    "Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
The dilemma this summer. Residents of New Orleans will have to decide, as Mick Jones sang, "Should I stay or should I go?" New Orleans sinking faster than expected. Great.
I'll bet somebody brings up Da East here. Apropos of this, to anyone who brings up the Lower Ninth and thinks it shouldn't be rebuilt because it flooded so badly ... the Lower Ninth Ward is actually at a higher elevation than Lakeview, and nobody's suggesting that the area where lots of rich white folks live shouldn't be rebuilt. The Lower Ninth was destroyed because the levee and floodwall at the Industrial Canal failed. Back to the article:
Actually, the people in St. Bernard and Da East got wiped out because the goddamn MR-GO existed in the first place and, as predicted, the storm surge went right up it and over the levees.
Oh, big fucking surprise.
How much ya wanna bet they don't do that, and rebuild concrete walls instead? Jazzfest, Day 2. I've been getting behind. After a glorious first day of the most important Jazzfest ever, we plunged right into Day 2. Always the first questions, "Whatta we gonna eat?"  Today's first answer came from Michael, who recommended Shrimp and Sausage Maquechoux. Pronounced "MOCK-shoe," it was a dish that supposedly the Cajuns learned from local Native American tribes, and gradually Cajunized over the years. It's basically corn sautéed in butter with black and a little red pepper, plus sweet peppers and whatever else you want to put in it. (Here's my own recipe.) This was a very good example of the dish, with lots of plump shrimp and a good smokey flavor from the sausage. Next, a New Orleans standard little-known outside the city, which I wanted despite my lack of hangover:  Ya ka mein (say "ya-ka-MAIN" or "ya-ka-MEEN") has been a staple in New Orleans black community for years, served at bars and corner groceries and at second-lines. The Times-Picayune ran an article about the stuff a month or so ago, and in the interview with Linda Green, the city's best and most proficient "Ya Ka Mein Lady," she said that it probably came back with black soldiers returning home to New Orleans from the Korean War (it's "Seoul food!" ... ahem). Asian noodles gave way to good old spaghetti, topped with chopped meat, green onions, a half a hard-boiled egg and a beef-soy sauce broth ladled over the top. You can additionally season your serving with Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, more soy sauce or ketchup. Unfortunately Miss Linda's momma told her not to give the recipe out, so she gives out a "basic" recipe that omits the seasonings added to the broth that make it "special." I'll start working on my own version in the next week or so, and we'll see how it goes. I'll post it when I'm happy with it. Oh yeah, there was music, too.  We hadn't been to the Gospel Tent at all yet, so we headed there first. Wes remembered Voices of Distinction from previous fests, although oddly enough I didn't. I wish I had, though -- they were terrific (who isn't, really, in the Gospel Tent?), with glorious harmonies and pure power. Man, those ladies can sing. 
 Back to Economy Hall for some tradidtional jazz. I'm a huge fan of jazz clarinet, and there are a bunch of really great players in New Orleans right now. One of my favorites is my old high school classmate Tim Laughlin, who sat behind me at band practice. I, of course, haven't touched my horn in years, and now looka dis guy. An amazing clarinetist, and outstanding composer as well. Several years back Tim got tired of playing standards over and over and began composing; his second most recent album The Isle of Orleans is entirely original compisitions. Check that out, along with his newest album Live in Germany and all the rest, at his web site. We bounced over to the Southern Comfort Stage (packed with about 40,000 people) and managed to sneak in the side for a pretty good spot near the stage for Snooks Eaglin, one of the city's greatest blues guitarists and a repertoire of over 2,500 songs committed to memory. To my delight he was accompanied by George Porter, Jr. of The Meters, The Funkiest Bass Player In The World, and John "Papa" Gros of Papa Grows Funk on organ. Smokin', smokin' set. Wishing we had the ability to teleport ourselves, we fought our way out of the crowd and went over to the Fais Do Do stage to see Eddie Bo, where we had a good spot to listen and a lousy spot to take photographs. Eddie's a legend of blues, R&B and funk, and I was looking forward to his set. Unfortunately it wasn't all that special. "It sounds like he's phoning it in," said Michael, and I agreed. It was lightweight stuff, aimed at the tourists, and none of the terrific funk we've heard him do one some of his more recent albums. Don't get me wrong, he's still a great player, but he wasn't exactly on fire that day. Back to the Gospel Tent, for one of the Absolutely Positively Must-See Acts of Jazzfest ...   The Crown Seekers, recently re-dubbed The Electrifying Crown Seekers, are a group I'd rearrange flight schedules to see if necessary. The energy, the intensity, the sheer joy and exuberance of this group is nearly unparalleled anywhere on the Fair Grounds. I've been a huge fan for years, but I've only ever seen them at the Gospel Tent, and I was embarrassed that I didn't even know the names of any of the members of the group, including the bald-pated singer that puts the electricity in "electrifying," and has enough electricity in him to power a small city. To the best of my knowledge they still have no recordings available (and sadly very few recordings are made available by the Munck Music/Jazzfest Live folks from the Gospel Tent, so you just gotta head down to New Orleans and buy tickets to Jazzfest and see these guys for yourself. You'll never forget 'em. Praise Jesus! Okay, now I'm hungry again, but not all that hungry, and we hadn't had anything to eat sine the ya ka mein around noon, but we shouldn't fill up 'cause we were going to Café Adelaide that evening, but I want something now, dammit ...  The perfect solution -- Jama Jama, or African-style sautéed spinach with lots of hot sauce apparently made with African Insanity Peppers (absolutely delicious with the spinach, but I had put on too much, and Wes began to complain when my exhalation singed the hair off his forearms). Bennachin Restaurant, longtime purveyors of West African cuisine in New Orleans, mans one of the most dependable food stalls at Fest, serving this along with piles of sweet and delicious fried plantains (which we skipped this time, as they're really filling). They had apparently served me some kind of bottomless serving, as I ate my fill from the plate you see above, but by the time I was finished there seemed to still be a whole serving of jama jama left on the plate. Nobody wanted it, so I had to toss it. It broke my heart, and I thought too late that maybe that plate was meant to feed the multitudes ... oh well. We had to leave early in order to get home, shower, dress and make it to the restaurant on time, so back to Fais Do Do to catch some of The Iguanas' set. Again, in a lousy place to get a good picture (I've got a good shot of them from the Mermaid Lounge that's in the book in my Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens box set, so it didn't bother me too much, plus a lot more from previous shows) but a great place to hear. I've loved these guys' music for about 15 years now, and listening to that set, the great new stuff as well as the old, was like listening to an old friend. It kills me to leave Fest early, but oh well ... ya gotta eat. More later. Welcome to Alito's America. In the first Supreme Court decision that shows what our country will be like after Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation, Samuel Alito's vote turned out to be the key vote in yesterday's decision restricting the free-speech rightsof the nation's 21 million public employees, ruling that the First Amendment does not protect them from being punished for complaining to their managers about possible wrongdoing. The case was argued last October, then reargued in March after Alito joined the court. As this NPR story reports, the dissenting opinion was written by Justice Souter, clearly worded as if it were a majority opinion ... which suggests that Justice Souter was assigned the majority and that O'Connor was inclined to vote the other way. "Thus making this case," reports Nina Totenberg, "the first to mark the change caused by O'Connor's retirement." And that first case restricts speech protections. Just great. Pathetic. I've been living in California for over 20 years, and never has there been a worse choice for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate than there is now. At first, Phil Angelides and Steve Westly were merely lackluster, but they get worse with every passing day. I was just expressing to Wes my disgust over the race when I came across this post by Markos. I'm glad it's not just me.:
The two of them, and Schwarzenegger. Worst. Choice. Ever. "You must smell like feet wrapped in ... leathery, burnt bacon." I'm not usually wont to post this sort of thing, but it's feckin' funny. Click on the image below to play the video, which is a must for "Star Wars" fans, and everyone who had to sit through the last three movies (okay, the third prequel wasn't as bad). No, it's not the Triumph the Dog thing. (Thanks, Steve!) Heeeeee! [ Link to today's entries ]
A separate grief. Memorial Day takes on a new meaning in New Orleans, remembering the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Army Corps of Engineers' flood.
 We met a man, Mr. Willie (I forgot his last name, I'm sorry), on this street. He lived on that block, and told us that the Brooks family was safe, that he and his family were safe, but pointed at a number of neighbors' houses (or spaces where their houses used to be) and said, "I used to hang out with him at the barbershop ... he's dead now ..." This went on and on. Remember. UPDATE: What the--?! From Poppy's journal: "I just heard some wingnut on the Garland Robinette show say it was 'disrespectful' for these people to march for storm victims on Memorial Day, and that he believed legislation should be passed making it illegal to march on Memorial Day for any reason other than honoring veterans. This was a local wingnut, mind you, not some ignorant freak from elsewhere who doesn't understand how many people died here and what we've been through since. Sometimes I really understand why greygirlbeast has chosen to secede from the human race." As John Prine said, "Some humans ain't human." Meanwhile ... The Army Corps of Engineers is keeping at it:
I feel safer already. Where is the outrage? Right here. Join Levees.org.
You don't have to live in Louisiana to join. All you have to do is care. The life of a pig. Tamara Murphy is the chef of Brasa Restaurant in Seattle, and has been keeping a weblog about the value of small, sustainable family farms using the example of pigs that are raised on such a farm, following their lives from piglet to pork. It's fascinating, and helps you connect in a very real way with the food you eat -- something people who are used to shrink-wrapped cuts of meat should understand. This is how humans lived and ate until very recently, and it's something we shouldn't forget about. Note especially her findings that "the meat on these pigs, was incredible. The loins were big enough to create an entire dish. The legs and shoulders were big. The factory farmed pigs I was so used to, even of the same weight, offer less than HALF OF THE MEAT of Whistling Train Farm's pigs. There was absolutely no comparison. My conclusion was that pigs that get to run around develop muscle (meat) in all the right places. Factory farmed pigs get fat in the belly, just like us. Muscle weighs more than fat, just like in us. These pigs were all muscle, which meant all meat." Y'know, I was just talking to Wes about this yesterday -- give me pork over beef any day. I'm so sorry I missed her all-pig menu on last April 20, too ... good lord, look at it: Chicharrones Everything Pig Pate Smoked Riblets Traditional Posole, Roasted Chilies, Tomatillos, Tortillas Grilled Loin, Chorizo and Clams Roast Pig Heirloom Navel Oranges, Jicama, Watercress, Cracklings Bacon Baklava I'm squealing in delight at the mere thought of it. Speaking of pork over beef, next on my must-buy book list is Peter Kaminsky's Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them, which among many other wonderful things tells us exactly why pork tastes so good. [ Link to today's entries ]
Worth it? Bob Herbert (behind a paid firewall, unfortunately), via Tom Tomorrow:
2,465 aren't, apparently. [ Link to today's entries ]
Here's your new CIA director. Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden was confirmed by the Senate as the 20th director of the CIA. Hayden, who as the head of the NSA since 1999 administered the BushCo warrantless domestic spying program, has been dodging questions about domestic surveillance on many occasions of late; here's what he had to say (or rather, not-say) at the National Press Club in January:
Okay, then. Recipe of the day. The idea for this came from Wes' sister Melody; I'm not sure where she got the orignal recipe, but I futzed with it and added some stuff, and it makes a lovely dessert topping for cake or berries or what have you. The Fluff keeps it from being too highbrow, while you get to coo and brag about the other ingredients. The vanilla bean paste is perfect for this dish -- you get the lovely vanilla bean specks in the topping, and it's a lot cheaper than using an actual vanilla bean (which you can certainly do if you're into conspicuous consumption; it's a dessert topping made with Marshmallow Fluff, for God's sake).
We used it atop some Trader Joe's Mini Vanilla Bundt Cakes, with fresh blackberries and some chocolate syrup ... yum. [ Link to today's entries ]
This just in! Chocolate is good for your brain. I think I'll have some right now. The Cocktailian. In today's edition of Gary Regan's fortnightly column, The Professor, our cocktailian bartender, tells us that there's more than one way to skin an advocaat. That's the Dutch eggnog liqueur, of course, mixed with rye (and what the world needs now is more rye cocktails, even if they're fattening ones like this) to produce a Golden Rye Flip, which actually looks quite good. I tend to avoid drinks containing cream or half-and-half these days, but this one looks worth a try. "Greentinis?" I'm not a fan of appending the suffix "-tini" to all the myriad new cocktails out there, nor am I a fan of calling anything a "Martini" or a "____________ Martini" unless said drink contains gin and vermouth and maybe orange bitters and nothing else (rendering any "____________" superfluous anyway). That rant aside, there was an interesting article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times Food Section on cocktails containing fresh herbs, such as basil, chervil and cilantro. It's a step beyond the mint in your Mojito or Julep, and a couple of them look worth trying. There's something called a "Cucumber Martini", which I might allow because it does in fact contain both gin and vermouth, but I'd be less grouchy calling it a "Cucumber Cocktail." (The five minutes of infusing might make this one difficult to serve in a busy bar, though.) There's Honeydew-cilantro agua fresca with tequila that sounds perfect for Memorial Day weekend, plus a Basil-berry wine punch that could be doubled for a good party punch bowl. Check 'em out. A while back I was working on a drink with lemongrass- and lime-infused vodka with a muddle of cilantro, but now that my vodka days are mostly behind me I think that experiment needs to be revisited with some gin. The golden age of cocktails. I missed posting this article since it was right in the middle of Jazzfest, but a few weeks ago the Times' Food Section did a huge spread on the Museum of the American Cocktail, displaced from New Orleans for the time being and now set up at Commander's Palace in Las Vegas. As I mentioned a while back, our items are still in the Museum's collection, this time with a lovely plaque acknowledging us among their contributors, and it's great to see the collection so nicely laid out at Commander's. (If you go, say hi to Santino, the maître'd, for me.) The Times article is excellent, interviewing Dale and Doc and several other members of the museum's board, plus some excellent cocktail recips by Audrey Saunders, Dale DeGroff, Tony Abou-Ganim and Jacques Bezuidenhout. Fresh from fields to a street corner near you. Times Food Section again ... yesterday there was an excellent series of articles about farmer's markets, starting with the idea that shook the world, when 27 years ago four farmers brought strawberries and zucchini to sell in a Gardena parking lot, not realizing that it would be the start of a movement that would change the way we cook at eat -- straight from the farmer to you with no middleman (which is the way I like it). Chefs from great restaurants all over town are seen at their local farmer's markets, and love to go wild (check out the recipes for Polenta Cake with Roasted Cherries; Market Vegetable Pizza; and Pan-roasted halibut with grits, morels and spring onions). At your local market, keep an eye out for Laurent Bonjour, the roving cheesemonger -- he'll delight you with peppered Cabecou, a good English Cheddar, Maytag Blue or Tomme de Savoie. If you don't know where your nearest farmer's market is, then consult the complete list of Los Angeles-area farmer's markets. (I'll be shopping, plus having a meal of some carne asada tacos and a strawberry-banana-Nutella crêpe, tomorrow at the Eagle Rock Farmer's Market, which is small but I love it anyway.) If you're in New Orleans, the Crescent City Farmer's Market is the place to start. That's ... guilty, guilty, guilty! (With apologies to Garry Trudeau.) Ken Lay convicted on all counts, plus guilty on additional counts of bank fraud. Skilling guilty of fraud and conspiracy, 20+ counts. Justice, finally. The cronies begin to go down. Photo of the day. America, it hasn't gone away.  Halves, Reynes St. (#2), Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, 4/27/2006 There are 17 more photos added to my Lower Ninth Ward set on Flickr. Beyond belief. Steve K. sent this in from his friend Doug, and we're all just boggling ...
From the Think Progress link:
That, plus they're apparently really, really stupid. [ Link to today's entries ]
Photo of the day. A cactus flower, from our front garden.  Out of 50 I took the other day, this was the only one I remotedly liked. There are now five of those flowers open, and I hope I can get a few more good photos; they only stay open for a couple of days, so time's a-wastin'. Negroponte Can Waive SEC Rules for "National Security" Via Daily Kos: "Tell America once again, Mr. President, how your secretive, spying national security policy is for the benefit of citizens and not of your corporate cronies - or to cover up your administration's illegal and unconstitutional acts." From Business Week Online this morning:
More: "Security-law experts speculate in the Business Week article that such waiving of reporting requirements for companies could be used to mask the funding of secret CIA or Pentagon assignments." Jesus. Holy bejeebies. Startling yet unsurprising:
Maybe he and Jefferson can share a cell one day. UPDATE: Hastert is denying it and accusing ABC of libel. ABC News stands by the story. The right-wing wingnutosphere is howling for more Rather-style blood, and it's been suggested that RoveCo deliberately leaked false information to ABC to set them up for a Rather-like fall. We'll have to wait and see, but I look at that bloated shit-toad in the Speaker's chair and I don't see a good person; never have. [ Link to today's entries ]
Penguins! The penguins returned to New Orleans today! That is, the ones who were rescued from the Audubon Insititute Aquarium of the Americas, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. They'd been another aquarium since then, and FedEx flew them home for free. I'd been looking forward to this for a few weeks, after having met Karen Jeffries (interviewed below) in New Orleans, who said they'd all be home by the 22nd. There's no footage yet, although I assured that they'd be filmed, walking in single file down the plane's ramp as they are wont to do; we'll see it soon. In the meantime, FedEx has a little animation along with the story of how they came home. Karen and everyone at the aquarium were tremendously excited by this. Their funding was wiped out along with most of their animals, and they basically went to FedEx and said they needed this and would they please do it for free. To everyone's relief, FedEx said "Sure," figuring (quite correctly) that they'd get a terrific commercial out of it at the very least, not to mention lots of goodwill. Here's more: Nineteen African blackfooted penguins and two sea otters that were rescued from a New Orleans aquarium after Hurricane Katrina returned home Monday on a cargo flight donated by FedEx Corp. The creatures, which had been living at the Monterey Bay Aquarium since September, departed Oakland International Airport in a FedEx plane at 8 a.m., said aquarium spokeswoman Karen Jeffries. The 21 animals were evacuated when Katrina forced the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas to shut down. The New Orleans aquarium was expected to reopen over Memorial Day weekend. The Aquarium reopens this Friday. If you're in town, go and get some penguin love. Photo of the day. Lest you forget ...  Forstall St., Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, 4/27/2006 I'll post more photos (and a full set on Flickr) from the Lower Nine over the next several days. Whistle-blower on government domestic surveillance. Wired News reports: "Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program. "In a public statement Klein issued last month, he described the NSA's visit to an AT&T office. In an older, less-public statement recently acquired by Wired News, Klein goes into additional details of his discovery of an alleged surveillance operation in an |
