Due to a number of technology issues (most importantly, the fact that Blogger doesn't support an app on the iPhone), I have re-established my blog on Word Press.
Now that I'll be able to post from my iPhone, as well as from my nifty and oh-so-easy-to-use MacBook, I'll be putting lots of new stuff on my blog. I PROMISE!!!
This version of Scoopzone won't be going anywhere. I'm keeping it for historical purposes. But all of my future posts will appear only on my new blog at Word Press.
So bookmark my new address, and go back to it often.
If you go there now, you'll get to see my first post chronicling First Lady Michelle Obama's recent visit to San Diego, with pics too.
Among the many things I miss about living in New Orleans, one that tops the list is election season. That's because politics in the Big Easy is side-show entertainment.
There's no doubt that my nostalgia for the bizarre characters and outrageous mud-slinging battles that surface in races for even the most benign offices in NOLA has some connection to the pedestrian nature of politics in San Diego.
If New Orleans is the Jerry Springer of local elections then surely San Diego is the political reincarnation of Martha Stewart.
Some people thought Hurricane Katrina and its boot-strapping aftermath would infuse more civility into the Crescent City's political culture. But this year's race for coroner is proving the naivete of such predictions.
The race pits 80-year-old incumbent Dr. Frank Minyard against Dwight McKenna, a surgeon who served on the Orleans Parish School Board for five years until a federal court convicted him of tax evasion.
Minyard, who famously flaunts his jazz trumpet playing skills in campaign posters, was first elected to the post in 1974.
He became more widely known in the aftermath of Katrina as his office struggled to identify the hurricane's victims while dealing with its own devastation. The effort was chronicled in this NYT piece.
More recently, Minyard has become the target of what can only be called one of the craziest political commercials ever made. The B-horror-movie-themed spot hits on a mild scandal from years ago when, according to The Times-Picayune, families of several dead people sued Minyard for removing small pieces of bone and cornea during autopsies without their permission.
Those fine points are lost in the ad, which features "Dr. Minyard" and his hunch-back sidekick Igor discussing the night's organ harvest and sale over a corpse.
It won't win an Oscar, and it probably won't win McKenna the election. But it might just get a few voters in New Orleans to think, at least for a minute or two, about something other than the Saints playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Tim and I made the 45-minute drive east from San Diego to Mount Laguna a few weekends back after a series of big Pacific storms dumped inches of rain on the city and several feet of snow on the mountains. When the local mountains get snow like this on the weekends, thousands of people converge on them. Luckily, we arrived early (around 8:30 a.m.) and police were requiring chains for the drive to the summit (which I have, of course).
The scenery was postcard beautiful.
I call this Tim, No, Cow. No, my tongue didn't get stuck. Click on any pic to view it full size.
Watch this video if you haven't already. It elegantly explains why the relationship between the people of New Orleans and the Saints football team is unique and unmatched in the entire world of sports.
