A "real" status report on New Orleans?

Via the interdictor LJ, this recent entry gives a reality check about how things are going there right now. An excerpt:

New Orleans East cannot be described; it can only be seen. You must drive through it. What you see on television is nothing. Nothing. You have not seen devestation until you have driven through NOE. There is no life -- mammalian, avian -- nothing outside the plant kingdom (and whatever mold falls into). It is uninhabitable and must be bulldozed. This will take decades. Yes, the cleanup will take decades. In fact, it's likely that the cleanup will never be complete.

Wonder what other people are noticing in the area. There was a good documentary on CBC Radio One about it last week, but that was one of those heartwarming family-reunited-rebuilding-their-homes kinda thing...

moby speaks out about misogyny (and I go on a rant too)

define misogyny

Big shout out to Moby, who just wrote a good blog post about misogyny in pop culture and music (also viewable through his LJ feed). His post got me thinking again about how ever since I bought tickets to 50 Cent's Halifax show Dec 14th, I've been regretting the purchase because it supports an artist who, no matter how much I dig some of his actual music, has a truly reprehensible attitude towards women. Until recently I didn't really care about that (or more precisely, I didn't really notice it, because I only started listening to the lyrics in rap music about six months ago), but now I notice it and now I care about it.

The main thing that pisses me off about most commercial gangsta rap is that it's overtly misogynistic (or at least, heavily disrespectful towards women) for it's own sake and enjoyment, and I think that's a harmful attitude to promote with the young people who listen to this music. Promoting these attitudes doesn't help anybody: it doesn't help to raise awareness of the plight of poor people living in the hood, and it doesn't help to lift anybody up or to inspire anyone to reach for a higher ideal or to live a better life or to treat sisters with respect. There's a LOT of young kids in the hood who could use some truly positive role models to emulate, and guys like Fiddy and Eminem (along with girls like Ciara, Britney, Ashlee, Hilary, et al) ain't cuttin' it. They're just cashing in and making a bundle without caring about what's coming through.

Most R&B and Urban music is no better; at least, not what I ever see on Muchmusic or BET. No doubt, watching a bunch of hard-bodied, beautiful and sexy women dancing around on a sound stage might be entertaining in its own right, but it has no musical merit and it sure as hell contributes nothing to the cultural landscape. At least, nothing worth saving: it's mindless entertainment, and it's not real music. Ciara, Usher, and all those other cats all fall directly into that category for me. It's all total crap, musically.

Addendum: You might as well add Diana Krall to my rant, too. Jazz musician or sex symbol? You decide. The picture of her on the front page of her website (taken from her new album cover, below) borders on soft porn, for chrissakes. And she can actually play her damned instrument!!!