Used to be that environmental crusaders only climbed the trees they were aiming to save. Well, welcome to the 21st century, hippie. At 50 Home Depots across the South today, representatives from the Save Our Cypress Coalition took a bolder tack: camping out in front of the stores’ entrances to picket the company’s purchasing of unsustainable cypress mulch. (Run down to the new Central City location and you still might catch them — just don’t be tempted by the store’s gleaming floors, bountiful stock and helpful employees. It’s a protest, after all.) For his part, the Gulf Restoration Network’s Dan Favre fought The Man in the way only a Louisianan can: by traveling to Home Depot HQ in Atlanta and firing up a crab boil for CEO Frank Blake. Less-motivated activists, oxymorons though they may be, still can help by calling Home Depot corporate to request that Gulf Coast stores live up to their own environmental wood-sourcing policies. Remember: If you can do it, they might help.

Where’s Bobby these days? Not in Baton Rouge. Not in Iowa, either. As the Associated Press reports…

Gov. Bobby Jindal is traveling to Texas to boost his campaign coffers.

He’s having a fundraiser on Thursday night in San Antonio and on Friday afternoon in Houston.

The fundraisers were described in his official schedule as “private events” for Jindal’s re-election campaign. Melissa Sellers, Jindal’s communications director, wouldn’t provide information about who is hosting the events and how much is being sought from potential donors.

Next week looks even busier, not to mention Vitter-ific:

‘Mardi Gras In December’- Jindal’s Vitter Fundraiser

Please Join Governor Bobby Jindal In Support Of Senator David Vitter For Louisiana Music, Fare and Fun!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9TH, 6:00 ‐ 8:00 PM

101 Constitution NW, 9th Floor Balcony, Washington, DC

General Admission- $1000 Pac /Individual

VIP- $5000 Pac / $4600 Individual, (Includes Private Reception and Photo with Governor Jindal and Senator Vitter from 6:00 ‐ 6:30 PM)

RSVP ‐ Lisa Spies at 202.744.7373 or Lisa @ TheLSgroup.com

CO‐HOSTS:

Senator J. Bennett Johnston

Congressman Jim McCrery

Congressman Rodney Alexander

Congressman Charles Boustany

Congressman Steve Scalise

Congressman Bob Livingston

Congressman Billy Tauzin

Congressman Jimmy Hayes

Congressman John Cooksey

Congressman Henson Moore

Congressman Clyde Holloway

Congressman‐Elect Bill Cassidy

GUYS’ NIGHT OUT IN D.C.!

It does beg the question: is anybody at the helm in Baton Rouge? Just this lady, it seems:

Gulf oysters taste great eaten out of hand on the back of a stranger’s pickup tailgate during Mardi Gras.
They taste great shucked open on a fisherman’s boat with a mountain of others nearby.
They even taste pretty good fished from a plastic tub of pre-shucked oysters bathing in their commingled pearly liquor.
But they might taste best of all when pulled from the ice, shucked against a diving weight and sent rattling across the marble slab of a New Orleans oyster bar.
There’s a ritual, a relationship and a rewarding experience all in one. In a recent column, I took a look at a cluster of four oyster bars all within a few doors of each other around Iberville and Bourbon streets. The eating is good there, and my favorite of the four is Felix’s if for no other reason than the ability to get a quick, quality dozen and an Abita and be on your way again in no time flat.
But the parameters of the column naturally excluded my favorite oyster bar in the city, the one at Pascal’s Manale up on Napoleon Avenue. On the right night, with the right company, I can go through three or four dozen oysters there. The oysters are excellent, the ambiance is right and the shuckers have the gift of gab without coming off as shills. The place is cool.
That’s all obviously a matter of personal preference. If you have a favorite oyster bar, what makes it top your list?

Sure, the record industry and its respective awards ceremonies couldn’t be more irrelevant in our increasingly digital and downloadable (and independently produced) world, but look! Lil Wayne dominates the list of nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

The Best Rapper Alive earned eight nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album (Tha Carter III), Best Rap Solo Performance (“A Milli”), and two nods for Best Rap Song (“Lollipop” and “Swagga Like Us”).

Other notables: Radiohead’s In Rainbows for Album of the Year and Best Alternative Album (and “House of Cards” for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals), M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” for Record of the Year, and T.I.’s Paper Trail for Best Rap Album.