Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Zephyrs first practice wet, kinda smelly; die-hards don't mind
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 5:34 PM
by Alejandro de los Rios
Baseball? You may ask. How is it anyone could play baseball yesterday?
Well the storm came and went and, though voluminous, the rains couldn't drown the Zephyrs brand-new $1.2 million field — at least the part in between the foul lines. In all fairness, though, the field drained impressively and it took a second glance to confirm that yes, it is indeed real grass.
But the real wonder of the night wasn't that the Zephyrs players could go out and actually hold a practice, but that there was actually a small smattering of fans in attendance.
OK, maybe "smattering" is a bit generous. It was four people. But four devoted people nonetheless.
402. Ode on a Great Autoshop
Posted by Sarah Andert on Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 4:53 PM
THOU still unravish’d bride of great savings,
Thou foster-child of Dealerships and Junkyards,
Sylvan mechanics, who canst thus express
A greasy tale more slick than our rhyme:
What gasket-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Metairie or the dales of Jeff Parish?
What men or gods are these? What vehicles loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and exhaust? What wild combustion?
Great Wine Dinner!
Posted by admin on Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Last night, we attended a Spring Mountain wine dinner at Dominique's at the Maison Dupuy which is hosting a series of dinners for the French Quarter Wine Festival. The wines were marvelous and well-paired with Chef Dominique's sublime cuisine. Winemaker Jac Cole was here for the event and it was enlightening to hear him not only discuss Spring Mountain wines, but the Spring Mountain AVA (American Viticultural Area) and mountain fruit in general. Spring Mountain, which is home to Pride, Cain Five, Keenan, and a host of other premier wineries, sort of flies under the radar, or clouds, and doesn't seem as well known to wine lovers as other Napa mountains such as Howell, Diamond Mountain, Mount Veeder, etc. Last night again proved what terrific, concentrated wines are produced on Spring Mountain, and especially by the area's namesake winery. I will be featuring Spring Mountain Cabernet as a Wine of the Week in a forthcoming column.
Calme au Blanc
Posted by admin on Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 2:07 AM
Sometimes a play keeps me up at night, thinking about it, wondering what the author meant, feeling my way through my objections, trying to form words to express my thoughts about it. Calme au Blanc is one of those plays. I stayed up late afterwards, and continue to struggle with it even now as I write this review.
Louis Crowder is an emerging New Orleans playwright to watch out for. I'm rooting for him, but do have criticisms. Calme au Blanc is the third play of his that I've seen. The first 2 were one-acts performed together at Marigny Theatre last season as Cobalt Blue, Disaster Number 1604, Parts 1 and 2 (a title I'm not too fond of). Aside from the general objection to "yet another Katrina play", I had strong criticisms about the one-acts last season, about the histrionic writing and clumsy direction. Some of my criticisms about the writing still apply to this third play, but overall Calme au Blanc is a stronger piece of work than the one-acts, more mature and better directed. The playwright directed the one-acts himself last year.
