New Toys for Columbia Park

From this... to this...

RRBJ's favorite part? Behind the "Welcome" sign twirls a blue merry-go-round. No word on whether all that kid energy is being harvested for anything.

The new equipment probably got a work out Monday night while the Shreveport Metropolitan Concert Band performed. Over the next six weeks the band is scheduled for more Concerts in the Park in various parts of the city.

Picture of the Day

RRBJ's Picture of the Day comes from Flickr user Allen Garcie. He took the downtown Shreveport shot, AmSouth Building Parking Meter, for a graduate level photography course he's taking through Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

RRBJ is always looking for nifty photos or illustrations of the Red River area to use as a Picture of the Day. Send us an email at RedRiverBlogJam@gmail.com for more details.

Day of the Dead

Friends of Greenwood Garden Cemetery want you to stop by tomorrow. They're having a "Gathering on the Grounds" from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

Besides serving refreshments they'll also be conducting scavenger hunts. Talk about your top notch S-P-O-O-K-Y entertainment!

Greenwood is in Highland at 130 Stoner Avenue.

Live!

We wanted to pay our water bill online but that link wasn't working. However, we did find a live webcam of downtown Shreveport.

There was also a PDF complaint form you can download to complain about that funky-butt odor that sometimes lingers in downtown. For some reason we thought of a wine tasting gone horribly wrong when we read the list for odor description: Decaying Grass, Earthy/Moldy/Musty/, Turpentine, Sewer/Sewage-like, Burnt/Smoky...

Our favorites? Woody and Cabbage-like (personally, RRBJ wishes downtown smelled more like cabbage -- it would remind us of the tasty Mulligan Stew our Irish great-grandmother made).

Picture of the Day

Happy May Day! When RRBJ grew up in Oklahoma May 1st was the first day Mom let us go barefooted.

If you're looking for a way to celebrate this almost forgotten holiday, you might try dancing in the waters of the Riverfront Park and then scooting up Milam Street to West Edge Books (inside WEACo at 725 Milam) for a gathering at 7 tonight of folks reading Kurt Vonnegut's work.

Also in the same place Friday night there's a reading and a book signing by three of the contributors of the anthology "able to...". Shreveporter Becky Haigler is one of the authors.

Thanks to Calamitylaine for the use of her photo.

Party Like It's 1885

Back in the day downtown Shreveport was the place to be on a Saturday. It'll be that way again this weekend. West Edge Artists' Co-op is hosting an Artwalk April 28 in the 700 block of Milam from 10 AM - 6 PM.

It's open to all artists to do whatever they want -- demonstrations, art sales, performances, etc. It's free to the public (artists who aren't members have to pony up $25 to participate but for the browsing public it's free). For more information email or call WEACo. Noma Fowler-Sandlin will be there with her tasty jams. Read all about it at her jam blog.

It's too late to register your own Holiday in Dixie block party for Saturday so you might as well park in a central location in downtown so you can visit the HID Carnival, Artbreak and Artwalk. RRBJ is really hoping someone will spray paint themselves in metallic gold paint and be a human statue. We've got the dollars for the tip jar.

Picture of the Day

It may be difficult to find some peace and quiet on the riverfront this week with the Holiday in Dixie Carnival underway but you might find a bit at the Barnwell Center.

Parking Tip? Use the free parking in the garages at Eldorado Resort and Casino or Sam's Town Hotel and Casino.

Thank you to Mahala Higdon for the use of her photo for Picture of the Day.