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Rockin Stooges
Give it Up, Give it Up, Give it Up!Hello dear friends and family! We do apologize for this lengthy delay in blogging. Ironically, once we got back into the first world- we found ourselves in a total technology vacuum. That, combined with somewhat busier than expected schedules, left us in a blogging lurch, and all of you in a blog-vacuum. That being said, we will now try to bring you up to speed about our adventures for the past 3 weeks - just backwards and out of order. For the record, we're offically back home and it's not May 8th- but we'll try to re-live things for you best we can. Don't worry- we won't send out more than one blog at a time- we know they can be a bit lengthy...
When we thought to wrap up our trip with a stop in New Orleans for the annual Jazz Festival we figured it would be a fun way to go out with a bang. We had toyed with the idea but figured we wouldn't be able to plan it into our trip accordingly. Luckily, our friends came to the rescue to offer us a perfect reason to make sure we'd make it- for the fourth year
First Site
We're back, baby, we're back... in a row- a couple from the Cornell crew decided to bring their engagement/bachelor party celebrations down to NOLA. Same bat-time, same bat-channel and we were scheduled on a flight into the city for May 4th. Mind you- this was prior to having any flights getting us back to the states! Now, of course no-one has forgotten the destruction the place suffered from Katrina last year - and part of our interest in coming to NO was in support of this town and it's incredible soul. I'm happy to say- we've never seen jazz fest so packed. We were relieved to see that the devastation that the city endured did nothing to deter people from coming to support the city, hear some jazz, and enjoy everything the place has to offer.
The annual Jazz Fest was possibly in doubt some months ago as this truly remarkable and maybe one of only 3 or 4 uniquely American (as in can't find any other place on earth) cities suffered from two disasters. The first was hurricane Katrina. The second was FEMA. Actually, the city suffered most from complete neglect. After decades of misguided federal spending left levees in severe disrepair, they
broke free under the intense pressure from the storm. Homes were destroyed, lives lost, and a city was left structurally and emotionally at its breaking point. But if you've ever been here you know, New Orleans is like no other town. Heart and soul never dug so deep. Jazz fest returned as good if not better than ever. And not to confuse anyone, this is more than a Jazz festival, it's a musical smorgasboard with some of the tastiest food thrown in to boot. As far as we're concerned the key word is crawfish. If the sign says crawfish, everything else is just gravy ( and often is). For four surprisingly short days we tried our best to see, taste, smell, and party in a wonderful place with wonderful people. If you've never been, you must come for this event or any day you choose, it's the best. And now we keep our fingers crossed and our hearts at bay hoping things begin to move ahead despite what is a too often told story of neglect and delayed response by an administration too bent on proving it's good enough to wear the family name. (I'll take care when stepping off
the soap box).
We did our fair share to support the local economy and managed to keep a steady schedule of music - eat- drink- nap - and music again until 5am everyday. All in all- great times with great people! Thanks to all of you who made it happen and congrats to Mike and Kate! Not to be outdone, Keith managed to make this a double mitzvah weekend by proposing to Beth. Congrats to you guys as well! Now maybe Eli will get engaged in time for next year. Although by now, we don't need an excuse. Stay tuned for more blogging to come...
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Handman
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Didn't I just see you?
Glad to see you enjoying debauchery and treif. Perhaps you should visit rural Kansas and a pig farm so that you can eat ham, bacon, and pork (they all come from the same animal, one magical animal.) Can't wait for you to get back to NY!