Ellen @EllenTiratzo

It is JazzFest time down in New Orleans!
Come visit Preservation Hall – where the beer is cold and the jazz is hot!

New Orleans' unusual history, its unique outlook on life, its rich ethnic and cultural makeup, and the resulting cultural interaction set the stage for development and evolution of many distinctive traditions. The city is famous for its festivals, foods, and, especially, its music. Each ethnic group in New Orleans contributed to the very active musical environment in the city, resulting in New Orleans Jazz!

Preservation Hall was originally conceived in the early 1960s as a low-profile performance venue for neglected, aging black musicians who had come of age during the emergence of early jazz in the 1920s and 1930s. Created to preserve Jazz music heritage, Preservation Hall promotes Jazz music and musicians.

In the Big Easy region, WWOZ radio plays continuously. WWOZ is a non-profit community-supported radio station in New Orleans. It is owned by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. The station specializes in music from or relating to the cultural heritage of New Orleans and the surrounding region of Louisiana. The playlist includes Jazz, Blues and other world music.

Grab your tissue for a second line, your beer cooler and your picnic blanket and come enjoy New Orleans Jazz with us!

Book of the Month Club at The Big Easy
Each month, we feature a book recommended by one of our patrons. In the Library Cafe', you will find real books to actually read! The books are on the bookshelf, and all you need to do is click on the book, and a PDF of the book will open for you to enjoy reading!
This month's feature is:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
“A masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue.”—The New York Times Book Review

A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).

Big Daddy's was the kind of place that typifies the neon-lit, glamorously sleazy New Orleans that's fast disappearing. The bar, with its garish neon sign and swinging mannequin legs in the window, was a de rigueur shot for any New Orleans documentary. It appeared in countless movies and music videos, including the 1984 Clint Eastwood film Tightrope and the 1988 video for Aerosmith's "Rag Doll." Originally opened as Lafitte's Boudoir in 1967, it was the longest continually-operating strip club on Bourbon Street. In 2008, with little fanfare and even less attention, Big Daddy's in New Orleans shut its doors for good,
The good news is...Big Daddy's is back in business! Come visit today! "No Photos Allowed"

In Louisiana folklore, Honey Island Swamp is slated to have a cryptid monster that has been seen in the swamp since 1963. A legend tells of a train wreck in the area in the early 20th century. According to the legend, a traveling circus was on the train, and from it a group of chimpanzees escaped and interbred with the local alligator population. Honey Island earned its name because of the honeybees once seen on a nearby isle. A trip to New Orleans is not complete without a swamp tour! Watch out for gators, snakes, and nutria, and be sure to look for turtles, frogs, and pelicans! Bring your sunscreen and bug spray!

Over 170 years old, New Orleans City Park is one of the largest urban Parks in the country. It is located in the heart of the city and is the largest recreation area for the entire metropolitan area. Once the site of Allard Plantation facing Bayou St. John, City Park holds the world's largest collection of mature live oak trees, some older than 600 years in age. The park was founded in 1854, making it the 48th oldest park in the country, and established as the "City Park" in 1891. Tour the formal gardens, enjoy the swan boats, or ride the famous City Park carousel.

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, washing out several areas of New Orleans and submerging lives and properties beneath flood waters some feared would never recede.
The traumatic disaster stayed in the national consciousness as the deadliest natural catastrophe in recent memory. Katrina’s wrath left behind a glut of dystopian landscapes, and it didn’t spare the Six Flags amusement park, whose contents sank and rose along with the tide until all that was left was something that resembles a post-Atlantis wonderland.
Six Flags New Orleans awaits adventurous explorers...

NOLA Hat Company is officially open! A collection of hats from some of the best shops in Opensim await your perusal! Mardi Gras is right around the corner, so come grab some hats to don as you celebrate carnival season!

Krewe du Vieux is New Orleans' most risque' carnival crewe. Our costume shop, in the heart of the city, has a wide range of costumes from cute and fun to sweet and sexy. Pass by and grab some fun Mardi Gras gear! And always remember, laissez les bon temps rouler!!

Please visit The Library Cafe for the best coffee in hyperspace, and grab a copy of our monthly book recommendation. This month, Troy Seaknight recommended "An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments" by Ali Almossawi. Sit, enjoy a delicious cup of hot coffee, and read!! Have a favorite book? Recommend it for next month's reading!