Did you see this in New Orleans?

You might see things in New Orleans that you won't see anywhere else.

Of course this was Mardi Gras, so a lot of people were dressed in their finest.


This doll head caught our attention.

The St. Louis Cathedral is one of the most recognized sites in the city.

Explain this to me. I never saw the cat that was supposed to eat here, bathed in floodlight. We walked by this at all hours of the day and night; it was near the bed and breakfast where we were staying.

The pseudo-Christians were out in full force during Mardi Gras. On Bourbon Street they tried to take on the gay community near Cafe Lafitte in Exile.

I made a short video of the stand-off with my phone. The gays won, by the way. As the protesters left, men were still drinking and dancing was still going on in the bar. The video is noisy and all you hear is the motorcycle drowning out the megaphone, but there is a sweet kiss near the end.



Call me crazy but Canal Street reminds me of Times Square with palm trees and street cars. The street is so busy with people and vendors - the energy is the same.



At night during a parade the crowds really come out along Canal Street. We met a straight couple from Minnesota, three gay college kids from France (in school in Florida), some college age beer drinking kids from Shreveport and from Mississippi, and a Hispanic couple from Midland Texas.

We also caught two bags full of beads and stuffed animals and doubloons and other stuff.

The imagination and creativity in New Orleans is on display everywhere you turn.


We need some of that creativity to be displayed in Bessemer. We know there are creative people here. I know that there are musicians, artists, dancers, writers - all of whom are being repressed, just waiting for their opportunity.

All it would take is a coffee shop/art gallery where poetry readings could take place and an occasional jazz musician could take the stage. That could be the beginning.

You know, the Birmingham Music Cooperative was seeking to locate in an old house in Norwood, but I think the residents ran them off. I want to invite them to Bessemer, where there are plenty of old houses they could fix up and use. We need the culture, and welcome the artists.