Happy Hour at the Tuesday Farmer's Market

"IT'S A PARTY!" said Noma Fowler-Sandlin when RRBJ asked her about the Tuesday evening Farmer's Market. "People walk around with cocktails and listen to a live band while they shop."

Bring a hefty bag so you can stuff it full of fresh fruit and vegetables, bouquets of flowers, honey, jams, jellies, breads, cookies, pasta and even fine art.

You'll find the Shreveport Farmer's Market Saturday mornings from 7 to 11:30 and Tuesday evenings from 4 to 7 under the big shade of Festival Plaza (the same place where the ice skating rink sat during the month of December).

For more information about the Farmer's Market call 424-4000.

Debbie Buchanan Engle says Judge Not

RRBJ made it to Saturday's opening of the hottest show in town -- Debbie Buchanan Engle's Judge Not one week installation at West Edge Artist's Co-op at 725 Milam. It was created in collaboration with Alan Dyson and Tony Reans. Even before the show opened it attracted heavy media attention from The Shreveport Times and Trudeau's Shreveport Blog. Radio station KSCL did an interview with Deb and also posted pictures on their blog.

An artist makes art from the pieces of their daily life, and for the last ten years Engle's life has been consumed with a custody battle for her two children. In addition to being an artist and mom, she's also president of the board of West Edge Artists' Co-op and Director of Serving Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport. How could a woman with those credentials lose custody of her children? That's just one of the questions her artwork explores.

Judge Not is a brave show and one not to be missed, but it will be on display for only one week. It comes down at 4PM June 16. WEACo is open Tuesday through Friday from 10AM to 6PM and Saturdays from 10AM to 4PM.

This quote from the invitation for the show sets the tone for what you'll experience -- "A serious problem exists behind the closed doors of the First Judicial District Court," says Engle. "The chief judges and Judiciary Commission should consider the hundreds of mothers, fathers, and children who continue to suffer at the hands of this judge and his cronies."

Engle's exhibit takes care not to name the judge who decided her case. But RRBJ used that sneaky device called the Internet to determine who could rip a child away from a mother with a so many letters of recommendation, including one from a minister. By Googling words taken from the show (Caddo Parish District Judge Filing of a stalking report with Shreveport Police) RRBJ discovered two stories: KPXJ has a story on the judge's personal relationship and even The Inquisitor weighs in.

Picture of the Day

It should be an average summer for rainfall in SB Land. That's according to a June 5th post by Mark Rowlett on the KTBS weather blog. RRBJ would've linked to the weather blog but for some goofy reason you have to go to the KTBS main page and then look for the blog under the WEATHER heading.

Thank you to justtheprettiest for the use of her photo Shreveport before the Storm.

S-P-O-O-K-Y Logan Mansion

What could be more fun than touring a haunted house? In downtown Shreveport near Oakland Cemetery there's the Logan Mansion at 725 Austin Place owned by Vicki and Billy LeBrun and it's open for tours every Friday.

The home has been covered in the local media a couple of times. One feature included a story by Noma Fowler-Sandlin along with a stunning photo spread from the folks at The Forum, the other was a story on KSLA on a paranormal investigation done in the house by the folks at Louisiana Spirits Paranormal Investigations.

RRBJ took the tour in March 2007. Is there a ghost in the house? Let's just say our camera acted weird during the visit and then once we uploaded our photos we started having wicked bad computer problems. Our favorite part of the house? Getting to explore the huge attic is definitely worth the ten dollar admission price.

Shattering the Quiet of Highland...

...with the bright musical sounds of belly dance coins and the beats of hand drums was the result of an the overflow crowd Saturday night at 444 Olive Street for the opening of Lotus Studio. Even a spring shower didn't stop the fun.

Classes start this week. It's just one door down from Lila's Cakes and Chocolate.

RRBJ note: This story was not reported in The Times, however John Andrew Prime produced a nicely written story on the quiet of another Highland boulevard being shattered in a different way. It's like local favorite musician Dan Garner keeps saying "We make art illegal and we'll get all the headlines we want..."

Franken-art

While speeding to Walgreen's on a drug run, RRBJ spotted this street art version of Frankenstein at the corner of Kings Highway and Creswell. The excitement we felt when we realized this little guy means wheat paste art has finally arrived in SB Land made the $80 co-pay for one prescription just a wee bit easier to swallow. Thank you Franken-art artist for bringing joy to our day.

Lots of Pots

Movie Blog Boy has an interesting story on a silent auction of 200 pieces of pottery used in the making of the movie Mr. Brooks.

On a recent stroll around WEACo we were struck by the beauty of the work of two local playin' with clay artists, Terri Smith (above) and Jane Heggen (below). You can acquire the pictured pieces at 725 Milam.