All Photos by Jonathan Bachman

In which I take all the best news, quotes, pictures and everything else Saints-related toss it together and serve it up for our readers. This week we’ll be tackling the Saints (2—3) week 6 matchup against the Oakland Raiders at home in the Dome. There’s a lot to cover this week as this teams tries to bounce back from a manic Monday Night loss to the Vikings.

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Guest blogger Jared Serigné remembers beloved New Orleans photographer Michael P. Smith, whose life will be celebrated tomorrow (Oct. 11) with a second-line followed by a musical memorial at Tipitinas. (See Kevin Allman’s earlier post for details.)

 

I never got to know the real Michael P. Smith. When I came into his life this summer, Alzheimer’s had already taken over. He didn’t speak and Parkinson’s had limited him to a simple handshake.

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A Snowmobile for George is a road trip movie with a predictable premise. Snowmobiles with two-stroke engines are prolific polluters. They were supposed to be phased out by 2000, but then a rule was changed — by the Bush administration at the behest of a lobbyist. Filmmaker Todd Darling buys one of the machines and sets off across country, detouring to look at a number of similar conflicts about land and resource management which were ultimately decided in Washington with complete disregard for policy, principle or impact. His film is an entertaining, outrageous and hard look at how decisions were made. But it is not an environmentalists-versus- Bush issue. It’s most mind-boggling to watch one industry arbitrarily favored over another merely because of money and connections in Washington and without regard for all the stakeholders affected by the decisions. There’s nothing wrong with lobbyists bringing a message to lawmakers, unless “lobbying” is a code word for purchasing personalized legislation. The film screens in the New Orleans Film Festival at 1:15 p.m Sunday at the Prytania Theatre. See a longer review here.

When you reach the gates of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, you are greeted by gun-carrying guards that hand you a notice which reminds you not to take cameras, alcohol, or explosives onto the grounds. More than a dozen sets of eyes observe your movements and note your behavior as you walk from your parked car to the secured entrance. It is an intimidating experience, but I’m looking forward to another short stay at Angola for the prison rodeo this Sunday. The event that started as an outlet for prisoner “fun” has evolved into the famous Angola Prison Rodeo, the strange Louisiana pastime that features bulls, boudin, and balsa wood prisoner crafts.

 

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The Voice of the Wetlands festival is set for its fifth annual installment this weekend at Southdown Plantation in Houma. The lineup of free music includes Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars Tab Benoit, George Porter, Waylon Thibodeaux, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Anders Osborne, Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone, Johnny Vidacovich and Kim Wilson as well as the Raditors, Amanda Shaw, CC Adcock, Papa Mali, Susan Cowsill and many more. The event is free. There is a kids’ area as well as food, drink, raffles and more. Especially as storms like Hurricane Gustav ravage the wetlands, the mission of the group becomes more important. Since 1932, Louisiana has lost as much in wetlands as the entire state of Delaware occupies. Go out and have a good time for a good cause, and remember that the wetlands are a source of industry, culture and natural hurricane protection. Susan Cowsill was recently interviewed by PR Newswire about the wetlands and efforts to preserve them.

The Sustainable Endowments Institute released its 2009 report on the greeny-ness of 300 public and private universities with the largest endowments, and, unsurprisingly, Louisiana’s universities didn’t do so hot.

The report’s previous, infamously low scores for each university only improved a half-grade each. Tulane and LSU (with endowments of $1,009 million and $657 million, respectively), each earned a C+, while Loyola (with a $301 million endowment) received a barely passing D — though last year’s report let it squeeze by with a D-. Hey, at least it’s an improvement.

The institute’s College Sustainability “Green” Report Card gathered data through public information and campus surveys, including an endowment survey to be filled by university administrators — in which Loyola and Tulane didn’t even participate. The report graded universities on administration, response to climate change and energy, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment opportunities and shareholder engagement.

All three received failing grades in shareholder engagement — Loyola also failed transportation and green building.

The Hullabaloo and The Maroon responded to their respective university’s grades calling for pro-active student involvement and willing administrators.

Politics or celebrity? Pick your poison:

• Rep. Derrick Shepherd pleads out, apologizes:

I had never committed a crime until now and I took pride in that.

• Up in Kentwood, 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is reported to be gravid with #2.

Photo by Jonathan Bachman

For the unaware, the one they call Chef Who Dat is a Saints’ fan and blogger extraordinaire. Part cook, part pastor, the Chef has delighted residents of the Superdome tailgaits and inside section 641 (a.k.a. Café 641) with his weekly menus and recipes dedicated to that week’s opponent.

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