Rising Tide VI

I haven't given any blog love to Rising Tide VI, and that's truly a shame, especially given that I'm a panelist this year. But it does promise to be a really fabulous event. Although I'm not a huge fan of Treme, I know a lot of folks are, and given that David Simon, the creator of the TV show, is headlining at RT6 as one of the keynote speakers, I think folks might be even doubly interested in attending.

I'll be participating as part of a "Social Media, Social Justice" panel, where I'll be talking about the use of social media in counteracting the legislative initiatives here in Louisiana to impose some harsh Arizona-style anti-immigrant legislation.

There's also a food panel as well as a brass band panel. Promises to be a truly N'awl experience. Register and come by if you are around and if you are so inclined.

Featured NOLA Blog

Just by chance, I recently came across a wonderful NOLA-based blog called What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today. Two comments about this blog:

The first is that this blog is authored by a colleague of mine at Tulane University, and I never even knew about it. I would imagine that Kate also probably doesn't know that I post up on The Huck Upchuck, either. Fact is that I don't know Kate all that well, but our paths have crossed from time to time through our commitment to the idea of public service in education. So, coming across another wonderful NOLA blog authored by a fellow Tulanian is a nice treat.

The second is that the premise of this blog reminds me of my Random NOLA blog category, only in reverse. Kate comes across various places in New Orleans while riding her bike, encounters unique and interesting scenes, takes a picture of these scenes, and then explains where this place is and what her reflections are about the place. My Random NOLA category is more of a contest where I simply post a picture of places that I pass during my days traveling through the city, and ask folks to see if they can guess where that spot in New Orleans actually is by identifying some of the unique features and items in the photo.

But Kate's blog is a wonderful way to traverse the city of New Orleans and learn about some of its unique and eccentric places simply by following Kate's biking paths. If you are a true NOLA-phile who loves to learn about the quirky and interesting places in New Orleans, and appreciates personal commentary on such places, you'll love Kate's blog. Check it out and enjoy!

Featured NOLA Blog

You know, I've been going through my NOLA Bloggers Blog Roll (What I call "Kingfishers"), and I'm reminded of how good and informative and entertaining some of these blogs are. So, I thought I'd start up another special posting catetory in which I highlight a NOLA blog and encourage folks who visit The Huck Upchuck to check out some other great local blogs.

The featured NOLA Blog I'd like to highlight today is: Inside the Footprint. The exclusive purpose of this blog is to chronicle the culture, architecture, and people of the neighborhood that has found itself inside the "footprint" of the plans for the construction of the new LSU-VA Hospital, and thus subject to demolition. It's because of its specific focus on a very controversial local subject that I think it can serve as a good choice for the first "Featured NOLA Blog." The two guys who run this blog are local law students. Give it a look. More featured NOLA blogs to come in the future, as the mood strikes me.