Tarnished Lady

Firsts

Jasper has had some good ones these past few weeks...

First live show at the Hollywood Bowl. Check out the Hollywood sign up & to the right of the amphitheater shell! We went for Father's Day- Matt's first!- to picnic and listen to Santigold & headliner Femi Kuti with opener Raphael Saadiq.

First concert & first signed cd (gifted to him by jazz diva extraordinaire Barbara Morrison post show)...

First time to Disneyland (and in this snap you can see another first...teeth!)...

We have been having such a great time with our little man.

The Bowl on Father's Day which was also Summer Solstice was perfect.
Here Jasper pulls his signature raspberry...

I love my boys and you can really see how much they enjoy each other's company.

Jasper taking a post-picnic catnap before the show...

Making friends at the Bowl pre-show...

He loves his bunny...

Lookit those teeth <3

Good times. Happy Father's Day Matt.

The Massive holiday vacay POST: the long of it.

Got back a few days ago from a 2 1/2 week trip down to New Orleans & Tallahassee/Jacksonville Florida.
I apologise for the lack of updates but my wireless is patchy on the road with photo uploads and frankly, I was having too much fun and couldn't be bothered:)
Day 1.
We started out in New Orleans where we flew into for a few days before setting out to Florida by road.
The first night we arrived late and went straight down to Des Allemands where we gave Matt the Up the Bayou & Down the Bayou tour by moonlight, ate some Des Allemands fried catfish and shrimp at my parents' then hit the hay.
Day 2.
Slept in then drove out to Bayou Blue and Houma for a fun breakfast at a teeny cafe of biscuits and eggs with fresh coffee. Saw 7 different kinds of roadkill as we drove from Des Allemands to Bayou Blue- in order: a rabbit, a nutria, a dog, a cat, a possum, a huge brown turkey-like bird (we were later told it was likely a hawk) and then a raccoon to round it all out. Did some bayou touring just driving around and showing Matt  where I came from. 
Drove into Boutte to Irene's Seafood Stand to get some fresh hot boiled seafood to bring back for lunch. Irene really enjoyed Matt. She kept trying to touch his hair and remarking on his "big blue eyes". Even called him "HOT!" and then fed him a crawfish sample.  For those who don't know, Irene is a an older German woman who is very entertaining and the queen of her domain and somehow, she always has the goods when not a single boiled crab or crawfish can be found anywhere else out of season so if you want the goods, you have to play her game. Wheee- anyday- b/c her seafood is always fresh, super hot and juicy and available when there is naught to be found. We headed home and had a mid afternoon feast with my family.

Drove into Metairie to see my sis. My little niece Brynna is quite the little firecracker and we had a good old time. She demo-ed for us her various dance and gymnastic moves.

Frank the consummate host sipped some old scotch with us. Brynna whispered and asked Matt if he was her cousin or uncle which was cute since they are both red heads.

We all went down to the CBD for a nice meal at chef John Besh's LUKE bistro (wish we had made it over to August his real standout restaurant but maybe another trip) where I had a NO classic, the Sazarac along with some tasty eats. Went down to the river's edge to the River Shack for live music and beers. Headed on to the Christmassy and decked out French Quarter for some misadventures. The vibe was fun with a quiet/calm before the storm feeling with NYE and both the Sugarbowl and the National Championship and heaps and heaps of people descending upon the city right around the corner.
some prerequisite photo ops in front of an old favorite...

and wound up at Clover Grill- one of my favorite old haunts on Bourbon- always open and hopping with drag queens, the burgers are cooked underneath hubcaps- around 2-ish.

love their sense of humor.

Day 3.
Got up late (noticing a theme here yet?)and got up to the smell of my dad's yummy potato soup cooking down. Ate a few bowls and got our gear together in the car.
Left for Tallahassee mid-afternoon. We stopped off in Biloxi for eats at a catfish stand

and got to Tally around 11 pm. I had never been to the Panhandle before and was completely charmed by the draping old oaks and gracious woodsy neighborhoods.

Matt's mom had bowls of her tasty beef & vegetable soup waiting for us. Yum! I was nervous to meet his family but shouldn't have been. They are wonderful and super nice and everything was peachy!
Day 4.
Got our bikes in gear and headed off to the historic St. Marks Railroad Bike Trail. This was stunning.

Did 8 miles out to the riverside town of St. Marks founded in the early 1500's

and wound up at the Riverside Cafe on the water (with all locals no tourists which was a good sign)

eating raw oysters, boiled shrimp, fresh smoked mullet from the river and HUGE meaty stone crab claws

All with some draft beer. So nice and kicked back.

Biked down the way to this historical Spanish fort remains which held off the pirates in the 1500's. There were foundations, Indian burial mounds and tons of old trees.

Rode back the 8 miles in a faint drizzle which felt nice in the fading daylight.
Matt's dad was grilling up amazing salmon and steak as we arrived back. Wow this is the life huh?
Day 5.
Did some Christmas shopping, ran around and ended having drinks with his brother Travis and Matt's friend Brooks at a pub. Stayed out way too late but was so much fun.

Day 6.
Drove to Jacksonville to Matt's aunt & uncle's house on the St. John River for a fun Christmas eve dinner party and gift exchange.

Before dinner, we drove to see Matt's Grandma Helen at her nursing home. This was so wonderful. She is living in the health center, is on oxygen and her memory is not so good but she sure was happy to see us especially Matt. She loved his red hair and was thrilled when I told her he was her grandson. She gave him a huge hug upon getting the good news and exclaimed she knew he was a good guy. Her sense of humor is still going strong and she kept us going with her jokes and puns.

Then after spending time with her, we headed back to his aunt & uncle's. Look at the trees here in Jacksonville...
The meal was Cajun themed and we even had a Turducken.

I loved Matt's Aunt Nancy's antique dishes and this gorgeous shot of her mother from the 20's...like Louise Brooks minus the bangs.

In the fun gift exchange, we somehow both wound up with camping stuff which we might actually use. Then we drove across Jacksonville to the beach to stay at Matt's aunt's condo right on the edge of the sand. Yay!
Day 7.
Woke up on Christmas Day and ate some waffles then walked out onto the beach and enjoyed the day.

Collected seashells and geeked out on the proliferation of birds.

Went to visit Grandma Helen again and took her out for a spin alongside the river at her care facility. If you ever had to be in a nursing home, this place sure is nice- over 70 acres, lots of oaks and is right on the river.

We decided to drive the 30 minutes down the coast to historic (and the oldest city in the US) St. Augustine for the rest of our Christmas day and night.

I had never been there and was in awe of the gorgeous architecture and old Spanish Quarters right on the water's edge. Alot could not be captured on camera at night but I was especially struck by the decadent Spanish style Flagler College campus (formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel built in 1883 and reportedly haunted).

If you get a chance to visit here, do it- so romantic and European yet piratey in feel. The residential area in the Spanish Quarter reminded me of the mansions in New Orleans- very gothic, sprawling and fantastical.

We wandered about, had Christmas cocktails at a cute Victorian B&B's front porch,

then ate a cozy romantic dinner on one of the cobbled streets at La Portola.

The only thing that marred our dinner was being seated next to a couple of middle-aged racists who tried to engage us in political conversation and negative New Orleans talk. They ended up storming off like classless pissy babies. We ran into them later at a teeny bar and overheard them discussing loudly and sloppily how "the south will rise again". Yikes. The shock I felt when confronted with their line of thinking made me thankful for my life, the people I am surrounded by and for being removed for the most part from such hideous vitriol. I am proud to be from the New Orleans area and if  the fallout from Katrina and Black leadership there can keep such nasty types as these from ever going there as the woman had proudly exclaimed to us, then maybe some unexpected good can come of the levee breech. Anyway, to leave it on a good note, St. Augustine was truly lovely and is now one of my favorite US cities- up there with New Orleans and San Francisco.  The richie miserable couple incidentally were not locals in case you think the people who live there are jerks. The lady (and I use the term loosely) hailed from Hattiesburg Miss. and her husband was from Boston and they live now in Biloxi Ms. and they were in St. Augustine just for their bitter "holiday".
Day 8.
Woke up and walked the beach again. Was quite sunny and lovely.

Ate great beachside diner food then drove across Jacksonville for a final visit with Grandma Helen. This was the best. She was in great spirits, cracking jokes and we joined in on some Christmas carol singing.

Drove back to Tallahassee and had a fun Christmas gift exchange with the family.

Their little pooch Zeus was something to watch as he tore his Christmas gift of a soft squeaky doll apart stuffing and all inside of 5 minutes of receiving it.

Watched movies and laughed.
Day 9.
Got up and sipped tea on Matt's fam's back porch swing and read. Then for lunch, went with Matt's mom for lunch to the Florida BBQ joint Sonny's.

Later drove on out to Wakulla Springs for a river boat tour, some forest hiking and got to see some manatees, a gator and lots of exotic birds plus hang out by the fire in the historical 1930's lodge/inn.

The tour guide Don Gavin is one of the last of a dying breed- a true local who delivers his spiel in a fun work-song format...here is a clip of him riffing on the Springs...

The very first Tarzan movies along with The Creature from the Black Lagoon were filmed here. The water in the summertime is crystal clear to the bottom even in the murkiest depth (which is the deepest spring on Earth at 200 feet). Pretty nifty. Visit here if you ever get the chance.

Came back to Matt's parents' where we all ate grilled filet mignon and broiled shrimp- ah the life! Stayed up super late watching movies and looking at photos as sadly we had to move on the next day.
Day 10.
Got up late and left back for Louisiana. Drove through lots of rain and bad weather and saw 3 bad accidents along the way. One involved a truck on fire in the median...

and another was a car that had went off a bridge. Yikes.
Ate some tasty boiled peanuts in Alabama for the first time for me- in the South I should amend to say- and now I am addicted.
Went directly to the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain- across from NO- to my oldest sis' home in Mandeville. Went out to NO's classic Italian restaurant Mandina's Mandeville location for crab bisque, po-boys, crawfish pasta and crab balls with Gayle and her daughter Rachel.

Crashed out.
Day 11.
Got up and pumped all the bikes' tires up for a fun ride up the Tammany Trace trail right to Old Mandeville.  Ate lunch at Rip's Seafood overlooking the lake then rode up and down the lakefront. 

Matt & my niece Rachel on a good climbing tree.

the beautiful lake

Headed back across the lake for Des Allemands.

Day 12.
Intended to go to church with my dad but my mom had a strange leg pain that caused her to wind up in the ER instead. Turned out to be a Baker's Cyst- terribly painful and she will get this taken care of very soon but in the meantime, they gave her some pain pills. We grabbed lunch at Des Allemands' own Spahr's just across the bayou- catfish and shrimp po-boys, seafood gumbo, crawfish stew and their famous spicy bloody marys. Excellent food and as always, was packed. We drove into NO as we had booked a room for a few nights for NYE in the French Quarter at Maison Dupuy on Toulouse a converted hotel made from 4 bordering 1800's town homes with a central courtyard complete with a fountain, pools and lots of balconies- oh yes! Did I mention how lucky we were to get this room on SugarBowl/NYE weekend when all of NO's hotels were at 100% occupancy? Very lucky indeed.

this king size bed was like a super-sized silky stick of butter.

Our room was so calming and quiet you couldn't believe the French Quarter was just outside. We headed over to the New Orleans Lush on foot to stock up on bubble bath and bombs to get our full relax on.
Got lots of goodies and then walked the Quarter in the evening, ate supper on a balcony on Decatur overlooking the river

delicious oysters that were broiled and a lump crab salad followed by some etouffee- then played shuffleboard in a teeny bar for an hour or so before heading back to the hotel for some soaking in the cuzzi in the courtyard.
Day 13.
Got up late after sleeping like the dead and headed one block over to Petunia's a French Quarter classic known for making Julia Childs' favorite crepe ever. Supposedly, the gourmet legend goes that she asked to see the crepe pan as she was so impressed and they brought the heavy cast iron years old pan out to her table. They do serve lunch and po-boys but their thing here is the crepe- both savory and sweet ones measuring 14 inches- and the breakfasts which are served til 3 pm. The line to get in was staggering but we were determined to stick it out.

We constantly reminded ourselves that it was a good thing for NO to be so busy and we should just suck it up. People as they exited gave encouraging comments as to how great the food is and how it was worth the wait.

An hour or so later, we finally got in and were seated. The service was impeccable and the food was truly worth the wait.  I would have been bummed if it wasn't. The food was so delicately prepared, the crepe perfect and not overdone or rubbery in the least and nothing was greasy or felt mass-prepared. It all had the feel of a very special meal prepared for you specifically by a gourmet grandmother and the environment is truly lovely.

We both agreed it was the best breakfast we had ever had and we have had some delicious food in our time.
There are only 3 savory crepes to choose from and all are named for local parishes. We got the St. James crepe-

stuffed with lump crab meat and shrimp, peppers and onion finished with cheese- this thing was huge!

and an order of Eggs Melanza which the waiter said was his favorite- sort of an eggs Benedict but with fried eggplant rounds at the bottom instead of English muffins and a layer of roasted tomato in there with the shaved ham and poached egg finished with a bit of asparagus and shaved parmesan over the hollandaise sauce. This was insanely good.

I would love to go back and try the Bananas Foster crepe as we were stuffed to the gills and had to waddle out.
The day was lovely and around 70 so we hit the pool area & the gym to try to work off the crepe and relaxed in the jacuzzi.

Changed for our night's festivities then hit the Quarter. 

Tried to have a drink in the Monteleone's Carousel Bar (which is a real full sized calliope carousel from the 40's) but it was standing room only and wall-to-wall. We found room at the bar in the Court of Two Sisters on Royal Street.

I had to try their legendary Ramos Gin Fizz as having bartended for years and priding myself on making a pretty good one myself and having been complimented and compared favorably to the Court's Ramos Gin Fizz, I knew I had to see for myself. Floria the bartender clearly was no sluff (and probably has worked there since the 70's I would hazard to guess) and the Gin Fizzes went down like milkshakes.

We took in live street music down by the river and watched as the Quarter filled up and became like the NO of yesteryear. Made me happy to see it so hopping and doing well.  Every step brought us something new and no cheesy NYE cover charge. It was only 8 or so by now so we managed to pull a hat-trick by getting a table and being seated asap at Mr. B's Bistro without rsvp's- yay- this is the first place I ever had BBQ Shrimp in my life and luck has it, it will be the last. You have to wear a bib as its so sloppy but its intoxicatingly garlicy, buttery winey thick broth cannot be taken lightly. It is a serious affair requiring lots of sopping, use of fingers with huge chunks of torn French bread. Matt doing his best to stay clean...

The other real stand out here at Mr. B's was the oysters on the half shell with a champagne mignonette sauce- wow.

After dinner and a bowl of their signature bread pudding, we sat and watched live reggae, salsa by the river

then walked to find some jazz and blues and wound up sipping Absinthe aspirant Absentia at the formerly goth hang The Blue Crystal now The Whirling Dervish.
We decided we would head further past the Quarter to the jazz lover's neighborhood the Faubourg-Marigny. Frenchmen Street was jumping, people playing drums en masse, brass quartets on stoops, music venue after music venue- most with no cover and packed but no line waiting. This was refreshing. We listened to music

at the Apple Barrel, the Spotted Cat, Negril plus had plenty of entertainment right there on the street. We wound up in FAB- Faubourg Marigny Art Books- a 30 year staple to the street and sort of a southern version of the Beats' beloved City Lights in San Fran- eclectic, catering to the late night crowd (was open past midnight on NYE) and had every single book you could think of on New Orleans.
We got caught in a 20 minute long barrage of fireworks at midnight that recalled a Civil War reenactment as we headed back to our hotel carrying heaps of books. We dumped them off then braved Bourbon Street for some slices of pizza and lots of full-on body contact. Almost got trampled by police horses in the crowd which reminded me of growing up and going to Mardi Gras. Strangely enough, it made me happy to see the koo-koo fun chaos. A very pleasing end to 2007.
Day 14.
Ate our complimentary breakfast down in the hotel- eggs, grits, gravy, sausage- got scooped up by sister Sheila, Frank & Brynna. We all drove out to Des Allemands for my parents' annual New Year's Day feast/get-together. We had all the fixings for a great 2008- tasty collard greens with ham, black eyed peas over rice, a pork roast plus fried cabbage. My other sis came over too plus my niece Lauren and her boyfriend Joe.

We lazed about, eating, telling stories, watched the Sugarbowl (have to admit Matt & I were rooting for Hawaii as we had just spent a few days in the Quarter and we found the Bulldog fans from Georgia to be loud, crass and annoying whereas the Hawaii peeps were laid-back, nice and cool plus my dad's cousin is a Chancellor there- oh well) then began the game tournaments that my family is known for!
Started with Rummikub in pairs- Me with Matt, sis Sheila with Frank, Lauren with Joe and my dad with Brynna.

After losing, Brynna suggested switching it up and got with me. She also whipped up some customized name tags for the teams and since we share a birthday, we were the "November 7ths". haha- we sarcastically began referring to Matt and Dad as the "DreamTeam" (think OJ's defense) since they were stuck in the mud- Brynna's tag for them was pretty funny especially considering she is 7.

Lauren and Joe became "Joe Mama" and her parents inextricably became "Bird's Eye".
Too funny.
We progressed to Scrabble tournaments which saw a triumph for Sheila and Frank. Then after everyone left around 11 pm, Matt and I went head-to-head against my parents in a singles match. My dad prevailed and whooped us all soundly. We then played Boggle for another hour which left me boggled.
Day 15.
My sis Gayle called us and made arrangements for us all to convene in NO to see a matinee of Atonement which I had seen as a preview screening in LA but really liked so was game to see it again.
Matt and I took Mom & Dad for lunch before to Drago's in Metairie for some of their famous and super slurpy charbroiled oysters. These things are addictive and done so well, you must get some when you are down there. They are charbroiled with garlic, lemon, herbs and touch of cheese right in the shell which makes the difference.

We moved on to the movie which was great except the camera broke right at the emotional height of the film. Darn. We had to sit for 15 minutes of dissipating energy till they fixed it. When they started it back up, it had skipped ahead 10 minutes or so in the film. Geez. We were later issued vouchers for free popcorn. Oh well.  We went back to Des Allemands as my dad's eye surgery was the next morning.
Day 16.
Woke up and got the call from my mom that dad's surgery went well. We had asked to help take him in but she preferred to go with him and it went so quickly that we weren't needed to be there.  He was home by the noon hour which was great. We got out of their hair by driving up the River Road on the West Bank all the way up to Vacharie. I got to show Matt the backside of St. Charles Parish and what is on the other side of Lac Des Allemands past the swamps. We saw the plantation homes used in the film The Skeleton Key

plus the creole ones like Evergreen and Laura,

Oak Alley of course, the old Edgard station when this area off the levee was a major stop,

walked up the levees a bit alongside the river

then drove to B&C Seafood Cafe in Vacharie for great gumbo, crawfish/jack cheese soup, Des Allemands catfish po-boys and boiled crawfish/shrimp (very small and cold unlike what Irene in Boutte can come up with this time of year!) and weirdly enough, the option of sweet tea. For those who don't know, sweet tea does not exist in Southern Louisiana. It is solely a southern thing in the states to the east like Alabama and Georgia and above. The waitress said they got so many tourists from the plantations asking for it, they decided to just make it for them. This made me a bit sad. Anyway, if you are ever in NO and the outlying areas and asking for sweet tea, you should be booted out in my opinion. 
We left from there driving into NO and across to the Lower 9th Ward to view Brad Pitt's Make It Right! drive through exhibition to rebuild this area.
Bright pink tarps served as stand-ins for where the real houses will go.

He said he chose this shade to grab your attention and hopefully move people to action. They have a potential of rebuilding 150 homes for people who lost everything here. So far 65 of 150 homes have been paid for through donations.

When the home is fully paid for, the pink triangular roof goes up on top.

Here is a link to the site where one can easily donate to pay for a house or just as little as $5 if that is all you have.
http://www.makeitrightnola.org/index.php

We met great ladies there who were former residents and walking around and seeing what is happening brought tears to my eyes. Brad Pitt is tops in my book.

My video of it from the observation tower:

From there, we went back through NO via the streets going through City Park and the Lakefront area to see Katrina damage.

Ended up back in Metairie at my sister's, hung out a bit and took some snaps

we had just given Brynna this Webikins Reindeer and she was all smiles. Matt is funny here.

Sheila and Brynna

then we hit up Cooter Brown's uptown for a couple dozen oysters washed down with Abita's Purple Haze (geaux tigers!) and a sadly sogged muffaletta (should have went to Central Market on Decatur I know I know but it had closed at 5 pm). At least, the oysters were tops.
Day 17.
Slept in late as all the driving around the day before wore us out. My mom made us her famous submarine stuffed sandwiches. We munched on these and lounged a bit. Drove down to Bayou Gauche to pick up Lauren then drove in to the Quarter.

We first went to the Monteleone thinking we could finally find available seats at the Carousel Bar in the late afternoon- which we did. The bar is pretty fab- the walls a deep blue black and the bar itself the centerpiece of a carousel which does rotate at the rate of one revolution per 15 minutes. We all ordered specialties of the house. I got the house cocktail called the "Vieux Carré", which was created by their then-head bartender Walter Bergeron in 1938. It's equal parts of rye, cognac and vermouth, a little Benedictine, plus Peychaud's and Angostura bitters, on the rocks.
As I sipped I thought of the history here and how writers like Hemingway and Tennessee Williams used to frequent the hotel and bar as one of their favorites and felt content. The bar is appropriately super dim so photos won't capture the vibe without a lot of flash which is obnoxious.

I found a few online which surely were lit up just for the photo op but you get the idea.

We moved on to Lush to get gifts then came back to Royal St. to Mr. B's for supper. We had

BBQ Shrimp again (Matt),

Pepper crusted Duck Breast over risotto with spicy gravy (me) and double cut smoked pork chop over sweet potato mash (Lauren).

Wow- love this place. After that, we swung by my sister Sheila's for a final visit as we were flying out the next evening.
Day 18.
We arose and began the task of packing. Argh. Drove into Boutte for one final great meal picked up at Irene's- more boiled crabs and crawfish- all hot, fresh and crawfish was respectably sized. Just what we needed! Ate this along with my dad's tasty fried potatoes.

Left for the airport and was sad to go but it had been a long trip and we missed the kitty catters.
What a great trip.

Spin spin spin

Here are some pictures from last night's little party at Hyperion Tavern.
We had a great time-
Kim played a nice mellower old and new set to kick it off

then I did my set- and some people even came up and asked what certain songs were which made me happy as well as seeing people dancing...wheee...

followed by Ravi who spun a great punk set

We danced and enjoyed the classic Italian racy film The Sensuous Nurse starring Ursula Andress playing on one wall.

Thanks to my pals for stepping out- it made my birthday week memorable!

Cricket hung in with us to the silly bitter end after everyone was gone.

Thanks!

Tonight I will be spinning some wax

This should be very interesting- haha-
Kim Faith and I playing tunes...

We love Kime Buzzelli party!

So this past Thursday was the benefit party for Kime's surgery.
It was so much fun and a great turnout. It filled to capacity and the line was an hour wait for those outside who didn't get there before 9:30.

Kime was there in a wheelchair to keep her off her feet and protect her sore tummy from any bumps.

Winter Flowers

Frosty who organised the whole event

Cheri Oteri one of the mc's of the evening

Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark looking like Glinda the Good Witch and sounding like an angel.

I took video of the last band Entrance but the size is too large to upload to Youtube. Darn. I will have to figure out how else to get it on here to share. The band was mesmerising. We were blown away.
If you ever get the chance to see them live, do it. They are blues-influenced, very reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and old time Spiritualists of the deep South. A 3 piece band with only bass and drums to back the lead, they are unlike anything else out there now. Guy's voice and guitar pretty near hypnotised me.  Check out their Myspace page to get a listen.
ENTRANCE

watch this psychedelic video of their blues song Grim Reaper Blues...just amazing...