Robbie Becklund Photography

Allen Toussaint -- Heart, and Piano, Back in New Orleans

A New Orleans Police Officer who worked the Convention Center describes the days before, during and after Katrina.

I just stumbled across this. Don't know if it's new or just new to the internet but it's the Big Bend Gazette . It's an independent news monthly.

I found it using Google's new Blog Search, which is obviously in beta testing and appears to be broke since no matter what I enter I can't get my blog to appear in the first couple of pages.

Dead Flowers - Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2005 -- Holga camera


Dead Flowers 2 - Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2005 -- Holga camera

How Bush Blew It -- a Newsweek article detailing government activity (or inactivity) before and after Katrina.

If you're in Austin, TX, here's what to do to volunteer at the Convention Center.

9/11 -- This morning my son and I watched some of the continuous news I recorded on 9/11/01 in New York. A couple things that were interesting that the news people said: Gulliani and Pataki said they would seek vengeance and retribution and that those who were behind this would pay for what they had done. Also, it was reported that there had been a message from Osama Bin Laden months before the attack that he was planning an attack against the U.S. because of the U.S. support for Isreal.

Well, the U.S. sure has dished out a lot of vengeance. Unfortunately they missed the target. Osama Bin Laden must be pretty damned pleased with himself.

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If you haven't donated money to the Red Cross or some other organization do so. Also, I saw that the Red Cross is going to need 40,000 more volunteers very soon. I received an email last night from the United Way because they are in need of more volunteers here in Minneapolis to work at drop off locations and for administrative support. America is so used to these events that make the headlines for a few days and than something else comes along. I hope people stick with this for the long haul and don't forget about the people of the Gulf Coast.

"It has been explicit national policy not to set priorities, but instead to build any flood control or barge project if the Corps decides the benefits exceed the costs by 1 cent," said Tim Searchinger, a senior attorney at Environmental Defense. "Saving New Orleans gets no more emphasis than draining wetlands to grow corn and soybeans."

And who decides what projects to try to get funding for--our wonderful Legislators.

This article - Money Flowed to Questionable Projects outlines some of the pet projects carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers at the behest of Congressional leaders in Louisiana instead of flood control.

I just have to say I have never been so disgusted by our politicians. I was watching the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Joe Lieberman and Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats, were so excited to start their own investigation into what went wrong with the hurricane relief that they couldn't stop grinning. Their rationale for doing the investigation is that they are the heads of the Homeland Security committee, so who better to find out what went wrong. Joe Lieberman, I now have read, wanted FEMA under Homeland Security. That makes about as much sense as Bush doing an investigation. He'd probably put Mike Chertoff as head of that committee.

Oak Tree, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 2005



Oak Tree 2, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 2005



Swamp, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 2005

All the above taken with the trusty Holga.

I have to laugh, on Paul Shelasky's website there's a link to a blog by Brooks Jensen of LensWork Magazine. Today's entry talks about quality things that inspire him to make art. He mentioned he listened to Brahms, Miles Davis and some movie I hadn't heard of, but it's all high brow stuff. When I thought about what inspires me, that's what made me laugh. Cuz the stuff that insires me sure ain't Brahms or Mozart. For me now it's the Donnas, Captain Beefheart, The Velvet Underground, Howlin' Wolf, Daido Moriyama, certain tattoo artists, the movies Paris Texas, Drugstore Cowboy and I just watched a documentary I have about the Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans that was real cool.

I guess I'm pretty low brow. Put it this way, the piece of art I have over my bed is a pencil drawing by a homeless guy named Beavo in Austin TX. It's a guy smoking a cigarette with a cap on and electrodes going to it and on the cap it says "Acme Electric Chair."

This is from an email I just received from the great folks at Norton Records for a benefit in Brooklyn that looks fun and for a obviously excellent cause. Also, there's info to donate to funds for Gulf Coast musicians.

Hey Folks,

Big benefit for victims of Katrina this Sunday in Brooklyn!!! Know that the money raised at this event will go directly to people from the rock and roll community who are in need...

Sun 9/11

at Magnetic Field - 97 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn

$10 cover (more if you can afford it!)

Doors 4PM
Bands start at 6PM, DJs all day and all night long!!!!

Bands to play:
A-BONES (Norton Records)
KID CONGO and the PINK MONKEY BIRDS (ex-Cramps, Gun
Club, Bad Seeds)
INSOMNIACS (NJ Mod-Garage Rockers)
SPITTOONS (Brooklyn 50s and 60s rock n rollers)

Plus DJs all day and and all night long:

TIM WARREN (Crypt Records)
TODDOPHONIC TODD (Telstar Records, WFMU)
KARI KROME (from the Runaways!)
DAVE THE SPAZZ (WFMU)
THE GREAT GAYLORD (WFMU)
JOSH STYLES (Smashed Blocked)
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (Penetration Party),
PADDY BULLOCKS (Penetration/Shop Fronts)
TOMDASH (Dot Dash)

Raffles from: Crypt Records, Sympathy for the Record Industry, Get Hip
Records, Telstar Records, Norton Records, as well as local merchants and
community members!

Baked Goods for Sale, Special CD comps for Sale

All proceeds will go to The Rock n Roll Community Fund and New Orleans
Musicians Clinic.

For more info on these funds, please see below...

Since this was done on the fly, please spread the word!!!

The rock and roll community fund

This fund was put together to aid members of the garage and punk rock
communities who have lost everything due to Hurricane Katrina. Most
recipients identified are currently in Memphis and Austin, however we are
taking names of those in need from wherever they have established temporary homes. Thanks to DJ Paddy Bullocks, whose father is a minister there, funds are being administered by Trinity Parish Church. Due the high concentration of those in need who have fled to Memphis and Austin, funds are being distributed by Goner Records in Memphis and Rocks Off Records in Austin.

Trinity Parish Church Episcopal Discretionary Fund
200 N Elm St
Searcy, AR 72143-5271

put Katrina Fund in subject line of check
paypal to: trinityparish@yahoo.com

New Orleans Musicians Clinic (NOMC)

This is a fantastic hands on organization who has the names and addresses of
so many great musicians because they have them all coming to their FREE
health clinic all these years and now, they are the ones who are tracking
down the local musicians and finding them shelter.

They are the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and know the whereabouts of the
local musicians down there.

Send donations to:

NOMC Emergency Fund
funds will be distributed by:
SW LA Area Health Education Center Foundation, Inc.
103 Independence Blvd.
Lafayette, LA 70506
desk: 337-989-0001
fax: 337-989-1401
Contact: Kathy Richard directly at 337 989-0001
email: finance@swlahec.com
http://www.swlahec.com/
musiciank@swlahec.com

The New Orleans Musicians Clinic is determined to keep Louisiana Music
Alive! We want to relocate our New Orleans musicians into the Lafayette/
Acadiana community where they can remain a life force! But most of them have lost everything... we must help them rebuild their lives.

New Orleans Musicians Ask If Their Scene Will Survive

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diaspora: A dispersion of a people from their original homeland.

diaspora: A dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture.

My favorite radio station on this planet is WWOZ 90.7 FM New Orleans, their studios were destroyed, but they're up and running through the internet -- WWOZ in Exile. The first time I heard this station I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They have a list of N.O. musicians who are safe and ways to benefit the musicians--there are lots of them.

Wow, I'm listening to WWOZ right now and I have lame ass dial up and the streaming is working with hardly a drop out--cool! Maybe it's the new real audio I recently downloaded--yippee.

Check out all these archived interviews from the radio show American Routes. If you dig people like Al Green, Lazy Lester, John Fogerty, Dr. John, Boozoo Chavis, Ernie K-Doe and the like, this is the place to go. I haven't listened to any of them yet, but will. They also have archives of complete shows and this week they'll have one about New Orleans--the show is done in New Orleans usually.

Man, I am getting so much damn spam from Asia--I keep getting one for what looks like a dating service in Japan, or maybe even better... but I can't read it, naturally. Wonder if airfare is included?

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I just blew it. I went to get my photo that was at the State Fair show--the fair ended yesterday. My son would have loved to see the people loading everything up, Harleys; John Deere tractors; the Quesadillo Station; 3rd Lair Skatepark; ferris wheel, sky ride, etc., I probably should have taken him. I guess I won't tell him how neat it was.

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I've put my name on a couple of lists to share our place with a couple of people who've been displaced my Katrina. I really want to do it, but it makes me nervous. One thing I like my privacy, but it wouldn't be forever so that's okay. I've read that people with kids should have background checks done on anyone they let stay with them. I was probably only going to have someone with a kid--a single parent like myself. My son is fairly excited--he likes an adventure. I just hope if this happens that the people will be able to access funds either from their bank or some government relief thing. I got a place to share, but not lots of money to pay for their stuff. We'll see. Minnesota is supposed to be getting a few thousand people in the next week or so.

Red, White, Blue and Kodachrome : "There were questions for years about whether color photography was truly art,' -- I still question that :) (oh my god, I just used a smiley--"step away from the keyboard.")

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If you haven't noticed, I'm a avid NY Times reader. They have a section of the most emailed articles. Right now the top five most emailed articles are all editorials regarding the pathetic relief effort by the Bush administration and the fallout to come. Maybe, just maybe this will change some things in this country. It seems like it's been a long time since regular people really mattered to the federal government, and I don't just mean since Bush became president. I think it goes back to when Hillary was trying to get national healthcare off the ground early in Clinton's first term.

Pigeon River, Grand Portage, Minnesota - This is the border between the U.S. and Canada


Stone Arch Bridge 3, Minneapolis


Pigeon River 2, Grand Portage, Minnesota


My son taking pictures of the sunset at Two Island Lake near Grand Marais, Minnesota


Stone Arch Bridge 4, Minneapolis, Minnesota

These were shot with the Fuji GSW690. The jpeg images don't show it, but the detail is great, which is to be expected, but very nice to see. I use PMK Pyro developer on all my film. One of the characteristics of it is it emphasizes edge detail. Obviously it doesn't really work with the holga, because there's rarely sharp edge detail. But with this camera it does.

I really enjoy taking pictures of "scenic" stuff. While this type of picture isn't arty--like my Holga pics, I think it's quite challenging. I like the challenge of making a nice clean picture, where things are working. These are work prints, so not everything is working.

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In a selfish personal way the effects have been somewhat so ironic/twisted/frustrating. As I keep thinking/reading/listening to things about this area, especially New Orleans, I want to visit to experience again, all the great things this city has to offer. The French Quarter was spared, including Cafe Du Monde and the St. Louis Cathedral.

To get an overview of what's going on in and around New Orleans ckeck the WWLTV blog, it has much up to the minute info.

A NY Times story about what the N.O. Times Picayune endured to continue publishing. Hurricane Forces New Orleans Newspaper to Face a Daunting Set of Obstacles

Chicago Mayor Daley 'shocked' as feds reject aid -- since I don't have cable TV, I don't know if this kind of thing is being picked up and reported, but the regular news broadcasts aren't discussing it.

Editorial: Not Acceptable

an excerpt from an editorial from The Times-Picayune Editorial Board

"I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences," the mayor said during a WWL radio interview Thursday. "Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city."

The mayor had obviously become fed up with federal bureaucrats' use of future tense verbs. 'Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here,' he said. 'They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.'

We applaud the mayor for giving voice to an entire city's frustration. How could the most powerful and technologically advanced nation in the history of the world have responded so feebly to this crisis?

The president's admission of his administration's mistakes will mean nothing unless the promised help is deployed immediately. Each life is precious, and there isn't a second chance to save a single one of them. No more talk of what's going to happen. We only want to hear what is being done. The lives of our people depend on it."

Forest Service offers planes to help fight fires

The Forest Service has offered fixed plane aircraft used to fight forest fires to help extinguish blazes in New Orleans, according to two congressional sources. But the sources said the planes, which can pour large amounts of water on fires, remained grounded in Missouri Friday because the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t authorized their use.

The department is overseeing federal hurricane relief and rescue operations.

"We’ve been asking them to request that the planes be used, but nothing has happened,” said one of the two congressional sources, both of whom asked to remain anonymous. The planes were offered by the Forest Service because of news reports that firefighters in New Orleans lacked adequate water pressure to fight a number of fires in the city.

--From the Times-Picayune

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"If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican.

The Times-Picayune of New Orleans -- online version of the New Orleans daily paper.

Just found out an old friend's beach house on Dauphin Island was destroyed. And I'm sure the first floor condo of some other friends has major water damage and is filled with sand.

Of course you can donate to the Red Cross for Katrina Hurricane Relief, but another option would be the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Right now Baton Rouge has 40,000 refugees from New Orleans and surrounding areas and that number will grow. Think about it, 400,000 or so people evacuated N.O., where are they going to go. Baton Rouge is 70 miles from New Orleans. I heard the head of the organization on the news and it sounds like this might be a good place to give money. To me, it seems like it might be more direct, and might get put to use faster, but I could be wrong. Just wanted to pass this on.