New Orleans...

[fremder99]

Nope... not so much to do with Prog in this post...

But I've come to know that there are many big hearts living here on the Moon, so I'll "put in a request" for all of you to send your most heartfelt thoughts toward the city of New Orleans. There has been no place in America quite like it, but it's a bit unclear if it will ever be anything close to the same...

I've always felt a strange split of feelings towrad NO. On the one hand, it could be one of the most fun cities you'll ever visit, and on the other, it could be the most draining. Nothing about NO was not intense! The people there love hard, and fight hard; in general, they live hard! And, I suspect, they will build the city back with equal intensity!

I live a safe ~80 miles away, and came through the storm relatively unscathed. But, as I look at the images you're no doubt seeing, it's striking how unbelievable the devastation is. And then, you see footage of someone climbing out of their attic (after a rescuer chops his way in with an axe!) who has been clinging quite literally to life in the watery dark, and I can believe this city will recover! There are people hanging on, and there are people working their ass off to save lives.... people looting, and people volunteering to become rescuers... in short, people "riding" a wave (sorry, a better word escapes me) of REdirection in their lives that they could never have foreseen.

I consider myself a generous person, but if, thus far in my life, I've not always been the first to put my hand out, I will certainly be putting it out more often in the future...

Finally, on a Prog note, SOME of what I am remembering is seeing Steve Hackett at Tulane Macalister Auditorium (the Cocteau Twins twice!), Yes at Municipal Auditorium, Tull, Asia, Hackett at the Saenger, hell... let's go waaaay back... Bloodrock and Grand Funk Railroad at the Loyola Field House (ca 1970)!! The city is built around music, and, I suspect, will be rebuilt with a lot of music in the air. Please play your own songs loud, so New Orleans can hear you!