Blah...Blah...Forum

Guess the front cover makes it clear what The Forum thinks of bloggers.

The irony is several of folks who've written for Venture Publishing Inc, the company that produces The Forum and City Life, have blogs. Darrell Rebouche is one with Daddy D's Story Time. One of their former columnists Pat Culverhouse is gathering bleaders (blog speak for those who read blogs). While columnist Lou Gehrig Burnett doesn't have a blog he does have a website.

Come on Forum join the fun! The Times has with its own posse of bloggers. Find those links on the front page of The Times. RRBJ predicts that within the year The Forum will have a better web presence than they do now. All we have to say is when that happens they can join the rest of us, the ones Time magazine calls their 2006 Peeps of the Year.

Just to show there's no hard feelings -- where does RRBJ pick up The Forum? Cheng's Garden, Brookshire's on Kings Highway (or Brookshire's on Line if we're feeling uppity).

Savage

It was the big white hand lettered sign that caught RRBJ's eye as we zoomed down Texas Street towards the river. Why did a square of paper block the entrance to Noble Savage Tavern? It said they were temporarily closed and to check their myspace for a future opening date.

What could cause this closure? It may have something to do with a story KTBS reported back in November. Interestingly, the tavern is located across the street from the statue of Huddie Ledbetter, a man who cut most disagreements short by waving a pistol or knife in the air.


The hand lettered sign is now gone. In one of the windows a blue application for a liquor license is posted. RRBJ hopes that whatever happened to cause the closing of the tavern will be settled and the good music and ale will once again flow at 417 Texas Street. Chef Colby and the Noble Savage bring quite a bit to the downtown area as this article in the November 2000 NeonBridge points out.

On a completely unrelated note: Why is it the local television stations keep the links to their old stories live but the newspaper "deads" the link to older stories?

Ahhh, Sun

Sunny, Breezy, Warmer. High 73 for Monday. Just what we need after Saturday's bad weather that saw a tornado touch down in Bossier City.

Can spring be far off? It arrives March 21, 2007.

Set the DVR

Samuel L. Jackson loves Shreveport Bossier reports Stephanie Netherton in The Times. Jackson is on David Letterman's show tonight talking about how much he's enjoying working in Shreveport Bossier on his new film The Cleaner.

His favorite ways to relax while in SB Land? Playing golf at Southern Trace and hitting the blackjack tables at the local casinos.

Here's RRBJ's personal story about Jackson in Shreveport. By the way, Netherton has her own blog called In Shreveport.

Poo-rade Photo Essay

Hey! Throw me something, Mister! On second thought, maybe not...

All types of Mardi Gras parades roll through Shreveport but this one is a little different. It's a photo essay of the portable toilets that line the parade route used by the two big Krewes, Centaur and Gemini. You'll find them along Clyde Fant Parkway, Shreveport Barksdale Highway and East Kings Highway.

On the bright side -- they don't reek. Red River Blog Jam got close for some of these pics and not a single fetid odor did we sniff. Perhaps the malodorous rendering plant could use a couple of these to contain their stink.

Downtown CGI Blues

Dear Downtown Development Authority,

What's up with movie of downtown Shreveport that's mostly computer generated imagery? When we went to your home page and clicked on the cool purple "Destination: Downtown! Video" icon a little movie that was almost all CGI popped up. What are you saying -- Shreveport is better when presented as a figment of someone else's imagination?

Please reshoot your film so you can include real shots of the now one year old convention center, West Edge Artist's Co-op, artspace, The MultiCultural Center of the South, The Strand Theatre, Tipitina's, Municipal Auditorium, Sci-Port's new Space Center addition, our beloved Elvis statue and street sign, the scary Oakland cemetery, the hundred year old live oaks at the Caddo Parish Courthouse, and all the fine old architecture we have.

I do want to say thank you for showing Meg Saligman Once in a Millennium Moon mural in the side of the AT&T building. However you missed a bunch of other public art pieces but showing a CGI SporTran artWorks bus was a nice touch (get the real thing on this next shoot!). The neon bridge and big roses on the riverfront are really sexy when you shoot them at night. Don't forget the dancing waters fountain --- colored lights galore!!!

A couple more production notes: Hollywood Casino is no longer in Shreveport nor is Harrah's.

Here's an idea. Make it like those "Fall in Love with Louisiana All Over Again" commercials. Everybody wants to visit that place! That campaign sells the sizzle even with it's mind boggling use of humans and real locations. Not a single CGI in there.

Worried about production costs? Low budget shaky camera stuff is in. Think Blair Witch Project.

Sincerely,
Red River Blog Jam

P.S. We hate to be total bitches but here's a note on the music selection! BLEEECH! So very generic. We have many great singers and song writers here... USE THEIR STUFF. The fine folks at Tipitina's can point you in the right direction. Now get busy and promote our area using our images and sounds.

I Lub You

Out of ideas and outta time in figuring out where to take your Valentine? If you've not made dinner reservations it might be a little difficult at this late hour to find a restaurant that has room. Don't want to buffet it? There are other places for some canoodling:

1. Einstein exhibit at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum -- Remember geeky is sexy. What could be geekier than the notes Einstein wrote while figuring out his Theory of Relativity? For an early date since the museum closes at 4 PM but that's good because it gives you time to catch a romantic sunset (see numbers 3 and 4).

2. Play with Guns -- State of the art shooting arcade at Bass Pro Shop. Granted you'll probably have to shoo the 10 year olds out of the way but it's oh so fun! While you're there sign up for the February 22 Varmit Calling Workshop where you'll learn how to call different varmint when out hunting them.

3. Bossier sunset -- One of the better places to view the sunset is from the Louisiana Boardwalk. Sunset today 5:48 PM.

4. Shreveport sunset-- If you demand more privacy while the sun sets, try the Riverfront Park and the little plaza area. There are metal benches but take a fuzzy blanket. Nothing ruins romance like a cold hiney.

Slot Machines Make Ya Fat

Las Vegas is the fattest city so says Men's Fitness magazine.

Sin City can thank the large number of fast-food restaurants -- more than any other city on the survey (except Cleveland). Also seven out of ten Las Vegans are so sedentary doctors say they're putting their health at risk.

Good news/bad news? Shreveport Bossier didn't make the top ten fattest or fittest list. Who's fatter than SB? San Antonio (2), Houston (6), Dallas (7), El Paso (8), Arlington (14), and Fort Worth (17). Austin is number 21 on the fittest list.

Fat/fit odd facts: Memphis is the city that watches the most TV and Oakland has the best eating habits.

About the video: Thank you to "me & jason" for sharing the footage of your trip to Shreveport.

Austin: Proud to Beat the Crap Out of Shreveport

We must be doing something right to make austinist.com notice us.

The Internet publication licks the nasty line in a posting on how Austin is ranked number three by MovieMaker magazine in its top cities for moviemaking: "...though we've slipped a little this year (we sat at number two for the last two years, just behind New York City), we still beat the crap out of Shreveport, which feels pretty good."

Click here to spank those uppity Texans.

Sell the Sizzle

Here's your chance to tell the world why you love where you live. The Times reports that the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau needs your help in creating a marketing brand for our area. The survey takes about five minutes to complete.

By the way, the reporter of the story, Donicea Pea, is a team blogger for The Times blog Link 222.


For more inspiration go to Flickr and type in Shreveport. You'll fall in love with the Red River area all over again and be amazed by all the groovy "shooters" in our area.

Shreveport Jammy

February is sweeps month for television. That's why Lost was fresh and why all the local newscasts are running "special" features. Notable on the 10 pm KTBS cast last night was a report on blogging. We couldn't help but note their story was called "BLOGJAM."

Shreveport Bloggers Robert Trudeau and Jeff Sadow were both interviewed. Also getting good face time was the web developer for Centenary College, Michael Futreal. Funniest part of the story? Video of Alexandyr Kent's Louisiana Movies Blog. Kent is the entertainment reporter for The Times newspaper in Shreveport.

KTBS also introduced the new blog feature on their website: ArkLaTexBlog, which is a good name, almost as good as Red River Blog Jam.

Columbia Cafe

Whether you've dropped by for yummy treats or just passed by Columbia Cafe it's hard to deny the improvement the eatery makes to the visual quality of the neighborhood. Crepe myrtles and an herb garden flourish on the acre where the restaurant is located. There's also a lovely piece of art that doubles as a water fountain.

Owner Matthew Linn is an urbanist who's committed to Highland. Linn would like to add alfresco dining in one corner of his lot. He needs you to sign his petition before February 14 if you support sipping a latte amongst the leafy trees and bushes.

Why should Highlanders or even Shreveporters care? Airy eating makes for a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood -- nicer on the senses than the many drive through food chains that pockmark Kings Highway. Pedestrian-oriented gathering places foster a small town feel. Owning a home in a place where folks actually walk the streets and stop to chat is much nicer than hiding in a residence that is surrounded by the zip zip world of automobiles.

Strange is Good

The current issue of Oxford American (Issue 55) with the front cover art of a blonde holding a revolver features the poem "Three Days After Easter, 1994" by Shreveporter Jennifer Strange.

This issue of OA will be on sale at newsstands through February. OA bills itself as "The Southern Magazine of Good Writing." It was started in 1992 in Oxford, Mississippi by John Grisham and Marc Smirnoff. It now is published as a nonprofit quarterly in alliance with the University of Central Arkansas.

Strange is a lecturer in English at Centenary College. The OA contributor notes also mention she has more poems forthcoming in Poetry Southeast and Christianity and Literature.

Big Pig: A Month to Celebrate in Shreveport Bossier

Oodles of reasons to party in February: Super Bowl Sunday, Black History Month, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras and Valentines.

One of the newest additions to Shreveport Mardi Gras is the Blanc et Noir Marching Society. Don't miss out on their costume workshop this Saturday morning at Artspace.

The African-American History Parade is also this Saturday.

2007 is the year of the Pig. The Chinese New Year 4705 begins February 18 and is a major holiday for the Chinese as well as the Japanese, Koreans, Mongolians, Vietnamese, Tibetans, the Nepalese, and the Bhutanese.

How large is Shreveport Bossier's Asian population? Sizeable enough to support three Asian markets. Pictured above are fried egg rolls from Danh's Garden on Youree Drive located in the same shopping strip as Bao Chau Asian American Supermarket.