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.

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.

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.

Meet Artist Debbie Buchanan Engle this Saturday at 1:00

The opening reception for Debbie Buchanan Engle's show Mercy is this Saturday at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, 3201 Centenary Boulevard, from 1:00 - 3:00. The opening is mentioned on this page at The Shreveport Times along with Su Stella's jewelry making workshop Saturday at The Barnwell Center.

P.S. We Googled Debbie Buchanan Engle, Artist, Shreveport and got these hits: She's on the ShreveportBossierfunguide. We rediscovered this video of her. We'd forgotten we made it earlier this year. There are even pics of her work from a Gender Studies Conference at Centenary College back in 06.

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...

Haynesville Shale in Highland

The meeting Wednesday night is in the church sanctuary. HRA's blog has the scoop. Invite a neighbor. There are plenty of pews in that big ol church. It seats over 500.

Also, you might get on the telly. The BBC is in town doing a story on the Haynesville Shale and they might make it by the meeting.

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.

Share

Those green Share the Road signs are the work of Ian Webb, the owner of River City Cycling. You can pick one up for $5 and plop it down in your neighborhood. Webb says he wants to make folks more aware of two wheeling in SB Land.

KSLA has a good story on Webb and how he even takes his child to school using bike power. Sherri Talley at KTBS did a post on the Share the Road at her blog. Shreveport Times intern A.J. King explores alternative ways to get to around SB Land.

Bloggers

RRBJ has a section over to the left that says Red River Area Bloggers. We need to do a better job of updating it because there a couple of interesting reads we don't have listed. Voice of Schleuss is one. We just added Highland neighbor Deb. Don't know why don't have Loren Demerath's down.

If you want to be added to the list we do have some rules. We'd like for you to have been blogging for a couple of months before we list you (we're still pouting because Nadine hasn't updated since February).

Trudeau always has good reads listed on his two main blogs Shreveport and Faces. Did you know he also blogs here and here? It's fun finding these almost secret blogs. Almost as much fun as walking the dog at night in South Highlands just so we can look in the windows of all the houses that have the lights on and no drapes hanging. We are peeking in!

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.

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.

Picture of the Day

Hear, Speak No Evil
Originally uploaded by Schleuss.

Picture of the Day comes from Jon Schleuss -- a multi talented Centenary student whose fervor about communication is revolutionizing the college's radio station, KSCL.

Think you're too old and out of touch to like what those crazy college kids are doing on the airwaves? We know a 58 year-old white Republican man who is passionate about what he hears on 91.3 FM. Tune in but be prepared. It's not slick. It's earthy. And that's good because slick equals corporate radio and how boring has that become?

Church

While Pope Benedict XVI didn't make it to Shreveport we've still got Alan Dyson and his new Church stickers. Dyson is host of the Fairfield Studios House Concert Series and a musician.

He's also father of talented Shreveport singer Alana Dyson (it's a talented pod of people as Trudeau explains in this 2005 blog post of his. If RRBJ ever secures a pot of money for documentaries can't think of better place to begin recording than with them...). He's married to Shreveport artist Debbie Buchanan Engle.

Shreveport architect and multi talented artist Dyson may not be the pontiff or any other type of official spiritual leader but his message is thoughtful. If we view the whole world as Church won't we take better care of it, ourselves and our neighbors? Who was it who said "Love thy neighbor..." Shoot him an email at salandyson@comcast.net on how to get one of these nifty stickers.

Park it Market

Reuse and recycle could be the way to celebrate Earth Day this weekend. Noel Memorial United Methodist Church is having a rummage sale at 9 AM Saturday morning in the parking lot next to the sanctuary. Creswell Elementary, 2901 Creswell, is having a sale in the morning also.

Trudeau's got the scoop on Leia Lewis and what's happening at Sankofa Gardens in honor of Mother's (Earth) Day.

Plain Folk Houses - Backside

RRBJ intended to make it to BOTB 2008 but just a few steps away from The Shell the light diverted us. We filled our digital camera with images of the backside of a block of houses. Difficult to fathom a campus of the leisure class, with the time, money, and energy to pursue higher forms of education, is just across the street from where these were taken.

It is ironic that some of the papers of Jack London, with his need to escape extreme poverty, are housed at Centenary College. From the rear, these homes radiated decay. You'd never know this was the 100 block of Wilkinson, just across the street from the college's gravel parking lot #15.

Jon Schleuss has supah-dupah coverage on BOTB 2008 at the KSCL Blog.
We'd planned on posting this a couple of days ago but the RRBJ offices have been suffering with a Comcast Internet outage.

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.

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.

Frances Drew

Highland artist Frances Drew will be remembered at artspace tomorrow afternoon. She passed away in November.

Tributes to this amazing lady are popping up all over the Internet. Trudeau's blog, and local artist Tama Nathan's blog are just a few places to find out about her. And there's a nice picture of Frances in front a a piece of her artwork at this Fibromyalgia support site.

To view a slide show of Quilt Kiosk #2 click here. Frances was just one of the artists who collaborated on this piece of public art in downtown Shreveport.

Creative Class

One of the ways we amuse ourselves around the RRBJ offices is to click through sites like Gothamist and Austinist. We got all tingly when we stumbled across the above post featuring the picture of Lee Eddy.

Too bad this child had to leave Shreveport to pursue her dreams. We need our Lees to be able to live, work and play in SB Land. Perhaps it's time to start a telethon for the funds to maintain a thrive-a-licious creative class over here by da Red River.

Creative class is a term mentioned in Phillip A. Rozeman's letter published in The Shreveport Times. Here's the link to that letter. Don't know why we're putting it up. The Times will dead the link in a couple of weeks and you'll get an error message. Maybe the place to start with the creative class push is to get The Times to keep their links active.