Best Of New Orleans Blog

Thousands might have waited with baited breath for the liar’s latest release

B. DALTON BOOKSELLERS, EVERYWHERE, USA— Today, thousands — er, probably tens — of people may have waited in line to receive their copy of James Frey’s newest big fat lie, Bright Shiny Morning — scheduled to be released today. (I don’t really know; I wouldn’t be caught dead in that line.) In an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of the 30-to-35-year-old male skateboarders and potheads who listed A Million Tiny Pieces — a lame-ass story about drug addiction recovery that he later admitted was bogus — on their myspace profile under their book “interests,” the author has written a new “novel,” using the word “shiny” as a nifty substitute for what us average readers would normally read as Bright “Sunny” Morning.

Poets and Writers magazine reports that “Neither [the agent] nor the publisher wanted the book to be reviewed online months before publication,” according to Frey’s agent. “This strategy is not an embargo,” the director of publicity at HarperCollins told PW. But perhaps it’s a new strategy wherein they’re hoping sheer suspense will compel his handful of devoted fans to buy the book without any information about the plot or context of the novel whatsoever ahead of time. If you care, the book is available online at Amazon.com. It’s apparently so great people already bought and posted several used copies online so others can enjoy Bright Shiny Morning even faster, and cheaper. Janet Maslin even wrote a review of the book for the New York Times in a baby voice so his fans could understand how truly important his bright shining moment really is.

by Alejandro de los Rios

There it is.

If you haven’t heard by now, the Superdome is playing host to V-Day, the 10th Anniversary of the Vagina Monologues. I could go into detail about the events today or you can read all about it in this week’s cover story. But really, you should just go Downtown and see it for yourself. It is free, after all. And if giant vaginas aren’t your thing, there is the French Quarter Fest. Really, You have no excuse to be inside right now.

Unless it’s inside this: (more…)

THOU still unravish’d bride of great savings,
Thou foster-child of Dealerships and Junkyards,
Sylvan mechanics, who canst thus express
A greasy tale more slick than our rhyme:
What gasket-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Metairie or the dales of Jeff Parish?
What men or gods are these? What vehicles loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and exhaust? What wild combustion? (more…)

This press release is from NOMA:

On Wednesday, March 5, 2008, the New Orleans Museum of Art initiates new evening hours one day a week. The Museum will be open every Wednesday from Noon until 8:00 pm. The adjacent Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden will be open from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm on Wednesdays as well. The Museum and Garden also are open Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The purpose of the extended hours is not only to make the Museum available in the evening for students and those who work during the day but to help to promote the many fine restaurants, both old and new, in the Mid-City area. So after touring the Museum, visitors are encouraged to have dinner at an area restaurant. A list of Mid-City participating restaurants will be available at the Museum. (more…)

This weekend the South Coast Clay All Stars, a local alliance of ceramic artists in New Orleans and the Gulf South region, will host NOLA Fired Up!! — a three-day conference which will include lectures and demonstrations by nationally known ceramic artists, as well as educational and networking opportunities for professional artists and students. Guest artists include Margaret Bohls, Joe Bova, Cynthia Bringle, MaPo Kinnord Peyton and Lana Wilson. Discussion topics include sessions on the artist, the community and the environmental impact of artists in the studio, as well as more practical topics such as the how to obtain insurance, a discussion that will be led by the Craft Emergency Relief Fund. (more…)

I wasn’t getting along with Keith Moore in the months before he was shot Uptown, so it’s strange that I would be dubbed his official biographer in the afterlife. But I had helped him put on his Noizefest the year before, had written many articles about his strange but important endeavors, and in the process Keith made sure that I knew enough (more than enough) to talk about him when he was gone — he did this to me on purpose. So when this dude Charles Anderson, who founded United for Peace in New Orleans came to me wanting to know who Keith was and why he was important, I told him everything Keith would have wanted me to (along with some opinions Keith would have fought me on, but I made sure to let Charles know Keith wouldn’t have agreed, and why). (more…)

Starting Feb 22, a bunch of salvaged building materials will be on display at The Shops at Canal Place. Strange, you ask? Well here’s the best part: the salvaged building materials have been used by local furniture designers, artists and hobbyists to create furniture projects that will be up for auction at the end of the exhibit. The projects will be on display through March 14. On the 14th, there will be a cocktail reception, live auction and awards presentation. All of the proceeds of this juried furniture exhibition and auction will benefit the Green Project, a nonprofit organization “dedicated to creatively promoting and encouraging environmental sustainibility.” Green Project accepts donated, recycled building materials in good condition for resale at their bulding materials recycling store in Bywater. The organization also operates a variety of other programs and educational opportunities. For more information visit its Web site at : www.thegreenproject.org