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"The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 7:34:28 AM

cjan

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Mac Rebbenack/aka/Dr. John, has a new album out by the Name "The City That Care Forgot". I haven't heard it yet but, of course, I'm gonna buy it. I'm a big fan of his and other Big Easy musicians.

The linked article speaks of MR's anger and disgust at the state of the city and culture which he, and so many others, love, and of which he is a product. It still stuns me that in the aftermath of Katrina, after three long years,so little has been done and so few Americans seem to care.

Wtf has happened to us as a nation ? One that, apparently, is so blase about losing a major city, it's inhabitants and the unique culture that enriched us all ?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/arts/music/07john.html

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 7:50:47 AM

Alumbrado

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Blase about something that never happened?

New Orleans was a victim of its own mythos...when the going got a little tough, the 'Big Easy' fell apart.

The people down the coast, where towns were really lost to Katrina, are still dealing with life as they did before, instead of expecting someone else to come along and restart an endless party.

And it is their example that should be honored as enriching us all, not the complaints of people who expected bon temps roulez to last forever.

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 8:03:59 AM

kittinSol

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Alumbrado
bon temps roulez

Ah bon, dans ce cas, alors...

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 8:53:35 AM

DesertRat

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From the holder of the honored Ayn Rand Chair in our Eat Shit And Die Department:

quote:

ORIGINAL: Alumbrado
Blase about something that never happened?

New Orleans was a victim of its own mythos...when the going got a little tough, the 'Big Easy' fell apart.

Moving past that cold-blooded irrelevancy: I read that story this morning and am, at this very moment, heading out to our local Hasting's hoping to find that CD. I've been a Dr. John fan for 40 years...ever since those high school senior nights in darkened, smoke-filled rooms listening to Walk On Guilded Splinters. Which I'm playing right now. Saw him perform twice in Detroit.

Bob

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 8:59:16 AM

Alumbrado

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Or you could read what I actually said, instead of projecting.

.

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 9:40:15 AM

Bethnai

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In watching how this has been playing out, there is a deliberate attempt to ensure that people can't go home and to take over property for profit. I do not believe that this is something that this nation has become, but rather what it has always been.   Its about cash and how to remove the "bad" or Black elements from it or drugs or take the money out of the hands of those "locals". Louisiana has a long history of racism. I can pinpoint SC cases from Louisiana, but I'm not going to.
New Orleans was what it was. I used to live on Bourbon Street above a bar. I won't lie, I am not from there, but I wanted to go and because I had a job that allowed me to go anywhere I wanted to and I was afraid I might never see anywhere. I packed up and went. Kerouac.   I worked for a man who owned 7 other bars on the block. I also did "nude" wrestling. I did it while my best friend waitressed tables and you could order anything you wanted beer wise, Heinekin, Corona, Bud..........its all coming out of the Natural Light keg and with a two drink minimum your down for the count, before you even realize that it's not really nude. Yes, I know the lobster trap really well. I know what state your shoes are in. The owner was conveniently out of the country whilst I was there because it was necessary. The owner also went out of his way to make sure that I never left by ensuring that all that I made went to him. Its a cute trick that I had to sit down and plan an escape. And the smell? Its been flooded so many times, its freakin' something. We won't even discuss the size of the rats.
New Orleans is a very humid city, which means that it pretty much blows like a lot of the time. Money for most is going to be off tourist season. We are down to a few months. It is true that there are a lot of drugs there. Its also true that little groups of children ranging from about 6-13 take beer bottle caps and stick them in the bottom of their shoes and tap dance for tips. They use the money to either eat or to give to parents who use that cash for drugs. Those of us that lived there adopted them. Tried to look out for them and threw them money or bought food or a pop in the heat. Intense enough looking out to try to locate what was going on if one was a no show.
In no time in New Orleans did I ever see a band on stage with any instrument waiting for a sit in. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm just saying I never saw it.
     Katrina broke that shit wide open. The day they decided to press criminal charges on a teenager that had the foresight to steal a school bus and load people on them to get get out should have sent a clear sign. Especially, if you had to wait a few months to find out they wouldn't let people walk across the bridge to get out. I'm not touching the lower 9th ward. I will say that listening to the mayor talk about the changes he was going to make but...if you have no transportation your out.

This has been nothing but a property scam to remove the "bad" elements and put it in a suit that looks more acceptable to bank off the "soul". Sorry, I just had to type. Katrina makes me twitch.

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Post #: 6

RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 9:56:56 AM

Alumbrado

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I'm glad someone got my point. Some things shouldn't be romanticized, even to pump up record sales.

When things got a little tense, the gossamer fabric that holds NOLA together came undone... the politicians, the police, the infrastructure...all looked better under the shimmer of neon, than in the bare light of day.

And the demands to bring back the 'good times' have IMHO overshadowed and even hindered the efforts of those who were actually hit by Katrina down the coast, to rebuild their perhaps less glamorous but equally valuable lives.

< Message edited by Alumbrado -- 6/7/2008 9:57:35 AM >

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 10:02:06 AM

Level

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The constant showing of New Orleans didn't help us that got hit by Rita, either, to be honest. By saying that, I don't mean New Orleans didn't deserve attention, just that there are a lot of folks that felt ignored.

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 10:29:45 AM

Bethnai

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Thank you. I'm taking stock, and it means a lot.

(in reply to Alumbrado)

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 11:10:10 AM

cjan

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Of 1,836 deaths attributed to Katrina, 1,577 of them occured in La. Another 705 are listed as missing /not accounted for in La.

Of course, the coastal regions, and inland, of Mississippi and Alabama were also devastated. I'm not minimizing any locale's loss and, I think, it's improper and callous to minimize NOLA's.

I'm not interested in debating whether the federal, state or local authorities are more to blame in the aftermath of the storm. There is plenty of blame to go around. Nor am I interested in characterizing NOLA as a corrupt, Sin City that had it coming. We all have it coming, don't we ?

I simply find it a national shame and disgrace that , after three years, NOLA and it's citizens still languish under dreadful conditions and not many fellow Americans seem to care.

Btw, Alumbrado, Mac Rebbenack is primarily a musician/songwriter, not a performer in the usual self-promotional rock star sense. To say that his album is a case of promoting record sales is nonsense. He's never done so in the past, when he could have easily chosen to do so. Shame on you, sir.

_____________________________

"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A bird will fall ,frozen , dead, from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."- D.H. L

" When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks in to you"- Frank Nitti

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Post #: 10

RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 11:19:19 AM

Alumbrado

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The Mayor of New Orleans claimed at least 300,000 deaths and the total collapse of all buildings like Hiroshima in a direct hit from Katrina..... that never happened.

And neither did the "losing a major city, it's inhabitants and the unique culture that enriched us all "
There is nothing unique about selling booze to young tourists ala Daytona, promoting an atmosphere of 'Sin', ala Vegas, or building a shrine to a long dead style of music ala Memphis.

Sorry you choose not to honor those people outside of NOLA who actually were hit directly by Katrina, and who didn't get their 15 minutes on Oprah.

And New Orleans should have let go of that particular 15 minutes a long time ago.

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Post #: 11

RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 12:00:32 PM

celticlord2112

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quote:

I simply find it a national shame and disgrace that , after three years, NOLA and it's citizens still languish under dreadful conditions and not many fellow Americans seem to care.

I would care if a few more of them had actually stuck around and tried to clean the place up, not hightail it to Houston to wait for others to do the work for them while soaking up FEMA dollars.

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 12:02:29 PM

cjan

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Alumbrado

The Mayor of New Orleans claimed at least 300,000 deaths and the total collapse of all buildings like Hiroshima in a direct hit from Katrina..... that never happened.

This statement by the NO mayor was made , as you very well know, when communications in the city were non-existant and was shown to be inacurate early on the the disaster . To cite it today is as disengenuous as Cheney' repeated claims that Al Quaida had ties to Sadam's regime. It is intellectually dishonest and, frankly, Alumbrado, you disappoint me.

And neither did the "losing a major city, it's inhabitants and the unique culture that enriched us all "
There is nothing unique about selling booze to young tourists ala Daytona, promoting an atmosphere of 'Sin', ala Vegas, or building a shrine to a long dead style of music ala Memphis.

I refer to NOLA's unique mixtureof French, Cajun and African language and culture that have enriched us with a unique cuisine, original music , jazz , zydeco, etc., that has nothing to do with Memphis or anywhere else.Nola has also nutured writers and artists of all mediums ,also, imo, unique to the community that influnced them

Sorry you choose not to honor those people outside of NOLA who actually were hit directly by Katrina, and who didn't get their 15 minutes on Oprah.

As I said in my previous post, Alumbrado, I do not minimize the loss of others, outside of La., who suffered and died as a result of the storm Not at all. However, no one can deny that on a matter of scale, NOLA's loss was far greater in human cost and the cost of property destroyed. Also, the task of rebuilding a city, with it's lost infrastructure is a far greater challenge than rebuilind smaller communities.

And New Orleans should have let go of that particular 15 minutes a long time ago.

Actually, New Orleans' culture and it's unique qualities have drawn visitors and citizens for 200 years. Few other U.S. cities can make that claim.

< Message edited by cjan -- 6/7/2008 12:05:41 PM >

_____________________________

"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A bird will fall ,frozen , dead, from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."- D.H. L

" When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks in to you"- Frank Nitti

(in reply to Alumbrado)

Post #: 13

RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 12:43:58 PM

DomAviator

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Big deal there have already been songs about New Orleans...

Here is my FAVORITE Music Video about Katrina and the best song yet written about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zO7JLFzOqE

Now, that the water has been receeded for almost 3 years- it is time to either get a job and start paying their own way or to leave Houston and to go home and start cleaning up...

By the way, when you choose to live in a swamp that is below sea level, and surrounded on three sides by water... Flooding is inevitable. They cant even bury their dead below ground because they are below sea level hence the crypts...

As for them not being able to evacuate - NOT MY PROBLEM. My Four Wheel Drive Eddie Bauer Explorer, which would get me out of just about any terrain / storm and which I have driven places angels would fear to tread costs me $462 a month - thats just three crack rocks a day!!! Thats right, if the folks in NOLA would have smoked just three less crack rocks a day they could have had themselves a 4x4 SUV with seating for five, complete with Goodyear Wrangler All Terrain Tires, sunroof, leather interior, lots of cargo space complete with toneua cover, and even a roof rack to store those bulky looted items that just dont fit in the back. LOL Thats evacuation in style....

< Message edited by DomAviator -- 6/7/2008 12:48:04 PM >

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 1:02:29 PM

Irishknight

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My questions has always been, "Did the storm miraculously appear overnight or did it take time getting there?"

Many of these people had time to evacuate and chose not to. In their position, I would have been so far from there when the hurricane hit that I would have needed a frakkin passport... even if I had to walk. Staying around in the face of natural disaster doesn't make one a victim of the government unless that government failed to warn you. The mayor of NO should have ordered an evacuation utilizing every bus in the city. That is the only government related complaint I can see as being valid.

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 1:06:06 PM

Bethnai

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No. And Yes, yes you have warning. First of all, just so I cann get where your coming from, have you been through a hurricane? More than one?

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 1:17:52 PM

Irishknight

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Five hurricanes. The only time we didn't evacuate was when I was a kid. My father was stationed in Okinawa when the typhoons hit. Umm we would have evacuated but we were on a frakkin island.

< Message edited by Irishknight -- 6/7/2008 1:21:44 PM >

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 1:19:23 PM

Vendaval

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Hi cjan,

The whole situation has been FUBAR over all and it is a damn shame. And I do think that corruption and incompetence have been a significant part of the whole mess.

Vendaval

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 1:32:23 PM

stella41b

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bethnai

This has been nothing but a property scam to remove the "bad" elements and put it in a suit that looks more acceptable to bank off the "soul". Sorry, I just had to type. Katrina makes me twitch.

Aha, so this is why the rebuilding has been left to the casinos and nobody wants to talk about the trailer parks? Now I understand. (I think).

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RE: "The City That Care Forgot" - 6/7/2008 1:35:59 PM

cjan

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You can leave if you have the means to. That's one of the points. If you have no car, no money, at all, and not a pot to piss in, or are aged, ill or disabled you stay , prepare for the worst and tread water, if you're lucky. Btw, the mayor did order a complete evacuation, he and local and state authorities didn't have the means to evacuate those who could not do so on their own.

I lived in the Fla. Keys for 30 years, have been through a number of hurricanes and have boarded up, evacuated on ocassion and suffered the consequences either way. I also rode out a hurricane at sea on a 37' sailing vessel. Until you've been through a hurricane, you have no idea of what you are talking about.
Yes, I chose to live there, as many have and many have chosen NO and other vulnerable areas. So fucking what ? We all pay the price for our choices, don't we ?

In contrast, Amsterdam, which is even more vulnerable to flooding than NO, has a system of dikes and levies that GUARANTEES them no flooding no matter how strong the storm is or how long it blows. Of course, they don't piss their tax revenue on foreign adventures so have more to spend at home. What a concept, eh ?

DA, and celticlird. your compassion for your fellow countrymen, as usual, underwhelms me. I hope you are never in a position to need a helping hand and are met with the same lack of compassion that you display to others. Wait, no... I hope that,exactly, is your fate.

Finally, celticlaird, the survivors of Katrina were ordered to evacuate the city and transportation was provided by the government to take them to Houston and other destinations. To stay in what was left in NO was unthinkable due to the lack of housing, food, water, sanitation, police and the likelyhood of disease. And you can't return to a city and rebuild when some of the same conditions still exist and you don't have the means to do so. Although, despite the hardship and challenges, some heroic people have done so. I doubt, very much, m'laird, whether you have ever faced such challenges.

Btw, dude, love the hairdo...are mullets still popular in Texas ?

< Message edited by cjan -- 6/7/2008 1:39:35 PM >

_____________________________

"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A bird will fall ,frozen , dead, from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."- D.H. L

" When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks in to you"- Frank Nitti

(in reply to Bethnai)

Post #: 20

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