War of 1812 --- Bicentennial

The Navy plans to kick off four years of international events in New Orleans next April to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The celebration will bring to the Crescent City a flotilla of U.S. and foreign warships and tall sailing ships on the Mississippi River and an air show over Lake Pontchartrain. The bicentennial events, which will include port visits and air shows at four other U.S. cities and in following years will highlight War of 1812 battles in the Great Lakes and Canada, also will be concluded in the Crescent City in 2015, to commemorate the Battle of New Orleans, officials said. New Orleans; Norfolk, Va.; New York; Boston; and Baltimore have been designated as “signature cities” next year, meaning the bicentennial activities will include port calls and air shows featuring the Blue Angels.

Something Silly on Saturday

While many of you have seen this image, some of you have not. Rumor has it that the "artist" made changes, darkening Cinderella's hair and changing the colors of the stepsisters' gowns. Still, this is clever. Enjoy.

Too close for comfort

If the Morganza Floodway is not opened to funnel 300,000 cubic feet per second of water from the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya River basin, the additional water could cause levees to fail along the river from Morganza to Plaquemines Parish, including all of the New Orleans area, resulting in as much as 25 feet of floodwater.

The National Weather Service has predicted that at its crest, 1.9 million cubic feet per second of water will flow past the Red River Landing if the floodway is not opened. That would result in a crest of 19.5 feet at the Carrollton Gauge in New Orleans, which is 2.5 feet above official flood stage and just 6 inches below the top of floodwalls. "With a stage at Carrollton of 19.5 feet, we would have to close most of the floodgates along the Mississippi River levee within our jurisdiction," he said. "The port, Public Belt Railroad, recreational areas like the Audubon Aquarium and the Butterfly Park would have to close."

Kid Rock - Jazz Fest 2011

Congrats Dawn & Matt

Lyla Cowen 9 lbs, 5 oz. 20.5 inches

So Very Japanese!!

Ever wish you had cat ears?

Thanks to a new quirky device out of Japan, now you can. A new communication tool called "necommi" - from the company neurowear - uses brain waves from emotions to control and wiggle wearable cat ears. Just as a cat's ears are likely to drop down when it's relaxed, the device reads the emotional state of humans and acts it out through the cat ears. When wearing the ears and feeling relaxed, your own set of cat ears would drop down too. Meanwhile, ears jump up as you concentrate.

Bonnet Carre Spillway

Waging war on a flood of historic proportions that has already affected thousands in eight Midwestern and Southern states, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flooded a spillway Monday north of New Orleans in an effort to calm the rising Mississippi River.

The Corps' decision to open the Bonnet Carre spillway was part of its overall plan to reduce pressure on the levee system and reduce river levels to reduce the threat to low-lying New Orleans and other southern Louisiana communities. The spillway opened on Monday can accommodate about 1.87 million gallons of water per second, diverting water from the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico by way of Lake Pontchartrain.