Late Night Thoughts at an establishment with a "colored only" sign

One simply hasn't lived until they've spent a thursday night at Vaughan's with kermit ruffins and the BBQ swingers, 13 years and running. A diverse crowd unlike anything you would ever find in Boston, mural on the wall behind the trumpeter that looks as if Picasso had smoked some weed and watched 24 hours of Scooby Doo before painting it, an elderly man's face is pressed to the smoke stained window almost everynight i'm there, he clearly has been banned from the other 49 states as a sexual predator but is just part of the managerie here..

But the music, and the vibe, you can't help but swing, everyone has a smile, near the end of the first set there always seems to be some red beans and rice being cooked up (if you wait till the end of the show around 1 or 2 or 3..., they BBQ in the back of the pick up truck always parked on the corner blocking the fire hydrant, this is a community, this is an event, and this is a great time.

Kermit does many originals but always throws down the traditional favorites: Iko, iko, james brown, ray charles, just make sure you "shake your booty to the left, shake your booty to the right, shake your booty all night long!!!"

Observances: New Orleans now feels as if it is dying from 1000 paper cuts, it could be the hot, hot summer and typical slowdown of july and august, but the frustration is palpable and people are leaving.

More tattoos per capita by far here than anywhere else, and piercings, and women are just as likely, if not more so than men.

Of course they have more room to tattoo, as obesity is rampant
The roads are horrible, come to think of it, i haven't seen a single road paving/repair crew anywhere. There are sinkholes in the roads everywhere.

Someone stole the cover off my motorcycle last night. Petty theft is rampant here, as are the people doing anything, begging, borrowing, stealing for some drugs. Amazing how the building here all have shades and shutters on them. It is rare you can see into someone's home. Also because of the heat....

I'm in an area known as "the denial mile" which is the area that didn't flood, the old high ground of the city.

The spirit of rebuilding is slowly leading to the spirit of doing what's best for yourself, and if you have a family with school age kids, it may well be better to move.

But there are bright spots, the habitat for humanity for musicians is going great with a fantastic vibe, and friday afternoon jam sessions.

Come down and help rebuild, or blow some money and help the economy!!!