Mary Christmas...

...it's okay to say, we're just saying.

Thanks Giving

One of the best perks of living in the Highland section of Shreveport? The abundance of shade trees. West Shreveport just doesn't have the same scenic vibe.

Grand Elvis

We know the street as Elvis Presley Avenue but prior to January 8, 2001 it was Grand Avenue. This photo (postcard?) is on display at the museum in the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium.

The Elvis street signs are for sale in the gift shop at the municipal at 705 Elvis Presley Avenue. Don't even get us started on the address listed on this website (turn down your volume before clicking).

Vlogs... We Moving that Way

Kroger. Youree Drive. Weird. Changes. All. The. Time. What is happening at that store? RRBJ went there the other day and got lost. This was filmed in Shreveport at the Youree Drive Kroger and Target stores.

P.S. RRBJ is not posting much these days because we are moving into the vlog direction. It was bound to happen because "moving pictures is our future."

Celebrate Every Day with Mardi Gras in a Cup

Drive thru daiquiri joints are peppered throughout SB Land. You can get tasty frozen daiquiris in flavors like peach bellini, strawberry, pina colada and white Russian. How does it work? You order a frozen daiquiri. They pour it in a Styrofoam cup, slap a plastic lid on top and tape the straw down to the lid, while making sure the tape runs over the hole in the top of the lid. It's not an "open container" unless you put the straw in.

Lots of Louisiana liquor stores have frozen daiquiri machines swirling multicolored alcoholic freezy drink treats. Got this one at Thrifty Discount Liquor and Wine, 3434 Youree Drive in Shreveport, LA. The only way it could get any better is if the neighborhood ice cream truck had a window where it dispensed adult beverages.

A New Way to See SB Land

Murrell's on Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA
Originally uploaded by horvy81.

Photographer Val Horvath is conducting a rad photo experiment. Her profile note on Flickr.com says "Follow me on Twitter as I take you on an iPhone photo tour of Shreveport."

Horvath is photographer for The Shreveport Times. She joined the staff in February 2006. Before that she worked at The Facts newspaper in Clute, Texas. She graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor's degree in photojournalism.

Vote Early and Vote Often!

The Shreveport Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau is sponsoring a cool contest for area filmmakers. Voting for the Show Us YOUR Shreveport Bossier event got underway today. To see all the different ways of life in SB Land click here. Some lucky person will win $2500 for their creation.

Personal Note: The editor, publisher, creator and head party hat wearer of Red River Blog Jam, Kathryn Usher, created the above video and very much appreciates your votes. Only with your help will True Blood and Voo Doo! win the big prize! King Cake Baby Voo Doo Doll hugs for everyone! It was great fun incoprating all the nifty True Blood stuff into my video. I love how HBO's hit show is focusing attention on SB Land! Take that New Orleans and Anne Rice!

Shreveport Farmers' Market Day One 2009

The creatives are taking over SB Land! Great song by Alan and Alana Dyson and groovy video by Kay Kennedy.

Sound and Vision Saturday

Plenty of delights for all of your senses this Saturday. After you pick up your free t-shirt for helping with the Highland neighborhood clean-up, fill the rest of the day with art.

Steven Soffer's Sound and Vision Show opens with a reception at 1 pm at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, 3201 Centenary Blvd.

Also there's all day long Lead Belly Blues Festival at Festival Plaza in downtown Shreveport. Wrap up your night with Katfish and Kocktails at 6 pm at artspace.

Picture of the Day

Grind House Coffee Shop
Originally uploaded by mikerosebery.

"Grind House Coffee Shop" is another great capture by Mike Rosebery. Send us your art. It could be a video, a piece of jewelry, a song, a photo, etc. What ever you make that celebrates life in SB Land.

It's Time for Smoke-Free Casinos

The Louisiana 2009 regular legislative session opens Monday. Two south Louisiana lawmakers have bills that would ban smoking in bars. One bill could even address smoking in casinos.

In 2005, the Shreveport City Council passed a ban on smoking in public buildings, city parks, public areas, restaurants, and shopping malls and retail stores. That ban exempted bars and any businesses that sold alcohol. In 2007, all Louisiana workplaces and restaurants became 100% smoke free. It's 2009 and time to make all workplaces smoke free. Casinos included.

Would we lose business if smoking was banned in casinos? We doubt it. Most folks come from Texas to gamble. Many of them come from Dallas. Would gamblers travel to Mississippi or Oklahoma just so they could smoke inside? There are other options for nicotine fixes. Go outside. Use the patch. Chew nicotine gum. Dip. Use snus. Try an electronic cigarette. Why should we cater to a small group of Americans? Smokers are a minority. Only 20 percent of the population smokes. We're not saying stop smoking. Kill yourself if you want. Just don't take us down with you.

Interestingly enough, Dallasites just got a crackdown on the places where they can smoke inside. At the beginning of April, Dallas expanded their smoking ban. From the Dallas Morning News article "... (a) city ordinance banning smoking inside bars and pool halls starts today, but cigarette smokers at bars from Uptown to Greenville Avenue say they will stay loyal to their favorite places and not venture to other cities just to smoke."

Editor's note: I work in a casino. That is until I published this. If there really is freedom of speech in America I suppose I don't have anything to worry about. If there isn't... oh well. My lungs will thank me. And so will my trash can, since I won't have to fill it with sputum any more.

Really would they fire me for publishing this? It is something to consider. Since I know I can be fired if a customer blows smoke in my face and I use my hand to fan it out of my way. I can even be fired if I ask a customer not to blow smoke in my face.

Ain't We All Mammals Swimming in the Grocery Lot Wishing for a Cantaloupe That Tastes Vine Ripened But Settling for a 6-Pack of Grape Kool-Aid Bursts

In honor of Earth Day 2009, Wednesday, April 22: Sci-Port will release butterflies at 11 am.
Leia Lewis at Sankofa Gardens has been the queen of Earth Day for the last four years. This KTBS video proves it. The fourth annual Sankofa Earth Day Festival is Saturday.

Remembering Maggie

Just east of the main gate of the Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport is the grave of Maggie Lear. And 100 years after her murder, folks still visit her monument and leave tokens of love.

Shreveport historian Eric Brock wrote about Maggie's death in a February 9, 2005 article in The Forum. Magaret Bauman Lear was just 16 when she was killed in 1906 by Charles Coleman. After her funeral the Shreveport Journal and the First National Bank began taking up a collection to purchase the very monument that stands over her grave today and is inscribed "A Tribute of Sympathy from the Citizens of Shreveport."

What is This Place?

If you know where you live you could win $1000.

Through May 1, 2009, Sci-Port: Louisiana's Science Center is accepting entries for its Aaron & Peggy Selber Red River Cultural Traditions Writing Competition for the best non-technical paper that integrates cultural, historic, geographic, literary or scientific aspects unique to Louisiana's Red River Region. In addition to scooping up the prize money, the winner paper will be published online by SB Magazine.

Robert McGuire, Sci-Port Director of Education and Public Programs, says they are "...looking for great writing supported by rich reporting of our culture."

Down the Red River, Again

We love us some Dan Garner! And the puppies are cute, too.

Spring Sprung Sprout

What is it about warm weather that makes us want to eat at Counter Culture? We stopped the other day and got an avocado sandwich and a baby yogurt. Tasty!

We feel green when we eat there. As long as we don't idle in the drive through. Get out and go in. Better yet, go to the 203 E. Kings Hwy location and dine on the patio. P.S. Wish they had a website or blog. We have to settle for this information about Counter Culture from the Shreveport Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau.

Free Mustard Greens

Why is it when times get tough we want to hunker down and wallow in isolation? Play 2009 in a different way. Join the folks in your neighborhood and create abundance. One of the best places to do that is at the many community gardens in Shreveport.

In fact tomorrow morning you can get FREE mustard greens at the Highland Community Garden. Free food and new friends. The world is a bright shiny place. And dirt is sexy. Even The Shreveport Times thinks so with its new gardening section.

Do you Facebook?

We have finally gone Facebook. And after only one day our mind is boggled by the potential. Do you Facebook? All the cool kids are there. If you're old school, it's like passing notes around in Coach Steen's American History class.

Not that we're bragging or anything but we've already got 56 friends and have joined the Highland Artists (HA!) group. HA! was created by Noma Fowler-Sandlin because "Shreveport's Highland Neighborhood is rich with all sorts of artists... (here's) a Facebook group where they can keep in touch."

Birthing New Music

The folks in Shreveport's Blanc et Noir Marching Society know a good thing when they hear it. They are terrific supporters of The Red and Black Brass Band from Grambling.

This week's show (February 25, 2009) on American Routes features young musicians in brass bands who are taking Louisiana's roots music into the 21st century.

Mardi Gras may be over for now but there's always next year. By joining Blanc et Noir Marching Society in Shreveport you can help this new/old form of marching band music continue to grow. Imagine that. Shreveport is a part of the vibrant Louisiana music scene and not just the Other Side.


Thank you Talbot Hopkins for the cool video of The Red and Black Brass Band in the 2009 Krewe of Highland parade.

Porch Art

Porches + art + Highland = funky!

Picture of the Day

Mary
Originally uploaded by mikerosebery.

Thank you Mike Rosebery for this great shot of Mary at the St. Joseph's Cemetery in Shreveport.

We're sure you know this but just in case...Mardi Gras and Jesus and Mary are connected. Mardi Gras is the "last hurrah" before Ash Wednesday. In fact, Carnival comes from the Latin words carne vale, meaning farewell to the flesh. We've had reports that some local college students had no idea that there was a Mardi Gras Jesus connection...

Mardi Gras Parade Season

Krewe of Centaur info. Krewe of Barkus and Meoux. Krewe of Gemini website.

And our favorite is the Krewe of Highland. That parade is set for Sunday February 22, 2009.

minicine?

Creatives who understand the power of the Internet comprehend the next level of social marketing for their work.

The organizers of Monday's upcoming event at minicine? in downtown have a sweet grasp on this power. Locally they've got coverage on their own website and on Trudeau's. The event is and has been touring all over the US and Canada. To follow the progress check out its blog Channeling an invocation of spectral bodies and queer spirits.

We Googled some of the artists involved and discovered this Vanesssa Renwick and Elliot Montague and Aay Preston-Myint.

Spring Street Historical Museum

We love this place. It's always crammed full of goodness. A visual feast of goobery history stuff with tons of SB Land connections. S-E-X-Y.

The current exhibit concerns transportation in SB Land. If you missed the last one, here are some photos from it.

24 Hour Church of Elvis

Is there space downtown or in Highland for something like this? Stephanie G. Pierce created the 24 Hour Church of Elvis in downtown Portland. You can now find it on the Internet.

This fun Elvis info brought to you by RRBJ, where 2009 is the year of The King.

Picture of the Day

Originally uploaded by StellaTex.

StellaTex brings us the first Picture of the Day in 2009.

What offering do you have for us this year. We want your thoughts, words, shorty-short films, songs, music, paintings, dances on life in SB Land.

Elephant Man Elvis

Prepare yourselves. While this may be the Chinese year of the ox, 2009 at RRBJ will be the year of Elvis.

Why? Maybe to remind ourselves that The King got his start in SB Land.