NOLAFugees 20: Under the Influence

The Bad Places

Zachary Bowen and Addie Hall fell in love as Hurricane Katrina tore the city apart. Their story has all the necessary elements for a classic New Orleans tale: romance, dissipation, and madness. While the rest of the country made cannibal jokes, the local media saw it for what it was: a tragedy. Somehow, they managed to do this without bothering to get to know who Zack & Addie were; to know them, you'd have to know a side of the city most try to ignore. When we asked NOLAFugees Senior Correspondent Tara Jill Ciccarone to cover their story, she found they were a lot closer than anyone would like to think.

Renaissance

Sarah DeBacher came to New Orleans in her 20's like many of us, as a solution to post-collegiate disdain for the American Way of life and ready to embrace la vie boheme in order to pursue Art. Then she got older, the Downtown party got old, and the hangovers got worse. Like many of us, she settled down, got responsible, got a day job, and began to think of her Future. Except in New Orleans, the "future" has become something very difficult to attain, given the current economic trend of our fair city. In one of the poorest cities in the nation, why the fuck is it so hard to buy a house?

Lambs of God

What better way to spend a Sunday than driving four hours into North Louisiana to a maximum security penitentiary to watch a bunch of untrained inmates tangle with a bunch of pissed-off bulls? Dave Parker Jr. makes the hipster pilgramage to The Farm to take in one of the State's great cultural events:
The Angola Prison Rodeo.

A Soldier in Your Home

It's a given that "war does terrible things to people's minds"; it takes a particular type to undergo the psychological hurdles that modern warfare entails. When a soldier returns from doing his duty, it takes a particular type of woman to deal with him. Senior Correspondent Sarah Inman reflects on exactly what type of woman that is.

Starfucking w/Cookie

While promoting his new book,
Chris Rose Dead 2 Me, Society Columnist Cookie found time to attend Jack Moss' performance at
Le Chat Noir, take in a burlesque, and hit off a Saints game.

DISTRACTIONS

Under a Black Sky
After the 5th annual NOLA Bookfair, its the afterparty, and Justin Brunell was there. Since you're reading NOLAFugees.com, we assume you've broken into a building and partied your ass off until the cops showed up; in the off chance you haven't, there are plenty of abandoned buildings around, so quit dicking around.

How to Get Yours: a review of Shortbus
Film critic Feelicia Brown reviews the latest gender-flipped examination of modern sexual nuerosis.

Meanwhile, on Youtube.com: