b.rox

Here’s Persephone’s directorial debut. Cast: Xy — Snow White Persephone — Nice Fairy Michael — Grumpy Therese — Dopey Nicole — Flower David — Prince Cinematography by yours truly. Obviously this was mostly improvised, but Persephone engineered the basic situation. She assigned roles and costumes. She didn’t want a Wicked Queen in her movie, for [...]

So I went down to Michael’s house last night to watch Treme. I fully expected to see a commemoration of Dinerral Shavers, and that is how the show began. The funeral scene was moving. Nakita Shavers, playing herself, gave a heartbreaking eulogy for her brother. I read that she had to do that scene four [...]

It’s the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo/BP blowout disaster catastrophe oil spill. I don’t know how much coverage it gets outside the Gulf Coast, but oil is still percolating up in marshes here, and it’s very discouraging. Generally I have supported science and the scientific worldview, but this debacle has shown how science is just [...]

I was just coming home from the first real parade of the carnival season, fired up and aglow with the love, and I get online and I check my e-mail and I find myself on Facebook, looking at a kindly invitation to enjoy the next night’s diversions, looking at the profile of a friend, and [...]

Just noticed I have exactly 666 “friends” on Facebook. Damnation. Now I can’t add anymore friends unless someone unfriends me. Because, of course, I am an ardent hexakosioihexekontahexaphile. Update: It took me a while to figure out how to save an image showing all 666 “friends.” (Abduction by Rowan Lewis proved to be the key.) [...]

I’ve gotta give some props to Eric Spears for continuing to excavate such gems from his personal video collection. Here’s Christy Paxson Behind the Scenes at the Making of the Latest John “Cougar” Mellencamp Video. Eric sez: “Between episodes of her access TV series, The Christy Paxson Show, Christy made several video shorts, and this [...]

We had some friends over for dinner.

Yes, it’s that time again. As I’ve noted here before, Twelfth Night is traditionally observed on January 6th in New Orleans, but in other places it’s considered to begin at sundown on January 5th. I guess this relates to the old idea of holidays beginning the night before, like Christmas really seems to start on [...]

I didn’t really know Betts, but I know Gentilly Girl, who has also been a regular commenter on this blog, and so I am reposting this from Liprap’s Lament in hopes of garnering a few more bucks for the cause. There’s currently over $300 in the fund but more is needed. Start the New Year [...]

3:15 AM, New Orleans Of course this is a terrible photo, but it proves I was there. I caught some zzz, then got up at 1:45AM. The total eclipse was in full effect. A half dozen people were hanging out in the street in front of Banks Street Bar, gazing upward. I went around the [...]

Our friend James is kind of like the brother I never had. We’ve even been known to quarrel from time to time. I remember some years ago when James went back to school and started studying history in earnest. That he’s now presenting original research at the Louisiana State Museum fills me with a feeling [...]

I don’t really know Gina very well. She’s a friend of a friend, the intermediary being the irascible PJ Christie. Gina and PJ played together in a band called Rabbit Hatch back in the pre-K days. They played at our 2005 Samedi Gras party, as pictured here. So obviously Gina is a musician but she’s [...]

It’s not just a sign — it’s a kinetic sculpture. This was constructed by Peter Hickman and friends at the place where the Jeff Davis neutral ground intersects the Lafitte Corridor at the foot of Bayou St. John. It is propelled by the wind. In my personal opinion, it’s a perfect expression of community desire [...]

I’m still in touch with a number of friends back in Indiana. Last week I heard some sad news from one of these friends: His mother had passed away. She was advanced in years, but it was still rather sudden and unexpected. Yet what he asked the next day brought a smile to my face. [...]

I’m an unapologetic narcissist, as most of my writing here will attest. I write mostly about myself and my experiences. Yet for a long while I’ve thought it would be a good idea to write a bit about other people, perhaps as a regular exercise. When I say “good idea,” I mean good for me; [...]

I see I have some catching up to do. Last Tuesday night I started to feel like I was coming down with something, which was not surprising since Xy and Persephone have both been under the weather. When I woke up Wednesday I was feverish, but it was a big day for me, so I [...]

Over the last week I’ve been sleeping less soundly and remembering my dreams better. I believe the two are related, and decreased alcohol consumption probably plays a role in both. The most vivid dreams come just before I wake up. This morning, I dreamed that Brian Denzer was working on a newspaper story about the [...]

How does one spend Sunday morning at Tales of the Cocktail? How about a seminar on “Religious Spirits”? This session was conducted by Garrett Oliver and a thankfully clean-shaven Allen Katz. Allen talked about spirits and Garrett talked about beer. I never thought I’d be drinking beer at Tales, but this session attempted to bridge [...]

We stopped by our friends’ house yesterday and I talked to a couple four-year-old-boys playing in the sandbox. One of the boys had a sucker that had gotten coated with sand. Me: Mmm, sand, that’s my favorite flavor. Russell: Do you want it? Me: No thanks, I just ate a bunch of sand before I [...]