HumidCity

Jazz legends, artists and educators joined radio giant WWOZ yesterday to support a national effort to save Internet radio from a recent royalty rate increase that would bankrupt the industry.

In a letter to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, famed clarinet wizard Dr. Michael White, legendary trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, jazz phenom “Trombone Shorty”, Kidd Jordan and more than a dozen of the most influential voices in American Jazz called on Congress to take action and preserve Internet radio for the future of Jazz music.

“As working musicians who depend on Internet radio to reach our fans and to make new ones, we are extremely concerned that the recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) will close the door to what has become an essential part of our work. Internet radio is one of the precious few outlets we have to reach Jazz audiences and build new ones. If Internet radio dies, the future of Jazz could die with it,” the Jazz legends wrote in a letter addressed to Chairman Conyers.

Representatives of SaveNetRadio, a national coalition of millions of webcasters, listeners, artists and labels joined tens of thousands of Jazz fans this week at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to spread the word and gather the support of jazz artists that depend on Internet radio for exposure and airtime.

New Orleans powerhouse radio station WWOZ’s General Manager, David Freedman said “the massive new royalty fees directly affect New Orleans artists and musicians throughout the country that depend on Internet radio for air play and to reach new fans. For WWOZ, these new rates would drastically limit our effectiveness as a streaming source, and dictate that stations can’t afford to succeed. The marginalization or complete shutdown of our streaming services, which is the emerging environment, is tantamount to choking off an important voice of New Orleans culture and rendering our volunteer powered effort irrelevant.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Originally uploaded by Humid City.

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government’s political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you’re actually being screwed!

(Hat tip to the Pirate Chef!)

It was a year ago today that the real disaster happened. The largest engineering failure in American History: Levee Failure.

Here are the posts made from the hotel in W. Memphis as we watched in horror. We were some of the few people not from the 9th Ward, and as we watched the city drown the fear and pain were palpable.

Here are the voices of two residents of the Lower 9 that afternoon while we watched the devatation unfold:

http://humidcity.com/2005/08/30/woo-woo-from-the-9th-ward-shouts-out-podcast/

http://humidcity.com/2005/08/30/112542287999615332/

Then news of looting, which really angered me. New Orleanians take care of each other after hurricanes. It was just wrong.

http://humidcity.com/2005/08/30/to-the-looters-anger-warning-podcast/

We were in a beat up hotel room with condensation on every surface, crammed in with the cats and fellow evacuees. Every window in the place had some kind of animal or child visible in it as the entire population of the site was made up of refugees. (Yes, refugees. When you are forcibly displaced that is what you are and no amount of PC verbal dancing changes that). It was at this point that we realized we were not going home for awhile if ever.

The fear and uncertainty of that day hangs heavy in my heart still. There is nothing, thank god, that can equal that first blast of images across my screaming retinas images heretofore relegated to news feeds of natural disasters or wars overseas. Little did I know that the true horror would be the lack of response.

Yesterday I realized that I was constantly going back, in my mind, to the events of a year ago. I would think, “Just now we were waking up to the news after finally getting some sleep,” or, “Oh god, right about now was when I ran into that guy hauling ass to the lobby yelling “the levees broke!” Since I cannot get the running taly out of my mind I will be flashing back to it here on the site. Each days pot will have a link at the bottom to the one I made exactly one year prior.

This is why we CANNOT forget!

Leave me a comment. Where were you the day the levees failed?

At this time one year ago we began our evacuation, little knowing what the coming months would bring. I had sent out a link to the newly formed Humid City (then on Blogger) and told friends and family to check it regularly for updates on our situation. Here is a recording done via cellphone from the Bonnet Carre Spilway as we drove through the oncoming storm bands.

Humid City v2.3 - Blog Archive- Run Away: Podcast

This morning I received a call from my long time photographer/videographer, Monte Reed. He told me that there was a demolition team at the Coliseum Place Baptist Church and that Stacey Head among others was there to attempt to block them. In a ceffeine deprived state I made haste to the scene where I ran into Maitri and Seymore from Third Battle of New Orleans. (Check their blogs for moree on this subject, we are collaborating on getting this info some attention) Since Maitri has been covering this since the fire I thought she deserved a few words to kick off our new podcast series.

The creator of the Flycycle and collector of Cosmic Debris speaks about staying in NOLA through the Storms and his adventures with the police.

Dave Baker, bass player of The Paradise Vendors speaks about the current situation and his relocation to NC after Katrina.

A few choice words from Rev. Goat Carson.

Loki interviews Jac from Defend New Orleans.

Watch out for the upcoming alliance between Defend New Orleans and Humid City, we have plans!

Humid City started out as an entertainment and events site for the local New Orleans area, since the advent of Katrina it has evolved into a networking point for refugees to share resources, discuss our future, and mobilize as activists to ensure that the governmental malfeasance on all levels during this disaster does not escape accountability. There is one aspect that has been neglected recently which I view as being just as important: oral history.

This is history. I believe that it is important that we document our thoughts and feeling as things progress. Personal stories and viewpoints need to be recorded now, while they are still fresh. Unlike previous generations we can create an inside view of what this time has been like for the people in the middle of it, not just the dry perspectives of those writing books about it from a distance.

I have been inspired in the regard both by the StoryCorps. Project on NPR and by my fiancee’s mother who is a Prof. in the Folklore Dept. of Indiana University.

Please continue to post resources for both survival and activism, but also please post your personal tales and thoughts. This goes for both our volunteer staff and those who post their comments. To quote Merlin in the movie Excalibur, “It is the doom of men that they forget.”
Let us join together and document what living through these times is like.

Please post your stories and thoughts, and if you are interested in joining us on a regular basis email me (george.williams.iv (at) gmail.com). Keep posting resources and political info, but also help us to create a window into thee times for those who will come after us!

Look for Podcasts from the front lines soon, I have just set up a local teacher with podcasting capabilty and she will be reporting from within the New Orleans area in the near future (thanks Cheryl!)

Attention Staff: If you wish to do Podcasts email me and I will set you up so you can do it from any cellphone.

Being the first of a series of podcasts that we will make as we flee the Epic Might of Katrina.

We will post more from the road as we make our strategic retreat. This will be a new experience for mee as I have never run from a storm before in my 39 years here. Wish us luck, we are travelling with a total of 5 humans, 8 felines, and 1 snake. This is going to be interesting…