Not Only Rolie Polie Olie

Dumpster Drawing , Baton Rouge LA 5/2006
from the series Baton Rouge Blues
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

My friend William Joyce , creator of Rolie Polie Olie my favorite cartoon character , has taken a proposed New Yorker magazine cover design of a trio of Mardi Gras revelers wandering the streets of their Hurricane Katrina devastated city and turned it into limited edition prints and posters.

William's goal is to generate $500,000. for Louisiana artists and art organizations.

For more information about helping the cause: www.williamjoyce.com , www.nadersgallery.com or call (318) 868-3021.

I DON'T HATE TO SAY,

New Growth , Lakeview , New Orleans 9/2006
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

New Orleans Saints 23 - Atlanta Falcons 3

I told you so.

I DO BELEIVE THEY CAN WIN!

Tiger Stadium on Saturday Night , Baton Rouge 9/9/2006
from the ongoing series Baton Rouge Blues
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner


I never really believed that the New Orleans Saints would play football
again in the Louisiana Superdome, but I was wrong. On Monday Night Football,
the Saints will take on their archrival foes , the Atlanta Falcons , in a match up
of 2-0 teams. It would be nice to think this was just another football game , but it’s not. There will be many thousands of New Orleanians around the country watching this game, and hoping the Saints can win a big one for the city !

And I do believe they can!

What’s Wrong With This Picture? *

LAW Street , Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans 8/2006
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

* The title of an article in the New York Times this morning , by MICHAEL KIMMELMAN , reviews the Katrina images made by Robert Polidori , which are on view at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

It sounds to be a small selection of the body of work , because nothing is mentioned about the image Mr. Poldori made of a dead man, lying in his own bed and in the privacy of his own home , partially covered by a blanket!

I am a fan , or have been , of Mr. Polidori’s work but I think making this image went beyond what is acceptable. I’ll put it this way, if that were my brother, father , grand-father or uncle on that bed and I walked in to find this guy with his eight by ten view camera looming over the body , I think Mr. Polidori would be looking for a good dentist to fit him for dentures right now!

That's what is wrong with this picture!

What exactly is hurricane protection?

The Fleur de Lis , Slidell LA 6/2006
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

What exactly is hurricane protection?

The fourth constitutional amendment on the Sept. 30 ballot will ask you if state and local government should be allowed to take private land for hurricane protection projects and pay the owner fair market value. The ballot language, however, does not contain a definition for "hurricane protection," nor does the enacting legislation. Paul Hurd, a Monroe attorney who has published works on the Louisiana Constitution, says the goal of government is to pay landowners as "little as possible" because the proposed amendment would prohibit future value from being considered. More importantly, he adds, there is no definition, aside from public good, for a hurricane protection project. "This concept can be painted so broadly," he says, "and the transfer of land could go from one entity to another to another." State Sen. Reggie Dupre, a Democrat from Bourg, told the Louisiana League of Women Voters last week the intent of the measure is to keep projects and landowners out of the courtroom and to convert Louisiana's system into what is being used nationwide. But Dupre couldn't shake off the lack of a good definition, although some state and federal agencies do create their own standards. "You bring up a good point that should be addressed in future legislation should the amendment pass," Dupre says. That will likely happen, Hurd says, given the way the state Legislature likes working off the cuff. "Sure, there will be a definition in Louisiana," he says. "It'll be whatever the Legislature says it is after six months into it."

(Jeremy Alford)
The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report 9-21-06

God Bless You and Sufjan too

Band Members 2003 from the series HOOVER HIGH
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

Sufjan Stevens and his band played in New Orleans last night, to a packed House of Blues audience. The evening will be remembered for one of my best Post - Katrina moments in New Orleans!

Sufjan has also done a number benefit concerts for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. God Bless You and Sufjan too!

ABOUT 100 YEARS AGO

"The Levee at Chalmette , New Orleans , LA" circa 1900
the photograph is attributed to William Henry Jackson

"Your letter and cards just received, and I appreciated, both very much. It seems that you are still clinging to the wrong idea about some things , which I will try to expalain later. Yours sincerely, W.R. Wells."

12-20-1906

IS SILENCE GOLDEN?

Big Horn , Jazzfest 2006 , New Orleans
from the series Eight Days in Spring
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

The New York Times, after more than a year of covering the hurricane in almost daily stories and editorials , has fallen conspicuously silent on the subject. It appears that 12 months covers what is news?

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 aka 9/11

Blue Heart , Houma Louisiana 1989 from the book The Reposed
all reproduction rights reserved

For all who died on this infamous day

REST IN PEACE

For all the rest of us

MAY WE NEVER FORGET

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Boats with Oriental Rug, Metairie Louisiana 9/2005
Bayou Boat, River Road, Metairie 10/2005
Boat in Gas Station, New Orleans 10/2005
Carmalita , Lower 9th Ward , New Orleans 8/2006

Boat owner drops lawsuit

Man took it to rescue victims of Katrina

Friday, September 08, 2006

By Leslie Williams

John Lyons Jr. has decided not to pursue his lawsuit against a Broadmoor man who said he rescued more than 200 residents from post-Katrina floodwaters after commandeering Lyons' boat.

On Tuesday, Lyons' attorney, E. Ronald Mills, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit seeking payment for direct and indirect costs "attributable to the actual conversion of the boat and motor," as well as for "grief, mental anguish, embarrassment and suffering of the petitioner due to the removal of the boat and motor."

In a written statement, Lyons referenced the "media frenzy" surrounding the lawsuit against Mark Morice and explained that the turnabout will allow Lyons "to redirect my energy back to rebuilding my home and my neighborhood."

"The big issue here is not the monetary damages that I incurred from the loss of the boat," he wrote. "It is about holding people responsible for their actions.
"Does a natural disaster give an individual the right to break into private property, take possessions of others, not return them and then have no responsibility to the rightful owner? If this becomes a precedent, then we, the citizens, will ultimately pay the price."

Lyons said he too was a victim of Hurricane Katrina and that he evacuated 10 people from a flooded home, including several elderly women and a young child.
"To complete this evacuation, I borrowed a pirogue and personally paddled these people eight blocks through fallen trees to dry ground. After numerous trips back and forth, when everyone was out and safe, I waded back through chest-deep floodwater to return the pirogue to the owner's home."

Morice welcomed Lyons' change of heart.

"I feel relieved," Morice said Thursday. "I'm sorry he lost his boat, but I felt blessed that it was available to me when I needed it."

Morice said he didn't return the boat when he could no longer use it because he turned it over to others "at the water's edge, so they could go save more lives."
Morice, who said he never saw the 18-foot Fiberglas T-hull boat again, said he later told Lyons' wife that he took their boat and explained why. Lyons said Thursday that Morice's encounter with his wife was accidental, and he did not purposefully seek out his wife to explain why he had taken their boat.

"I felt horrible when I was taking the boat," Morice said, "but I realized I had to have it to save lives."
. . . . . . .
The Times Picayune 9/9/2006

photographs by William Greiner
all reproduction Rights reserved

49 is just a number

Gulfshores Alabama sand tracks #2, 7/2006
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

I hated soap operas on TV when I was a kid, I think it was the harsh studio lighting and less than convincing sets that bothered me the most. However, there was one program that started out with some cheesy music and the voiceover “Like sands through the hour glass, So are the days of our lives” . I turned 49 today and those days seem so long ago.

NOT SO SILENT HEROES #1

TV Screen Costas NOW on HBO


Last night , I discovered that Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints #1 draft pick , has
made a series of donations to New Orleans area causes through each of his endorsement sponsors. The great thing is that Bush chose each individual charity or recipient himself. One recipient was my child’s former school, Holy Rosary Academy - a wonderful place and group of educators. Its amazing that a highly paid, young professional athlete would take the time to become so involved. I have chosen him as my first in an on going list of NOT SO SILENT HEROES .

WELCOME HOME

Welcome Home Banner, Metairie LA 1994
from the series Homefront
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

There were nine murders committed in the New Orleans area over the past long weekend! Why does it appear that many of the honest, hard working citizens of New Orleans are still displaced, yet a vicious and violent group seemed to have returned with a vengeance?

Enough already!

FROM THE FRONT PORCH

Collapsed Porch, 9th Ward, New Orleans 8/2006
Vines on Porch Post, 9th ward, New Orleans 8/2006
Wrought Iron Porch Remnants, 9th Ward, New Orleans 8/2006
all reproduction rights reserved William Greiner

Poll indicates people want to move on from Katrina - The blizzard of Hurricane Katrina anniversary coverage was of some interest to Daily Report readers, but many think it's time to move on. According to an on-line survey, 47% of readers say they looked at some of the Katrina coverage, but they were ready to go to another topic. Forty-four percent say "enough already" to the news reports, while nearly 9% say they couldn't get enough of the news. More than 1,250 people responded to the survey.

from The Baton Rouge Daily Business Report 9/1/2006

Yes, I am sure all those folks who lost their homes from the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina would like to just move on? Yes, enough already. Disastor is so much easier to forget especially when viewed from a safe distance?