“The photos’ provenance is unclear. They are neither dated nor credited, and the handwritten captions provide only the barest of details. But at least some have been printed before, in the 1917 edition of “The Times-Picayune Guide to New Orleans,” a book aimed at tourists that was published annually for many years.”
Finally, the French Quarter gets Vietnamese food! It’s always been hard to believe that the old Quarter missed the emergence of our region’s favorite Asian cuisine.
Nine Roses is my personal fav of the West Bank Viet spots, so you can be sure to find me here regularly.
A few years ago, while a staff member of the public market organization Market Umbrella, I did a series of short films under the name “Go Fish”; one featured an interview with the Catholic leader of the NO East Vietnamese community, Father Vien, who gave the history of the New Orleans Catholic Vietnamese community:
Nine Roses Café is open Monday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Nine Roses Café: 620 Conti St., New Orleans, 504.324.9450
link to menu
Map of French Quarter at Wilkinson and Chartres (why not have permanent versions of this up at some businesses, FQ associations?)
Recharging station (again- see above, why not maintained in some bank lobbies, FQ associations?)
Engineering for walkers on Decatur. Maybe this needs to be set up more often, City Hall?
I applaud the addition of mushroom pies at Lasyone’s tent accompanied by their polite staff. They had the crawfish and mushroom pies switched on Saturday and offered freebies on Sun when I told them they gave me the wrong ones. All’s well that ends well.
the free dance lessons.
The chance to see and hear great LOCAL musicians give their all just as if there were huge crowds out front.
Wonderful indoor concerts with some lovely choices
The explosion of roses and camellias courtesy of the cool mist.
What is probably my favorite weekend in the Quarter is over. I would say that it is all over but the yelling, but that is prolly still going on at the Stella contest that ends the TWLF. (Although I’d like to know when they stopped ending this day with the happy birthday toast to Tennessee?)
I spent the big bucks for the mid-level pass this year, which gave me access to all panels and master classes. Not sure if I’d spring for the master classes next year, as I’ll wait ’til those become more of a class and less of a one-person panel. I did see some great panels, two of which featured my pal Nancy Dixon, editor of N.O. Lit, which in my opinion, was the book that should have been one of the 2015 books of the year. Lauren Cerand, literary publicist was another standout as a thoughtful and prepared presenter, as was Bryant Terry, author of Afro-Vegan and social justice warrior.
My available cash for this event is always limited but I do spend it. I wish the organizers understood how to give great value to the least as well as they do to those who spend the most. I’d suggest creating more focused tracks for a writer or a scholar to follow throughout the weekend, and maybe even offering a special price for those with LA i.d. to get more working writers there. Additionally, I’d recommend a salon room for writers and bloggers with access to internet and maybe some authors stopping by to keep the buzz moving in between the panels.
The highlight of this is usually the theater offerings, which for the first year ever (of around 20 for me) I did not attend any. Funds and scheduling were the issue there.
Having done all that complaining (as my grandmother would say), I urge every working writer to spend a little time at this event in future years, even if it is just to roam the halls or volunteer at an event to get a panel pass. You’ll walk away with a few nuggets and a renewed belief in New Orleans as a destination for readers and writers.
An amusing and mocking piece linked below written by a local writer lamenting the loss of free access to St. Louis #1 and how it results from our “clickbaiting of history.” Of course, his title aligns him as a user of that same system, and so he is awarded props for his excellent use of irony, which I am sure he meant.
I love how this guy writes, even if I don’t always follow his line of reasoning; after all, he points out how more than 50 years ago, hippies had their free access and fun there too. I prefer to lay the blame at the marble feet of the patriarchal institution that has activated the locking of the gate without a great deal of effort to reduce the littering of tombs before hauling out the padlock.
The truth is, we live in a time where little respect is paid to the past by those who happen by or even by many of those entrusted with their care. Whether one believes that the lack of respect comes from the increasingly informal, chaotic communication age that we live in or from those damn hippies (whom I admire and honor as a child of the late 60s and early 70s) or someone else, the sad truth is the Catholic Church has made a high-handed decision that probably won’t end the vandalism but will limit the viewing of those who love history.I’d prefer to do what we do in the Quarter proper: be the eyes on the street that we promised to be and to stop nonsense from happening by stepping in when safe to do so, or to create more security if necessary rather than shuttering one of our places. St. Louis #1 is not the only cemetery in the U.S. with this issue and yet it is one of the few that just made access only possible (as Wayne writes colorfully) “behind a paywall;” as a matter of fact, THAT does seems like clickbaiting to me.
Clickbait History
“Signs”
And the sign said anybody caught trespassin’ would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house, “Hey! What gives you the right?”
“To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in”
“If God was here he’d tell you to your face, Man, you’re some kinda sinner”
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?
French Quarter block by block 
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