposure our win garnered will not only help keep our football program towards the top of the pile, but prove beneficial both to the university and the city of Baton Rouge.
No matter where life takes me, I will always fondly remember that I lived in Baton Rouge during one of the most special of LSU football seasons. Thanks LSU, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans for making this a season that a die-hard football fan will never forget. GEAUX TIGERS!
It’s been quite a relaxing weekend in Baton Rouge, much needed after spending Friday night in New Orleans at the Willie Nelson show at the House of Blues. It was a fun show, eventually, but not being able to hear over a pretty drunk and surly crowd was a challenge until we were able to find a spot, in a jam packed HOB, that we could hear well and get our Willie groove on. (more…)
