Organic

RRBJ just realized linking is the lazy way to go. We can avoid wiggling the cordless mouse to cut and paste if you'll just go here and see what that world traveling Trudeau says about Shreveport's Farmers' Market.

We'll be stopping by for some more of Pan's Pantry Drunken Peach Preserves since husband has given up his generic jelly and eaten all of our fancy stuff.

Herby K's -- We Bet Southeast Shreveport Wished They Had One

The Times keeps asking folks "what do you love about north Bossier City and southeast Shreveport?" RRBJ doesn't have to answer that question since we spend most of our time in the Highland and downtown area.

We like our hood because of the lack of suburban sprawl and because it's walkable. Can't imagine strolling around Youree and 70th. We also like our neighborhood restaurants like George's Grill, Columbia Cafe, Julie Anne's... the list of unique eateries goes on.

One of our current favs is Herby K's at 1833 Pierre Avenue. Saturday we had lunch (including tip) for two for just one Andrew Jackson. Folks have been eating there since 1936. The place is on the small side but the wait is worth it.

Thank you Katee Fontane for the use of your Coke and Baby Shrimp Buster photos.

Picture of the Day

Shreveport Bridge 2
Originally uploaded by southerntippi.

A week from today SB Land's annual River Blast hits the Festival Plaza with food, fun and fireworks.

The fireworks go off at 9:20 but at 8:30 B-52's from Barksdale Air Force Base will flyover. RRBJ's best tip is don't hassle with parking take the free shuttle from Mall St. Vincent. It's fast, fast, fast and hassle free.

Thank you to Stephanie M. Hart at southerntippi for the use of her photo Shreveport Bridge 2.

If you have a photo, drawing, poem or other piece of art that depicts SB Land send us an email at redriverblogjam@gmail.com so we can put it in the running for the Picture of the Day.

Wheat Paste Man and Woman

Proof that you don't have to get the paint and big paper out to participate in street art. This little image was found at the corner of Texas and McNeill street in downtown Shreveport.

Photo taken by Katee Fontane.

Keep Shreveport Weird

RRBJ is all about supporting small home town businesses. When visitors come to town they are looking for authentic Shreveport and Louisiana experiences. Some cities are organizing to keep up the awareness of the small guy/gal. That's how that Keep Austin Weird slogan came about.

Even movie stars are looking for the best local experience they can have. While in town filming Mad Money Katie Holmes spent plenty of dough at Julie Anne's Bakery and Cafe, located at the corner of Line Avenue and Kings Highway. Her Shreveport snacking habits made it into People magazine and Maggie Martin covered it in her blog.

Just this month SB magazine listed the bakery as the best in town. It also rates high with the folks at the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Medicine Shreveport.

While there's plenty on the menu that's tasty, our current fav is the raspberry lemonade.

Picture of the Day

This is not what Texas street will look like tomorrow night with the return of Thursday Night Trolley Tours. The fun starts with a cash bar at artspace, 710Texas Street. The Shreveport Times describes the event this way "A guided tour, will showcase what downtown Shreveport has to offer in the way of art, history, culture, movie trivia, and science, on 14 trolley stops..." Your tour guide for the evening will be Jan Pettiet.

Did we mention this event is FREE?! (Excluding the cash bar). Sipping something cool and riding around on a trolley -- can't think of a better way to take in the Southern Museum of Art, West Edge Artists' Co-op, Municipal Auditorium, Logan Mansion, Strand Theatre, Millennium Mural, SciPort Discovery Center, Tipitina's, Spring Street Museum, Hilton Hotel, Shreveport Convention Center, Sports Museum, Arodasi Dance Center, Highway Grrls Gallery, Multicultural Center of the South, and Robinson Film Center.

During the evening at the Barnwell Center sounds of live "Hot Jazz on the Red" will fill the air as part of their Friends of Barnwell Summer Concert Series. The Meadows Museum of Art is also slated to participate, but this confuses RRBJ because that place is in Highland and not in downtown... but, oh well...

Thank you to Ryan Austin Dean at jawbone54 for the night capture of Texas Street.

At Edge

Mixing visual art with literature? Zowie, it could be dangerous! Judge for your self at West Edge Artists' Co-op this Thursday evening during the first Thursday Night Trolley Tours of the year when area poets read from their new chapbook Standing at the EDGE. The works were penned after the poets viewed the artwork hanging at West Edge Artists' Co-op.

Trudeau captured the birth of the project. Some of the poets involved have even started their own blog.

By the way, the TNT is a project of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. Unfortunately, their website doesn't have any information on the event. When, oh when, will non profits forget about websites and just have blogs that they can update on the cheap and easy? You can call 673-6500 for more information but RRBJ finds doing so barbaric. We'd much rather click and surf and not have to interact with humans.

Picture of the Day

Two free passes to the nifty-cool Shreveport Spirit Tours in downtown Shreveport to the first person who can guess where this photo was taken.

Thank you 323 for the use of your shot for Picture of the Day. If you want RRBJ to consider using your photo or artwork for a Picture of the Day slap it up on flickr.com and tag it "red river blog jam." Or you can email us directly at RedRiverBlogJam@gmail.com. Images of the Red River Valley make our hearts pound and we really like the downtown and Highland areas of Shreveport.

Happy Hour at the Tuesday Farmer's Market

"IT'S A PARTY!" said Noma Fowler-Sandlin when RRBJ asked her about the Tuesday evening Farmer's Market. "People walk around with cocktails and listen to a live band while they shop."

Bring a hefty bag so you can stuff it full of fresh fruit and vegetables, bouquets of flowers, honey, jams, jellies, breads, cookies, pasta and even fine art.

You'll find the Shreveport Farmer's Market Saturday mornings from 7 to 11:30 and Tuesday evenings from 4 to 7 under the big shade of Festival Plaza (the same place where the ice skating rink sat during the month of December).

For more information about the Farmer's Market call 424-4000.

Debbie Buchanan Engle says Judge Not

RRBJ made it to Saturday's opening of the hottest show in town -- Debbie Buchanan Engle's Judge Not one week installation at West Edge Artist's Co-op at 725 Milam. It was created in collaboration with Alan Dyson and Tony Reans. Even before the show opened it attracted heavy media attention from The Shreveport Times and Trudeau's Shreveport Blog. Radio station KSCL did an interview with Deb and also posted pictures on their blog.

An artist makes art from the pieces of their daily life, and for the last ten years Engle's life has been consumed with a custody battle for her two children. In addition to being an artist and mom, she's also president of the board of West Edge Artists' Co-op and Director of Serving Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport. How could a woman with those credentials lose custody of her children? That's just one of the questions her artwork explores.

Judge Not is a brave show and one not to be missed, but it will be on display for only one week. It comes down at 4PM June 16. WEACo is open Tuesday through Friday from 10AM to 6PM and Saturdays from 10AM to 4PM.

This quote from the invitation for the show sets the tone for what you'll experience -- "A serious problem exists behind the closed doors of the First Judicial District Court," says Engle. "The chief judges and Judiciary Commission should consider the hundreds of mothers, fathers, and children who continue to suffer at the hands of this judge and his cronies."

Engle's exhibit takes care not to name the judge who decided her case. But RRBJ used that sneaky device called the Internet to determine who could rip a child away from a mother with a so many letters of recommendation, including one from a minister. By Googling words taken from the show (Caddo Parish District Judge Filing of a stalking report with Shreveport Police) RRBJ discovered two stories: KPXJ has a story on the judge's personal relationship and even The Inquisitor weighs in.

Picture of the Day

It should be an average summer for rainfall in SB Land. That's according to a June 5th post by Mark Rowlett on the KTBS weather blog. RRBJ would've linked to the weather blog but for some goofy reason you have to go to the KTBS main page and then look for the blog under the WEATHER heading.

Thank you to justtheprettiest for the use of her photo Shreveport before the Storm.

S-P-O-O-K-Y Logan Mansion

What could be more fun than touring a haunted house? In downtown Shreveport near Oakland Cemetery there's the Logan Mansion at 725 Austin Place owned by Vicki and Billy LeBrun and it's open for tours every Friday.

The home has been covered in the local media a couple of times. One feature included a story by Noma Fowler-Sandlin along with a stunning photo spread from the folks at The Forum, the other was a story on KSLA on a paranormal investigation done in the house by the folks at Louisiana Spirits Paranormal Investigations.

RRBJ took the tour in March 2007. Is there a ghost in the house? Let's just say our camera acted weird during the visit and then once we uploaded our photos we started having wicked bad computer problems. Our favorite part of the house? Getting to explore the huge attic is definitely worth the ten dollar admission price.

Shattering the Quiet of Highland...

...with the bright musical sounds of belly dance coins and the beats of hand drums was the result of an the overflow crowd Saturday night at 444 Olive Street for the opening of Lotus Studio. Even a spring shower didn't stop the fun.

Classes start this week. It's just one door down from Lila's Cakes and Chocolate.

RRBJ note: This story was not reported in The Times, however John Andrew Prime produced a nicely written story on the quiet of another Highland boulevard being shattered in a different way. It's like local favorite musician Dan Garner keeps saying "We make art illegal and we'll get all the headlines we want..."

Franken-art

While speeding to Walgreen's on a drug run, RRBJ spotted this street art version of Frankenstein at the corner of Kings Highway and Creswell. The excitement we felt when we realized this little guy means wheat paste art has finally arrived in SB Land made the $80 co-pay for one prescription just a wee bit easier to swallow. Thank you Franken-art artist for bringing joy to our day.