6/14/13-6/19/13: summer's here.

Activities:
First visit to the Confederate Memorial Hall civil war museum and a repeat visit to the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. The Pharmacy Museum is a reliably fun outing: cheap, small enough to take in quickly yet thoroughly, and right in the Quarter so you can go get a daiquiri after and sit by the river. (I just tried the bellini daiquiri from one of the shops on Bourbon, and darned if it might not be my new favorite--at least until we get back to White Russian weather.) The Confederate Memorial Hall is pretty similar: a collection of antiques and artifacts with a few explanatory plaques and the like. But it has some neat stuff, including a bunch of Jefferson Davis's clothing and possessions (he died and was temporarily buried here), a walking stick made out of the flagpole from Fort Sumter, and a representative range of everyday tools, weapons, and clothing used by (Confederate) soldiers. Very little mention of slavery, of course, other than the fact that they sell DVDs of Song of the South in the gift shop.
Bike riding around Audubon Park. I'm slowly getting into using the bike I rebuilt at Plan B. I still don't like being on the road with cars, but I can see that I'll eventually get comfortable with it. And it's definitely more efficient than walking. Plus, I'm pretty sure I saw people Prancercising.
Trivia at Publiq House on Freret. Nice facility, beer is expensive, trivia is fun.

Notable meals:
Breakfast at Elizabeth's. They had a sweet potato and duck hash with pepper jelly on a waffle, which is three of my favorite things on one of my other favorite things. It didn't quite exceed my (probably excessive) expectations, but it came close.
Lunch at Pascal's Manale. I live not too far from this place but somehow I've never made it until now. Good, hearty, traditional New Orleans cooking; it's been there for a hundred years now, and it shows. I could recommend this to visitors.
Lunch buffet at Le Pavillon Hotel. Thick gumbo, several tasty hot dishes to choose from, a pasta bar, several cake choices--this is one of the better lunch buffets I've tried. I had the same problem I always have at buffets, which is eating too much to feel like I get my money's worth, but I don't regret it too much.

Recent activities, 6/7/13-6/13/13

First New Orleans Zephyrs game. I like minor league ball; I went to plenty of Spokane Indians games growing up, and more than a few Brooklyn Cyclones games when I was in my New York interregnum. Zephyrs stadium has a nice layout, but boy the turnout was low for a nice Saturday night. Fifteen, twenty percent of the seats were occupied, tops. Maybe just a little too pricey for what it is, but I'd go back.
Third or fourth visit to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. This time I was there for feeding time in the big fake oil platform tank, so that was cool. The penguins were very active too, including one juvenile who just swam against the corner of the enclosure, endlessly. That was weird.
Drinks: Other Bar on Freret (can't find a website for it). Quiet, non-smoking, decent beer selection, kooky but cozy. I like it.
The Crown and Anchor Pub on the West Bank. Cozy, authentic-looking pub (or what I imagine an authentic English pub looks like), just a pleasant ride on the Algiers ferry away. The front door is a TARDIS. Big fan.
Meals: Pizza at Midway. Still good, but sits heavy. Probably not good summer pizza.
Lunch at the High Hat on Freret. Blackened catfish, sweet potato salad. Very good home-style cooking. I will definitely return to work my way through the menu, especially the other side dishes.
Lunch at Red Gravy, one of my go-to lunch places downtown when I don't brown-bag it. I had a very good sandwich with turkey, soft cinnamony cooked apples, caramelized onions, and potato chips (on the sandwich itself).
Dinner at Dat Dog. Great and a great deal as always.

Recent shows

5/29/13: The Features at the Hi-Ho Lounge. I really like this band. I first heard them in the credits to an excellent PBS documentary series about circus folk, bought the album, and was immediately hooked. They're touring in connection with a new album, which is just as good as their older stuff. And they're great live, too; I caught them last year at One Eyed Jack's but missed them when they played Voodoo Fest, so I was very much looking forward to this show, and I was not disappointed. If only the crowd had been a little bigger, but it was Wednesday at the Hi-Ho, so I understand. Anyway, I can't wait until they come back.
6/4/13: Tipitina's, and the first show I've ever gone to for the opening act rather than the headliner. Shovels & Rope rock. A married duo out of Charleston, they are rowdy, vibrant, and they look more excited to be performing than almost any band that I've seen recently. Here, this post (towards the bottom) puts it better than I can. Shovels & Rope opened and just owned the room last night, so the hard act to follow was followed by some guys named Dawes. I will confess to being unfamiliar with Dawes (other than as a recurring punchline among the commenters at the AV Club). They seemed to be a pretty mellow rock group, which was a weird tonal combination with Shovels & Rope. I didn't stay for their whole set. Not much else to report from the show other than the guy on the balcony who was inordinately amused at seeing his ex-girlfriend crying in the front row.

Movies in New Orleans

I have been seeing quite a few movies recently, so I may as well blog about the viewing options down here. First, there are your regular multiplexes. AMC has big theaters in Harahan and on the West Bank, and those are worth the drive for big-screen IMAX-type stuff. That's generally where I see blockbusters (Iron Man 3, the new Star Trek, and the like). Then there's the Canal Place theaters. No kids allowed and there are (pricy) food and beverage options. It also gets a good mix of mainstream and artsy films. The servers darting in and out during the movie can occasionally be intrusive, but other than that I like it.
But not as much as I like The Prytania Theatre. This place is great: a single-screen hold-out with a lot of different programming. Mainstream releases, midnight cult movies, Sunday morning classics (I saw Casablanca for the first time there), the Film-O-Rama film festival, and a children's movie series (sweet, I just noticed they're playing Muppet Treasure Island in July). It's part of the fabric of the town (Ignatius J. Reilly yelled at movies at The Prytania in A Confederacy of Dunces), it's coming up on its hundred-year anniversary, and I hope it's here for a long time to come.
The Prytania also works with the New Orleans Film Society, of which I am a proud member, to put on the Film-O-Rama. The Society does some great work. They put on New Orleans Film Festival every hear with a consistently fascinating and eclectic selection, especially the curated shorts series (high point of last year: seven short films on the theme of "How to Dispose of a Body"). And the NOFS partners with other local theaters too; they put on three screenings of Upstream Color at the Chalmette movie theater a few weeks back. (Everybody should go see it, by the way, it is mind-bendingly good.)

Breakfast places I have tried.

Coulis: Could be my favorite breakfast place. Walking distance from home, incredibly nice people, fantastic pancakes, and a really good variation on eggs benedict.
Surrey's: Good juice.
Wakin' Bakin:
Cake Cafe: Pretty good, but the breakfast doesn't live up to the standard set by their goat cheese and apple king cake. Then again, what can?
Slim Goodies: I really like this place. It's inexpensive hearty food and there's a lot of variety on the menu.
Fat Hen: Good eggs benedict, with really excellent ham. I've only been once, but I look forward to trying it again.
Daisy Duke's: Huge portions, excellent biscuits.
Ruby Slipper: Underwhelming.
Atchafalaya: Really high-quality food, but I can't rate it as a go-to favorite because it's on the pricier side. But for special occasions, absolutely.

Four years back.

Four years ago today, I arrived back in New Orleans. I'm still glad to be home.

Recent shows (at One Eyed Jacks)

Deerhunter: Scrawny white men with a surplus of electric guitars, making noises. Did not like.
Father John Misty: Also scrawny, and although they claimed to be playing "bafflingly lethargic folk rock," it was actually pretty darn good. Very groovy stuff, and the frontman was very engaged and entertaining. Check 'em out.

I regret to report that....

The Greyhound Discovery Pass is no longer available. I understand why they did it (hop-on/hop-off is inconsistent with their transition to a reservation-based business model), and I probably wouldn't buy another one, but this saddens me. Even the name was great.

The Domenica Project: Part 1

I have probably eaten more sit-down dinners at Domenica than any other restaurant in town. Not only does it have amazing italian food, but it's got a kickass happy hour with half-price pizza and beer. I generally lump pizzas into two categories: fancy pizza and everyday pizza. Domenica makes amazing fancy pizzas: delicious thin crust, wood-fired baking, classy ingredients. It is so good, I want to try them all. Hence, The Domenica Project! I am going to eat every pizza on the menu and rank them in order of preference, and maybe provide some recommendations. I am ignoring all pizzas that I have tried before the start of this project, for scientific purposes or something like that. Anyway, since conceiving of this I have had three (and Domenica has actually added one to the menu, so maybe this project can go on forever!). In descending order of preference so far, with updates to come:

1) Duck pizza with porcini, mascarpone, sweet potato & scallions. Holy crap this is good.
2) White pizza with ricotta, mozzarella, oregano, garlic & basil. Very light, and just as good cold.
3) Bolzano pizza with roast pork shoulder, fennel, bacon & sweet onions. I was not a fan of this one; it didn't seem to cohere into a whole. Oddly enough, it tasted better cold the next day.