Germans call it gemütlichkeit - a sense of brotherhood, of coziness and social warmth in a relaxing atmosphere.

“Gesundhiet?,” I asked my friend Verena, who grew up in Bavaria and now lives in Mid-City.

“No. Listen: gemütlichkeit,” she said in her perfect English.

“Gefilte fish?,” I tried again.

“No. Gemütlichkeit.”

I still don’t know how to pronounce it, but I know how it feels because it has been on abundant display during New Orleans’ five-week-long Oktoberfest. The local version of this celebration of Bavarian culture is hosted each year by the members of Deutsches Haus, a nonprofit social club that formed in New Orleans ten years after World War I as an expression of ethnic pride. Read the rest of this entry »

So you managed to hit every art market in the city last month and you are sitting at your desk counting the days until the next 1st Saturday or 3rd Wednesday where you can shop for more New Orleans wares.

Don’t wait any longer, check out the New Orleans artists who are selling their craft online at ETSY, a marketplace for handcrated items.

If you are feeling especially adventurous, shop a “global art market” by using their Geolocator search function.

by Sam Winston

Bubbling up from the nola blogosphere is more controversy related to the Jena 6. The Smoking Gun website posted video and photos Tuesday of white University of Louisiana at Monroe students reenacting the Jena 6 incident with mud on their faces and using the n-word. The video and photos were originally posted by one of the students on her Facebook page (which has since been taken down). A Washington Post blogger was quick to see the Read the rest of this entry »

Acai berries, pronounced like ah-sigh-eeee, are one of nature’s best-kept berry secrets. Exported from the Brazilian rainforest, these Amazonian berries contain one of the highest levels of antioxidants available in any fruit or vegetable. Researchers predict that the high levels of antioxidants and other similar compounds may be valuable in the prevention of damage by free radicals, cancer, diabetes, chronic inflammation, heart and Read the rest of this entry »