Wal-Mart on Barefoot

I feel like I am so like 13! Tonight I called into Barefoot Radio to discuss the value of (of all things) Wall-mart!
"Wal-Mart was the king-daddy of corporate responders," says Tulane University history professor Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane
Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

This is a great book that I read while we were in New Orleans. Wall-mart was able to get needed materials into Katrina survivers much faster than FEMA. Brinkley points out that Wall-mart stores have become our
civic centers and community centers in one.

CNN discusses the Corporate responce to Katrina
The Organic Consumers Association Debunks Wal-Mart's Hurricane Relief Efforts

Thoughts on Dog Guides

I will be returning to The Seeing Eye in September 2006. We are looking forward to a fuzzy new member joining our family.

What's wrong with the dog guide schools This is quite an interesting read- and a perspective that I tend to agree with. I have had two fantastic dogs from two fantastic dog guide schools. I continue to be an educated consumer on many aspects of current dog guide trends and dog training in general. No one has a right to a dog guide, yet the ADA and disability rights have forever changed the look and feel of the "blind community." The schools have been forced to respond to a consumer base that is much more demanding. Overall this is probably a good thing- dog guide schools trying to meet the spacific needs of individual handlers and their dogs.
Yet, dog guide land is a buyers market- perhaps in ways that it has never been before. What is the impact of this type of marketplace on the quality of dog guide teams overall?

Indi Music is the BEST!

Check out thegorilla vs. bear site! Lots of indi music- it's great!
I am a big fan of Barefoot Radio. They are based in Denver and I am from Colorado so I kind-of connect with them. I also have really gotten into some of their indi bands. My favorite by far is Tat, but I have had trouble buying her music.

Home Again- Wrap-up

One of the most exciting parts of our journey to New Orleans was our visit to the New Orleans Lighthouse for the Blind. Jenice Heck gave us a tour of the Lighthouse. Saturday night Jenice and several other Lighthouse staffers came to the French Quarter and joined us for dinner. We had a blast. It is always interesting to see how other blind people live. The New Orleans Lighthouse has a large manufactureing department and a very respectible board of directors. That is the primary way the Lighthouse of New Orleans differs from Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco. Blind people are blind people and we deal with community politics and institutional discrimination in both LA and CA.

Meet one of our new friends: Rox'E Homstad

Sounds of New Orleans Podcast

Check out the
Sounds of New Orleans Podcast This podcast includes a discussion of the penguins, a great New Orleans train, some street music, a thunder storm and some New Orleans jazz recorded at The Spotted Cat.

New Orleans Great Food and Music

This is a post dedicated to some of the great food and music we have experienced on our trip thus far. First off though we'd like to extend our warmest thanks to Grace Wilson from the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Coorperation for meeting with us early in the week and helping to make our trip an unforgetable one. Thanks Grace!

Now about the food.... We love to eat and New Orleans is a fantastic place to enjoy fine food.
GW Fins is our favorite so far both because the food was exceptional and the service discreet. Check out their menu. T loved the lemon fish and we both savored the lobster dumplings.
Tuesday night we ate at Bacco's- where I tried the lobster ravioli



We were not impressed with the Red Fish Grill It was too loud and the service was lousy.

We listened to Jazz at The Spotted Cat

More From New Orleans

We are really enjoying New Orleans. Outside is hot, the air-conditioning cool and the food is great! We took a tour of the D-Day Museum,
the pharmacy museum and the aquarium. The D-day Museum was hard for both T and I simply because it is an issue that touches both of our families. D-Day was one of those events that changed the world. I learned just how pivotal this event was. Had D-Day failed the second half of the twentieth century would have been governed by Nazism or Communism. War is a devastating thing and at the same time what would the world look like today if it weren’t for those brave WWII soldiers and their families? New Orleans was the center for manufacturing of the cigar box shaped landing boats that were used in WWII. Those boats were seen by President Eisenhower as a big factor in winning the war.
The pharmacy museum was fantastic. We got the opportunity to touch almost everything- including a set of fake eyes made in 1900, a civil war limb amputation kit, an turn of the century wheelchair, a 1940’s birthing bed and tools used in blood letting.
The most exciting thing though- for me- was our visit to the Audubon Aquarium. .T and I got to touch a penguin! I'll write more about that later- have to go now...

From New Orleans

I have been trying to publish a podcast on Gcast for a couple of days now. It finally successfully uploaded this evening. Listen as the dogs, T and I take a Ghost Tour.
Warning: lots of down time while we walk from place to place.

Our hotel is haunted!

Learn about the Ghosts in New Orleans Last night we went on a great walking tour of New Orleans. We learned that our hotel is haunted. There was a mob hit that took place on the sixth floor and people often report hearing gun shots in the hotel- spacifically on the sixth floor. Where do you think our room is? On the sixth floor of course! We learned a lot about the history of New Orleans including the changes that took place when New Orleans changed from spanish rule to French rule and then to a slave free state after the war.
T ate his first bowl of alagator soup at Bourbon House whitch he gives 4 stars and says, "It's hard to compare alagator soup to anything pedestrian. It's spicy broth with chipped alagator meet finished with cream and sheri. You can't compare it to most soups!"

Goalball World Championships

Read Some Great coverage of women's goalball World Championships!
I've had a blast this week following the goalball world championships. I thing I have the goalball bug! he live feed from South Carolina is currently broadcasting the women's gold metal game between Canada and China. usa women bring home the bronze- in a 4 to 2 game against Denmark. USA men also won bronze.It's been a while since I've been so excited about my sport and it feels great!