let the good times roll!

my sister, angel, and her husband jacques, are part owners of a wonderful lil french bistro on esplanade ave. in new orleans called cafe degas.
we all thought our fave restaurant was gonna be a total loss in the first weeks after hurricane katrina. all the satellite photos showed water all around the little building, (it is near city park which was innundated), and it just didn't look real good. the news was already known about their home in lakeview, which was flooded beyond repair, and it is with great relief that we found out the cafe came out of it in a not-too-bad condition.
a friend had gotten down to the cafe the other day and took some photos of the damage. it was nothing as feared. jacques says he could fix it in a weekend. he cracks us up!

even the bar got out unscathed, with a bottle of wine still sitting untouched, as well as the racks of glasses ...


the cafe degas is quite unique, it has that tree in the middle that the building surrounds and a patio facing the oak tree-lined avenue, (well, there were oak trees, one is now in the restaurant). the dining area is open, yet very intimate and the wait staff are always friendly and very french-like. it's a very likable little place that has a huge clientele that is more like family ... and they have the best damn french onion soup we have ever had.

it looks as though that little tree held its ground. good thing too, if it woulda gone, the building would have followed ... (jacques says he wants to lose the tree now. i told him they should put a plaque on it since it rode out two hurricanes in 3 weeks. angel is now calling it 'katrita'!)

so spirits are a lot higher this morning. angel, jacques and the 2 boys are gonna be moving in to the metry wreckhouse a.s.a.p., we (s.a., kimmy and her new kid payton, three dogs, a cat and me), are gonna move in with them after the new year and we'll all be one big happy family as we work to help them get their (and the city's) shit together.
this should be exciting ... laissez les bons temps rouler!

some interesting blogs about katrina (with great photos):
operation eden
gulfsails
anti-gravity

on the lighter side of insanity ...
21 ways to be taken away

... and now for some fun new orleans mp3s (via yousendit):
tommy ridgely - i'm looped
shirley and lee - let the good times roll
dave bartholomew - good jax boogie
clarance 'bon ton' garlow - new bon ton roule

and the hits just keep on coming ...

we hope all our friends and family that lived in the path of rita are all right. we have a bunch of relatives in lake charles we haven't heard from yet, but they all got out and should be safe. it didn't look very fun to ride out rita ...

a few of my blog buddies are from beaumont, texas ... they made it out ok and are well. check out 'do you know what it means to miss new orleans' and 'in search of dave ...' to read their fun-filled adventures with rita.


now for a few observations ...
... isn't it heartwarming to know that texas is as prepared as anybody when it comes to clearing a major city. they are very lucky rita decided to head north or a lot of people woulda got caught at home, (they turned back because of lack of supplies), or caught on the road, (because of lack of supplies). did the government officials not think about any of this before they yelled 'get out now!' ... how in the hell do they think there will be an evacuation of any city even if there is no 3 days notice, like for an earthquake or terrorist attack. yeah, we feel much, much safer after rita, for sure.
there was some local politician saying on cnn that they didn't expect everyone to leave at once, doh! so we guess it's the citizen's fault, again ... (honey, did you pack the porta-john and 50 gal. drum of gas for the ride?), altho the sight of empty hummers lining the hi-way was pretty funny.
and still those venerated members of 'the league of in-justice', (dee-lay, frisk, his high-horseness and their lackeys), were all grinning, glad handing and back patting to one another about a 'job well done' ... yeah, we feel a damn lot safer now.
they're very, very lucky rita turned north.


and is it just us or did all the media seem just a wee bit sad rita never smacked galveston and houston. they we're positively giddy at the thought of a another major weather related media-coup. reporters setting up camp on the beach, acting as if 20 mph winds were blowing them around while pedestrians strolled easily along in the background, and meanwhile back in the cozy studio they were counting the minutes by reminding the viewers about the 1900 storm with thousands dead, or claiming complete devastation of the oil industry (and hence america), all done with the latest google maps of the houston area and high-tech graphics of flood predictions of southeast texas. we never did see what the louisiana coast would look like flooded til the day after, since that's where the damage was ... and the media wasn't.
and what the fuck is up with that rita cosby on msnbc? where the hell did she come from? all of a sudden she is everywhere, well, anywhere there is a near-breaking story, with a voice that sounds like a 10 pack-a-day 80 year old marathon runner in need of oxygen. she was annoying enuff in aruba, (where she was caught pants down after katrina hit, tho she did make it back to the easy to milk the suffering for a few days), but in a hurricane she's a ditzy peroxide-blonde chicken little, 'cameraman, get a shot of the sky ... its falling!!!!' ... 'oh my, oh my, oh my, the water is high!'
where the hell did she come from? she was so hoping they woulda got hit she was about in tears.
oh! the humanity, and sadly only one loss of life ...


finally, it is also very reassuring that our 'commander-in-grief', (while hiding in a cave somewhere in colorado, (shades of bin laden!), because the white house is too close to cindy this week and crawford is too close to rita), is proposing that the military take over in all natural disasters. this coming from the same knuckleheads that are handling the mess they call 'operation iraqi freedom' and who had the keystone cop mentality in which they dealt with katrina, (change the channel so 'w' doesn't see the news, better yet, let him out to play) ... what a joke, we shouldn't let these fools become dog-catchers in a one dog town. he tried to wrangle new orleans from blanco by manipulation and that didn't work, now he wants those take-it-up-the-butt idiots in congress to give him more power to make up for his lack of vision and class/colored blindness. they should all be tarred and feathered, drawn and quartered and run outta town on a rail, then sent to iraq to fix the problem he created, (and congress endorsed), before they have anything to do with us... sorry, no more power deals for you, come back in 3 years ...

so, just give us the money we need this time to fix it , not to halliburton or your other cronies, and leave us alone. we were doing fine for almost 400 years, thank you very much, before you diverted funds to play in the desert with those tanks and bombs we bought ya while you cranked up the energy paying no heed to global warming warnings so yer buddies could profit. despicable, and you wanna run my reconstruction?
don't you guys have another nation to rebuild already?

... here's a few tunes that fit our mood (via yousendit):

peter gabriel - here comes the flood

randy newman - mr president (have pity on the working man)

r.e.m. - it's the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine)

paul simon - homeless

'columnated ruins domino ... '

'... what the fuck is that supposed to mean', a confused mike love alledgedly quizzed a bedazzled van dyke parks about the words to 'surf's up'. van dyke is said to have just grinned and answered, 'i dunno' ... or was it about the lyric 'over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfields ...', no matter now, he was pissed. pissed enuff to put up a fight and help stop the 'smile' project altogether ... and we believe he is still pissed, at least his current disfavor with the original project is still very apparent ... and he can't really be too happy at all that brian trashed his lyrics to 'good vibrations' in favor of tony asher's, or that 'smile' has become such a successful reality almost 4 decades after the fact. after all he did to stop it and keep the formula rockin' along ...

'surf's up'

A diamond necklace played the pawn.
Hand in hand some drummed along
To a handsome mannered baton.

A blind class aristocracy.
Back through the op'ra glass you see
The pit and the pendulum drawn.

Columnated ruins domino!

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop.
Are you sleeping?

Hung velvet over taking me.
Dim chandelier awaken me.
To a song dissolved in the dawn.

The music hall-a costly bow.
The music all is lost for now.
To a muted trumperter swan.

Columnated ruins domino!

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop.
Are you sleeping, brother john?

Dove nested towers-the hour was
Strike the street quicksilver moon.

Carriage across the fog
Two-step to lamp lights cellar tune.

The laughs come hard in auld lang syne.

The glass was raised, the fired-roast.
The fullness of the wine, the dim last toasting.
While at port, adieu or die.

A choke of grief hard hardened eye,
Beyond belief, a broken man too tough to cry.

Surf's up!
Aboard a tidal wave.
Come about hard and join
The young and often spring you gave.
I heard the word.
Wonderful thing!
A children's song.

A child is the father of the man.

'canvas the town and brush the backdrop' ... really tho, what the hell does that mean? it is pure pop poetry, and the nod to 'paperback writer' (are you sleeping brother john?) ...
'the laughs come hard in auld lang syne', i guess they do. and the title is in complete counterpoint to the old idea of a surf song, no wonder mike love was scared and pissed, it is light years from the beach and the idea of the beach boys ...
brian tried to explain the meaning of the song a long time ago in an interview, then it made less sense.
'surf's up' is arguably one of the best pop songs ever written. and it absolutely makes no sense. its beauty is in the flowing of the sound of the words to the feel of the music. from the 1st hearing all those years ago thru today it remains fresh and relevent, sure to give the shivers it is so gorgeous.
and this song swept us away a few weeks ago in berkeley, while watching brian and his brilliant band pull off 'SMiLE'.
... and 'surf's up' never sounded better.


we split for berkeley thursday, sept. 1st to catch brian wilson the following night at
the greek theater on the university of california campus. we've had our tickets since spring, have been looking forward to this show for decades and really needed to get away from all the horror of that week. we'd never been there before and it was a really nice town, a very laidback, liberal college community, our kinda place . friday we stumbled all around the hip area near the school and saw more coffee and head shops in a 3 block area than anywhere else on earth. we sashshayed onto the campus just in time for a pep rally, (which we got a big kick out of).


the 'hotel funky' was walking distance from the show. we got there early, bought wine and all the junk w/ 'smile' we could carry, (poster, hat, shirt, and program), and found our seats. it really was a greek theater, not just a fancy name. we had seats right in the middle of this great open air theater. it was a wonderful late summer night, clear skies, slight breeze from the bay and the feeling of magic in the air. the sound was excellent, the band was tight and they played just about every favorite beach boys song we know, (except 'sail on, sailor', daggnnabbitt!). and in between the hits was 'smile'. all those years of collecting the fragments of 'smile', fantasizing about what order the songs would run, never thinking to actually hear it played live, in its entirety, was completely breathtaking. and we thought it amazing how many people knew the words to even the most obscure sections of 'smile'.
the end of the show was great too. brian blazed thru a set of the rockin' surf songs that had the place on its feet and screaming along. as he walked off stage to rousing cheers we could see him smiling like a kid on christmas day, and as we left, so were we.
it was a really magical night, and it doesn't matter what the fuck 'surf's up' means ... it's the feeling that counts ...
great fun had we.


some mp3s from 'smile' (via yousendit):

brian wilson - side 4 from the vinyl 'smile' (instrumentals of 'heroes and villians', 'cabinessence', 'wonderful' and 'wind chimes')

brian wilson - 'surf's up' (1966 demo)

the beach boys - wind chimes (take 5)

and some radio stuff from the series 'creators on carnagie' on national public radio:
'smile' on npr part one (warm-up set and background), part two (brian performs 'smile')

stream of 'smile' on npr ('smile' recording sessions)

pitchfork's 'smile' album review

... and god bless brian wilson ...

on the road, again ...

sorry it's been so long between posts ya'll.
we've been busy making arrangements to drive down to metry at the end of october to haul a truck load of stuff for the wreckhouse relief effort. by then the place will be up and ready for my sis and her refugees. and we're more than ready for a good road trip ... before the beginning of the next donner-like winter in the high sierras ...

i used to drive back and forth across the country a few times each year during the 90's. bopping up and down back roads in a beat-up 24 foot ryder truck trying to avoid weigh stations and, dog willing, catching a tailwind on the downside of a moutain and getting up to 45 mph. it was a tough life, gettin' stuck driving around the country three times over w/ some smelly non-fun whacko you don't know, through blizzards, heat waves and hurricanes, sleeping on the side of the road when it was too late to find a room or getting to a gas station at 4 a.m. after running on fumes for 20 miles in the middle of the desert. jeesh, and to think i kinda miss all that now...

ah, the stories i could tell ...

... after about the 2nd year it was known around pace systems, (the place that employed me as a videographer/audio geek/monkeyboy/truck driver), that i had the 'happy truck'. i recieved numerous offers of money, drugs and wimmen for a chance to do the wonderful pace systems summer tour with your humble narrator. at least by then i got to choose my next enemy. i have thrown people out next to backwoods airports, gotten kicked out of hell-hole motels for having a room-mate that snored loud enuff to wake the dead and drove from orlando to chicago in one very long 20 hr drive coz the other had a hangover and threw-up out of the window all the way ...

this trip should be a little more pleasant ....

... i was annointed the music miester for all the shows, and would always have an ample amount of varied sounds to delight and astound. whilst traveling, the most abundant staple i could think to pack would be a lot of batteries for the boombox. the radio is a wasted artifact while driving across a major portion of america three times a year and a good supply of cds and batteries assure a peaceful drive, or at least a rockin' drive.

and of course, the kid always carries one or two volumes of car-tunes ...

... well, i need to update another cd of travelin' songs to get us to metry ... and the bitch is i was hoping never to fly again, (we gotta fly back, yecchh) ... i'll tell some horror stories about flying after we get back to 'the big little'.

some car-tunes that'll get us farther down the road (via yousendit):
cheap trick - magical mystery tour
buzzcocks - fast cars
neil young - roll another number (for the road)
bob dylan - highway 61 revisited (alternate take) from the bootleg series no. 7
little feat - willin'
jeff beck - freeway jam
well, this and a bunch of radio shows for the night driving ...

dear america,

a little bit of advice for the rest of the country about new orleans refugees ...

- - - From columnist Chris Rose of The Times-Picayune (www.nola.com):

Dear America,

I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South Louisiana.

We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations. We're not much on formalities like that.

And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it.

Just don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters. We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way.

You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange music and eat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of others who don't. But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town.

Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state - why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?

We can't really explain that. It is what it is.

You've probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, the best thing about where we come from is us.

We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good people. And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That's got to count for something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times.

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having visitors. It's our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith.

(Chris Rose can be reached at noroses@bellsouth.net)

thanks mr rose, well said ...



... and to end on a music note, we have been really digging the new spoon album, 'gimme fiction'. the first cut just speaks volumes about the way we feel about going back to the easy:

(a bit of 'the beast and dragon, adored') ...

... now all i need is a crew
one that can act as if
one that can stay on cue
and sneeze and sniff
uh-huh, alright
i'm going back to the water
been landlocked too long ...

... we've been a just little too busy the past few to soak in this magnificent record. but now it is settling in, the scope, the intricacies, the grittiness and the granduer. what a blast! and we just love great records by a guy who does it all on his oddy-knocky ... the todd rundgrens, paul mccartneys, princes and others who just shine on their own, and this one of the best we have heard in ages.
(we dunno what it is about austin, tex lately. it is a texas town unlike texas, (more like new orleans west), and is yeilding some wonderful music. our two fave sons, billy harvey and spoon's brit daniels just keep us breathless!)

our fave cuts from 'gimme fiction' (via yousendit):
spoon - the beast and dragon, adored
spoon - merchants of soul
spoon - the delicate place

and in case you thought new orleans wouldn't get back to normal soon enuff ...
big daddy's is back in biz ...

and we knew bush had his motives the whole time ...
here comes bush's flood ...

and, you need to buy spoon!

gumbo ya ya!

one of our fond blog buddies is completely ripped about what happened to new orleans. danno is a chef who lives in detroit and runs the 'nola cuisine' and 'new orleans cuisine' blogs. he posts the best recipies for all sorta new orleans dishes. and we can truly say they hit the mark. the boy really knows his shit... and i still can't believe he ain't from the easy. it seems he gets down there as often as possible and the first thing he does is head for central grocery for a muffalatta. i guess that's why he's so good at the cookin' stuff.

... for awhile s.a. had a hell of a time making beignets, too small, crunchy not fluffy ... until she used danno's method, (she asked me how to, but i claimed ignorance ... 'how can that be?' she asked, 'you've eaten thousands.' i just grinned and said, 'i know how to turn a t.v. on and off too, but i can't build one.' that is when she went to danno's for advice ... good thing too, they came out perfect!)

he recently posted about file, (pronounced 'fee-lay), the yummy stuff that gives gumbo it's appeal to so many, and i just immediately flashed on the dr. john song, 'pot's on fiyo (file gumbo)', the one with the girls singing 'file, file, file, file, file gumboooo'. i told danno how everytime i use file on something i just break out into that song, 'specially in public, (much to s.a.'s grimace), and he admitted the same. i started thinking that new orleans probably has more songs about food than any city. no wonder, look at all the great food that comes from there. just something else to celebrate in song. the food from there does that to people, (hell, i think i'd kill for a real po' boy about now). so this post is for danno, for i am sure he is hurting like we are ...

we ordered a pizza from someplace, it was good ... like cardboard. i ate a piece and some wing-age as i was searching for gumbo and crawfish pics for the post. s.a. just punched me and told me to knock it off. just the sight of it was making her nuts ... it was bumming me out too. god we need a po' boy!

oh, and we were listening to these songs as we drank plenty of wine to chase the pizza hut taste away ...

dr john, the night tripper - pot's on fiyo (file gumbo)

dave bartholomew - shrimp and gumbo

smiley lewis - gumbo blues

fats domino - jambalaya

i was gonna rip the benefit show from last night and post some of the tunes, but was too late off the mark ... maybe catch the reruns, it was very good tho, as far as that goes ...
shelter from the storm

bringing the war back home ...

well, no sense cryin' over spilled toxic gumbo. might as well turn up the music, put on the gloves and get to work. . .

we are already getting word from the 'hood in metry. seems the wreckhouse fared very well. we still have the hundred-year-old oak tree in front of our house. it is the only one on a formerly thickly-lined-oak-tree street. bummer... and it appears some of the major parts of the city survived, mainly the french quarter. we will all be back in bizznezz real soon.

and now we we may get all we need to make it work semi-right in new orleans this time, because the great minds that claim to care for us all and don't, made sure of that. with a little luck and the might of truth, all the incompetent boobs will be booted next year. time for a new broom to sweep out the trash, (politcal and disaster related), and not just the feds but all the way through. they all left the city to suffer and die. i am glad we live near enough to enjoy new orleans without all the idiocy of the city, and tho this is gonna be a big black eye for a real long time, (new orleans has always been about either you like it or not anyways), we know the city will rise up, with a lil' help from our friends. ... and it's gonna be job heaven for awhile, as long as we get our people in there to fix up our town and not fema refugees from florida, northern carpetbaggers or wanna-be faux contractors from texas.

anyways, we still haven't heard from frank and the situation in the easy is tenuous (or 'fluid', as the vips say, i find that amusing in light of the circumstances), but things are looking up. frank'll be found in some open bar in the quarter, (there are still quite a few), then, after the waters recede, (or when the city is 'dewatered', whatever the fuck that means), all our god fearing leaders will go down hard for the sacrifice of our beloved city to a senseless war without end, (you mean there is a war on elsewhere?). maybe then we'll get a real levee system to rival amsterdam's ... if there is really a god ...

enuff said ...

'five days with katrina by alvaro' (an amazing gallery of photos taken downtown by a local)
flickr's katrina photos

some blues for the easy (via yousendit):
north mississippi allstars - drinking muddy water
son house - government fleet blues
kansas joe and memphis minnie - when the levee breaks
charley patton - high water everywhere pt.1
mississippi fred mcdowell - you gotta move

do you know what it means to miss new orleans?

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans and miss it each night and day?
i know i'm not wrong... this feeling's gettin' stronger, the longer i stay away.
miss them moss covered vines...the tall sugar pines where mockin' birds used to sing,
and I'd like to see that lazy mississippi...hurryin' into spring.

The moonlight on the bayou.......a Creole tune that fills the air.
I dream about Magnolias in bloom......and I'm wishin' I was there.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans when that's where you left your heart?
and there's one thing more...I miss the one I care for more than I miss New Orleans

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thank ya'll for the e-mails and comments, they mean a lot to us right now.
and it finally looks a little brighter today ...

... we blew outta reno thursday and snuck off to berkley to see brian so we could 'SMilE' for awhile and clear our souls of all the stuff we really can't do anything more about now, other than comfort friends, search for family and send lots of money ...

we still haven't heard from my cousin, frank assunto jr. ... the family are growing very concerned and frank, being frank, could be anywhere right now. we have spent the last few days searching and posting in all the forums and anywhere else that gets the word out about him .... but there are so many people that are missing. it is truly heart-wrenching to read the stories as we look for frank. this is all just unbelievable.

...... fats domino was thought to be lost in the flood when he decided to hang on in his purple st.claude street compound. he was spotted by his daughter on cnn being rescued. he is safe and sound in texas.
alex chilton, (the guy who wrote 'the letter), is still missing at this time.
allen toussaint, famous producer and writer, is missing.
and god knows how many of those poor old musicians who helped shape that new orleans sound, and wouldn't leave no matter what, are missing.

we are constantly thinking of all our friends and their families that we hope are safe but have not heard from yet. everyone in new orleans is really just one big extended family anyway, so this is very hard on everyone everywhere. we miss almost everyone we ever knew there.

the situation there is still very bad, and may never get any better. they have the minister of war now doing giddy photo-ops like he is being annointed king of new orleans. there are fully-armed gangs still roaming the streets, fires burning out of control and people that still need to be rescued. i hope that his majesty doesn't try to occupy the city, then hold it for ransom or claim it's not worth saving. we are very scared for the future of our city. . .

as it looks now metry, (metairie is the real name, the locals call it 'metry', ok nostra?), came out of this fairly well off. we have sheriff lee watching over the place for us. like he does for everybody else there. thanks harry!
we found our house and sister jan's in metry looking basically high and dry from satelitte shots taken the other day. but my other sister's family lost theirs in new orleans, and it looks like their restaurant 'cafe degas' is under also, but they are being adopted for the duration by a rich couple in jackson, miss. they are setting up jacques, angel and the boys and having a benefit for the artists stranded by the storm.

and it's like everybody in the world but our own government cares about the city that care forgot. the outpouring of heartfelt relief is unreal. i never thought i would ever see this for my town. thanks ya'll. the city is really a microsm of america. there is so much of a little everything there, or was, ... and will be again. america and the world are showing unprecedented support.
we are gonna move back to metry and watch kimmy raise her boy, eventually. and as soon as it's ready there'll be someone living in the metry wreckhouse so they can rebuild their own stuff and not have to leave to do it. we don't know what else we can do. at least we have that to offer. we just feel so awful about it all, we'll just tighten our belts, hang here for another winter and do what we can from reno. we'll probably be hosting a few refugees here soon, we have the room, more than we need. we'll do anything and everything we can ...

this is gonna be tough, gonna be long, but we are gonna do this ... and it will probably be very ugly in the coming weeks as we find out just how devastating this was.
...we can't even relay all the horror stories we're getting from friends. andrea, one of our beat girls who works at a local hospital, spent the better part of pre-dawn tuesday swimming down the streets of mid-town amid debris and thugs, trying to get back to the hospital where she works. she is now safe in houston with her patients after being vac'd out and is suffering from 'the screamin' me-mes' , (her words). she is in shock, her story is unreal and there are thousands and thousands of others ...

... yeah, we now know what it means to miss new orleans ...

god save the big easy!

map of noaa satelitte images of the aftermath, (taken wed. aug 31)

please donate what you can!