Movies filmed in and set in, in whole or in part, the city of New Orleans.

http://www.listology.com/list/new-orleans-film

What Makes New Orleans So Popular?

When I think of New Orleans, I think of the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, the Saints, Hurricane Katrina, food and jazz.The French Quarter is a historical site that brings tourist all around the world to visit. It has a coffee stand called Cafe du Monde where tourists and natives go to get some coffee and beignets. Beside the coffee stand, there are little shops that sell either souveneirs, masks, and clothes. A big part of the quarter is the Jackson square. In the Jackson square, there are local artists that sell their artwork and fortune tellers. Also, there is a St. Louis Cathedral nearby where people can admire its beautiful architecture.Mardi Gras is a big thing in New Orleans where people whether from New Orleans or not gather on the small streets of the city waiting for the extravagant floats to pass by as they excitedly catch their beads and enjoy the booming music coming from the high school marching bands.An extremely big thing for New Orleans, is the Saints. Since they won the Superbowl, that Saints is a very big deal for the city and the people. As a matter of fact, there was even a Saints parade whether they won or not. Everywhere you go in New Orleans, there is always someone wearing a Saints Jersey or a who dat shirt. Even cars have saints flags or houses have banners saying "Go Saints".
A more traumatic and emotional image of New Orleans is Hurricane Katrina. Although it occur about five years ago, it is still being reflected on. Houses are still being built and some are still left abandoned. There are even tours that focus on the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
The last two images of New Orleans is jazz and food. In the city of New Orleans, you will always see a random person playing jazz. Usually they are found in Jackson square or sometimes I even find them near the aquarium. The famous jazz player of New Orleans is Louis Armstrong.
A big part of New Orleans is their food. New Orleans has cheap seafood where you can buy a pound of crawfish for just three bucks. Besides its seafood, there are different types of food here such as Cajun food and Creole food that it is unlikely you will find it outside of New Orleans.

A Few Thoughts . . .

Hi all,

I'd just like to mention a few things in this blog. First, I'd like to say that I'm pretty excited to begin reading our next book on Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen. She is extremely important for New Orleans culture because she pioneered a mixed version of African Ritual and Catholicism that we know today as "Voodoo."



Next, I'd like to go back to a previous book we read, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. According to Dr. Hunt, Le Petit Théâtre is showing a one-man show of the the play this Saturday I believe. So, if you liked to book, i think it might be worth your while.



Also, I'd like to make some Restaurant suggestions.

1) Café Dégas (French Restaurant)
2) Mr. Ed's (Creole Restaurant)
3) Mr. B's (Pricey 'Restaurant' Creole Food - owned by Brennan family so it's going to cost a 'pretty penny')
4) Mike East-West (Delicious Creole Food with Asian Twist)
5) Three Sisters (Delicious Creole Restaurant)

Lastly, this is a bit random, but I'd like to share a good New Orleans 'desert' with you. I personally feel a little piece of heaven every time I eat one of these.




Those are just some humble suggestions. I hope you all have a safe, fun Spring Break.

Best,

--André

Red Gravy

I still have yet to decide whether or not I liked Gumbo Tales. I would never say I didn't like it, but it questionable whether I like it or whether I am just apathetic to it and don't really have an option one way or another. Many of the foods in there I was not familiar with or would never have associated with New Orleans. I obviously expected for gumbo, coffee (particularly Cafe Du Monde), oysters, crawfish, king cake, and sno balls to be in there. However, I do know that I was surprised by some of the foods that were put in there. The one that caught me off guard the most was "Red Gravy." Most of all I was surprised at how influential Italian heritage is to New Orleans. Coming from St. Louis where there is an entire Italian neighborhood and at least one Italian restaurant in every other neighborhood, the Italian influence was always obvious. But here, it doesn't seem so "in your face." I would never describe St. Louis as an Italian neighborhood, but it certainly seems for prevalent there than it does in New Orleans.

The chapter discussed Italian food and traditions prevalent in New Orleans Italian communities.There are so many Italian traditions that were brought with the immigrants to New Orleans. One of the traditions that was talked about in the book was St. Joseph's Day. This day is celebrated every March 19 in celebration of St. Joseph, who saved the Sicilians from a drought. They promised St. Joseph that if he stopped the drought, they had to have a big feast and celebration in honor of him. An important part of the feast is the altar. In the book we read about the wonderful and elaborate altar Marie Fagot and her family hosted for many years. I really enjoyed reading this part of the book. Although I somewhat enjoyed reading about the food traditions, I really liked reading about how food and traditions bring families and even communities together.

After reading the book, I now know just how important the Italian influence is in New Orleans. I think it is just wonderful because not only do they bring great cuisine to the city, but they also keep New Orleans rich in tradition and community togetherness.

Antoine's

This past weekend my mom and grandmother came to visit. My sorority, Delta Gamma, had its Founder's Day luncheon. We were able to extend the invitation to important women in our lives. Although the luncheon was the motivation for their visit, it was not the only highlight of the weekend. In fact, the highlight of the weekend was probably dinner at Antoine's. Antoine's is a famous historical dining establishment in the French Quarter on Saint Louis. In fact, Antoine's is mentioned in Gumbo Tales. My grandmother, Mimi, had read the book Dinner at Antoine's, by Frances Keyes, so she thought it would be cool to eat dinner at Antoine's herself. She did that for the first time nearly 40 years ago when here and my grandfather came down to New Orleans for vacation. She absolutely loved the restaurant and was adamant that she get to return when she came down to visit me. So on Saturday night we made 8 o'clock reservations for Antoine's.

Antoine's was opened in 1840 by Antoine Alciatore. He was a young and talented French chef. He first moved to New York from France but then sought to move to New Orleans as advances in his career seemed more available here. He first opened the restaurant in the kitchen of the St. Charles Hotel, but the success of the restaurant called for bigger quarters. So in 1868 Antoine's moved to St. Louis. The same building and architectural accents that existed over 100 years ago are still there today. The fame and success of Antoine's has been consistent, if not growing since its opening.

Saturday night was my first, and certainly not last, visit to Antoine's. When our taxi arrived at the restaurant we were immediately assisted out of the car by well dressed men in suits. They checked us on the reservation list and we soon proceeded in. All of the servers were men who were also finely dressed. The decor was obviously antique. When I learned it was the same decor from 1868 I was not surprised as it had that antique charm. The table was set with a complete arrangement of dining utensils for a elegant meal. The menu was different than most. The appetizers for only meant for one person, rather than to share. Your main dish didn't come with a side. Rather, vegetables could be ordered separately and would be served with your main course. I ordered gumbo as my appetizer. It was excellent. It had a dark roux. I order their famous puffed potatoes as my vegetable and Pompano Pontchartrain as my main course. Pompano Pontchartrain is grilled Pompano in a buttery sauce topped with lump crab. The meal was excellent. Not only was the food excellent, but so was the service.

I would certainly recommend Antoine's as a suggestion for a New Orlean's dinner. However, it is very expensive. At least for me, my college budget doesn't allow hardly eating out at all, let alone expensive fining dining establishment. Once all of us graduate with incredible GPAs and land extremely high paying jobs (as we should with such an awesome education) I will expect that everyone eat there at least once. :)

Popular images of New Orleans

Since I began living here, the images that come to mind when I think of the City of New Orleans have radically changed. I'd seen this city in movies and photographs, and heard word of mouth stories about it my whole life, but I had never walked down the narrow French Quarter streets or witness its legendary Mardi Gras celebration for myself until just this school year. Now that I have navigated the city somewhat and experienced the day-to-day life for a while, I realize that most of what outsiders see in popular culture and mass media doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what New Orleans has to offer. I will clarify my point with these images:

Here is a great view of the city. This picture is used on an airline's website in an advertisement for flights to New Orleans. In the very center of the photo, it shows the Louisiana Superdome, a well-known feature of the city because it is the home of the Saints, the site of several Superbowls, and the subject of much discussion around the time of hurricane Katrina due to the damage it sustained and its use as an emergency shelter. It makes perfect sense why an airline would choose this very recognizable monument to be at the center of their image of the city, but it doesn't really tell a prospective tourist anything. It's only purpose is to present something recognizable to everyone so that they can maximize the amount of people who go "Ohhhh the Superdome. I've heard of that. I've heard a lot about that in fact. I should go see it for myself, I think I'll buy a plane ticket and go to New Orleans." Without that white circle in the middle, this image could be confused for any number of different cities, and it would have very little advertising value. With this picture, prospective visitors see only a winding, gray interstate and none of the beautiful boulevards with the green medians and the colorful signs. It is interesting to note, however, how the Mississippi River appears in the background of the photo. It is really the only other feature that an outsider might recognize that distinguishes the city as New Orleans rather than any other urban center, which shows how New Orleans is known partly for its geography as a river city.

Unlike the previous photo which is all-encompassing and rather void of detail. This picture zooms in on a particular spot in the city, and one of the most well-known. If you've heard of New Orleans, chances are you've heard of Bourbon Street. It's pretty much known as the street with the largest and longest ongoing party in the world. All of the travel guides I've encountered about New Orleans have some kind of picture depicting this place either on the cover, or if not, in the first few pages. It is New Orleans' number one 'must-see', and yet its largely commercial and scarcely a fulfilling 'cultural' experience.

The architecture of the French Quarter is highly recognizable and often depicted in popular images of the city. The multi-story buildings with the ornate balconies, archways, hanging plants, and suspended shop signs are almost as recognizable as the Bourbon Street sign. Most recently in pop culture, the Xbox 360 game Left 4 Dead: 2 included a level known as 'The Parish' which was modeled after the City of New Orleans and particularly French Quarter architecture.

Here is a collage of images that is very telling in terms of how New Orleans is viewed in mass media. The left image depicts a masked figure with an elaborate purple costume, which represents the many festivals and parades, including Mardi Gras, that the city is famous for. Center-left we see one of the aforementioned balconies on an elegant building. The center image is suggestive of New Orleans' rich musical heritage as the birthplace of Jazz. Center-right depicts a brightly lit downtown area right on the river, the glow of the lights is reminiscent of the many neon signs that can be seen in the CBD on Canal and in the French Quarter on Bourbon. The image on the far-right seems to be showing a close-up of a statue and a colorful plant mounted on the crafted bars of railing or balcony. The statue has on Mardi Gras beads. It's a pleasant, dense image that is mildly representative of the uniqueness and detail of the city's layout.

Gumbo Tales?

This book did nothing for me. Before reading the book I had high expectations, which I guess isn't very good to begin with. I thought the book would be of the same caliber as Confederacy of Dunces, but sadly it wasn't. Sara Roahen is a good story teller, however I think she is way overexcited about food culture here in New Orleans. I literally found myself rolling my eyes at every page. Don't get me wrong, I love my city and I believe that we have the best food in the whole world, but I'd rather let the food talk for itself. The problem that I found with Roahen's book is that it felt like she was putting on a show. It's hard for me to describe, but if I was a tourist I would find it hard to believe some of the reactions she had for some the situations she described in her book. For example, when she describes how she drove around to her friend Pableaux's house to see if he was being truthful in not making red beans. She acted as if it was the end of the world. There are numerous instances in this book that made me want to throw out the world, but I would be here all day listing them. Even though I did not like the book, I cannot say that it was boring. I think what would have made it better for me, was if the author grew up in New Orleans. I really think I would appreciate it more.

The Princess and the Frog

I grew up on Disney and Barbie. In fact I had Disney princesses that had been made into Barbie dolls. So naturally I was uber excited for the release of the newest Disney princess, Tiana. In preparation for the movie, my friends and I visited the Lakeview Mall's Disney Store. As expected there was a huge display just for Tiana. My friends and I were enraptured! Walking around, looking at all the Tiana dolls, one particular doll caught my eye. This Tiana doll was pretty in all the right ways, except for one. This Tiana doll had lumpy, nappy, cotton-y hair. This irritated me, especially since the adjacent Snow White doll had nice, soft, velour hair. To me it was particularly distressing that Disney chose to make dolls with nappy hair. I was miffed because I don't have hair like that and I didn't think it was a fair representation. I then put back both dolls and left.

On the opening night of the movie, my friends and I were ready to see it. The movie was ok, (ok for a group of 19 year olds, magical for a child) I especially loved Prince Naveen, Mama Odie and Doctor Facilier. Doctor Facilier was a con artist, who used voodoo as his way to trick his patrons. Conversely, Mama Odie was a voodoo priestess, and was the "fairy godmother" of the film. I liked that the movie used the two interpretations of voodoo which is often controversial and viewed negatively. Aside from the ugly doll that Disney made, I was pleased that they finally chose to show a black princess AND in New Orleans.

"Good Hair"

“Good Hair” was nothing like I was expecting it to be. Honestly, I was ready for a semi-stupid comedy making fun of everything, not a documentary. I was thoroughly impressed with Chris Rock and his movie “Good Hair”. The topic is something I have actually been curious about before as I drive past wig shops and what not. I had read about the long and expensive process of getting weaves but I never knew it to be as expensive and time consuming- not to mention important- as it was portrayed in the documentary. It is interesting how good hair takes priority in many people’s lives over what one would think of essential things. I consider myself pretty low maintenance and it amazes me that people are willing to spend so much money on looking a certain way. I never knew that hair was so important to different people and that different types are considered more attractive than others. I have really thick and annoying hair but I realize that after this movie I should be thankful that I have the hair I have. If not for the appearance reasons than at least I can sell it if I am ever really desperate for money!

Throughout the past couple of months in our Creole Crossroads class we have discussed the rich and diverse culture throughout New Orleans. We have read about it in Confederacy of Dunces and in Gumbo Tales. I have grown to love many unique aspects of this city that I could not have done without living here for this short period of time. There is so much to see and do in this city that when I have visitors there is not nearly enough time to explore the city at our leisure. This is especially because all they want to do is see Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street, while possibly what New Orleans is most renowned for, may be my least favorite thing about the city. It is a tourist trap, simply put. It should have signs that read, “If you want to pay for expensive tourist drinks in expensive plastic souvenir cups, come here!” While it can be fun for special occasions, it irks me that when my friends come visit all they want to do is spend their time on Bourbon. I try to drag them away to such culturally rich places like Frenchman street to hear some local music or to a hole in the wall oyster shack, but all they want to do is see Bourbon. While it is (I guess) an important aspect of New Orleans, it shouldn’t be all. Perhaps this blog is a little bit harsh (okay, a lot harsh), but I just wish more young people who visited the city or live her would explore deeper than superficial Bourbon.

New Orleans

When I wake up and it is hot out that is my favorite part of going to school in New Orleans.  The city has so much to offer with the history, diversity, traditions, parties, food, everything.  But when I talk to my friends or family that are home in the North East in the snow and gross weather, I get so excited that I am not present in the gloomy nastiness.  The days when we can go to the Fly and just sit and be in front of the Mississippi and hang out with friends in the sun is just so amazing.  I love that there is so much to do in our city and that going to school at Loyola, one is able to have the best of everything.  The students are able to live in the city, but at the same time have things like parks and open space available to them.  Its also a plus that the school is so small but with Tulane being such close proximity it doesn’t feel like we have are attending a university with under 5000 undergrad.  I love that almost everything is walking distance and that there is never a boring moment.  This past weekend my friend from home had visited me.  She currently is attending Loyola University in Maryland.  Loyola Maryland is a very popular school in my hometown and so often when I told other I was going Loyola they automatically assumed I meant the college in Maryland.  No one had heard of Loyola New Orleans and thought it was so strange to be going to a school so far away and unspoken about.  However, I am so glad I went against the trend of the typical schools (Richmond, College of Charleston, Penn State, Clemson, Wake Forest) because I seem to be having the most fun.  All of my friends seem to be doing the same things we did in High School and are with all the same people.  They are not experiencing new things but instead are at Frat parties playing beer pong every night.  The drama that was present in High School is still occurring and I feel bad that they are not having half the fun we have while going to school here.  Every day I have a new friend asking to come visit and see the city, they look through pictures and cannot get over the fact that it is rarely under sixty degrees.  My friend before while on the phone with her mom just kept talking about how much there was to do here, and how everyone was so nice.  I get frustrated sometimes because there is so much to  see that one weekend is not enough time to show someone New Orleans.  But after the beautiful weather this weekend, I can honestly say how lucky I am to be living in such a beautiful place like New Orleans.

Good Hair Reaction

I found the movie “Good Hair” by Chris Rock to be very entertaining as well as very interesting.  I never realized how important it was to have this idea of good hair but after watching this movie, it was present what an issue it is.  Whenever Andre spoke in class about his families differences based of race comparing the hair of the two it didn’t seem like that would be such a great distinction of the two.  

I could not believe how much money and time and chemicals some people put in their hair to make it look a certain way.  The fact that it sometimes can cost up to 1000 dollars for a single weave amazes me.  I also could not comprehend how painful it must be to have braids tied to tightly to your head and than a chemical that is strong enough to burn through coke cans sit on your scalp for a period of time.  

This video made me grateful that I have the hair I do and how lucky I am that I don’t have to go through the things so many of these women did.

I also don’t agree with some of these treatments because I think many of the women had beautiful hair naturally.  Although it is different than Caucasian hair it doesn’t make it less beautiful.  The fact that women spend that amount of money a month just to upkeep a certain look was ridiculous.  But than thinking about it, it really isn’t that strange.  I feel every race spends money on their hair, it doesn’t matter if they are african american, caucasian, asian, indian, anything.  No matter your descent in a society so based on appearance there is always a way to alter your look to be more main stream and “beautiful.”  Asians typically have very straight hair, some spend large sums of money a month in order to give their hair more body and more curls.  Highlights, perms, extensions, relaxers, dye jobs all are expensive and it shows what people go through in order to look more appealing.  The one aspect that really bothered me was the little girls who were getting these relaxing treatments done.  They are so very dangerous and getting their hair straightened at ages as young as 3 is absurd!  Not only is it dangerous for these little girls, it is also putting an image in their head that they are not beautiful and they must change.  It isn’t fair that so many little children as seen in the video think straight here is beautiful and their natural hair is not good enough.  These children will grow up with a complex thinking they have to conform to this beauty that is based off the idea that white is superior, which is not true.  

New Orleans Cuisine . . .

Hello all, today I thought since we've been talking about 'food,' I thought I'd mention some different things about New Orleans Cuisine.

To begin, I think it is important to mention that New Orleans Cuisine is a rich mixture of various cultures. As we've discussed in class, it's principally a mixture of: African, Mediterranean, French and Spanish foods. I put African first because I can't think of a single dinner meal that is eaten without Africa's main contribution, rice. Besides rice, Creole cuisine also borrowed peppers and beans from Africa. So, for this reason, things like Red Beans and Rice are central to New Orleans cuisine.

Next, I'd like to briefly mention some of my favorite meals. I must say that I love seafood. All sorts of it. Crabs, Crawfish, Oyster (even raw), Shrimp, etc. Some of my favorite foods are Gumbo, Crawfish Bisque, Crawfish Étouffée, Jambalaya, 'Dirty Rice' (don't let the name fool you, it's quite delicious), Red Beans, Shrimp Creole, etc. Wow, just writing all these foods make me sooo hungry. Also, for dinner, it's very 'Creole' to eat shrimp, crawfish, fish, etc. with some good ol' grits! My favorite breakfast mean is 'Pain Perdu' (Lost Bread). It's basically an egg fried in bread. Very good. For desert, Bread Pudding is very good.

Below is Dooky Chase, well known Creole restaurant in New Orleans:



Here is Ms. Chase, who was once asked "How do you know if food is actually 'Creole'?" to which she responded, "If a Creole cooks it, then it's Creole cooking":



Hope you get something out of this!

Read Gumbo Tales to learn about New Orleans Cuisine!

Your classmate,

--André

Food Cultcha as Noo Awlins' Religion

As I'm reading Gumbo Tales, I can't help but thinking about the movie Julie and Julia. Normally, I am very interested in food, but I think the reason I struggled to really delve into this book was because I'm not a food critic, I would much rather eat food than read about food, and nothing the author mentions holds a personal significance to me. Much like the movie, it seems the author of this book often tries to recreate legendary dishes and record her experiences doing so. Inher case, it is New Orleans dishes she attempts to make, rather than dishes from Julia Child's cookbook. But as Sara Roahen discusses various restaurants, and as I have never been to any of them nor know anything about them, all these restaurant names just kind of blend in and sound like jibberish to me. I now understand that the sazerac is an alcoholic drink unique to the Big Easy; the po-boy is a spin on a deli sandwich, as is a muffeletta; a sno-ball is a flavored ice form of air-conditioning for the stomach; gumbo is a melange of different Southern foods, just as it's characteristic sausage is; turkducken also is a combination food, actually of turkey, duck, and chicken; and vegetables, green foods, and seafood all have had the mark on this city. And each food speciality has its own ethnic origins, whether it be French, Italian, Spanish, West African, or Creole. As for the Italian influence, I had not previoulsy realised that Italian food in New Orleans is second only to Creole cuisine. I figured Cajun would have been up there with Creole before Italian food because New Orleans is not one of the first places in America that comes to mind for having a strong influence. Reading about the altars to St. Joseph definitely enlightened me about that Italian power in the Crescent City. I also learned about mirliton or chayote and the Latin American influence on Creole cuisine. Also new to me was the Vietnamese food power here, manifested in the Asian gumbo called pho.
All in all, I had to really motivate myself to read an entire book about food. The parts that most caught my eye were those in which the author discussed people or their accents, religious traditions, and the differentiation locals make between their lives before and after Hurricane Katrina. I think if a book were to focus more on those topics in regards to New Orleans, I would have more interested. I just resign myself to believe that Sara Roahen wrote Gumbo Tales for a specific, food-critical audience, and although I don't think I was part of her intended audience, I did learn some facts, I did find different perspectives on this city, and I did, in the end, gain a greater appreciation for what sets New Orleans apart from other Southern cities, other American cities, and other Creole cities.

I was not able to take the trip to the Ogden last week and seeing the pictures I know that I missed out! The Ogden seems like a very interesting museum focused on New Orleans art. I don' t know anything about New Orleans art and hope to one day take a trip to the museum on my own.

Yesterday I went back and reread some of the sections of Gumbo Tales that i had previously skimmed. When I had previously been reading the book I was a little bitter about the author, and the context of her anecdotes. In class on Tuesday I found that I was not the only one that had these feelings. As a Louisiana resident, quite a bit of the references in the book were personally familiar to me and my childhood. I felt as if the author was giving readers a false impression of her past life. She moved to New Orleans post Katrina, and only live in the city for about two year before writing the book. Dr. Hunt persuaded me to take a different approach the author’s view. Instead of looking at the book as a story of personal experiences, I looked at the stories in a historical context. The author is a food critic, and made a point to experience some of the most prominently New Orleans foods. She gives a quick explanation of the food and a brief history. She makes a point not to look like an outsider; this attitude could be seen as arrogant or as an attempt to fit in. I enjoyed the book a lot more with my new attitude, and look forward to cooking some of these delicious foods.

Trip to the Ogden

Last week's trip to the Ogden Museum was wonderful. Before taking this class, I've never even heard of this museum. Thanks to Dr. Hunt, I was able to see more of what Louisiana has to offer, in terms of art. The art featured in the Ogden was not just from Louisiana, but from the South in general. Most of the art was so beautiful that it was hard for me to focus on just one particular piece. Some of the art reminded me so much of my grandfather's work, which mostly features African Americans. These are some of my favorites.

A Trip to the Museum

Last Thursday, we took the streetcar to go to the Ogden Museum. In this museum were glass-work, paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Although we had only half an hour to spend in the museum, I really liked it and wanted to go back. My favorite artwork was this sculpture of Hurricane Katrina. I'm not sure how to describe but it was an interesting thing to see. It looked chaotic but Hurricane Katrina brought in a lot of troubles for the citizens of New Orleans. There was a lot of symbolism in this artwork. It was amazing how a catastrophic event like Hurricane Katrina can be expressed in art.
Besides, the museum, we went to Lee Circle where we met this native who thought we were tourists. One of the great things about New Orleans is the people. The native we met was quite a character. When we needed to cross the street to get to the streetcar, out of the blue, he walked in front of us and guided us to the street car.

Irish parade

So, I went to the St. Patrick's/Irish/whatever you want to call it parade today, but stupid me forgot my camera, so I apologize.

In case you don't know what goes down: It's like Mardi Gras, except they just don't throw beads; They throw cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and onion. They also have men and women walking carrying flowers and when you get one you kiss them on the cheek (or lips, apparently). During the parade, I began to wonder: How did this all begin?

And this is what I found:

The first St. Patrick's Parade in New Orleans was held in 1809. It began due to the large amount of immigrants that came to New Orleans due to it's Catholic appeal and persecution by the British in at the end of 1700s.

And that's about the only set in stone information I could find. Other facts, I figured were based loosely on who you ask:

You throw the vegetables to make Irish stew.

You're supposed to throw the cabbages at Protestants.

And that's all I found about that. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out how the whole "flower for kiss" thing started. Maybe it has to do with the whole "Kiss me, I'm Irish" thing?

Next parade's on the 21st (or at least the one I plan to attend).

WEAR SUNSCREEN!

Parade

http://www.irishchannelno.org/

*nola cuisine*

I have really enjoyed reading the Gumbo Tales. The book has really introduced me to why New Orleans cuisine is so important. I obviously knew that Louisiana food, particularly New Orleans dishes, was rich with history and memories. One of the things I thought about as I read the book was that I should really start taking advantage of all that New Orleans has to offer food wise. I am on a very humble college budget that has been a deterrence for not taking advantage of all the fabulous dining. However, I feel like I should give up a night or two at the Boot or Maple every few weeks and spend that money on a good meal. After all, isn't the Boot a black hole that is making me a lesser person every time I go? I am starting a "mid-semester resolution" to start exploring all the incredible dining opportunities New Orleans has to offer.

Although I am undoubtedly a slacker in exploring New Orleans cuisine, I did attend my first crawfish boil! The boil was for the SGA elections. It was on the forth floor of the Freret garage. My friend Gracie, who is running for college of business senator (VOTE FOR HER), is from Baton Rouge. She, of course, has attended many crawfish boils. Although I was very excited about the food, she said that the crawfish gets bigger and better later in the season. I thought that the crawfish tasted pretty good, so it should be great if it can only get better!

PS. The pictures from the Art Museum looked great! I can't wait to go and see what I missed!

Day at the Art Museum

Hello all, this blog will discuss what we did today.

We hopped on the StreetCar and went to an art Museem in the Warehouse District (<-- make sure you know what this is if you plan on living in New Orleans.) After getting off the street car, we headed straight for the museem, which was very close with respect to where we got off. We saw some beautiful pieces of art. One thing, and I honestly mean this, that I learned is that a story told through simplicity is perhaps the most beautiful, unforgettable masterpiece. I saw one picture of a simple, primitive piece. It was a picture of a Church and different members. It was so simple, but the message it gave was 'lasting.' I don't think I'll ever forget that photo and the various meanings it carried.

Below are some photos that I took.










After this, we headed down to Exxon Station to get this drink that the company 'Arizona' produces. After we left, we took a look at the Robert E. Lee statue. As we were inquiring and contemplating the reasons that the South would have a statue of loser (instead of the victor), we were welcomed by "The Big D" (a.k.a. 'Big Dog'). He insisted that we were tourists from England after having noticed that we were observing the culture of the city. We hopped on the streetcar, and headed back for campus. On our way their, we had to switch StreetCars (at the same spot which we had confusion with the previous time.)

Anyhow, it was a successful day and I hope we can go again soon.

Regards,

--André L.

"Beauty"

Everyone wants to be "pretty". To achieve this, society tells us we must look and act a certain way. Do you have the right clothes, do you have the best skin, are you skinny enough and do you have "good hair". I admit, I am a victim of the social standards. I get pedicures, go shopping for "cute" clothes, and wake up 30 minutes rather than 5 minutes before class starts so I can pick out an outfit, do my makeup and hair. Hair, who knew hair could be such a big deal. I had no idea that the hair on an African American head was so different from the hair on the head of a white person. I was shocked to find out that a person would pay over a thousand dollars for a weave! That is a mortgage payment for some people! The whole concept reminds me of plastic surgery....just a little less invasive.

Color Gradation?

Growing up, racial diversity didn't really exist. Because I lived in a small town my whole life, there were very few people who weren't white. So I never knew a sense of "color gradation" really existed. (In my graduating class there was one black person of the 304 people graduating"

I had no idea how to approach this sense of colorism since I had never seen it first hand. So naturally my first idea was to google it. When I search "color gradation" I came across an article from the 1960s titled "Color Gradation and Attitudes Among Middle-Class Negroes". It started with a saying that was common among color-sensitive African Americans "If you're white, you're right! If you're brown stick around! If you're black, step back!" The article continues to give some statistics such as: before slavery was ended, lighter skinned slaves had a much higher value in the slave market than darker slaves. Additionally, light skinned african americans were accepted in educational settings and as property owners than dark african americans.

Reading this, I couldn't help but to think, " but this study was done 40 years ago, how can this possibly still be true?" So again I called upon google for help and searched "famous African Americans" On the Black History Month website I found a list which included: Barack Obama, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Serena and Venus Williams and Queen Latifah. I quickly realized a majority of famous African-Americans today are fairly light on the color gradation scale. In a way, I'm shocked that I never noticed this before, but maybe because it's so culturally reinforced, it often goes unnoticed.

(The link for the article if anyone is interested is:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2090824?seq=3)

Good Hair and Consumer Culture

Frederic Jameson is a Duke professor who was very interested in the early 80s in defining the concept of postmodernism. Here's a quote from his book Postmodernism and Consumer Society about this shift into postmodernism from prewar society: "New types of consumption; planned obsolescence; an ever more rapid rhythm of fashion and styling changes; the penetration of advertising, television and the media generally to a hitherto unparalleled degree throughout society..."

It seems to me very applicable to the documentary "Good Hair" we watched in class. Honestly, I really had no idea about any of this, especially weaves and relaxer. There is a huge consumerist strain in both of those, though - especially in regards to the idea of planned obsolescence ($1000 and a new weave EVERY MONTH?) I would argue that this drive for good hair has its roots in this concept of postmodernism, even if it is much older than modern society. In fact, I would consider it an extreme example; the media (in both movies and commercials) convinces women they need European styled hair, and they go so far as to basically replace their own hair with that of another ethnicity to conform to an invisible standard of beauty. To go along with this, according to the documentary, there are basically no small beauty product businesses anymore, all of them having been bought up by the major brands.

I just wonder where the roots of this standard of beauty come from; I suppose, like we talked about in class, the closer to 'white' one was in slave culture the more influence one had. It just seems crazy to me that this totally unrelated outward appearance got absorbed into beauty and then into marketing and quick cash.

Why Some Have 'Good Hair' and Others Don't . . .

Hello there, after watching the "Good Hair" produced by Chris Rock, I began to ask myself why, generally speaking, whites have 'good hair' and blacks have bad hair.

Before reading, I would like to state I am simply recapping some things I read online. This is NOT meant to offend anyone. If it does, I do apologize.

After doing some various readings this is some of the information I came up with.

-- Blacks: In Africa, due to geography and climate, people have darker skin, coarser hair, and wider noses. The reason people have darker skin is because darker skin protects people from the horrible sun. Additionally, because of the climate conditions, black hair was able to retain more water as it caused less sweating. Also, generally speaking, wider noses are more common among blacks because in African, wider noses allowed the people the breath better.

-- Whites: In Europe, again, due to geography and climate, people have lighter skin, straighter hair, and narrow noses. People have lighter skin because they live in a colder environment that is less affected by heat, than let's say, Africa. Because the sun is not as hot as African, European bodies have lighter, straighter hair because there is no need for reflection. (Remember, darker, coarser hair reflects the sun.) Lastly, European noses are smaller noses is to ensure that they can better protect the cold air being inhaled.

Basically, all of this deals with a process called 'Natural Selection.'

Natural selection is the process by which heritable traits that make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce become more common in a population over successive generations. It is a key mechanism of evolution. (From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection)

Basically, your body chooses it's most important traits for future generations.

I find it fascinating that the way we are directly relates to the geography (with respect to the equator) and climate of our ancestors. Of course, we have all undergone various processes of 'natural selection' which explains why you may not have these generalized traits.

I hope you enjoyed.

All my best,

--André

It's aaallll about the hair.

I had no idea that black women had to go through all that just so they could have "good hair." I knew it took a lot of time because of some friends, but I didn't know it could wind up being that expensive.

Oddly, enough as a white girl with baby fine, straight hair, I felt I could relate on the subject of spending whatever amount of money on hair just so it looks good. Seriously, I think I spend more money on my hair than anything else. Between trims that are $45 and cuts about $60, hair color from $3.00 (box), $8-$14 (manic panic and all that) and $60-$96 (profesional), a $45 hair mask, $75 extension (clip ins), anywhere from $120-$20 straighteners, and numerous other products, I spend I ridiculous amount of money on my hair. Why do all this? Well, as one girl said in the movie, "I get bored."

Another thing I was surprised by was the relaxing chemical. I thought bleach was bad with it's itchy-burning-ness, oh no, that's like a piece of cake compared to risking getting your scalped burned. Like seriously, mad props to you if you're willing to go through with relaxing, mad props.

But it also got me thinking again about something that I've thought about quite often, "When did women start believing they need to do these things to be beautiful?" I wrote something about that a few of years ago, and I decided to share it (keep in mind, I was only 16 when I wrote this, and yeah, it was really written in that obnoxious blue color):

March 21, 2007

So it was after testing, and everyone else was watching a movie, I was like, "Hey, I'm bored. I'm gonna listen to my mp3 player and do my make-up." And so I did.

Shortly after finishing my face, I began to wonder, "When did I start believing I looked better with make-up?"

Since then I've been wondering all day what mirror first told me this and why do I believe in order to feel beautiful that I have to apply eyeliner and mascara. Then I started asking a bigger question... When did women start believing they needed this to feel beautiful?

Who decided that flaws were imperfect? Who decided that freckles weren't cute? Who decided that healthy pink skin was out and bronzed skin was in? Who decided that your lips just aren't red enough? Who decided that it was uncute to have short eyelashes? This I have a major problem with.

I know this might sound a bit odd, but I truley do love the ones I do for they're so called "imperfections." And I'm sure many will agree, without these, people wouldn't be who they are. So why are we covering up the things we are adored for the most?

The saddest part is, even after writing this I'm still going to feel unpretty without that eyeliner. I'm still going to cover my "imperfections', and I'm still going to be unhappy about it. I'll still be waiting to feel happy in my own skin and who I am. And one day, I will find my perfect picture.

I know that really had nothing to do with hair, but it still applies to the concept of what's "beautiful" or "good." It's just sad to know that they're are so many more things that society dictates about beauty.

Good Hair, Good Hair, Good Hair!!!

Never in my life did I see a movie that actually spoke to me. Good Hair is about my life! Or my hair at least. Even though I did not see the whole movie, I fell in love with it. When it comes to my hair I tried pretty much everything. My hair is what my family calls "thick", its been this way my whole life. This is the reason why my mother thought it was a good idea to perm or relax my hair when I was three, so I know what those little girls are going through. In truth I never liked getting my hair done, but I knew that I had to so that I could be presentable to my peers. For a good part of my childhood I either had a ponytail or braids. To outsiders, it might seem insane that black women would go through all these extremes to get their hair fixed, but its perfectly normal to me. What I really liked about this movie was that I thought I would know everything about it, but then Chris Rock added in a few surprises. For example, I had no idea that women in India sacrifice their hair to please their god, and unknowningly black women. I also didn't know the process in which tracks or weave were put together and packaged in order to come to the U.S. This movie is amazing and I cannot wait to see the rest.

colorism & creoles

After our class discussion about Andre and his family I began thinking about how hard it is to determine one's race or ethnicity just by looking at them. When people are unsure of someone's race or ethnicity they often ask the awkward question, "what are you?", as if that person is not human. Although I haven't experienced a lot of controversy over my race and ethnicity, I can imagine a lot of people from New Orleans have due to the existence of creole culture.

Creoles are defined in history textbooks as people of mixed ethnicities, usually with French or Spanish descent born in America. I thought that a creole had to be African-American, however, after researching about creoles, I found that many people consider creoles to be white creoles or black creoles. One's skin color, therefore, cannot really be used to determine if someone is a creole, which I assumed was the case.

It is very interesting to me to see who identifies as a creole. Here is a link to a news clip talking about creoles and cajuns in Louisiana on the 2010 census, I found it pretty interesting and informative in respect to how many people identify as a creole and cajun.

http://www.kplctv.com/global/Category.asp?C=151146&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=15054&topVideoCatNoB=145683&topVideoCatNoC=134198&topVideoCatNoD=128622&topVideoCatNoE=145685&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4588956&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Make sure to read the recent posts by Nick and Jennifer. The links to the articles they posted are definitely worth reading!

What is Creole?

What is a Creole? Before I came to New Orleans if I heard the word "Creole" I would have been completely oblivious to it's meaning. Upon living here for a few months, I obtained a vague definition.

I thought I had a basic understanding until near the end of last semester I said to my suite mate, "So Creole and Cajun are the same?". Being of Creole descent himself he immediately jumped on my question with a firm "NO". He then continued on in a long monologue about how Cajun's are simple people from the country and Creoles are city folk who are rich in culture. I soon came to realize that his opinion was extremely biased. I decided to become self informed.

After reading this article http://www.landrystuff.com/creole.htm I found that Creoles were of Spanish and French descent well Cajuns were Acaidians that came from Canada. This article describes such a mixed culture in New Orleans that the lines are almost blurred. What are the real "requirements" for being considered Creole?

`Although I understand more know the definition of Creole is still a very loose one for me. Some people believe there is a racial aspect while others do not. It is a very touchy subject and I think that creole can be defined in a subjective manner. There is no way to answer the question "What is Creole?" without personal opinion.

A Diverse Universe

Colorism. A topic which has been going on for years. Not matter what color you are, there have always been issues where one race refuses to associate with the other.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071000022.html
This link is an article written by DeNeen Brown from Washington Post. Although this article is about four pages, it is a very interesting topic and article to read about. In this article, Brown asked people of different races what is their definition of a perfect person. She starts off talking about Michael Jackson's skin change. It was due to a disease that caused Michael to have lighter complexion. However, other people thought differently and assumed he wanted to be a white person. Then, she ends the article by making the reader have some pride for their own race and to not let race get in the way of things.

Race to Define What is Race

Like Jasmine, I found the class discussions on race very interesting. And one of the first things that came to my mind was our president, Barack Obama. I remember reading an article which quoted him as saying something to the effect that if you so much as look like a black person in the United States, you are considered African-American. But coming here to New Orleans, I looked at some photos of men who had earned the reputation of being among the city's African-American mayors, but to me, they did not look African-American because they were so light. Apparently, race is not simply skin-deep. There is something called the one-drop rule that says if you have even one drop of African blood, you are African-American. Looking at the president's case is very interesting. To anybody looking at him for the first time, he appears to be a black man. And that he is, but some people during his campaign for president, and still today, forget his entire family on his mother's side was white. Would anybody dare label him European-American? On a side note, like Dr. Hunt said, I do not consider myself European-American. I may be white, but I have never been to Europe, nor has any member in my family even visited there once for several generations, much less been born and raised there. I am fully Amercan, as is my family.

Barack Obama likewise was not born and raised in Africa nor in Europe. He was born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia and the Kansas. So is he Indonesian-American? He has no Indonesian blood, so it wouldn't make sense to say that. In respect to his African heritage, many "African-Americans" at first refused to support him because they could relate to him less than to white Americans because his black heritage is from East Africa. Most, if not all self-defined African-Americans are descendants of people from West Africa. Their ancestors suffered the horrible atrocity of slavery at the hands of European colonists and struggled to overcome racial discrimination in the civil rights movement. How could they let the son of a East African man become president and not suffer the discirimination and slavery that the ancestors of most-African Americans did? His black family had no involvement in fighting the discrimination. Why should he be allowed to reap the fruits of the movement without having family who struggled in it? And not only did Obama reap the fruits of the movement, he has reaped more fruits than any other African-American by being elected leader of arguably the most powerful nation in the world. It almost seems like he relied on African-American struggles to elevate himself to his current position. That is so interesting to me. His ancestors may have endured slavery, but at the hands of Arabs and Asians, not Europeans. Many consider Barack Obama to be a first-generation American because his dad was from Kenya, not the US. And he really had no contact with his father's Kenyan family until he was an adult. So in that sense, he may have African blood, but as a child and young adult, had no African traditions or cultural values because he was cut off from that side of his family.

How about calling Obama a creole? Would that be a feasible label? Supposedly his mother had a little bit of French blood, but most of her family had been from Ireland, Germany, and England. So unlike creoles here in New Orleans, he had no Spanish ancestry, no West African ancestry, no Carribean ancestry, and as far as is known, no Native American ancestry. During the actual presidential elections, many voted for him because he looked black; many refused to vote for him because he looked black. There were even reports of skinheads rallying together to assassinate him because he looked black, though his "blackness" did not make him relatable to other American blacks. It's such a complex issue, but fascinating at the same time. I guess what we should all remember was what my history teacher said last semester, that humans first arose from East Africa, so in reality, "We are all African." :)

Creole

New Orleans is made up of many different types of people and cultures; it is an eclectic melting pot of people and traditions. One of the oldest and most influential being Creole. By definition a Creole is...
1. a person born in the West Indies or Spanish America but of European, usually Spanish, ancestry.
Or
2. a person born in Louisiana but of usually French ancestry.
Or
3. (sometimes lowercase) a person of mixed black and European, esp. French or Spanish, ancestry who speaks a creolized form of French or Spanish.
The Creole culture is complex and widely debated; many people ask the question "What makes a real Creole?" I have live in Louisiana for most of my life and have seen many different types of Creole peoples and traditions, but still couldn’t give a true, acceptable definition of a Creole. In today’s culture there is a fine line between races that is not based on color alone. This was seen earlier and is still seen today. Passing is when a person of one racial group chooses to be a part of another racial group. Many light skinned black people would pass as white to reap the benefits. Passing tore families apart and caused many social problems.

"To encapsulate the notion of Mardi Gras as nothing more than a big drunk is to take the simple and stupid way out, and I, for one, am getting tired of staying stuck on simple and stupid.

Mardi Gras is not a parade. Mardi Gras is not girls flashing on French Quarter balconies. Mardi Gras is not an alcoholic binge.

Mardi Gras is bars and restaurants changing out all the CD's in their jukeboxes to Professor Longhair and the Neville Brothers, and it is annual front-porch crawfish boils hours before the parades so your stomach and attitude reach a state of grace, and it is returning to the same street corner, year after year, and standing next to the same people, year after year--people whose names you may or may not even know but you've watched their kids grow up in this public tableau and when they're not there, you wonder: Where are those guys this year?

It is dressing your dog in a stupid costume and cheering when the marching bands go crazy and clapping and saluting the military bands when they crisply snap to.

Now that part, more than ever.

It's mad piano professors converging on our city from all over the world and banging the 88's until dawn and laughing at the hairy-shouldered men in dresses too tight and stalking the Indians under Claiborne overpass and thrilling the years you find them and lamenting the years you don't and promising yourself you will next year.

It's wearing frightful color combination in public and rolling your eyes at the guy in your office who--like clockwork, year after year--denies that he got the baby in the king cake and now someone else has to pony up the ten bucks for the next one.

Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once."
— Chris Rose (1 Dead in Attic)