Dash for the 'Stache

Do I have a bicycle? check

Do I like to drink beer? check

Am I a Saints fan? check

Do I sometimes wear a fake mustache? check

This Saturday, September 4th, I invite you and your bike to join us under the flavorful leadership of Chef Who Dat as we peddle from pub to pub in Mid-City and then arrive at the Superdome for the annual blessing and application of the sacred stache to the sacred fleur du lis. It's magic. And just because I can't get enough of it, here's that video again of some lady a year ago falling off her bicycle. As Gstohl says while courageously still filming, "Wwwwoooooooooooooo!"

Katrina's Five Year Anniversary & Parenthood

This past week has been difficult. All the terrible memories have been stressful. I was lucky enough to be able attend President Obama's speech at Xavier University today. But all things considered, the main thing I worry about with all of the Katrina stuff is my children. Did Therese and I make the right decision in staying in New Orleans, or would we have been better parents by moving elsewhere. I encouraged my children to write about this today. Here is what they said, and I am very proud of both of them:

Kalypso

Gilgamesh

Hate from California

Writes James from Sacramento:

Mr. Homan:

I read your column in the Sunday, August 22nd edition of the Sacramento Bee. First, let me say, I am sorry for your loss and the loss to everyone in New Orleans from the tragedy caused by Katrina, a hurricane, a natural disaster. Being from California, I find your column not only offensive, but more of the same, "I'm a victim, feel sorry for me" narrative that most of the country has grown tired of by this point.

The line in your writing that is the most offensive is where you write, "I forgive the politicians and the media for never quite understanding that this was a human-induced disaster." Really? What human caused a hurricane to start in the Caribbean and come in to New Orleans from the Gulf? I'm sure you will answer with "George W. Bush".

I have a question for you. Why is it that 5 years after Katrina people in New Orleans are still unable to cope with the aftermath of Katrina? After billions of dollars have been poured into New Orleans, why are we still hearing from the people of Louisiana, "We need more money?"

I am a native of Northern California. I am in my mid-40's I vividly remember the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. I remember not being able to get in touch with family in the San Francisco Bay Area for days after the 'quake, not knowing whether or not they were ok. I have seen more wild fires than I can remember. I remember the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. I live in Sacramento. I remember being within hours of being evacuated due to rising flood waters in 1986. I have seen several floods in the Sacramento area since 1986. I remember floods here in 1995 and 1997. Of course, we have also had dozens of cases of civil unrest and riots which really are man-made disasters (unlike Katrina, which was a natural disaster). My point is this: here in California, we have had 100 times the disasters than Hurricane Katrina and we have recovered from each and every one of them. Yes, we had some help from the federal government, but for the most part, we figured it out on our own. And before you go on your, "California is rich" narrative, many of the disasters struck very poor parts of our state. Even the needy people of our state know that everyone needs to pitch in.

Your article is nothing more than more liberal whining in an attempt to get people to remember the tragedy of Katrina. No one will forget. But now it is time for the citizens of New Orleans and Louisiana to quit whining, get to work and take care of themselves and quit asking for the rest of the country to send more aid. Generous Americans from all walks of life have donated millions to victims of Katrina.

Take some lessons from California. We have weathered a lot more than Katrina over the years and we have rebounded each time.

The New Phone Book's Here! The New Phone Book's Here!

Neither Therese nor I are listed in the new phone books. We never reinstalled our land phone after the flood.

Ready to Forgive, but Never to Forget

My 7th guest column appears in the Times-Picayune tomorrow, though you can read it on nola.com now. It's about, you guessed it, Hurricane Katrina and five years. It's hard to write about Katrina reflections and not sound pedantic and smug. Thanks to A. Sisco of the T-P for her help with this.

Happy Birthday Chickens

Therese turns 40-something tomorrow, and to show our love and appreciation, we got her four Rhode Island Red chickens. Here is one of them watching the inspiring video by Samwell, "What What in the Butt"

The Zoo in Cairo: A Photo Essay

For extra fun today, Gilgamesh and I headed towards Cairo University to take in the Giza Zoo. We knew to ignore the negative comments on Trip Advisor that said things like “Worst zoo ever,” "Don't take young kids," and “Shut it down-it is a disgrace.” Therese and I had been here a couple of times before and we know that for a fun day of watching kids throw rocks at monkeys and gorillas smoking cigarettes there isn’t a better place in the world.

It cost $3 for me to enter, Gil was free, and we headed first to the fascinating cat display. There were a lot of rules, and in five minutes Gil noticed that we’d seen every one of them violated. Kicking soccer balls against the cages was the most common rule infringement.

After stopping at what Gil called the second worst toilet he’d ever seen, we found the cats. The sign was labeled "Persian’s cat" but I think they were Tabbies. They were very ferocious.

Then it was off to the dog area. The sign said that these were Maltese dogs, and though they weren't Maltese, I do think the Cairo zooologists were accurate about the "dogs" part. We watched one of them chew on a bird carcass. He was so cute.

Speaking of playful chewing, this camel chewed on its infected second hump for about five minutes, and then we decided to head off to the monkey area.

Someone threw a bag of chips in the baboon cage and all hell broke loose. I swear their buttocks became a brighter shade of red, probably because the chips were spicy.

Gilgamesh had never seen the elusive shit-horned rhinoceros so we lucked out with this one.

There were supposed to be crocodiles and ducks in this lagoon but all we saw were pepsi cans, water bottles, plastic bags, and animal feces.

We didn’t get to see the chain smoking gorilla. He must have died from lung cancer. For a few extra dollars in baksheesh we could have had Gil’s picture taken holding this chimpanzee, but I declined, as the chimp looked suicidal.

The Giza Zoo seems to be the Angola of animal jails. What these critters need is an old time Christian rodeo.

Egypt

The internets was down the last time I had a day off from excavating in Jordan, so I'll do a weeks 3-4 post about Barqa later when it all comes into better focus as the sands of the Jordanian desert fall away, but for now, Gilgamesh and I are in freaky deaky Egypt! We're hanging out with my student Shavonda and her mom Eula. We got to know them very well during the dig, so they're sort of like family now. Today we went to the pyramids. It was great to hear Gilgamesh get so excited when he first saw the giant ones in Giza. But first we went to Saqqara to see the step pyramid. The highlight of the day for me was getting to take a few pictures inside the Tomb of Ti, as the pictures there show how the ancient Egyptians made beer. Here is me, Ti, and much beer:

Then we went to Saqqara to see Imhotep's Step Pyramid, and here is a pic of Gilgamesh and yours truly:

Finally it was off to Giza for the big three pancakes (note "pyramid" is Greek for pancake). Tomorrow we're off to the Egyptian Museum, but for now, here are a few panorama shots I took with my fancy new camera:

The Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid:

Ubiquitous camel and the Giza pyramids:

Sphinx and the Giza pyramids:

Barqa Week Two

The second week of excavations in the Barqa region are in the bag. My area is working on a large Iron Age II house and last week we started uncovering large amounts of ceramic vessels, some intact, and a few metallurgical pieces along with walls, floors, and a large layer of ash from the destruction. Shavonda, my student at Xavier, found many of the ceramic vessels one day last week. Currently we're unwinding at Petra and trying to get the dig dust off us and our electronics. Gilgamesh and I just got back from a fairly lengthy walk to the monastery. He's sleeping now, but in the meantime, here are three pictures of the mighty Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh with some pottery that we excavated on an Iron II surface.

Gilgamesh with a kafilla and something hairy in his nose.

Gilgamesh at the Treasury building in Petra.

First Week At Barqa

We just completed our first week of excavations in the Barqa region of southern Jordan. My team of seven volunteers is working on an Iron Age structure that dates to the late 10th century/9th century BCE. Thus far the best find has been a shard of imported and painted Midianite pottery. It's a one period occupation site so the excavation has been pretty easy, except the floor is hard to find and in one area we blew through it and hit bedrock, which is only about 25 cm below the surface. Other teams are working on a Roman period farmhouse, and digging 1x1 m pits testing for metallurgical pollution over time. It's not an easy excavation. We live in tents, and several times the tents have been blown away due to the high winds. One day the visibility was very limited due to a sandstorm. But we're starting to get into a routine and things are going well. We wake up at 5 AM, eat breakfast, drive to the sites just before 6, and then work until 12:15. We eat lunch at 1:15, and then wash pottery and work on digital recording until dinner about 7 PM. Typically we are all asleep by 9:30. We work six days with two days off. This weekend we were in Aqaba where we went snorkeling in the Red Sea. Next Sunday on the 4th of July we're heading to Petra. Gilgamesh has been doing very well. There are some 19-20 year-old Canadians here that have been very good about taking Gilgamesh under their wings.

Here are two panoramic pictures. The first is of our camp, the second of our excavation site:

Here is a set of pictures on flickr.