Trying something new....

For the next month, we will have a guest blogger/photographer capturing the new, old, exciting, innovative, interesting tidbits of New Orleans. If you would like to suggest something for us to cover or you have a great story to tell, post a comment and we may feature it.

Now allow our guest blogger to introduce himself,

Hello, my name is Erez. I recently purchased a one way ticket from Los Angeles to New Orleans, arrived yesterday. The first thing I heard is that the whole city was evacuating. While not the start I was anticipating... it wasn't the start I was not anticipating.

Confident that Gustav was going to be as powerful as it sounded, Nate and I spent the entire day slapping up posters for this Saturday's "NEW ORLEANS SPEAKS", after painting Tulane, Loyola and most of Uptown with posters to prove our confidence in the storms no show, the event was postponed.

Hopefully the next month will be a different but still interesting experience. I'll be reporting often about restaurants, bars, events and our evacuation road trip to the Memphis capitol of the world, Memphis, TN. As Nate mentioned, if you know of a place worth checking out, let me know.

Below are some pictures of what turned out to be a day with no point.



We went to Loyola to pass out flyers for "New Orleans Speaks", which Gustav has taken away from us (it's postponed for October)



At Tulane, t-shirt by Dirty Coast. Go up to the 6th floor of the parking garage, pretty nice view of the city.





IN Exchange store in the Tulane Campus Center, Erica Trani runs the place. It's a cool little shop with fair trade coffee and chocolate, sweatshop free clothing and other environmentally conscious products. It's a laid back place worth checking out.




Had lunch at the St. James Cheese Company, pretty ridiculous spread of fine cheeses and deli meats, couldn't fit them all into a picture. Ordered the Crater Lake Blue, a roast beef sandwich with worcester mayo on multi grain. It was amazing, usually cheese is a lost taste in sandwiches, but here it was the perfect compliment to the roast beef. The place is definitely reasonable, the meal came in under 10 bucks. The seating indoor and out is nice and simple. Eric is the manager and though I didn't have a chance to talk with him, he's clearly a guy who knows too much about, cheese.

New Orleans 100 and the New Orleans Institute

The New Orleans 100 list is available. Check out all the projects that are going on in the city.

*To hear from many of these people on the list, you can attend the New Orleans Speaks Conference on August 30th at UNO.

* NOLA YURP is collaborating for the first time with Southern Rep Theatre. Here is the event

Cause for Drinks Tonight

*We will be at Hookah Cafe at 7pm today to support Rebuilding Together. One of the reasons we picked Rebuilding Together is because we have gotten such great feedback from people who have volunteered with them. They are organized and know how to manage volunteers, which is easier said than done. 2 dollars from every drink will go back to Rebuilding Together.

*If you are in another city, check the All Day Buffet website to see if you can drink for a cause tonight

* The New Orleans Institute website is now alive. Check it out!

Share your story for the New Orleans Institute

As a reader of our blog, you have been chosen!
We want to hear your story and also give you the opportunity to present it to a national audience. Read the details below



The New Orleans Institute

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

June 20, 2008

Dear New Orleanian:

You are receiving this letter because you have a story worth sharing.

For many months after the levees breached in 2005, we waited for someone to come and help us "recover." Who was that "someone"? FEMA? The federal government? A university? Developers? We were waiting for experts to arrive with answers.

In time we learned that the experts—and the answers—were already here. In the midst of public failures have been countless successes, brought about by willing, able and imaginative individuals drawn together to resurrect their communities.

You are one of those individuals.

Perhaps you have been working to bring back neighbors, or to establish better governance of the public infrastructure, or to restore the environment, or to create well resourced schools. You may be working to restore and grow neighborhood economies, to create new businesses for the new economy, to protect historical housing stock, to provide a mobile health system, to address racist and outdated systems, to encourage neighborhood-friendly development, to nurture precious cultural traditions, or to create a safety net for neighbors and family still struggling since the storm.

On behalf of The New Orleans Institute, an emerging network of organizations and individuals involved in every aspect of community-based recovery in New Orleans, we invite you to submit a proposal to present in New Orleans on Saturday, August 30, 2008. "New Orleans Speaks: We are the Ones We've Been Waiting For" is a forum to tell your story and that of your constituents to a broad audience including members of the media, elected officials, nonprofit organizations, national and local funders, and others. Presentations will be recorded and webcast to have widespread and lasting impact.

If you are interested in presenting, click here to get the application and submit your proposal electronically by July 3, 2008. If you have any questions please contact nolaspeaksconference@gmail.com or call 866 0985.