Thursday, November 29, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Bonfire building underway in River Parishes
Bonfire building underway in River Parishes
Posted by The Times-Picayune November 23, 2007 2:41PM
PHOTO BY TED JACKSONMembers of the "Bonfire crew" push and cajole a willow through the canopy of other trees after they cut it with a chainsaw in their quest for logs for their levee bonfire in Lutcher. Groups of builders prepared to build Christmas Eve bonfires on the Mississippi River levee in Gramercy and Lutcher Friday.
By Matt Scallan
River Parishes bureau
For many in the New Orleans area, the day after Thanksgiving means lining up outside of a store. But for Dustin Poche' and his friends, it is the day to break out their chainsaws to light the way for Pere' Noel.
This is the day that residents of St. James Parish begin building bonfires on Mississippi River levees to be set alight on Christmas Eve.
"My grandfather built them. My father built them. Now I'm building them," said Poche', a 23-year-old sheriff's deputy, one of a dozen people cutting small trees and hauling the logs that will make an 18-foot-tall pyre.
The annual celebration of the bonfires culminates on Christmas Eve, but for the past 18 years, the parish has worked to capitalize on the tradition with an annual festival, which this year is Dec. 7 -9.
"We realize that everybody can't be here on Christmas Eve, so the goal is give people more time to come and visit," said Jason Amato, chief of the Lutcher Volunteer Fire Department, whose members build their own bonfires.
One bonfire will be lit each night during the festival, but on Christmas Eve, more than 100 will be ablaze, most of them on the east bank of the river, according to the parish office of tourism.
Building the bonfires used to be a seat-of-the pants operation. Volunteers would build their pyres in the shapes of national monuments or during the first Gulf War, of battleships. One memorialized the ferryboat that crossed the Mississippi River between Gramercy and Wallace before the Veterans Memorial Bridge was completed.
But after several of the structures collapsed in unexpected ways during the conflagrations over the years, the parish enacted uniform standards for construction. All the fires must now be in a teepee shape, except for one "non-traditional" structure in Gramercy, Lutcher and Paulina.
"The people who do the non-traditional ones like to keep what it is a secret until the last minute," Amato said.
Whatever happens, the bonfires must be finished before noon on Christmas Eve, just as the narrow streets along River Road begin to become clogged with traffic.
Residents say the tradition helps bind the community together, but the young people tend to do most of the work.
"My dad still comes out, but it's mostly to supervise," Poche' said.
Matt Scallan can be reached at mscallan@timespicayune.com or (985) 652-0953.
STAFF PHOTO BY TED JACKSONMeggan Canale watches from her comfortable seat on the railroad tracks as the boys muscle a timber from the woods to a waiting trailer.
Posted by The Times-Picayune November 23, 2007 2:41PM
PHOTO BY TED JACKSONMembers of the "Bonfire crew" push and cajole a willow through the canopy of other trees after they cut it with a chainsaw in their quest for logs for their levee bonfire in Lutcher. Groups of builders prepared to build Christmas Eve bonfires on the Mississippi River levee in Gramercy and Lutcher Friday.
By Matt Scallan
River Parishes bureau
For many in the New Orleans area, the day after Thanksgiving means lining up outside of a store. But for Dustin Poche' and his friends, it is the day to break out their chainsaws to light the way for Pere' Noel.
This is the day that residents of St. James Parish begin building bonfires on Mississippi River levees to be set alight on Christmas Eve.
"My grandfather built them. My father built them. Now I'm building them," said Poche', a 23-year-old sheriff's deputy, one of a dozen people cutting small trees and hauling the logs that will make an 18-foot-tall pyre.
The annual celebration of the bonfires culminates on Christmas Eve, but for the past 18 years, the parish has worked to capitalize on the tradition with an annual festival, which this year is Dec. 7 -9.
"We realize that everybody can't be here on Christmas Eve, so the goal is give people more time to come and visit," said Jason Amato, chief of the Lutcher Volunteer Fire Department, whose members build their own bonfires.
One bonfire will be lit each night during the festival, but on Christmas Eve, more than 100 will be ablaze, most of them on the east bank of the river, according to the parish office of tourism.
Building the bonfires used to be a seat-of-the pants operation. Volunteers would build their pyres in the shapes of national monuments or during the first Gulf War, of battleships. One memorialized the ferryboat that crossed the Mississippi River between Gramercy and Wallace before the Veterans Memorial Bridge was completed.
But after several of the structures collapsed in unexpected ways during the conflagrations over the years, the parish enacted uniform standards for construction. All the fires must now be in a teepee shape, except for one "non-traditional" structure in Gramercy, Lutcher and Paulina.
"The people who do the non-traditional ones like to keep what it is a secret until the last minute," Amato said.
Whatever happens, the bonfires must be finished before noon on Christmas Eve, just as the narrow streets along River Road begin to become clogged with traffic.
Residents say the tradition helps bind the community together, but the young people tend to do most of the work.
"My dad still comes out, but it's mostly to supervise," Poche' said.
Matt Scallan can be reached at mscallan@timespicayune.com or (985) 652-0953.
STAFF PHOTO BY TED JACKSONMeggan Canale watches from her comfortable seat on the railroad tracks as the boys muscle a timber from the woods to a waiting trailer.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Working the AOF Convention
I am at the convention center here in New Orleans early for work, so I am sitting up on the podium using the physican speaker's computer to update my Blog. I am in charge of running the Technology Pavilion, so I make sure the PowerPoint presentations work, the wireless microphones are right and other general stuff.
Street Car Back on St. Charles
Check out this video at:
http://blog.nola.com/tpvideo/2007/11/test_ride_on_the_st_charles_av.html
It is taking New Orleans awhile to get back on the "track", but finally the street cars are back on St. Charles. I wonder what all the people have been doing that depended on that transportation to get to work?
http://blog.nola.com/tpvideo/2007/11/test_ride_on_the_st_charles_av.html
It is taking New Orleans awhile to get back on the "track", but finally the street cars are back on St. Charles. I wonder what all the people have been doing that depended on that transportation to get to work?
Friday, November 02, 2007
Invitation to view John's Picasa Web Album - Yellowstone Park Trip
| You are invited to view John's photo album: Yellowstone Park Trip
Message from John: We took this trip years ago, but there are a few great pictures of the park. I scanned them, so they have some defects in the pictures. John If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/topographicoceans.john/YellowstoneParkTrip To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.  |
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Palmetto bug
Moving to LA we have been introduced to the Palmetto bug, which is really a large cockroach and they are really gross in the house. Our cat Tokyo loves them!
Shrikism
"A shrike is a bird which impales its victim on a thorn and then tears it apart muscle by muscle. In human terms, a shrike is a person who so gathers all the righteousness to himself or herself that everyone else must act out wickedness. Then in the very act of seeming to try to help, the shrike acturally destroys the other bit by bit. Worse, the shrike actually thinks he or she is truly trying to be loving and helpful." by John and Paula Sandford in Healing the Wounded Spirit.
I really didn't understand the principle they were trying to teach until I read this paragraph later in the chapter.
"The essence of shrikism is that it establishes personal righteousness at the expense of others. Not all performance-oriented people are shrikes, but all shrikes are performance-oriented. Having bought the lie that they must perform well to be loved, yet insecure about their performance, they are driven unconsciously to contrast themselves with others; others must look bad in order for the shrike to look good. The shrike fears rejection more than anything else, yet in his striving to outperform everyone, he gathers righteousnessto to himself. Without knowing it, he does the very things which make him almost impossible to live with. His end is rejection."
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