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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

Two Years of Red River Blog Jam

RRBJ's first post in 2006 was chock-full of photos of red things. So on the one year anniversary of publishing RRBJ we did red again. Therefore it follows we do red today. Next year we may do orange or rust or pink or celedon...stay tuned.

We don't seem to be getting out as many posts as we did when we first started but then we are also blogging at other places like Crazy in Shreveport. We started a new blog this year for our art House of Usher Art. Occasionally we help out Mr. Trudeau over at his web ranch. New this year we also started helping the fine folks at the Highland Restoration Association.

We also Twitter a bit but not much. Funny lately we seem to be drawn to pen and paper more and more. Who knows what the new year will bring? Whatever direction we go it will be all about documenting and sharing our passion about SB Land.

Eric Brock and Neil Johnson

Noma gave us the heads up on the smashing article in the Fall 2008 issue of the Louisiana Cultural Vistas Magazine. We were whining because there's never enough about SB Land in there.

Historian Eric Brock covers the Highland-Fairfield area with words and Neil Johnson fills in the visuals. If you click on the above link you go to a web version of the magazine. Eric's story starts on page 24. A yearly subscription to the printed version is only $16.

Speaking of Highland... have you read the Highland Restoration Association blog lately? It's a good place to find out what's happening in the best place to live in SB Land.

Oxford American

Who doesn't love this magazine? And who's in charge of publishing the SB Land version of it? Imagine lush photo essays in The Forum and SB. And we don't mean snapshots of society folks. And we're not big fans of some of the content folks are generating for The Shreveport Times website. We want pictures of pie, decay, architecture, culture... we want the essence of this place. Hey, isn't that what Trudeau does? Spend your advertising dollars with him...

It's not too much to ask for good photos. Life magazine set the standard for high quality shots to tell the story way back in the 1930s. If you're a publication, web or print, do us a favor and don't publish rubbish. If you're a photographer, pro or amateur, do us a favor and don't put your garbage out there. One well composed photo is worth... lots of rotten photos are worth crap...

Business Week Says Buy a House in Highland

Shreveport's Highland neighborhood is HOT. Business Week says so.

From the article:
"Artists turned around Soho and the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, and then Brooklyn's Williamsburg in the 1990s...Similar trends are occurring...BusinessWeek.com selected 15 urban neighborhoods that artists have discovered and where homeowners could see returns in coming decades."

The cities (followed by neighborhoods)

Atlanta Castleberry Hill neighboorhood
Austin East Austin neighboorhood
Boston Jamaica Plain
Chicago Pilsen
Los Angeles Echo Park
Miami Wynwood
Minneapolis Northeast
New York Bushwick, Brooklyn
Philadelphia Northern Liberties
Portland Alberta Street Arts District
Raleigh/Durham, N.C. Downtown Durham
San Franscisco Mission District
Seattle Georgetown
Shreveport Highland
Washington D.C. Atlas District (H Street)

Got Power?

Little strings running between poles is a barbaric way to deliver electricity. Storms like Ike, Gustav, Rita, and Katrina continue to prove that.

Why put up with waiting for a SWEPCO crew to restore your power when you can light your house the Michael Reynolds way? His work is covered in the documentary Garbage Warrior. We love the quote 30 seconds into the above trailer "A family of four could totally survive here without even going to the store."

His buildings operate off the electricity grid, requiring little or no mortgage payment and no utility bills.

Totems

Maybe the best thing Hurricane Gustav delivered to SB Land were those few days of cooler temperatures. And that always makes outdoor exercise easier. When was the last time you strolled through Highland Park? At 1700 Gilbert Street, it's one of the hidden jewels of Shreveport. And a great place to get an aerobic work out since the two mile foot path is all hills.

Highland Park has been home since 1996 to three Highland Totems by Shreveport artist Leonard Service. The three other totems that are a part of the Highland Totems project can be found in Columbia Park.

Ouch!

SB Land didn't look good as the lead story on last night's ABC World News. The story focused on the anger of the Hurricane Gustav evacuees housed in state shelters in Shreveport.

Those shelters run by the state of Louisiana didn't have enough "wrap-around services." That's according to Sandy Davis, director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security. We saw him on KTBS speaking sometime during the storm. By the way, didn't KTBS have great coverage? They stayed with live and locally produced programming as the storm moved through our area.

SB Land fares better in this AP report and it even shows that the evacuees are grateful. Evacuee Charles Lucas seems to understand the situation. And even seems more level headed than a lot of folks leaving anonymous comments at local media sites.

Keep Shreveport Wild!!!!!!!!!!!

Eat local! Eat local! Eat local! The Shreveport Times reports a seafood restaurant is closing in Highland.

Big D's Bar-B-Que at 101 N. Common Street in downtown is alive and well. Dine there today!

Handles Go Towards the House

Cool video from The Shreveport Times on the new blue recycling bins. Highlanders get to put those containers to work tomorrow. The big questions are can you keep folks from parking in front of your bin? And will the automated truck plan work?

SB Land Rolls

More folks are biking in SB Land. Some wear helmets. Some don't. Some ride on the sidewalk. Some ride against the traffic. Some with. For the next couple of weeks RRBJ will document SB Land Rolls.

For a look at other discussions on two-wheeling in the city see Trudeau's blog, Alexandyr Kent's series on biking in The Shreveport Times, Sherri Talley's blog and what Prof Demerath has to say. You're welcome to add your bike and butt to the travelogue.

Oh, Shale!

Oh, shale! We're all fixin' to get rich in SB Land... if we own land...if we own land and mineral rights...maybe we don't have to own the land... just the mineral rights...

KTBS has a special on the Haynesville Shale. If you don't want to wait for it to be on TV again you can catch it on their website.

Hot Bungalows!

So maybe your house didn't make it into the new Highland Restoration Association Tour Guide because it isn't old enough.

There's another way for your home to be recognized. If you live in a bungalow, yours might be part of the current exhibit at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum.

James Eakin took the photos featured in the show. This Saturday from 1-3 is the reception. Special guest Sue Ball will share stories of bungalow living and Highland's past. Light refreshments will be served. Don't be surprised if the place is packed. The last HRA event at Meadows Museum was standing room only.

Vote Yes for the Red River

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities wants to hear from you about a new reading program focusing on North Louisiana. The article appears on page 6 of the Summer 2008 issue of the Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine.

The big turnout during the recent Readings in Literature and Culture (RELIC) series on Elizabeth I of England brings this attention to the other side of Louisiana. Shreveport artist Tama Nathan documented the success of those Elizabeth sessions in Shreveport.

RRBJ says vote for Tracey Laird's book Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music along the Red River. Email your comments about the books they are considering to LEH RELIC director Jim Segreto at segreto@leh.org.

Did Your House Make the Cut?

The Highland Restoration Association has a new color brochure featuring 75 historic structures in Highland. The project was a collaboration between Eric Brock and Sue Ball.

The Shreveport Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau has hard copies of the pamphlet if you want to see if your house or building made the list.