Cowboy and Reddy on the Levee

Mayor's Forum

Shreveport Dog Park Alliance correspondent David McCormick attended the Mayor's Young Professional's Forum Tuesday evening at Stoner Boat Launch. Amidst crawfish pies and such, McCormick said he got some good one-on-one time with Da Mayor.

" We talked about the park and he was very diplomatic about how it is important and how will be good for the city. When he spoke at the beginning he talked about Shreveport being 'a hallmark of a progressive place to be.' I mentioned that a dog park would be instrumental in that."

McCormick said he walked away from the meeting with the notion that the dog park was going to happen, but the question remains WHERE? and WHEN?

"I think it went real well, and we are on the right track," he said.

Apparently there is some talk of a MASTER PLAN that I can not get to the bottom of at the moment as I am working away from Shreveport. However, efforts continue with the Veterans' site as I received news today from local activist Jason Scott about re-vamping an existing non-profit organization dedicated to this once glorious park that exists today in disarray.

Thank you for your continued interest and emailed suggestions on our dog park efforts!

St. John's Bayou

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originally uploaded by jujuhoffpauir.

While I am working in New Orleans for six weeks, I am staying with a friend off Esplanade near St. John's Bayou. I enjoyed exploring the area this weekend and have decided I really really dig it.

And Reddy loves it, too. He has come alive again. He now walks me, and is busy sniffing around the hood. There are tons of cats, and I add that to my list of How New Orleans Reminds Me of Some European City or Third World Country.

Poop-free neighborhood

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originally uploaded by jujuhoffpauir.

This is a neighborhhood -maintained park on Esplanade Ave. with plastic chairs, hand-made signs, birdhouses, and fountains.


Whenever we stroll on by, there is someone raking leaves, re-setting stones, or reading under a tree or by the fountain.

From Dogs I Have Met

Always judging a book by its cover, I picked up Ken Foster's The Dogs Who Found Me at the Faulkner House in New Orleans' Pirates Alley last summer. What ever book you pick up in this intimate store, it will be good. So it doesnt really matter if I pick one up soley for aesthetic reasons. And it was one of those books I finished in a day or two then sent to a friend who had watched Reddy for a couple of months while I was away.

Presently back in New Orleans for a couple of months, I read in the Gambit that Foster was reading from his follow-up book Dogs I Have Met and the People They Found at Octavia books in Uptown. So I went, poured myself a glass of complimentary red wine and listened to him read from a couple of chapters from the book.

Foster's theme is centered around the kinds of people who take in the unwanted, stray dogs. And most of the times these dogs are pits and/or pit mixes. His stories also include other people's reaction to this breed. I did not know this but pit bulls used to be as popular as the lab is today in American Culture. Helen Keller had a pit bull, the dog from Our Gang was a pit bull. Foster had big displays of old advertisements and such from the turn of the century, all positive images of the pit bull. However, as we all know, pitties have fallen out of favor and not because of any fault of their own. From owners' ill-breeding practices.

Afterwards, Foster signed his new book and I had him sign one for a new friend of mine in Shreveport. She is like one of his characters he writes about-taking in the unwanted dog left at the truck stop, or tied to the bridge, or wandering down the country road. You probably know one of these people yourself, if you are not that person already! This book is a great read. Yes, I am reading it before I send it along to my friend.

Das Pooch

An inspiring six-minute short film by William Wegman called "The Hardly Boys."

Dylan's shameless Promo