30 April 2008

Good Children Easter Parade 2008

Charles Bukowski - Young In New Orleans

Charles Bukowski - Young In New Orleans

starving there, sitting around the bars,
and at night walking the streets for hours,
the moonlight always seemed fake
to me, mabye it was,
and in the French Quarter I watched
the horses and buggies going by,
everybody sitting high in the open
carriages, the black driver, and in
back the man and the woman,
usually young and always white.


and I was always white.


and hardly charmed by the
world.


New Orleans was a place to
hide.


I could piss away my life,
unmolested.


except for the rats.


the rats in my small dark room
very much resented sharing it
with me.


they were large and fearless
and stared at me with eyes
that spoke
an unblinking
death.


women were beyond me.


they saw something
depraved.


there was one waitress
a little older than
I, she rather smiled,
lingered when she
brought my
coffee.


that was plenty for
me, that was
enough.


there was something about
that city, though:
it didn't let me feel guilty
that I had no feeling for the
things so many others
needed.


it let me alone.


sitting up in my bed
the lights out,
hearing the outside
sounds,
lifting my cheap
bottle of wine,
letting the warmth of
the grape
enter
]me
as I heard the rats
moving about the
room,
I preferred them
to
humans.


being lost,
being crazy mabye
is not so bad
if you can be
that way:
undisturbed.


New Orleans gave me
that.


nobody ever called
my name.


no telephone,
no car,
no job,
no anything.


me and the
rats
and my youth,
one time,
that time
I knew
even through the
nothingness,
it was a
celebration
of something not to
do
but only
know.

29 April 2008

ReX of NoLA Rising Speaks at Tulane University

ReX Speaks at Tulane

ReX of NoLA Rising recently spoke at Tulane University to an architecture class about the importance of public displays of artwork and the hurdles of NoLA Rising. A powerpoint presentation detailed the evolution of the artwork of NoLA Rising while Rex spoke to the students and fielded a variety of interesting questions. Many excellent points were brought up, but the most important theme of the day was community involvement.

In the background is Avi BenBasat, President of the Tulane Chapter of Students of NoLA Rising. Tulane will be the pioneer in leading the grassroots arts movement of NoLa Rising into the future.

Special thanks to Professor Scott Milner for the invitation and opportunity to speak to the class. And many thanks to the students for their participation.

---Photo courtesy of Max Prophet---

26 April 2008

NoLA Rising Artists - Magazine Metals and XO Studios - Jazzfest weekends

dancin' on bourbon

Magazine Metals, in the 2000 Block of Magazine, conveniently right next to Winky's.

Three Demons of Bourbon Street: Rebellion

Also, three NoLA Rising artists are currently in a show of seven artists at XO Studios. Allison, Taylor Lee Shephard and Michael Dingler are displaying their work along side Eric Buchanan, Amie Davis, and Colin Wadsworth. You can find XO Studios in the Marigny at 2833 Dauphine near Press Street (the infamous spot where the train tracks cut through the neighborhood). Visit Ranger Dave from 10 a.m. to about 5 p.m. If you'd like a private showing, you can call him to insure his availability to show at 504-949-8134.

The Artwork of Allison Termine

25 April 2008

Gray Ghost Launches Offensive at Cafe

Businesses Start Speaking Out

Ladies and gentlemen, the Gray Ghost strikes again. It's no longer about art, but about what is right and decent in our city. For someone to verbally affront someone with misogynistic comments is too much. Much too much! I have personally spoken with the girl in the following story and am appalled at the abusive and offensive language used against her (language far too offensive to post on a family friendly blog such as this one).

Thank God that members of the City Council are finally speaking out against this "self-appointed scourge of graffiti". Someone needs to do something now before this "man" goes too far...it seems, imho, his boundaries may already be diminished between his views and the rest of New Orleans society. Neither me, nor people who support me, will back down on this issue until there is a meaningful solution to the Gray Ghost, the graffiti situation that has been perpetuated by the Gray Ghost, and the end of Mr. Radtke's funding from reputable sources that therefore make it possible for him to deface private property with the same utter disregard as those he says he opposes. Those who financially support Mr. Radtke should be held legally culpable and financial responsible for every allegedly illegal act he commits.

Mr. Radtke, I know you read my blog on a regular basis, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF TO PUBLICLY SPEAK TO A GIRL IN SUCH MANNER. This story further shows how you are no longer a part of the solution, but are NOW part of the problem! Thank you all and have a good Jazzfest. Also, please remember Mr. Radtke in your prayers that he may find solace within himself and follow a more peaceful and meaningful path...

DSCN9761

Gray Ghost launches offensive at café
by Richard A. Webster Staff Writer

Editor's note: The following is an extended version of a story that will appear in Monday's issue of CityBusiness.

NEW ORLEANS - On April 19 a customer walked into Mojo Coffee House on Magazine Street and told employee Alicia Adams there was a strange man outside painting the side of the building.

Adams stepped outside and saw a white van parked across the street with several men standing in front of it staring at her. She looked to her left and that’s when she saw him, a tall, stocky man wearing dark sunglasses.

Adams recognized the man immediately. It was Fred Radtke, the self-appointed scourge of graffiti.

Radtke is the founder of Operation Clean Sweep, a nonprofit dedicated to the eradication of graffiti. He covers up the spray-painted vandalism using buckets of gray paint, thus earning himself the infamous moniker — the Gray Ghost.

Adams said Radtke didn’t pay any attention to her. He walked across the street, grabbed another roller out of his van, walked back across the street and began to paint over markings on a telephone pole.

Adams, 24, said she asked Radtke to “please don’t paint on our private property.” His response has left her shaken and afraid for her own safety.

Adams said Radtke verbally attacked her with the most offensive of obscenities, letting her know that he could care less what she thought and was going to do whatever he wanted.

“I was going to call the police," she said, "and he started mocking me, yelling, 'Oh murder! Someone call the police! Help me! Help me!’ He was screaming at me from across the street and in front of my customers while I’m at work trying to handle this in a professional manner.”

After his tirade, Radtke got into his van and pulled away. Adams said she called the police, reported the incident, gave them Radtke’s license plate number and asked them to come by the cafe but the police never arrived.

“Other people saw what was happening and were scared of him and worried about my safety because of his completely over-the-top, unwarranted reaction,” Adams said. “They were worried if I said anything else to him he might take it one step further. ”

New Orleans Police Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse did not respond to calls for comment.

Radtke denied shouting obscenities and said it was Adams who was abusive.

“I swear to God, I’ve been doing this for 10 years and in that time I’ve never cursed at a woman or a girl,” Radtke said. “She was the one yelling and screaming at me. ”

Radtke said he has never painted the Mojo building because the coffee house staff, who he accuses of being sympathetic to the graffiti artists, constantly harass him.

“Usually when I go to take out graffiti near that coffee shop I bring a police escort so I don’t get intimidated,” Radtke said. “If I’m taking out graffiti across the street, they walk over to us and start taking my picture. They do it all the time, which is why I need police escorts. ”

Business owners along Magazine Street have long complained that Radtke, who is not a city employee, has painted on their buildings without their permission. But when told of their concerns, Narcisse said in January that the NOPD has no intention of charging Radtke with defacing of public or private property and praised his efforts in reducing crime and improving the city’s quality of life.

“What he’s doing is work that the city would be doing itself provided we had the resources and manpower,” Narcisse said at the time. “ He’s not doing anything that we aren’t asking him to do. ”

But City Councilwoman at-large Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson said the city has never authorized Operation Clean Sweep.

“We want graffiti removed but we want it authorized and controlled as to when, where and how he can do it,” Clarkson said. “I know the city would never give (Radtke) authorization to do any of what he is doing, including going on someone’s private property. And he certainly doesn’t have the right to be abusive to anybody, not in this city.”

The real problem is that the city is not doing anything to stop graffiti, and that has created the need for a person like Fred Radtke, said Robert Wolf, past president of the Coliseum Square Neighborhood Association.

“The situation we’re running into across the city is that we don’t have any real leadership at the top, so a lot of our neighborhoods have to do everything on their own,” Wolf said. “Fred Radtke is a classic example of city government failure, and he’s stepping in to fill the void.”

But Radtke is an imperfect solution to a large problem, and businesses and property owners on Magazine Street have complained about his tactics, Wolf said.

“I believe his intentions are all but the best and I don’t think he’s looking to do anything negative," Wolf said. "But I think the problem for him is that it has become personal. And once it crossed that line, I think he’s had a hard time keeping it in balance and making the right choices in some cases. ”

When Demian Estevez, owner of Mojo, called Radtke to ask him about the confrontation with Adams, he said Radtke was just as abusive to him.

“He was yelling and screaming. He said that he never touched our building and that the 'little bitch' was lying.”

But when Estevez arrived at Mojo on April 19 just an hour after Radtke left, he said there was a large splotch of gray paint on the side of the building that had never been there before.

“I could still smell the primer paint.”

Estevez said no one has sprayed graffiti on his building for years because the graffiti artists have respected his property. But now that Radtke has smeared gray paint on his building, all bets are off.

“Now that Radtke’s gotten so infamous and made it known that this is his crusade, now it’s a war,” Estevez said. “Anything that is gray becomes a hot spot for graffiti artists, and now I’m going to have graffiti all over my walls. I’m sure of it. I was trying to be real nice and tell Radtke, ‘What you don’t understand is that now they are out to get you. You’re not helping people like me anymore.’ Every time someone gives him a can of paint, someone is out there buying 10 cans of spray paint.”

And it’s no longer only cans of spray paint people have to worry about. The taggers are now emptying fire extinguishers, filling them back up with paint and covering buildings with 7-foot-high lettering, Estevez said.

“We don’t live in a gang neighborhood. This graffiti isn’t gang-related. It’s a bunch of little white kids. They’re harmless,” Estevez said. “But this thing just keeps escalating every time Radtke is out there with his gray paint. He paints over the graffiti and then they come back and paint over his gray. It’s a never-ending cycle.”

On the same Saturday Adams had her run-in with Radtke, one block down the street the owners of Eye Candy Tattoo felt the sting of the Gray Ghost.

Donn Davis was inside with a customer when his cleaning lady, who had just left, called to tell him that Radtke was outside the shop.

By the time Davis went outside, the Ghost was gone. But he left behind his calling card, a large splotch of gray paint on one of the store’s front posts.

“Someone had written something in crayon, and I had wiped part of it off,” Davis said. "I was going to have our cleaning girl clean off the rest, but then this guy comes and paints over it. He didn’t come inside to ask or anything.”

Davis called the police, and two officers came by to take a report.

“They said if I saw him to call and they’d ticket him for painting on private property but that’s all they can do," Davis said.

Across the street from Eye Candy, Radtke painted over graffiti on the windows of an abandoned building and that has caused additional problems, Davis said.

“I pointed it out to the police who came by. You can’t see in there real good, so now people go hang out in there. I’ve seen hookers taking guys in there and guys going in to smoke rock. They have a nice little enclave there because the windows are gray. At some point something has to change. Radtke has been trying the same thing since the '90s and it’s just not working. But he keeps at it and that’s the definition of insanity. ”

Adams said Radtke’s “venomous” reaction to her request to stop painting on their private property shocked and disturbed her to the point where she has friends come to Mojo to keep her company if she needs to work a shift alone.

“I was completely shocked that a man of his age who is supposedly working with the city would have the audacity to speak not only to a citizen of the community but a younger female in that manner,” Adams said. “I heard he’s a former Marine which is even more astounding because I come from a Marine family and my uncle and grandfather would never treat a woman like that. I don’t know if this guy is going to come back here and do something, but he is a very scary man and seems completely unstable.”

Special Thanks to City Business for their fine reporting in this matter.

Other Related City Business articles:

http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/viewStory.cfm?recID=30172

http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/viewFeature.cfm?recID=973


http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/viewFeature.cfm?recID=967

Businesses Start Speaking Out

---

This is what LORD DAVID from Humid City has to say:

http://humidcity.com/2008/04/25/the-grey-ghost-played-by-steven-seagal/


Here's what Maitri had to say:
http://vatul.net/blog/index.php/1745/

Here's what JudyB at Thanks, Katrina has to say:
http://thanks-katrina.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-guys-got-problem.html


---
Visit Mojo Coffee House at 1500 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130 and let them know you support them...especially Alicia who had to deal with this offensive situation.
---

***As a quick aside, Mr. Radtke has called on the press in the past to highlight his works around the city and has in the past, as far as we've been able to discern, taken money from the city that came from taxpayers. Since he says he works in the interest of the public good, and has attracted media attention to his cause when it was suitable for his purposes, he has moved himself into the realm of a public figure. This is not meant to be seen as an attack on a single man, as his "Operation Clean Sweep" is a non-profit that has claimed hundreds of supporters in the past. This is a continuing story in the New Orleans area that has been focused on four times already by the leading Business paper CITY BUSINESS. We are merely repeating the outrage that City Business has courageously brought to public attention.
Businesses Start Speaking Out

24 April 2008

New Orleans - Stay Strong, Stay Long

So What is This NoLA Rising Anyway?

What is NoLA Rising?

NoLA Rising is a grassroots arts movement that encourages the use of artwork to uplift the people of a community. It is the belief of NoLA Rising that public displays of artwork not only enhance the beauty of a community, but bolster the spirit of the people within that community.

Currently: We are a loose collaboration of artists that come together quarterly and make artwork. Often, the artwork is later found on the streets for the public to view it or it is left as gifts on people's doorsteps. With artwork from the last Paint Party, we have been donating to non-profits around New Orleans that are helping people who are finally getting settled into their homes following Katrina.
katies postcard

The Mission: To become a non-profit organization that encourages public murals on a large scale in the City of New Orleans. The City of New Orleans has a vast amount of usable space that would improve the general mood of New Orleans and beautify our daily lives. NoLA Rising would also like to facilitate artwork in the schools of New Orleans, from mural work in the schools to encouraging the growth of emerging artists.
four-flowers


Aside from the Goals of NoLA Rising, What else is going on?


If you think you know what is happening in the art scene of New Orleans, you'd be surprised to find out what you don't know. Our list of artists grow by the day, but what is available here is just the beginning. All NoLA Rising projects bear the name and encourage positive, artistic growth with the hopes of keeping the spirit of New Orleans alive and well.
Fleur Fire

How do I become a NoLA Rising artist?


It's easy. Have a love for New Orleans and share that love through your artistic means, regardless of your talent level or skill. Make a piece of artwork and leave it anonymously for your neighbor...Join us for our Paint Parties and come create something that will be donated under the NoLA Rising umbrella. We're a loose association of people and we don't discriminate against whichever medium you are comfortable with. Get in contact with ReX, visit us at one of the shows, we're open and receptive to new and innovative ideas that will benefit the daily lives of all of us in the city.

All you have to ask yourself is: WHAT WILL MY CONTRIBUTION TO NEW ORLEANS BE? If it's not artwork, perhaps it can be something else. Keep your eye on what is going on here at the blog and as we move to non-profit status, we'll be organizing a webpage that's appropriate. Also, we'll be expecting to see you at the next Paint Party!
Dome Rising

Any Notable Criticism?

Of course there is. Mr. Fred Radtke of Operation Clean Sweep has taken issue with the concept of NoLA Rising and says that it promotes gang graffiti. NoLA Rising does not promote gang-like activities and the assertion that it does it absurd. He's made the comment in a January City Business article that graffiti artists are "anarchists, agitators and members of the church of Satan."

For the record, NoLA Rising will not give any merit to Mr. Radtke's outlook and will let the absurdity of his own statements stand on their own for you to determine. Mr. Radtke's efforts are seen as an inconsequential and meaningless solution to the graffiti issue in New Orleans...a method that is outdated and has City Business calling for a change of pace. We are offering a tested and proven solution to the issue. NoLa Rising will no longer entertain any more questions about Mr. Radtke and wish him well in his future endeavors.

NoLA Rising, as stated before, will not exclude any artist that is capable of assisting in the beautification of New Orleans. Other cities have used graffiti artists to their benefit and NoLA Rising will include anyone who submits a meaningful design for mural work. There will be themed projects and an order to projects chosen using artists of all mediums in the arts...we believe in including people, not excluding them. Mi tomba, mi corazon negro

So, who's ReX?

ReX is the New Orleans native and a local artist, Michael Dingler. He was born here and came up with the idea of NoLA Rising after seeing it spray-painted on a home on Tchoupitoulas. Then, when coming across a series of painted canvases hanging from an electrical tower in the Marigny, the thought of public displays of art was born. Those two combined images of daily New Orleans life spawned the movement that has now spread to 21 countries and over 80 cities.

ReX believes that New Orleans can export to the rest of the world its artwork and artists much like it once did with its musicians. New Orleans is a cultural mecca for music and it can be for the art as well. He's just a guy with an idea that did something with that idea. Little did he know...

He will be having artwork available for viewing at The Bean Gallery, 637 N. Carrollton Ave, near the corner of Orleans and Carrollton and there will be a show at XO Studios with a few other NoLA Rising artists on April 12th. See www.scadnola.com for details on what is happening in the Marigny/Bywater art world during French Quarter Fest.

red fir

And your quote for the day:
"artists are, by nature and necessity, solitary souls"
-Garlough

22 April 2008

Please bring your trays to the full upright position!

Sit back and relax these fine examples of the SPIRIT of NEW ORLEANS! Brought to us courtesy of Team B and a number of different NoLA Rising artists!

Live Love Laugh

Love

RISE UP!

I do too!

Jazz Art Food

Hello Friend!

NoLA Sings

Viva NoLA

17 April 2008

Quote of the Day

"See we just had a misunderstanding. I thought we lived in the
U.S. of A., the United States of America. But actually we live in the U.S. of A., the United States of Advertising. Freedom of expression is guaranteed? If you've got the money!"

-Bill Hicks - comedian, R.I.P. 1994

11 April 2008

SATURDAY NIGHT - APRIL12th

Latest Piece

This Saturday Night, you are invited to XO Studios at 2833 Dauphine (in the Marigny) for a show of seven artists. This will be the first time that four of the artists are being presented by a studio or gallery that is a member of the St. Claude Arts District. From 5 - 9 p.m., come see seven artists and photographers of different styles and you won't regret seeing where the underground of New Orleans art hangs its hat and art.

You're already in town for French Quarter Fest, may as well enjoy the local art scene too!

New work by ALLISON, TAYLOR LEE SHEPHARD, AMIE DAVIS, MIKE DINGLER, COLIN AND OTHERS!

DAMN! YES, I MEANT APRIL 12TH!

New Orleans Tombs Series

08 April 2008

NoLA Rising Donates Numerous Pieces to the Firefighters of St. Bernard



NoLA Rising brought the following pieces, plus more, to Chief Thomas Stone and Glenn Ellis of the St. Bernard Fire Department yesterday for the firefighters in St. Bernard Parish who are finally getting back into their homes. NoLA Rising wishes them the best of all worlds and salute them for all of their hard work. Those of us at NoLA Rising hopes that it helps makes their houses more like home!

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

Artwork from the NoLA Rising Group of Artists Being Donated to the St. Bernard Fire Department for the week of Mar 30, 2008

(Photo of Chief Stone and Capt Ellis is by Gary Perez of Dragonfly Photography - www.dragonflyphotography.org)

07 April 2008

WDSU and NoLA Rising hitting the Airwaves Together

AND DESPITE ALL LEGAL ATTEMPTS TO STOP THE FOLLOWING STORY, BOTH NBC AFFILIATE LAWYERS AND MY OWN LEGAL TEAM HAVE DECIDED THIS STORY CAN AIR AND IT DID AIR THIS PAST SUNDAY NIGHT.

In the battle for the culture of New Orleans...



NoLA Rising sends a great big thank you to the enchanting Crista Rock for her work on this story. Even Bonus agrees, it rocks!


She saying "Thanks Bonus!!!"

06 April 2008

NoLA Rising Events on the Horizon

ART SHOWING, this Saturday, April 12th 5 to 9 p.m., XO STUDIOS in the Marigny, 2833 Dauphine Street. Ranger Dave features seven artists, three of whom are NoLA Rising Artists. Ranger Dave joins the ranks of the St. Claude Arts District(www.scadnola.com)with featured artists including, photographer Amie Davis, NoLA Rising founder Michael "ReX" Dingler, and NoLA Rising members Taylor Shephard and Allison.

NoLA Rising Art Chapter at Tulane University expected to open soon. We are hoping to have the joining collegiate members help us in the new STOP THE VIOLENCE campaign that NoLA Rising has been working to implent since the beginning of the year.

Mid to Late May: NoLA Rising Paint Party, XO Studios in the Marigny (address above). NoLA Rising will again host an open event for artists and art-lovers to come and paint at our Marigny location. Bring salvaged wood, paint for the masses and your love for the arts and the city of New Orleans and create something beautiful for us to donate to the people of New Orleans for our It's Yours, Take It event. Exact date, TBA so stay tuned

June: Date TBA NoLA Rising Presents TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS. New Orleans will be one of three cities this June to host TAKE IT, IT'S YOURS a free art show and event. On the same day, we will orchestrate a public exhibition of free art along with cities in Australia and Manitoba, Canada. Artwork from the NoLA Rising paint party will be exhibited alongside the growing number if international artists currently sending pieces. Thus far, I have seventeen artists signed up to mail pieces to us for this exhibit and would love to have local artists swell the ranks of our public and free exhibition. Stay tuned for more information! UPDATE: We now have a location in Singapore set up and are working on Southsea! And we're looking for the weekend of June 7th or 8th, exact date still being nailed down (every pun intended)
---
Fantasy is the only canvas large enough for me to paint on.
* Brooks

Benefits and Memorials - Chris and Otter of Bacchanal & Ashley Morris Memorial Fund

Howdy all NoLA Risers!

Below you will find information concerning some recent local tragedies that have occurred. I ask that you take a look and see what you can do. As part of the New Orleans community, NoLA Rising believes that it is imperative that we help our friends and neighbors. I've posted below some details about Chris and Otter and a website that has been set up by Andrea Gardner of L'art Noir to help support them through a horrible accident they've recently been in.

In addition to helping Chris and Otter, NoLA Rising is working to help the family of Ashley Morris, a noted New Orleans blogger and professor who has passed away. Below are many of the details that have been posted and emailed by Loki. I'll be working with him to see what NoLA Rising and its community of artists can do to assist there.

This is yet another example of the New Orleans community that separates us from other places. If any of y'all would like to help in each your own and unique way, please let me or Loki know. His information is below in the forwarded email.

And you all know, I don't randomly support causes. But this is not a cause, these are people who are part of our community. This is something that I have been asked to participate in and something I believe in. The spirit of New Orleans is ever-present in our willingness to participate in helping our friends and neighbors...which is why I am asking you to figure out in what way you can participate. If y'all would like to contact me about what can be done, please let me know and I'll be glad to forward any info and or support you can offer.

I call on all artists in the NoLA Rising sphere to contact me about donating artwork to these efforts! If you have some other skill or service, let me know and I'll get you in touch with the appropriate person. Thanks for being part of our melting pot of ideas and community here in New Orleans and thanks for helping NoLA Rise...one person at a time!

ReX

-----

CHRIS AND OTTER

Chris from Bacchanal and Otter from the Backyard Ballroom were involved in a bad car accident early morning March 31. Their friend Tony Bonanno was driving and was pronounced dead on the scene. Chris suffered some broken bones and has had surgery, but will hopefully be home soon. Otter suffered more extensive injuries, including internal bleeding and is currently in guarded condition at University Hospital ICU.

Many wonderful groups and individuals are coming together to help support Chris and Otter financially and otherwise. L'art Noir New Orleans is coordinating a fund-raiser tentatively to take place on Saturday, April 19th at the Backyard Ballroom with bands, performances, art and other goods/services auction, etc.

Sign up to receive email updates on Chris & Otter's condition and fund-raising efforts here: lartnoir.com/Chris_Otter_Updates.

If you are interested in helping with the fund-raiser, playing at the fund-raiser and/or donating art, goods, services or other items for the auction, please contact Andrea via email at andrea@lartnoirneworleans.com or by phone at 504-324-2489.

An organization mailing list has been set up to facilitate fund-raising and other efforts and pass along updates and other info. If you wish to be part of the list, you can sign up at www.lartnoir.com/Chris_Otter.

If you wish to donate to them through paypal, here's a link. I'll update postings as they are relevant.







---
ASHLEY MORRIS

REPOSTED FROM HUMID CITY
The Doctor Has Left The Building
April 2nd, 2008 by Loki

It is my sad duty to let you know that Dr. Ashley Morris, the man most likely to call Ray Nagin a fuckmook to his face, passed away today. We have lost our excitable boy. His unrelenting passion for our city and his community will be missed as much as his unflinching and cuss-ridden dissections of the federal, state and local incompetence that has brought our city to its present state.

Hana, his wife, left a post on his blog. Go by, leave a comment, read his old posts if you haven’t. Let them know there are people out there who care. He leaves three young children.

My friend you shall be missed, and that by many more than just myself. I will have more to say later when I am able to compose myself.
Ashley Morris, RIP

---http://rememberashleymorris.com Main site, content soon
http://mojono.com/mailman/listinfo/ashleymorrisfund_mojono.com Fund
Raising Announcement list
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ashleymorris/ Group Photo Albums of Ashley

504-708-4492 is the number to call to record an mp3 message for Hana
and the kids. Please start by introducing yourself. Please share your
Ashley Stories. This is something that the kids will really appreciate
down the line so don't be bashful especially if you have a really good
story.

Spread these please, and also be prepared to spread the paypal info
that will be in the next email. Once that gets out we have five
figures to raise just for funeral expenses alone and we need to try to
do it ASAP.

Hana seems to bouncing back, but there are still grave financial
concerns. We must be active! Its fer da Perfesser!

If you are interested in making a donation to Hana for helping with expenses, go to paypal and use the email address ashley.morris.fund@gmail.com to donate money. Thank you for being a part of the New Orleans community.