Lodge Party '09

Dr Jacoby and dead Laura on the dance floor

Arms bending back

Two dead Lauras

the goods

I canned for the first time this year. This is what I ended up with:

rooftop movies.

James Benning @ dusk.

Dance///Art

Woolly Mammoth dances at Nationale inspired by Cats

Birthday Wine.

who can pick the crap from the semi-fru-fru? 

from L to R top: winner, loser, runner up.

L to R bottom: wrong, wrong, wrong.

Birthday Cheese

cheese was made.
cheese was bought.
I made little signs. 

mom and wade made the best cheese cake I've ever had.

there were accidents.

no one pooped for a week.

hoya

my lovely 10 year old hoya plant. killed by vicious mealy bugs.

I had it for at least 3 years before it produced these beautiful blooms.

I kept a cutting... and now I have to wait. 
turns out they are fickle that way.

heavy metal badminton

chuck's drunk monk

New Orleans: Signs

my old neighborhood

mid city

treme

New Orleans: St Roch Cemetery

St Roch is the patron saint of: dogs, bachelors, diseased cattle, falsely accused people, invalids, surgeons, tile-makers; gravediggers, second-hand dealers, pilgrims, and invokes protection against cholera, epidemics, knee problems, plague, and skin diseases... I like this guy!
This is what you see at the end of the entrance inside of a little shrine that is locked with a metal gate:

New Orleans: St Louis Cemetery I & II

St Louis #1. Since 1789. St Louis #2 1873

New Orleans is below sea level, so if you have money you get a proper
"above ground" burial to avoid the embarrassment of your loved ones seeing your bones next to your grave.

New Orleans: Holt Cemetery

This is where the less fortunate go. Here you will find hand-made folk grave markers fashioned from wood scraps and paint; voodoo graves; and yes - bones.

But first, the rules:

A labor of love by a friend or family member:

Voodoo grave - chairs surround the dead.

Katrina still affects New Orleans. No one seems to give a shit.

New Orleans: on a happier note

I love the vegetable man. He has this awesome truck and a megaphone and drives all through the neighborhoods singing: "I got ruuta-baaga... I got waaater-meelooon... I got tomaaatoes..."
bonus: Dr Bob's signature paint job: "SHUT UP and Eat"

more folk art around the corner...

New Orleans: Domino Sound Record Shack

If you go to these cross streets, Not only can you find out where to get to some gold teeth, but you will also find the Domino Sound Record Shack. It's actually the sister store to Mississippi Records here in Portland. Both places carry an an amazing selection of vinyl from punk to gospel to afro-funk and dub. Go there - you won't be sorry.

Mardi Gras Indians

I don't have any pics of Mardi Gras Indians from this trip 'cause as much as I looked and hoped for some Super Sunday action, it wasn't happening that weekend. The downtown Indians don't announce it - they just show up on the Bayou and make their way down. It's amazing. Photos don't begin to do this event justice.... but I wanted Wade to at least see the work that goes into these amazing pieces of art, so we went to the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme on St. Claude. We got an awesome oral history from one of the bead workers and he let us take a few photos: (*click on the image for details). To see photos of the actual event, click here

this was hanging above one of the doors on our way out.
LONG LIVE THE FUNK!

New Orleans : the Saturn Bar

O'Neil has passed on, but the Saturn Bar lives on! One of my favorite bars that didn't shut down post Katrina. His lack of presence is felt though. No more Porn channel and American Movie Classics. No more giving him a $20 and him saying "what do I look like, a fucking bank teller?" He hated making change AND people that only ordered water. What an amazing character. R.I.P. O'Niel.

new orleans

Back to New Orleans, my old home, the last week of March.
Before I post photos (above), I'd like to tell anyone interested
in the amazing history and culture New Orleans to
go out and buy this book:

moustache party.

happy birthday wade!

HOT POT CITY people.

So, I kind of got obsessed with this Hot Pot place
that some friends took me to in LA. (thank you Markus & John Henry)
It was a 45 minute drive and well worth it. We sat around
a large round table with a giant (heated) split pot recessed
in the middle of it. We ordered the broth we wanted...
and then - in go the fresh vegetables: bok choy, spinach,
cabbage, basil, bean sprouts, mushrooms, potato, taro, pumpkin,
cilantro... whoah! But wait, here come the udon noodles and 2 kinds
of tofu! It kept going from there - more meat and seafood
and on and on.... since some of us were mild vegetarians (ahem)
we did a split pot of 1/2 veggie and 1/2 meat.
tons of fresh garlic and ginger and peppers and sauces and viola!
you're eating Hot Pot.

Needless to say, I got back to rinky-dink Portland,
and was determined to find Hot Pot. After a bit of searching,
I found it: HOT POT CITY!
It's a tiny little hole in the wall on 1st ave, and not as many
selections (depending on the day) but it's actually quite good!
Went again today with some friends for the lunch special
which is only $7.95 (vs. the $13 dinner) and it was dee-licious!
I recommend sitting at the bar for your very own pot.
bon appetit!

the "I have no work right now" quilt project.

this is where I should be:

this is what I'm doing instead:

yes.
I'm making a quilt from all of the saved scraps of
hand-bag lining that I've ever made in the last, oh - 5 years!
(Have I really been doing this shit for this long?)
Seriously... I want to go back to school!
Sooo instead of working, I will remind myself of work
(and the buh-gillion bags I've made) by making this quilt!
peace.

sexxxy ladies.

I really need to channel this look
for spring / summer.
is that so wrong?

PUNK RECIPE SWAP!

Check it - some friends started a rad blog called "Punk Recipe Swap"
and I'm a guest blogger on it! I posted a recipe and it looks like this:

mmm.... spinach catalan meet cannellini pasta mash-up.
There are so many dee-licious recipe's on here,
that you must check it out!

punkrecipeswap.blogspot.com

Why don't I go to St. Johns more?

First, you have to take this awesome bridge to get there...
Once you're there: hit a $4 flick at the beautiful St. Johns theater
(not to be confused with the McMennamins theater!)
with a before/after drink at SLIMS across the street.
then walk past a bunch of defunct storefronts and barber shop


and get some healthy homestyle grub at PROPER EATS
which also has this cute little co-op in the front:


why not dessert at this funky gelato place?
(...hopefully it will be open next time -
I really liked the looks of this joint!)


....and don't forget to stop inside Pattie's Homeplate Café
just for the sheer insanity of it all.
(note: be prepared to smell like grease when you leave)

more to come on our next visit!