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!
Update: Complimenting Photos
Happy New Year!
I took some extra time off for the holiday this year, my first good, long holiday break since I was in college and got to spend some time catching up with friends all over Mississippi and Louisiana. After a lazy, relaxing Christmas with the family in Brookhaven I got to spend a day on the town up in Jackson. An afternoon with a roast beef lunch at Cherokee and an hour browsing the shelves of Lemuria segued nicely into happy hour pints at Fenian’s and a cookout at a warehouse turned art studios down in the Millsaps Arts District. I’d met one of the guys that is renting the building and doing the renovations at Cups earlier in the day and he graciously invited me to come check the place out. It was encouraging to get to meet some of the younger set that is carrying the torch for the arts in Jackson. After the cookout it was off to Martins for an excellent show by the local band Roosevelt Noise, whom Jaysus was DJ-ing for between sets. It was great to have a boozy late night out with the likes of Gorjus, Jaysus, Beebo and Mavis in the city and to see a number of the old ‘Wrecking Crew’ that were in town for the holidays. (more…)
Well, I’m a day late technically, but Thanksgiving is a weekend long affair, so whatever. Rain brought a cold front into Mississippi and Louisiana just in time to set the right mood weather-wise and Buster and I got to spend most of yesterday in Brookhaven snuggled up by the fire reading and watching football. This post finds me with 10 minutes at the house before heading over to campus to get in some tailgating before LSU takes on Arkansas in a contest that we must win to stay in national title contention, and it looks like it’s going to be a tough one. Hopefully our defense stands strong against the Razorbacks’ dual running threat and the crowd can muster some of our 12th man magic usually reserved for night games at Tiger Stadium. From the number of people I saw celebrating Thanksgiving from their RV’s on campus last night on the news, something tells me plenty of action is being taken on that front (and now it’s time for me to go play catch up). Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and here’s hoping you have a safe and relaxing holiday.
Sweet Jeebus, has it really been a month since the my last post? My football season is truly a universe unto itself, friends, wherein time isn’t measured in days but in those long empty spaces between pre-game tailgates. (more…)
I’ve got the shoes off and my feet on the coffee table watching Cox Sport’s rebroadcast of the Florida/LSU game, and man, is it a lot less exciting this time around. Saturday night in Tiger Stadium was one for the ages, as was an afternoon on LSU’s campus taking part in some of the best tailgating I’ve been privy to this season. My dad, along with my brother and 2 of his friends were down from Mississippi for the game and a friend of mine from Millsaps, DaBritt, was up from New Orleans as well. Along with a record setting crowd in Tiger Stadium we yelled, stomped and suffered many a near coronary on the way to one of the biggest wins in LSU history. And many thanks to Stanford, whose shocker over USC helped get the crowd into the game late in the 3rd quarter when we were in danger of wearing out after watching LSU miss a number of opportunities to get themselves back in the game. (more…)
