As they say here... Geaux Saints!

GO SAINTS...Monday night football, November 2, 2009.



Welcome to the Superdome.

I was a bit apprehensive about going to the Superdome... it has many memories for many people.
It was the topic of a one-man show I saw this summer
Blanche Survives Katrina In A FEMA Trailer Named Desire
( http://blanchesurviveskatrina.com/ )

Then here in New Orleans I heard a singer who had been raped there. The place has memories, not good memories. Slowly fading memories.

These days it is all cleaned up inside... and actually has been for years. Rev. Jim wanted to take me to a game, and this was our big chance!


Our seats were up there (three rows from the top)


The view wasn't too bad


We could see the big picture of what was happening. On the other hand, the announcements were unintelligible!


Quiet... the game's starting....

Who am I kidding... it was a VERY LOUD GAME.

"Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dere gonna beat dem Saints"
(approximately correct, usually all they say is "Who Dat?")

It turns out the answer was NOT the Atlanta Falcons, who tried, and came within 8 at the end, but no dice!

Saints still undefeated.
Charlie's ears still ringing.
Superdome seen.

All Saints Day in New Orleans

Sunday I preached at First Church UU.

My text was from George Odell:

All our lives we are in need
And others are in need of us



It is traditional to clean graves of your ancestors on All Saints Day. It is a school holiday, though this year it was on a Sunday, so it didn't matter. Big signs advertised vigil masses and other special services.

After the service we went to the grave of the first two ministers of First Church, Rev. Sylvester Larned and Rev. Theodore Clapp.

Nice location... "we have a place on Orange Street"...


Here they are!!


It's been a while... since 1850 or so.


Me, down with the Rev's


Our crowd, from First and Community Churhes...


Next stop, St. Roch Cemetery


Including the room of thanks, where the first photo came from...


A wall of above-ground tombs... the individual spots can be re-used. It takes about 8 months between burials.


Those who got in early have the best location...




Is it time yet?

Gretna Heritage Festival 2009- Sunday

The weather on Sunday was not so good.
Still, the Gretna Heritage Fest is rain-or-shine...


Some of the food offerings were different on Sunday:


But all of the music was different. This group was reggae... playing in high winds and rain:

This guy got the covered market to play in. Good New Orleans music!

These guys had a huge area to play to. We actually messed up, and thought they were a substitute and that we were at the "Main Stage"... where the Guess Who were playing. But this was the "Riverfront Stage". There were no obvious signs to the "Main Stage" which looked identical but which was behind the Ferry Landing. Oh well, no Guess Who for me.

The Chee Weez were good though! Covers, but done very energetically by a solid lead singer.

And then there was a parade!

I think the sousaphone was too loud.


And the reason we came: Better Than Ezra, a New Orleans hometown band.

"All across America, people cheer when we say we are from New Orleans!"

Ok, now my ears are really ringing! Home again...

Gretna Heritage Festival 2009- Friday

A Health Food Moment...

Come along on my adventures at the Gretna Heritage Festival, across the Mississippi from New Orleans... This was Friday.

Lots of choices available:

Folks brought chairs and had a party...

Booths were manned by local charities and local eateries...

These were tempting.

I ended up eating a crawfish pistolet... not bad!


Of course the reason for the Festival was music. My friend Robert and I did see several acts, including:

Anders Osborne:



And Home-town favorite Cowboy Mouth:

I had seen Cowboy Mouth in San Francisco this past spring. In SF they did a song "take me back to New Orleans" which was really wonderful. They didn't do it during the concert, and I hoped they would do it for the encore. Instead they did a fantastic job on "Won't Get Fooled Again" which was an interesting comment on the ever-present topic.

And then, ears ringing, we drove back across the toll bridge to New Orleans.

Stained Glass- First Unitarian Universalist of New Orleans

This past Sunday I was off! Yeah! But I still went to church, to the congregation I hadn't seen since August.

So this is The First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, on S. Claiborne.

One week earlier "FUUNO" had a dedication of some stained glass windows:



These three show the church (flaming chalice) and city (fleur-de-lis) and the waters from the flood. The third pane shows the recovery after the waters receded.

The second window set honors local New Orleans and Louisiana heroes, the Gordon Sisters (http://www.lib.lsu.edu/soc/women/lawomen/gordons.html)



These two worked for several important causes in New Orleans and Louisiana... they were fearless in the causes of Suffrage, Care for the mentally ill, and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

They also advocated for closed sewers... replacing the open sewers which must have been pretty awful!


Why only one sister? One of the two died first, I think it was Jean, and the window was designed for her. Then her sister died later that year, and the combination of windows surrounding it were dedicated to the both of them! These windows were made in the 1930's... but only briefly assembled to be shown, then they went off to storage for a generation or three.



Both sisters names appear at the bottom (sorry, focus is lousy!)

The quote is from Tennyson (Sir Galahad):

MY good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.

(changed to "Her"... though if it were made later it would probably have been "Their"... )

The labyrinth was finished in time for the ceremony, too!



But the rest of the floor still needs to be tiled... but that's happening!

New Orleans Garden Party

No, it's not another political organization...

Last Wednesday I went to the Botanical Gardens to a "Garden Party" with food and a very nice concert by the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars!


This is Jumpin' Johnny Sansone...



And these are the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars:
Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone, Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, and Waylon Thibodeaux, with drummer and bass player whose names I never got (and they never did solos.)


And here's another member, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux.

They played for over two hours at the Botanical Garden... $10 to get in, and they had $2 sodas, and $4 hamburgers and $5 etouffe! A very classy evening, not too expensive.

The concert was a great combination of Cajun songs, like "Row Row Row That Pirouge" and Mardi Gras songs, like "Here Come The Indians Now"

http://backbeatfoundation.org/

Their leader, Tab Benoit, was away for this performance, but I hope to see them at a festival on October 10 in Houma.... if I don't have to be at a wedding.

Maybe Someday...

I pledge Allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America,
One nation under God, indivisible,
With liberty, justice and care for all.

...maybe someday.