LIVING

The latest lifestyle news from around New Orleans

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneCharlie Thensted reads with his son, Charles Thensted, 5.

CHARLIE THENSTED,
61, lawyer and financial adviser

So what have you been reading lately?: Oh, "The Selfish Crocodile," "100 Things You Don't Know About Dinosaurs," "You Can Give a Pig a Pancake, " "How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food," "Dragonology."

InsideOut transfers editor Stephanie Stroud lived in a duplex that didn't flood, quite. But, as with all of us, the storm affected her life nevertheless.

This week in The Reading Life, mysteries columnist Diana Pinckley talks with Bill Loehfelm, winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for his thriller, "Fresh Kills."

And children's book columnist Marigny Dupuy surveys inspiring biographies in picture book form.

Susan Larson, Book editor

LITERARY EVENTS

The National WWII Museum Events 945 Magazine St. Lunchbox Lecture: "Feeding an Army, " presented by Lauren Handley, " noon. Call 527.6012, ext. 229. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 Tues.-Sun. Discounted admission for Louisiana residents.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneAuthor Bill Loehfelm's book "Fresh Kills," was chosen as winner of the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

New Orleanian Bill Loehfelm wrote most of his new novel at a small table near the window in the back of Rue de la Course because it was then the only coffee shop in his neighborhood that allowed smoking inside.

Ellis Lucia / The Times-Picayune archiveContemporary Arts Center curator Dan Cameron

Prospect 1 New Orleans, a city-wide international art exhibition -- the first of its kind in the United States -- takes place from Nov. 1 to Jan. 18.

What does that mean to you?

Chris Granger / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints and WVUE owner Tom Benson

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson promised that his May purchase of local Fox affiliate WVUE-Channel 8 was just the first of several film and video ventures for his new Louisiana Media Co.

"Our plans aren't to just stop here," he said then. "We're planning to get into other media. Our plans are just developing. We're going to be in the movie business.

"This will all be part of this. We're in an infant stage."

Louisiana Media officials announced at a Tuesday afternoon press conference that Horizon Entertainment, an Atlanta-area video production company, will relocate to New Orleans and operate out of WVUE's Jefferson Davis Parkway facility.

According to Horizon's website, the company's production credits include "docu-reality" sports series for the cable-TV networks MTV ("2-a-days") and ESPN ("Varsity, Inc."), as well as cable pay-per-view specials set in Mardi Gras and the annual Sturgis, S.D., "Bike Week."

"Our goals are simple -- to create new jobs, boost the economy and do so with an industry that is clean and green," Benson said at a news conference announcing the deal.

John and Georgia Bickel were blissfully asleep when their son, who lives with them, came running into their bedroom. "Major flooding!" he screamed. "Get up!"

Danny Bourque / The Times-PicayuneJohn and Georgia Bickel Southwood, Indiana, when the Mississippi River came pouring through their Indiana home this summer.

LITERARY EVENTS

Octavia Books 513 Octavia St. Book launch, reading and signing for "City of Refuge" by Tom Piazza, 6. Free. Call 899.7323.

Hubbell Library Author Night Carriage House behind the Algiers Courthouse, 225 Morgan St., Algiers Point. Anthony Margavio is the guest author, 6:30. He discusses and signs his book "Bread and Respect: The Italians of Louisiana." Free. Light refreshments. Call 596.2640.

WISTWIST's Kaare Johnson interviews New Orleans City Council member Arnie Fielkow in the station's new French Quarter studio on Friday.

News-talk WIST AM-690 has been operating out of its newly refurbished space on the downriver end of Decatur Street for a few weeks already, but the coming-out party for the new digs came Friday afternoon (August 15).

WIST had long operated out of a suburban setting, and the move back to the Quarter by owner George Buck's GHB Broadcasting wasn't the cheapest option available.

"We knew it would be a little more expensive to operate out of here - a lot more - but it's worth it," said Dan Frazier, general manager.

POINTING THE WAY

ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Tannen's tongue-in-cheek 'Crucifish.'

Gesturing toward the statue of Robert E. Lee atop the towering column at Lee Circle, artist Robert Tannen revealed a recent discovery. Lee, he said, was not facing north -- not exactly. The general was skewed left of true magnetic north. Not much, but a little. Lee's exact direction came to light as Tannen converted the 114-year-old monument to a kind of mega-compass.

Illustration by Kenneth Harrison / The Times-PicayuneNew web tool allows you to upload your favorite city sounds onto a Google map.

A kid in a nearby park bangs the same rhythm on a metal pole almost every evening. The sound gets stuck in Heather Booth's head.

"It's so specific," she said. "I'm not sure it would speak to anyone else, except maybe the people in a one-block radius. But to me, it's the sound of my neighborhood."

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneCarl Gustafson is a commercial photographer, shrimper and "jack of all trades" who spends his time working on his Chalmette home.

When's the last time you met somebody from Chalmette who warned you not to confuse him with the king of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf?

Well, they both wear glasses, and they both have gray hair. But that's about it -- except for this: The local guy's name is Carl Gustafson (Gus-TAF-son) and he is of Swedish (and French) descent.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Toastmasters Meeting Latter Memorial Library, 5120 St. Charles Ave. New Orleans Toastmasters Club hosts an open weekly meeting to hone the arts of speaking, listening and thinking, 6. Call 251.8600.

Steven Forster / The Times-PicayuneRockin' Dopsie Jr. is one of six entertainers booked for "Pelicanpalooza" a benefit concert being held at Southport Hall on Sunday, August 17, from noon to 8 p.m.

With more volunteers and resources, Camp Pelican could certainly take on more campers. It's the goal of Ashley Belding and Brandy Landry, co-event chairs for the Louisiana Pulmonary Disease Camp's annual "Pelicanpalooza" fundraiser, to see to it that next year's camp can accommodate more than the 100-plus children who attended this year's weeklong camp, which serves adolescents afflicted with pulmonary disorders such as cystic fibrosis and asthma, or children who depend on ventilators.

Read Susan Larson's profile on "City of Refuge" Author Tom Piazza.

Tom Piazza's "City of Refuge" -- a tale of two families, two cities, really -- is the big Katrina novel here at last, reconstructing a city's stubborn spirit through a writer's keen vision into singular human hearts. It remembers the life before, honors the lives lost, and adds its urgency to the struggle that continues.

M. Spencer Green / APIn this Thursday, June 7, 2007, file photo, actor Bernie Mac walks the red carpet at a movie premiere of Ocean's Thirteen in Chicago. Mac's publicist says, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008, the actor and comedian has died. Photos from Mac's career. »

Bernie Mac's legacy will be laughter, but his New Orleans fans have reason to love him, as well as mourn his loss, beyond career highlights.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Breton Sound Marina, Hopedale. Champion fishing teams from around the country compete in the premier saltwater fishing competition, along with free tailgate parties with music, local seafood, children's activities, sports giveaways, 11 a.m.-5. Today'sevents include a 10 a.m. Mass at the harbor and 11 a.m. blessing of the fleet. Free shuttle buses will be available to take visitors from the St. Bernard Civic Auditorium complex, 8245 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, to the events, 9:15 a.m.-3. Call 278.4242., www.visitstbernard.com.

There was a time when snapshots were something to stuff in an album and place on a shelf, to be pulled out occasionally when dear friends wanted to chuckle over your Farrah Fawcett hair and your micro-miniskirt from back in the day.

But, now, thanks to online picture-sharing and social-networking sites, friends aren't the only ones looking. Co-workers, former classmates, long-lost acquaintances and even creepy guys you've never met can flip through your favorite snaps at their leisure.

Courtesy of PicWashThis is a photo before it was put through PicWash's slimming service.

Courtesy of PicWashThis is the photo after going through the slimming service.

Jennifer Zdon / The Times-Picayune Lauren Cangelosi of the Tipitina's Foundation sorts through hundreds of musical instruments searching for a sousaphone among the many instruments to be donated young musicians.

Early Wednesday morning, a truck laden with 3,300 pounds of music pulled up to a Mid-City storage facility.

Four sweaty staffers from the Tipitina's Foundation, the nonprofit philanthropic arm of the famed music club, spent the day unpacking, sorting and labeling brass, woodwinds, drums and more.

"There's a little bit of everything, " said the foundation's Lauren Cangelosi, flanked by 72 black trumpet cases stacked 10 high. "Cellos, violins, violas, sousaphones, clarinets, baritone saxophones. You name it, we've got it."

Chris Granger / The Times-PicayuneSundance camera crews catch Tulane students in action for the new TV series, which will debut on Wednesday. The reality show focuses on both the goals and challenges of the URBANbuild process.

The slick opening credits of the Sundance Channel documentary series "Architecture School," highlighting the Tulane University School of Architecture students who participated in the yearlong project to design and build a home in New Orleans' Central City, mirrors those that introduce every episode of "Real World."

SPECIAL EVENTS

Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Breton Sound Marina, Hopedale. Champion fishing teams from around the country compete in the premier saltwater fishing competition, today-Sun., along with free tailgate parties with music, local seafood, children's activities, sports giveaways, 10 a.m.-5. Shrimp-peeling competitions, paddle-decorating contests, a Splash Dog competition and other events are planned. Free shuttle buses will be available to take visitors from the St. Bernard Civic Auditorium complex, 8245 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, to the events, 9:15 a.m.-3. Call 278.4242., www.visitstbernard.com.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneLynda Anderson posed for the AARP model search Friday outside the Riverwalk.

"Me, a model?" seemed to be the initial reaction of many who walked by a tent at Riverwalk Marketplace Friday (Aug. 15), where AARP The Magazine hosted a modeling search for men and women over 50 years old.

But a few gamely entered the tent, had their pictures taken and wrote a brief statement about why they represent "the face of 50+." The magazine, hosting the third year of its "The Faces of 50+: Real People Model Search," will choose several contest entrants from a range of age groups to win a trip to New York and be featured in a beauty or fashion spread in AARP The Magazine.

"Storm of Murder," an episode of CBS's "48 Hours Mystery" detailing the murders of filmmaker Helen Hill and musician Dinerral Shavers, will rerun at 8 p.m. Saturday (August 16) on WWL-Channel 4.

Advance press material says updates on both cases will be included in the story, which was originally reported by correspondent Erin Moriarty and which first aired in October.