STREETCAR

HE WROTE THE SONG

Sixty years after he wrote it, Eddie DeLange�s song would grow in importance from a mere tune in every saloon singer�s repertoire to an anthem for a region. Where once the song might cause agreeable nods from listeners, six decades later it would draw tears....

STREETCAR: Limericks for our Times

Local life lately has not always had rhyme or reason. Since reason remains elusive, here at least is a feeble attempt to find rhyme.

• Bill Jefferson was quite a teaser.

His invitation was really a pleaser:

“Come over for dinner

And you’ll see I am no sinner

...

STREETCAR: BETWEEN PIETY AND DESIRE

Piety and Desire run parallel but do not intersect. That is true in life and it is true in the Ninth Ward where the two streets stretch from the river, cross St. Claude Avenue and then head to the now ruined neighborhoods on the other side. To have piety is to reject desire, at least of material...

STREETCAR: Nagin’s Second Term, the first few days

On the day after his reelection, Mayor Ray Nagin spoke to a group at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in the Treme neighborhood. According to a report in The Times-Picayune, Nagin said, “he hoped businesses would join him in creating a ‘new paradigm’ and would stay, ‘but if...

STREETCAR: Canal at Carrollton

Li’l Ray’s had become the center of the universe. Located on South Carrollton Avenue, just past the point where the City Park-bound bright red streetcars made the turn off Canal Street, the diner pulsated with the liveliness of the neighborhood and was even open 24 hours.

A year ago...

STREETCAR: Midnight for St. Augustine

Even on Good Friday, St. Augustine Church rocked. On what is the most solemn day of the Christian year, the interior of the old church maintained the atmosphere appropriate...

Streetcar

WEST END

Pelicans never blink. At least they never seemed to as they sat perched on a post protruding from the water outside of Bruning’s Restaurant at West...

Independence Eve

Bay St. Louis was dressed in its summer finery on the evening of July 3, 2005. Over in the yard at Our Lady of the Gulf Church, a blue-jeans-and-shorts crowd did its part to devour the crustaceans served at the annual Crab Festival. A country-pop band added rhythm to the evening. Seeing people you...

Understanding Brocato's

by ERROL LABORDE

My dad was a hard-working man.” Those words still resonate whenever I think about Angelo Brocato’s ice cream parlor. Speaking was...

Marilyn Monroe and Me

by ERROL LABORDE

Marilyn Monroe was making advances toward me, and I was uneasy. I hate it when that happens.

Las Vegas is all about fantasy. It’s a surreal...