David and Kermit

Posted on Facebook by Libby Nevinger.  Until tomorrow!!

Please Treme Get Over Yourself

John McWhorter at The New Republic rebuts that mag's previous article on Treme.

(Can't wait to see what Back of Town does to this one!)

Ooooh....Interactive

National Geographic has an interactive map of the Treme.  Now all the tourists know exactly where to go....

Interview with David Simon at Slant

H/T Back of Town. 
Link here

...the act of culture becomes, by default, political. That's not to say that people are aware they're committing a political act when they play a song or go out and listen to a song or dance. They're just living. They're being as New Orleanians. And yet, the truth is, it was culture that brought that city back from a near-death experience. It wasn't political leadership, because there was none. It wasn't significant urban planning, because there was no plan. What brought New Orleans back, to the extent that it's come back in five years is, people couldn't figure out how to live any other way than the way they've been living there for years and years and generations and generations. And there's something beautiful in that. Because American culture is not exactly a heralded thing. And as most of the country becomes more and more homogenized, and as more of a chain-store ethos pervades our culture, this one strange little island has given the world something that the world didn't have before America, which is to say African American music. And it was in danger of dying out. And it didn't die out because of hundreds of thousands of individual acts of ordinary life.

NPR Interview with Lolis Eric Elie

Here you'll find an interview not only about Treme, but also current events like the oil spill, flooding in Tennessee, and Mitch Landrieu taking over the Mayor's office.

...And I'm happy that we're now getting the kind of attention that we deserve for this part of the country. 

Audio and text.

The Real Mystery Cavern Pothole

Dave Walker keeping it real again--this post not only has a picture of the real Mystery Cavern, but also plenty o'links to go around, including to blogbuddies Back of Town (-->look right for link) and yours truly!  *blush*

Walking with Wendell: Backstreet Cultural Museum

I didn't realize there was more than one "Walking with Wendell"--enjoy!

Walking With Wendell: Backstreet Cultural Museum

Infamous BBQ

Courtesy Greg Rhoades of 504otos.com, Kermit's Infamous BBQ Grill. Remember, "Kermit's BBQ is right..."

Preview of #Treme's Episode 5

Ep. 05: Shame, Shame, Shame: Preview

The New Orleans Musicians Clinic

It seems that the Musicians Clinic will lose government funds on August 10 of this year.  This is the organization supported by the Treme fundraiser at the launch of this first season.  Take a look at this 8 minute video, and if you're so moved, help. 

David Simon's World

At The New Republic

And by creating shows that reward sustained attention and repeated re-viewings, Simon teaches us to watch television in a way that is very similar to close reading.

Brah, You Gotta Watch, this is History

Here is a link to an interview Josh Jackson of WBGO's The Checkout did with Lolis Eric Elie, Tom Piazza, and Eric Overymyer.  Listening, you get such a sense that this is so much more than TV.  This is celebration, mourning, history, exploration, anything but ratings for profit.  Art, then, shall we say.
Elie--

Our ambition is to walk that fine line between the exotic and the fundamental human reality.

Piazza--

What makes a person be able to come back?  What kinds of will does it take?  What kinds of challenges do you face?  Was the city going to wither and die?

Overmyer--

...ordinary people in an extraordinary place.

Finally, Overmyer gives his dream image for the concluding scene of the whole series.  I think he's on to something there.

Behind the Scenes Images

At the Guardian.  The Guardian sure do love some #Treme...

Content of Their #Treme Character Actors

Here are some links with interviews and information about some #Treme actors:

Melissa Leo at WSJ

Danai Gurira at Village Voice (Delmond's girlfriend)


Wendell Pierce at MTV (about Mardi Gras)

John Goodman's going to narrate "Best Food Ever"

a thoughtful piece about identification with the show and race.

Instead of trading on ghetto stereotypes, or portraying flood victims who have no way of helping themselves, the writers and producers appear to have given themselves a larger palette of nuance and emotional resonance to draw from by focusing on the proud and industrious inhabitants of the Treme.

and kind of a mish-mash article from MSNBC about #Treme viewing parties and the #oilspill.

Collection of Episode 4 Links

Alan Sepinwall

The Atlantic

A/V Club

CNN's Marquee Blog 

Cultural Learnings

Houston Press

LA Times

MTV 

NPR's Blog Supreme

Poniewozik 

Rabbit Hole

Sound of Treme 

Vanity Fair

The Vulture

Dave Walker Explains it All

Wall Street Journal

Episode 4 "At the Foot of Canal Street"

#Treme went for a lot more humor in this episode, but ultimately it was about the choices our heroes will be making in the near future.  I didn't catch who wrote it, but Sepinwall sez it's Pelecanos.  And yes, for all the Davis haters out there, there were a couple of bizarro scenes by our resident hipster.

The Story of the #Treme Theme Song

Dave Walker's got John Boutte on his song, "Treme Song."