YatPundit

Congrats to Panama City Pirates keeper Melford James, who was named the Premier Development League's Player of the Week.  James has had back-to-back clean sheets, in the Pirates 1-nil win over the Baton Rouge Capitals and a draw against our New Orleans Jesters. 

New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line, by Edward J. Branley

There's been a lot of excitement lately generated by the new management contract between NORTA and Veolia Transportation. Let's face it, NORTA has been in pretty sad shape since the storm, so it's natural to be hopeful that new heads and hands on the job will improve the situation. Count me in that number as well, but when it comes to streetcar expansion in the city, I tend to be less pie-in-the-sky.

The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association posted a report of a meeting with Veolia where development of three new streetcar lines was discussed. This makes me scratch my head, since there's very little likelihood of any of them actually happening.

The three lines mentioned by FSJNA are Desire, Rampart, and Loyola. Letś look at these individually.

Desire

There is a full-blown plan for a "Desire" streetcar line that was developed before the storm. This goes back to the late 1990s, when the Canal line was approved and NORTA was looking to parlay that hard work and success into a second line. The project got all the way to assembly of an Environmental Impact Statement, and things were looking pretty good for its approval. But two things happened along the way. In 2003, the Bush administration decided to go to war with Iraq. Billions of dollars that might have been spent on domestic projects such as street rail in New Orleans were re-directed to the war effort. The Federal Transportation Administration under Bush 43 re-structured the funding schema for street rail projects at that time. Prior to 2003, projects such as the Canal line were funded on an 80/20 basis, 80% Federal funding, 20% local funding. Given the difficulty NORTA was had putting together the 20% for Canal, the prospect of coming up with half the money put the project outside the realm of possibility.

Then came the storm. This presented some additional challenges to the city and NORTA. The existing streetcar lines were a mess. All but one of the new 2000-series streetcars used on the Canal line were flooded and had to be re-built. About 60% of the right-of-way of the St. Charles line was inoperable because of down power lines and wind-related track damage. The 1923 Perley A. Thomas streetcars (the green ones) were moved to Canal Street to support that line while St. Charles and the red streetcars were repaired.

An additional post-storm complication was a City Hall administration and NORTA Commission that were totally unprepared and unskilled in rebuilding the city's transit system. Not only were the streetcars a mess, but the buses that provided the majority of transit service in New Orleans were also destroyed. At a managment level, NORTA and the city fumbled in darkness for over 2 years.

Combine all this with the basic fact that there simply wasn't a neighborhood left for the Desire line to serve, and you get a project that was pushed onto the back burner. Experienced professionals within NORTA tried several times to re-vamp the project, re-packaging it as more of an extension of the Riverfront line than as a line to service the Ninth Ward. Even so, the funding issue was/is the ultimate deal breaker.

Rampart

With the original Desire plan re-worked to be a down-river extension of Riverfront, I'm assuming a "Rampart" line would pick up with the original Desire route, servicing Marigny, Bywater, and the Lower 9th. This makes sense, but I don't know if the ridership numbers are there to justify the project. There's also the issue of the Norfolk Southern Railroad's grade crossing at St. Claude and Press. The railroad's opposition to the streetcar line was a major issue in the original Desire proposal. Streetcars need overhead electrical wiring, of course, and that comes into conflict with the oversized railroad cars that NS regularly pull through that intersection.

Loyola

This is the long-standing "downtown loop" route proposal. The idea here is to try to tie the Union Passenger Terminal on Loyola Avenue with the Canal and St. Charles lines. Personally, I think it's the proposal that makes most sense, but it's also the one that will have the most impact to existing businesses and traffic flow, which will create major opposition and headaches. And there's still the fact that nobody has the money to pay for it.

Hopefully Veolia can focus and push for the things that work, rather than making promises and proposals that simply aren't going to happen.

(x-posted to YatCuisine and ebranley.com)



We all encounter things that "speak" to us. Things that, when our senses encounter them, we are immediately transported to a different place and time. Sometimes we're transported to places not of this earth. Just as the music of Renard Poche takes me to a place and time very special to me, the artwork of H. Eric Hartman often does the same. Combine the return after the storm of one of my favorite places to eat in New Orleans (Bud's Broiler on City Park Avenue) with Eric's talent and, well, you get the painting above.

I first met Eric Hartman, *art-man*, in the summer of 1976, when I became an associate member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity at the University of New Orleans. Eric has a rare degenerative disease which has left his vision severely impaired.  He turned away from his banking career and took up his art full-time in 1995.

Eric's Bud's painting captures the soul of this small burger joint in Mid City.

Hartman's painting has been reproduced as a limited-number poster series. The poster costs $30, and is available for purchase at Bud's Broiler on City Park, or direct from Eric (ehartman@artman.com).

starting a new feature over at YatCuisine:

YatCuisine A to Z

First entry in the A to Z is "Alligator"

http://food.yatpundit.com

go!

Interesting article in CityBusiness today, referencing a priceline.com survey on top destinations for the Fourth of July.  New Orleans places at the top of the list.  What's interesting is that it's the Morial Convention Center that places first:

"The big surprise this year is the emergence of New Orleans' downtown/convention center area as the No. 1 July Fourth destination," said Brian Ek, priceline's in-house travel expert. "This is the first time New Orleans is in the top spot for the holiday and could signal the completion of the city's comeback as a tourist mecca following Hurricane Katrina."

Here's where it gets amusing, though, #8 on the list is "New Orleans, French Quarter."  Da Quarters is only 10 blocks from the Convention Center!  Also, Da Dome is about 18 blocks from the Convention Center, yet they're both considered "downtown."

Oh well, I'm not going to look a gift survey in the mouth.  If Priceline.com wants to say we're completing our tourist comeback from the storm, it works for me.

After receiving my "weekend wrap-up" e-mail from the United Soccer Leagues (USL), I drafted a quick reply to PDL Dir of Ops Lee Cohen:

Hi, I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see any news about the New Orleans Jesters in the PDL section of your weekend wrap-up e-mail.  I know it was just a nil-nil draw, but awareness that we even have a USL team down here is a start.

Cheers,
YatPundit

If you're a Jesters fan, you might want to do the same.

I finally got to a Jesters game this season!  The New Orleans Jesters played the Panama City Pirates last night to a nil-nil draw at Pan American Stadium in City Park.  it was hot, but otherwise a GREAT night for futbol, mainly because there were no bugs, and the humidity wasn't so bad. 

Pan American Stadium was finally re-built after the storm last year.  It re-opened in time for high school football last fall.  Professional soccer in New Orleans comes full circle--the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers started here at Pan American, and now the Jesters also call it home. 

Soccer in New Orleans has had an unusual history.  The New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers were formed in the old USISL Pro League in 1993, moving to the USISL A-League in 1997.  While in the Pro League, the team played at Pan American.  When they moved up to the A-League in 1997, they moved to the other side of City Park, playing at Tad Gormley Stadium, to meet the league's requirement of a home ground that could seat 10,000.  Struggling with ticket sales and attendance at Tad Gormley, the owners sold controlling interest in the team to New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA baseball) owner (and sometime Republican politician) Rob Couhig.  Couhig changed the name of the team to the "New Orleans Storm" and relocated them to Zephyr Field on Airline Drive in Metairie.  The team suspended operations at the end of the 1999 season, some accused Couhig of deliberately letting the team fail, to keep it from competing with his baseball team.

In 2003, interest in re-forming a professional team in the metro area returned, and the New Orleans Shell Shockers became a reality.  Shell Oil was the team's primary sponsor, hence the name.  The Shell sponsorship ended after the 2007 season, and the team became just the "Shockers" in 2008.  For this season, the team had a contest to choose a new name and badge, so now we have the Jesters. 

The Jesters (like the Shell Shockers/Shockers before them) play in the United Soccer League's Premier Development League, which is the fourth division in American Soccer.  While the PDL got its start as an amateur league (so NCAA players could continue to play in the summer without endangering their college eligibility), the Jesters are a "PDL-Pro" team in that they do not use college players.  The team's initial home ground was Tulane University.  They have also played at Muss Bertilino Stadium in Kenner and at Isidore Newman School uptown.  Hopefully the re-built Pan American Stadium will work out as a permanent home for the Jesters. 

 

Pan American has always been a great venue for futbol.  The pitch looks nasty with the football lines painted on it, but the yellow lines denoting the boundaries are just fine for the players and crowd.  The Jesters, coached by Ken Farrell, have a quick, aggressive style.  The Panama City Pirates came out slow last night, playing a strong defense that kept the Jesters from scoring.  The Jesters had a number of opportunities, but offiside calls, and fouls kept the ball from the net.  A Jesters player was sent off for abusive language in the 87th minute, so the team finished the game down a man. 

The referee crew for the match was three local folks who did a good job in the midst of a home coach and crowd who became very frustrated with their sides inability to score.

Overall, the evening was enjoyable.  The teams played good futbol.  While it would have been nice to see the Jesters chalk up a W, sitting in the stands and talking to fellow fans of the Beautiful Game was fun, even if those other fans were supporters of MUFC and Birmingham City. :-) 

My Ubuntu Linux shirt arrived while I was in the UK:



This is from ubuntu.org's shop.

I got an interesting e-mail the other day from the Center for American Progress entitled "How To Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell"  (DADT).  The e-mail pointed me to a document from CAP (pdf), detailing how the President should issue an Executive Order suspending DADT.  There's only one problem, and the e-mail even points it out:

But since taking office, the Obama administration has yet to follow through on its promise and has repeatedly resisted calls to suspend DADT by executive order. The administration is seeking "Congressional action" to resolve the issue.

So, CAP pushes a well-written and excellently-produced document on repealing DADT whose first step says:

Signing an Executive Order banning further military separations based on DADT and sending a legislative proposal on DADT repeal to Congress

Wait a minute, didn't they just tell me Obama doesn't want to issue such an order?

OK, so CAP releases this document and the White House is asked for comment. In a follow-up ThinkProgress post we get the answer:

Gibbs largely dismissed CAP’s recommendations, saying that the White House is not interested in signing an executive order to temporarily halt DADT.

Color me surprised. Obama administration said they didn't want to issue an Executive Order. CAP produces white paper on why they should, gets David Corn of Mother Jones to ask Press Secretary Gibbs about it. Gibbs says WH not interested in an Executive Order. Who woulda thunk that would be the result?

Then we get CAP's reaction:

ThinkProgress spoke with CAP Senior Fellow Lawrence Korb, one of the authors of the report, who reiterated that it’s essential for Obama to suspend the dismissals of gay men and women while working on a long-term solution with Congress.

Essentially, Korb stomps his foot and says, "but I'm right, dammit, you need to do it my way!"

This is why things like Prop 8 get passed. Gay rights activists act with a sense of moral righteousness but no political savvy.

CAP and ThinkProgress should show me a plan to get Obama to sign the Order, not tell us all why he should.

Yesterday was the day of the Queen's Birthday Parade in London.  Started at the beginning of the 20th Century by HM King Edward VII, the official observance of the sovereign's birthday was moved to the summer, so more people could come into London and enjoy the pagentry. 

The most important part of the day's ceremonies is Trooping the Colour, a ceremony held at Horse Guards Parade, across the street from St. James Park, and just a few blocks away from Buckingham Palace. It's a very tightly-choreographed ceremony designed to honor HM The Queen. The origins of the ceremony lie in the need to identify the "colour" or flag of the army to its soldiers, so those soldiers knew where to rally during battle.  The Household Division takes the perfection of the ceremony very seriously, to the point where there are two full-dress rehearsals on the weekends leading up to the Birthday Parade, called the Major General's Parade and the Colonel's Parade.

It's a high honor for the men selected to be the "Escort to the Colour" for the ceremony, and we were fortunate to observe this years' escort, from the 1st Bn The Irish Guards as they were rehearsing.



The Escort to the Colour, rehearsing at Wellington Barracks.  Notice the mixture of uniforms and headgear.  The sergeant in blues obviously has duties elsewhere after this practice.  A number of the men are wearing their full-dress bearskins, to get used to their weight and the visibility limitations the big hats create.  The "colour" is a practice banner.  The regiment received new colours from HM The Queen in 2007, which have an "Iraq 2003" battle honor emblazoned on them.



The officers may be in command, but the Sergeant Major is in charge.  The Sergeant Major (who is a Warrant Officer) holds his "pace stick."



Officer and drill master.  After practising one particular manoeuvre, and totally screwing it up, this officer turned to my wife and I and through the fence said, "this is why we have rehearsals." He was a bit embarrassed that they messed up as bad as the Sergeant Major thought they had. 

What impressed me most about this brief interlude with the Irish Guards is how professional they all were.  Here's a group of men who have spent a lot of time in Iraq, totally shifting gears, taking up the ceremonial duty of serving as bodyguard to their sovereign.  They take that duty as seriously as they do their overseas deployments.  No "toy soldiers" these, and they get have my utmost admiration and respect.  As well as my thanks, because many of them will soon be deploying back to the Middle East.



The Irish Guards clean up good! When we came out of the Guards Museum (located next to Wellington Barracks) a while later, this detachment of the regiment was forming up to be the "New Guard" for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We watched that ceremony, and it's described on YatTravel.