Life has been a whirlwind, even more so lately. Some bad, but mostly a lot of good. I swear a real blog post will be up here in the next few days. Things I wish to cover:

* Rest of my sister's trip here to NOLA including adorable pictures of Aubrey!!

* My trip to Montana. Yes it was for a funereal but it put me back in touch with my family, even more than before. There are pictures to be shared here as well, including a celeb sighting in the Denver airport.

* Satchmo Fest weekend and all the fun that has been had while Lisa and family have been in town. Including Pictures.

* New Work worries. Sorry no pictures there.

See lots to cover! Fun and exciting times! Stay tuned!

I remembered my camera this time:
Yeah it is Ed Burns and I:

Yesterday was another normal Wednesday. After work, I walked the bike down to the coffee shop and sat outside enjoying an ice tea and a book. At the appointed hour I headed across the street to the Square and signed on in for my beer pouring duties. As I was doing so I was asked by the Volunteer Coordinator if I would mind selling merch for the opening band. I said "Sure! Why not?" I love helping out bands, I really do. Granted I had no clue who the first band was. As I was talking to my fellow beer pouring folks (pourers?) one of them asked me who the first band was. Um I remember seeing their name on the website and posted today that they will be playing however I don't remember the name. I made my way up to the stage area and secured by spot behind the barrier with an empty table in front of me. I was in the sun, directly in the sun and it was hot. I am standing there, dripping in sweat listening to this band do their sound check. And you know what? They didn't sound that bad. In fact they were kinda good. After the sound check a few of the members came over with some of the CDs and a few tshirts and told me the prices. CDs were going to be pay as you want and tshirts were $10, all money was to be donated to the YLC (the group putting on the concert series) Pretty easy. It wasn't until probably half way through their set that I realized why one of their guitar players looked so familiar. It was Edward Burns. You know, actor, director, writer, producer and now musician. (if you don't know from that, he was just recently in 27 Dresses, the boss) The band is from the East Coast, and are called The Blue Jackets. They are opening for Cold Play next week at the Madison Square Garden. I know some people are going to think/say, oh great another actor trying to be a musician. But the band? It was good. Straight out rock-n-roll. I was digging a few of their tunes. I did get a chance to talk to a couple of the guys when the evening was over, and they are all very nice. They pretty much paid for their own way down here because they wanted to help the city rebuild. No, I didn't have my camera with me yesterday. I know I should always carry it. I have one more chance tomorrow night! They are playing the Volunteer party. All the guys did sign the CD and I did manage to plug Bonerama and Porter Batiste Stoltz.

On my way home, on my bike there was a crash. nothing too serious and I was able to ride the bike home. I have scraps on the palms of my hands that don't feel pleasant but are so not life threatening. It sucks that some cars aren't courteous to bike riders, but what can you do? I survived, the bike survived it is all good. I didn't ride it today however, once again I was too tired. Some allergens in the air are kicking my ass. Tomorrow, I will ride again. 3 days this week isn't bad at all!

Sit down, relax, grab a drink and get ready to hear all about the spills chills and aches of this past weekend. This will be a long post as I want to put as much as I can remember into as possible. However as I sit here at my desk, I have dozed off once or twice already.

Thursday morning is where we will start. When I got the first of many production schedules, we were to be at the arena for 5:30 AM. I was spared that by a phone call around 7 PM Wednesday night saying, no we get to go in at 9 AM. Well that is a HUGE difference. I kept my alarms set for the normal time as I wanted to pack up my backpack with some things I may or may not need, and as we all know how much I love the public transportation around here, I wanted to get on a bus that would get to the arena at the assigned time. I was out of my house at 7:30 AM, arriving at the arena at 8:00 AM. An hour ahead of the call time. I found a little café across from the Superdome and had the first of many cups of coffee. I made my way to the arena around 8:30 and saw the hustle and the bustle as they were loading in all the lights, sound, and stage. I made my way to the production office where I met some of the PA’s and office staff. I was given a tour of the arena and the rehearsal room. We then sat down with the Stage Manager and the Assistant Stage Manager (ASM). See they brought down their own people to work the show, they knew they would need a few more ASM’s so they hired someone locally who in turn got me the gig. I was the 2nd ASM to the main ASM. At that point they walked us through the show, explaining the set, and how the general flow was going to go. We were then asked to go and mark out the stage in the rehearsal room. Of course the room we were using was smaller than the actual stage, so we scaled down for the purpose of fitting in the room. The purpose of marking out the stage was so when the actresses rehearsed, they had a general feel of where things were. We were in the middle of this when we were asked to come and help sort out the dressing rooms, green room, hair and make up rooms. Basically make sure that there were enough seats in each room. It turned into a small headache, as the saying goes “to many cooks in the kitchen” With that sorted out we finished taping up the rehearsal room. We were waiting for our next marching orders when we were told that we were going to get to go home for the night. It was 5:30 at this point and the reasoning for letting us leave was that we were going to be doing so much more in the upcoming days and they didn’t want us to burn out to fast. Most of the day was “hurry up and wait”, we knew it was about to get crazy. I journeyed off to meet Jessica and the D.C. Krewe at Snug Harbor for a quick bite and then to d.b.a and the Maple Leaf.

Friday morning our call was also for 9 AM. This time I had a ride, as the other 2 ASM’s were showing up on this day and one lives nearby. Again the day started out the same. We gave the two new ASM’s the tour of the arena, gave them the lowdown at what was going to happen. It was more of the hurry up and wait, then the fun started. Turns out that they didn’t have enough talent escorts so we went into a mad dash to track down people we knew who may be available to sit at the hotel and make sure the actresses got in their cars and help them with anything they needed. The one person I did call mentioned she was going to the Quarter, I had forgotten all about FQF for a bit. I was assigned the fun task of going over the Superdome to find some allergy medicine for one the actresses rehearsing in the rehearsal room. We didn’t have medical in the Arena but the Superdome did. Of course the “Super Love” portion of the weekend was happening over there. Every security guard and person with the Dome directed me up the 3rd level to find medical. I get up there and no, it really wasn’t what we needed. I didn’t need the health lounge that was offering free HIV testing, information about pregnancies, free blood pressure test, all the good stuff you would find at a convention. I finally tracked down a medical room and no one was there. As I am waiting for the assigned person to be radioed and told to come up to where we were I get a text message from the arena (my radio wasn’t working over there) that I needed to go section 133 locker room 4. So I head down there to discover that there was no one in that room either, and I knew there wasn’t a locker room on level 1. So back up I went to the 3rd level. Or so I thought. See I had taken the elevator down with a “Super Love” staff member but she was called off to somewhere else. I get back on the elevator and ask for the 3rd level. Yes they have an elevator operator. When the doors opened up it didn’t look right, and I made a comment about it, but the older gentleman working said “no this is right” well it wasn’t, I was up much higher than I had been. Rather than arguing, I found the closest exit and ran down the ramps until I got to the right level. Luckily I was finally able to locate the medical personal just to find out that they didn’t have allergy medicine. So I text back to the arena this news only to find out that they had also sent someone to the drug store. I made my way back down to the Superdome floor where they were just starting the “Super Love” day. Up on stage they had some Native Americans fancy and traditional dancers. I stopped in took in the moment. It was back to the arena for some more “hurry up and wait”. Our next big task was herding in the members of the choir. It was originally to be 200+ choir but ended up being only like 100+. We then joined in the rehearsals of Charmaine Neville, Jennifer Hudson and Faith Hill. We mainly just watched the rehearsals, every once in awhile a few of us were called onstage to take down the names of the choir members that would be onstage. We taped the stairs so that they were more visible, and put names on the choir chairs. We were finally released around 10 PM. I made my way to the Maple Leaf and sold merch for Bonerama. My main plans had been to go, set up the merch, maybe stay for the first set then have my housemate or Jessica sell merch for the rest of the night. However I was having too much fun, there were a ton of people that I knew there. The bar was packed and the sound was awesome. I did take off as soon as it was possible when the band was done. I arrived back to my house around 3 AM. I knew that the next day was going to be long.

Our call for Saturday was for 7:45 AM. My ride picked me up at 6:30. We were able to load up on iced coffee and be there with bells on. This was it. Everything we needed to know about the performance that night was to come at us in a flying manner. We spent the morning getting the chairs for the actresses ready (all the ladies sat around the stage which was in the round) taping their names on the chairs making sure we had enough. Honestly this day becomes a bit of blur. I was on my way back to the production office from running an errand of some sort when I ran into some of my fellow ASMs. They were discussing out to remove the black draping from what was to be Oprah’s dressing room. Why? Oprah was not coming. That is right. The lady who was the biggest draw to the entire event (for most people the event in itself should have been a draw but that is for another time) there was a monologue written especially for her. The official story is she was sick. This wasn’t the case, but it’s not my place to say in a public forum why she didn’t show up. Let me just say that the little respect that I had for her is no longer there. Let me a quick moment to explain something.. All the actresses were there because they wanted to be there. They wanted to take part in this amazing event. To raise awareness on the V-Day organization. They flew themselves out, they paid for their own hotel, they did not get paid to do this. They were committed to being there and supporting Eve and her journey to help women. Anyway. So we are taking down the draping and cleaning out the dressing room so we can put someone else in there. The producer of the whole thing wanders by and asks what we are doing. Turns out he didn’t know that Oprah had pulled out and here we the ASMs were the ones to break it to him. It turned into a controlled mass chaos for a bit, then it was time for the cue to cue rehearsal with the entire cast. In this mad cue to cue rehearsal I kept getting pulled to go over to hair and makeup and see how they were doing, then walk the actresses who were done with their part over there. So in a sense I didn’t do my jobs during the cue to cue. The only things I did do were the mic set ups for the choir, but as soon as I was done it was back to the hair and make up rooms and escorting. The house was to open at 6:30; we finished the cue to cue at 6:00. We had time to shovel food in our mouths, go over our duties one more time really fast, make sure there was water available for the actresses and the next thing you know, we were at ten minutes. The arena wasn’t sold out however there were a lot of people there. There was no backstage area for the ASMs to hang out in waiting for our next cue so we had to find spots in the aisles. I was a bit luckier as I was next to the choir band and was in a way able to blend in with them. One of the other ASMs (our local lead) spotted Dylan McDermott walking through the audience. Hot damn that man is beautiful! We given a 5 minute warning so I got an usher to shoo the women scrambling for pictures and autographs from Dylan. And then the show started. Our first cue was to pull the silk fabric off the stage in which Eve was lying underneath. Then we were off and running. My main job was to make sure that when the actresses in my section were almost up to let them know, to tell them when it was time to go up on the stage and help them up the stairs. There were a few mic placements done, helping change out a microphone that didn’t want to work and trying to make the show move smoothly which it did. The only part I was nervous about was really out of my control. See sitting with the actresses were some activists from all over the world. Some of them didn’t speak English. This was some of the ladies first trip out of the US, some out of their countries. They were going to be given flowers as they walked across the stage. As their name flashed up on the screen. We never rehearsed this. In the end we go the activists up all at once and then just had them walk up on stage. I am pretty sure it wasn’t on cue. As fast as it started? It was over. The energy in the hallway leading to the greenroom was exploding as the actresses cheered each other on. It was a fantastic moment. I found myself standing next to Val Kilmer as it happened. We ended our evening sometime after 1 AM.

Now for the “gossip” of the show. The nicest actress? Didi Conn. Ya know. Frenchy from Grease. She just wanted to chat the whole time with us. I wanted her in my section, but alas she was not. The one with the most attitude and most diva like? Jennifer Hudson. Jane Fonda was eating in catering with the crew and production people, hanging out with us. The lady can rock out a pink jump suit like NO one else’s business. Kerry Washington has a very infectious laugh. Rosario Dawson was so excited and happy to be there she was practically bouncing off the walls. Faith Hill is really as sweet as everyone says she is. Jennifer Beales and Christina Lahti are smoking hot. Doris Roberts is fantastic. They were just all so nice. Really, truly and honestly. Since we were working there was to be no autographs or pictures which in the end was just fine with me. There was a documentary being filmed so hopefully we will be able to get our hands on that as well. The only person I really was hoping to have a conversation with was Eve herself. That didn’t happen, as she is a very busy lady. She did say hi and good bye. Overall this experience was a pretty fantastic one. Yes things didn’t go smoothly as planned, yes there were rough moments. But I wouldn’t change it for the world! If you do want to see some pictures, Getty Images has some up. Scroll part way down and then go to town. It is about 2 pages worth!!

p

Several things to say. None of huge importance, so its comin' atcha bullet style

* For those of you who have asked to see the pics of Taylor Hicks onstage with Papa Grows Funk, don't hold your breath to see them anytime soon. See my housemate who took the pictures? She has an old school camera. With film. We will be lucky to see the pictures before next Christmas. It is just the way it is.
* French Quarter Fest will be announcing its lineup for musicians and food vendors today. I don't know honestly which one is more exciting. FOOD! MUSIC! 3 days, and it is all free! Okay the music is free. The food isn't. April 11-13th get your dancing shoes ready.
* I hit my head last night. Actually the car door slammed into my head. It still hurts. I wouldn't be suprised if I had a slight concussion. At least I didn't have a swearing fit when in happened.
* Bonerama is playing a really fun gig this weekend so if you are in town and want to check them out for yourself? This is a good one. The new field for Tulane baseball is opening up this weekend and they are having a weekend long celebration, as well as some games. Saturday at 12 noon they are having a block party in which Bonerama will perform and then they are playing the National Anthem. Feb. 29th they will be playing the National Anthem for the Hornets game.

Taylor Hicks must have loved the Leaf because he came back last night. This time he sat in for a song with Papa Grows Funk.

As we were walking up John was getting some things out of his van. We said hello and made idle chit-chat. As we started walking off we asked if there was anything we could do to help. You know carry something in. He stops and says, "wanna sell merch tonight?" Usually Rick or someone working the door will sell cds for him. Last night he brought in Tshirts as well. So I manned the table and pretty soon Kristen comes back to the table and says "American Idol in the house" He wandered around for a bit, enjoying the music. A few times he went right up front and grooved to the tunes.

Finally John called him up on stage. I can't remember right now what song they did, but everyone loved it. Kristen took a few pics, hopefully. After the song was over Taylor wandered into the back area to cool down. He spent a little time more in the bar. As he was getting ready to leave he came back to the merch table and chatted for a few minutes. We joked around. He is such a sweet guy.

I knew it was a matter of time. Apparently the Leaf is a good place for Celebs to hang out. I just recently missed Drew Barrymore and Justin Long there....they left right before I got there. Tonight? It was someone I really enjoy....and I am about to re-reveal a shameful like for this person....but Taylor Hicks was there tonight. He was really sweet. :) more tomorrow.

Last night I had to really drag myself down to the Leaf. I was really wanting to stay curled up in bed and snuggle with the kitties. However I did want to see some of my friends so I made the 2 block walk. As I am approaching, I see a limo parked at the corner. I knew there was a slight possibility of some celeb showing up, apparently it happens, however never when I am there (and I am there A LOT). If you are not aware it is the NBA All Star weekend down here in the Big Easy, which is why I knew it was possible. Of course I was thinking more along the line of basketball players. I gut up to the door at the Leaf and Allen says "we have an American Idol in the house tonight, that Taylor guy" We proceeded to chat a few minutes and then I wandered away. I went up to the bar to say hi to Jeff and casually glance around. Nope, didn't see Taylor any where. The band is already playing and they were alright, I have seen them before and I usually don't pay attention to them. They aren't bad, just not that great. I get my drink, and have a small chat with Jeff. Then it was time to go towards the back to say hi to Rick ,who works sound. As I am walking down the hallway I can see through to the back bar and leaning up against the pool table was Taylor talking on his phone. I stop and say hi to Rick when Taylor comes wandering by. I stop him with something totally un-music related. See last time he played here in town, I bought the book he wrote. In the book he talks about this family that he was really close to. I know them. They work with my company and I talk with several of them on a daily basis. So as he was walking by I said "I know Robert" he started laughing and said "how do you know him? how do you know about that??" I told him the connection, and that I read his book. He then says "hi I am Taylor, and shakes my hand" He proceeds to talk to Rick and I for like ten minutes. We talked about him playing with George Porter Jr, Bonerama on Letterman and the massive bass sound that was coming off the stage. He then went back to his friends and they all stuck around for a long time. Enjoying the atmosphere and the night. He seemed to be having a really nice time and he was very sweet. So there was a brush with another celeb.

Mardi Gras 2007 is officially over and has been over for several days. I am just now starting to feel "normal" I don't even know where to start. I guess starting way back about 2 weeks ago. Because that is what started it all in full swing.

Friday Feb 9th. I got off work and ran down to the quarter to catch a bit of the Krewe of Cork parade. That looks like a good krewe to be part of! Dancing through the quarter in costume drinking wine. The band consisted of a few people I knew, Leroy, Katja and Mark Braud. Some friends caught up with me as well in the quarter. When the walking parade was done we headed out to Matty's house which isn't that far off the parade route. It became a gathering place. Food and booze were collected then we headed on off to catch the evening parades. We then decided to go to the Maple Leaf for an AMAZING night of music and celebration.

Saturday Feb 10th Kristen and I decided to go downtown to watch the parades so we would be closer to the ferry to Old Point. We caught about 4 floats of the first parade then we had to leave, we wanted to make it across the river before the Orpheus Open House ended. We just barely made it. Appetizers and drinks were consumed at the Dry Dock Bar with our dear B.R. friends. We then all headed back to Matty's to hang out and wait for the evening parades. We ended up missing the parades, and that was just okay. We did make it out to Le Bon Temps to see Big Sam that night. Talk about crazy packed. Le Bon Temps isn't that big to begin with. I thought for awhile it was just me getting old and not liking the crowds, but it was REALLY packed.

Sunday Feb 11th We watched the parades out on St. Charles. This was a special day as my dear friends got engaged this day. There were a TON of people out there to witness the event, Megan had NO clue it was going to happen at all. A ring box was tossed off the float during King Arthur, it was a quick swap with the real ring box with the ring, next thing Megan knew (she was trying to get beads from their friends riding) Andy was on bended knee presenting the ring. Needless to say we didn't see much of the rest of that parade!!

Monday Feb 12th. Recovery day. I was going to do laundry this day and start cleaning as family was arriving soon. I made Kristen do her laundry first.

Tuesday Feb 13th. 3:00 AM tornado rips through the neighborhood. We lost the balcony roof, shattered windows (the one in my room is not repaired yet not that I am complaining) We spent all day cleaning up the mess. I was amazed and shocked at how fast the response was. The city had people out on our street by 7:30 AM done by about 4:00 PM. Nagin (our mayor) stopped by our house to see how we were. Kristen and I decided to stay at the house even without the power.

Wednesday Feb. 14th. By noon we had power, which was a good thing because my sister was coming into town!! Lisa came to my work, hung out for a bit then Kristen came to pick us up. We went back over to Matty and Sherrilynn's for more parade madness and a very yummy dinner. While they all went out to hear music, Lisa and I headed back to the house.

Thursday Feb. 15th. I worked this day, taking off an hour early and met up with my sister on the bus who had been out exploring Magazine. Once home we got all bundled up in layers of clothes then headed back out to Matty and Sherrilynn's. There we took in the 3 parades, the favorite being of course Muses. That parade pretty much rules.

Friday Feb 16th. I went into work a bit late. I spent most of the day praying to the flight gods that the Mulveys would FINALLY make it to town (they were suppose to be here on the 14th) Lisa and I wandered through the quarter for a bit then met up with our dear B.R. friends and Kristen at the Ugly Dog. At this time I knew the Mulveys were on their flight but I was under strict instruction NOT to say anything to the B.R. krewe. That was some damn hard work. We wandered up to Lee Circle and caught the parades. Right as they were ending I told Hank that I had a few new friends for them to meet, cuz coming down the street were the Mulveys. The look on Hank's face was priceless!! We even convinced Gayle to meet us back down at the Dog, and she was suprised, though I think she figured it out before she walked in. We then ran off to the airport (back roads don't help during MG time, we kept getting trapped behind floats on the move) were we picked up my brother in law.

Saturday Feb 17th. We started off towards the quarter and saw the masses of people all lined up already for the parades. Kristen and I decided to find spots to hold down for the day. We sent my sister and bro-in-law off to the quarter with the Mulvey's while we held down a spot at Lee Circle with Matty and Sherrilynn. The best parade of the day was Tucks. Our next door neighbors were riding and they piled us with loot. In fact Kristen is still sporting the bruise on her forehead from a full on frontal attack. I had words with the cab driver who wouldn't bring my cousin downtown. It is a flat rate from the airport and the cabby would have been stuck in the traffic for awhile. Not my fault she was on the airport run. If we had given the driver a hotel to drop my cousin off in, she would have had no choice. As it was I had to give her directions to my house, which is right off a major intersection. My cousin had to sit on the porch until we got there to pick her up. Kristen knew a round a bout way to get back, and she managed to score the same parking space. Endymion sucked except for my Taylor Hicks beads that some lady caught and gave to me. She had heard me telling people around me that that was the mission, was getting beads from Taylor. (I am guessing she heard or someone told her) the throws sucked from Endymion (when they threw em) and the drunken college students that showed up (squeezing into the space we had been in for 8 hours) really put a damper on the parade. They were even throwing beer bottles at the riders. Jerk offs.

Sunday Feb. 18th. We all headed down to the quarter...again traffic was a nightmare. We let Lisa, Scott and Jessica off so they could explore out on Esplanade. As we crept along Decatur I realized I had to go to the bathroom. I jumped out of the car at Molly's used the facilities and grabbed a few drinks to go. Of course by then the traffic was moving. I didn't catch up with the car until the other side of Harrahs. Let's put it this way. I made it clear across the quarter in about 10 mins or less. With drinks. We then walked back to the quarter were we met up with everyone at Pat O's. We met up with the Mulveys out on Bourbon then we all walked past the Jolie/Pitt household. We eventually went out to the Treme to visit Leroy and Katja. We didn't catch any of the day parades this day. We headed out to the end of the parade route were we got some spots and watched Bacchus. A great parade for catches. After it was over the fam headed over to hang with some friends who booked a hotel room for a couple of nights. They didn't want to do the driving back and forth from the North Shore.

Monday Feb. 19th. We got parking early, took Jessica to Acme, Harrah's then down to Molly's. We had a hike to get back to the convention center in time for the Orpheus Press Conference. We just made it. Got to say hi to Harry. Lisa, Kristen and I decided that we were going to the beginning of the parade. Good thing we did, we got our pics with Sean Payton, Harry and Patricia Clarkson there. Sean was so much fun!! At one point he was even singing in my ear!! We raced back to the end of the parade route and caught the parade. We all then raced over to Holwin Wolf were I got the merch table set up and Bonerama opened for George Porter Jr and the Runnin Pardners. This was really the only super late night. Pretty soon the only one left from my krewe was Kristen. Everyone else had left to get some shut eye. The band stopped around 4 AM. Bed by 5 AM.

Tuesday Feb. 20th. Up at 8:30 AM and out the door by 9:30 AM. We had the best cab driver who got us down to the Bywater for the start of the St. Anne parade. We made it through the whole thing, Lisa and Scott decided to go and nap while my cousin and I kept going. By the time Kristen caught up with us, we were pretty wiped. I think we got home at 10 that night. It was one of the best Mardi Gras days ever!!

Wed. Feb 21st...everyone headed home. :(

Thursday Feb. 22nd back to work.

I suffered the worst tension headache for about 2 days...it is just now starting to fade. Have stayed home both last night and tonight. Amazing. I am just wiped, however I would not change a moment of it for anything!!

Pics with Sean Payton (Saints Head Coach) Patrica Clarkson and Harry Connick Jr.

Oh my! My face still hurts from laughing so hard of 3+ hours. It was so much fun, well put together and a fantastic night overall. So many thanks go to Laurie for getting us the fantastic seats and all her hard work!! THANK YOU!!!!!!! I saw myself 2 times!! Once on the piece they did on Arabi Wrecking Krewe and then again in the audience when Wayne Brady did a audience participation rap. :) The star of the night was Grace however. ;) So many people came up and talked to at the end of the night and one guy even asked her to pose for a picture!! My boys...Bonerama? They sounded awesome of course in Vegas. They said they had a wonderful experience and such a good time!! :)
some pics to enjoy:

The "stage" that the Radiators played from, Tom Arnold and Cheryl Hines, Wayne Brady singing to Grace, and the whole gang at the end of the night:

I had a nice post all done up with a red little bow, when my computer froze and I lost everything. I then proceeded to actually do some work, and forgot pretty much everything I wrote. So once again, its comin at you bullet style, in totally random order.

Seahawks won. They sucked, but they won. At least the first half with the 7 sacks was pretty fun to watch.
Seriously....Neil Patrick Harris (aka Swarley) is gay? dammit. Not suprising, but dammit.
Benefit show at Tips last night was full of wonderful music, suprises, and just plain good times. Bonerama rocked it with what seems to be their new band member Tony Clifton. Brings a whole new 'tude to the gigs.
Tipitina's Foundations, Musicians Clinic, and Arabi Wrecking Krewe should be proud, it was a nice touch to have so many different musicians present.
Ray finally got "boned" Hope you enjoyed it enough to come to the Maple Leaf on Saturday!
I said two words to Mike Mills from REM it was either "great job" or "sounds great" to which he responded "thanks" I rule.
Its flooding in Washington. Washington State. To my peeps up in Seattle, if you need some shrimp boots, waders, a rubber duckie, let me know.
Chris Rose was there last night. I stood next to him during the Bonerama set, didn't say a word. I was/am intimated by him. He writes so well, and is always right on the money. Hell Dooce even linked to him. That is uber cool.
With a little amount of sleep, I am feeling remarkably "normal" today.
My sister finally sent me the pics of her ultrasound from last Friday. I may have teared up a bit when I saw my little niece/nephew. We won't know if it is a boy or a girl for about 6 more weeks. I already told her I think its a boy.

A year ago today I was in tears, scared, and not sure what was going to happen. I know I sure as hell wasn't the only one. I didn't think that I was going to get to come home ever again. I know for a fact that I wasn't thinking that a year later I would be 2nd lining down Poydras street.

Yesterday started off on a rather odd foot. I headed to work as normal, when I was a block away, I could see alot of the people standing outside. As I got closer one of the guys in the shop said, "the power is out" It had been out since about 6:30 or so. There was apparentley a fire in one of the underground lines, it blow a man cover off, smoke was billowing. The power was out from our building all the way down to the river. So we were told. We hung out for awhile, then around 9 when it was made clear that the power wouldn't be on anytime soon, we were all sent home. As it turned out? It came back on about 9:30 AM. An unscheduled day off.

I headed home and chilled for a bit, then I went out to enjoy the city like Lisa suggested. I went down to the Quarter and ate a bit of lunch at Napoleon House. I then headed back down to the CBD area. I had been told by Sheik that is where the Treme Brass Band was meeting for the 2nd line. The 2nd line was to go from the Convention Center down to the Superdome. When I got there, I saw a ton of people that I hadn't seen in awhile including Uncle Lionel, Rob Espino, Bruce, Craig to mention a few. There were a small contigent of Arabi Wrecking Krewe'rs there as well....Brian got to play with the Treme. The parade was to start at 2, it was more like 3 or 3:30. Before we got started, the band would play a few songs and it was amusing to watch the reporters, photographers, and camera men flock to them like they were gods. I can not explain the feeling that overcame me when the band started playing "I'll Fly Away" as we danced down Poydras Street. I had chills. Not only was the band playing and several members singing, but the crowd following them was singing at the top of their (our lungs) There were people lining the streets cheering and dancing. I almost lost my group at one point. I got sidetracked by a certain anchor of CNN. Anderson Cooper. He was just hanging out behind the barricaded street, watching the parade with his dog. I snapped a few pics and shook his hand. By the time we reached the Super Dome we were all soaked in sweat. Not only was my ankle swollen, but the entire foot. It was worth it however. I don't know how the guys in the band did it. They didn't stop playing, and the water that I did have left only got as far as Craig and Rob at the end.

A few of us decided to head out to find a bar. Only requirements? AC, beer, water and food. We ended up at Mother's. Pretty much back at the beginning of where the parade had started. We had just gotten our food when General Honore walked in!! We then headed up to the Circle Bar. At this point I should mention we were still walking....we hung out there for a bit, then it was time to walk BACK to the NO Arena where we met up with Grace and Kristen. We took in the concert that Wynton Marsalis had organized featuring the following people (I know I am not going to remember everyone) George Porter Jr, Leo Nocentelli, Ivan Neville, Cyril Neville, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Raymond Weber, John Boutte (that was just the first band!!) Dr. John (in a fantastic red suit and he even got up from the piano and danced his heart out) then out came the gospel groups Mary, Mary. Kim Burrell, Kirk Franklin. Wyton Marsalis played. Dr. Michael White was with that group. The to round out the evening Stevie Wonder. Stevie had Wyton, Kim and Kirk all out at one point or another.

By the time I made it home, it was after midnight. I was sore, hobbling and for the most part enjoying every minute of it. I do have pictures from the days events. However I was too tired last night to put them up. I just crashed. I will get those up sometime today.

Really, was a difference a year can make. Not in overall improvements in the city, but considering a year ago where I was emotionally? It is a huge improvement.

I went to NYC for 4 days/3 nights. I had fun. We walked about 3 gazillion miles, saw lots of sights, ate little food (ate like once a day), hung out with my sister, bro in law and mom the whole time, saw Harry on Broadway, got on the Today show right behind Al while he did the weather.....and now I am back at work. Good times. I told someone today that my goal for the month of June is to work full weeks that whole month. I think I can handle that. More to come later. Work has blocked alot of blogs and what not. Cool I understand. Gotta be boring for the person answering phones however....I do it for about an hour a day (2 breaks and a lunch) and I get bored as hell.

Ellen came to town today to do a spot for her show...she was handing over the keys to a Quizno's that she helped this lady here get.....this is the best pic I could get of her

But I did get a good one of Portia DeRossi!!! She was super nice to everyone!!

Its been a good Thanksgiving...although I am still having a hard time with the whole, "its the holidays" I still think its August....and the weather outside right now is horrendous. Its pouring rain, lots o wind and some lightning. I didn't see the boy on Thanksgiving as planned....he didn't make his flight. But he will be here tomorrow night!!! Late...but he will still be here. I am very excited. I had a great interview on Friday that may lead to a very, very, very good job and career change. I don't want to jinx it too much....so that is the extent of that.....I saw Spike Lee today too. cool. live moves on.

Stars shine here in NOLA....because they are SWEATING like feinds. Yesterday Lisa called me to tell me they had seen a bunch of trailers set up in the Quarter....on my way to work, I passed them setting up a scene for some Disney movie. They were filming at the end of the day when I walked by. All weekend there was something being filmed in the Pan American Life building on Poydras. So last night after STUFFING ourselves at Port O Call...we walked back down to where the trailers were set up. It appeared to be the "home base" and no one was around. So we wandered by all the trailers looking at the names on them. It was the film for Michael Keaton. Do you know who else is in that movie???? Brendan Fraser. I feel full stalking mode coming on. I had known Brendan Fraser was going to be here...I just didn't realize it was NOW. Lisa guess what we are doing tonight??? ;)

Adam had run across the film set last Sunday. He actually talked to Matthew on that day. We went down there on Tuesday, Wed, and then again on Saturday. At least those are the days I went. Adam went almost everyday. He actually almost had a pic with Matthew himself on Friday (or was it Thursday) but he had forgotten his memory card at home. OOPS. We hung out for a bit on Saturday...they took a lunch break, Matthew was walking to his car, looking at a calendar. He glanced up, saw Adam, and started angling towards him. After all he had seen Adam there everyday! Then...these ladies came out of nowhere..at least that is what it seemed....they were up the street part way, across from the house they were filming at. Adam and I had been down the street, across from Matthew's car. So they came running up, "Matthew can we get a picture?" I backed away across the street at that time. He said "sure can we make it a group shot? I need to grab some lunch" He had to say this like 3 times...because they didn't want a group shot. 2 of the ladies knew each other, the 3rd didn't know them. Adam ended up taking the pic on one of the girls cameras...Matthew then drove away. Adam and I kinda came and went from the set...the last time we came back with beer. Cuz it was a damn hot day. Matthew came out and was headed to the car, and I thought "its now or never" so I asked him for a pic, and at the same time, a few people asked for autographes. He said "sure, just give me a minute, I will be right back" So he gets in his car ,and we thought they were leaving...but he got in the car to make a call, and wanted the AC. After about 15 mins....one of the assistants came and knocked on the window telling him they needed him, he got out...started heading towards the set, then motioned one minute to the assistants...he came back and crossed the street, said "did you want me to sign something?" and everyone just stood there, I shook my head, and he said "that's right you wanted a picture, I am still on my phone, is that okay?" I said yup. We took the pic, and I said "Thank you so much" and he said "Cool" And that is the tale.....

Do I really need to say anything else about my weekend besides this???:

Last night, Adam, Carrie, and I stalked...I mean hung out at the movie set. Starring in the movie? Of course Sarah Jessica Parker,The ever-oh-so-beautiful, my lovah, Matthew,Terry Bradshaw, who was VERY sweet. And Cathy Bates. Or is Kathy? Anyway.
After hanging out there, I went and hung out with the boy. We went to Shiloh for a drink, then to one other place on Magazine. *sigh* he is very sweet.

The man in the blue shirt? lighting a ciggie? thats my lovah Matthew M. ;) He is filming a movie with Sarah Jessica Parker. My second sighting of him. This time though we hung outside of the movie set. The time before it was in a bar and he asked me if the stool next to me was taken. *sigh*