Let's Put On A Show

Hello...my friend Stephanie Broussard sent me this announcement regarding a special event...an Eavesdrop Theater reunion taking place this
Sunday, December 26 · 6:30pm - 10:30pm @ Cite' Des Arts.
You should go to this. As Elaine's boyfriend/psychiatrist once told her "You can and you will. You can and you will."
Take it away Steph:

While many of you would rather sit at home and watch the fights this Boxer's Day, why not do something different? Come join in a reunion of Eavesdrop producers, writers, directors, actors, stage hands, best boys, gaffs, and audience members and parking attendants as they collectively celebrate those magic years at Citi des Arts in downtown Lafayette. More than just this reunion, many people are talking about getting Eavesdrop up and running again on a regular basis. Finally .... something worthwhile to do on Wednesday nights. Won't you help? Come join the party. Although I'm not at liberty to drop names around, I hear that many ex Eavesdroppers will be coming in from out of town and out of state. Someone told me that Nathan Lane and Tony Randall will be making an appearance, although that someone is not the most reliable source. In any event ... please make an appearance. I'll be there, so you can at least see me.


Follow the link and state your intentions.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154044981308315

Bluerunners Open 11th Season of Louisiana Crossroads

So since Mark has been crazy busy with the Louisiana Crossroads series this week (in case you missed this week's Times of Acadiana - check it out....cover story on the Bluerunners reunion Crossroads events) I thought I'd do the music post this week. And because it has been a rather nostalgic couple of days, I thought it only appropriate that I sneak in and post this....the video that accompanied "I Can't Help You" from the Bluerunners Island Records debut. Saturday show at the AcA is sold out, but good tickets are still available for the Lake Charles show tonight.
Happy weekend!
jill :)

Guns for Gas

I don't really think this is the reason they created the "it's ok to bring your gun to church" law, but in Baton Rouge, 4 churches are not only encouraging it...they're paying you for them. In light of several recent shootings in the capital city, Circle K convenience stores and the churches are partnering to promote a gun trade in event. For every gun they collect, no questions asked, they will give back a free gas card. They have $40,000 worth of gas cards to pass out and the denomination is determined by the class of gun turned in. Assault rifles will earn the highest - a $200 card. HoumaToday has the whole ironic story here.

Shop Locally

This is pretty nifty...on the heels of the increasingly popular 'Eat Lafayette' campaign, some local business owners have now formed their own group. "Shop Local Acadiana" has just kicked off their advertising campaign to encourage people to spend their money with locally owned businesses instead of national retail chains. They say that when we do, 3 times more of our money stays right here in our local economy for local businesses to hire, invest and contribute more.

Shop Local Acadiana also has a really nice website. On it, shoppers can sign up for 'Local Finds' email specials and text messages and see a directory of participating businesses. Each business also has it's own page on the site so you can learn more, see photos and get links to their websites or facebook pages. Merchants can easily learn the benefits of participating and find out how to join. The concept is pretty simple - business owners pool their money and together they can afford an impactful advertising and promotional campaign.

I say Bravo Gina Girouard Babineaux and Shannon Broussard Lynd. Check out their Facebook page here.

Easy Post Monday

The joke's on us.

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Don't Touch My Duck

This is from 1981. I'm pretty sure I attended that year's Festival Acadiens, though, much like the average festival goer who can't tell one Cajun song from another, it's hard for me to remember one year's fest from any other year's. I mean, was it the one when it rained? Or the one where it was super hot and dusty? Or the year when it was super hot and dusty, then it rained and it was super muddy? See what I mean?

However, that would be missing the point. This festival is a party that starts somewhere around Friday, and ends, mostly on Sunday night (maybe a little Monday morning breakfast and farewells). In between, is lots and lots of music, dancing, eating and drinking. It's what is great about living in South Louisiana. Much like the people and culture it celebrates, Festival Acadiens just keeps rolling on, bigger and better every year.

Two Lafayette Community Leaders Pass

We don't generally run obituaries but when two prominent, life-long Lafayette pillars of the community pass away, we can't not share our sadness. Our condolences go out to the Naomi and Alesi families who are each dealing with the sad passing of the heads of their families. On Sunday, Theresa Begnaud Naomi died at the age of 84. She and her husband of 56 years, Paul, founded Paul's Jewelry store back in 1954 and today that business has grown to two locations and is run by her surviving children, PJ, Patty and Nancy. Her full obituary can be found here.

On Monday, Mike Alesi, patriarch of the famous Alesi Pizza family and forever immortalized in that iconic sign on Johnston Street, passed away at the age of 90. He opened the doors of Alesi Pizza in 1957 on the corner of Cameron and Bertrand streets and just 5 years later moved to it's official home on Johnston Street, where it still thrives today. KATC has a nice remembrance story here.

We wish both of these families peace in their time of sorrow and thank them for all the wonderful contributions their loved ones made to our great community.

Fox....Meet Hen House

I hate stories like this. When you do a search of Louisiana stories everyday, you see this a lot. Our state sells out to big business at every turn. Who in their right mind would allow BP executives into our elementary schools, for anything other than to write one of those giant checks? It's bad enough they're on TV 24/7, rolling out their saccharine (sweet enough to make me puke) public relations campaign about how responsible they are. Does anybody really fall for this?

Well, officials at Oaklawn Junior High School apparently do. This article by Brian Merchant, for Treehugger.com reveals that the school allowed BP and the National Atmospheric Administration to conduct "science demonstrations" to dispel "myths" about dispersants used in the clean up of the oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Relevant fact: It was BP's spill! In case anyone has forgotten. From the article:

"The primary purpose [of the demonstration] is to inform and educate students on the methods used to clean up the oil in the Gulf and the wetlands and marshes," Janella Newsome, BP media liaison said in a press release. "It's also to dispel myths about dispersants, subsurface oil and seafood safety."

Photo by xtinaaskew

Tracking Tweets

I find it difficult to see the usefulness in Twitter...I don't understand all it's special secret codes (RT, #, @) and don't particularly care what everyone in the entire universe is doing at that exact moment, however, a computer science expert over at Southeastern University in Hammond has announced the findings of a study that prove it really can be a useful tool. He and his students studied Twitter and found that it is a pretty good indicator and predictor of flu outbreaks. They found that they are just about as accurate as the Centers for Disease Control and it's a whole lot less expensive with no paperwork or forms to fill out and process. Neat....and kind of scary I guess. Next time you tweet "I'm getting sick" someone is watching and recording. Complete story and technical details here at Science Daily.

J-I-M-I

I love this version of Born Under A Bad Sign. Booker T and William Bell wrote it. Albert King made it famous. But this version by Jimi Hendrix utterly transforms the original into something sublime and beautiful. I'm telling ya, I love this track. Someone gave me a cassette with this on it, and I drove around listening to it, over and over for a year or more, before I realized it was an instrumental. His playing is so expressive and personal, it feels like lyrics are being sung....through the guitar. I mean, even the way he comes in...off of a pre-bent note AND a volume swell! That's some audacious (you know what) to come in like that....and it just gets better and better as he adds layer after layer after layer...all stream of conscious, live in the moment. I can't think of a better song to have stuck in my head all day. Have a nice weekend folks. It's good to be back.

When You Ain't Got Nothing....You Got Nothing To Lose

If ever there was a case of "one of these things is not like the others" it's this list of events to consider entitled "Do Something Different In October" compiled by Miss Cellania in her blog on Mental Floss.

Let's see, we've got the North American Wife Carrying Championship; something called the Bean Fest And Great Championship Outhouse Race; World Conker Championships....who knows what that is; and then we have the Angola State Prison Rodeo, where "inmates compete in many events from barrel racing to bull riding to 'convict poker', in which four participants sit at a table while a bull is released. The last one to stand up wins!"

So, serving time in a notoriously rough prison, then risking your life against a raging bull (not the movie...a real raging bull!) merits equal placement on the list as a bean fest? Has anyone been seriously injured in an outhouse race? Given the choice, I'd prefer to sign up for Outhouse Pilot. "The outhouse races are run by three-person teams, with the pilot sitting on a toilet seat and steering, and two others pushing the outhouse."

The rodeo happens every Sunday in October. Check out their website here for details, and directions

Oh Lindsay

Ah the saga that is Lindsay Lohan. Normally we are able to stay away from Hollywood gossip like this (except...Britney....you've been so quiet lately.....) but not this time....not when Lohan's antics are now affecting us (well, not 'us' directly, but our state).

According to MTV, Lindsay Lohan was about to begin filming her new movie, Inferno, a biopic about porn star Linda Lovelace, in our fair state....that was until now. The producers of the film are moving production from LA to L.A. to accommodate Lohan's 'travel restrictions' placed on her because of her most recent failed drug test and arrest last week. A move that will cost the producers a "sizable amount of money." They say they understand the public exasperation about Lohan's behavior but are committed to her starring in this movie so they are finding additional financing to make the move. And to ensure everything goes smoothly, they are writing special sobriety clauses into her contract. That should go well...

It's The Pants!

Yes, there was a missed kick. Yes, there were a couple of interceptions (underhanded Drew, really?). In fact, the hated rivals (I won't speak their name...ever) played an OK game. Indeed, by their lowly standard, they played the game of their life yesterday. But, friends, it was an unfair fight. We were not wearing proper uniforms. In fact, whenever we wear those *&%#ing-black leotard things, we take the field at a distinct disadvantage. It's as if we're playing the entire game waiting for our real uniform pants to finish drying.

This has gone on way too long. Do you realize the black pants debuted in the Ricky Williams era? He has since gone to Miami, smoked pot, moved to Canada, came back, quit football all together, only to come back again...and we're still wearing those same pants! Who can forget the sight of Aaron Brooks throwing his vaunted backwards pass (it would actually go backwards, and Deuce would have to run it down and fall on it) donning the no-stripe, black, stocking-pants?

And that brings up another point. All they have to do put a stinking stripe down the sides! I'm no fashion expert (though I am digging Project Runway again. Go Mondo! with your wacky wool tweeds and your gigantic head) but maybe gold would work. Yeah, maybe a gold stripe might be just what is needed. It would work great with the official team colors which happen to be BLACK and GOLD! Not to mention, our gold pants rock! We wore those gold pants through our entire playoff run and Super Bowl victory last season. We win with the gold ones. The black ones suck!.

It's time OK? Get rid of 'em, or put a stripe on 'em!

Nostalgic Fun

I love old stuff and am really fascinated by what places used to be and what they are now. I also love ebay so I was doubly excited when I typed in 'Lafayette, LA' and up popped over 200 neat old postcards, matchbook covers, mardi gras ball programs and more!

There's a menu from an old restaurant called "The Skunk" (apparently on Hwy. 90 somewhere?), an old Hadacol bottle, a Sambo's wooden nickel (where was that located?), a postcard for the Lafayette Charity Hospital (some big old white building...must be something now?), several old hotel postcards, Evangeline Hotel matchbooks, and lots of images of downtown...the Gordon Hotel from the 20's, City Hall, and General Office Supply. Fun! Oh - AND - a baseball card from one of mark's old Driller's buddies, Gary Alexander.

So, if you're a geek like me about this kind of stuff click here to see all the old nostalgic wonderfulness.

Back in the Saddle Again

Wow....where to start. Things sure have been crazy in the Meaux household lately. Mark and I have been so busy. To update: dad is feeling much better. He got out of the hospital and has been having physical/occupational/speech therapy four times a week so he is improving. Minor set back a couple of weeks ago, but he's recovering and doing much better. Thank you all for your prayers and concern.

Mark has a bunch of things going on musically too - his new Sam Rey CD is out and available for sale or download on his website: samrey.net and, he has a couple of big gigs coming up in October. Once they are announced, we'll fill you in.

I'm busy at work planning our big fundraiser so that's fun. Fall is here and the broken oil well is dead....things are good all the way around.
- jill :)

Where's Mark & Jill....?

Unfortunately we're not sitting on a tar-ball free beach with our toes in the sand sipping iced tea.....

Actually my dad has been pretty ill. He has Parkinson's Disease, and now possibly Parkinson's Plus Syndrome (all the goodies that come with Parkinson's, plus a whole lot more....) and has been in the hospital for the past two and a half weeks. They have requested a family member be there with him at all times so we are taking shifts and have a sitter help us at night. We're hoping he'll come home soon, but as a result the blog has been suffering. Our phones have been great to keep us occupied but are not very easy to blog on, so, please bear with us, we'll be back soon....I do see a light at the end of this tunnel.
- jill

School Supply Drive

The Acadiana Outreach Center, along with Pippin McGee, KLFY TV10, and Big 102.1 are hosting a school supply drive now through next Tuesday.

Collection locations are:
* Pippin McGee on Ambassador (next to Posado's and across the street from Charley G's)
* KLFY TV 10 on Eraste Landry
* Acadiana Outreach Center (125 S. Buchanan Street)

All supplies collected will be distributed to needy families in the community. Please help support a worthwhile cause and pick up an extra pack of paper while you're out. Click here to see a complete list of supplies needed.

Thanks!
jill :)

Makes My Dang Head Spin

Wouldn't it be awesome if you were BP, to find cheap labor to do the most toxic work of cleaning the crude oil of the beaches of Louisiana? And even better, what if you could easily buy those worker's silence as to what they are seeing and experiencing out there cleaning. Let's go for the trifecta, add the good ol'racial component, and say we could get a workforce of predominantly African-American workers, who BP can get for dirt cheap, and won't speak to the press. Where could they find such a pool of workers? Well, look no further than Louisiana's awesome privatized prison system. In fact, BP gets a nice tax write off for hiring prison labor!

Abe Louise Young, writes this article for the Nation, that details the situation described above. Holy cow, some of this article reads like it was taken from the script for Cool Hand Luke...can this really be 2010?

Photo by quinn.anya

The Downs At The Moon Tonight

This should be a really good show! Rotary Downs from New Orleans and The Picardy Birds from here in Lafayette both rocking out at the Blue Moon Saloon. Go get your indie-rock on. Weekend is here right about........now!

SWEETS

I have been remiss is giving kudos to one of Lafayette's rising stars Kody Chamberlain. He's an artist, writer and one prolific dude. His latest work SWEETS was featured in this article by Patrick Strange and Leo Mcgovern in Good, the New Orleans issue. From the article:

The recently published NYPD Blue-meets-Seven crime drama Sweets—created by Louisiana native Kody Chamberlain—attempts to use New Orleans’s staggering murder rate for its fictive advantage. Set in late August, 2005, as the hurricane looms, Sweets follows Detective Curt Delatte as he chases down a serial killer who leaves pralines as his calling cards. Adding somber insult to fatal injury, Delatte’s wife has just left him after their daughter was killed in a brazen hit-and-run. Murder and civic chaos abound, and the surrounding violence only heightens the sense of impending doom as the storm swirls towards the city. “Like it or not, the murder rate gives the city a sharp edge,” Chamberlain says, “which adds weight to any story set in New Orleans." Of course, complicating the case is the encroaching hurricane and the uncertainty of the evacuation—a facet of Sweets that may hit New Orleanians a bit too close to home. But hurricanes, like crime, are a fact of life for those who live in the city. “Every time a major storm enters the Gulf, everyone feels the stress, and that can have a major impact on a character, which, in turn, makes for good stories,” says Chamberlain. As for Delatte, his stress is channeled into hunting a killer. “What if the killer evacuates?” Chamberlain asks, assuming the voice of his protagonist. “What if evidence is destroyed? What if Delatte can’t handle the real-world pressure? Surely New Orleanians would root for Delatte...”

Also, check out Chamberlain's blog In No Particular Order for updates and reviews of SWEETS. He seems to always be working, moving....try and catch up will ya?