Cold Spaghetti

Our first year here, I had recently been discharged (read: signed out AMA) from a local hospital and was recovering from pneumonia. Last year, I was 14 months pregnant with Kate and in Mobile, awaiting signs of labor. This year, the kids were in school — and we were at Jazz Fest, loving every minute. It was a wonderful day; perfect for taking in the one-of-a-kind music, food, culture, and celebration that is New Orleans and Louisiana.

Our strategy, as first-timers: spend the day walking the field, make no plans or commitments to performances, just get a sense of the festival, the crowd, and the range of experiences.

Our highlights…
Mardi Gras Indians (the above are Semolian Warriors) on the Jazz and Heritage Stage. Jazz Fest includes 11 stages — some open air (like the Jazz and Heritage Stage seen below) and others in tents. Tented stages have areas with bleachers and chair aisles for seating — big pluses for getting out of the hot sun.
In the Southern Comfort Blues Tent, we grooved to Bryan Lee and the Blues Power Band… great performer, fabulous musician… screeches with the best of ’em!
Jazz Fest has big crowds, so many use interesting hats to stick out.
Michael Ward, adult contemporary in the WWOZ Jazz Tent. It was like seeing a concert with 1500 versions of my mother. (My Mom LOVES smooth jazz and, as she says, would have “eaten it up with a spoon.”)
With the tents, it was very easy to sit comfortably and occasionally walk up to the stage for better photography opportunities. It was great to be in a crowd, but still have this ability to come in close and have an intimate moment with the music and performers.
Make no mistake: the Gospel Tent is WHERE IT’S AT. For pure energy and excitement, you will not be disappointed with any performance. LOVED IT.
This is Lyle Henderson & Emmanuel. This is right before he told us that he was “feelin’ something movin’!” among us.


Seriously great performer, awesome powerhouse of energy.
The massive Acura stage (below). This is where Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, Harry Connick, Steely Dan, Brad Paisley, ZZ Top, and a bunch of the other big performers are playing it out (Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, Ludacris, Bonnie Raitt, Counting Crows, and others are playing on the Gentilly Stage on the other side of the track.) We walked by to check it out — and see the crowds — and decided to stick with our initial impressions: steer clear of the big names and stick to the local performances.
That’s George Porter, Jr. and the Runnin’ Pardners up on the Acura in the picture above. Dr. John (who we would have loved to see) came up next… but we decided to get our funk out with da’ good Doc later at some local venue. (Anybody wanna babysit while we check out Dr. John at Jazz Fest nights this week???)
More crowds. I was torn over the controversy of the “big names.” I like the idea of keeping it to our local musicians and cutting ticket prices by keeping big names out. Yet, it’s great that the crowds congregate to the big stages and let the rest of us enjoy the festival with relative space and ease.
My favorite area was around Congo Square and Lousiana Folklife Village — Louisiana artists (including Zulu coconut history and artistry) and African-American heritage.
Guy sets up in style near the Fais Do Do Stage.
Looking out to the Grandstand. The Fest takes place at the New Orleans Race Track/Fairgrounds. I can only imagine how muddy it might get in a heavy rain…
Paul gets us Mango Freeze… one of the many unique and incredible delights at Jazz Fest. Many go to the ‘fest just for the food. We admit: that only would be reason enough. We sampled a large variety of tasty treats including the Mango dream (below), Andouille Calas with Green Onion Sauce (good gracious were these good — they are like Cajun Rice Cakes with sausage… wow), Pecan Catfish Meuniere, Mandarin Orange Ice Tea, and the obligatory Frozen Cafe au Lait. We have a list of other things we’d like to try next Friday… including the Carribean Fruit Salad, Strawberry Lemonade, and Tajadas (plantains with spicy pork & pickled cabbage).
We saw a Native American Pow-Wow and friendship dance in the Louisiana Folk Village.


We also had a nice conversation with one of the artisans who weaves the incredible beads that make the Mardi Gras Indian costumes. His studio and much of his work was lost in Katrina — and volunteers from Kansas were instrumental in rebuilding a more structural sound workspace (one of architectural significance, to hear him talk of it) and reclaim his home and family. He told us about his wife, his concern over her emotional state in dealing with the losses caused by the storm and Great Flood. Finally, he told us about teaching his younger son to carry on in his talents.
A couple enjoys the music from the Fais Do Do stage — one of my top choices for music (it’s a close contender to my number one: the Economy Stage). I am turning into a huge fan of Zydeco and Cajun music.
Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie were awesome. I want to learn some French just to be able to sing along!
The Economy Hall Tent is my favorite for music: Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz! We caught Mari Watanbe’s Chosen Few Jazz Band in the morning and Leroy Jones and New Orleans’ Finest in the afternoon… where enthusiastic music lovers of all ages had started to Second Line around the tent.




How can you not fall in love with this city?

We were too tired, had too much work (and no babysitter) to go on Saturday or Sunday. But we hope to head back out this Friday! (Or maybe get out for some Jazz Fest nights this week!) The only real tragedy in all of this is that our house is not full to the rim with guests. Apparently, we haven’t been doing a good job about getting the word out about this incredible event. Open doors, y’all, come on down!

By the way, you can stream live music from the WWOZ tent during the ‘fest. (Or just tune in to some of the great music shows and live broadcasts everyday.)

It was nice to be in Virginia in the week after the tragedy. Mostly because in Virginia, everyone knows knows the school and has connections to it. The sanctity of college campuses as a safe, open place was shattered for all; but for those of us who intimately know Virginia Tech, it was a sad week that hit a personal note. This became even sadder as the event became a media spectacle, sensationalized, overexposed, and without substance. What could have been a moment to reflect on our priorities towards health, education, and class became a circus to pathologize one man. The feelings from the week were not unfamiliar to us, having lived through the uncertainty, frustration, and sadness of watching a community we care about be struck by disaster — and seeing the media cover it in irresponsible, sloppy ways.

One of the many things we did the weekend before taking off to parts beyond New Orleans was attend a few birthday parties. On Saturday, Paul took the kids to Our Most Favorite Gelato Store (now featuring some of my photographs on its website) for a party while I was in a the last day of a disaster conference. On Sunday, we all went to City Park’s Storyland for another party — this one, with me as a photographer! The light was really challenging, as was the setting — kids running all over the park or scrunched into one small party area — it was a challenge to watch kids and photograph all the goings on. Kate slept for the start of the shin-dig. Will had a great time but was REALLY into the birthday cake!

The news is still coming in, but yes — we are shaken by the violence at Virginia Tech this morning. Paul and I are both graduates of VT. It is where we met, dated, became engaged, and had our first home together. We are very concerned for those we know in the University and community and our hearts are with them.

Wednesday night, we drove to Gulfport and met my parents, who (lucky for us!) have a Rebel XT (the newer version of my camera) that they were willing to lend us for awhile. New camera! I have been using mine exclusively for awhile now; I’d forgotten the difference in the newer models… particularly that (with my 50mm 1.4) it does so much better in lower light.
Thursday afternoon, while Paul was in a Board Meeting, I helped out at the school and played with the camera… err… the kids. I didn’t take many of my kids — but I did get Kate walking around with her ruffle butt (above). I’m still trying to get used to the subtle changes in setting and feel. All of these pictures were taken without flash, which is pretty good considering the coloration the tungsten light. I shoot a lot indoor (reality of kids) — so I’d like to experiment more with white balance and an 80A filter.
Will specifically asked me to take pictures of him eating his pudding. Will’s method of having his picture taken is that he begins to move as many body parts as fast as he can all at once. It was a miracle to get this, especially without flash in such low light!

These are a few of my favorites from City Park last week, in black and white (click for a larger view). I’d be curious for reactions and thoughts…?

AND THEN.
Hmmmm… that can’t be right. What’s going ON???
Apparently, digital rebels have a common problem with the secondary mirror (used in AF) staying down. What you’re seeing in these pictures is the mirror not flipping down — hence only half of the frame is exposed. Paul manually moved the mirror (which is why you’re seeing more in some of the pictures than others). A small spring fell out — we assume it’s the spring that controls the mirror. It’s a mechanical break from normal wear (other users have seen this failure around 10,000-15,000 shots… I’d estimate I’ve taken even more than that.) There are self-fix guides, but the optics could use a cleaning and we’re not up for camera surgery. From what we can gather, it’s a $200 or so fix… although users report it a “permanent” one.
So this is all we have of us dying eggs. And there aren’t any pictures of Easter morning (just video) of Will getting HIS FIRST REAL BICYCLE WITH TRAINING WHEELS, visiting with my parents, or going into a chocolate coma. But it was all very fun.
The bummer is that we leave next week… during which we’ll be heading into DC, seeing friends, meetings friends’ babies, seeing family, and just generally doing things where I will feel like an amputee without my camera arm. Thankfully, my Dad is loaning me his XT — we’re meeting them half-way on Wednesday evening to make the pick-up — so I’ll have something.

If we were in a place to splurge, it’d be time to consider a new camera. But I’ve really got my heart set on a 5D, which is roughly the same price as a kidney. (I’d told myself that if I started to sell stock photos then I could start considering it as something to save towards.) I’d been earmarking portions of consulting income for another lens (much more reasonably priced than it’s comparison), so having to spend money on a camera fix is a total bummer. Especially since I was hoping to get the new lens to better capture the DC trip (Will and Kate with Brayden for the first time!!) So I’m bummed!!

BUT — we had a really nice Easter that we captured on video. Will’s final thoughts before bed on Sunday:

“Will, what was your favorite part of Easter?”
“The CHOCOLATE.”
“Even more than your new bike?”
“Yeah.”

Saturday morning, we braved the cold (“feels like” temp of 42!?!) to attend our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. I was pretty freaked out by the cold — I fly alone with the kids next week and am terrified of them coming down with some sort of bug before takeoff. But they had a blast. Kate especially.

The kids collected yummy Elmer’s chocolate, Fair Trade chocolate from Whole Foods, and fun toys — all donated by our neighborhood stores. The kids did a great job of sharing, I was impressed.
Will spent the start of the hunt in his age group (3 and under) but quickly decided to join the 7 year olds, who were a bit faster. His mission was not so much to gather eggs, but to eat as much chocolate as he could. (I think his going over to the other kids’ group was about him trying to lose Dad in the chase so that he could scarf unnoticed.)
We let the kids play for awhile before taking off…

I feel like this picture is Will’s “Too Cool for School” face.


Then it was home for PB&J and naps!

Friday was a holiday for Abeona House. In the afternoon, we went to City Park to enjoy the Sculpture Gardens. (We actually went to check out the hours for the train, which we heard is now open on weekends!)
City Park was heavily impacted by Katrina’s winds and inundated by the Great Flood. It’s clean up has taken place almost entirely at the hands of volunteers. It is difficult to articulate the massive scale of both of those events: the destruction is as overwhelming as the task of clean-up. It is a beautiful and inspirational place, even as it recovers.
Will enjoyed reading “the menus” at each sculpture. It took awhile to sink in, but finally, he was reading each menu as “no climbing on the special artwork.”
Will investigates the giant spider. Frodo flashbacks!
Will runs to one of the garden’s most well-known and well-LOVEd pieces…
… and explores it. I would normally freak out (he’s on the artwork!) But I’ve seen at least four hundred family Christmas pictures with people hanging on it, so I figured Will’s crawling under was okay in moderation (it didn’t go any further than this).
More memorable pieces stretching out across the gardens.
Will LOVED the waterfall and pool.
We had a long conversation about the water, spiders on the rocks around it, and the different colors in the rocks and water as it moved.
Looking at the garden from one of the bridges.
Will reads a “menu.”
More garden views.

After enjoying City Park’s Sculpture Gardens, we ran around the expansive lawn in front of the Museum of Art.
These are all presented as I shot them (some with a little cropping). Maybe later I’ll put up some in black and white and with other effects. I’m curious as to people’s take on them… because I see the world in color, and lived the moments I photograph in color, seeing them in black and white always seems stark and empty to me. But I enjoy other people’s black and white photography, so maybe others would see something else that I’m missing? I’d enjoy the feedback if I can get the other effects up in another post…
Until then, enjoy the fun afternoon as I experienced it.