Welcoming 07 to SB Land

Happy New Year folks of Red Riverville! Remember, no bars in Bossier City will be open since the big party night falls on church night (raise your hand if you think this law will change in the near future).

Other ways to ring in 2007 : It's the 4th annual FIREWORKS SHOW at midnight at at Harrah's Louisiana Downs. Also at midnight there's a free fireworks display in Natchitoches .

If you opt to stay at home and wave your own sparklers in the air, you'll need to make sure your clock has the correct time. The folks at Countdown to New Year will make sure you get it right.

It's the Holidays... Put Something in Your Mouth

Family and friends in town and you need some place to take them to so they can get a bite of local food? Here's a list of non-chain restaurants recommended by RRBJ correspondent The Phat Girl Eats (yes, that's her real name --- when she's not dining out she's a part-time rap dj).

Asian: Kon Tiki, Nanking
Cajun: The Blind Tiger, Bear's Restaurant and Sports Bar or Herbie K's
Coffee: Columbia Cafe or Courtyard Coffee
Indian: India's Restaurant or Utsave Contemporary Indian Cuisine
Mexican: Nicky's, Trejo's or Superior
Sandwich/Deli: Eartheral, Fertitta's Delicatessen or The Real Pickle
Surf and Turf: The Cub, Don's Seafood or Noble Savage Tavern

Phat Girl recommends you call ahead and find out if your selected restaurant has any special holiday hours. For phone numbers and addresses go to the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau website.

About the photo: although Phat Girl loves Southern Maid Donuts, she knows good art when she sees it. Thank you Brian at everythingshreveport for the use of your photo.

Ephemeral Art

Many folks spent their weekend waiting in line to buy Christmas presents. In New York City some folks waited in line 5 hours to view street art. The line was 1/5 of a mile long. Here's video from YouTube that captured the wait to see 11 Spring Street.



Shows in Shreveport worth standing in line for? Clementine Hunter's grandson, James Hunter, has a show at Columbia Cafe. It closes December 31. At Meadows Museum a couple of other folk art shows run a little longer.

By the way if you want the scoop on all the art happenings in our area you've gotta read Robert Trudeau's site. The Shreveport Times thinks so much of Trudeau's work they've now got him on the front page of their website.

About the Photo: Street Art in Shreveport at Columbia Park Summer 06.

Crunch Time

Didn't make it to Christmas in the Sky or the Bossier Christmas Parade? Is your holiday month whizzing by? You still have time to have fun before Christmas arrives.



The kids will love the dancing fountain at Louisiana Boardwalk. Don't forget to visit Santa and his reindeer (Prancer was there the day RRBJ stopped in). And there's the nightly blizzard by the big Christmas tree.

You can catch free fireworks over scenic Cane River Saturday December 23 in Natchitoches.

Don't miss what Texas Monthly magazine named "Texas' most beautiful square at Christmas" -- the Wonderland of Lights in Marshall.

Ride an old-fashioned steam train in Jefferson. It's five miles of twinkling lights on the Rail of Lights Christmas Train.

Pit Bull Chews off Baby's Toes

The tragic story about the Bossier City infant whose toes were chewed off by a pit bull puppy is making many headlines across the nation. CNN's Nancy Grace covered the story earlier this week.

RRBJ went to google.com and typed: Bossier City pit bull. This some of what came up.

FOXNews.com
ABC News
KETKNBC.com It's a television station for Jacksonville, Tyler and Longview. Notice the use of a picture of a pit bull that has nothing to do with the story.
WWL AM 870 After hearing the story listeners don't think pit bulls should be banned as household pets.
From Houston KHOU's television personality Lisa Foronda blogs about the incident. The comments are interesting.

Factory Girl Poster Contest

Want to win a private screening of the film Factory Girl? Enter their poster contest.

Not sure how to create a movie poster? Don't worry the contest package gives you step by step directions.

When is Factory Girl coming out so we can look for the Shreveport locations? Um, maybe never if Bob Dylan gets his way (look for the headline "Dylan Takes on Factory Girl). Page Six of The New York Post has more of the juicy-juice.

Watch Out for the Cast-Iron Grill Work

A little bit of New Orleans was wiped out early this morning. A car smashed down three of the posts holding up the second story balcony of the Spring Street Historical Museum on Spring Street.

The building boasts the only remaining example of New Orleans-style cast-iron grill work in Northwest Louisiana. The good news? Shreveport Madam Annie McCune's chair remains safely tucked away on the second floor.

Officers on the scene said the car that knocked down the posts suffered light damage.

(I guess now's not the time to ask the museum to update their website. I say quick add a blog link to the main page.)

The Shreveport Times Wants Your Christmas Photos

The Shreveport Times wants your Christmas photos. Friday is the deadline. They want heartwarming Christmas or funny holiday pics to share with their readers.

RRBJ confesses we sent one in of our dear ol' dad and we're crossing our fingers...

Now if you have a funky holiday photo that just isn't right for The Times send it to us and we'll see about sharing it with our readers.

Weekend Fun

If you didn't get a ticket yet it's too late because Christmas in the Sky OZmania is sold out. However there are a couple of other ways to entertain yourself this weekend.



Heather Peak Hooper (see photo) is just one of the nifty vendor-artists you'll find at Ice: A Red River Revel Holiday Event. Or maybe you'll wanna try some of Noma's homemade jam with 24K gold (real gold!) in it. Looking at the skaters and shopping is free... skating is $8.

Betty Virgina Park Sunday at dark time $1.00 gets you in to see Home Alone on the big blow up screen. It's another Movies and Moonbeams event. Take blankets and chairs... (are fire pits allowed?).

Uneeda Building Front?

It's nice when someone next door to you repairs or installs something that makes the neighborhood look better. The 700 block of Milam seems to be an area where everyone's sprucing up.

Major work is underway at the Uneeda Building. Wonder what's going in there?



Lots of remodeling has already happened at 725 Milam. It now houses the West Edge Artists' Co-op. That building along with several others were given major overhauls by Bob Hamilton

The Downtown Development Authority says downtown is becoming a thriving center of commerce and a foremost destination for social and cultural gatherings.

(Is it just me or does WEACo have a much better website than the DDA? Okay, maybe it just has more eye appeal. Please DDA pretty-up your web neighborhood.)

What ever happened to...

While River Cities is no longer being published there are other periodicals. SB Magazine is only $16 a year for a subscription. Forum Magazine will run you $20.

For a real blast from the past how about that magazine called UpState?

Tally-ho

Dogs must be on leash but what about foxes? While walking the cockapoo in Betty Virginia Park on Friday night RRBJ discovered an urban fox edging through the trees that line the south side of the park. A pink jacketed jogger said foxes have also been spotted roaming the 40 acres at RW Norton Art Gallery.

Should you be scared if you run into a fox? Albert Hillel, an Englishman who's written a book based on 20 years of observing the urban fox says, "If the fox was a man, I think he would be the kind of man you would like your daughter to marry. He is clever, reliable, a good providers and he doesn't seek a fight."

Your best chance of spotting one of the pointy faced creatures? Late afternoon because foxes are primarily nocturnal. If you get a good picture of one, send it along to RedRiverBlogJam@gmail.com and we'll post it.

Happy Cold

A lucky office worker in downtown Shreveport left evidence of being tucked away from the wintry blast.



The first widespread winter storm of the season moves through the nation. Snow heads to Chicago. Along the Red River the front brought rain and a temperature drop of 20 degrees in one hour.

Where is Jessica Simpson?

Two things to look for when scouting for stars in Hollywood South:



Parking spaces will be hard to find in downtown Shreveport for the coming days.

When you see this you know you're really close!

Shreveport = New York?

It's day one of filming in Shreveport for cast and crew of Blonde Ambition.

The script is set in New York. How do you make the City on the Red look like the Big Apple? See for yourself by clicking on slides 11 and 12 at StageWorks of Louisiana.

In what other ways do we resemble Gotham?

New York -- Alligators in the sewers.
Shreveport -- Alligators everywhere.

New York -- Subway Trains
Shreveport -- SporTran runs at night.

New York -- New York Philharmonic the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States
Shreveport -- Shreveport Symphony Orchestra Louisiana's oldest continually operating professional orchestra. Your next chance to hear SSO? They perform The Nutcracker with the Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet December 8. Then the following weekend it's their annual Holiday Pops concert.

Good Grief

Shreveport Bossier's home to America's largest neon-lit bridge, although those tubes were flicked off Saturday night so fireworks from Pyrotechnico could illuminate the sky.

The 20-minute show is Louisiana's largest fireworks festival. It kicked off the Holiday Trail of Lights. For 14 years this partnership between two states and six cities has happened.

Up for something different this year? Head north and try the Arkansas Trail of Holiday Lights.

Don't feel like driving? At least set the DVR to catch A Charlie Brown Christmas tomorrow night on KTBS.

Shopping Fog

For the first time ever RRBJ ventured out to join the masses on Black Friday. We were in search of a 4' pre-lit pink feather Christmas tree we'd spotted at Michael's.



Perhaps it was the glob of fog clinging to everything like congealed turkey gravy that made the morning less crazed. At first it seemed as though we were the only ones at 6 a.m. driving on Youree but then we spotted row after row of cars filling the Target parking lot.

Didn't get out today? You have 31 shopping days this year since Thanksgiving came early.

We didn't get the tree. Instead we settled for a 4' pre-lit silver foil tree purchased at Big!Lots. That plus some shaving cream brought our total to $20.40.

Cap'n Shreve Says Have a Good Holiday...

...or he'll make you walk the plank.

While Henry Miller Shreve didn't come over on the Mayflower, he did build a ship that allowed the westward expansion of America possible... and also cleared up that log jam and made the Red River navigable.

While we're blogging about Shreveport history, this Sunday at Barnes and Noble in Shreveport Gary Joiner will be signing copies of his latest book, Through the Howling Wilderness. Get your copy November 26 from 2-4. While you're there have a Grande Peppermint Mocha, Pilgrim.

Thankful for Peachez

RRBJ is grateful to live in an area with a thriving music community.

It's not enough to remind ourselves this is where Elvis got his start. A thriving music scene means new artists are working for their big break. The perfect gift for your musical genius is a membership to Tipitina's in downtown Shreveport.

Our new favorite is Ms Peachez. She's from Shreveport. It looks like she has a blast making silly songs for children. Play this video and make sure to buy her CD when it comes out..."You hear me?!"

Time to Salivate and Feast

Tables will be decorated in autumnal colors this week. Monday afternoon at Kroger's on Youree RRBJ caught Sharon Anderson doing some Thanksgiving shopping.


The latest U.S. Census Bureau figures say the cost per pound of frozen whole turkey as of December 2005 was $1.07.

Of course cooking your own meal is rather old fashioned. You could modern it up and try Luby's. It's a regionalish cafeteria that started in Texas. But if you really want to be in the digital age this Thanksgiving sip on a Turkey and Gravy soda followed with a little Key Lime Pie. Both are from the folks at Jones Soda.

Trash Day: Red

What would Dr. William Rathje think about what Shreveporters throw away? Quick, somebody nominate us for his Garbology Project at the University of Arizona. By the way, most weeks the trash is picked up on Mondays in Highland.