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 am back from Montana. I have a lot of catching up to do. Pictures to post. Stories to tell. Blogs to read. However I am about to head out to the airport in a few minutes to get Lisa and co. Satchmo fest is this weekend. White Linen night. A potential grooving show at Balcony Music Club. George Porter Jr is gonna be there. Ya know it will be good. So it does appear that two of my cousins and my aunt have found this here blog. Like it is hard to find. So no stories about them. ;) Actually yeah there will be. From the highest bidder. :P

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am around, just been busy for the most part. Actually technically not REALLY busy, just away from the computer and experiencing life.

As for the interview. It went really really really well and I hope to find out later this week if I in fact will get the job. I had to send in a writing style sample which I did this morning and I hope they like it! It is an administrative position and the company sounds amazing and there is so much room for growth there. I know it isn't in the music business like I would like to be working in however it will be helping out New Orleans and that is something else I am passionate about. So now the waiting begins.

As I said last week, my sister, brother in law and Aubrey came to town. They arrived on Friday evening. It had been a long travel day for Aubrey, with her taking only on 45 min nap. She usually lays down at least twice a day for about 2 hours each time. (The kid loves to sleep) For that little amount of sleep she was in really good spirits. We got them to the hotel and Aubrey got settled in for bed while her dad and I ran to the store to pick up some food items for the little one. I got to hang out in the hotel while everyone ran out to meet some people for dinner. Really I didn't mind. Even if she was asleep I enjoyed hanging out with my niece. Later my sister came back to the room while I took out my Brother in Law, one of my sister's friends and one of their reps.

Saturday it was up early to take care of animals then out to the hotel to play with my niece. Scott and I did take her out for a walk, the plan had to go swimming however the storm that passed through put a damper on that. We did take Aubrey out to d.b.a to see Paul Sanchez and Shamarr Allen. They played the early set so we snuck the baby into her first bar! We snagged one of the window seats so it wasn't too loud and away from the smoke. Craig stopped by on his way to Snug to meet Aubrey for the first time and say hi to my sister. After grabbing some food from 13 I dropped the family off at the hotel then went to care for the dog I am watching.

Yesterday it was a bit more of the same, however my housemate is finally home so I didn't have to race to my house to take care of our cats. I did get a bit of sleep then went over to the hotel to hang with Aubrey again. We did take her to lunch at Mulate's (close to the convention center) and then later the convention my sister is attending had a mini Mardi Gras that included a few floats and a high school band. Aubrey caught a few beads and had great time!

I am getting off work in about an hour to spend more time with her and the rest of them. ;) Can't wait to get some more baby lovin!!

EDITED TO ADD: My birthday is in ONE MONTH!! Planning should have commenced already. ;)

This weekend was pretty darn quiet. I watched movies. I read. I drove from house to house to house taking care of animals. One would wonder why I am so tired. Mainly it is because I don't sleep well when I am not at my house. I also need a bit of noise when I fall asleep. I have had neither for over a week. If I get 3 hours of solid sleep? I consider it a good night right now. Yes I did go and see some music this weekend. It was the same person both nights.

Friday night I went to Carrollton Station to see Paul Sanchez play solo. Saturday night it was d.b.a and Alex McMurray sat in. I know I have said this before, so I will sound like a broken record. If you have never EVER seen a Paul Sanchez gig you need to check him out at least once. You will either get it, or you won't. Which is fine. I have seen some of the "regulars" show up with someone new to check out Paul's music and more often than not you start seeing those people again and again, and then they start bringing people. Not everyone knows who Paul is, some do and therefore don't want to check him out thinking he is doing what he was doing before. See for a really really REALLY long time, Paul was in the band Cowboy Mouth. A rock-n-roll band. Some people often say a college band. Some people (myself included) started getting bored at the shows, with the same things being said and done over and over. (I know a lot of bands do this so it isn't a dig against CM) You are either really really in the mood for one of their shows, or not. Anyway. Over a year and a half ago Paul left the band among some disputes. I don't know the full story, I don't want to know the full story, I don't NEED to know the full story. There is no law that says I can't enjoy both. Sadly CM very rarely seems to play in town anymore (like a certain trombone band I know) ;) Paul however has taken off with his solo shows. He has played Jazz Fest (okay three and a half songs before the rain forced them to stop) French Quarter Fest, Wednesday in the Square, the upcoming Voo Doo Fest. He is playing all across the country. Sometimes like on Friday night it is a solo show. Just Paul, his guitar, his songs, his stories. (point in case, I know most of the stories by now. Sometimes he gives a bit more information, but I always laugh) Sometimes it is a different musician sitting in. Could be another guitar player, could be a horn player, could be just about anyone. In the past he has had Susan Cowsill, Matt Perrine, Craig Klein, Shamarr Allen, James Andrews, Todd Duke, Alex McMurray, David Torkanowsky, Sonia Tetlow. Sometimes it is a duo, sometimes a trio, and if you are catching a festival show chances are pretty good you are going to see the Rolling Road Show. Now the Rolling Road Show consists of the above musicians, mixed and matched. Whoever is in town. And you know it is going to be an amazing show. Not only will Paul do his own music but he makes sure to showcase who ever is playing with him. Paul is a true troubadour. His songs and his stories are like a warm hug.

Paul and I knew each other as acquaintances before the storm. After the storm I helped gut out his and his wife's home. It was one of the hardest houses to work on. Not because of the muck and the nastiness but because I knew whose items it was I was tossing out on the curb. It was a pretty emotional day for everyone both happy and sad. I rarely miss one of Paul's shows because like I said, it is a warm hug every time. You just need to let the music sweep over you and take you away. Paul knows that I was the local merch person for Bonerama so from time to time he will ask me to sell CDs for him as well. He would often make comments that if he could afford me, he would hire me full time. Paul has found a way to make us both some money, so as of this weekend, I am under his employ. No this isn't something that I can live off of, but it is a start. He gave me a bunch of CDs this weekend and I am going to get them into stores, bookstores, coffee shops, where ever I can. I will get a portion, he will get a portion and the store selling will get a portion. So it is a step in the right direction.

Seeing how the job search isn't going any where fast, it could be the only income I have coming in here. I have been sending out resumes for a month and a half and have only heard back from a Temp Company. That was legitimate anyway. So I will keep chugging along trying to find something. Only a few more weeks to go. Only as slight panic setting in.

I ventured out on a Tuesday night. I try to avoid going out on a "school" night, however this was something I just couldn't pass up. It was a reunion show for Royal Fingerbowl, as well as a birthday celebration for Matt Perrine, sousaphone/bass player legend. The show took place at One Eyed Jacks, a venue I have been to a few times and have loved every time. Last night was no exception. The guys actually started at 10, something that is virtually unheard of. I was sitting up on the small balcony with Matt's mom and Elyse and at first we didn't think that many people were going to show up. When the band started there weren't that many people there. Within minutes however the room was packed. For a band that hasn't played in a long time, they sounded so amazing. I can't convey the sound that they produced last night. It was killin. Alex McMurray is a terrific songwriter and amazingly wonderful guitar player and he just threw down last night. They played a lot of the Royal Fingerbowl catalog as well as a few other tunes. I do have to say I was most surprised when they played "Like a Virgin" Seriously haven't lived until you have heard Royal Fingerbowl's version. There was cake and champagne for the birthday boy during the break which lasted only 15 minutes. Again something unheard of. A short set break? shocking. I don't know if they will get together again, even if they don't you should check out some of their music!

Last night I went and had some dinner at my lovely friend's house before they jet set off to another place for the summer. A lot of my friends are/will be out of town for the summer. That is just what some people do here in New Orleans. They get out of town to try to beat the heat, go where the gigs are, just get out. It really does quiet down here so the need for the musicians to leave is great. They do have to make money somehow! My housemate has been gone for all of June, she will be back in the next few weeks. My Bonerama boys are here right now, but will be on the road most of the summer, Pfister Sisters are in Ascona then Berlin, Leroy and Katja are heading to Finland, Grace is visiting family for a month, Roger and Elyse are hitting the West Coast for about a week, there is so many more going. I have realized that I have not left the city of New Orleans since last July. I haven't really had a longing to go anywhere. Yes it would have been nice to go to Phoenix for Christmas, but other than that? Pretty content where I am for now. Not to say I would pass up a free trip to Europe, or some sandy beach somewhere!! I do have a few people coming to visit. Lisa, Scott and my beautiful niece Aubrey will be here in about 3 short weeks. I can't wait to see them. Of course the Mulvey's will make their yearly summer pilgrimage. I can't wait to sit by the pool and just visit and have possibly a famous Bloody Mary!! Anyone have any big summer travel plans?

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!

The fat lady is about to sing. If you have been saying to yourself all spring that you want to get out to Wednesday at the Square? This is it. Last one. Tonight it is Bag of Donuts, a cover band. It is going to be a HOT afternoon here in the Crescent City, the beer will be flowing, people will be dancing, it will be a great time. Don't forget it happens rain or shine. I will be pouring beer once again hoping that the taps don't die out like last week. Don't worry it got fixed right away, but still that little trickle for a few seconds? It wasn't fun. I have no idea if the YLC will be doing a fall series like they did last year, so gets your booty down here!! And if you don't live here? Sorry man....but maybe one day you can experience the fun that is living in New Orleans!

On the bike riding front, yes I did ride it again today. I thought I was going to die the whole way here. I don't know why really, could be couple of things. There was a slight breeze and of course I was riding straight into it. I left the house about 5 minutes later than normal, and as I tried to push myself a bit more, I seemed to slow down. Could be because even though I took a Tylenol PM last night I was still exhausted? Who knows, in the end I did ride the bike and I made it in one piece. My muscles aren't pleased with me right now but tough.

Bullets because otherwise this could be very scattered (like it isn't anyway, humor me.)

* Friday the interview went okay. It is at a temp agency so if and when I need it, they will be there. I am still debating with myself if I just want to trust that they will have enough temp assignments or hopefully a good temp to hire position available. I have a feeling they won't really look for anything for me until I don't have a job. Which reminds me I need to find out when this company is moving. I did head to the Maple Leaf where it was like club night. Seriously such a weird night there with all these really young kids there. I didn't stick around long.

*Saturday I got up and spent the morning reading, I love a good book whether it be chick lit or something heavier. This weekend it has been chick lit. I then went and had a marathon acupuncture session. My friend is licensed and I have been going to her for some time now. This weekend she said she wanted to do cupping as well. I have had this done a few times and it had been awhile. Pretty much what cupping is, they put alcohol in a glass, light the alcohol and then suction it to your back. It sucks out toxins and relaxes the muscles. It leaves some pretty interesting bruises on your back, and I can say it doesn't always feel pleasant. Especially when moving the glass from one spot to another, because they keep the suction going. Some areas however as you feel the tension leaving? Oh man....it is incredible. I could barely walk out the door I was so relaxed. I went home intent on sleeping, but I didn't, I started reading again.

* I decided to brave the Maple Leaf again Saturday night. Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes were playing and I love me some Sketch. The few regulars that were there talked about the weirdness from Friday night and we all just really enjoyed the music. The energy was really high from everyone that night. Everyone laughing and dancing and having a good time. It was a great New Orleans night.

*Yesterday I tried to catch up on sleep. Read for awhile and waited anxiously for the Tony's to start. I now of course want to see every show that is on Broadway. Hopefully I will get to make a theatre run up there someday soon.

If you have said all spring that you want to get out to the Wednesday in the Square concerts, you have two chances left. This week and next week. This week it is The Stringbeans and for the main course, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. Seriously the music is going to be HOT tonight. Music starts at 5 and goes until 7:30. Food, beer, people and music. What else could you want on a Wednesday evening in New Orleans? I will be at my normal spot, pouring the beer as well as enjoying some of it I am sure. OH CRAP! I just realized I wore the wrong shoes this morning. EGADS! Oh well there are definitely worse things in life than beer on your shoes. I don't know what I am going to do with myself after next week on Wednesdays. Perhaps I will finally get my butt and gear and finally finish my sister's blanket (although don't hold your breath) ;)

Remember how I said I was hoping that Bonerama played a birthday show for me this year? Well they are. In Atlanta. I would love to say I am going anyway but with the job situation, well I can't.

Both nights at Tips this weekend was so fantastic. Too short for Bonerama, played only like an hour. Won't see the boys play again...until....well I don't know. There is only a private show scheduled for later this month here in town. Other than that? They are on the road.

Paul Sanchez put on an amazing show and everyone who took in the free show left with smiles on their faces.

Tips did some rearranging of the merch area, adding a ton more for themselves. It looks good!! I always have a good time there, people just having fun and love to talk about the great music that comes off the stage.

Is it no wonder I love this town? Speaking of there is a BBQ out on Oak Street today with some music (of course) yes I will be heading down there!

* I have had sneeze building all morning long. Every once in awhile I get an awful tickle, so much it almost burns, but so far the sneeze hasn't happened. When it does? It will be colossal. (it happened, and it was)
* Don't forget that Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road show featuring Craig Klein, Matt Perrine, Eric Bolivar (all from Bonerama) and Shamarr Allen are playing a free show at Tips tonight! If you aren't in town and want to catch it, try the webcast!
*Bonerama will be at Tips tomorrow, same deal except not free. But check out the webcast if you get the chance.
* I didn't ride my bike to work on Wednesday or Thursday but I did today. So for the first week of this? I have rode 3 times, which isn't bad. I kinda wish I had all week. But there is next week!
* I spent all last night reading this blog. Nanette had it linked on hers. Don't read it if you don't want to cry. Seriously. I started reading from the first post, and seriously cried the rest of the night away. It is such a sweet blog, Matt and his wife had a baby a few months early, and as his wife was on her way to see the baby for the first time? She passed out, and they were unable to revive her. So Matt is going through first time parenting alone and dealing with the death of his wife.

I did rest a lot this weekend and am feeling quite awake. It could have something to do with riding the bike to work this morning. Which means riding the bike home. I hope to make this a daily thing, so wish me luck on that!

As for the weekend, well it all started on Thursday. After work I met up with Lisa at her hotel where we sat by the pool and chatted for a bit. We then had a lovely dinner with her boss then made our way out to Frenchmen Street. Yes it was another evening of fantastic music with Paul Sanchez. This time he had Shamarr Allen sitting in with him. Paul has also offered me a small job with him, which I am going to do. I am going to hope this works out really well for the both of us! After Paul's sets ended, Lisa and I made our way over to Snug Harbor where the Pfister Sister's were celebrating their CD release. I love seeing those ladies live. They are so super talented and funny. I don't get to see them that often even though they have a weekly gig at the Spotted Cat on Wednesdays. I am usually either babysitting for Debbie and Matt or working the Wednesday in the Square. The ladies will be going overseas for most of the summer, so chances of seeing them again soon are pretty slim.

I took Friday off, mainly for a mental health break. As some of you know my job is relocating in the next few months. I am however, not relocating with them. In between training a new person and worrying about finding a new job for myself, I needed a day. I met up with Lisa, had a small lunch then I said goodbye to her and went on over to Canal Place to catch a viewing of Sex and the City. I loved it. I cried. I laughed. I did both at the same time. The only weak part in the whole movie? Jennifer Hudson. Which I found gratifying since she was so mean when I worked with her. No that didn't color my opinion, it was a very weak performance, I went in giving her the benefit of the doubt. After the movie was over I made my way home. Perused the job boards a bit, and took a nap and watched the Lost season finale. OH MY WORD. I did make my way to the Maple Leaf. Of course. I wanted to see Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes. They always put on a good show. They didn't disappoint this weekend. I got to hang out with some new friends and we all danced our butts off.

Saturday I caught up on some Tivo, a movie and cleaned up the house a bit. I then made my way downtown and met up with my friend Katja. We had grand plans to go either to Preservation Hall or to Palm Court, possibly both. We made it to neither. We sat outside in their backyard and ate food, drank wine and just talked. It was the most enjoyable relaxing evening and I was so glad to get caught up with Katja. Since she is on the road so much, we don't get to do that that often.

Yesterday was more job searching, another movie, a few errands and trying to cheer up a friend. I don't think I did that so well but will keep trying. I also have a potential great job lead that I hope comes to be. We will see.

This week looks to be pretty quiet as well. Other than some amazing shows happening this weekend. Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road show will be playing a FREE show at Tipitina's this Friday. That is right. FREE! He is having sit in with him Shamarr Allen, and three of my boys from Bonerama: Craig, Eric and Matt. It is looking to be a great show. Again, if you haven't experienced a Paul show yet, this should be the one!! If you don't live here, there is the potential of a webcast at www.tipitinas.com. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The next night Bonerama is playing at Tipitina's. It is a benefit show for Sweet Home New Orleans and Pot Luck Con I believe. Tickets are only $15.

The following images are of part of the Streetcar Art that is being placed throughout town. For a more detailed background and fantastic shots, visit this lovely blog done by Nola and Pete. They have tracked down a few that have been placed. The other night while at Greek Fest I told Pete about the one in Lafayette Square. I had spied it with my little eye from were I was selling merch last week. I didn't go over to investigate it, as by the time I could it was dark, and I honestly forgot. Today he informed me that the musicians on the streetcar were in fact a few of the boys in Bonerama. Ya know I had to go and really check it out! So before the music started tonight I did get a chance to see it. Here are the shots I took!!

This long weekend that we just had, well it was packed full of non-stop fun. It was a great way to kick off the summer. I had a friend come to visit the city, and we just had so much that we had to do and see, and to be seen. Like I said in my last post, we spent most of Thursday dodging rain and storms but managed to have a lovely afternoon that included a few bars, live music and friends. On Friday I went back to work, having enjoyed a half day off. When Sophia was ready to go for the day, I ran to the house, and dropped her off in the Quarter and said "have fun!!" After my day at work I met up with her in the Quarter, introduced her to the wonder of the many daquari shops then we wandered a bit more. We found ourselves in Jackson Square, enjoying the band playing when I happened to notice a familiar looking fellow. It was Terrance Higgins, drummer for Dirty Dozen Brass Band and had at one point sat in with Bonerama. He was showing friends around as well. About that time as well I got a call from Pete, saying he had made it into town and was out at the Greek Fest, so away we went out to the fest. It was a nice relaxing evening there in which I tried my first shot of Ouzo, watche the dancers and listened to the music. Of course food and conversation was had as well. Check out Pete's blog for pictures! We were not done for the evening however, once leaving there, it was time for my weekly check in at the Maple Leaf. Sophia finally got to see my home away from home and hear some music, meet even more people and soak up some of the orange lighting.

After some sleep, we were up and ready to go again on Saturday. This was a HOT and very muggy day. It was my kind of day. First stop of the day was out to Bayou Bogaloo and to see Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road show. It was a short but amazing set. I was glad that Sophia got to see Shamarr play and had a chance to meet him, as he is an amazing musician and person. We then did the tour of the devasted areas, you know the 9th Ward, Lakeview, any part of the city that isn't the Garden District and French Quarter. To me there seemed to be a lot more activity down in the 9th Ward and that made me glad. More businesses are open. We then made it down to Port O Call for some drinks and burgers. We eventually made our way over to d.b.a for a night of John Boutte. It was once again packed for him in there, everyone seems to enjoy John, whether he remembers the words or not. A few of us were reminising about the days when you didn't have to get there so early to make sure you had a seat, while it is GREAT for John, the rest of us were bummed. A bit anyway. When his sets were done, we made the trek around the Quarter to Donna's to take in a few sets by New Orleans Helsinki Connection. It was a small crowd, and it was some really nice music happening. I hadn't been to Donna's in quite a while so it was nice to get back in there.

Sunday we did a tour of the Garden District, more walking in the Quarter so some more shopping could be had then a stop at Palm Court where Lucien was playing. Sophia was tired when we left there so I took her back to my house so she could pack a bit and get some rest. I, knowing I had the next day off decided to head on down to the Maple Leaf for some Sunday fun. Which was had....Yesterday after a mad dash to the airport, a missed flight, Sophia made it home in one piece. While maybe not quite rested, she did have fun!! And so did I. It is always a good time to see the city through a new person's eyes.

Yesterday I took half a day off because I had a friend come into town. It was the first time she had ever visited the city, without her parents (which doesn't count). We made it to Napoleon House and had a little Pimms and a little food. We were then attempting to walk down Royal Street, which turned more into a game of how wet will become in between balconies? The rain just didn't let up. AT.ALL. We did do a little shopping here and there in some of the local shops. We finally made our way to Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop for a drink and to hopefully wait out the storm. It did clear up finally, it was such a "chore" to have to just sit there and drink and visit. No really we probably could have stayed there much longer however we had places to go! People to see! We made it back to the car with the mandatory walk down Bourbon and right as the rain started to fall again. We pointed the car into the direction of Frenchmen Street and d.b.a. Paul and Alex put on another lovely couple of sets. There was a little Good Cop/Bad Cop, actually it was really Bad Cop/Bad Cop even though Alex tried to be good. Not many people came out that night, I don't know why? Rain smain. There is awesome music happening! That's okay we still had a BLAST and heard some amazing stuff happening up on the stage. We then headed on over to Palm Court Cafe to hear the last set from Leroy Jones and Katja. So glad to see them back in town! By the time we left there, it was storming pretty good once again. Hopefully today won't be as bad weather wise. After I get off work there will be more adventures to be had. I do believe one of them will include Pete and some Greeks!!

First and foremost a small rant, if you will. I forgot my camera yesterday. I know I should just carry it around with me for access at all times. Usually it is in my purse. I had moved it into a different bag for last Saturday night, and forgot to move it back. Thus there are no pictures, from me anyway, of the great and fantastic evening that occurred last night.

Seriously? The music was out of control. The sound that poured forth from the stage was like magic. There were at times 9 people up on stage. Paul Sanchez (of course), Sonia Tetlow, Mary Lasang, Susan Cowsill, Russ Broussard, John Boutte, Alex McMurray, Glen Andrews and a sax player named Chelsea I belive. Everyone got more than one chance to shine, play their own stuff as well as Paul's. Because that is the way Paul is, he wants to showcase everyone and just play some damn good music. I can't tell you what my favorite moment was because there was so many. Just so many. The crowd was into it, much more than I have seen in the past. People were dancing and singing and living life. If you missed it? Well it is a damn shame. However, there are more opprotunities to check it out for yourself. This weekend as a matter of fact. Paul and the Rolling Road show will be playing tomorrow night at Mandeville Trailhead, they will also be playing at the Bayou Boogaloo on Saturday from 12-12:45. Yes it is a very short set....but it will be 45 mins of glorious music!!

If you haven't caught a Paul Sanchez gig either solo, with a few people sitting in, or with the Rolling Road Show, you are missing one of the true New Orleans experiences. You never know who is going to show up, who is going to play, all you know is the sound produced at one of these gigs just wraps you up in a giant hug. The stories are classics and usually has you laughing your ass off. The songs? Well the songs speak for themselves. The Rolling Road Show usually consists of a few constants, but the rest of the players rotate in and out depending on who is available. See Paul has some of the best musicians in town playing with him. We are talking top notch fantastic musicians. Tonight we will be seeing Sonia Tetlow, Mary LaSang, Alex McMurray, I do believe Paul told me that Glenn Andrews would be there tonight, Shamarr Allen, and I am not sure who else. I am going to guess Susan Cowsill, John Boutte, and heck I don't know who else all I know it will be GOOD! So come on out to the Wednesday in the Square. Dash Rip Rock opens the whole shindig at 5:00 PM, Paul should be hitting the stage at 6:00. It is a free show, there is food, beer and drinks for sale.....enjoy some pics from the last time Paul played there!!

This weekend was a quiet one for me. Shocking and unbelievable for some I know, yet it is true. Friday after work we had a crawfish boil, and that was really the biggest event of the night for me. Unless you include the peeling of the crawfish I brought home to make pasta with an outstanding and exciting time. I wasn't in the mood for going out, and really it was time to spend a Friday night in. So that is what I did. Saturday I was up nice bright and early due to the previous nights inactivity. I had laundry going and a breakfast prepared before 8:30 AM. The rest of my day pretty much consisted of watching lame reality TV, working on this new site and laundry. That is until about 3. Really did you think I would spend all weekend doing nothing? For shame. I did go over and babysit the boys for about an hour, then once their grandmother showed up we all bundled up in the car and headed on over to Ponchatrain Vineyards for a lovely evening of friends, food and really good music by Rick Trolsen. There was a nice group of us over there showing our support and love for Rick. I do admit that I didn't get to enjoy the music as much as I normally would because I was running around after a 4 year old most of the time. He did seem to enjoy himself!! I did make my way down to the Maple Leaf for about an hour that night. I was in fact home and in bed before 1. Several people asked me where I was the night before, so I guess I was missed. Yesterday I barely left my room. I read a bit and watched a few movies. There were a few times when I just couldn't seem to keep my eyes open and would doze off into oblivion. It was a nice restful weekend. Gearing up for a potentially busy week coming up. There are two things I am looking quite forward to, one being Wednesday in the Square. This week I will not be serving beer, but helping sell merchandise. The headliner for that night is Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show. Perfect time to check them out. He won't have a few of the usual Rolling Road Showers with him as they will be in Brazil, however I do know the people he is brining in will bring a nice sound to the mix. The other is I have a friend coming to town for her first ever visit. I am excited to be able to show off the town to a first timer!!

As I had previously mentioned this Jazz Fest was just a bit different for myself. Traditions that had been set in the past, well didn't happen. I did start the first day of Jazz Fest and the last day of the Fest out on my own. What I mean by that is that I made my way to the Fest on my own and for a majority of the days would go to the stages that I wanted to go to, see who I wanted, when I wanted, eat when I wanted and what not. It was nice. I did run into people I did know on those days and did spend time with them as well. The mud factor this year made it a bit more challenging to get around from stage to stage. Some fake crocs bought at the local drugstore made it almost bearable. The rain was pretty miserable on the first weekend. It wasn't so bad at the beginning, it was as it got colder and colder out did we get more miserable. I did try out a few more food dishes this year, and I think climbing up to the top of my favorites is the softshell crawfish poboy. Yes, softshell crawfish. Pretty darn delish. The music was top notch as always. I didn't catch many of the bigger acts, I rarely do. The only one I did in fact was Allison Krause and Robert Plant. The crowds get to much for me at the bigger stages. The only day it was durable was on Thursday. Of course that was the "locals" day. It was one of the best days at the fest. The weather was outstanding and the crowds were lighter. Of course Bonerama and PBS played and both of their sets were amazing. I wasn't all gung-ho with the Burlesque dancers, I do know I wasn't the only one. But it did get people talking about the band. I would rather see it be more about the music myself that got the people talking. Don't get me wrong, people did pay attention to the music and were talking about it, could have been more if it weren't for the dancers. PBS laid it straight out and had the people groovin to the tunes. I didn't make my way up front for either band, again because of the aforementioned crowds. My favorite sets other than my two bands were, Storyville Stompers, New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Leroy Jones, and the Bingo Show.

Again it was a lot of running around for me during the Fest. I do feel like I am still in recovery mode. In addition to going to the fest everyday, I was helping out at night shows. My least favorite shows were not because of the music, oh no. The crowds were out of control which were awesome for the bands. I only had to endure being stepped on, drinks poured on me, shoved, slipping on the floor (in front of the owner of the establishment who did nothing to help me get off my ass) (no I wasn't drunk, the floor was so slick from the rain and spilled drinks). I would totally do it all over again however. I love being able to help the bands out and Jazz Fest brings out some of the coolest and best fans that they have. Both new and old, the fans were out in full force. There were a couple of times that as soon as we walked in the venue, people were surrounding the merch table wanting to buy something. I wouldn't even have time to set up anything yet! This happened with BOTH bands. Ya can't help but be happy for the bands when that happens.

All in all it was a pretty successful Jazz Fest. If we weren't enjoying music, it was hanging out with my awesome new and old friends, finding great food, or getting a cold beer.

I did find myself thinking about next year already so it must mean that I am pretty much almost recovered.

So welcome to the new site/blog. I hope you like it. There are still some things I need to try and fix, like the sidebar doesn't seem to move along into the archives. If anyone wants to help me with the last few things that would be great, because I just can't seem to look at things on here anymore. However I wasn't the one who designed this beautiful and fantastic page. No it wasn't me at all but the wonderful Miss Zoot. She did this, oh maybe 2 years ago or more....and well I am just now getting things done with it. I procrastinate like no other person. At least one project of mine has been done!!

Please let me know if there are any other issues that you see. I will get to a nice long Jazz Fest post soon, for now please enjoy a few pics from the second weekend.

I made it through Jazz Fest. It may not be in one piece. It could be said that I may have killed more than a few brain cells over the past two weeks. I haven't slept much and right now I have been up for 24 hours. I will do my big lowdown on Jazz Fest in a few days, accompanied with some pictures.

Tomorrow I will be out at Wednesday in the Square. I won't be pouring beer this week, but selling some merch for PBS. Come say hi if you are out there!

So I am shooting for Thursday. I will also be putting this post up at my new blog. So look out for it. The site is pretty much ready, I just haven't transferred the old posts from here over to there. I was going to wait until that was all done, but I feel like a good Jazz Fest post at the new site is fitting.

One more item of semi-importance for those of you not Jazz Fested out and are here in town. Bonerama is playing this Friday at the Maple Leaf. You know where to find me.

A day of rest and now we are back at it. But WAIT! some of you may be saying. Jazz Fest isn't starting back up until Thursday. Very true, but that doesn't mean that there isn't fun still happening!! Obviously today I am at work. If all goes according to schedule, Lisa should be arriving here around 2. We are going to meet up at the New Orleans arena around 4. No we aren't lucky enough to have tickets to the Hornets game. However Bonerama is going to be playing the pre-game festivities outside the arena, so might as well go soak up some of the playoff atmosphere!! Tomorrow it will be work again then I will bop on over to Wednesday in the Square where I will be pouring beer for a few hours. Hopefully this week someone will actually give me a break....I killed 5 kegs on my own last week and well...this week is going to be SO much more busy.

Thursday, well Thursday is a special day. I am hoping to see lots of people at the Acura Stage that day. Not just the bands, but the actual people. Bonerama AND PBS on one stage, back to back??? I mean how frickin lucky can one girl get??

Just to mention again if you will be in town, either visiting or living here, don't forget on Friday night that Bonerama will be doing another signing at the Jamie Hayes Gallery from 8-9! Come see the print for yourself and have the guys sign it! :) :)

My Jazz Fest has been so different this year. It has thrown me off a bit. I haven't taken many pictures so far, mainly because of the rain. Two days of rain hasn't made it real pleasant at times. For the sake of music we endure it.

Friday I got out the fest later than planned. I grabbed the only thing that has been customary for starting out the fest, crawfish bread and a Miller Light and headed over to the Fais Do Do stage. Caught a part of the Zydepunks before going over to Congo Square to browse the wares for sale. I kept running into people I know, so before I knew it, it was time to head on over to see Bonerama being interviewed by David Fricke (of Rolling Stone). It was a great interview laced with some music. Hearing the bones blast away the paddock area at the Fairgrounds was just amazing. The sound bounced of the walls and just filled the space up with the brassy ballsy music that is the Bone. Best quote of the whole interview was when Craig said that Mark learned how to dress and do his hair from Harry Connick Jr. Oh and of course when David kinda forgot that Bonerama DID have a guitar player. After the interview I had to check out Robert Plant and Alison Krause. She has the most beautiful voice. Someone said to me later that it reminded them of a mother singing lullabies. Robert? Well come on now. He is Robert Plant.

After that I bid the fest a fond farewell for the evening. I had to head on over the hotel where the manager was staying and count out some merch and get it organized for the evening. First up for the Boneramas was an artist/musician reception in the Quarter. Jamie Hayes is a local artist who has done up a rather funky and fun print for Bonerama. It is being sold at Jamie's gallery and also at the shows. The boys and Jamie signed a bunch of posters and mingled with fans. I sold a few cds and the new t-shirts that have the print on them. The best moment had to have been the one captured in the below pic:

I think George Porter Jr was happy to have one of the prints in his hands. I won't be surprised to see a George one soon. There will be another reception this Friday, May 2nd at the gallery as well. After that it was time to get everyone to Chickie Wah Wah, and blow the joint down. I was designated to sell merch in the little patio area that has just been finished.

I was quite glad the rain held off that evening.

Saturday I started out helping out WWOZ with will call, then made it into the fest just as the rain came down. We stuck it out though. Saw some Jon Cleary, Dr. John, Cowboy Mouth, Robert "Wolfman" Washington and then to the very shortened set for Paul Sanchez.

The picture turned out dark because, well it was DARK out already!! It was pouring and there was thunder and lightning. Paul only played 3 and a half songs. And let me tell you, it was the best 3 and a half songs that I heard all day. Everyone on that stage wanted to play for those fans that stayed and they gave it everything they had. Matt Perrine set the mood, as he came from the dressing room area you could hear him coming down the corridor playing "Singing in the Rain" by the time he got to the stage the crowd was cheering. It was one of the most fantastic musical moments for me. Something so simple. Craig saved us from having to stay out longer at the fest waiting for another ride, he just rocked the world last night. I was able to squeeze in a short nap before heading to the Maple Leaf. Not my most fun night there. I was selling merch out in the back bar area. It as so crowded, I got stepped on, hit in the face (it was an accident) drink poured down my back, and stepped on some more. It kinda sucked. Not the music just the whole atmosphere. It was too crowded for my liking. I didn't end up getting home until after 4:30 this morning. I stayed for about 5 songs of George's set at the end of the night and it was still packed when I left. Not as packed but enough.

This morning I was at the fest again to help out WWOZ, made it in before the rain hit again. I only caught two acts today. Leroy Jones and Gregg Stafford. It was dry in the Economy tent, just the way I liked it. The music was killin and had people second lining through the crowd. You make the best of what you can do. Like Mr. Phluffy did.

I mean no other man I know can pull off that much pink and still be straight. Seriously. I left shortly after Gregg's set to get merch ready for this evening's festivities. Nope no Bonerama tonight. Tonight it is PBS' turn and let me tell you...I am ready to hear some of their funky music. Almost craving it. But not until I catch a nap.

I was talking to someone yesterday when I realized that the craziness kicks off tomorrow. Not that I don't mind, but this time of year seems to go by in such a lighting pace. Really time goes by when you are having fun. So much happens that I am amazed year after year that I can manage to pack in so much to one day. This year will be no exception. I have once again realized how lucky I am to be here in this city and experience this time of year with all the joy that I can handle. I also realize that there is going to be very minimal sleep for the next few weeks. Let me give you a quick run down on what will be happening.

Tomorrow is the Wednesday in the Square fun. If you can make it out, you should!! Big Sam's Funky Nation is starting the evening out following will be the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. I will be pouring the Abita and dancing. Thursday evening I will be taking in the musical styling of Paul Sanchez and who ever is sitting in with him that night. Now here is where it twists a little on me. Normally on the eve of the fest, George Porter Jr. plays at Southport Hall with the Runnin' Pardners. I don't believe that is going to happen, in fact I believe he is playing with the Trio at the Maple Leaf. Which is fine. Just a bit closer to home and I will still get the dose of George I need before the fest begins. Friday, well Friday is of course the fest. I am not sure what time I will be there, but I will be there and I will be taking in what I can when I can. Most definitely with crawfish bread in one hand and a beer in the other. There are a certain amount of acts I want to see but it always changes right. I will be at the interview that Bonerama is doing with David Fricke, cuz that is just too cool. Friday night Bonerama is kicking it off at Chickie Wah-Wah. Yes it is back. Yes it is awesome, yes Dale rules. Saturday I will be helping out WWOZ at the will call booth for the morning then into the fest I go. Again I will go where the fest takes me. Saturday night Bonerama is at the Maple Leaf. Sunday will repeat the same way, ending with PBS at the Howlin Wolf. Monday will either be a day of rest (work happens also this day) but Instruments Acomin is at Tips and that is always a fun night. Tuesday I do believe will be a rest. Wednesday it is back to Wednesday in the Square and beer pouring. Thursday is of course the big fun day for me. Bonerama AND PBS at the fest. Both are playing that evening as well. PBS is at the Howlin Wolf, Bonerama is at French Quarter Tips. Friday I will be working the Hospitality tent for WWOZ for a few hours at the fest then enjoying my time there. Friday night Bonerama is at Rock-n-Bowl. Saturday more fest, then Bonerama at d.b.a, Sunday is of course the last day of the fest, which I am usually catching my 500th wind at. Sunday night ends it all with PBS at the Howlin Wolf. Then I will collapse. Not to mention friends in town, people at the house, it is so the best time of the year. Hopefully I will see some people out there, please come find me. I will either be dancing or lying on the grass taking a nap, come say hi.

So Pete asked me if I did in fact make it out to FQF. I am proud to say that I did. I was a little out of it for most of the day. My body took quite a beating from being on that concrete floor in the arena for so long. My knees hurt, my feet hurt, I had blisters and was over all exhuasted. I didn't want to miss out on the fest however. I was willing to power through it. I was up pretty early on Sunday and made my way to the Streetcar. By the time it got up to Napoleon, the car was packed, yet more people kept getting on. I did run into some friends on the way, so we walked over to Ingrid's set together. Once there we did lose track of each other, but that was okay. Really all I wanted to do was to sit down and enjoy the music. Jessica showed up, and by that time I decided I wanted a Pimm's cup. The line to sit down to eat was out the door, and some people standing in line wouldn't let anyone wanting to go up to the bar and order a drink to go, well go in. Obviously some tourists and I wasn't in the mood to fight it so I wandered across the street and got myself a bloody mary. We went back to Ingrid's stage to catch the rest of her set. We weren't there more than 5 mins when I was called and asked to come and sell Merch for Paul Sanchez's gig. We sold a TON of cds for Paul, Shamarr, John and Susan.

They had a nice crowd gathered around their stage, and everyone did seem to be enjoying themselves.
As you can see here from this pic, I had some extreme bags and dark circles under my eyes, yet I did have a smile on my face. I love the way that the set was advertised as Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road show, yet he gave the stage over to John, Susan and Shamarr so they could do their thing as well. He is a gracious performer. After Paul's set we went over to Jackson Square to catch the end of the Pfister Sisters. If you haven't seen them, you really should. These ladies have some beautiful voices!!
After the set we did finally get a chance to eat (first meal of the day) and I knew exactly what I wanted to get. Vaucresson Sausage. I ordered up a hot sausage po' boy and Jessica got a crawfish sausage po'boy. We gracefully ripped them in half (okay it wasn't graceful) so we each got to try a little bit of each. Of course we had our customary hurricane together. Then it was off to Preservation Hall to see Leroy and Katja.

I was at this point starting to fade fast, so we journyed on back to my house to drop off Jessica's bag then, well it was a trip down to the Maple Leaf so Jessica could induldge in the crawfish boil. We stuffed ourselves with the spicey goodness then it was time to crash. Crash I did. I am still trying to recover. But so worth it.

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!!

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We are three weeks away from Jazz Fest. One week (and the rest of today) away from French Quarter Fest. What I am wondering is if everyone has gone into training yet for these fests? As for myself I do believe I am in prime form for the fests. Yes, I will be missing two day of FQF (SQUEE!! I start working on VDay in a WEEK!!) however if I had been going to those two days as well, I would still be in fine shape. However, one needs to keep up training so I offer these "tools" for your use.

Yesterday started the spring session of Wednesday in the Square. I have once again signed on to be a volunteer, or a taste tester if you will. I am one of the ones pouring the beers. It is a chance to listen to some steller music, drink some beer, eat some fantastic food (yummy Rotolo's!!) and hang out with some pretty awesome folk. I, however did not get to attend yesterday, as I was babysitting. I do that alot when Bonerama is on the road. Help out where I can. But I will be there next week!! And every week until June 18th. Either back at the beer trailers or selling merch. Check out the lineup and come have some fun!!

Coming up this Saturday is sure to be a lot of fun. It is once again time for the Freret St. Festival and is going to have a lot of great music and food. I grabbed this from my weekly Offbeat email since I can't seem to find a website for the fest: Saturday marks the 11th anniversary of the Freret Street Festival, presented by Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans. Music starts at 11 a.m. with Jo "Cool" Davis, and over the course of the afternoon, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, the Soul Rebels, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, Fredy Omar, and Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots will be among the performers on three stages spread out from Napoleon to Jefferson Avenue. The musical offerings also include "An Afternoon of Jazz" with Troi Bechet, Leah Chase, Phillip Manuel (pictured), Gregory Thompson, Sharon Martin and Pearlie Tyler. The free festival will have artists and food vendors, as well as a home ownership fair.

Also happening this weekend is the Old Algiers Riverfest where yet even more music and fun can be had. This will go on both Saturday and Sunday.

So if you are in the mood for a fun musical filled weekend? It is here. Starting off small, then working your way up to FQF then to JF. Seriously love this town.

One thing that just makes this city so frickin fantastic is the music. We all know that. In my case, I happen to think it IS the best thing. It is actually everything that comes with the music that makes it so wonderful. It is the food and drink that you can consume while listening to the music. It is the people that come out to hear the music. It is the different kinds of music you get to hear. I heard a nice blend of different music and I found myself falling in love with the city all over again.

On Friday I went out to the Columns on St. Charles to hear my friends play with the New Orleans Helsinki Connection. They played the happy hour set from 5-7. This was almost a perfect setting for them. They played on the grand porch that leads into the hotel. With a drink in hand and the streetcar clanging by, the scent of flowers in the air and the sounds of a nice jazz song ringing in the air made me say "yeah this is the life". However most of the people that were also sitting on the porch didn't care that there was music playing. They were all unwinding from their work week, or were there to try to pick up the opposite sex. Unless you were sitting right in front of the band? You were talking as loud as you could over them. The band didn't have microphones, so anytime there was a vocal either singing or talking? You didn't get to hear them. From where I was sitting, right next to the band, I discovered that my friend Todd hummed as he played his solos. I have seen Todd play in so many different venues and with different people but this was something new I learned about him. That should give you some indication on how close I was to the band. Later that evening there was a plethora of music going on all over town, but like I told NOLA, I was most likely going to the closest place to me. That of course was the Maple Leaf. Took in some Groovesect for a set before calling it a night. A small crowd but the set was nice.

Saturday I journeyed on over to d.b.a on Frenchmen. Normally on a Saturday it is John Boutte's set and I had told myself that have a very long hiatus of attending these Saturday night gigs of John's, that I was going to go. One of my friend's that played on Friday night plays with John on Saturdays and they had been giving me a hard time about not making it for awhile. So come hell or high water I was going to go. I found out on Thursday that John was in fact NOT playing and that Paul Sanchez was filling in. Lee was also going to be playing, and I was extremly excited to be able to see two of my most favorite musicians play together. It was a wonderful evening of music and laughter. I did get a lot of teasing from Lee and his wife, saying the only reason I came was because Paul was playing. It isn't true at all!! (This coming Saturday Paul will be filling in once again for John...and he will have not only Leroy Jones on Trumpet but Shamarr Allen) I ended the evening again at the Maple Leaf hearing Juice. A nice groovy band. A smaller crowd than the night before, but they danced the night away.

Yesterday rounded out my weekend of music. Once again taking in the sounds of Leroy Jones and Katja Toivola at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe. If you ever get the chance to get out there to hear music and eat some wonderful food do it. You won't regret it. Not only were there people there that I did know, but I met some wonderful new people as well. It made for a wonderful end to a fantastic weekend.

My cat wont stop crawling on me. She is purring very loudly. She likes the days that I get to stay home. I totally forgot that we got today off until just recently. I plan on spending this spring day visiting cajun country with some friends. Then taking in some wonderful music of Paul Sanchez at his CD release party. The rest of the weekend will stretch out ahead.

I hope everyone has a happy spring!!

PS it took me 20 mins to write this because of said happy cat. :)

This was a relaxing yet very busy weekend. Believe it or not, but I did not go to the Maple Leaf at all. Yes I did go on Thursday, but the rest of the weekend I did not. I spent Friday night at Lee and KT's having dinner and watching movies and visiting. The perfect relaxing evening. Homemade salsa to die for.

Saturday I did head out to the St. Patrick's day parade, however I waited for a long time for it to get up to Magazine. I realized not long into it, that I was indeed paraded out. I didn't make it very long into the parade before leaving, as it was I had been out for about three hours. That night it was to Tipitina's to sell merch for PBS (Porter-Batiste-Stoltz) for an amazing night of funky music. It really was a great night. PBS threw down.

PBS (picture taken by Tracey Freeman)

George throwing it down.
Today I took in Super Sunday. The Mardi Gras Indians in full force.



The bead work on the outfits are just incredible. I will go more into my thoughts about today later, as I am so very exhausted and still need to think about dinner.

Last night was my final on air slot for the WWOZ spring membership drive. It was an amazing night. First I thought it was kinda funny that the DJ from the previous show was a lady that I had sold a Bonerama shirt to at the last Rock-n-Bowl gig. Second I found out right before our show started that Deacon John was coming in. Are you kidding me?? That man is an incredible musician. He came in about 20 mins into the show and stayed the whole time. He is so so so sweet. I can't explain what it was like to be sitting in the studio with him, and have him play live. There were only 2 other people in the room at the time. I do realize that there were a ton of people listening online and on their radios but it was like a private concert. To hear him talk about his life and everything he does was so interesting. He gave me a HUGE hug at the end and said that there need to be more young people out there like me to keep the New Orleans music and heritage alive. I am going to do my best.

It has been an whirlwind so far. It started on Friday with going to Rivertown's production of "Flea in Her Ear". My friend was in the show and she had been trying to get myself and Ms. Kelly to a production of hers. We both finally made it to one, I had been determined to make it to this one as I had seen a production of it in Ashland, OR at the Shakespeare festival. It is such a funny show, an this company did a great translation of it.

I then headed over to the Maple Leaf to see Anders play. Mr. Mark and Mr. Eric were sitting in with him, so it was fun to see them outside of the Bonerama environment. It ended up being an extremely long night, but it was a good one.

After a short snooze it was time to head to the Quarter to see Leroy and Katja play, then it was out to have a few drinks and catch up. I had just enough time to get home and grab the merch before heading out to the Bonerama gig. It was an interesting one, and it took awhile for the crowd to get into the music. The boys were doing their best. At one point there was some pole dancing...by a band member. It was blink and you missed it moment. Steam was literally coming off of at least Greg and Mark's trombones. Yes the event was outside, and it was COLD. At least it wasn't as cold as it had been the night before.

The weekend will be wrapped up with cleaning and heading to OZ for another stint. 6-8 today. Tune in if you get a chance. I hope the time change doesn't hurt too bad!

Yesterday I was on WWOZ helping out with the membership drive. It was an honor bestowed upon me last fall. I had been volunteering helping out with the studio music library, and someone asked me to help out by co-producing a few shows for the fall membership drive. It was a lot of fun once I got past my nerves. So here we are at the spring membership drive and I knew that I wanted to get to at least once to co-produce my favorite show. Which I did yesterday. I had the best time. Sherwood Collins does the New Orleans Music Show every Thursday from 11-2. I wanted to steal his music collection by the end of the show. See the DJs are all volunteers as well, and most of them bring in their own music. I do want to state to those that did listen? I had nothing to do with the three Bonerama songs that were played on-air yesterday. Seriously. Sherwood always seems to play a Bonerama song during his set. He was getting ready to play one and I said, "Oh you are playing my boys!" I preceded to tell him that I sold merch for them. I think he said something like "I knew I recognized you" or something like that. Later Matt, Craig and Eric all popped in and said hi off-air. They were up the street filming a commercial with a bunch of other musicians. So Sherwood played another song. He finished the whole set up with another one. The other songs that he played? They were perfect. A lot of people called in that I knew and renewed memberships. I do believe that overall there were a lot of memberships happening that day. I will be back on this coming Sunday!! It is a short shift, but that is okay. 6-8.

Once again I will be on WWOZ today. This time? It is during my favorite show. I am on-air from 11-2. Some make sure to tune in, hear some fantastic music, hear me make a fool of myself and if you feel so inclined, become a member. :) You can listen online!

It is that time of year once again. Some people wait for this every year, it is your last chance to get a brass pass for Jazz Fest. Yup that is right. It is time for the WWOZ fundrive. I will be co-producing a few shows once again like I did this fall. My first one will be this evening from 4-7. I will also be on this Thursday during my favorite show from 11-2. Actually I signed up for that show, and I need to verify that I am really doing it. I will also be on this Sunday. The fundrive lasts until next Thursday the 13th. WWOZ is a listener supported station, so this is how the station keeps on running. Hopefully you can tune in, hear and be able to help out.

Last night the boys of Bonerama played at Rock-n-Bowl for a VERY packed crowd. They kicked it off just right. It was funny because there was about an area right in front of the band that no one wanted to enter into right at first. I tried to get a few people out there, and finally Eddie showed up and took charge. That and Mark told people to move on up.

I got to meet some other NOLA bloggers, which happened to be a first for myself. Lisa even made it out!! She just missed meeting Nola, Pete and Leigh. (and I mean JUST missed, ya'll probably passed either in the parking lot or on the stairs) It was great to get to chat for even just a few brief moments with all of them. I also saw L out again. Last week we met/chatted at the Maple Leaf. Met her boyfriend who knew Mark way back in the day. I was also standing at the bar when this lady asked me if I was Stacey. Turns out she knows Lisa via her blog and was hoping to meet her. Which she did!! There were a ton of people that I have met via working for the Bones hanging out last night having a grand ole time. That atmosphere was a party.

Someone needs to remind me that, it is never a good idea to skip dinner. Well actually I didn't intend to skip dinner. I wasn't hungry when we left the house to go and see Paul Sanchez at d.b.a. I was figuring I could pick something up at Mona's or 13 at some point, or eat when I got home. I had a few drinks. Can you tell where this is heading? (I didn't get sick no) I ended up not eating. But instead of going home when Paul was done I thought it was a great idea to go with a few friends to Donna's. It had been ages since I last went there. What was the harm in one more drink? Really? That STILL would have been okay. If I went home right after that. But I didn't. I went to the Maple Leaf. Suprised a bunch of people that aren't used to seeing me there on a Thursday. I got a suprise myself when I heard some familiar tones wafting towards me from the stage. I looked around the corner and there was Mr. Craig Klein. Let it be known that I stayed for both sets. I am too old to do this sometimes. I did have a great time. A lot of people I knew were out and about, the music was fantastic, conversations were had.

Bonerama at Rock and Bowl tomorrow night. Come meet some really cool people and hear some great music. I may be awake

After all the fun and excitement of yesterday's semi announcement, all I can say is keep em crossed. I should hopefully be getting a phone call today, probably just to chat about what I can do. I am nervous that I have forgotten everything, however I know it will come flooding back once I start talking about it.

So last night I spent cleaning my room. Yes you read that right. Spent the night cleaning my room. I am a slob. I can admit it. I don't pick up after myself in my own room. The common areas? Yes...my room? No. It isn't that big of a space either, but right now it is looking good. Including the tower 'o merch from Bonerama and PBS. It is pretty impressive. There really is no where else to put it in the house but where it is. I took a picture that I didn't upload last night. I got too caught up in the "Biggest Loser" to do much else.

One of my dear friends before I even moved to New Orleans is having a birthday today. Not only is he one of the most sweetest and loving people you will ever meet, he also plays a pretty mean trumpet. Since moving here, both he and his wife have been like a big part of my NOLA family. I hope you have the BEST birthday today Leroy!! I can't wait for the celebration

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.

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.