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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts

The Mississippi Arts Commission presents the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts annually to honor outstanding writers, artists, performers, craftsmen and educators who have made significant and lasting contributions through their work as well as to corporations or organizations on the basis of their dedication to arts advancement.

The 2010 winners include David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Wyatt Waters, Bessie Johnson, Lenagene Waldrup and Grassroots Radio Host Bill Ellison. Listen to interview with each of these winners on the Mississippi Arts Hour podcast.

The 2010 Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts ceremony will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at Galloway United Methodist Church in downtown Jackson. It will begin at 1:00pm and is free and open to the public. A reception will be held immediately following the ceremony in the fellowship hall of the church.
This evening we'll have our annual Party Arty at Hal and Mal's. I'm hoping to get a picture with Honeyboy and to have a dance with George Berry, one of Mississippi's finest woodcarvers who also happens to be red hot on the dance floor. We'll have music by soul stirrers Wiley and the Checkmates.
Look for lots of pictures and a full update on today's events here at Living Mississippi.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

when it snows in mississippi...

You aren't going anywhere. This is an image of the catastrophic snowfall at Jackson-Evers International Airport on the morning of Friday, February 12. These mere three inches kept me from a long overdue trip to visit my best friend in Boston-- a place where a little bit of snow doesn't stop the show.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

black & gold weekend in new orleans

We headed down to New Orleans on Saturday morning to celebrate the Saints. After a quick stop in Manchac, Louisiana, at Middendorf's for some po-boys and peel 'em & eat 'em shrimp (oh, and Abitas, of course), we headed into the Big Easy to join our fellow Saints fans. We teamed up with some friends at the Whitney Hotel and walked down to Canal to see one of the first of the many Mardi Gras parades already unfolding.



While New Orleans has a reputation for debauchery during the Mardi Gras season, there was an entirely different vibe during the weekend of the Saint's first Super Bowl. The city was full of fans in black and gold, hollering Who Dat! and having a good time, but rather than being out-of-control, the crowd was moreso over-joyed. We didn't cross a single sullen face the entire weekend. Everyone was (and still is) celebrating their "boys," especially quarterback Drew Brees, whose face was everywhere-- including this George Rodrigue painting of Brees and Blue Dog.


Truly, though, the highlight of our evening (besides tasting my first Pimm's Cup at Napoleon House) was making our way to the Official Saint's Pep Rally at the House of Blues. We got free entry for wearing our Saints gear, and the staff couldn't have been kinder. DJ Captain Charles had us moving on the dance floor like never before! I lost count on the number of brass bands that took the stage, but I didn't forget the funky sounds of the Stooges Band, a hot second line brass band on the New Orleans scene.