I smashed my finger in the door of my friend's truck this last Friday night, or Saturday morning more like it. It didn't hurt much when it happened, due to my state of inebriation at the time, but the throbbing pain woke me up pretty early the next day and combined in an excruciating chorus with the hangover headache it didn't allow me to sleep through. I haven't lost my fingernail yet, but I fear its going to drop off soon. More pics on flickr if you click it.

My awesome Mother sent me a choice selection of palm seeds, with instructions. What a lovely grove by backyard will soon become!

Two Times-Pic stories, two child victims, no gun locks.

3-year-old boy finds gun, dies after accidentally shooting himself

15 year old fires gun, sister suffers minor injury

The parent in the first story should have known better than to hide a gun under a bed in the same trailer with a toddler. Horrific to imagine. The father is not charged.

In the second story, which is quite a nice bit of prose from Paul Rioux of the Times-Pic's St. Tammany Bureau, I have mixed emotions, but there seems like enough blame to go around in this family. It looks like the older brother probably should have told the kid to put it back instead of trying to act like an expert in stupidity. It could be that the kid was being careful; he didn't shoot the girl in the face, but its incredibly stupid to go "stuntin around" with a real firearm, even if you think its unloaded. When you really learn to use guns, you learn that you always treat them like they're loaded. I wish I had my Boy Scout Handbook handy, seems like that was one of the first rules you memorized for the Riflery Badge.

Kids, don't play with guns. They're expensive. And they can kill, disfigure, maim and braindamage you.

I learned to shoot at an early age, and pretty much aced my Riflery Badge. I went squirrel hunting every Fall from as soon as I could walk, first with a plastic pump-action, then a bb-gun, a .22, of which my DaD has several, there's a real joy to the trigger-jerk of a semi-automatic emptying a 50 round drum clip into a scattering of tin cans spread across the bend of a gully... then finally my choice squirrel, and later duck hunting armament, a 20 gauge, pump-action Browning, given to me by my Gampaw, who also took me on that first weekend squirrel hunt. I respected them all. I never touched a firearm without an adult around.

But I also have to ask,

Dad, do you really need to keep one in the chamber of that hand cannon under the seat of the minivan?

My position has always been that if you make the decision to keep guns, teach your children to use and respect them. As far as society-wide gun ownership goes, I'm not so sure. I bet we'd probably find ways to get the same damn evil job done without them.

Sure wish I didn't have to work this Thursday. The utterly legendary McCoy Tyner is playing with his trio in at the CAC.

Tyner is a former member of the John Coltrane Quartet, Septet and Orchestra, and is responsible for much of the cream of the jazz and hardbop crop in the 60's.

to mention a few of my favorites with the Trane. You're doing yourself a disservice if you haven't heard the amazing "Afro-Blue" on the Birdland album. Check the discog link on the name above for the mother lode.

The latest FEMA warning:

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Those old spray cans that weathered Hurricane Katrina last year might be an explosion waiting to happen.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s local safety officer warns that several spray cans have exploded as New Orleans residents go about the work of cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina. Everyone involved in cleanup operations should always exercise caution, and just because an old can doesn’t look dangerous doesn’t mean it isn’t.

Submersion in salty or brackish water can corrode and weaken pressurized cans, making them a potential hazard. Exposure to water can likewise rust steel cans. Spray cans found in enclosed areas, such as a car’s trunk or the tool box on a pick-up truck, can be at greatly elevated temperatures.

The solution: tongs and PPE. PPE being "personal protective equipment" such as safety goggles, gloves and long sleeves and pants. The problem is, its getting to be the time of year when walking outside into 99+ degree temperatures and 100% humidity wearing all that PPE will kill you long before the exploding spraycans.

I took this photo in December at the Henry Doorly Zoo while I was living in Omaha. This little guy is very colorful and became one of the 'most interesting' in my flickr photostream, but I never knew this little guy was such a heavyweight.

It turns out, he's the fastest and most powerful 'puncher' in all the world. I learned all this after noticing a few people had clicked through to my old blog by googling for 'mantis shrimp videos.' The high-speed, high-def video images precipitated the scientific discovery of the amazing power built into the shrimps' boxing arms. A UC-Berkeley article calls it the most brutal attack of any predator. The also flouresce, in order to communicate with one another, and are the first animal documented to have and use a language of glowing code-words, and on top of that, they may have the most complex eyes in the Animal Kingdom, attributed to their utter fearsomeness: "One simple explanation is that these animals need complex signaling because they're so dangerous. Mantis shrimp spear or club their prey and have been known to break aquarium glass with their heavy, calcified clubs. They can easily kill an opponent with a single, well-placed blow," Caldwell from UC Berkeley in the fluorescence article said.

You can find reams of footage online, like this clip of Squirt on YouTube, beating up on what looks like fiddler crab, and I even found a blue-and-green-haired, bonafide badass (warning: profile heavy metal) on MySpace who raises the little whipper-snappers and who claims his posse of Stomatopods has beaten Godzilla nine times. Flickr has a dearth of images, although I believe mine are the best, or at least some of the more kaleidoscopic.



The moral of this story is, "check it out." The Omaha Zoo has notoriously bad signage, and failed to reveal anything interesting. I remember thinking how quickly the little guy moved his front legs around, and in the above snapshot you can see they became a blur, but I don't think they were his 'punching legs' and I was more amazed that out of the entire exhibit, this fella was putting on a real show. My curiosity has only led me to the True Hollywood Story on the glow-talking, briny brawlers more than six months after I first saw them, and that's too long.

Learn your world!

I'm going to the newly reopened Aquarium of the Americas for some serious aquatic enrichment toute suite. I love that place, and its just been too long. Even if they don't have a Stomatopod or two, I'm sure someone there will be able to kindly and enthusiastically give me more information.

Only one was pitted.

You can click on them for larger versions.

This was found in a Sonic Cherry Limeade, which was a part of my #1 Combo, lettuce and mayo only, with tots. I sadly realized after I broke into it that it would probably have been worth some beaucoup dinero on eBay. Then I thought, maybe I'll put all the pics on eBay, but just auction off the newspaper with the cherry juice. Then I threw away the paper.

Unicorn Chaser defined.

Election Day 2006 bloggin'.

This is where I should have voted. It is right around the block from my new house in the Marigny. I registered to vote there when I renewed my license in Louisiana at the beginning of March. Due to widespread confusion this election, I contacted the Secretary of State's office to confirm my location and learned I was still registered at my Jefferson highway abode. I was told that if I wanted to participate, I'd have to vote according to my old registration, and I could have participated in the general election last month. I presumed I reregistered after the deadline, and in actuality I had, but since I've always been in the system in Orleans parish, I could have voted all along. I also could have voted against Bush twice, because I was registered to vote and participated in every election while I was living in Omaha.

This is where I actually voted, the mega-polling site set up to replace various damaged precincts across Uptown and Carrollton. You can see I parked in true New Orleans style, in the grass along the canal. My name was flagged for address verification, and I had to fill out a pink form to that effect before I was allowed to lock in my votes. Everything worked out very smoothly and friendly like.

Here are some various election day snapshots. I also shot a video of the neutral ground campaigning along N. Claiborne.

I had some fried baby blue crabs with my pre-poll lunch at Hana. Crispyiness, and I also created the first sushi face of 2006 with the remains.

Now I'm at work and I have been given the prestigious task of entering returns for the mayor's race. In between data-entry, I plan to, -drumroll please- liveblog the election returns! Oh joy.

7:07pm

We're on the air, and streaming online. Please join us in cyberspace. Follow along with the returns yourself here.

8:01pm

The polls are closed, let the returns roll. And as you wait, read dangerblonde's Dear John letter to Ray Ray.

8:07pm

Our special precinct stalkers have returned the first results:

2 precincts:
Landrieu - 194
Nagin - 93

8:12pm

Precinct update:
Landrieu - 954
Nagin - 294

8:15pm

Precinct update, and these are early results from the mega-polls:
76% - Landrieu - 1,107
24% - Nagin - 356

8:18pm

Precinct update:
71% Landrieu - 2,385
29% Nagin - 973

8:24pm

Precinct update, 5% reporting:
72% Landrieu - 3,064
28% Nagin - 1,198

8:28pm

Precinct update, 8% reporting:
70% Landrieu - 3,953
30% Nagin - 1,659

8:29pm

The first cartridges arrive at the Secretary of State's office.

8:31pm

Precinct update, 10% reporting:
69% Landrieu - 4,718
31% Nagin - 2,139

8:34pm

Precinct update, 14% reporting:
67% Landrieu - 5,986
33% Nagin - 2,953

8:38pm

Precinct update, 19% reporting:
62% Landrieu - 6,917
38% Nagin - 4,154

8:43pm

Precinct update, 21% reporting:
58% Landrieu - 8,113
42% Nagin - 5,960

8:45pm

Secretary of State's office releases its first online numbers.

8:51pm

Precinct update, 34% reporting:
52% Landrieu - 10,975
48% Nagin - 10,128

oohh, getting close now.

8:57pm

Precinct update, 38% reporting:
51% Landrieu - 11,821
49% Nagin - 11,571

9:03pm

Precinct update, 40% reporting:
50% Landrieu - 12,575
50% Nagin - 12,484

9:05pm

Precinct update, 44% reporting:
50% Landrieu - 13,721
50% Nagin - 13,093

9:07pm

Precinct update, 45% reporting:
48% Landrieu - 13,272
52% Nagin - 14,271

Ray takes the lead. At this point our precinct gathering has been exhausted, and we turn to Ater's info.

9:17pm

Ray continues to lead by about 1,200 votes according to the SoS website.

9:23pm

Ray loses his lead and is now trailing by 1,126 votes. We've got a real nailbiter on our hands tonight.

FOX8 projects a Nagin win. I'd call it jumping the gun. We'll see.

9:31pm

Landrieu leads by 1,120 votes.

9:38pm

SoS update, 56% reporting:
50% Landrieu - 24,253
50% Nagin - 24,172

That's 81 votes difference folks...

9:49pm

SoS update, 68% reporting:
48% Landrieu - 29,297
52% Nagin - 31,175

9:52pm

SoS update, 69% reporting:
49% Landrieu - 41,766
51% Nagin - 44,066

2,300 votes difference, but let us not forget about those 20,000 absentee votes...

9:57pm

I appear to be wrong. Ater just explained all early and absentee votes are included in the current numbers on the SoS website, so the last update is complete. We're just waiting on 135 precincts.

It appears WWL just made a half-ass projection for the incumbent.. WDSU offers the same. We are the only station that has not yet projected a winner in the mayor's race.

SoS update, 77% reporting:
48% Landrieu - 43,313
52% Nagin - 47,856

10:06pm

SoS update, 84% reporting:
48% Landrieu - 46,625
52% Nagin - 51,885

10:19pm

SoS update, 93% reporting:
47% Landrieu - 49,884
53% Nagin - 56,068

Landrieu appears at his HQ, "the handwriting is on the wall," Glynn Boyd.

10:22pm

Landrieu gives his concession, thanking God, wife, kids, family, all supporters, congratulates Nagin on a hard fought campaign. He says we're going to find a way together to rebuild this great city. "Today was the first step toward tomorrow." The brass band plays on and Mitch heads back to his desk in Baton Rouge as Blanco's #2...

10:31pm

Nagin appears at his HQ, "calm down for a second," then offers praise to Almighty God. "I greet you all this evening in the spirit of peace, of love..."

10:34pm

All precincts are accounted for, Nagin wins by 5,329 votes. Great job by Ater's team in getting the results back. Two hours after the first cartridges arrive, all votes are in.

Nagin continues to rant, now with a message to president Bush, "I want to thank you mister president for moving the promise made in Jackson Square forward.." and then he goes on with the brown-nosing, now moving on to Blanco, as an audible "awww" goes out through the crowd. Nagin says its time for a real partnership to rebuild the city, and the entire state. "Its time for one New Orleans today.. tomorrow.. forever.. Gandhi said it best, first they ignore you, then they hate you, then they fight you, then you win."

That's all she wrote folks, the Fat Lady has left the building.

removed

Just before the shower, during The Wild Magnolias.

Mike Dillon is the new Warren Haynes.

I come to this conclusion after listening to the recording of Ani's set I picked up at the Fairgrounds. He arrived here the week before the French Quarter Fest and I think I saw him nearly every day or night since then, usually several times. I remember the days when Warren would be seen scurrying across Canal, guitar in hand, with roadies and and amp in tow, from the Saenger to the Orpheum to sit in with someone while his own band was taking a setbreak. Sadly, both theaters were dark this Jazzfest, but did Dillon ever step up this year.

He played the small sessions, like several appearances with Johnny V.'s duo. He played big time sessions like with Ani at the Fairgrounds. He played in his own bands, Hairy Apes BMX and what my be the most exciting Garage A.. iteration with Garage A Medeski on the riverboat. He's neck and neck with Skerik this year for the most sit-ins with Galactic. And he's been here, playing out, since the French Quarter Festival, where a good friend of mine visiting town for the first time from Omaha was amazed at his skills with multiple mallets.

Mike Dillon, I hereby crown you prince of Jazzfest 2006.

Raucous last night.

Picked up my good friend Nikki Rae who just arrived from Seattle and headed over to the Blue Nile for Dr. Lonnie Smith & Idris Muhammad with Donald Harrison & Will Bernard & Eric Krasno & Karl Denson &... The Purple Haze was crisp and fresh on tap, the players were, shall we say, adequately overwhelming. Ran into friend after friend, including my man Steve who managed to bring the wife out for some carousing. Nice to see all of y'all.

The cluckers came out of the woodwork when the balloon guy arrived.

We moved on to Rotello's with Zack and Julie(?) for Simon Lott's Things. Another round of great players, but as Nikki put it, "they didn't play very well together, you know, as a group." I thought it was certainly interesting enough to stay until after 4am. The trumpet player was insane, with lots of electronic gadgets and a seriously hyperactive style. Simon had a lovely hairdo.

Famous Fest Quotes-

"You can't go wrong with dancing."

Marca, during a conversation about being so swerve usual ambulatory measures begin to fail.

2006:05:01 23:18:38