K+5
I’m not going to get into a whole 5 year hurricane retrospective, but if you’d like one, they’re everywhere. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to commemorate the weekend, but when the neighborhood association decided to build a new Kaboom! playground for the anniversary, that seemed just about perfect. Better to get out, work with neighbors and do some lasting good rather than navel gaze, right?
This build came together much faster than the others we’ve done, because we had this very specific target date that wasn’t very far away. It seems we’re all old hands at this now- we’ve done 3 others in the neighborhood, one also with Marriott, and Kaboom! has this down to a science.
The hotel has been amazing- after things went to hell here, the Marriott family put out the call to their employees around the world and took donations to insure all of their affected employees had the money and the shelter they needed for as long as it took to get back on their feet. When everything was done, many millions of dollars were left in the pot and they’ve been using that money to fund community improvement projects where the employees who received the help do the work while the donations pay for the logistics and materials.
The organizers were out there around 6, with another 275 volunteers arriving at 8 to build a playground from the ground up in one day- not to mention making picnic table & shade structures, fixing & painting everything in sight and more. Plus the neighborhood raised well over our goal and will be able to buy the kids new football uniforms in the fall.
Kaboom!’s founder was there in person, as were Marriott execs, the police chief, City Council president and more, and everybody had the same message: Forward. I couldn’t agree more.
Although it poured for awhile in the afternoon, everybody kept at it, and even that is pretty symbolic, no?
Jean Lafitte in late summer
I should be doing a big wrapup and commentary about Katrina’s fourth anniversary. I should have spent the day going to remembrances and speeches.
Instead, I went for a walk, which was the sensible thing to do. Much of life in New Orleans is still spent with Katrina at its core- volunteerism, fighting against the bureaucracy and incompetence, and just generally doing our best. Next year, the 5th anniversary, I’m sure we’ll go do something big and powerful to remember.
Today was more quiet and meditative, spent walking with a friend in the bayous and swamps. It’s a wonderful time to do so- flowers are everywhere, banana spiders are spinning their massive webs, bees are buzzing and gators are sunning. Even though there trees brought down by Katrina still liter the grounds of the park, there’s new life- vines cover them, mosses and mushrooms grow and the crickets sing.
It was hard to imagine a better way to spend the day.
Matt Faust’s Tribeca Film Festival winning Short
As written up in the Times-Picayune:
“Home,” which makes heavy use of computer-assisted photo manipulation, juxtaposes images taken throughout Faust’s childhood with similar shots taken after Hurricane Katrina to build a touching portrait of all that was lost in the storm.
In announcing last week’s award, the five-person Tribeca shorts jury — which included MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow — wrote, “This touching short artistically combines the aesthetic and the emotional in its portrayal of home and its memories. It tells a post-Hurricane Katrina story in a new, inventive and poignant way.”
A little Voodoo python/Katrina story
courtesy of John T.
Eugene the recently-deceased-happens to be one of the reasons John’s still in one piece after Katrina. He’d stayed behind to watch over the museum and his exotic pets, but when it became obvious things were going to hell he and a neighbor got in the car to get out of town.
The flood waters were just subsiding. There was no order, no food, no water. It was hot as hell. People were desperate to get the hell out of there.
The Quarter rats know about Doctor John and steer clear, but apparently other neighborhoods didn’t get the memo.
When they started to their way toward the bridge a big group of armed guys tried to carjack them… and then they saw 20 feet, 200lbs of snake in the back seat.
It turns out a large snake trumps a gun. Good to know.
Music for Relief & Habitat Humanity
Yesterday Travis & Coheed were in town to work on a Habitat house with the guys from Linkin Park. Turns out LP started a charity after the tsunami called Music for Relief, and they’ve since branched out into different projects. Coheed’s been on the road with Linkin Park and were happy to get involved.
It was a damn cold day, and I know Travis was itching to get his hands on a nail gun and really go to town, but they kept warm swinging hammers, putting down floors and putting up walls.
They kept the location quiet so they could work in peace, but the Times-Pic did show up for a few minutes, shot some photos and videos and were off.
Times-Picayune story with link to their gallery
We took a few pics when we picked him up, but weren’t allowed up on the staging area without wavers, etc. The studs (boards that is, not bands) were sort of in the way, but they were only going to be working for a few more minutes, so we opted to stay grounded.
Since they were winding down we chatted up the Habitat rep instead and found that that pre-K they did an average of 4 houses a year in New Orleans- post-K it’s about 170, and it’s only through the generosity of groups like Music for Relief that they have the funding to keep going.
When we took off, she was rounding everybody up for the Death & Destruction tour through the Lower 9- something she gets to do a couple of times a week.
The photos after the jump: Read More…
Make it Right & The Pink Project
A few days ago I travelled down to the Lower 9th for the first time in a long, looong time, but I wanted to see these pink blocks, and the holidays seemed an appropriate time to look back and reflect.
Our friend Anthony lived here, in these streets right by the levees. He and his family are gone now, to El Paso. They’re happy, but miss home. They’ve held onto their lot, and hope, in a few years, when the boys are older, to come back and rebuild. But they worry about the safety of the levees, and they know that this terrible homesickness isn’t exactly rational.
They’re fairly typical of the area-these were primarily middle class, owner-occupied homes which took a double hit- the force of the water breeching and then the flood itself. The area was a mix of urban and suburban, but houses stood shoulder to shoulder- now it’s primarily field, with houses dotted here and there.
It’s almost as eerie as it was right after the levee break, only then it seemed the bodies were still lying about in plain site. Now it’s haunted by what used to be.
And if Brad Pitt and his group have their way, what will be again. They’re trying to fund 150 eco-friendly houses here. As they get the donations to cover each one, they assemble the pink blocks into a house.
They mean well, and I hope they’re right. I hope this bet they’re making- that the levees will hold, that people will be safe, that the middle class will return- I hope that bet pays off.
Mostly I look at the concrete walls so close to those blocks and hope that the families each pink pile represents will be safe.
A slideshow after the jump-
Read More…