Mirliton Festival

One of my favorite events of the year is getting under way right now: the Mirliton Festival. This the 21st year of the Bywater Neighborhood Association’s party. The vegetable at its center is the mirliton, also known as chayote. It is a pear shaped member of the gourd family. I have always thought it resembled an old man. In fact, last year at the festival, I made and sold a Mirliton Chow Chow that featured a little anthropomorphized mirliton.

Beyond food, there are all sorts of arts and crafts for sale, kids activities, and of course, music. Here’s the line-up:

6:00 – Kermit Ruffins & the BBQ Swingers
5:00 – Happy Talk Band
4:00 – R. Scully Rough 7
3:00 – Hurray for the Riff Raff
2:00 – Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue
1:00 – The 101 Runners
Noon – New Orleans Jazz Vipers
11:00 – The Mirlitones

Admission is $5, for Bywater Neighborhood Association Members it is $3, and children under 5 are free. Markey Park.

Frankenbikes and Bowie

It’s getting on to Halloween, folks. My husband and my “Sammy Hagar the Horrible” and wife costumes are coming along nicely. I wish we had them ready today for the first annual FrankenBike pub ride and costume party–that’s right, a good old-fashioned drunken, costumed bike ride. Everyone meets at 4pm at the R Bar, and the ride commences at 5pm, with stops at some of my favorite bars: Mimi’s, Vaughan’s, Markey’s, Lost Love Lounge, and back to R Bar again for judging, awards and, presumably, more drinking.

If you want to streamline your fun, dress up in something Bowie-esque, so after the bike ride you’re ready to go to the David Bowie tribute at One-Eyed Jacks.

Here are the details for that:

“Cliff Hines, local jazz guitarist and composer, has gathered an all-star cast of local progressive jazz and indie rock musicians for a one-of-a-kind event. Together with Amanda Wuerstlin (Big History), Andrew Hartsock and Michael Girardot (Big Rock Candy Mountain), James Westfall and Rex Gregory (Bionica), George Elizondo and Jonathan Arceneaux (Glasgow!), Helen Gillet (Happy Talk Band), Anthony Cuccia (The Other Planets), and Micah McKee (Silent Cinema) in addition to Sasha Masakowski, Andrew McGowan, Paul Thibodeaux, and Jasen Weaver (The Cliff Hines Quintet) Cliff will be playing two sets consisting solely of the music of DAVID BOWIE! They will be performing music from nearly every era of his career, not just his hits but also his more adventurous music as well. In keeping with the New Orleans Halloween spirit, the concert is also a costume party. Share your love of Bowie by sporting your favorite Bowie look (there are quite plenty to choose from).”

Doors at 9pm.

Theater in a Van

Some young theater makers in NYC came up with a clever DIY project called Theater in a Van. Living in a city where space is at a premium you gotta do what you gotta do to do what you love to do. And, sometimes, necessity breeds invention that breeds innovation. Personally, I’m excited to see what their experiment has yielded.

After some success in New York, and some help from backers on Kickstarter.com they’ve taken to the road to bring their shows to the rest of the country. Tonight they are in New Orleans. I’ll repost the relevant details from the post on Blog of New Orleans.

Interested passersby can pay $5 to see one of three original plays. The back of the van serves as a stage, and the bus can seat between 10 and 12 audience members per performance. Each show runs between 15 and 20 minutes.

In the timely musical The Big Spill, two musicians come up with a crackpot idea to save the Gulf. Musical accompaniment is provided by a guitar, tambourine, toy piano and melodophone. In a Choose Your Own Adventure twist, the audience gets to decide how the play ends.

Lint, which Pease describes as the most standard play in the lineup, is an “adult fairytale” about a dust bunny tired of the constant upheaval in the air duct where she lives. Coming of age, she ventures into the world outside the ventilation system she knows.

The dark comedy A Funeral Song for Duchess D follows two young concertgoers who confront sinister, abstinence-promoting sex symbols of the Disney star variety. Puppets also comprise part of its cast.

Though they haven’t nailed down exactly where they’ll park, Theatre in a Van targets high foot traffic areas. Pease is hoping to find the French Quarter parking.

The troupe’s long-term goal is to modify the bus’s engine to run on vegetable oil. For now, it’s outfitted with a solar panel which helps keep the battery charged and powers the cast’s cooking equipment. (Yes, they’re also living in the van.)

America, eff yeah!

It’s the fourth of July, and if you’re a red-blooded American you will spend the day grilling things and drinking beer. When that’s over, you’ll make your way over to Woldenberg Park and watch the Go Fourth on the River fireworks display. I just learned that our display is ranked in the top 5 pyrotechnic displays in the country, by whom I’m not sure, but who cares–AMERICA!

May I make a humble suggestion? How about we create a New Orleans tradition where on the 4th of July we create effigies of BP CEO Tony Hayward and burn them? Like Guy Fawkes Night. Just a thought.

Louisiana Bicycle Festival

For ten years now a very informal festival has been happening up there in Abita Springs: the Louisiana Bicycle Festival.

It is part swap meet and part competition, here are the categories: Original Pre 1940, Original 1940 – 1960, Original Post 1960, Restored Pre 1940, Restored 1940 – 1960, Restored Post 1960, Custom, Decorated, Novelty, Art from Bikes or Bike Parts, and Best in Show. And, they say, because this is Louisiana, judges can be bribed, oh, and they also create and eliminate categories on a whim.

There is also a ride/parade through the historic part of town at 12:30. Somehow I get the sense this won’t be a Critical Mass type of bike ride. Just saying.

And, this year they have a DJ. And, If you get hungry and thirsty I would recommend heading over to the Abita Brew Pub. Abita Satsuma Harvest Wit is in season!

Apparently this was all started by the guy who started the Abita Mystery House. And, if you’re up there anyway, you should go there, too. Open everyday 10-5 for $3!

This Just In–Naked Bike Ride

Going on right now (noon) people are congregating in Washington Square Park to strip off their clothes and ride their bikes naked to protest non-renewable energy and consumerism. Is this even legal? Well, there certainly has never been a more relevant time in New Orleans to protest non-renewable energy. What are you waiting for? It’s not like you have to get dressed.

World Naked Bike Ride

Back to the Beach

Every year on the weekend after Memorial Day the Lake Pontchatrain Basin Foundation presents Back to the Beach.

It takes place at Laketown in Kenner. As per most festivals, there will be food, bands, and stuff for the kids to do. It is also comprised of some other scheduled events. It starts on Friday evening (tonight) with a run/walk. Then Saturday afternoon there is the Bikes at the Beach motorcycle show, and all day Sunday is the Car Show. Now, this is the mission of Foundation:

As the public’s independent voice, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is dedicated to restoring and preserving the water quality, coast, and habitats of the entire Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Through coordination of restoration activities, education, advocacy, monitoring of the regulatory process, and citizen action, LPBF works in partnership with all segments of the community to reclaim the Basin for this and future generations.

I’m not sure if that is slightly at odds with the car and bike show, especially given the oil spill, but they are certainly a great organization, doing a lot to help restore the lake. Of course, because of the oil spill, their work has been impacted. Here’s what they have to say about that:

The Deepwater Horizon spill has impacted the Lake Pontchartrain Basin at the Chandeleur Islands and the Mississippi River Delta. It will continue to accrue further impacts of unknown extent. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) is entrusted by the public to protect and restore the habitats and water of the Pontchartrain Basin. We have performed this service for over 20 years by consistently applying basic science to monitor the health of the watershed. The introduction of spilled oil and the spill response now requires that LPBF monitor a new threat. We have developed a long-term monitoring program that will track impacts to the environment and inform restoration activities. This program includes sampling and analysis of water, sediment, and biological indicators (includes fish and shell fish).

Friday: 6pm-11pm, Saturday: 3pm-11pm, Sunday: 10am-9pm. $10. $8/students. $4/kids.

ReLeaf New Orleans

Parkway Partners is a non-profit organization that is devoted to improving green space in the city of New Orleans. Since Katrina they have launched an urgent reforestation program called ReLeaf New Orleans. Today from 4-7 they are having Tree Troopers Trainings, which teaches the basics as to selecting the right tree for a specific location and tree care. At the Parkway Partners Greenhouse.

In addition to the ReLeaf Initiative they have other cool programs like Adopt a Neutral Ground, Community and School Garden programs, Save Our Trees–which teaches citizens to treat trees for caterpillars, termites and fertilization–and more.

Bird Fests!

This weekend Southern Louisiana boasts not one, but two birding festivals! … Anybody?

The Great Louisiana Birdfest takes place at the North Lake Nature Center in Mandeville, on the Northshore. There are scheduled walks all weekend (including one on Sunday evening from 4:30-8 that includes wine and cheese for $35), but there are also five miles of trails that go through their 400 acres marked for self-guided tours. Here’s a little blurb from their website that got me excited.

No other coast in the entire world is as busy with birds as the coast of Louisiana. Each year, nearly the entire eastern population and several species of the western population of migratory neo-tropical songbirds and waterfowl migrate through Louisiana’s coast in what is one of the world’s greatest spectacles. On some days in April, more than a million birds will reach Louisiana’s coast. Spring migrants arrive on Louisiana’s coast after a long gulf crossing and rely on the coastal wetlands to restore depleted energy reserves and to provide food and cover.

Also this weekend is the Grand Isle Migratory Bird Festival. There are all kinds of tours and events scheduled for the weekend. Walking tours are five dollars and don’t require registration. And there are also free (!) boat tours, but they require preregistration. This is how you get to Grand Isle from New Orleans. And since it is a little drive, if you decide to stay the night, I’ve stayed at this very unassuming and inexpensive motel, right on the beach. And don’t forget to visit the butterfly dome!

Earth Day Observed

Earth Day is this Sunday, but, because there are so many things going on this weekend, I’ve decided to devote today to Earth Day. Let’s call it Earth Day Observed. I started thinking about matters environmental as I was checking my email this morning. I pay a small fee to recycle plastic, aluminum, and paper (no glass).

The company who comes and picks up the stuff is called Phoenix Recycling, and they send me email reminders to put out my recycling the night before. (My husband thinks it’s ridiculous that we pay for it, but we  still do, which reminds me of this article in the New York Times a few months ago. Another free option for recycling is the monthly drop-off at Allied Recycling.) In the email I got from Phoenix today, they pointed out all sorts of environmentally-conscious businesses and happenings around town in their “community notes.” So, I’m going to repost them here.

April 17th – Elysian Fleas – Great news, vintage mavens and NOLA arts appreciators! The Marigny’s very own flea market and arts bazaar is now open EVERY WEEK. Sponsored by Old New Orleans Rum and presented by Artist Inc., Elysian Fleas will be held in the shady, tree-lined courtyard next to Michalopoulas Studio at 527 Elysian Fields on the corner of Chartres St. The outdoor market offers a spicy New Orleans mix of vintage, junque & antiques; upcycled designer fashions, fine jewelry and crafts from premier NOLA artisans; a delicious menu of food & drink from top NOLA chefs; and outrageous live entertainment.

April 17th – Broad Flea is New Orleans’ premier cheap-chic flea market. It’s also the place where all of Broad Street communities come together to shop, dance to music, and taste the eats of some of the best local food outlets. Here’s the lowdown: Where: 300 N Broad Street (at Bienville Street) at the former Robert’s parking lot When: 11AM to 4PM on the second Saturday of every month – (3rd this month, due to schedule conflicts)

What is the Re-Use District?? The ReUse District aims to increase the appreciation and accessibility of reused materials in the 7th Ward, Bywater, Marigny, St. Claude and St. Roch neighborhoods. http://thereusedistrict.org

Paper-NOLA creates custom, eco-friendly gifts and special event invitations using handmade recycled paper made locally by artist Karen Kempf.  Paper-NOLA custom works include wedding invitation, special occasion announcements, stationary, business cards, greeting cards and more.

www.Paper-NOLA.com

Shop at Swap – Clothing REDISCOVERED – Rethink your shopping habits – or at least stop in and have a look around.

7716 Maple St
www.SwapBoutique.com

Blue Cypress Bookstore – Why buy new books? There are a number of used bookstores in town, but one we like a lot is Blue Cypress Bookstore. Check them out the next time you want to look for a deal, an unusual book or a break from a big-box bookstore. Re-use is always better than recycle.

Blue Cypress Bookstore
8126 Oak St

Also! I know we were there yesterday, but Prytania Theatre is hosting the “Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Fest,” put on by LEAN, tonight at 7:30.