In the mood for a romantic comedy? At least one is usually released on DVD weekly and this does not include the many that go straight to DVD without a theatrical release. So, one might suppose that a romantic comedy with a huge theatrical release and this month’s “it” girl might be original or at least entertaining. Not true!

27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl as a plain Jane, actually named Jane, with an affinity for being a bridesmaid in weddings (27 to be exact), is a cut and paste of about every romantic comedy which has preceded it. Jane is in love with her boss, played by a drab Edward Burns, but unable to tell him, even though both of the characters are so dull that it is immediately apparent they would be the perfect couple. Unfortunately, for Jane, her baby sister comes back from Italy only to set her pretty blue sights on Mr. Drab himself. Next thing you know, Jane is asked to be the Maid of Honor in the wedding of her sister and her boss, who she secretly loves. Read the rest of this entry »

Former appeals court Judge Leon Cannizzaro has made the first TV ad buy in the campaign for district attorney in New Orleans. Cannizzaro formally announced his candidacy last Wednesday (April 30), and now he has upped the ante in the race by going on TV less than a week later.

Cannizzaro kept politicos guessing for months as to whether he would quit his judgeship (as required by state law when judges run for any non-judicial post) to run for DA. Once it became clear that he was indeed going to run, the speculation immediately switched to whether Cannizzaro could raise the money to match his most visible announced opponent, former first assistant DA Ralph Capitelli. Capitelli, who announced his own candidacy months ago, has raised approximately $450,000 so far and spent about $100,000 — none of it yet on TV. Cannizzaro’s opening buy sends a message that the former judge has no intention of being out-spent. Read the rest of this entry »

by Alejandro de los Rios

So today is Chris Paul’s birthday and, accordingly, local blogs are marking the event with Chris Paul blog day (read the roundup here). Though this isn’t technically a Hornets blog and I’m not technically a blogger (I prefer the term “online journalist” because, well, I’m a tool) I still thought it appropriate to post my thoughts.

First, some disclosure: A couple of years ago, I used to hate Chris Paul. Not on any personal level — how could I considering I only first met him a couple of months ago — but on a crazy fanatical level. See, I grew up outside D.C. in Maryland and, thusly, became a die-hard Maryland basketball fan. Paul played for Wake Forest. Anyone who knows anything about ACC basketball knows that if you’re a fan of one team, you hate all the rest. It also didn’t help that Paul consistently killed my Terps, a team I thought (and still think) should be in the ACC’s top-3 every year (along with Duke and UNC). Read the rest of this entry »

William Moss, the pianist better known as Billy Ding, died last Sunday evening. Moss was walking between Vaughan’s Lounge and BJ’s Lounge, two downtown taverns where he often played music and visited with neighbors, when a truck turning onto Lesseps Street bizarrely sped up and drove onto the sidewalk, striking Moss and a friend. Moss died from internal injuries at the scene; his companion was hospitalized.

Moss, 42, was the longtime proprietor of French Quarter Bicycles on Dumaine Street (now closed), and a talented boogie-woogie pianist with a dedicated local following of friends and neighbors. He gigged frequently with his band the Hot Wings on Frenchmen Street and in the Bywater.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, May 12 at St. Louis Cathedral, followed by a second line through the French Quarter and refreshments at BJ’s Lounge on the corner of Lesseps and Burgundy Streets.

The Carrollton area restaurant Iris is hosing a special wine dinner with Beringer Vineyards on Thursday with an eye-catching menu and a visit from the winemaker herself.

The chef and co-owner of Iris, Ian Schnoebelen, was named one of the 10 best new chefs in 2007 by Food+Wine Magazine. That’s an honor he shares with his former boss, John Harris of Lilette, where he worked as sous chef for several years before opening Iris in the months after Hurricane Katrina.

Iris has been among my favorite New Orleans restaurants ever since it opened, and it’s the kind of place where I have faith that the impressive list of high-end groceries going into this special menu (see below) will get its due. The chef takes an eclectic approach, borrowing elements from classic French, Italian and Asian cuisines, among others. What ties it all together is the friendly professionalism that pervades the restaurant, a place where the food is taken very seriously but not placed up on a pedestal. One recent example of Schnoebelen’s approach was a memorable preparation of Alaskan halibut with green garlic and blood orange vinaigrette (pictured above). Read the rest of this entry »