Revised to illustrate, thanks to Ed Weingart*.
The catastrophe in this wonderful city, the fate of so many of its residents, and the dire straits of those now facing a life without their homes, loved ones and so much else that made for happiness in their lives is a shockingly moving event.
My heart goes out to the survivors and everybody else taking in the immediate consequences of Hurricane Katrina (Wikipedia) in the city and the other places devastated by the disaster, it is wretchedly sad and I pray we may never see the like again.
Since New Orleans has been a place with a remarkable musical heritage and legacy touching on so many aspects of the art today, I'd like perhaps at some stage to say more on this log of how the tragedy seems to somebody who loves music so much, but it's not the time for that yet, when what matters far more is to safeguard and rebuild as best may broken lives and shattered institutions.
I extend my deepest condolences to everybody hurt in the dreadful event or otherwise affected and have many a thought, as each one of us takes in its magnitude and long-term impact, for those engaged in recovery and rescue work.
How profoundly I hope that anybody with something to learn from this natural catastrophe and its implications -- and that's pretty much all of us from our different viewpoints -- may do so for the sake of our lives, the shape of the world we live in and our children.
While I know the priorities right now are to remake and renew all the good and the hope that can be salvaged in what is otherwise gone forever, to fund it and to treasure the marvellous memories of what has been lost, it's not in me to condemn angry people whose sometimes very strong reactions to a lack of foresight or planning ahead and an inability to respond fast by some people to an immediate emergency have been slated -- and grotesquely so -- as "inappropriate" at this time.
Anyone not directly affected by the event who has a decent, reasonable and thoughtful response to it, rather than foolish point-scoring in politics or elsewhere, is no less a person who cares and is learning and addressing themself to the future than others who say they have taken more "distance" or protest about the protestors.
I express fellow feeling with some of the people who've been angry because, while politicking and measuring the lack of humanity that contributed to and then worsened the effects of what was a storm hard already to take in by any standards have no place any more here, a certain outrage is something I share with them.
 Those who are elected to lead others have a public responsibility at all times to do so without question or balking. In life, as in any musical performance worthy of the name, the immediate reaction if something goes so terribly wrong should be to take steps to remedy it at once.
Nobody can expect flawless performance from anyone else, but a failure to be a responsive and responsible part of the act when you are and have been entrusted by others with such duties strikes me as an unwise, cold and ultimately inhuman way to behave.
It's a pity.
These days, I find in music meaning and metaphor for other parts of our lives and it's easy to see the whole world as a kind of music we make together, many harmoniously but while others persist in playing to a tune all their own, inflicting these on the rest of us, and even expecting us to like and admire them for it.
That's difficult, when to seek harmony is a choice, just like the exercise of freedom and the skills of sound improvisation.
I think political leaders and other practised "performers" who opt for anything far short of staying in tune should be judged on those grounds and when they prove unable to find a melody that fits the circumstances, they merit the treatment any orchestra player would be given by peers for constant failures to listen and a talent for producing little but dissonance.
True discord and dissonance is a kind of violence, like any other. And that, rather sadly, but with a heart wrenched and with the highest regard for everyone who is working together constructively, is all I have now to say arising from that musical wonder, New Orleans.
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*Ed Weingart last year took the irresistible photo my imagination might conjure up for a place never visited. All credit to Ed, whose own favorites, he says, "include animal close-ups and scenes from nature". (Galleries and more at 'efwdigital').
zzz
Entries may prove rare here for a while, for work and personal reasons. The "comment rating" on the site has dropped to almost zero since the decision to go musical and almost nothing else ... but there's been feedback elsewhere I rejoice in. So, thanks everybody.
For a good chunk of weekend, I've had other pieces in hand, one about several singers and another in answer to friends and mail writers who've come up with a bunch of good ideas and suggestions.
Of a few more singers, notably people with new albums out soon and fine poet-musician careers under their belts in a couple of cases -- though known only to a lucky relatively small audience -- there will be mention when I can.
But the criticism I've drawn already, sometimes negative but very usually constructive and helpful, merits further thought and indeed networking. The quick answer to those who've asked, "A mailing list, please," for instance, is "Yes, I'll do that."
Along with further changes.
To be frank, I had no idea when I changed tack that what I'm doing -- often belatedly discovering one superb singer after another -- could arouse so much interest when on other sites, the reputation of many is taken for granted.
The fact is, it isn't. Those I'm listening to are often just as new to others, even when they've been around for quite a while. So I have to think "Links, budget, options and feedback" through even more than so far.
Please excuse me taking a break while I do this too and thank you again for the encouragement. That's fantastic!
10:12:27 PM link 
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