Those Crazy College Kids

They are calling it The Big Event. Early tomorrow Centenary College students, staff and faculty will take part in the community service project that will help folks in Highland with household tasks, such as scrapping and repainting shutters, raking, cleaning sidewalks, etc.

Later in the day it's back to the Shell on campus for the annual Battle of the Bands.

Kathrine Anne Porter

...winter in this part of the South is a moribund coma, not the Northern death sleep with the sure promise of resurrection. But in my South, my loved and never-forgotten country, after her long sickness, with only a slight stirring, an opening of the eyes between one breath and the next, between night and day, the earth revives and bursts into the plenty of spring with fruit and flowers together, spring and summer at once under the hot shimmering blue sky.

Katherine Anne Porter from Holiday

Submissions for the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction, sponsored by the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, close April 30, 2008.

Picture of the Day

Convention Center
Originally uploaded by mikerosebery.

Mikerosebery's cool shot of the Shreveport Convention Center is our Picture of the Day. A fine example of all kinds of nifty stuff to sketch or take pictures of in downtown Shreveport. Bike, walk or bus on down there this afternoon and get your creative on!

Music or Entertainment

Blame the financial woes of the Shreveport Symphony on American Idol and Amateur Night at the Apollo? It's right there in paragraph two of statement issued by the SSO. Or maybe it's the fault of Blue Man Group or Burning Man. Or maybe it's that an evening at the symphony is perceived as long, boring and expensive. Hey, even if you don't like hockey and someone drags to you a Mudbugs game there's always the chance of catching a t-shirt fired from a cannon. Trudeau's doing a good job of covering the unfolding events surrounding the symphony.

RRBJ loves live music. Even though we are guilty of not financially supporting any local group (it's a struggle to keep the lights on, gas in the van, food on the table and a kid in college). A big evening of entertainment for us is a DVD delivered by Netflix and store brand microwave popcorn. However during our formative years we were actively involved with the Oklahoma Arts Institute.

Picture of the Day

Strawn's (18)
Originally uploaded by darebouche.

Thank you to darebouche for the use of his Strawn's (18) for our Picture of the Day.

If you've not seen Darrell Rebouche's blog you'll find it here. It's one of our daily reads around the RRBJ office. We love how he documents family life in SB Land.

For more about the empire that is Strawn's Eat Shop.

Shreveport Sounds

Dan Garner penned a chapter entitled The Legend of Old Blue Goose in the new book Shreveport Sounds in Black and White (American Made Music). It was published last month by the University Press of Mississippi and edited by Kip Lornell and Tracey E.W. Laird.

What, musically, is the "Shreveport Sound?" A big mix up of country, blues, R&B, rockabilly, and rock. RRBJ would add folk and bluegrass in there seeing as Leadbelly was from these parts as is The Cox Family. Can't think of a better example of SB Land sounds than Garner's new collection, The Second Album.

Captured in front of the black wall outside of artspace, just up from Tipitina's is Garner along with his son Paul.

Picture of the Day

DSC_0071.JPG
Originally uploaded by lindsayhickman.

Thank you lindsayhickman for the use of your photo for Picture of the Day.

That's the Red River in the pic. Which makes RRBJ think of the Red River District under the Texas Street Bridge. Here's what we'd like to see under there:
Cosplay
Bike Rentals
Skateboards
More Skateboards
Active Transportation
Maybe a little of what Memphis is doing

Smart City Radio had a recent program on riverfronts.

Environmental Nuts

Last week Trudeau reported that curbside recycling in SB Land is getting closer to reality. Also last week a two minute video about a green home in Shreveport popped up on the The Times website.

What's next in an eco-friendly SB Land? RRBJ would like to see the Red harvested of its kinetic hydropower. Sci-Port could get involved. Dig a tunnel to the river. Put a big glass window at the end and let the kiddos watch the underwater energy being created.