King Richard

Richard The Last
Originally uploaded by Laurie Lee.

Three years ago I climbed into my trusty Honda with my friend Dan and headed for the big city to catch my favorite performer, Richard Thompson, in a fairly unique show. Called "1,000 Years of Popular Music," the show was a collection of cover songs from the last thousand years, and was quite great.

He's got the CD of the show available (he's his own label now, after a 30 year career with various labels), and I was listening to it today and felt compelled to put up some pictures from the show. Tomorrow I will probably post pictures from the same day around the City.

Plug: If you like great guitars, interesting vocals and amazing, dark, gloomy lyrics, Richard's your guy. I've never seen a bad show of his, and I've seen him a lot! /Plug

Hurricane Ranting

Three days of watching reports from New Orleans and Gulfport, and I'm starting to feel completely overwhelmed with the tragedy. I keep hearing about how this is our tsunami, but we're not a third world country! This didn't come upon us suddenly -- there was plenty of warning! Why did so many have to die?!

I heard a report on NPR about how New Orleans has always had a fatalistic side to it, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they'd end up underwater. And I had certainly heard that often enough before this whole storm. So if that was the case, why didn't they have a better evacuation plan in place? One that would have enough places for people to go, and would have ways for the housebound or infirm to actually GET to these places?

I tried to find a few local government websites on Gulfport and they're just...gone. Much like some sites were gone after 9/11. The local New Orleans paper is not producing actual printed copies, just online editions. They're moving all the Superdome people to the Astrodome (which makes for an interesting story to tell, but not something I'd want to be able to claim!) in Houston. It's all so sad.

Can someone please tell me why people leave their animals behind when they evacuate?!

And hey, thank god the president cut short his vacation by two whole days to take care of this. Those people should feel better already.

Jump on That Bandwagon — Don't Worry, There's Plenty of Room!

Could this be more absurd? HELLO?! THEY DON'T HAVE ANY ELECTRICITY to READ your WEBSITE! And probably DON'T HAVE A COMPUTER, even if they HAD ELECTRICITY, BECAUSE THEIR HOUSES ARE UNDERWATER!!

"To begin clean up, collect tools and cleaning equipment. Gather items such as buckets, rubber gloves and boots, eye goggles to protect eyes from splashes, paper towels, scrub brushes, rags, sponges, bleach, cleaners, trash bags, spray bottles, and fans for drying. "

.... pick through the bodies of your loved ones, pets, and the splintered remains of your home to find these things ....

I think I might be a little burnt-out...