Best Of New Orleans Blog

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.

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…)

Badge of Honor

By Michael Tisserand

“Screw him.” Those two words represent the first time I was put on notice by Ashley Morris. With typical bluntness, he had posted his thoughts about some first-person articles I had written for alternative weeklies (including Gambit Weekly) in Katrina’s aftermath. I had described my family’s decision to move from New Orleans and mentioned an upcoming visit for Mardi Gras. That’s what set Morris off. “He abandoned the city; he doesn’t get to go to Mardi Gras,” Morris wrote.

Ashley Morris was emblematic of the new wave of post-Katrina bloggers in New Orleans: fiercely local and quick to take to the guard tower against those who might malign or even misunderstand his beloved home. He was more volatile — and more entertaining — than most writers who cover the city in any media. He lived on the rough draft, which made him invaluable during rough times.

Morris died last Wednesday, April 2, at age 44. He leaves behind a wife and three young children. He is also survived by a legacy of postings on his Web site, www.ashleymorris.typepad.com. (more…)

“New Orleans must be rebuilt, and I say the levees should be armored with [Alan] Richman’s skull as a start.” — Ashley Morris to GQ, Nov. 3, 2006

“Rot in hell, f**kmook, and do it soon.” — Morris to Richman, Nov. 2, 2006

I didn’t know Ashley Morris personally, but as it would be with many people I don’t know but whose writing I enjoy, I was sad to hear he had passed. The news immediately made me think of my closest encounter with Morris, which came during the Chernobylesque fallout from GQ food critic/miserable misanthrope Alan Richman’s laughably bitter drive-by on New Orleans’ cuisine and culture in late 2006. Morris and I shared, via a few spirited messages, our mutual disgust over Richman’s asinine axe job. Of all the local rebukes, Brett Anderson’s was the most eloquent, Richard Peyton’s the most incendiary, and mine, well, let’s just say I succeeded in getting under the old codger’s shriveled skin. But Morris’ series of blog posts on the subject were undoubtedly the foulest — and the funniest. I link to them here out of equal amounts of contempt for Richman and consideration for Ashley. I didn’t know him personally, but something tells me he would’ve appreciated it.

I know my last post was about Vi Landry’s death and I’m not trying to dwell on it to bum out casual blogofneworleans readers, whoever you are, but I’ve been super ill this week and in between running a 102 degree fever while DJ’ing at the St. Roch Tavern on Saturday (as I do ever Saturday, hint hint) and breaking out in hives from head to toe (including one on the tip of my tongue) on Monday morning, the one thing I managed to do was bike down to the Bywater for Vi’s Second Line.And may I say:I’ve been to a lot of parades, street parties, festivals, shows, whatever in New Orleans, all for a lot of different causes, and this was one of the most loving and beautiful events I’ve ever seen. About sixty or so people, mostly local Bywater and Midcity weirdoes: Local artists, punks and bohemian types mixed in with old neighborhood people who new Vi when she bar-tended at Vaughan’s, or through her mom who lives on Alvar Street. Even Bill Moss, my old boss from French Quarter bikes, brought his trumpet down. (more…)

At first glance, nothing seems amiss in this photo. Wizards forward Antawn Jamison with 20 kids he bought tickets for through his “A Better Tomorrow” foundation. Many players all over the league buy tickets to home games for kids.

But take a closer look at the background and see that those are the lower-bowl seats inside the Hornets Arena. This photo was taken at Monday night’s Hornets-Wizards game at the Hive. Turns out that Jamison, though he played his high school ball in North Carolina, was born in Shreveport, La. (more…)

Gambit contributor and New Orleans native Vi Landry passed away in a car accident on Monday. She was driving in Mississippi and got hit in a head on collision. She died instantly. Vi had been living in New York for a couple of years, studying journalism at NYU and interning with Harper’s. She recently returned to New Orleans. Vi is survived by her mom, sister and brother, and a heap of friends who loved her and miss her. There are more photos of her at http://angeliska.livejournal.com/79498.html and her writing can be read in the Gambit archive. The funeral is on Saturday at Jacob Schoen funeral home, 1-4pm. There will be a second line parade for her on Sunday, beginning at Dauphine and Press in the Bywater at 3:00.

Vi Landry died on Monday in a car accident. She was driving to Mississippi and was hit in a head-on collision. Vi was a native New Orleanian and writer who contributed to Gambit Weekly; her writing can be found in the Gambit archive. Also there’s pictures of her available at http://angeliska.livejournal.com. Vi was a dedicated writer who’d been studying in New York for the last couple of years and had recently moved back here. She’s survived by her mom and sister, and lots of friends who miss her and are thinking about her. Vi was 33. Her memorial is at Jacob Shoen funeral home on Saturday, 1-4. There will also be a second line parade for her on Sunday at 3, beginning at Dauphine and Press.