One More Fire In This Town

June 29, 2006 1:35 AM

Transvestite Gang Pesters Magazine Street. "A house fell on my sister..." "That weeping sound of despair? That's just some chick trapped in an elevator." A Baptist Church burned, then destroyed. Mail delivered. Life in New Orleans nine months after Katrina.
posted by bukharin (16 comments total)

Transvestite Gang? Do they do enact choreographed dance scenes as in Death Wish 3?
posted by psmealey at 2:31 AM on June 29, 2006

America's own little bit of the third world.
posted by rhymer at 3:17 AM on June 29, 2006

Holy shit, that's my old neighborhood in the 9 months after video.

I left there 2 years ago.

I miss home, fucked up, and confused as it is.

Gonna do the expatriate thing now and drink a bit.
posted by erskelyne at 3:23 AM on June 29, 2006

Could someone tell me what "twisted, dreadnaught hair" is?
posted by Meatbomb at 4:45 AM on June 29, 2006

That strip mall in the video is at Carrollton and Bienville, two blocks from Carrollton and Canal, i.e. one of the major intersections of the city. In the most pessimistic of the redevelopment plans that area was never included in any "greenspace" or "return to marsh" or "do not bother putting resources into" sectors. The new billion dollar streetcar line which goes down Canal was specifically designed to bolster exactly that neighborhood which remains largely trashed. There are a lot of people (they are almost entirely homeowners whose primary asset is their house) doing reconstruction thereabout but I have told everyone I know: if you can figure out a way to get the hell out of town do it.
posted by bukvich at 6:15 AM on June 29, 2006

The transvestite gang part is useless without pictures...and a musical number.
posted by crataegus at 6:37 AM on June 29, 2006

Could someone tell me what "twisted, dreadnaught hair" is?

Ironclad and rather smoky, I'd reckon.
posted by hangashore at 6:57 AM on June 29, 2006

So, why exactly should anyone be sobbing and hysterical and thinking they were going to die just because they're in a stalled elevator and are informed that it'll take some 40 minutes for an elevator repair man to get there?

I mean, unless they're claustrophobic, in which case they should probably have taken the stairs in the first place.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 7:33 AM on June 29, 2006

bukvich: Sure, it's not as if Houston never floods horribly, even without a hurricane, or has any crime. Go for it!
posted by raysmj at 8:01 AM on June 29, 2006

From Harry Shearer's blog :

After the human suffering, and the loss of historic buildings by the mile, what hurt the most in contemplating the disaster to this city last year was the potential loss of the canopy--the glorious green umbrella of trees that offers necessary shade in these most intensely sunny summers...

Granted, he's got a huge disclaimer on the front end of that statement, but it still seems out of whack. I'm having trouble taking the rest of his blog seriously.


WARNING - Pepsi Blue in the following paragraph :

If you want to help out one of the victimized stores, order clothes from Turncoats. You'll probably have to communicate by e-mail, as the website never was finished, but the owner will jump at the chance to help you. Ask for a Defend New Orleans hoodie.


erskelyne : what were your favorite watering holes?
posted by suckerpunch at 9:18 AM on June 29, 2006

So, why exactly should anyone be sobbing and hysterical and thinking they were going to die just because they're in a stalled elevator and are informed that it'll take some 40 minutes for an elevator repair man to get there?

People are a bit on edge emotionally. It may not make logical sense, but still.

Thanks for the post, bukharin. I'm feelin' homesick.
posted by brundlefly at 10:20 AM on June 29, 2006

You're welcome, brundlefly.

I happened upon Metroblogging New Orleans via the San Francisco site. It's really profound to compare the different cities... SF's site is all caught up in chocolates, lattes, graffiti art and opera. Then I go to NOLA and it's these mundane yet epic struggles to get the roof fixed, to get out of the elevator alive.

What struck me about the elevator post was this:

the attitude towards emergencies in this town have become quite blase. If an elevator falls down a shaft, its not as bad as the building catching on fire, or the broken water mains shutting down 8 blocks of the city, or rampant violent crime.

I also found out there that there's a youth curfew.
posted by bukharin at 2:55 PM on June 29, 2006

I used to write for the NOLA Metroblog. Weird how it has changed. I think the only one still on there from when I was writing, about a year and a half ago, is Richard. Have all the others left the city?
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:51 PM on June 29, 2006

Suckerpunch,

I was all up in the Shim-Sham and el Matador. Pal's lounge and Circle bar. The lower Decatur crawl, of course. I worked at a bunch of places as well, so I had built in barfly status.

Good times, etc.
posted by erskelyne at 4:00 PM on June 29, 2006

We may have run into each other, erskelyne...
posted by brundlefly at 4:43 PM on June 29, 2006

We may have run into each other, erskelyne...
posted by suckerpunch at 8:03 PM on June 29, 2006