All Things Must Pass (NOLA style) Friday, Nov 30 2007

Those of you who went to mass last weekend will recall that this coming week will start the season of Advent in the Catholic Church. What does that mean? Advent is the four week period where Catholics begin preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas. This weekend also celebrates the start of the new liturgical year. Like the season of Lent, Advent is a time of soul searching, repentance, and humility as it’s a time to prepare your soul for the birth of the savior on Christmas Day.

You will notice that many of the readings during Advent will come from the book of Revelation, Job, and Daniel. These books best tell the need for repentance before the second coming….and while Christmas and advent are indeed a celebration of the coming of Christ to save us from our original sin, it also serves as a reminder that, as Christ came at one point in time, He promises to return in (what many consider) a far less humble manner as His first visit.

The personification of the next few months of the Catholic calendar can be found in the historic celebrations of New Orleans. It’s a time to realize the historical significance of each season within the city….and appreciate that this kind of society does not exist in ANY other place in the USA. The European flavor of New Orleans really shines as we travel from Advent, to Christmas, to New Years, to Kings Day, to Mardi Gras, to Lent, and finally to Easter. Advent is just not a start of the Christmas season, it’s a time to prepare for an entire evaluation of the human condition…..
AND THAT’S NATURALLY NAWLINS!

We move from the preparations of Advent into the Christmas Season….the Christmas Season is just not Christmas Day. The Church’s analysis starts the season on Dec 25th and ends on KINGS DAY…a day where we honor the visit of the Magi to the birthplace of Christ. What better way to honor this tradition that jumping on the NEW Saint Charles Street Car line and take a ride with the Phunny Phorty Phellos as we begin Carnival Season. The first king cakes are picked up and we are then thrown into Mardi Gras.

The season of Mardi Gras is much like the Christmas season…a continuation of the celebration of life. While there are indeed many pagan historical references (parades named after gods, etc), don’t be fooled by the overall meaning of the time. This celebration of life culminates on Mardi Gras day….as Rex and Comus meet, and a group of 15 sunburned folks are sprawled out Mr Credo’s couch watching PBS and eating Red Beans, we say farewell to Carnival for another year.

From that celebration of life, we wake up Ash Wednesday to quite a different mentality. The New Orleans faithful will line up in their designated Churches and receive a sign of the cross on their forehead with this warning:

Remember thou art dust
and to dust thou shall return

The Season of Lent, while different than advent, is still a time of preparation. We are designated forty days (the same time Christ remained in the desert) to contemplate our lives and the salvation that Christ has given to us. Unlike advent, Lent ends at a time of sorrow and death, as the Church recognizes Good Friday as the day of Jesus’ crucifixion…leading then to Easter as we celebrate the most important day in Christianity…the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

My point. You will notice that the city of New Orleans celebrates and embraces the traditions around this Catholic “schedule”….when broken down, you can view this entire progression as:

Life (Advent, Christmas and Mardi Gras), Death (ash wednesday), Life (lent), Death (Good Friday), Life (Easter).

You will notice that the series starts and ends the same with life, but with some tragic points in between. This city embraces death as much as it embraces life. If that fact isn’t EVER so present with us after the Hurricane, I am not sure what else could be a better reminder! From life comes death…. and from our faith…comes life again.

It is our responsibility to take a few minutes each day to have a moment of self reflection on how to become a better spiritual person. We live in a city that OOZES the meanings of the seasons, all we need to do is reflect and learn from it.

To quote an old friend of mine, “Everything dies baby, that’s a fact. But everything that dies someday comes back.”

CC IV

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The Art Of Dying Thursday, Nov 29 2007

This is George Harrison. He was the lead guitar player in a band called The Beatles. He died six years ago today from cancer.

His work is available on itunes and CD. Just take my word for it, get as much as you can.

Hari Krishna, George!

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Love Song Tuesday, Nov 27 2007

This song is way too good.
Love Song by Sara Bareilles
I found this late night on VH1

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Cordings, London Tuesday, Nov 27 2007

Cordings, London


My christmas money is heading overseas this year.
Fantastic spot!

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I Got a Hand, I Got A Plan, I’m Gonna Fry This Chicken In My Pan Monday, Nov 26 2007

For my dear Cousin Gustavo

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It’s 2 AM and you’re at the Rock N Bowl…. Monday, Nov 26 2007

I have a love affair with Rock N Bowl. This is no secret. It’s the place that started everything for me and I still get a kick out of playing there.
I got a call last week from a good friend, Mike Barris, asking if I could sub with Amanda Shaw on Saturday night for a gig with Tab Benoit. Now, both Amanda and Tab have been getting a lot of national press, so an invitation to perform with either of them is a true honor.

It’s a blast to play gigs where there really is no show involved. It’s a little scary at first because what you see and what you hear is what you get…so as a performer, you’d better step up quickly. Amanda is a very interesting talent….she plays with the confidence and restraint of a 75 year old cajun man sitting on his front porch outside of Beaux Bridge….and she’s 17 years old. She is well beyond her years in knowing the economy of playing (or knowing when NOT to play). It’s a confidence not found in many young players.

Tab is much the same way, a white Cajun man who sings with the sould of a Otis Redding. He has a true handle on his craft and he makes no exceptions to his style. His tone is very close to that of Albert Collins; a bight telecaster sound that’s cranked through the mid-range EQ spectrum. A few folks I know resent him because he comes from money…I say, who cares. He’s blessed with a talent and he’s using it for the betterment of society…nuff said.

Anyway, since the storm, Rock N Bowl has had to come through several problems of the demolition of the rest of the shopping center that houses it. They’ve had a parking problem there since May, and it’s finally starting to get better. One of the greatest crowds I’ve seen there in a long time showed up on Saturday night…a very fun loving group of people that we very complimentary. I would say I talked to six seperate people who were all tourists (which is a great sign). A man from Tenneesee, who is a big music lover, talked my ear off for an hour about my influences. He knew who they were before I even said a word…which was great. This was a music snob crowd (not meaning they were snooty at all), but this group of people really knew their music, knew what Blues was, and PACKED Rock N Bowl. There was at least 400 people enjoying the performance.

When Rock N Bowl gets rolling, it’s just a wild ride. When folks start dancing on the lanes, and in front of the stage, on the bar, in the back…when you can feel the ground moving and you wonder if the floor is going to cave in…and when you’re on stage looking at all that…it’s way too much fun for any given night.

And then there is John Blancher who I do believe will be canonized St. John Blancher of Rock N Bowl around 2080. The Catholic Church will pass around a bowling ball and a clip of his hair as a relic, with a crucifix proclaming the words “PRAISE JESUS LETS BOWL” on it. Again, some folks think he’s crazy….I know him too well….he’s one of my all time favorite people on the planet that I owe everything to. A great man who has Catholicisim as the center of his life and lets every decision come from that understanding.

If you see John at Rock N Bowl one evening, ask him about Pete Rose and his mother. It’s a good story, trust me.

So that’s it, just a small word on a big place for me.

ROCK N BOWL WILL NEVER DIE.

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The best $4.60 ever Monday, Nov 26 2007

Since most of my family was over across the pond in London eating Turkey with the Queen (doin’ the werewolves of London)….I decided to take part in a true New Orleans Tradition this Thanksgiving…opening day at the Fairgrounds. Some people think that the track is just another casino and another way to lose your money. That kind of thinking is for folks in Houston or Dallas…or even the Northshore. If you are a New Orleanian, you have to go bet the ponies at least once in your life. I was amazed by the amount of close friends who have NEVER been to the track.

As with most things in life, there are a few rules that I have listed here that are important to follow incase you are a Fairgound virgin:

1.) Dress. This is not the Fun Arcade on Vets. This is not BSI Comics on Severn. When you go to the track, make sure you look the part. Whether you are in the grandstand or clubhouse, this is a class event, so dress to impress. The horses will thank you.

2.) Buy a racing form. Even if you don’t know what half the numbers mean, buy a damn form so you don’t have to ask to see mine while we’re waiting in line to bet.

3.) Bring a Pen. Always, Always, Always.

4.) Check out the Times Picayune Sports Section that day. This will allow you to see the picks from several handicappers.

5.) Try the breadpudding. The greatest breadpudding in the world is at the Fairgrounds. Brennan’s has nothing on the track.

6.) Bet the 6th horse in the 6th race.
….Unless you are with me, then bet something else…which brings me to my next point.
This is an old Credo tradition since the days we got off the boat.

7.) Don’t ask who I bet on. It’s bad luck. You can go in with me and pool the money, but don’t bet the same horses as me on a seperate ticket. We’re going for Karma here.

8.) Don’t forget your lucky be-bop hat.

9.) Do several Ronnie Vergits impressions for good luck and measure.
“Look at the clouds”

10.) Make sure Jeff Kerth holds the racing form when the horses leave the gate.

Now, if you follow all of these, you can be a bigger winner like me. On thanksgiving day, I walked out with $4.60 in winnings. That’s four dollars folks. It takes a lot of time and energy to study the track like I do to bring in the desired results.

….but sitting in a spot where none of us thought we’d be again after the storm…on Thanksgiving Day…that’s the best $4.60 in the world!

WORD!
(a la Melvin at Camellia Grill)

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Jump Disaster Saturday, Nov 24 2007

Let me explain what this is….Van Halen is back on tour this year with David Lee Roth. Van Halen has always been a four piece act….Eddie, Alex, Wolfgang (or Mike Anthony) and either Sammy, David, or the short-lived Gary Cherone era.

Van Halen’s music is full of keyboard sounds, synths, pianos, etc. There is no keyboard player on stage during a live show…in fact, there’s no keyboard player at all anywhere in the building. The keyboard sounds are triggered live off of a laptop computer backstage. Alex Van Halen, drums, must stay in time with the keyboard samples in order the song to sound right. The band plays along to the drums, who is playing along to the samples, and everything works out fine.

WELL, in this clip, someone backstage was screwing around with the samples in Pro Tools….or there was computer malfunction…..in any event, the keyboard sounds were shifted from 44.1 K (sample rate of normal music) to 48 K. This process shifted the pitch of the song somewhere in between C and C#….which now will make the band out of tune with the keyboard samples. The band is tuned like a normal band would be, but the keyboards are now sharper than normal pitch.

The result is terrible….this will hurt your ears.

I hope the guy in charge of trigger the keyboard samples ran for his life before Eddie Van Halen got backstage after the show.

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Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire Saturday, Nov 24 2007

The last tailgate of the year was spent burning tickets from that day’s game….along with new talk of who the new head coach will be. I personally am pulling for Spurrier over ol’ Tubby. It’s much like voting in Louisiana, I’d rather the less of the two evils. Nevertheless, it will be an interesting few weeks for LSU football as we begin the post season.

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talent Monday, Nov 19 2007

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