K-Ville Review

It is hard to watch a show about a city you know.  It was hard to focus on the storyline, because your mind goes directly to the is inconsistencies.   

I feel the same about the pilot show of K-Ville that I have of other shows I love;  I hope it gets better and the stories more developed.  It is hard to get too comfortable when you don’t know the characters, yet.  Most shows don’t get better until after the first season.  We need time to start to care about the characters and their lives.  Right now they are simply caricatures of New Orleans. 

I think over all the show wasn’t too hard on New Orleans.  I do think that some minor details could have been changed slightly but not to the extent they were, like the address in the Quarter.  Although, it is a little thing. 

I haven’t made my final decision on this show.  The previews for the season look like it will get better.  I will wait and see.  Hopefully, I can get pass the discrepancies and enjoy the show.   

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LIVEBLOGGING: K-Ville Edition

George’s critique:  Suppose to be September 1, 2005, the day the levees broke.  Okay, George is saying that the surrounding environment doesn’t show evidence that a hurricane just came through, except for the flood.  All the trees have their leaves and they are not broken.  The NOPD was not in their uniforms, but most in tactical apparel.  Also, how did they get to their cars when they were underwater. 

Where are the Sewell Cadillics that the NOPD commandeered because their units were flooded?  Besides, most police officers wouldn’t have easily driven away from the 5 th district, which is the 9th ward.  Not the safest part of town.  I am sure that cop was car jacked if not drowned.

George’s critique:  It was not as active as they show in the opening scene.  There were no school buses, remember Mayor Ray Nagin left them in the parking lots under water, or ambulances. 

Some one stealing plants, uh no.  They are stealing copper piping and other house fixtures.  And I am sure if he is living in his house after 2 years he would have scrubbed off the water line, especially if his house was not gutted.

Oh no she din’t.  She did not just say after 2 years that she got a  car that cost her 2 FEMA checks.  Okay, that was too much.  We haven’t seen a FEMA check in 2 years. 

He just said Upper 9 which I have never heard of and that part wasn’t flooded.  It was the Lower 9th.  George says that it looks more like Uptown off of Louisiana. 

4215 bourbon?  If you are going to fake an address make it more real.  French Quarter addresses don’t go up that high.  They are only in the hundreds.  Okay, now we are skipping across the river without taking the bridge.  They are just jumping all over the places.  Maybe it is just TV magic. 

Riverfront casino is actually Hotel Intercontinental. 

We are only 10 minutes into the show and it is 8:20pm.  We have been TiVoing, so forgive us if it takes us 2 hours to watch an hour show.  Also, George is trying to spot himself while he is out working in the Quarter.  No luck, yet.

Shout out to Westwego!!! (Man being dumped in the water for information said he was out shrimping while his ex-girlfriend was being shot.  When asked where is his fish and shrimp, he says he sold it at the fish market in Westwego.)

The names are little too cajun.  Sure there are tons of names like that in the area, but they are more spread out.  You don’t find that many names in the NOPD or any other entity.

Man, that is harsh. (Altanta is not special, but it ain’t here.)  It doesn’t smell like that, anymore. (With regards to the cop’s wife claiming there is a mold smell.  We just naturally have a funky smell).  This would be a little more believable if it wasn’t taking place 2 years after the storm.  Maybe a year after, but not 2.

It would be better if the New Orleans cop didn’t drink on duty.  It just portrays that we are all drinkers, but hey other cops in other cop shows drink on the job, too.  He is the rogue cop. 

I can let it go with the drive by and the cop car blowing up in the Quarter (Jackson Square).  However, it is hard to believe because there is too much traffic to make a quick getaway.  One beef, though, is that people might think that the Quarter is violent when actually it is one of the safer places to be.  Jackson Square is closed at night and the only time I think it was open was for the President’s speech after Katrina.

Those streets are no where near the CBD.  (drawing street map in the dirt, morning after the drive by shooting, at Jackson Square)  Is it because they are ficitionalizing the story, but why not use the actual street names? 

I don’t believe that a NOPD cop, that stayed during the storm, would give a run way cop the time of day.  I  will go with it for the story.

There is no way that house is in the 9th ward.  It is a little too big and a little too nice. 

Niiiiiice, a VISA commerical featuring the Saints. 

Quasi-celebrity Alert:  Tom Cruise’s cousin.

I am so using that line, “There are more loose ends than a whore house”. (Said by the police captain after explaining how the case has turned political.)

Those police cruisers are tpainted like the ones before Katrina.  They are not so blue or fancy, anymore.  More like quickly painted to get them out and about.

They don’t steal street signs, because you can’t steal something that was never been replaced.  Thanks, mayor.

Fighting with George to fast forward through the Resident Evil commerical, so I don’t get nightmares.  Dumass.

Cashing in to keep the misery going is the insurance companies’ job.  (Officer Boulet is scolding the rich white girl for her pilot to keep the 9th ward from coming back.)

Predictable ending.  She did it for her brother.  She didn’t just use the meaning of Katrina?  I am shocked and appalled.  Yes, Katrina does mean cleansing and purification.  She played the race card, albeit in a round about way, but we know what they mean.  I could have done without this, but it is how some people feel. 

I swear it is surely Hollywood magic to get around the city so fast.  You would think there is no traffic in the city.

LIVEBLOGGING Emergency:  Low battery on the laptop.  Husband moving too slow to get plug in cord.  HURRY, DAMMIT!  HURRY!

I notice the New Orleans cop didn’t jump in the river.  He knows better.  Better to let the yankee do it. 

All S.W.A.T and other law enforcement supplies can be purchased at 10-8 Tactical supply on Jefferson Hwy. (S.W.A.T. team enters to save the day) 

What hospital are they at?  Even before the storm our hospitals didn’t look that fancy.  They look like…wait for it…hospitals.  I haven’t been in one hospital that had chandliers hanging in the hallway.  It would have been nice to have something like that to use as a focal point while in labor. 

Definitely Uptown.  Too many trees for the 9th ward. (Thank you street party for Officer Boulet.) 

Shocker:  The white partner (I haven’t paid attention to the names) was at OPP during the storm.  The cells didn’t fill up with water at OPP.  So, now the NOPD is not checking records for their new recruits?  I hope that is fiction. Although who better to catch a criminal than another criminal.

Stay tune for a more indepth review.

       

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Living K-Ville

There is a new time-line for the citizens of New Orleans and the surrounding area:  BK (Before Katrina) and AK (After Katrina).  AK there is a microscope that has been place on our lives and the functioning of the city.  I welcome it to some extent and then I cringe with the lack of solutions.  It is nothing new to us, from our own politicans, and we would expect nothing less, but it is worse to have outsiders constantly coming in pointing fingers at what is wrong and then leaving with no solutions.  You are left wondering what the hell did they come for?  Did they just come to kick us when we are down?  It is a big reason I don’t watch the NEWS, except for the weather, because I need to know if another Kick-Your-Ass storm is coming to chase us from our homes, again. 

When George came home and told me there was yet another police drama being shot in New Orleans, I sighed and wonder what misrepresentations are they going to spew about us now.  Doesn’t everyone know that our police department is corrupt?  The politicans are only in it for themselves and dupping the poverty stricken population that lives in New Orleans to keep them in office?  It has been told time and time, again, and really do we need this now when are city is struggling to get back on it’s feet and actually be a city, again? 

New Orleans hasn’t been shown in a great light in movies and television series.  There was the worst movie of all New Orleans accents, The Big Easy.  Let me put the myth to rest no one goes around the French Quarter saying, “Cher” every 30 seconds.  I don’t think I have ever been called, Cher, in all my life.  Now, if you want to start throwing around, honey, sweetie, or baby, then we can talk.  There are the other movies that have people walking out of their French Quarter homes into a cemetary.  That simply doesn’t happen.  Or taking an exit off of the interstate from downtown New Orleans to the bayou, a la Deja Vu.  It takes a little longer to get where the gators roam free and people ride in airboats.  However, it can be overlooked.  I mean if you believe everything Hollywood tells you then I have some recently ”flushed out” property to sell you.  What can’t be overlooked and what would just continue the belief that we are all stupid backward Southerners with funnier accents is if they follow the same stale storylines:  the police are the enemy, all the whites are racist and all blacks are criminals.  I am hoping for the best here and for a show with a different twist.  One good thing that has come out of this storm is that many neighborhoods are coming together to fight for their lives back.  That shouldn’t be missed.  The rest of the country should know that we are not sitting around with our thumbs up our asses waiting for government to step.   

I saw one trailer on TV, recently, that made me cringed, because Anthony Anderson said, “N’Awalins”.  Here is a hint, we don’t actually say it like that, but it is the closest one can come to spelling how locals say it.  Frankly, I believe we are saying New Orleans, but what do I know.  We are Southerners and we tend to save time by running our words together, although slowly.  Again, I can overlook it and hope they have a dialect coach helping them not sound like the typical stupid Southerner.  I am just hoping that it is the only thing I have to overlook, then I saw this trailer: 

Surprisely, I like it and it makes me want to tune in.  I will admit, it is purely curiousity on how we come out looking.  Yes, we have many problems and I don’t think Hollywood should sugar coat it, but they definitely don’t need to embellish it.  Anyone who knows New Orleans, knows that real life is the best entertainment you can get.  There is no need to add to it. 

I am considering live blogging the first episode of K-Ville to point out what might be a little off or the good points.  At the very least, I will have a recap after the show airs.  I really doubt the NOPD has time to run down to the bayou and start dunking suspects into the water to get information.  Then again I could be wrong.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a habit of looking on the brighter side of life.  It will be nice if they focus on how Katrina has damaged many citizens’psyches. 

I can’t wait.  Maybe we should throw a party.  On the menu will be anything canned, breakfast bars, MREs and bottled water.  And of course, someone will forget to have a manual can opener on hand and we will be left cursing.  Ah, the joys of hurricane life.

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A Trip into Fiction

The Death of Children

As I walked through the cemetery with the warm sun on my face and the calmness of death surrounding me, I heard a faint laughter off in the distance. Then there was a splash of breeze in another wise still day. I wonder what that was. Could it be a spirit playing with me? Then I realized, yes it is a spirit, but only a child’s spirit is capable of this whimsy.

We are often sad when a child dies and we wonder how such a horrible experience could befall an innocent soul. What we don’t realize is that the experience is horrible for the living and extraordinary for the dead. When a child dies he enters a world very unlike the living world. He is able to do things that were mere dreams for him before. It does not matter his process of death.

There are no rules in the world of death. A child can run, jump, tease and yell without a parent or other adult telling them not to. Children who have died have the rare ability to comfort and play without being notice or without strings attached. They are able to cure loneliness or simply amuse the living.

Have you ever been completely alone and thought you heard something or felt a rush of air near you? That is a child who has come because he knows you needed him. He has wrapped his arms around your neck and given you comfort whether you thought you needed it or not. He is there to tell you everything is okay and his world is not as bad as we think.

Have you ever sat and watched as your child talked to nothing but air? Again, that is a child from death who has come for a playdate. He is there to give your child company and play whatever she chooses. There are no rules for their playdate. There are no parents to obey or satisfy. Just leave your child alone with her new playmate and let them have their time. She will soon grow up and no longer be able to see or hear her kind playmate. They need this time together and nothing harmful will come of it.

These children are not to be feared, as the movies would have you believe. No these children are here to fulfill what the living can not: unconditional love and acceptance. As much as the living try, we are bound by our human tendencies and incapable of unconditional love. Many say they have this ability, but if you look deep into their eyes a little of their love has been tarnished because of their judgment. There is nothing left for these children to lose and they are able to give fully of themselves.

The dead children have kept their innocence and are not tarnished by life experience. They do not hesitate, because there is no one to tell them that their action is unacceptable. The next time you suddenly feel comfort when you are all alone or very calm in the midst of chaos think of the child that has left the living who is helping you. You may say you don’t know of a child that has died. That does not matter. All children, who have passed on, give their presence to anyone and everyone. They have not yet learned prejudice and never will. They love all and see the good in everyone.

Simply close your eyes and thank the little ones, because they have gone on to bigger and better things and are thoughtful enough to share them with you.

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