Honestly, it’s a miracle there aren’t more black eyes around this place, when you look at what the live oak roots do to sidewalks.
Cemeteries are closed for Mardi Gras weekend. Not sure why, but I bet influencers and other idiots are a big reason. Still, they’re beautiful even through the gates:
Little design details tell you where you are:
Now this is a church fundraiser:
Yesterday was kind of a mess. Strong thunderstorms were forecast, and the parades were first shortened, stripped of bands and double-decker floats. Then the bands and the floats were restored, but the routes kept short. There was no way we’d get a decent spot to watch Zulu, so we watched it on the hotel TV. Afterward, through a series of miscalculations, we ended up outside the Zulu HQ post-parade, where lots of participants were still wearing their blackface and looked like they hadn’t slept, or had a non-alcoholic drink, in 12-14 hours. We ended up wandering down Broad Street to a place called Crescent City Steaks. A conversation in the waiting area with a local indicated we found a non-touristy spot, although everyone was wearing sequins, silly hats, tulle or some other costume-y outfit. The food was 1960s-era steakhouse right down to the creamed spinach.
And now it’s Ash Wednesday, and we leave later today. We’ll be making a third try to visit NOMA and deal with whatever else the universe throws our way.
The shiner is very vivid. It looks mostly magenta today — Mardi Gras colors! It’s been a good trip.
Jeff Gill said on March 5, 2025 at 1:42 pm
Thank you for the pics along the way; sorry about your fall, but it’s been a good trip to take with you.
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Jakash said on March 5, 2025 at 3:48 pm
With regard to Lent, I always thought the Gospel for the Ash Wednesday service was an odd choice. On the one day that Catholics are to go to church and have ashes placed on their forehead to remain there for all to see the rest of the day, the reading says “when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” “when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting.”
Even though he’s not a Papist, I imagine that the formerly mild-mannered Jeff has a fine explanation for this! š
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Icarus said on March 5, 2025 at 5:48 pm
Jakash, @ 2: I was taught that you are allowed to wipe off the ashes whenever you want. Some of my Catholic friends were taught that you leave them on until they flake off on their own or the day ends.
If Catholics cannot agree on something as mundane as Ashes, think about how many other things we (and religion) get wrong.
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Deborah said on March 5, 2025 at 6:18 pm
I didnāt watch but read about the speech in the NYT. So sad and heartbreaking. I read today that the messages on paddles done by the Democrats was used by the opposition to Hitler, I thought that was cool that the Dems did that but not until I read about where they got the idea from.
Itās all so no longer normal, itās crazy.
Glad to be back from my 120 mile round trip visit to Costco in Albuquerque for my hearing aids fitting and programming onto my iPhone downloaded app. Itās taking some getting used to but itās already feeling better. The things are tiny and honestly a bit hard to maneuver because of that. The main thing is hearing my voice differently, because my hearing loss was mostly in the higher frequencies so I got used to perceiving my voice as lower in pitch. I had a similar experience when I had cataract surgery, leaving the hospital and seeing fresh fallen snow and being so dazzled how white it was after having dimmed lenses for a few years, I had no idea how my color perception had deteriorated.
Also saw lots of ashed foreheads in Costco, Iām always taken aback when I see the first one, then I remember what day it is.
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Julie Robinson said on March 5, 2025 at 7:49 pm
Ashes always make me break out, so if possible I wash them off right after the service.
Deborah, glad you got your hearing aids. Those are probably in my future, since I notice how many people are mumbling, lol.
Also in my future: another visit to a retina specialist, since the new eye doc is concerned my macular hole may have increased. I remember when Nancy had that surgery and had to lay face down for a couple of days. Hoping it’s not time yet.
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tajalli said on March 5, 2025 at 8:09 pm
Lent means reading the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation every morning (editor W.Y. Evans Wentz). It’s about knowing the mind and seeing reality.
On the topic of what to do with this up-tick in chaos and it’s agitating effects on so many, saw this zoom video today.
https://thework.com/view-video/1226-at-home-live-with-bk-wednesday-march-5-2025/
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Sherri said on March 5, 2025 at 10:32 pm
Elon God-Emporer of America thinks the problem with western civilization is too much empathy, that DEI pushed out old white guys at the FAA, that AI will be able to do all the functions of government within a decade*, and he wants to set up a hotline so that members of Congress can call and beg** for cuts to be overturned.
*Musk has been egregiously wrong about every single prediction heās made about technology.
*my word, not his.
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Sherri said on March 5, 2025 at 11:21 pm
Wait, did anyone tell JD about transubstantiation when he converted to Catholicism?
Iāve also been reading that the theobro Christian Nationalists think empathy is a sin.
Sometimes, I try to imagine going back in time and telling the conservative white evangelical Southern Baptists in that small country church I grew up in what people like them would be saying in 50 years.
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Deborah said on March 6, 2025 at 4:23 am
Hereās a first that Iāve heard of, the power company in our area of NM is possibly going to shut off power tomorrow because of the weather. Strong winds with possible 70 mph gusts with humidity below 15% could trigger fires and downed power lines could cause or exacerbate those fires. In the 12 and a half years since weāve had a presence here that hasnāt happened before.
I read that the city of LA is suing their power company for not doing a shutoff and that triggered one of the horrific fires in the city. So I guess itās a thing now and maybe has been before.
But climate change is a hoax donāt you know .
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Deborah said on March 6, 2025 at 8:59 am
Gift article from the Atlantic about Ketamine and Musk https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/ketamine-effects-elon-musk/681911/?gift=e2EpXMuPtOgT-df8U_sJIBvEZEQ3ZkGBM00PASJWxUQ&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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susan said on March 6, 2025 at 10:41 am
French Senator Malhuret on Trump and European Security
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Jeff Gill said on March 6, 2025 at 10:54 am
Tajalli, have you ever read Peter Matthiessen’s “The Snow Leopard”? I just recently read it a second time. Quite a tale, a journey inside and definitely out, with lots of Tibetan Buddhism included from a Zen context.
Jakash, I’m not sure why or what the Gospel reading for the Catholic Church was yesterday; I’m used to using Luke 4, the temptation in the wilderness by Satan for 40 days of Jesus, plus Psalm 51. That does seem like the wrong passage for Ash Wednesday for the reasons you describe. These days, I’m filling in for a tiny Presbyterian congregation most weeks; I did their Christmas Eve and yesterday’s Ash Wednesday. We’re still getting used to each other’s ways. It’s a church that probably should close, but isn’t ready to. I’m doing hospice of a sort for them.
If I’m lucky, in the next few days I’ll end up in a conversation with a Trump fan whom I can ask: “cutting the VA by 70,000 jobs — was THAT what you voted for?”
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Jeff Borden said on March 6, 2025 at 11:45 am
The cruelty is always the point with MAGAts. tRump is reversing the legal status of more than 200,000 Ukrainians in the U.S. This after halting arms shipments and intelligence services for Ukraine. He’s doing everything in his power to help Putin. Tough guy? Please. He’s Putin’s little toy poodle.
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tajalli said on March 6, 2025 at 12:41 pm
Jeff Gill @12: No, I’ve never read Matthieson’s travelogues. It would be like reading an author telling about someone else’s experience of smelling a meal cooking, a rumor about a rumor, rather than chewing, swallowing, and digesting the meal for myself.
The book I referenced is a root text that Tibetan lamas got permission from their guru to translate into English. The editor (Evans-Wentz) was a disciple of theirs in Tibet who trained with the lamas and was able to refine the exact wording to accurately convey the instructions for the practice itself.
Padmasambhava wrote the original text to describe his own yogic experiences. The text/book by Padmasambhava is an instruction manual which is part and parcel of the exact method of practice.
The person who turned me on to the Great Liberation (Joe Miller) was a great good friend of Evans-Wentz. Joe would read the Great Liberation aloud every weekday morning during Lent. A whole bunch of us would pile into the Buddha Room in the SF Lodge of the Theosophical Society to listen and absorb the teaching.
Joe used to say that if he could do it for us, he’d carry us all on his shoulders, but that we each had to do it for ourselves. So, we hung out and practiced together and individually. So, it’s Lent and the time for extra intense practice, a renewal. Great Fun.
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Brandon said on March 6, 2025 at 1:23 pm
More on the oak trees of New Orleans.
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Icarus said on March 6, 2025 at 2:58 pm
They are eating their own
https://www.newsweek.com/amy-coney-barrett-maga-fury-trump-supreme-court-ruling-2040203
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Jeff Gill said on March 6, 2025 at 2:59 pm
Leopards, eating faces: chapter XXVII… (gift link)
https://wapo.st/4ir5xv5
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Dexter Friend said on March 6, 2025 at 3:18 pm
Either from “Treme” on HBO or from the many documentaries I have seen on YouTube, I knew about cemetery closures in New Orleans as you reported. Earlier you mentioned Antoine’s. Dad was stationed at Ellyson Field in Pensacola in the 40s and he and some fellow sailors went to New Orleans, and ate at Antoine’s. He kept a menu which he showed me . It seemed crab meat cocktails and shrimp cocktails were like 65 cents and the entrĆ©e was like $2.85. Dad barely ever drank so no mention of any fancy drinks.
I love watching the lead-in to “Down By Law”, to Tom Waits singing to footage in black and white of a cruise in a car in what may be the 9th Ward…anyway, shotgun houses rule. Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, 1986…Jim Jarmusch.
Are Hubig’s back everywhere? They burned down like 20 years ago and took forever to rebuild. ” Hubig’s Pies, also sometimes called Hubig’s New Orleans Style Pies, are a brand of fruit and sweet-filled fried pies that are produced by the Simon Hubig Pie Company in New Orleans, Louisiana.” (Google search)
One local boy made it big in NOLA years ago. Terry Habig, from Auburn, Indiana, starred at Tulane in basketball, leading the nation in free throw percentage, then became an ortho, achieved top honors as the best ortho in Louisiana , then for years was the New Orleans Saints’ team physician in his field of expertise. His home was featured in those home magazines. He’s 77 now…wonder if he’s still alive….
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Julie Robinson said on March 6, 2025 at 4:38 pm
Live oaks are everywhere around here, even on our property, though ours isn’t 350-400 years old, as one local specimen is. Their massive spread, knobbly roots above the ground, and Spanish Moss draping the limbs, gives them a mystical quality.
Added benefit: they don’t come down during hurricanes. Orlando recognizes their importance and doesn’t allow removal of those deemed as heritage trees, 30 inches or more in diameter.
Fast growing trees are likely to have shallow roots and even hollow trunks. The wind blows, and they land on your roof or power line. We’ve removed several on the advice of an arborist.
I have learned so much about trees since moving here.
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Jakash said on March 6, 2025 at 5:07 pm
Thanks to those who replied about Ash Wednesday.
Just did a little googling and my saying “have ashes placed on their forehead to remain there for all to see the rest of the day” was evidently my own false impression.
It seems there really isn’t any rule about it, or anything, that you can leave them on, or not. The gist was that if you’re washing them OFF because you don’t want anybody to see them on you, marking you as a Christian — that’s not good, but if you’re leaving them ON specifically to show off how holy you are — that’s not good, either.
Anyway, I think you’re in the clear, Julie! š
Now, to the leopards eating the face of the paper-straw guy. The chief leopard, a very stable genius, said about the paper ones: “If somethingās hot they donāt last very long ā like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. Itās a ridiculous situation, so weāre going back to plastic straws.” I’m not an expert, like he is, but it seems pretty simple to realize that putting a plastic straw into a hot beverage and leaving it there even for “a matter of minutes” is not really a great idea. Whether they hold up, or not, you’re certainly increasing the amount of plastic in your diet, for which I’m pretty sure the RDA is zero.
We saw some big, old, famous live oak in Orlando. Googling photos, I’d guess it was “The Mayor,” but it could have been “Big Tree.” If our photos were more accessible, or if I could remember a single blasted thing, I would know… Grrr…
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Suzanne said on March 6, 2025 at 5:16 pm
I read āThe Snow Leopardā several years ago. A profoundly moving book that I highly recommend.
I listened to this podcast today. Are we in German 1930s territory? Maybe not exactly but pretty closeā¦
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-nation-indivisible-with-andrew-seidel/id1791471198?i=1000695854217
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Sherri said on March 6, 2025 at 5:43 pm
How the new, unconstitutional budget process works: https://wapo.st/43shE6S
Elon runs rampant cutting things, discussing things with no one. He then meets with Republican members of Congress, tells them heāll set up a hot line so they can get things restored they need, and that he knows they have to vote on things āto make them permanent.ā Only the members of Congress donāt really want to vote on these things, because everyone is in favor of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, but no one is in favor of cutting the government funds they depend on. Theyāre so not in favor of it that Republicans have been advised to stop having town halls.
Our founding fathers, fresh off a war with a superpower, couldnāt imagine the flaw in their system would be that the leaders would be so cowardly.
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Julie Robinson said on March 6, 2025 at 5:56 pm
The Mayor is in Loch Haven Park, and Big Tree is in…wait for it, Big Tree Park. My favorite is in Leu Gardens just because I like going there so much, but if it has a name I’m unaware.
We celebrated both Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday last night with a pancake supper, making Mardi Gras masks and coloring Alleluias to be buried until Easter morning. After that we became penitential and imposed ashes. Since we have young families it’s challenging to reach all the levels.
One of those young families is moving back to Denver after work from home was reversed and he couldn’t find a comparable position here. And our neighbors around the corner are moving to Spain, partly due to politics and partly for health insurance. They are from Germany, and he’s never worked here, so didn’t earn Medicare. They were shocked to learn what it would cost to cover him now that she’s retiring and can’t include him on her coverage. They don’t understand the concept of a country where healthcare is so expensive.
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Sherri said on March 6, 2025 at 6:16 pm
10 Dems voted to censure Rep Al Green. Hakeem Jeffries called other Dems who walked out on the carpet for not cooperating with his planned decorous āprotestā.
Hakeem Jeffries: https://tenor.com/8Rbd.gif
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Julie Robinson said on March 6, 2025 at 6:38 pm
One of those walking was our Congressman, Maxwell Frost, whose shirt read No Kings Live Here. Apparently the TV cameras didn’t show this.
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Dave said on March 6, 2025 at 6:57 pm
I have to ask because I really can’t think of any but what hot liquid does anyone drink with a straw. When I think of straws, I think of sodas or milkshakes or iced tea. What am I missing?
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Sherri said on March 6, 2025 at 8:57 pm
I donāt understand why this is so hard for Dems. ELON IS STEALING YOUR MONEY! Thatās the simple message you pound over and over again. Yes, the Republicans will not like it. They might even get mad at you, even though they know itās true. So what? What do you have to lose? Staying friends with Republicans who are afraid to stand up to Trump wonāt help you.
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Deborah said on March 6, 2025 at 9:02 pm
I too read the Snow Leopard many years ago, I hardly remember anything about it sorry to say. Maybe one I should reread for my reading project.
I started my 7th book during the Trump regime, started only yesterday which is quite late in the 7th week for me. I decided to choose a Donna Leon mystery set in Venice, those are favorites, this one written during or shortly after the pandemic. Since I have some airport and airplane time on Saturday I should be done with the 7th in time to start the next book for the 8th week on Monday.
Tomorrow is supposed to be another protest, this one supporting science but some have said itās about national parks and public lands. The signs we made are about climate change and brainworm Bobby, so weāre supporting science this time.
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Sherri said on March 6, 2025 at 10:54 pm
When 2028 rolls around, if thereās a legitimate presidential election, as far as Iām concerned, Gavin Newsom has disqualified himself from consideration. Anybody who would throw trans kids under the bus can not be counted on to stand up for anybody else.
To be fair, we already knew that Newsom couldnāt be counted on.
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Suzanne said on March 7, 2025 at 10:32 am
My question is: where are all the student protesters that were camping out, raising havoc about the Gaza/Israel conflict? Why arenāt they protesting their own futures being stolen from them by the oligarchs?
And this. https://jesspiper.substack.com/p/i-know-exactly-what-they-are-doing?al_applink_data=%7B%22qpl_join_id%22%3A%22C74C8BC2-2B83-4557-82BB-DB0FD232EB9C%22%7D
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Dorothy said on March 7, 2025 at 10:43 am
Dave Iād be afraid of burning the roof of my mouth sipping anything through a straw! I drink tea, and a treat is hot chai tea. Maybe that could be sipped?
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Dexter Friend said on March 7, 2025 at 10:59 am
Mika Brzenski always has a cuppa with tea bag dangling off the cup, and she drinks it through a straw. She’s in Dubai at the women’s international gathering, symposium, or whatever it goes by. Women from dozens of nations are there.
She has been there 5 times.
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Julie Robinson said on March 7, 2025 at 11:37 am
Suzanne, at many colleges protests have been prohibited. Participating will get you kicked out of school. Even at formerly liberal universities.
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Carter Cleland said on March 7, 2025 at 12:38 pm
This is pissing me off.
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/03/06/biss-stays-committed-to-dei-after-northwestern-takes-down-web-pages/
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Sherri said on March 7, 2025 at 1:59 pm
Additionally, some of the protestors from last spring are already suspended. And foreign students who get kicked out of college can be deported, since theyāre here on student visas.
You know, like Elon was when he was working on his first startup instead of going to grad school, even though he hadnāt actually graduated from Penn. itās called overstaying a visa, and itās the most common type of āillegalā immigration.
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Mark P said on March 7, 2025 at 2:05 pm
Trump is pulling security clearances from law firms that have crossed him.
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Sherri said on March 7, 2025 at 3:08 pm
The Trump administration is also closing Small Business Administration regional offices in āsanctuary citiesā, like Seattle, and requiring citizenship verification on loans. Guess green card holders are out of luck.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/sba-to-leave-seattle-because-its-a-sanctuary-city/
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Sherri said on March 7, 2025 at 4:42 pm
Since the numbers from the federal government wonāt show thisā¦
https://newrepublic.com/post/192409/layoffs-trump-musk
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Mark P said on March 7, 2025 at 4:50 pm
The SBA is also moving out of Atlanta. Atlanta has never identified itself as a sanctuary city, just a Democratic city.
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alex said on March 7, 2025 at 5:15 pm
Sad news about Gene Hackman. It’s being reported that his wife died a week before he did; she of hantavirus, he of heart disease, and he was also apparently suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s.
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Sherri said on March 7, 2025 at 6:15 pm
How long before Trump just dissolves Congress?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/exclusive-trump-makes-aggressive-new-claim-of-executive-power-to-circumvent-the-senate
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Sherri said on March 7, 2025 at 6:39 pm
Who needs a safe food supply? Way too expensive!!
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/usda-eliminates-two-food-safety-advisory-committees-members-say-2025-03-07/
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Deborah said on March 7, 2025 at 6:53 pm
The protest in support of science at the Capitol was pretty good. Only about 200 or so people, but it was chilly and possible rain so that may have been why. They had some good speakers that you could actually hear.
The protest about public lands also at the capitol had only about 30 people and when they were done most joined our protest.
Our brainworm Bobby sign and the can of giveaway worms we made were a hit. Itās been fun making the signs etc but Iām dead tired, having a fire in the fireplace, the last one of the season for me. My ride to the airport picks me up at 7, so itāll be another early night, but thatās normal nowadays.
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Sherri said on March 8, 2025 at 2:51 pm
The Seattle Timesā very centrist columnist is struggling to find empathy for the very Trumpy, very government dependent Washington 4th Congressional district, which is feeling the effects of Muskās chainsaw.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/the-empathy-struggle-when-cuts-hit-was-trump-country/
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susan said on March 8, 2025 at 5:00 pm
Paywalled…
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Sherri said on March 8, 2025 at 6:41 pm
Hmm..I am a subscriber but I didnāt hit a paywall when I visited the link not logged in. Unfortunately thereās no gift link option.
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Sherri said on March 8, 2025 at 8:25 pm
French fries in beef tallow, thatās what will make us healthy again.
So says Bobby Brain Worm.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/27/rfk-jr-french-fries-00002716
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David C said on March 9, 2025 at 7:05 am
I expected the Orange Shitgibbon to get up off the shitter and release an EO at 11:59 saying we weren’t going to change the clocks and throw time into chaos. So we survived another time change. Just a day or two of complaining on social media to get through and it’ll all be done.
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Mark P said on March 9, 2025 at 10:30 am
Among all the other firings, Trump is firing lots of National Park Service employees. The parks have been stressed for quite a while because of large numbers of visitors. Now it will be even worse. Expect some parks to simply close.
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David C said on March 9, 2025 at 12:38 pm
The parks will probably be sold for cents on the dollar after that.
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