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.

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.

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.

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.

Highland Jazz and Blues Festival

November 15 is the date for this year's Highland Jazz and Blues Festival. Like Trudeau recommends bring a blanket or chair.

The one day Saturday fest is packed with live music and local visual artists vending their wares.

Scribble This

Big culture comes to town this weekend with the annual arrival of The Red River Revel. How scary is it to be an artist-vendor selling your work while folks walk by shouting out critiques?

Why not just offer the lookers a marker and let them just scrabble all over your work? That's what Bette Kauffman's done with her Waterline interactive photo exhibit in artspace. It hangs until October 18.


P.S. We confess. We're the ones who tagged "700 Billion Dollar Bailout Socialism Works in America For the Rich Not For the Middle Class or the Poor or New Orleans Save U.S.!!"

Picture of the Day

...is a video from from Christoball.

Flickr now has a video feature for short films. Make a shorty and let us feature it as a Picture of the Day. We also like short fiction, non fiction, poems or other types of creativeness that tell us about life in SB Land. Can't pay you but you do get a lovely publishing credit to put on the resume.

Recycling Shreveport Farmers' Market

Think the market can't get any greener? Shreveport Farmers' Market Manager Noma Fowler-Sandlin says tomorrow is "...the annual Cookbook Exchange, this year joined by a Tote Bag Exchange, too. So bring out your tired old cookbooks and tote bags and trade them for new ones you like better."

Also just in are reusable Shreveport Farmers' Market totes. The bright red bags feature the market logo in black. Only $10. The money raised will continue special events like the musicians on Tuesdays. Operating hours: 7 a.m. 'til noon on Saturdays at the Festival Plaza in downtown.

Pictured is the cool tote of Conchita McElwee. Snapped at last year's market.

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.

If Only the Krewe of Highland Parade Floated

Can't wait another half year to get a some of the wackiness that is the Krewe of Highland parade? This Saturday on Cross Lake will help.

It's the 17 annual Cross Lake Floatilla at the American Legion Lowe-McFarlane Post. The decorated boat parade kicks off at 3 but there are activities all day long. On Friday night there's even a fish fry connected to the event. Take your camera and put the pictures on Flickr.com so you can share with the rest of the class.

Tour de Shreveport

The chance to star in your own ghost hunting video? It happens in downtown Shreveport on the weekends. Shreveport Spirit Tours* take place Friday afternoons at 6 and Saturdays at 1:30 and 6. New this year is the opportunity to appear in your own YouTube video. It's the perfect outing for families, couples and birthday parties.

*Editors note: My daughter, Katee Fontane, and I own and operate these fun seasonal tours. Under her influence we've created MySpace and Facebook pages for the tours. Come explore the West Edge of downtown Shreveport with us. Also, if you have trouble viewing the above video, click through to the actual YouTube site and you should get it to play. YouTube has its moments of wonkiness.

It's About the Fashion

Shreveport Farmers' Market is not about the food. It's about the fashion. Get togged out and ride to the festival plaza for the happy hour market Tuesday nights.

Have you friended the market on MySpace? Then you got the bulletin and know the blackberries are HUGE and Dr. Cookie and Louisiana Dan will perform from 4 - 7 p.m. tonight.

And remember please leave your polyester at home. Unless it's retro poly. That's Destiny Toro's hiney in a cool skirt.

Are We There Yet?

Shreveportbossierfunguide.com will help you plan your summer entertainment . Have you seen this nifty site?

Our only complaint? There's not a section for gay and lesbian content like guides in other cities. See New Orleans and Philadelphia.

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.