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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Merry New Year 2009 (It's Okay to Say...)

Steal Velvet Elvis' Idea

Why isn't someone gigging this in Shreveport? We need our own Velvet Elvis in SB Land.

The West Edge Artists' Co-op has organized an art happening in honor of the King's birthday at the Municipal Auditorium on January 8, 2009.

What Does Your Mardi Gras Costume Look Like?

Join a krewe this Carnival season. Two of the best outfits in SB Land are Blanc et Noir Marching Society and Krewe of Highland.

Fat Tuesday is February 24 in 2009.

First Day of Winter

SB Land Ain't Got None

12 is the number of times Shreveport is mentioned in the Winter 2008-09 issue of Louisiana Cultural Vistas (the magazine of the Louisiana Endowment of the Humanities). The publication focuses on the state's culture, arts and history.
How many times is New Orleans mentioned? By page two we'd counted 20. We didn't have the heart to wade through the remaining 94 pages. If you'd like you can go here and count for yourself.