Off Topic: Flashback

I went to a little PDC party tonight. The party had a great cover band, with lots of rock'n tunes from the south, including someone who played the horn.

You don't see a lot of horn in bands, unless, you're in, say, New Orleans (a.k.a.. Nawlins). I flashed back to a Tech Ed, a few year ago, and sitting in smoky Jazz bars, outside of the French Quarter. I've been to my share of rock concerts, but Nawlins is the first time I'd seen the soul of music laid bare. I sat mesmerized, listening to trumpet, trombone, and watching the sousaphone player just drop the mic down the throat of his instrument.

That's what I'm talking about.

You can say it was idiotic to build Nawlins below sea level, but we all knew "The Big One" was coming for a good 30+ years. Holland is also below sea level. They seen to know the stakes, and they actually fund their levies.

There's a lot of talk about rebuilding New Orleans, and fixing it's problems, breaking the "cycle of poverty". Admirable, I must say. But if the Jazz bars go away, or it becomes a faux Disney Land Nawlins, then you F'd up the city. Maybe Nawlins should have paid for it's own damn levies. Nifty. Seattle should be building lava levies right now, cause Rainier is gonna blow. It's just a matter of when, and note to Seattle: y'alll is on your own when the big one hits. FEMA, based on the latest intelligence, will argue that there is no Seattle. I just hope SafeCo field is fire-proof. I just hope you like camping in the Astro Dome. Bring a big hat.

There's nothing that can overshadow the human tragedy. Even the death of a supreme court justice ended up below the fold. But this is also a cultural tragedy. The contributions of Nawlins to music can't be overstated.

If you question building below sea level, then you had also better question the Freedom Tower in Manhattan. Rebuilding on the grave of 9/11 is a security and engineering challenge. The engineering one, we can nail. The security one, well, we'll do our best from keeping the bastards from knocking it down, but there are no guarantees.

With Nawlins, it's only an engineering challenge. We know how to keep the city safe from even a Cat 5 hurricane, it's just a question of national will.

If you turn your back on Nawlins, IMHO, you suck. A strong statement, I know, but someday you might be the victim of the cascadian subduction zone, San Andreas, a "finger of God" tornado, or a 1 in 10000 hurricane the size of, say, Africa.

When I've lost everything, and I need somewhere to go, I sure hope I end up someplace where they can nail The Blues.

Listening to: The day the music died