Classic New Orleans Jazz Vol.1 - George Lewis & The Mustache Stompers

Advantages: Still the most beautiful city in the US
Disadvantages: Hurricane Katrina

...Reading the other site reviews, it seems like all of them were probably written before Hurricane Katrina did its job on New Orleans. I've been back there several times since the storm, and have a few thoughts. I myself am an expatriate New Orleanian. Born and raised there, I've lived away for several decades, but still have ties and visit occasionally. As it happened, one of those visits was on the weekend before Hurricane Katrina hit. I've been back three times since then, and have seen the city slowly put itself back together. There's no sugar coating it: Katrina did a number on the city. The house I grew up in was lucky: it was on the edge of the flood zone (which covered nearly the entire city, except for the older parts of town hugging the Mississippi River), and so only (only!) had four feet (1.3 meters) of flooding... Read review

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Advantages: Friendly people, relaxed atmosphere. Be prepared to party, and party hard!
Disadvantages: Keep away from the tacky and overpriced tourist area.

...My visit to New Orleans was pretty atypical, myself and a friend hired an aircraft and flew ourselves there from Georgia. For any pilots reading this, the trip was a good one, flying IFR and using Houston Centre for Flight Following and a Radar Service. being typically American aviation, the service was excellent and efficient, and despite being two semi-lost Brits in a single engined aircraft we never had the feeling that they were giving us anything but their friendly, polite best. New Orleans Lake Front Airfield is a controlled airfield about eight miles out from the city centre and has two parallel runways that extend into the Mississippi, undershoot and you're swimming. The facilities were good, offering cheap Avgas and a courtesey car, (Which had been commandeered by the time we go there!), tie down cost 20 dollars, but that was... Read review

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Advantages: Great music, engaging story
Disadvantages: Not one for the faint-hearted

...classic Tarantino, the dialogue is sharp but also a tad on the surreal side. It sounds script like, but very natural, if that makes sense. It's such a fun film, although it is very bloody and gory, it's never serious, and the script reflects that. The acting is great, with everyone playing their roles well. The action is intense and very well done, with music kept at a minimum so you can hear every bone cracking and every stab with the blade. The music is superb. Quentin Tarantino always knows the perfect music to go with his films, and this is no exception. Combining soft soulful music with contemporary Japanese pop, it's a very eclectic mix but works very well together. And even Ennio Morricone makes an appearance, his song "Death Rides a Horse" is used when The Bride and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) are staring each other out. The song reminds... Read review

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