and breaths life back into the Big Easy.
Wolfman brings the blues -- and hope -- to New Orleans
"On Oak Street, the electricity is out and shop windows are still boarded up, but the bluesy guitar riffs blasting out of the Maple Leaf club can signal only one thing.
Wolfman has returned to his favorite haunt."
Walter Washington, aka Wolfman, his electric guitar powered by generators outside the Maple Leaf, welcomed back the residents streaming into the Uptown district of the storm-shattered city on Friday night, returning to the stage where he has performed for 23 years.
"There's life...The city can be rebuilt. There's some bad things, but there's no reason it can't come back."
[snip]
And as the glow from the Maple Leaf's lights and the strains of blues poured across the dark street, many said they were beginning to feel optimistic for the future of New Orleans...
"I was fed up with this crap. I know that everybody that's here just wants something normal," said Maple Leaf owner Hank Staples about his decision to open his doors...
Those returning residents are still under a curfew that begins at 6 p.m. -- but that rule was no barrier for the Maple Leaf...
As a patrol of National Guard maneuvered Humvees slowly through the crowd on the street in front of the club two hours after the curfew..."I ain't enforcing jack. These people lost their homes, let 'em have fun," one guardsman said.
No one in the crowd was happier than Wolfman that the music had returned. He smiled broadly as he took a break between sets and surveyed the scene from a stool at the bar.
"It feels good. It's the beginning of a new story for New Orleans. It's happening," he said.
"If you've lost all hope, If you've lost all your faith
I know you can be cared for, I know you can be safe
And all of the shamefuls, and all of the whores
And even the soldier who pierced the side of the Lord
Is down there by the train."
{chorus}
Well, I've never asked forgiveness and I've never said a prayer
Never given of myself, never truly cared
I've left the ones who loved me and I'm still raising Cain
I've taken the low road and if you've done the same
Meet me down there by the train..."
--Tom Waits, from "Down There by the Train"
So, let's all give bushco Halliburton, Inc. who are looking for some easy pickins' in the Big Easy the one-digit salute...
and regal them with the
Dutch Answer to Flooding: Build Houses that Swim
The Dutch are gearing up for climate change with amphibious houses. If rivers rise above their banks, the houses simply rise upwards as well.
So, another Saturday night and the night is young. Pull up to the bar or have a table by the pianoman and tell us what makes you howl like the Wolfman...