Author: Kent

Sinking In

I broke down for the first time in awhile today at work after reading the Bring New Orleans Back final report that was released this week. Their website is down up and running, and I managed to get a copy of the powerpoint presentation. Here it is converted to pdf. I guess it just hit me again how much of the city really will be lost, and how important it is to do it right.

Continue reading Sinking In

Dear Dave, I’m awesome. Love, SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams

In today’s “what the hell?” moment, the New Orleans City Council passed a unanimous resolution the other day asking Tom Benson to hire SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams as head coach or other executive, who is currently an executive with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

I have a few concerns.

  1. Why is the New Orleans City Council wasting their time on voting on who they think should be the Saints’ new coach? Isn’t there some kind of infrastructure that needs building? I also wonder if the jackass city councilman who lives here in Atlanta and organized the anti-Mardi Gras protest before the Saints-Falcons MNF game was able to attend that vote.
  2. Why is SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams qualified? Because he coached at Grambling and Morehouse? Seriously.
  3. Why did they pick out SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams? Being from New Orleans, I know that the NO City Council is fundamentally corrupt. SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams is from Louisiana, but what is his connection to the City Council?

If you are wondering why I cannot use SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams’ name without calling him SuperBowl MVP Doug Williams, ask Dave.

Wicked at the Fox

WICKED will play Wednesday, May 17 through Sunday, May 28, 2006 at The Fox Theatre in Midtown Atlanta.
Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. with matinees on Saturdays at 2:00 p.m., Sundays at 1:00 p.m. and a special matinee performance on Thursday, May 18 at 2:00 p.m.
Ticket prices range from $27.00 – $66.00 and go on sale Sunday, December 4, 2005 at the Fox Theatre box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

http://www.foxtheatre.org/current_news.htm

I’m excited to finally get to see this play.

The Center of the Universe

In an email newsletter today, I got a link to author David Foster Wallace’s commencement address at Kenyon University in May 2005. It’s a nice New Year’s read, the time of year where everyone is thinking about resolutions and self-improvement and so on.

It’s about how we are hard-wired to see ourselves as the center of the uinverse, because in fact we are the center of our own universe, per our own experience and point of reference. And it’s about how difficult it is to break out of that “default setting,” as he calls it. I’ve never read any of Wallace’s work before, but I think I will have to add him to the list of people to read.

Be warned, its long. If you don’t have the time, come back to it later. Here’s the link:
http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html

The Best of 2005

2005 was hands-down the worst year of my 30 years. I don’t think anyone can argue with that. I’m glad to see it go away. While I won’t remember it fondly, I will acknowledge 2005 as a life-changing year. The events of 2005 weren’t always the easiest to swallow or even manage, but their effects will continue to affect my life, and those of my family and friends for years to come. How we deal with those effects is up to us. We can use it as an excuse to give up (the Saints) or we can rise above those events beyond our control and build a better future. I’m choosing the latter. I don’t know of any other way.

Here’s to a better future in 2006. I can’t wait to put 2005 behind me and start over. Thank you to everyone who has been here (from a distance or right in my own house). Without the people I love, 2005 would have been unbearable.

I started this post as a “Best of elbuzzard.com” type thing and got a little side-tracked. Here are some stats from the blog’s first year.

Most Popular Posts – by number of comments
While she doesn’t post very often, Leslie snags 2 of the top 3 most commented-on posts.

  1. Leslie’s Good Things (not necessarily the top 10 of all time) by Leslie- 16 comments
  2. Picking a new team… by Kent – 13 comments
  3. The Top Ten Good Things About Christmas by Leslie – 12 comments

Total number of posts: 196

Total number of comments: 383

Most Prolific Commenters (not an author)

  1. Marnie and TygrrToo (tie) – 30 comments
  2. Staceman – 18 comments
  3. Capn Jack – 7 comments

Happy New Year, everyone!

Tom Benson Says New Orleans is Unlivable

saintsdoggle is reporting:

WWL radio reports this evening that Tom Benson has told Saints employees at a meeting in San Antonio today that the team’s training facility is still occupied by FEMA and National Guard troops, and that employees must stay away from New Orleans as it is “unlivable.”

Benson can go to hell. Where the hell are my parents living? Sure its hard, but they are living there.

And the Saints training facility in Metairie was not damaged, and is not occupied by anyone at this time. Tagliabue just toured the damn place and said it was in first-class shape.

It’s obvious that Benson has given up on the city, and is trying to spread his feelings among his staff. The Saints are a symbol of New Orleans, just like Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras, Jazzfest, and Cafe du Monde. That’s what the country thinks of when they think of New Orleans. When those things go, so goes the city. Just like cancelling Mardi Gras would tell the rest of the country that there is no hope of rebuilding New Orleans, so does moving the Saints out.

Ray Nagin has decided that Mardi Gras will go on, even if it is to be scaled down, but Benson has decided that he’d rather leave the city that gave him all his money to flounder on its own. Thanks Tom. Way to sell out the people who put you where you are.