LIVING

The latest lifestyle news from around New Orleans

Courtesy of The Ogden Museum of Art

The Ogden Museum of Southern Art opened a branch today (July 3) in WaterColor, a planned community just east of Grayton Beach on Florida's booming northwest coast. The new "satellite" museum has been installed in a 2,200-square-foot former art gallery/coffee shop near the center of the resort.

Ogden director Rick Gruber said he's been aware of the rapid development along scenic Highway 30A since before Hurricane Katrina.

"I've been traveling back and forth watching the north Florida area grow, wondering why the visual art component wasn't stronger," he said.

Gardening-advice expert Dan Gill, a local Saturday-morning radio fixture for nearly two decades, next weekend will transplant "The Garden Show" from WWWL AM-1350 to sister station WWL AM-870.

Look for Gardening-advice expert Dan Gill on WWL AM-870 starting Saturday, July 12.

The move is a result of a format shift at WWWL, which earlier this week wrested ESPN Radio programming from WODT AM-1280.

Among other weekend changes at both stations, Gill's call-in show will air from 7-9 a.m. Saturday on WWL, starting July 12.

A horticulturist with the LSU AgCenter since 1980, Gill also writes a weekly column for the Times-Picayune's Saturday InsideOut section, and makes regular Thursday appearances on WWL-Channel 4's morning newscast.

"Of all the mass media I do, radio is one of the most pleasurable," Gill said. "It's not like sitting down and cranking out a column, or preparing to do a filming where you're getting props and a script together.

"This is just sitting down and talking gardening to gardeners - and non-gardeners, people who are driving in their car who would never consider themselves gardeners who say, 'Oh, I have this particular weed,' and pick up the phone and call."

Health Screenings at Essence Festival Sponsored "House of Payne"

The Essence Music Festival not only provides a weekend of entertainment, but also the opportunity to check out your health. New Orleanian Tyler Perry's TBS comedy series "House of Payne" is sponsoring a free health event at which certified medical technicians will provide screenings for glucose, blood pressure and height-to-weight ratio.

What: "No Payne, No Gain" health screenings, with information on health issues of special concern to African-Americans, particularly diabetes and heart disease.

When: Saturday, July 5 and Sunday, July 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Essence Marketplace, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd., Hall A

Cost: Free.

This week in the Food pages, Ann Maloney gives us a sumptous bounty of non-traditional potato salad recipes perfect for that Fourth of July cookout! (You'll be so glad you tried the Sweet potato salad.) For the kid in all of us, Exchange Alley has ideas for easy red, white and blue foods, as well as recipes for a lucious low-fat Lemon buttermilk ice cream, Frozen margarita pie and a recipe from the long-gone restaurant Marti's, for Salad Nicoise. Marcelle Bienvenu gives her favorite fig recipes, including one for pizza with goat cheese, proscuitto and figs, as well as old favorites: two kinds of fig preserves and her favorite fig cake.

Judy Walker, Food Editor

Potato salad is a personal thing. Following the family recipe -- one handed down from mother to child -- was essential in my tribe. We would no more think of leaving out the olives or adding green beans than we would think of celebrating the Fourth of July without fireworks.

And potato salad without mayonnaise?
Unheard of.

MichaeI Democker / Times-PicayuneThis holiday put a new twist on that old-fashioned potato salad recipe.

Potato salad is time-consuming to create, especially for my clan. I am the youngest of eight children, so making enough for a group that size (add in in-laws, grandchildren and friends) meant my mother would have two big pots of spuds boiling on the stove, with more than a dozen eggs and lots of hands on deck for the dicing and chopping of pickles, olives and celery.

The salad would be placed in a huge bowl, and I can remember my mother calling on my father to start the mixing process because it required a bit of elbow grease. Even though it was a big task, we never stinted on ingredients.

Tyler Perry, will receive a key to the city of New Orleans on the Fourth of July at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Independence Day is the perfect day for New Orleans and the Essence Music Festival to honor Tyler Perry.

A New Orleans native who's gone on to become a multimedia entertainment mogul, Perry is scheduled to receive the key to the city from Mayor Ray Nagin on Friday at about 11 a.m. during a "Tyler Perry and Friends" seminar at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

That auspicious event will be bracketed by tributes, interviews, screenings and contests -- all revolving around Perry and his work, which includes writing, directing and acting in stage plays, movies and on TV.

Among the day's highlights -- full schedule: www.essence.com -- will be a 3:30 p.m. panel interview with the cast of the TBS comedy "Tyler Perry's House of Payne."

Also a best-selling author, Perry has made himself a force in show business by working almost entirely independently from it.

Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneHEART ASSOCIATION GALA: Dr. Robert and Beverly Matheney, Deborah Hernandez, Gerald Parton.

First you've gotta have Heart. Back-to-back was the billing for two recent bashes that made Saturday scintillating and Sunday garden-gorgeous.

"In celebration of New Orleans, and our decade of service in the metro area, we were more than pleased to sponsor the New Orleans Heart Gala this year," said Gerald Parton, COO of Peoples Health, and half of the bash's co-chairing team with Rita Benson LeBlanc of the New Orleans Saints. The site for the night was the Astor Crowne Plaza. A reception and silent auction launched the levity at 6 p.m. Two hours later, the dinner and live auction filled the hobnobbing hours that had musical punctuation by Deacon John and the Ivories. Steve Kniper of Acadian Ambulance Service described the gala as "really a class act."

A magazine-format TV series, "LA Rider," makes its New Orleans debut at 10:30 p.m. Thursday (July 3) on WPXL-Channel 49.

The subject is motorcycles, and the series has been airing in Baton Rouge and Lafayette since March 2005.

There are two types of people who fly across the Atlantic Ocean on their vacations. The first are like my friend who hits the ground running.

Millie Ball, Travel editor

Cathy landed at London's Gatwick Airport with the dawn, caught the train into Victoria Station, ventured to Trafalgar Square and immediately found a double decker city bus tour, which she said was "Fab." All perky, I'm sure.

Then there are the rest of us, who also get off planes at 7 a.m.London time. Our eyes are glassy, and we stumble and mumble about how it's not 7 a.m., it's 1 a.m. in New Orleans, for goodness sakes! Did that woman just smile at me?!! Geesch.

This week in The Reading Life, we take wing with Baton Rouge Advocate columnist Danny Heitman's "Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House," a beautifully written account of the artist's transformative time in Louisiana. Provocateur Robert Olen Butler is back with a new collection of stories, "Intercourse," which imagines 57 couples caught in the act. Jason Berry reviews David Lida's new book, "First Stop in the New World," an inside look at Mexico City.

Susan Larson, Book editor

"A Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House" by Danny Heitman.

A SUMMER OF BIRDS: JOHN JAMES AUDUBON AT OAKLEY HOUSE
Danny Heitman (Louisiana State University Press, $26.95)

In the opening paragraph of his lovely book, "A Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House," Danny Heitman, a columnist for the Baton Rouge Advocate, sets the tone for what is to come:

"Bird-watching, like all other forms of pursuit, has a lot of near-misses. Hearing a wistful trill, or glimpsing a flurry of feathers from the corner of his eyes, the observer pivots in the direction of his prize, only to find an empty branch still trembling like an arrow fresh from its quill. A sense of narrowly eluded encounter also touches Oakley House, a plantation home in Louisiana's West Feliciana Parish where the legendary bird artist John James Audubon lived from June though October of 1821, and now operated as a historical site by the state of Louisiana. Though Audubon left Oakley nearly two centuries ago, it can seem to the visitor as if the renowned artist has just slipped out the door."

"Intercourse: Stories" by Robert Olen Butler.

INTERCOURSE: STORIES
Robert Olen Butler (Chronicle Books, $22.95)

Robert Olen Butler never has been one to flinch from the searching look at intimacy, which he has combined, often winningly, with the structure of a concept book. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain," he gave poignant, unforgettable voice to the Vietnamese immigrants who had settled in south Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast, allowing readers a glimpse into a magical world.

In "Tabloid Dreams," he was inspired to tell "the real stories" behind the garish headlines of supermarket reading matter. In "Had a Good Time," he drew from his collection of antique postcards, fleshing out brief messages to offer snapshots of American life. Then in "Severance," he gave us last thoughts -- a rushing stream of end time after a person's head had been severed from his body. So "Intercourse," his new collection of brief stories, takes the next logical step, peering into the minds of (mostly famous) people as they are making love.

COLUMBIA PICTURESHancock (Will Smith), the superhero with the image problem, gives his publicist (Jason Bateman) a lift.

If you really wanted to give Will Smith a superhero name, what about "Mr. Independence Day"? Or how about "The Fresh Prince of Patriotism"? Or even "Captain America"?

After all, in addition to being one of the most charming and thoroughly likable leading men in Hollywood, the guy is money on July Fourth weekend. "Independence Day," "Men in Black," "Wild Wild West" -- if it hits theaters on or near the holiday weekend and it's got Smith's name on the marquee, it's a strong bet to shoot to the top of the box-office heap with a rocket's red glare.

He is legend, indeed, and his latest Independence Day outing, "Hancock," isn't likely to change that.

It's got the fireworks, it's got the funny, it's got Smith and -- though it also has its flaws -- it's got crowd-pleaser written all over it.

David Grunfeld / The Times-PicayuneNelson Gonzalez

NELSON GONZALEZ
30, waiter

When did you start reading? I've always been a reader. Books have always been my escape -- especially when I was younger and I really couldn't have too many adventures.

I didn't come from a family of readers -- at least they weren't reading for pleasure. My mom is Mexican, so she struggled with English. My dad is a pilot, more into technical stuff, science stuff.

My mother is an ESL teacher now -- English as a second language. She's constantly reading now. We'll get together and talk about books. It's cute.

In addition to checking out the music at the "party with a purpose," meet some of your favorite authors at the Essence Festival, signing books after their seminars. Many Festival authors will also make appearances over the weekend at Community Book Center.

Here's a look at authors signing in at the Convention Center :

Susan Poag / The Times-PicayuneOn Friday, July 4, from 3:30-4:30 p.m., Tom Joyner will sigh his book "I'm Just a Dee Jay --But It Makes Sense to Me" at the Convention Center.

Friday, July 4

3:30-4:30 p.m. Michelle McKinney Hammond ("How to Make Life Work"), Big Boom ("How to Duck a Suckah," "If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs"), Brenda Wade ("Love Lessons a Guide to Transforming Relationships"), Finesse Mitchell ("Your Girlfriends Only Know So Much: A Brother's Take on Dating and Mating for Sistas"), Donna Richardson Joyner)

Saturday, July 5

Noon-1:30 p.m. Grandmaster Flash ("The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats"), Finesse Mitchell, Big Boom

2:15-3:15 p.m. Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint ("Come On People ")

WEDNESDAY'S CALENDAR

CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES

Library Summer Reading Programs Mid-City Library, 330 N. Carrollton Ave. Longue Vue Gardens presents a pro´gram on the importance of bees with a story, song and crafts, 10:30 a.m. Li´brary programs are free.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

The National WWII Museum Events 945 Magazine St. "Schindler," a traveling ex´hibition from The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, now open. Call 527-6012, ext. 229. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 Tues.-Sun.

"First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, The Capital of the 21st Century" by David Lida.

FIRST STOP IN THE NEW WORLD: MEXICO CITY, THE CAPITAL OF THE 21ST CENTURY
By David Lida (Riverhead Books, $25.95)

In "First Stop in the New World," David Lida, an American entranced with Mexico City, gives a hip-smart tour through a baroque society that has swelled from 5 million to 20 million people since 1950.

The author of an esteemed book of short stories, "Travel Advisory," Lida has lived in Mexico City for years. He writes of a surreal city with fascination for the human comedy at every level. As the poor build makeshift industrial suburbs, "Mexico City is constantly improvising a new invention of itself."

In the same way Walter Benjamin wrote of 19th-century Paris as a flaneur, or endless walker, Lida makes his daily rounds with abiding curiosity. "No city I know is as generous to its drinkers," he writes of the cantinas where "from 2 o'clock on, one is rewarded with botanos, food cooked on the premises."

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneDinerral Shavers, 8, left, Darrel Allen, 8, and Khalid Allen,12, check out their new instruments. On Thursday, June 26, the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund gave away 20 guitars to both young and well established musicians in town. (see photos)

Let us pause to consider, once again, the kindness of strangers.

There is a young woman in the north Chicago suburbs -- Wilmette, Ill., to be exact -- who cooked up a rather unorthodox plan to celebrate a hallowed rite of passage in her life.

Her name is Mel Racenstein and, as her bat mitzvah approached this past May 31, she told her parents that she would like to forgo the bundle of cash and gifts that generally attend the Jewish celebration of a young woman's entrance into adulthood and, instead, would like to buy -- of all things -- a bunch of guitars for kids in New Orleans.

At the very same time, a couple of kids from the Discher family in Wheaton, a western suburb of Chicago, decided to canvass their neighborhood residents and businesses, soliciting donations for a trip they planned to take with their family to New Orleans this month.

Eliot Kamenitz / The Times-PicayuneCome Essence Festival, local makeup artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis is one busy bee. She's booked to work on the visiting Essence officials and celebs.

Brandy Gomez-Duplessis gets exhausted even thinking about her schedule for this weekend's Essence Music Festival.

There are the daytime seminars, panel discussions and media appearances and then the nighttime concerts, after parties and private events -- at least for her clients.

Gomez-Duplessis is a local makeup artist. She won't be grooving in the Super Lounges or dancing to Kanye West till she drops. Chances are she'll be in bed long before he hits the stage.

From Thursday through Sunday, Gomez-Duplessis will be keeping farmer's hours. Her first appointment starts at 5 a.m. and her day wraps up after 8 in the evening.

Daniel Erath / The Times-PicayuneFITZMORRIS DINNER: Joe Canizaro, Mary Jane and John Becker, Jimmy Fitzmorris.

The party palette!

Three recent events brushstroked bonhomie, thanks to the First Bank and Trust Jimmy Fitzmorris Award Dinner honoring Mary Jane and John Becker at the Audubon Tea Room, and a brace of installations. That ado for the Rotary Club of New Orleans International Airport unfolded at the Colonial Golf and Country Club as a banquet, while New Orleans Art Association officers were tapped in Ralph's on the Park at midday.

At the Tea Room, FBT board vice chairman Mel Lagarde launched the formalities with a welcome. (Another role he just assumed was father of the bride when daughter Erin swapped vows with Edward Spooner Jr.) From the FBT board were bank president Mickey Brown, chairman Joe Canizaro with spouse Sue Ellen, A.J. Adolph with Joan, David Guidry, Donald Ensenat (who answers to ambassador in select circles), Ralph Cox with Patricia, and another Patricia, Pat Denechaud, with Dene. Pat rated thanks for handling the event's logistics.

The cable network VH1 is staging a free concert by Big Sam's Funky Nation at the Blue Nile (532 Frenchmen St.) at 9 p.m. July 10.

The event is for an episode of a new series titled "Soul Cities," an exploration of the music scenes in New Orleans, Memphis, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area and Philadelphia.

New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul will be among the U.S. Olympics men's basketball squad members profiled in the premiere episode of the series "Road to Redemption," scheduled to debut at 6 p.m. Wednesday (July 2) on the cable network ESPN-2.

The five-part documentary series, produced by NBA Entertainment and sponsored by a very large sneaker company whose name rhymes with Mikey, will document the team's preparations for this summer's gold rush in Beijing.

Mary Jackson / The Times-PicayuneTom Fitzmorris will air weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m. on AM-1350.

Almost-all-rerun radio is done at WWWL-AM-1350, which dropped its old WSMB call letters in late 2006 and began re-airing talk programs generated by simulcast cousins WWL-AM-870 and FM-105.3

Starting today, WWWL will carry a lineup of ESPN Radio network programs, some of which had been running on WODT-AM-1280.

Surviving the format flip: Tom Fitzmorris' "The Food Show," which in July will celebrate its 20th anniversary on the New Orleans airwaves.

According to a teaser Web site trumpeting the programming switch -- www.1350espn.com -- Fitzmorris' show will air from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneWith gas cost soaring, more New Orleanians are choosing to commute via bicycles. Each morning dozens of bikers take the Algiers ferry with their bikes in tow.

What burns calories, saves time and money and pleasures the senses?

No, not a personal trainer with a set of Suze Orman DVDs and a penchant for aromatherapy.

It's bike commuting.

It also cuts down on greenhouse gases, traffic congestion and parking overflow while reducing stress and improving your health. But there is the risk of addiction, says one two-wheeled commuter.

"I feel I haven't fully lived my life that day if I haven't ridden my bike to work," says local author Richard Campanella, who commutes 14.2 miles round-trip each day from his home in Bywater to his job at Tulane University.

The 30th annual Mandeville Seafood Festival is ramping up this year with more days of entertainment and a new, larger location.

The festival, which has moved from old Mandeville to Fontainebleau State Park, has added concerts on Wednesday, July 2, and Thursday, July 3, to kick off the Fourth of July weekend celebration.

Scott Threlkeld / The Times-PicayuneThe Mandeville Seafood Festival will no longer be in old Mandeville, but in Fontainebleau State Park. The move allowed organizers to add to their festivities.

"Three years before Hurricane Katrina hit, we knew we needed to expand," said Bill Dobson, president of the Greater Mandeville Seafood Association. "Now that we're finally in a bigger location, there's even more room to expand. We're all thrilled to be offering five nights of fun for everyone!"

On Wednesday night, the opening concert will feature Leif Pedersen's 1944 Big Band from 7 to 9:30 p.m.