“The Real World: New Orleans” production company scouted three homes, including one in the French Quarter, before settling on the Uptown mansion of former New Orleans Hornets star Baron Davis as its set.

It’s a departure from recent seasons, in which the pioneering reality-TV series has housed its cast of young people and the cameras that document their every move inside a movie-set-style apartment built inside an industrial space.

“My last few seasons, the show has always been shot in a large commercial space which we actually create, ” said Charles Aubrey, freelance production designer for Los Angeles-based Bunim/Murray Productions, which created the series in 1992. “We actually create bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, all that.”

Not so for the upcoming New Orleans season, the series’ 24th, set to debut at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

“This one we did a little light remodel and kind of redecorated, ” Aubrey said.

And that bit of understatement is the only understated thing about the “The Real World: New Orleans” house, located in the 1600 block of Dufossat Street.

Or rather, it was. All of the colorful-unto-dizzying decor was stripped, salvaged for re-use or discarded immediately after filming wrapped in late April.

But a tour of the house a few days before shooting concluded showed it to be a New Orleans tourist’s fever dream of themed rooms dedicated to voodoo, cemeteries, food and Mardi Gras misbehavior.

‘

Garish? Unreal? A cliche-perpetuating pastiche?

Yes. Of course. Why not?

It’s the set of a television series targeted at teenage and young-adult viewers (the show has more than 230,000 Facebook friends), intended to deceive and please and frame the hijinks that are sure to occur.

In this “Real World, ” good taste comes from a keg, bro.

Local artists showcased

One of the most striking elements in the house was a scaled-down facsimile of a St. Charles Avenue streetcar, located in the entry area and built to spec to tie several rooms together, its front end a light box displaying a photo of the interior of a real streetcar.

“We were trying to figure out what we could do in that narrow little space, ” Aubrey said. “We talked about maybe doing the pool table there. We talked about putting a steamboat in there.

“At first we tried desperately to find actual streetcar parts to use to build this thing … but we hit a dead end, and we built it all from scratch.

“Thinking outside the box, we wanted to try to cram as much of New Orleans into this house as possible.”

(Continue at TP)

We heard of Chase Community Giving and wanted to get the word out. They are giving away $5 million, and your vote helps decide which charities receive donations.

Below are some our favorite local charities. As of this post, each charity only has 3-4 votes. Vote and promote so that they can get a portion of these funds.

Chase will announce the 200 winning charities on July 13th.

GULF RESTORATION NETWORK
Mission:The Gulf Restoration Network is committed to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the resources of the Gulf of Mexico.

SWEET HOME NEW ORLEANS AND RENEW OUR MUSIC FUND, INC.
Mission: Sweet Home New Orleans is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to support the individuals and organizations that will perpetuate New Orleans” unique musical and cultural traditions.

SOUTHERN ANIMAL FOUNDATION
Mission: SPAY AND NEUTER ANIMALS AT NO COST TO LOW INCOME FAMILIES AND HOUSING OF ABANDONED ANIMALS.

THE COALITION TO RESTORE COASTAL LOUISIANA
Mission:  To educate the public and coordinate coastal restoration projects of various organizations and individuals in an effort to reduce coastline erosion.

Dawn dishwashing detergent is used to clean up just about anything covered with oil — from birds to sea turtles to human skin. But what makes Dawn so effective?

At a warehouse turned bird bathhouse in Venice, La., dozens of bottles of Dawn stand like soldiers behind a row of deep sinks. It takes three people as much as an hour to get the gooey oil off each pelican. They start by rubbing the bird with cooking oil; veterinarian Heather Nevill says that loosens the sticky petroleum. Then one of the crew sprays it with dish liquid.

“She’s scrubbing very vigorously, getting her fingertips under the feathers to really agitate the feathers in the water,” Nevill says. “It’s that action of getting the detergent into the feathers that really removes the oil.”

The bird is covered with a lot of suds.

“We’re using very heavy concentrations of Dawn because this crude oil has become very weathered, and it’s very difficult to remove,” Nevill adds.

When asked whether they have to use Dawn, Nevill replies, “Dawn definitely works the best. It very effectively removes grease but does not cause harm to the skin of the birds.”

Nevill and the rest of the workers at the International Bird Rescue Research Center sound like walking commercials for Dawn. And that’s not new.

NPR’s Daniel Zwerdling discovered this when he interviewed the group’s founder, Alice Berkner, during the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.

Zwerdling joked, “You’re going to get letters from Ivory and the other companies.”

“I hate to sound like an advertisement,” Berkner said, “but I won’t allow any substitutes for Dawn.”

And in the BP spill, Dawn isn’t just for birds. Even boat captains swear by it.

Kirk Prest, who ferries biologists through the oily waters, says he uses Dawn all the time.

“Just to clean my hands several times during the day,” Prest says. “It cuts the oil the best out of the different soaps. I would say most of the folks working this cleanup know that.”

(Continue at NPR)

WHEN I was in college, I went with a group of 14 friends to London. We took a flight from Miami that cost us only $199. We had a blast.

On the last night in London, half the group wanted to go to a club after dinner. The other half wanted to get some drinks. I couldn’t make up my mind what I wanted to do so I wound up alone.

It was after midnight and I didn’t have cash or my A.T.M. card. I didn’t have a cellphone because no one had cellphones back then. I didn’t even have the address or phone number of my friend’s aunt, whose flat we were staying at while in England.

But I had a rail pass and knew how to get to her home. Unfortunately, the rail didn’t begin running again until 6 a.m., which left me with six hours to kill.

I was afraid of missing the train since we were leaving at 9 a.m. for the United States, and I had to get all my stuff back at the house. I thought that if I sat on a bench at the station I might fall asleep and mess everything up. So I walked the streets of London and saw Big Ben, Parliament, London Bridge and Wimbledon. It was incredible and I was completely blown by away by the architecture and history.

Now I travel a lot for business. Fortunately, I’m much savvier. Well, at least I now carry a cellphone and an A.T.M. card all the time.

Though I still love seeing new places, there’s something about my home, Louisiana, that speaks to my heart. I think Louisiana touches a lot of people. I know that because I’m one of those business types who chats with my seatmates.

Once I introduce myself, and tell people I’m from New Orleans, folks automatically assume I’m a Cajun since my name is pronounced Ro-Bare. I’m not Cajun; my family is of French ancestry.

My seatmates and I might talk business for a while, but invariably, the conversation turns to Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, those of us from the region were the walking wounded.

But the folks I spoke with, whether on a plane or in an airport, showed such true concern and compassion for my city that I was humbled. They wanted us to come back stronger. And I tried to assure them that young entrepreneurs like me were doing everything we could to make sure that happened.

Now we have the oil spill. And again, we’re the walking wounded. I’m not going to lie. It’s difficult, and I don’t think anyone can fully grasp the severity of the spill’s effect until you actually see it.

But once again the people I meet while traveling talk to me about how they hurt for us. Strangers are becoming friends, and that’s an amazingly wonderful experience.

There’s no doubt this latest disaster has been devastating both environmentally and economically. Ultimately, we’ll fight through it as we did after Katrina. That’s just what we do. That’s just who we are. But it helps me to know that so many people care. I can’t thank them enough.

I’ve been to a lot of places since that first London trip back in college. But for me nothing compares to the excitement I feel traveling from a trip to New York or Washington and seeing the Mississippi on our final approach into New Orleans. As soon as the cabin door opens and the warm, humid New Orleans air pours into the plane, I know I’m home.

There’s nothing as beautiful to me. Not even London at night.

From NYT

The Nets are one of several teams that have called the New Orleans Hornets about trading for Chris Paul, but the Hornets are not looking to move their franchise guard, according to team and league sources.

Nets president Rod Thorn, who pulled off the blockbuster deal for Jason Kidd in 2001, has expressed interest in Paul in recent weeks. Reportedly, the Nets have offered Devin Harris and the No. 3 overall pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, but the Hornets, starting a new era under first-time coach Monty Williams, are not ready to part with the face of the franchise and their only box-office draw.

“We are not going to move him,” said one team official Monday. “He’s our foundation and is not exactly ‘touchable.’”

But that hasn’t stopped several teams from calling the Hornets to gauge their interest in a deal to move Paul, who is entering his sixth NBA season.

The Knicks are among several teams that would also love to get Paul, one of the top playmakers in the game.

In the Knicks’ case, if they could land him before July 1, that could possibly help them attract LeBron James when he decides his future.

But like most teams, the Knicks can’t give the Hornets anything close to equal value for Paul, who missed 25 games last season after tearing cartilage in his left knee. That prevented him from making the All-NBA team for the third straight season. He has two years left on his deal, at around $30 million.

Continue at NYDaily