12.31.09 Old New Orleans

Royal Street

Bourbon Street

Iron Work Balconies in the French Quarter

12.30.09 Tough.

Photographs by David Leslie Anthony, an LA based fashion photographer. Some of his best work, shot here in New Orleans. Don't they look tough?

Her name is Valerie.

12.29.09 Old New Orleans

French Market, Decatur Side, 1960.

French Market, River Side, 1937.

A general view of Rex king of the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade leads the way through thousands of revelers packed in the streets March 6, 1946. The float is about to turn from St. Charles Avenue into Canal Street.

12.29.09 XX

Roadkill or overkill? The infamously overdone blue dog, rest his soul.

12.28.09 New Orleans sets all time high record for restaurants....

                    

On Jan. 1, 980 restaurants were cooking and serving in the metro New Orleans area. That was already up 171 restaurants from the restaurant population before Hurricane Katrina. As of mid-December, the figure stood at 1,045. The 1,000th restaurant, Madrid, opened in April, marking the first time New Orleans had so many eateries.

That is a remarkable statistic. The restaurant population dropped significantly during 2009 everywhere else in America. If we were still filling in holes left by Katrina, that would be one thing. But that deficiency has long since been filled, and we’re still growing.

More large, upscale restaurants opened this year than in the past several. Most growth in 2006-08 was in neighborhood cafés. Those continue to proliferate, but the interest in opening big-deal dining venues has resumed.

The biggest white-tablecloth splash was the reopening of the Roosevelt Hotel. Three major new eateries came with it: the restored Sazerac and Blue Room and the new Domenica.

Restaurant count hits historical high in 2009. New Orleans City Business

12.27.09 After the flood...

More photographs by Robert Polidori from a book, New Orleans after the Flood.

12.26.09 Happy in Louisiana, thank you....

Ahh so Louisiana ranks as the happiest state, NY is #46-  

Louisiana ranks as happiest state

By The Associated Press

December 18, 2009, 2:33PM

People in sunny, outdoorsy states -- Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida -- say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why.

A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine.

The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools.

The happiness ratings were based on a survey of 1.3 million people across the country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It used data collected over four years that included a question asking people how satisfied they are with their lives.

Economists Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., compared the happiness ranking with studies that rated states on a variety of criteria ranging from availability of public land to commuting time to local taxes.

Probably not surprisingly, their report in Friday's edition of the journal Science found the happiest people tend to live in the states that do well in quality-of-life studies.

Yet Oswald says "this is the first objective validation of 'happiness' data," which is something he says economists have been reluctant to use in the past.

"Very loosely, you could say that we prove that happiness data are 'true,' -- such data have genuine objective informational content," he said.

"Moreover," Oswald added, "it is interesting to uncover the pattern of life-satisfaction across one of the world's important nations."

Ranking No. 1 in happiness was Louisiana, home of Dixieland music and Cajun/Creole cooking.

Oswald urged a bit of caution in that ranking, however, noting that part of the happiness survey occurred before Hurricane Katrina struck the state, and part of it took place later. Nevertheless, he said, "We have no explicit reason to think there is a problem" with the ranking.

Rounding out the happy five were Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona.

At the other end of the scale, last in happiness -- is New York state.

As if to illustrate the problem, residents attending a meeting Wednesday in rural Queensbury unleashed their anger and cynicism at a state government they described as corrupt, self-dealing and too quick to increase taxes. It was a tirade that had one lifelong resident saying he was ready to flee "this stinkin' state."

Oswald suggested the long commutes, congestion and high prices around New York City account for some of the unhappiness.

He said he has been asked if the researchers expected that states like New York and California, which ranked 46th, would do so badly in the happiness ranking.

"I am only a little surprised," he said. "Many people think these states would be marvelous places to live in. The problem is that if too many individuals think that way, they move into those states, and the resulting congestion and house prices make it a non-fulfilling prophecy."

Besides being interesting, the state-by-state pattern has scientific value, Oswald explained.

"We wanted to study whether people's feelings of satisfaction with their own lives are reliable, that is, whether they match up to reality -- of sunshine hours, congestion, air quality, etceteras -- in their own state. And they do match."

Oswald and Wu used data from CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System collected from 2005 to 2008. The survey, launched in 1984, collects information on a variety of health measures.

The research was supported by Britain's Economic and Social Research Council.

The Times Picayune, 'Louisiana ranks as happiest state."

12.24.09 A Post Katrina Christmas Wishlist

In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, my dad drove around and snapped pictures of the aftermath, including the above picture- A Post Katrina Christmas Wishlist.

Santa's Wish List

1. Cat 5 Levees

2. Coastal Resotration

3. LRA $ in People's Hands

4. City Streets Paved.

5. Neighbors

6. Action, Less Plans

7. Holy Cross in Gentilly

8. 07 Hurricane Season like '06

9. Local Businesses to Return

10. Rebuild Lakeview

12.15.09 After the flood

More photographs by Robert Polidori from a book, New Orleans after the Flood.

12.14.09 Remnants of a home....

12.12.09 After the flood...

Photographs by Robert Polidori, from a book I randomly picked up at an estate sale this weekend, New Orleans after the Flood. His photo's were also on display at the Met in 2006.

12.10.09 READ more books....

Near Freret and Louisiana.

(Ahem, camoflage bandana....)

Front of house.

Side of House.

A follower of this blog ( didnt think there were! ) sent me this photo he took. In Nevada.

12.8.09 A New Orleans Classic

Although it isn't there anymore....

12.7.09 If you look close enough....

12.6.09 Love and chasing memories...

12.5.09 What is New Orleans?

12.4.09 New Orleans Homes

11.30.09 this might be a favorite.....

Near Jackson and Tchoup, I love it!

.....and Outlaw Books, which is in response to READ.

...which brings me to HARSH, also above, found all along the Gulf Coast but based in New Orleans, as an interview with the artist says he originally began marking it on the back of Post Katrina billboards that had overly upbeat messages, "Let's Stick Together, New Orleans! We're bringing it back!"