Made in the Ark-LA-Tex

It might be easier to rent a copy of The Guardian this week. Maybe but not likely. It was released on DVD last Tuesday and one area movie rental place reports by 2 pm that afternoon all their copies were out the door. Most folks slapping down $4.50 for a two day rental were saying "I'm in this movie."

The Guardian is the feel-good drama about the U.S. Coast Guard that was filmed in Shreveport after Hurricane Katrina forced the production to relocate from New Orleans. It was one of the reasons MovieMaker magazine just rated Shreveport-Bossier as the sixth-best place to "live, work and make movies" in the U.S.

This year's top locations: New York City, Philadelphia, Austin, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Shreveport-Bossier, Memphis, Miami, Portland, and Salt Lake City.

MovieMaker has been rating cities for seven years.

Home Ownership on the Red

Plenty of storage. Plenty of multi-directional fans. You have to see the last twenty seconds of this video.

Power Constitutional with Cap'n Shreve

New Year's resolution to shape up holding out? Don't have time for the mondo workout? How about a quick stroll?

Walter B. Jacobs Memorial Nature Park
Shreveport Riverfront
Arthur Ray Teague Parkway
Louisiana Boardwalk (beware the trolley!)
Betty Virginia Park
Highland Park (those hills are killer for a great cardio workout)
Mall St.Vincent (opens at 7am Monday-Saturday for walkers)
Pierre Bossier Mall
RW Norton Art Gallery Gardens (open daily during daylight hours)
Southern Hills Park
Or slosh through Shreveport's very own wetlands-- 540-acre C. Bickham Dickson Park (compare that to New York's Central Park of 843 acres).

Mini Grand Old Opry? Really now? Please!

It was just a teeny note in Sunday's Shreveport Times. In the same section with the full color photo spread about Lorenzo Jones and his tasty turkey legs. On the back page in the Today's Calendar column there was a blurb about the chance to participate in an open mic "mini Grand Old Opry Stage."

At first glance RRBJ thought it was something to do with the Municipal Auditorium because the phrase Legacy of Stars Hall of Fame Theatre and Museum was used and the Municipal Auditorium has a Stage of Stars Museum.

We were all set to get on our high horse and rant: "To promote anything connected with the Louisiana Hayride as a "mini Grand Ole Opry" denigrates the important role our area had during a major transformation of American popular music. Tracy E. W. Laird covers this in her 2004 book Louisiana Hayride. Shreveport gave the world Hank Williams and Elvis. Both men were rejected by the Opry...yada, yada, yada..."

At second glance RRBJ noticed the web address for LSHFTM. Completely different venue. It's on Grimmett Drive and the Municipal is on Elvis Presley Avenue.

In an almost different note: LSHFTM's website says it's available for birthday parties, which reminds RRBJ that we discovered this weekend you can have your daughter's birthday at Guy's Beauty Academy. Makeovers and cake and ice cream! What better way to celebrate your 9th birthday or maybe even your 39th birthday.

Baby Daddy

Teresa is the momma. Tracy is the newborn. And who knows who is the daddy. All three are chimpanzees at Chimp Haven. This story comes from The Times this morning.

And don't think unknown chimp-daddy is getting away with anything. Paternity testing has been ordered. In the meantime local (very, very) nice guy William Robinson says he'll pay for anything that new baby needs.

The baby was born last week on Elvis's birthday. Your first chance to glimpse the little bundle of joy will be Saturday, March 10, the first Chimpanzee Discovery Day of '07.

Thank you for the use of the picture! Photo of unidentified chimps residing at Chimp Haven provided by contrabandbayou at flickr.com.




Coming in for the steal
Originally uploaded by contrabandbayou.

Motion Pictures

There's plenty of filmmaking in our area but you know what RRBJ has a hankering for? A screenplay about a local story. A Garden State for us. We're begging -- please look into the brightly-neoned window of our Ark-La-Tex soul and do us proud.

In the meantime we'll just have to rent The Legend of Boggy Creek one more time.

An EP Birthday Note to the Powers that Be

Today is the King's birthday.

Why are there no big celebrations in this town? Cake was served on the lawn of Graceland. If Austin can do it we can do it.

We've got a whole year to plan. You wanna sign up for the committee? White jumpsuits are optional.

Downtown Progress

The new downtown parking meters (pictured on left) are not as high tech as they could be. In California remote sensors on meters keep folks from using your left over dime. The sensor can tell when your car pulls away and zeros out the balance so the next customer has to pay.

Somethings never change -- it's still free to park in downtown Shreveport after 5 p.m. and on weekends and holidays.