Tipitina’s is as Louisianian as the day is long. Named after a piano number by New Orleans’ blues musician Professor Longhair, Tipitina’s has lived so many lives within this one life, beginning in 1977 as a neighborhood juke joint and growing up to be a juice bar, a restaurant and even the headquarters of New Orleans radio station WWOZ for a spell (DJs would record live shows by lowering a microphone down through a hole in the floor). These days, Tipitina’s is a night club, community center and a non-profit, dedicating its time to preserving the rich and storied musical culture of New Orleans, supporting struggling musicians victimized by Hurricane Katrina and providing musical instruments and uniforms for public school marching bands.
It’s been ten years since Hurricane Katrina, and still the city rebuilds. For the next two weeks, Ace is matching up to $5,000 in donations for our friends in New Orleans at Tipitina’s Foundation, Liberty’s Kitchen and Preservation Hall Foundation. These organizations embody the courange and resilience intrinsic to human triumph. You give. We will, too.
The library has helped me on this tour because it gets new books immediately, it seems, and with its snazzy online request and alert system delivers those books to the Mid-City branch a couple blocks down Orleans Avenue from my apartment and then texts me to let me know they’ve arrived. (Current order: Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely, because I need to steal its plot for the novella I’m writing.)
I mentioned this great service and convenience on the twitters, and left internet literary friends from all over the country wanting to demand the same level of awesome from their own local libraries.
2. While delivering the best integration of online and in-person service I’ve ever experienced from a library, the New Orleans Public Library has been laboring under an impending budget crisis, which has meant often limited hours–my Mid-City Branch Library has to close on Fridays, and can’t offer all the programs it wishes it could as often as it wants to.
The same is true across the city, and it’s a situation that will only get worse. In 2016, the library will exhaust its reserve funds, and without help will have to further cut hours, close up to seven of its 14 branches, and curtail its programs.
3. The solution is a new millage to fund library services. Here’s what’ll happen if, during early voting or on May 2, you vote for the millage proposal: Library hours will increase, with six branches open seven days a week and nine open six days a week; the library will expand its already excellent technology and collections services; and–you’ll notice the numbers six and nine add up to 15, not 14–the Nora Navra Library in the Seventh Ward, destroyed in 2005, will be expanded and made excellent and reopened.
4. Look, New Orleans, if we want nice things–if we want to keep the nice things we already have, and to make them better–we have to do it ourselves. We’re sure as hell not getting the help from Jindaltopia (currently headquartered in Iowa, last I heard).
A lot of people whine that New Orleans is like a third world country. It’s not. But seems to me often a Venn diagram would have a circle of people who say that overlapping with a circle of people working to make it true.
The New Orleans Public Library is freakin’ awesome and can get even better. On May 2, I’m going to walk up the street to my polling place, and vote for the library millage. If you can vote in Orleans Parish, you should do the same. (Here’s more.)
Saturday April 18th is Record Store Day – one of the best shopping days of the year. Over 500 titles are being released this year, many of them rarities never to be seen again. We’ll be out and about catching live music, drinking free beer, and digging through crates all day long.
Stop in to dig through our small collection of records curated by Domino Sound, Joey Buttons, and Brice Nice. We also have a few locally exclusive releases including
Flexxseal 004 by Christopher Joseph. You’ll need a bag or two to carry all the records you’ll be buying so we’re taking 20% off all totes. Personally we’ll be using a few of our Always New Orleans tote bags.
Local record label Disko Obscura’s store is nestled in a beautiful new space it occupies with fellow DNO friends DVRA and Tchoup Industries. Label owner Joey Buttons will be playing records throughout the day and will have new releases in stock along with a few of the more worthwhile Record Store Day releases. Purchase of a record gets you a free beer (21+) and a chance to win every Disko Obscura and Sinking City release on vinyl.
Euclid Records is promising their largest shipment of RSD releases to date. Live music kicks off with Luke Winslow King at 12pm, followed by Lovelee and J at 1pm, DANNY at 2pm, The Kid Carsons at 3pm, and Chicken Snake closing things out at 4pm. Free beer from Markey’s Bar while supplies last.
Peaches will have ridiculous amounts of RSD releases and the most ridiculous attraction of the day – an in-store petting zoo. If that doesn’t get you there maybe free Hansen’s sno-balls, free Red Bull, and ticket giveaways will.
We’re not sure if anything out of the ordinary is happening at Domino but honestly who needs gimmicks with such an amazing collection to pick through? We’ll be closing out our day here and heading over to Parkway for a po-boy and a couple of cold ones after. Maybe we’ll see you there. The first round is on us.
Americans love Mexican food. We consume nachos, tacos, burritos, tortas, enchiladas, tamales and anything resembling Mexican in enormous quantities. We love Mexican beverages, happily knocking back huge amounts of tequila, mezcal and Mexican beer every year. We love Mexican people—as we sure…
