Ray Reggie Gives Props to Brad Pitt Again…

We have talked before about the way Brad Pitt has jumped in and helped with rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina but this is worth another mention.  This house he has had built now is very cool.  Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation showed off the first “permitted” floating house in the United States on Tuesday.  Known as the  FLOAT House , the structure is built to float as much as 12 feet.  It has two masts embedded into the foundation and so the chaise is able to float or rise up and down on those two masts in the event of a flood.  The idea is not to make people stay in the threat of another hurricane but to protect their home and belongings so they have something to come back to when it is over.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Recommends Really Interesting Article…

This article, New Orleans And Katrina Past Prediction, Future Dystopia by Garry Potter is a really interesting article about Katrina.  It is about the author watching a National Geographic show on television that he thought originally was about Hurricane Katrina.  He realized later that the show was actually made before Hurricane Katrina and it was more like a prediction.  Hmmmm……

The article is kind of long but a very good read with the author touching on topics like global warming and the disturbing economy.  Worth the read if you can take a couple of minutes.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Finds Interesting Insights In Sublette

Finding this article about author Ned Sublette and his memories of New Orleans brought some interesting insights into how people feel about New Orleans.  Sublette will be launching his book at the Mother-in-Law Lounge.  “The Year Before the Flood” is not a “Katrina book,” but rather a reminder of what life was like “the last year the city was whole,” Sublette said, here in the place he calls the northernmost point of the “Saints and Festivals belt.” And when he writes of a post-Katrina second-line, with the crowd chanting “Reee-birth!” he says, “Were they supporting the band, or shouting to their city? It was the same thing.”  At one point, Sublette realizes, “You don’t really love New Orleans until you’ve hated it.” Definately a book to read.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Recommends “A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge”…

This long form graphic novel tells the story of seven different Hurricane Katrina survivors and how they survived and lived with the aftermath of the storm.  Writer and illustrator Josh Neufeld has had a fairly long career as a cartoonist and had a very strong relationship to Katrina and what happened in New Orleans.

In the structure of this book, we see pictures of New Orleans as it was, and then we see the storm come to New Orleans and Biloxi, and then it begins to tell the story from the points of view of all of the characters. And then it goes back after the storm and checks in with wherever they are, and then at a later point, it goes back again.

It seems that the people in the book gradually seem to recover their balance, but the book really brings home how very pervasive the sense of loss was and still is in New Orleans.  Read more…

–Enjoy, Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Sees A New Face Of New Orleans

Seeing this article made me start to think about New Orleans before Katrina and New Orleans now.  The article definately makes some accurate points.  With the many newcomers and many natives New Orleanians gone, it is a very different place.  Safety is far more an issue now with the increase in crime over the last few years.  While it is still very much the same place, some of the neighborly feel has gone.  It used to be one of the last few places that you felt like you could count on your neighbors and now many people don’t know who their neighbors even are.  It seems like there may be a younger crowd which is probably good for the economy but maybe not so much for keeping the history and culture here alive and strong.  It will be interesting what the future of this great city holds.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Sees Hope…

Just reading this article about a small group of entrepreneurs that have trying to attract small businesses to New Orleans is something to smile about.  It makes people hopeful again and our city certainly needs all of that it can get.  Since Hurricane Katrina, at least four formal entrepreneurial hubs have been established in New Orleans: Entrepreneur’s Row, the Icehouse, the I.P., (an acronym for Intellectual Property) and the Entergy Innovation Center. While they all hope to help nurture individual businesses, they house start-ups and established companies while focusing on “clustering like-minded entrepreneurs to build their businesses together currently.  That is called progress…

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie Recommends the New Old Roosevelt

If you have never stayed at the famous Roosevelt Hotel with its massive lobby, ornate trim, glittering Italian crystal chandeliers and mosaic floors, now would be a good time.  Katrina left 10 feet of water in the Roosevelt’s basement, destroying mechanical equipment, while wind-driven rain inundated most guest floors. As other hotels returned, the Roosevelt, owned by the Fairmont hotel chain, remained boarded up.  Bought in August 2007, the Roosevelt was bought by the Hilton Hotel Corp.  The Roosevelt’s renaissance is also a milestone in the city’s recovery from the August 2005 storm. Now only one major hotel, the Hyatt, remains shuttered, along with an adjacent shopping center attached to the Louisiana Superdome. The hurricane flooded 80% of New Orleans, crippling its vital tourist industry.  Read more here…

–Ray Reggie–

New Orleans: Ray Reggie Thinks It’s the Whole Package

With the recent re-opening of the road that takes you to Elmer’s Island, it once again shows that New Orleans is the whole package to people that live in the area.  Although many may have forgotten that since the devastation of the hurricanes and the slowness of the rebuilding and the horrible crime that has affected the city since then.  But it once was and hopefully will be again, the best whole package around.  Of course, the food and the music bring the spirit of New Orleans alive, there are so many other wonders here like history, culture and wildlife.  Pretty much anything you want, you can find here.  Read more about Elmer’s Island here…

–Ray Reggie–

New Orleans Making A Comeback

Well, according to CNN Money New Orleans is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.  Considering the fact that we lost more than half of our residents when Hurricane Katrina hit, that is pretty impressive.  Not many cities have had to deal with the devastation that New Orleans did.  I know because I was there and I have been there since and although we still have a very long way to go to even come close to the city that I call home, it is refreshing to see some good finally starting to come to the people of this city that stayed.  To see some of our own coming home and the city regaining some of its luster from before the devastation is wonderful.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie’s Hoping for the Superbowl

Hosting the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans could be the answer to New Orleans prayers.  Before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans was the host for Super Bowl nine times and was considered one of the top spots for the event.  Unfortunately, there was a large amount of damage done to the   the Superdome and it needed a new roof and underwent renovations to the interior, including rebuilt suites, club lounges and new scoreboards.  The Superdome reopened for the 2006 season but if the lease with the Saints is extended, even more renovations will be made.  Imagine what hosting the 2013 Super Bowl could do for the New Orleans economy and maybe it will bring a little fun into the citizens of New Orleans, many of which are still trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.

–Ray Reggie–

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