2008

Apr162008

Mon-Wed

The week thus far hasn’t been especially eventful. Monday’s class was exceptionally boring. If I remember right, the workday Tuesday was short. I brought back the Panasonic flip clock to the office after ‘fixing’ the motor with a shot of WD-40. Last night’s pirate societies class featured the first of three pirate trials. The class had good reason to suspect the first group was woefully unprepared but they managed to pull off an entertaining performance. After class I saw the final three innings of the Tulane/Southeastern Louisiana baseball game. Apparently I missed most of the action. Taylor Richard pitched a great game this evening, the first seven innings.I worked from 11 to 3:30 on Wednesday. This afternoon’s weather and climate class covered chapters 12 and 13, covering weather forecasting and air pollution respectively. After class I walked over to the LBC to wait for Dad to pick me up. He was still at of the office, and remained there for another hour before I got a ride.

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Apr132008

French Quarter Festival Finale

I had lofty goals about getting up at a decent hour this morning and get out to the quarter before the first performance of the day started. I woke up at 10 instead. Even so, it didn’t take me too long to get ready and I didn’t have to wait all that long for the cab to arrive. I made it to the Jackson Square at about 11:20, not much later than my plans.There was not a cloud in the sky today but it was cool outside and windy at times. The crowds were even more massive than Saturday. I avoided the riverfront at times because you could barely move.The first act of the day on the Jackson Square stage was local clarinet player Tim Laughlin. I can’t recall the names of the musicians playing with him but they were mostly familiar faces. I was able to get right up front to shoot pictures.The long set was divided by a break. I took the opportunity get something to eat and eventually decided on the “french quarter pasta.” After I finished eating I sort of wandered around for the rest of the afternoon, I didn’t hang around one place for any extended periods. The pictures I shot to day pretty well reflect where I was. I was interested in what was going on at the international stage on Bourbon that featured band outside the United States so I saw the Liberty Hall Stompers and KBR there.I started making my way home at about six as my feet were pretty tired by then. Sunday evening was similar to Saturday in that I spend time watching TV and sorting the day’s pictures.

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Apr122008

There for Otra

I didn’t get out to the quarter as early as I could have liked on Saturday but as there were no acts I was especially interested in until three in the afternoon it was no tragedy. The weather was cool and largely overcast, quite pleasant. Dad dropped me to the Algiers ferry landing at two in the afternoon. After getting off the boat I wandered on the riverfront for a little while and stopped to see one of the bands playing at the time. I made it to the old U.S. mint with time to spare before Otra’s performance at three. They are a local afro-cuban jazz band I have probably spoken highly of before in this log. Noticeably absent from the grout today was their regular piano player and Eric Lucero on trumpet, who may not be with the band anymore, I’m not really sure. In any case, they put on a great show as always and there were plenty of people there to see it.After Otra’s set, I took a walk down Royal Street to see what was going on there before stopping inside the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street to see what was going on there. They have a small stage set up in the “Mystick Bar.” I was interested in seeing “Opera on Tap – Featuring Some of New Orleans Best Young Emerging Singers.” I assume the performance was closely related to the New Orleans Opera Association. The performance featured five or six young opera singers taking turns singing arias and such. While I’m not a fan of this sort of music I do have an appreciation for the skill required to do it right. It was easy to appreciate their talents as it was a very small venue and no amplification equipment was used. I stayed there until their performance ended at six. After that I walked back to the Riverfront, mostly to get something to eat. I got some jambalaya and bread pudding and took a seat near the aquarium as the Soul Rebels Brass Band played. I tried with no particular success to get some pictures of them. There was a big crowd at the stage and I didn’t want any photos bad enough to fight my way in. Shortly after seven I caught a cab home from the Hilton hotel.Later that evening I spent about an hour culling the pictures I took today. I also watched some of the Tulane game which they won tonight. I also finished watching the movie Big.

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Apr112008

25th Anniversary French Quarter Festival

I took the day off of work today to go to the French Quarter Festival. I got downtown at about 11, Dad gave me a ride there on his way to the office. For the three day event, I rented a EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens, a beautiful piece of glass. I had no desire to carry multiple lenses and the stages are small enough that you don’t need much reach. The weather was quite nice today in spite of gloomy forecasts. Unfortunately for me, I was expecting clouds and rain all day so I left my hat in the car. It cleared up soon after and I got a lot more sun than I would have liked.The first act I went to see today was the “Connie Jones and The French Quarter Festival Allstars” featuring Pete Fountain. Mr. Fountain isn’t getting any younger but he can still play that clarinet with the best of them. I got close to the stage at the beginning of the act and shot some pictures and then walked around for something to eat. I ended up getting a combo plate from the Muriel’s booth.Following that I made my way over to the old U.S. Mint to see Jonno and Bayou Deville. I was not familiar with this band but Dad spoke highly of them last week so I thought I’d check them out. They play Cajun music and they’re pretty damn good at it. They had a sizable crowd for the performance.After watching that act for about 90 minutes I walked back to Jackson Square for Ellis Marsalis. He performed this afternoon as a quartet, with the same musicians as I’ve seen previously at Snug Harbor. As usual, they put on a great set. It would have been a lot easier to get good pictures had they not put a microphone in front of Ellis’s face right after the show started.I watched some street performers for a little while before walking back to the mint for Vivaz at 5:15. I sat down with some gumbo and a coke before the set started. They were a few minutes late to fix some sound troubles. I saw Vivaz at Jazz Fest last year and was impressed. With Otra mostly AWOL, Vivaz is one of the best latin bands in town.I got a call from Dad shortly before six offering me a ride home. It was a tad early but I didn’t think another hour was worth the hassle of getting a cab so I accepted.This evening I sorted through the pictures I took today. I was quite pleased with my handiwork today. Obviously I have a lot yet to learn but I am getting better. The awesome lens I had to use certainly contributed as well. Later on I watched some of the Tulane Houston game on TV, which they lost 3-4. Battlestar Galactica was also on tonight.

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Apr102008

Rumba Review

I stayed home this afternoon to wait for a FedEx shipment. I wanted to make some progress on a paper for school but I had trouble getting stated and focusing on it. Dad came home and took me to work at about 3:30 this afternoon. He had a couple reports he needed done so I handled that before we left for the day at five.Dad took me to campus for class this evening. There were some makeup discussions in class this evening. Ms. Ebel went one of the groups go long so we could see “the process” run its course. Class was dismissed at 8:10. With time to get something to eat I went to Der Rathskeller for a late dinner.After some chicken tenders and fries, I walked to Reily just before nine this evening. The turnout was a bit smaller than last week. There was no new material tonight, although we did try to cover a lot last week. Even though I had a good deal of trouble with the steps this evening, it was a lot of fun. After the beginner session I walked to Willow and caught a cab home.

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Apr092008

Wednesday

Again, there was no sense of urgency in getting to the office today. Dad and I arrived in Mid City not long before noon. I did a wee bit of dictation and other chores before leaving to catch the shuttle at 3:30. This afternoon’s weather class was a continuation of the Katrina lecture from last week.After class I called Dad who said he’d pick me up after he left work. I waited in the LBC for a while and worked on a paper. Dad didn’t arrive until almost eight so I got a good deal done.Later that evening I finished watching Millions and talked to Krystle for a while before bed.

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Apr082008

Sodomy, The Library and Baseball

I worked at the west bank office from about noon to five this afternoon. The phone list and current patient billing were woefully out of date. I never finished the billing.This evening’s pirate societies class was the last actual lecture, which covered “violence and sex.” The lecture was reasonably short. The guy I’ll be taking orders from on my trial team was not in attendance so I’m no closer to knowing what will be going on with that.After class I went to the library to pick up a couple books, both on my history paper and pirate trial coming up. Following that I walked to Turchin where Tulane was playing Nicholls State this evening. The game started at six. I started listening to the game right after class ended and the score was tied at one. Tulane hit a grand slam while I was at the library and the score was 6-1 by the time I arrived at the stadium sometime before eight. Tulane scored two more runs before the game ended. They could have dome even better, however, as they left a lot of people on the pads this evening. They left the bases loaded three times.Later this evening after I got home I watched Boston Legal and The Daily Show before bed.

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Apr072008

Monday

I’m typing this entry three days after the fact and the day is already a blur. If I remember right, I never quite made it to work on Monday for some reason. I got to campus early and had time to sit in the LBC with my laptop and a smoothie for a while before class.That evening’s history in everyday life class was largely about the Mississippi river. The instructor discussed the Bonnet Carre spillway for a while as it’s been in the news recently.

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Apr062008

"Tie… Ugh!"

This afternoon, Dad and I went to Turchin Stadium see Tulane play Marshall. This was the last game of the series. Tulane won a ‘festive’ match on Friday and lost on Saturday. Tulane opened big with three runs in the bottom of the first to answer Marshall’s one RBI in the top of the inning.Tulane should have dominated later in the game but made some critical errors that kept Marshall in the game. Tulane had a 5-2 lead doing into the ninth inning but Marshall scored three runs to tie the game and force extra innings. After the tenth inning which ended at about 4:30, Marshall walked of the field to catch their plane. Earlier in the game, coach Rick Jones declared he was playing the game under protest because Marshall did not make their travel plans known ahead of time. Had they done so, Tulane would have gladly rescheduled the game to start at noon instead of one.With no runs scored in the 10th, the game ended in a tie, which was decidedly disappointing.Later this evening I watched Kurosawa’s The Most Beautiful, the least impressive of his films I’ve seen thus far.

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Apr042008

He That Beliveth In Me

I can’t quite remember if we made a stop on the way home from work this afternoon. We probably did since we left early at 3:30.This evening, we watched the season four premiere of Battlestar Galactica, which has been off the air for nearly a year. Given that the producers have 22 episodes to wrap up the show, I suppose they weren’t concerned with having all that much go on in the premiere. Later on tonight I watched No Country for Old Men.

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Apr032008

Second Discussion, Second Rumba

Dad drove me to campus for class this evening after work. This was the third week of the second in class discussions. My discussion was tonight. It went a lot better than my first one but there was room for improvement. Class dismissed late enough that I was able to deposit my paycheck at the LBC and walk straight to the Reily center.This evening’s ballroom session was the second week of rumba. I had trouble getting a grasp on the steps we learned last week and the new ones that were introduced tonight were an enigma to me. Attendance was healthy tonight with an even crowd of about 16. Afterward I called a cab to go home.

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Apr022008

Hurricanes Continued

After a short workday this afternoon, I caught a shuttle to campus for weather and climate class this afternoon. I was expecting the class to start with a quiz on the material we talked about last week. However, the professor wasn’t done talking about hurricanes and spent the majority of the class time discussing hurricane Katrina. Being a long term resident who reads the news regularly, very little of the lecture was news to me. There was some comfort, however, in that I was not subjected to some tripe rant about how the government sucks. The quiz I was expecting came after the lecture and I was out of class by 6:50. I called Dad who said he was on his way from the office. Before getting home I stopped at the library to request of off-site book related to the pirate societies trial.Later that evening, I started watching My Voyage to Italy, a documentary in which Martin Scorsese discusses Italian cinema and the movies that influenced him early in life and later in his film career. It’s a four hour movie that I got about 90 minutes in to.

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Apr012008

Delayed 1:13

I don’t remember anything from work today. Dad took me to campus for about 5:30 this evening. Tonight’s pirate societies class was largely about discipline and daily life aboard pirate ships. After the break there was a brief meeting with my trial group.I managed to get out of class at about 7:15. I walked over to Turchin Stadium where the baseball game versus McNeese State had just started. The 6 o’clock start was delayed over an hour due to rain. I eventually saw Dad who was also at the game. We stayed until about 9:30 when the game was in the 6th inning. Tulane had just rallied increasing their lead to 8-3. They eventually won the game 10-3.

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Apr012008

History Mags

Dad and I made it to the office shortly after 11 this morning. We went out to Metairie at about 3. I had enough work there to look busy. We left the office at about 4:45. Before dropping me off on campus, Dad stopped at the Mid City office to pick something up.This evening’s history in everyday life class was about “popular history.” He spent a lot of time discussing history related magazines. He passed out a stack of them to the class. After perusing them silently for 15 minutes, everyone in the class briefly talked about their magazine. My magazine was Louisiana Cultural Vistas, which apparently has a heavy focus on local art. After the break, Professor Lyon played a lecture on CD that was largely about the flaws in the teaching of history. After class I called a cab to go home.

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2008

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