Gambit New Orleans News and Entertainment, Gambit

The right side of history

Editorial — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:00:00 -0500

This editorial will appear in next week's Gambit.

When President Barack Obama affirmed his belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, much of the ensuing discussion focused on the history of the moment, ignoring what may be an even more significant point: the President’s position now puts him in the mainstream of Americans.…

Watch this: A Brief History of John Baldessari, narrated by Tom Waits

Ken Korman — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:57:24 -0500

What's the best film we've seen so far this month? (And we've seen a bunch because it's summer movie season, after all.)…

City Council standoff: The emails are flying

Kevin Allman — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:57:00 -0500

Just in time for the end of the work day: The New Orleans City Council standoff/imbroglio gets a couple of new wrinkles.

Council president Jackie Clarkson and Councilwoman At-Large Stacy Head have fired off a statement regarding the quorum stalemate at the council — while AWOL councilmembers Jon Johnson and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell have done the same.…

Guy who famously wanted to drown government in bathtub endorses Jindal for VP

Kevin Allman — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:32 -0500

Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform and the man who became famous for the line "I'm not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub," has chosen the vice presidential candidate whom he believes would be the best bathtub-drowner — and it's Gov. Bobby Jindal.…

When NOLA says “opa!”

Ian McNulty — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:20:00 -0500

Restaurants provide the food for countless festivals around town, but sometimes it’s the crews of volunteer home cooks stepping up to contribute their own talents that really set an event apart.

That’s the case at Greek Festival New Orleans, coming up May 25-27 along Bayou St. John near the lakefront. This is the 39th year for the festival, which is held on the grounds around the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral and inside its Hellenic Cultural Center.…

Music Box to host bands for recording projects

Will Coviello — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:31:37 -0500

Move over Piety Street Studios. The Music Box, aka Dithyrambalina, aka the Shantytown Sound Laboratory, was one of the highlights of contemporary art and musical collaborations in 2011.…

Michael Caine trapped in attic in New Orleans, is probably super pissed off

Alex Woodward — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:39:20 -0500

Purveyors of the world's finest news, The New York Post reports that inimitable (and often imitated) actor Sir Michael Caine was locked overnight in an attic while filming in New Orleans recently.

Caine reportedly took a break from filming Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me, about a crack team of bank-heisting illusionists, and fell asleep in a makeshift dressing room on location.…

Press release: Tulane sues city

Charles Maldonado — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:07:44 -0500

Tulane University has announced that it filed suit against the city of New Orleans today, in an attempt to block a proposed Interim Zoning District that could slow progress on the university's plan to build a stadium.

The news comes one day after Tulane and the city announced an agreement to hold a series of community forums on the stadium.…

No quorum: Hedge-Morrell, Johnson absent at special City Council meeting

Charles Maldonado — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:11:28 -0500

City Council members Cynthia Hedge-Morrell and Jon Johnson were both no-shows today at a City Council meeting today, once again leaving the city's legislative branch with only four present members, one short of quorum, and unable to vote on any legislation. The four present members — at-large Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson, at-large Councilwoman Stacy Head, District C Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer and District A Councilwoman Susan Guidry — were, however, able to make the most of what quickly turned into, basically, a press event, shaming the two absent members for bringing city government to a standstill.…

Voodoo Music Experience: Campout — and glampout — info

Kevin Allman — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:55:00 -0500

Even more interesting than the early Voodoo Music Experience lineup (Green Day, Neil Young, Skrillex, etc.) was the news that Voodoogoers will have the chance to camp out in New Orleans City Park. (Yes, Gambit will be doing it.)…

Gold medal in the can

Ian McNulty — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:36:00 -0500

Canned beer is catching on big in craft brewing circles, where the vessel is appreciated for better protecting its contents from flavor-altering exposure to sunlight.

In one sign, there’s now the AmeriCAN Canned Beer Competition held in May these past two years in Chandler, Az., which this year attracted 40 breweries vying for top canned beer honors.…

Public Transit Tuesdays: Kenner Local

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:00:00 -0500

While riding Jefferson Transit's Kenner Local bus, I stopped for spring rolls at a place I thought had been closed since Katrina, discovered where film crews get their lights, found three local places for party supplies and topped it off with a whiskey on the rocks at a saloon. The Kenner Local is a great bus—unless you actually want to ride around Kenner...…

Interview: Troy Landry from History's Swamp People

Lauren LaBorde — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:37:00 -0500

Fans of the History reality series Swamp People were sad to hear about the death of one of its stars, Mitchell Guist, who died while aboard his boat Monday (the cause of his death is still unclear). The show that follows the alligator hunters of Louisiana's Atchafalaya River Basin swamp has been wildly popular for the network, mostly because of the charm of its stars like Guist.…

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Green Day to headline 2012 Voodoo Fest

Alex Woodward — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:35:00 -0500

Festival organizers announced the 2012 Voodoo Experience preliminary lineup today. Heading the bill is Neil Young & Crazy Horse and Green Day.…

Review: new works at Barrister's Gallery

D. Eric Bookhardt — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:28:31 -0500

These days we hear a lot about the “natural world,” but anyone who has spent much time in Louisiana sees aspects of nature that stretch the meaning of the word and provide fodder for the imagination. These paintings by Nikki Crook, Amy Guidry and Monique Ligons further the notion that dreams and fantasies may be the last vestige of wild nature in the modern psyche.…

Come join us at Gambit happy hour

Kevin Allman — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:23:24 -0500

We're having a (pre-)summer happy hour mixer for our friends and readers this Thursday at the Bayou Beer Garden (326 N. Jefferson Davis Pkwy.) in Mid-City.…

A serious news website redesign

Kevin Allman — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:32:00 -0500

News website redesigns are all the rage these days, from this much-discussed "improvement" to The Lens' makeover (nice!) and, today, a new WDSU.com (good job).…

Watch: Galactic with Mystikal and Mannie Fresh "Move Fast"

Alex Woodward — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:15:00 -0500

New Orleans funk outfit Galactic released Carnivale Electricos on Mardi Gras — an album idea the band has been sitting on a couple years but finally arranged, merging Carnival and regional music from its global traditions, this year. When I talked with keyboardist Rich Vogel before its release, I wrote that "the band looked to the Carnival world — from the baile funk of Rio de Janeiro to bounce beats blasting from local parking lots, and the places in between — to weave new elements into Galactic's frequently altered fabric — updated as New Orleans' music and cultural landscape adjusts its palate."

"What we didn't want to do was 'Galactic plays Latin.'…

Darwin the Dinosaur troupe impresses on America's Got Talent

Will Coviello — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:41:00 -0500

New Orleanians may remember the theater piece Darwin the Dinosaur, produced by the local dance company CORBiAN Visual Arts & Dance. (Previewed here in Gambit.)…

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Lanie Robertson's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill by shows us the great and tragic vocalist Billie Holiday in the final days of her career. The show is simple but by no means easy to do.…

Troy Landry: Swamp Person

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

At first, alligator hunter Troy Landry wasn't too excited about the prospect of appearing on a reality TV show. "We have so much work to do in that month's time of the season that I didn't think I'd have time to be bringing camera people with me and all that in the boat," he says.…

Flips and Lids

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Head-to-toe Warm Weather Menswear by Megan Braden-Perry [slieshow-1]

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Wanda Jackson at Tipitina's

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Sat. May 19 | The first lady of rockabilly and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, Wanda Jackson blended rock and country in the 1950s with songs like "Fujiyama Mama," and she landed a Top 40 hit with 1960's "Let's Have a Party."…

Grand Design

Kat Stromquist — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

by Kat Stromquist At Exagere (227 Dauphine St., 523-5873; www.exagere.com), owner and furniture designer Perfecto Bobadilla describes everything in extremes: Exagere boasts the most "amazing collection of art in New Orleans," and hosted the "biggest grand opening of any gallery in New Orleans," he says. But he piles on the most superlatives when explaining the collection of couture furniture he personally designs.…

Sippin' in Seersucker

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Los Hombres Calientes headlines the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's annual fundraiser. Los Hombres Calientes headlines the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's annual fundraiser. The event also features the presentation of the Legacy Award to Jane Lowentritt.…