Psssst! The Spot -----> Around The Corner...: March 2009

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!!

Take a 12-minute break for a jazzy duet

at open mic night from Cambridge

Here We Go Again

Here We Go Again (the finale)

On the Radio

This Is How It Goes

Out In the Cold

Welcome

Thanks for stopping by.

The Spot Around the Corner is written to be amusing, helpful and informative, as all of us set out to live more smartly in our changing world. (Yeah, it's got a little of my attitude, too.)

Here's what is coming on The Corner:

Three off-the-beaten-path non-profs in the Dallas area to consider and why they get my endorsement?

The Louisiana African American Heritage Trail is an extraordinary treat for the curious traveler and road tripper. Mythical rivers (Cane, Red, Calcasieu and the Mighty One) and their scenic backroads. Museums, plantations, old neighborhoods, plenty of history and folklore and engaging natives. Come along with me as I pass along a pictorial, as well as tips and features and hidden treats from my trip exploring half the trail. From lengendary Nachitoches, north, to New Orleans in the east, to my homeland, the Cajun and Bayou country of Calcasieu Parish.

Shame on you, David Letterman? Let them make cakes and eat them too.

Visit again.

The Wetlands..."A migratory Home-Sweet-Home?''

I remember the Pelican

The brown pelican is revered as Louisiana’s state bird. After a more than brief stay on the endangered species list, it was making its way back in the millennium. Not only as an endearing icon for a land known as Sportsman's Paradise and nicknamed the Bayou State, but also as one of the most precious and unique birds in wildlife.

I don't want to see any more images of them black-slicked, beaks and feathers tarred from a drenching in an offshore oil spill that no longer sounds like an accidental occurrence. I want to remember the National Geographic/Audubon-like pictures from my girlhood and the later stories of a triumphant comeback. The animated imprint on the state flag still gives me goose bumps.

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Birds/Archives/2000/How-Rachel-Carson-Helped-Save-The-Brown-Pelican.aspx

The bird’s comeback is symbolic of the resiliency of Louisianans. After the tears following the devastation of Katrina and Rita fall 2005, I cheered the recovery efforts spring 2009, during my first Post-Katrina visit to New Orleans. Thanks to the tenacious efforts of the natives and relentless aid of diehards from around the country and the world, the Louisiana spirit was thriving again. My home state for all its warts showed the world what it was made of.

This year, the New Orleans Saints fans proved that a football team is much more than an NFL franchise and its great players. The team is a community, too, dependent much on the spirit of the people that supported it. While the Saints historically had been maligned by many NFL pundits and naysayers for its no doubt long-suffering losing legacy, the fans statewide never stopped believing. That spirit prevailed last football season and gave the region another reason to believe in comeback.

Here we are late spring with two letters, BP, fast becoming a stinging part of the lexicon much like the label “Katrina.” Less than three months after the Super bowl and Mardi Gras 2010 revelry, this happens, again pushing the limit of my fair home state and its mighty people.

Sad for the loss of human life in the initial explosion. Can’t stand that the prognosticating points to bleakness, that we are looking at years of a slimy Northern Gulf of Mexico coast. Heartsick over the idea that a culture of fishing income three or four generations old will cease to be for families that know no other livelihood, and that small towns along the way that thrived on showing off its colorful lifestyle to visitors from near and far may turn into a pass-through on the state map.

And that once again, the pelican, along with other indigenous fish and migratory birds, animals and plants are under threat of extinction. This time the unthinkable threat of permanent extinction?

If this is offshore drilling, the price is tons of barrels too much.

http://www.facebook.com/dawnsaveswildlife?v=wall http://www.facebook.com/dawnsaveswildlife?v=wall

Oh, oh October!!

In this economy, pleasure trips require saving the extra quarters and planning ahead. If the Boston area is on your getaway to-do list fall 2009, check out Clink Restaurant (below), a unique nouvelle eatery in Boston's Historic Liberty Hotel. The Liberty used to be Boston's infamous Charles Street Jail. Lunch literally behind bars at Clink. Work off the calories with a nice walk through the high profile Beason Hill neighborhood and browse shops. Weather most October days will be accomodating. (Read the archived Beantown blog item on this site for more fall pleasures in the Boston area.)