Tag Archives: Culture

Oct 24 2011

OWS: Hot Chicks Transcending the Label

Whether or not you agree with the politics of Occupy Wall Street you have to acknowledge it as a cultural phenomenom.  The park has become a microcosm of activism spawning similar scenes in cities all over the world and I’m … Continue reading →

Oct 9 2011

Art Comes Alive

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This gallery contains 2 photos.

We did a weekend pass at the Gretna Fest this year and were treated to one of the most magnificent displays of pride and beauty on Friday evening: The Mardi Gras Indians paraded thru the festival grounds and – thanks … Continue reading →

Marcia
Jul 25 2011

NOLA Blogger Profile: Marcia Wall of 411 NOLA

“On St. Joseph’s Day a few years back, a man and a woman stumbled upon our celebrations at St. Augustine.  I was serving food from our altar and asked them if they wanted any.  They asked me what the cost was.  I replied that there was no cost and began explaining to them the customs and traditions of St. Joseph’s Day.  They were thrilled to be with locals and partake in our traditions but noted that if it weren’t for mere chance, they never would have found us.  

 I understood what they were saying.  I am a world traveler and search out local culture when in a new place but find that tourist guides don’t do much to help me with that.  Both before and after Katrina (but especially after), people from all over the world hunger to know New Orleans like locals do.  I am a resourceful person, so I always end up getting the inside scoop but realize that many travelers don’t have the skills or time to research a place.  411 NOLA aims to remedy this for our visitors.  I want to connect people to each other, to make travel about genuine communication between people and cultures.

 Although the site is popular with people from out of town, many locals love it too.  We are a city smitten with itself like no other.  There is so much to do, so much local talent, so many hidden opportunities…people want a place where they can learn about it all.  ” ~ Marcia Wall

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Marcia Wall is the creator and administrator of 411 NOLA, a local website dedicated to all things New Orleans for New Orleanians and visitors alike. This profile of Marcia is the first in a planned series about  New Orleans bloggers: who they are, why they blog and  what they talk about. The formats will be eclectic, including interviews by myself, interviews by others and profiles by guest bloggers like the one you’ll read today by Marcia’s former student turned friend, Jhae Dupart. The NOLA blogosphere has grown by leaps and bounds since I began blogging in 2005 and I discover new-to-me bloggers almost every week writing on a myriad of subjects from politics to fashion to lifestyle and everything in between. I hope you’ll enjoy this wonderful tribute to Marcia that Jhae has shared with us and I hope you all as readers will participate by making suggestions as to which bloggers you’d like to see profiled here.

~Charlotte, NOLAFemmes creator and administrator

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I met Marcia Wall in 2000.  I was a sophomore at the University of New Orleans, and she was the instructor of the English course I took that summer. Her class centered on interactive discussion of taboo topics like gender and sexuality, making it a like no other I’ve ever had.  But her innovative approach to education isn’t the only thing that makes her a standout.  Marcia, a writer, educator, photographer, performer, activist, and founder of 411 NOLA, is a unique blend of talents that make her a welcome and integral presence in the NOLA community.

Marcia is originally from the South but grew up in California.  After graduating from college in Santa Cruz, she moved to San Diego.  But wanting to live some place that “oozed creativity,” she relocated to NOLA twelve years ago.  She quickly fell in love with the culture – “[not] just festivals, good food, and good music, [but] the close-knit feeling of the city, its ethnic and religious diversity, its sense of pride and determination, and the way each neighborhood is almost a city unto itself.”  As someone with both Southern and Sicilian Catholic heritage, Marcia found NOLA’s diverse community a perfect fit.

Her first job here was teaching English at UNO.  Since then, her focus as an educator has taken many roles, like life coach and consultant for educational programs.  To Marcia, education is about empowerment.  In her words, “I can’t teach anyone anything.  I can only help them to realize that they already know everything they need to know.”  Likewise, as an activist, she strives to enable herself and others to have a positive impact in the world.

Marcia is a modern-day Renaissance woman.  She always envisioned herself as a writer and, after school, as a photographer.  She also developed a knack for performing, transitioning from reading her funny essays on stage to creating her own hilarious comedy routine, which she’s performed at venues across NOLA, San Diego, and Los Angeles.  On top of all this, Marcia continues to dabble in other creative outlets – designing jewelry, making bath and beauty products, and experimenting in the kitchen.  As she says, “Being an artist is about manifesting one’s vision and sharing that vision with the world.  It’s about giving the world the gifts that the Creator gave you.”

It is her relationship with the Creator that sparked the inspiration for her most recent venture – the 411 NOLA website.  “One day, after I had finished doing a big consulting job for an educational program for developmentally challenged adults, I prayed to God and asked what I should do next.  In an instant, the whole idea for 411 NOLA unfolded before me.  I saw in my mind’s eye what the site would be like.”

411 NOLA is a rich info source for all things NOLA for visitors and residents alike.  Since coming online, the site has evolved to include articles, guides, recommendations, links, lists, photos, as well as an events calendar, a visitor’s guide, slide shows, products, contests, freebies, and opportunities for writers and artists.  Marcia attributes the success of 411 NOLA to faith and hard work.  When I asked how she feels about the site’s progress, she responded simply, “So far so good.  Thanks J.C.!”

Marcia, ever the visionary, is already looking to expand the features available on 411 NOLA.  “We would like to create a 411 NOLA video channel that highlights up and coming NOLA performers (of all kinds).  We are trying to develop a program that will allow users to send postcards of their adventures in NOLA directly from the site.  Later on, we hope to offer more merchandise and to host live chats and performances with NOLA writers, artists, personalities, musicians and the like.”  As the site evolves, she will continue to follow her inspiration from God.

I can’t help but be inspired by the breadth of Marcia’s talent and character.  She embodies the diversity of spirit and delightful quirkiness that makes NOLA one of a kind.  In all that she does, she continues to make NOLA a richer, more vibrant city.

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Marcia Wall lives in the French Quarter with her two cats, Gracie and Boo.  When she’s not working on 411 NOLA, she enjoys traveling, cooking, exercising, and Sunday services at St. Augustine Church.  To find out more about her photography, see her photography website at See It My Way Photo.  To find out about her upcoming performances, “like” Cia’s Comedy Corner on Facebook. Follow 411 NOLA on Twitter.

Amy_Winehouse_f5048439
Jul 23 2011

Amy Winehouse in the black for real this time

Amy Winehouse died today, and you can read all about it on the righteous Huffington Post obituary that reminds us her demise was just a “slo-mo car crash.”

Her death is not altogether shocking, but it is disturbing nonetheless.

In a sense, her artistic marketability stemmed from a bad-girlification of 1960s soul music.  She was a skinny, tatted-up tough girl from working-class London, with big hair and a voice to match.  Her struggles with (or seeming acceptance of) drug addiction only enhanced her reputation as a true entertainer, one with moxie, attitude, and presence.

Fans relished her bad behavior, cheering lyrics like “You love blow and I love puff” (“Back to Black”) and “I told you I was trouble / You know that I’m no good” (“You Know That I’m No Good”).  Her refusal to go to rehab was celebrated in a Grammy-winning song (“Rehab”), in which Winehouse admits to suffering from addiction and depression.

This glorification of mental illness and self-destructive behavior sends mixed messages to those who also struggle with these issues.  Winehouse’s drug use was not only acceptable but legitimized by her celebrity status.  This was a double validation:  Her drug use fed into her being perceived as a rock star, and her being a rock star forgave her drug use.  And now she’s dead, and no one’s surprised.

So what does it take to remove the idolatry from substance abuse?  The wasted talents of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and many others including Amy Winehouse now, have all developed into a tragic mythos of “forever young,” without acknowledgement of what really ripped these creative beings from our midst.  The real scourge is untreated illness, the exaltation of which prevents honesty, recovery, and true grit from being communicated to a public sold on the dangerous cheapness of entertainment.

Jul 20 2011

Advice Columns Vs. Self Help Books

This morning this headline on The Awl grabbed my attention as I was trolling my list of zines for a good read: A Q&A with the Advice Columnist Called ‘Sugar’.  I suspected “Sugar” was Sugar the anon advice columnist from the lit magazine “The Rumpus” which I read now and then and I was right. I’d seen Sugar’s column featured prominently on “The Rumpus” but had never actually read it since I’m not a fan of advice columns and I figured it was all about sex anyway (not that that’s a bad thing!); however, I was curious as to what Sugar had to say in this interview so I clicked through. I skimmed through the first half when I realized it was all about how the interviewer knew Sugar in real life but didn’t know she was the anon Sugar of “The Rumpus”…. yadda, yadda, yadda and then I zeroed in on the following question and Ms Sugar’s answer (boldface is mine):

“Tell me what that message is.”

“Well it’s so many things that I feel like, what you could do, if you read all of my columns they do boil down to some pretty essential truths. You hit on one of them when you said ‘the hard choice is often the best one,’ that life is both more simple and more complex than most of us would like to believe, that there is something about the essential, that we all have an essential truth within us which if we really listen to that, which is totally different than that bumper sticker ‘follow your bliss,’ which is bullshit. You know? And that’s, I have never read a self help book in my life. I think self help is pretty much bullshit. I don’t pay attention to this…what’s that Oprah book, like The Secret, or some sort of crap like that? ‘If you only believe, then it will be true,’ I think that’s a really aggressively entitled bullshit sort of approach to life’s complicated questions. And at the same time there’s a piece of that in Sugar that says ultimately we’re all responsible for our lives, we’re all going to fail, we all have something inside to offer, and our work here is to find out and express it in whatever channels are appropriate. So it’s not Sugar’s message, but it’s really just my life, everything I think about how to live, which is in opposition to that self help crap.“

I find it ironic that Sugar thinks self help books are bullshit , apparently not recognizing that she engages in the same “bullshit” on a different level. I’ve read a self help book  or two in my day, in a quest for finding workable solutions for life issues, by people educated and published in their area of interest.  It’s easy to find experts on a given subject by simply researching a subject and assessing the qualifications and education of those who have written about it or soliciting recommendations from friends and colleagues. The same cannot [always] be said of advice columnists, many of whom are people who are hired by infotainment newspapers and magazines to give their opinions on any and every subject under the sun without any discernible expertise. In the answer above Sugar even states herself that “…but it’s really just my life, everything I think about how to live “.  Um, o.k. But don’t read those self help books by psychologists, physicians and educators because that’s, ya know, bullshit. Interestingly, in this interview, Sugar describes her column thusly:

“It’s self-help and it’s also anti-self help.”

It seems to me Ms Sugar is as dazed and confused as the rest of us poor slobs trying to make sense of this thing called life.

While I’m not a regular reader of advice columnists, I’ll admit to occasionally rubbernecking a particularly sensational advice column headline in the newspaper or a magazine. In my opinion, though, most advice columns are really just voyeuristic exploitation of people’s confusion and hopelessness for the ratings game and/or public recognition and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But everyone is entitled to their opinion and is free to seek help from whatever forum they please. Maybe an anonymous advice columnist of unknown qualifications has more validity for some because of her life experience than the author of a self help book. And that’s….o.k. I’ll just take my chances with a well researched book, thank you.

franck_mb_canal_1948_02
Jul 18 2011

Maison Blanche!

My third book in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series will be out on Halloween. It’s titled Maison Blanche Department Stores.  The book is a 128-page photo-history of the Maison Blanche chain, which opened its first store in 1892, and was absorbed into Dillards in 1997. Starting with the flagship store in the 900 block of Canal Street, the chain operated seven stores at its peak. Maison Blanche (“MB” to locals) was one of the places to shop all year round, but most importantly, at Christmas time.

Arcadia’s Images of America books are 128 pages and usually include 200-220 photos and/or illustrations. Naturally there’s always a bunch of photos that don’t make it into the book, for one reason or another. I’ll be sharing some of these photos here at NOLAFemmes as the release date approaches.

So, to start this off, here’s a shot of Maison Blanche on Canal Street from 1948. It was shot by Franck Studios, who did a lot of the legal and architectural photography at the time.  The first five floors of the building, designed in 1908 by Sam Stone, were the store itself.  The upper floors in the two towers were the “Office building,” which counted a number of physicians and dentists.

The neutral ground on Canal still has its four-track streetcar configuration; the two outside tracks were torn up in 1957.  A Perley A. Thomas “green” streetcar approaches the intersection at Dauphine St., headed inbound on the Canal line.  Across Rue Dauphine from MB is the second location of the Katz & Besthoff Drugstore chain (K&B).  The first K&B opened two blocks down, in the 700 block.

The small building directly to the left of the MB building in this photo is the S. H. Kress building.  Kress’ was a “dime” store, offering basic dry goods at discount prices.  The store closed in the early 1990s.  The Kress building was acquired by the group looking to convert the MB building into a hotel in the late-1990s.  The building is now the parking garage for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, located in the MB building.

Got a question about Maison Blanche? Do you have a MB memory? Share them with us here in comments.

Photo by Charlotte Hamrick
Jun 18 2011

Fathers Day Second Line

Photo by Charlotte Hamrick

Tomorrow will be the last second line of the season. Put on your walking shoes and get out there!

Start: Tapp’s II Lounge. Out Washington Avenue to Magnolia Street. Left on Magnolia to Second Street.

Stop: Teddy’s Hole in the Wall. Out Brainard Street. Right on Brainard to Baronne Street. Down Baronne St. Right to Second Street to Dryades.

Stop: Sportsmen’s Corner. Continue out Second St. to Danneel. Left on Danneel to Washington Ave. Out Washington Ave. to Baronne St.

Stop: Turning Point. Out Washington Ave. to St. Charles Ave. Left on St. Charles Ave. to Jackson Ave. Left on Jackson Avenue to Simon Bolivar. Left on Simon Bolivar to Washington Ave. Right on Washington Avenue.

Disband: Tapp’s II Lounge.

Mar 13 2011

A Crown Jewel in New Orleans

It has been close to ten years since I ventured to City Park in New Orleans. Since then the park has recovered from Katrina and is looking as beautiful as she can. Hubby and I had business to do in “Kennah” and chose City Park to kill some time; we were happily surprised in the beauty that the park offers. If you’re interested, this site Offers the history of the Park. I never knew it was once the site of a plantation.

Here are the pictures, in no particular order.

Click on pictures for larger versions.


the sundial


Popp’s Bandstand


Called the “Colombier de Carol”, this building is also called City Park Pigeonierre, or a dovecote.


This is the plaque for the Colombier . Designed and dedicated by former City Park President and New Orleans barrister Felix Dreyfous.

Speaking of signs and plaques, City Park has so many plaques throughout its 1,300 acres and you can find them and their history at this website.

There are so many bridges crossing the Lagoon at the Park. I fell in love with each and every one of them, as none of them are the same.


The Peristyle, built in 1907.


One of the lions outside the Peristyle


I spotted this beauty at a ticket window just outside the kiddie playground.

After walking the length of the lagoon, we decided to cross the street into another fenced in portion of the park and were extremely happy to discover that it was the Bestoff Sculpture Garden!

A coworker told me about this garden several years ago and I’d been meaning to find it. Glad we did today. What a tremendous place to spend some time.

Described by goneworleans about dot com as follows:

It’s a 5-acre garden under cypress and magnolia trees, as well as, centuries-old oak trees laden with Spanish moss, in the heart of City Park. It is beautifully landscaped. The garden contains several water features including a small cascading garden pool with stepping stones to cross. A lagoon that bisects the garden empties into two large basins, each containing a large sculpture. A sculpture pool cascades down into one of the lagoon basins. The lagoons are filled with fish and turtles. Herons and swans inhabit the area as well. Pathways wonder through the garden and lead to the larger sculptures. Because these paths were designed to preserve the extensive root patterns of the over 200 year-old live oak trees, they wonder through the garden in a design dictated by nature. Smaller sculptures are exhibited in the elliptical Sculpture Theater.

For a dollar you can obtain a guide to the sculptures, which I highly recommend.


Entitled “Mother and Child (1988) by Fernando Botero



Tree of Necklaces (reminded me of Mardi Gras) (2002) by Jean-Michel Othoniel


“Window and Ladder – Too Late for Help” by Leandro Erlich


This one is called “Monkeys” by Rona Pondick and it’s really disturbing when you look closely.


“Travelin’ Light” by Alison Saar


Pablo Casals’ Obelisk (1983) by Arman

One of the strangest things we discovered was what appears to be a grave between the sculpture garden and the botanical garden.

We only could spend three hours at the park today, so we agreed that our next trip in two weeks we will visit the Botanical Gardens and the NOMA. Pictures to follow.

Mar 7 2011

Musings about controlled madness

Photo credit: Traveling Mermaid/Charlotte Ash

With regard to the Eris parade incident, rumors have been flying today and few verifiable facts have surfaced. As usual, the NOLA.com account of this incident is drawing a variety of opinions and reactions: New Orleans police and marching group clash Sunday night in Marigny

This incident reflects the general conundrum I’ve been considering during the past week: On one hand, the City of New Orleans’ Administration and the New Orleans Police Department do appear to be selectively enforcing laws; on the other, it’s a fact that many of our city’s citizens cherry-pick which laws they’ll choose to obey.

Does the lack of a parade permit warrant the use of pepper spray, stun guns, or batons? My response is an unequivocal “No.”

But I’d also like to ask, could this incident have been avoided? Maybe.

I do not doubt that many of the participants in the Eris parade spend a great deal of time creating beautiful and fantastical costumes, planning for the event, and composing original music to perform during the parade’s night of marching. That being said, why is it unreasonable to ask that someone in the organization crosses the T’s and dots the I’s by securing a parade permit and the required NOPD escort?

I learned today that the cost for a parade is $875 to meet the minimum requirements (a $275 flat fee for the parade permit and $600 for the required minimum of four NOPD officers to provide an escort and control traffic for the parade participants). It’s my guess that $10 per person marching/participating would more than cover these fees, or that the money could possibly be raised through a one-night benefit event at a local bar or club.

Accounts of the alleged violence perpetrated by the NOPD are being shared at lightning speed, however, I’ve yet to see any investigative effort with regard to reports of so-called parade participants dancing on parked cars, kicking over mailboxes, tagging and scratching cars, or throwing bricks and bottles (nor are these alleged acts mentioned in the NOLA.com story).

It has also been reported that six law enforcement officers were injured; is there more information available regarding the circumstances from which these injuries resulted? Has anyone seen or documented the reported damage to the two police cars? Has it been confirmed that all of the law enforcement officers involved were, in fact, NOPD officers? Where are the photos and videos documenting the reported incidents? Without these facts, the story is far from complete.

All things considered, I would like to learn more about what occurred before everything went sideways.

The Krewe of Eris was formed in 2005; its brief history also includes other clashes with law enforcement. I have to wonder, is this part of the Krewe’s modus operandi? (Simply put: Why is it okay to accuse the NOPD of repeatedly offending, while it seems that this recently-created krewe is somehow above reproach?) Why didn’t the parade disband on Sunday night when the crowd was told to disperse or when it reportedly faced a barricade?

It’s ironic. While researching the parade permit details earlier today, I had the pleasure of watching the Red Beans and Rice Lundi Gras parade cavort down my street, filling the block where I live with joy, color, and music (an organization that’s only in its third year of marching). I’d estimate that there were about 200 participants (with newcomers joining in as the parade flowed by); they were led by an unmarked, lighted police car and had three motorcycle/scooter cops controlling traffic (who facilitated the parade crossing N. Rampart Street at an intersection without a traffic signal). The presence of the NOPD officers did not inhibit the parade or its participants in the slightest.

With that in mind, I ask this final question: If the Krewe of Eris had obtained a permit and secured the required police escort, would the alleged threats to public safety and incidents of property damage have been as likely to occur? This one act of compliance could have been sufficient to deter those who may have been determined to be destructive instead of celebrating creativity. It is unfortunate the event’s founders did not act to protect its participants in this manner.

All those questions aside, I don’t see the artists and musicians as being the troublemakers in this incident; I am disheartened that they were caught up in the fray. If it is determined that the NOPD (or any law enforcement agency) used excessive force or engaged in unwarranted action, then I expect those officers to be identified and prosecuted aggressively to the full extent of the law. None should be exempt from being held accountable (regardless of occupation or avocation).

Jan 1 2011

No Resolutions

After a six week holiday break, Pistolette has returned. I’ve been quite productive though, getting up at 4:30am to make short story deadlines, and crack out word-count on other fiction projects. But now, it’s back to the essays. Happy New Year!

Using the word “resolution” for something you want to accomplish just destines it to fail. It sounds disorganized, undedicated, and passive aggressive, like something the United Nations would declare. Call it anything but that. Ambitions, objectives, aspirations, and even intentions sound more tough than resolutions. “Goals” is a nice direct one.

That aside, making any such attempts for the New Year is almost destined to fail when you live in New Orleans, especially when eating healthy and starting exercise programs are at the top of the list. Everywhere else in America, it might be productive to mark the end of the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas seasons with new “resolutions”. But January is actually the worst time to start life changes here because it’s technically holiday MIDSEASON for us.

Take January 2nd. The new diet begins. You learn to grill some fish and steam some veggies, adding liberal amounts of cayenne just so you can swallow it. Then the workout starts. You endure stabbing pains in your side while you run in Audubon Park – and that’s before you even make it out of the parking lot. But you survive four whole days, pat yourself on the back, and give yourself one fat-free organic chocolate chip to celebrate, and then…

Aunt Jeanette comes over on Twelfth Night with a f#%king King Cake.

And this is how it goes for months. After January 6th there’s a slew of diet-destructive treats related to Superbowl parties and Mardi Gras, not to mention Valentine’s Day goodies that sneak in from the office and school. Before you know it your Pilates DVD is buried under beads and candy wrappers, and your health food is rotting in the crisper drawer. Just a minor setback, you think, there is still hope.

Lent! Yes, Lent will save me! Forty days of behaving for a higher purpose! Unfortunately there was a comedian in the Catholic bureaucracy who thought it would be hilarious to place St Patrick’s Day during Lent (yeah, I know Paddy died that day, but what the hell was wrong with his birthday?). So there are more parades, and food, and alcohol. In any other city this might be a one afternoon event, but in New Orleans, hell no, at least a week. This also happens to be wedding season too, and if you’re standing in one, consider your ‘get in shape’ plans decimated.

Even if you survived all that, you surely wouldn’t make it through festival season. From mid-March to the end of May there are more Springtime events in Louisiana than dirty politicians (ok, maybe not that many). If you’ve made it this far… oh hell no you haven’t. You’d have to be Jesus to endure that kind of temptation. And even he liked a big family dinner with plenty of wine and Saints.

Nope, I’m not apologizing for that. Quit groaning and read.

Now you’re in the first week of June, and your New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten. You likely gave up somewhere around your fifth slice of Cream Cheese and Raspberry stuffed Randazzo’s at the office party, right before the “Be Mine” card with a box of Godiva arrived. You didn’t decide to give up, you just decided not to think about it anymore.

But you didn’t fail, really. You simply started at the wrong time. Many of these goals take months of uninterrupted dedication, and when do we ever get a break from partying around here to do that? Well…

Hurricane season.

That’s right. The perfect time to start New Year’s resolutions objectives in Louisiana is June 1st.

In June the worst of the summer heat kicks off, and a lull in the city’s fun agenda along with it. You’ll have several months of no interruptions*. You’re going to switch from bacchanal mode to survivalist mode anyway. You’ll clean out the pantry so you can fit canned goods and bottled water in it, stock battery powered electronics, scrape out the storm drains, do some house maintenance, check on the important documents, etc. This mode is far more conducive to making health changes than the beginning of Carnival season because you can convince yourself it’s hurricane survival training**.

The peak of hurricane season is so hot that you won’t be as pissy about salad or grilled cuisine as you’d be in January***. If not, you might just forget to eat while obsessively checking the Weather Channel every ten minutes to the hour. So work off the stress in a chilly 65 degree gym, or get up at 5am and beat the heat for a run. By the time the Fourth of July comes around you’ll have shed several pounds while everyone else will have already gained back what they lost in January (plus a few extra). And when those 4½ months are over you’re far more likely to enjoy the October through May onslaught of decadence in pleasurable moderation****.

So there you go. You’re officially off the hook until Summer. Enjoy that King Cake.

*Sure if you LOOK for trouble you can always find it here, but during these month it usually stays out of your way.
**Which in diet psychology feels morally superior to “I just wanted to wear a bikini again”.
***Sometime during June’s Tomato Festival last year you probably bit into a juicy fresh Creole tomato and thought, “Hmmm, this is healthy *and* delicious. Too bad it’s not the proper time to start eating well”.
****I’d never suggest giving up the local fun completely. If that’s your goal I’d just advise you to leave town.

Originally published at Pistolette.net, January 1, 2011.