Way up in New Hampshire, the book reviewers are calling the new volume Way Down in Louisiana a “rich history of Louisiana music.”
The central figure of Todd Mouton’s new book Way Down in Louisiana: Clifton Chenier, Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop Music is, not surprisingly, Clifton Chenier.
Drawing attention in the 1950s, Chenier helped lead the way in establishing the zydeco sound. The sound combined traditional Louisiana music with dance-friendly R&B. Reviewer Mike Cote of the New Hampshire Leader says, “Chenier was to Louisiana roots music what Chuck Berry was to rock ’n’ roll.”
Although Chenier recorded for the Chess label, he was not to enjoy the same degree of popularity as Buckwheat Zydeco. Rather, says Cote, he established the blueprint for the kind of music Buckwheat would play.
While Chenier gets the biggest chunk of the new book, Mouton devotes several chapters to other Louisiana musicians and acts, including Beausoleil, Michael Doucet and Coteau.
Mouton has been a producer of Louisiana music shows and records for more than 20 years. He’s apparently a real fan of the musicians he writes about and he’s loaded the book with photographs.
Way Down in Louisiana is published by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. It retails for $24.95.
The ‘Cafe Noir’ Of La. Brews
Way Down In Louisiana was written about in the article “3 fancy beers to enjoy with great Louisiana reads” by Karlos Knott. The USA Today publication Daily World published the piece early in the year.
Knott’s the top dog at Bayou Teche Brewing. All his beers are good, but his sometimes hard-to-get Biere Noire is magnificent.
Knott grew up in a Cajun community, where, he writes, adults brewed a “gregue” of “cafe noir” each day for breakfast. The dark coffee was also drunk in quantity after Sunday dinners. Knott says the super-strong coffee was sipped from demitasses. Conversation was in French.
Knott writes, “we wanted to create a beer that paid homage to what cafe noir meant to our … ancestors.” He says the German malts used in the brewing process give Biere Noire “a small bite of noble bitterness.”
Knott notes the packaging of Biere Noire contains information about Louisiana folk traditions. USA Today says that Knott plays the accordion and drives Acadiana highways in search of “the perfect link of boudin.”
Journalistic Integrity
In the Dec. 29th edition of The American Press’ Business section, the lead story was that the American Press would sell the cover of the section to any advertiser who could afford to buy it.
That’s right. The big business news on Dec. 29 was that The American Press was selling ads.
The lead headline — in inch-high letters — read “Spotlight your business here.” The word “here” was in red. A subhead read “A 13-week ad commitment earns merchants a feature story on our Business cover.” Dig that word “earns.” Really interesting vocabulary choice, huh? I think the word “buys” might have been a little more fun.
This “story” took up almost the entire front page of the Business section.
In 2016, it’s all but inevitable that there’s sometimes an overlap between news and marketing. And it’s common knowledge that at least one local magazine routinely sells its front covers to advertisers.
But for a daily newspaper to use the front page of any section other than classifieds to present a call for advertisers as a news story — that has to be something of a tipping point.
Rita LeBleu, the writer of this “story,” won’t be putting any press awards on her shelf for this puppy. But LeBleu’s not the bad guy here. She’s just trying to earn a living. The publishers and editors of the American Press should know better than to pull a stunt like this.
Scary, Scary Number
One thing that’s happening in 2016 is that many people in Louisiana are getting downright scared about the anticipated budget gap of $1.9 billion. The figure of $1.9 billion is scary to anybody who isn’t in the defense contracting industry or isn’t the CEO of a Wall Street bank.
But keep in mind that this $1.9 billion figure is for the next fiscal year. That’s at least a little comfort. We still have half a year to think this thing over.
The figure came from new Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, who took the opportunity to open up a salvo on the Jindal administration. Twice he mentioned the administration’s use of “one-time sources” and “one-time revenues.”
It’s been said that Louisiana is the only state of the 50 that bases its tax system on the poor. If there’s any truth to that, it’s going to be a challenge indeed to round up $2 billion in new revenue. And while it’s no doubt possible to find $2 billion in spending cuts, that’s not something I expect to see now or ever.
Still, as Paul McCartney once sang, “there may be a miracle.” Keep your fingers crossed.
Rockin’ Is OK
As Gov. Bobby Jindal left office, the Daily Advocate did an excellent “exit the king” story (“Reflecting on his legacy …” by Elizabeth Crisp and Mark Ballard). An extensive, probing interview of Jindal was followed by several thought-provoking remarks by some of Jindal’s most insightful critics.
“Making changes is hard,” said Jindal. “People don’t like it when you rock the boat.”
That’s not right, gubner. People don’t like it when you sink the boat.
Political Loss
Louisiana politics is a wild ride, and you need wild commentators to stay on top of it. Self-proclaimed gadfly and watchdog C.B. Forgotston was one of the wildest and most reliable of Louisiana political bloggers. He frequently homed in on hypocritical or dishonest politicians; wasteful and politically motivated spending; and tax increases that weren’t called tax increases.
Shortly after 2016 began, Forgotston took his life (by gunshot). He did put in a blog post for Jan. 1. The post, which celebrated the fact that fewer than two weeks remained for the Jindal administration, gave no clue of Forgotston’s intentions.
With Forgotston gone, we’ll all have to try a little harder to make sense of the whirlwind of Louisiana politics. Rest in peace, top watchdog.
When The Grass Isn’t Greener
As the new year got underway, Lafayette’s The Advertiser greeted Louisiana with the headline “We’re hiring, Lafayette: 15 companies looking for applicants.”
Well, hey, we’re all for good jobs that will keep sharp young people in Louisiana. But let’s take a little look at the companies that were offering jobs at the Jan. 14 career fair; they were:
BJ’s Restaurants, Blaze Pizza, Costco, Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Five Below (fitness-oriented discount store), Freddy’s Frozen Custard, home goods at Marshalls, Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, Panera Bread, Panda Express, Subway, Verizon Wireless and World of Beer.
That list is just bristling with opportunities for you to put your college and university skills to use, isn’t it? I think the most challenging position is one that was offered by Subway — “sandwich artist.” Sandwich artist? Really? Is that guy who asks me if I want hot peppers doing performance art? Am I being punked?
If you really do want jobs with any of these employers, search for the story title in the first paragraph. The story has links for all 15 companies.
Twitter Of The Issue
“Y’all Qaeda.”
When this term was created on Twitter to mock the militia that took over a remote dessert building in Oregon, it spread through the cyber-verse like wildfire.
Of course, “Y’all Qaeda” suggests that there may not be all that much difference between a bunch of white, beard-wearin’, gun-totin’, hick right-wing zealots who occupy a building and a bunch of dark-skinned, beard-wearin’, gun-totin’ Muslim religious zealots who occupy a building.
There was quite a Twitter flurry on Jan. 6, when it was reported that Ammon Bundy Tweeted: “We are doing the same thing Rosa Parks did.” Even Joyce Carol Oates retweeted the message.
But it turned out the Tweet was very likely a fake. Both Bundy and Twitter announced that Bundy did not have a Twitter account and that the “Ammon Bundy” account had been closed. A reporter Tweeted that he had been with Bundy at the time the Tweet was sent, and that Bundy was not at a computer or on a smartphone.
Looks like some computer-savvy critic was having some fun at Bundy’s expense. As long as the Bundys continue to behave as they have been, they can expect the cyber-community to work overtime to embarrass them.
When all of this is over, I think Ammon Bundy has an excellent chance to appear on Dancing with the Stars. (And if that show is no longer on, please don’t tell me. I’ve had my heart broken before, and if it happened again, I just don’t believe I could stand it.)
The Funnies
— W.C. Fields: It’s a funny ole’ world. Man’s lucky if he gets out of it alive.
You’re Telling Me! 1934
— Ginger Rogers (after the Fred Astaire character successfully drives a horse-drawn carriage on the first try): What is this strange power you have over horses?
Fred Astaire: Horsepower?
Top Hat! 1935
— Darryl: I taught Mike some phrases to help him with his interracial conversations. You know, stuff like, “Fleece it out.” “Goin’ mach five.” “Dinkin flicka.” You know, things us Negroes say … [laughing] Oh, yeah, I taught him a handshake, too.
The Office. “Casino Night” episode; 2006
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