Jazzfest ramblings and an art gush
First off, Jazzfest! I was totally absent from the world wide web yesterday because I was in New Orleans at Jazzfest! More specifically the Dave Matthews Band concert that ended yesterday's portion of the festival. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely totally worth the draggy feeling I have today and the driving through all the rain we got yesterday. (much and badly needed rain, we're in a drought)
The concert was amazing but it the whole trip was depressing too. I knew in my head that New Orleans is not recovering as quickly as they should. *glares at Congress, FEMA and politicians in general* The city has no money, so cleanup isn't being done. They've laid off nearly 20,000 city employees with more layoffs expected. Things like that happen when the state loses money too and has none to give the city to help them out. The state alone lost $1.3 billion due to Katrina and Rita. They hit exactly 26 days apart and wreaked much havoc on my state's economy. I don't even want to see the number for how much money New Orleans is losing! Still losing, every single day. 3/4'ths of the city's budget came from tourism dollars being spent and the city collecting the taxes. The tourists are gone, so the money is gone too. I work at a historic site partially funded by the state. Less than 50% of our funding comes from the state. We got a HUGE budget cut.
Louisiana has been forgotten. Again. There are only 31 days till hurricane season starts. Those 31 days are going to go by very quickly, and then the longest 6 months of the year will start.
In happier news, Deborah Grieves released Summer Cameo Friday!!!!!! What a wonderful thing to see when I checked in at the HAED board earlier today. The begging campaign has already begun. :D I am one very happy Deb Grieves fan and will be the most ecstatic HAED stitcher on the planet when Summer is charted and released.
The concert was amazing but it the whole trip was depressing too. I knew in my head that New Orleans is not recovering as quickly as they should. *glares at Congress, FEMA and politicians in general* The city has no money, so cleanup isn't being done. They've laid off nearly 20,000 city employees with more layoffs expected. Things like that happen when the state loses money too and has none to give the city to help them out. The state alone lost $1.3 billion due to Katrina and Rita. They hit exactly 26 days apart and wreaked much havoc on my state's economy. I don't even want to see the number for how much money New Orleans is losing! Still losing, every single day. 3/4'ths of the city's budget came from tourism dollars being spent and the city collecting the taxes. The tourists are gone, so the money is gone too. I work at a historic site partially funded by the state. Less than 50% of our funding comes from the state. We got a HUGE budget cut.
Louisiana has been forgotten. Again. There are only 31 days till hurricane season starts. Those 31 days are going to go by very quickly, and then the longest 6 months of the year will start.
In happier news, Deborah Grieves released Summer Cameo Friday!!!!!! What a wonderful thing to see when I checked in at the HAED board earlier today. The begging campaign has already begun. :D I am one very happy Deb Grieves fan and will be the most ecstatic HAED stitcher on the planet when Summer is charted and released.
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posted by Rachel Leigh Smith | 4/30/2006 06:52:00 PM
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