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Ray Davis on New Orleans (some bike content)



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 14th 05, 01:48 PM
dgk
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Default Ray Davis on New Orleans (some bike content)

Ray Davies is the lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks.


September 07, 2005

New Orleans - the ideal place to get shot
Ray Davies
Away from the partying it was obvious to a dedicated follower of the
city that disaster was around the corner

I SPENT the early part of last year in New Orleans recovering from
gunshot wounds received as I was being robbed. It happened in the
early evening as I walked down a quiet street with my girlfriend.
There was a football game in town and the streets near the French
Quarter were empty. The police presence was elsewhere. The incident
itself was over in a flash but it plays over and over in my head and
perhaps one day it will make sense to me.
I found out later that there were fewer than 2,000 police in New
Orleans at that time and it reached such a point that there was talk
of the city was importing officers from Cleveland. Anyway, thanks to
someone’s mobile phone, the police eventually got to the scene.

Later, as I was carried into the emergency room at Charity hospital, a
doctor reassured me that New Orleans really is the best place to get
shot”. They had, he explained, had plenty of practice.
The same week I was shot, I read that three other tourists were killed
near to where I was attacked. Tourists were urged not to fight back
after being mugged (I was continually reminded of this by the district
attorney’s officials, who were critical of the way I chased the man
who robbed my girlfriend).

There were additional complications to my injuries and my gunshot
wounds were not as clean as first thought. Before I was taken in for
my first operation, a priest came and gave me a little spiritual
assistance. Later I was even serenaded by a nurse who whispered slow,
mournful gospel songs in the style of Mahalia Jackson.

During my initial week-long stay in hospital and lengthy recuperation,
I observed first-hand the bankruptcy of the New Orleans health system.
Several doctors who treated me actually apologised for the low
standard of healthcare in Louisiana. Even so, they gave me the best of
what they did have, for which I am grateful.

I have just looked through some notes in the diary I made after I was
operated on and one seems chillingly relevant. How can the USA be
expected to look after the whole world when it cannot even look after
its own? So it doesn’t surprise me to see the world reacting with
shock to the “Third World conditions in New Orleans in this, the
richest and most powerful country in the world. I could have told them
that.

But I have been astonished by the reactions and apparent shame of some
of the US television reporters who seemed overwhelmed to discover that
there actually is poverty in America. They made me want to grab my
television and shout Hello, dear reporter, yes, America actually does
have poor and underprivileged people as well. Hello, yes, the
President might well be slow to react but at times like this, that’s
all that an over-burdened, out-of-touch president can be.

After watching the scenes on television in the past few days, it
occurred to me that if any place in the world could survive this
catastrophe, it would be New Orleans. Significantly, in the most
deprived parts of the city, there are churches and Gospel halls. Faith
has to be strong because often it is all most of the people have.

When I was last in New Orleans, I was driven around the city by a
friend who pointed out the pump houses that seemed antiquated to me
even then. The levees seemed insufficient for the amount of water
surrounding the city. The roads were uneven and the tap water pressure
in most houses was weak. The whole system appeared improvised, but
according to my friend it all seemed to have worked well enough so far
given that there is not enough funding to improve it. Locals would
joke: Yep, it is like the Third World but, hey, this is N’Awlins.
Nothin’s perfect. That’s what’s so great about it.

I agreed but deep down I felt the whole infrastructure was very
fragile. New Orleans is a party town, after all, and when tourists
walk down Bourbon Street drinking frozen Daiquiri during Jazz Fest,
crime, unemployment and environmental issues are far from their minds.
It was clear to me, however, that away from all the festivities
something disastrous was on the cards. Too many things pointed in that
direction. Why didn’t the people who are supposed to be experts on
this stuff react sooner? The problem we all know by now is money.
Budgets. America’s preoccupation with wars overseas. Nobody cares
about the poor. Etc, etc.

At the time of my shooting I was trying to develop a musical event for
a local school in New Orleans to raise funds for instruments and new
uniforms for them to wear at Mardi Gras. Music, particularly in the
school marching bands, gives many of the kids down there an
opportunity to participate in the local community. This in turn raises
their expectations and it is to be hoped, stops them descending into
the local drug and gang culture waiting around the corner. I was due
back later in the year to put on a show for Thanksgiving to raise a
few extra bucks for the community. This all seems so trivial now.
But the reality is that without its music New Orleans would have been
a forgotten city long ago. The music of the American South inspired me
and helped to shape me as a musician. They say that jazz started on
Perdido Street in New Orleans and even Louis Armstrong honed his trade
in the honky-tonks on Bourbon Street.

I owe as much to music of the Southern states as I do to the British
music that inspired me. If New Orleans is allowed to die, a crucial
part of the world’s musical heritage will disappear.

Right now, the flooded streets of New Orleans might seem just an
American responsibility but sometimes even the most powerful people
need help. Whatever we think of George W. Bush we cannot take it out
on the poor and needy in Louisiana and Mississippi. (He won’t be there
in four years they will.) Numerous people befriended me while I was
there. Gradually, word is getting back to me that they are safe. One
friend made it to Dallas with her family. Others are now scattered
across the South: Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis. One musician friend
is still missing.

I think about what has happened to some of the faceless, scary
neighbours” who kept me awake at night while they partied and chanted
songs on the corner of St Claude and Governor Nichols when I last
stayed there. I hope they made it.

And lastly, I think about the bicycle I left behind. New Orleans is
almost entirely flat as the world knows all too well now and I found
that a bike ride was a great way to get around while strengthening my
injured leg.

When I left last year I forgot to put the padlock on my bike. Whoever
took it, I pray that they get to ride it around the French Quarter
again soon.



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  #2  
Old September 16th 05, 09:40 AM
Gooserider
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Posts: n/a
Default Ray Davis on New Orleans (some bike content)


"dgk" wrote in message
...
Ray Davies is the lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks.


September 07, 2005

New Orleans - the ideal place to get shot
Ray Davies
Away from the partying it was obvious to a dedicated follower of the
city that disaster was around the corner

I SPENT the early part of last year in New Orleans recovering from
gunshot wounds received as I was being robbed. It happened in the
early evening as I walked down a quiet street with my girlfriend.
There was a football game in town and the streets near the French
Quarter were empty. The police presence was elsewhere. The incident
itself was over in a flash but it plays over and over in my head and
perhaps one day it will make sense to me.
I found out later that there were fewer than 2,000 police in New
Orleans at that time and it reached such a point that there was talk
of the city was importing officers from Cleveland. Anyway, thanks to
someone's mobile phone, the police eventually got to the scene.

Later, as I was carried into the emergency room at Charity hospital, a
doctor reassured me that New Orleans really is the best place to get
shot". They had, he explained, had plenty of practice.
The same week I was shot, I read that three other tourists were killed
near to where I was attacked.


This NEVER used to happen when the Mafia had a big presence in New Orleans.
Carlos Marcello's bunch used to run the vice in the French Quarter, and ran
the protection racket. Having tourists get mugged was bad for business, so
the police and mob had an agreement. Lowlifes who targetted tourists tended
to be "let go", after a tip to the large shiny-suited Italian gentlemen.
Lots of muggers and such ended up taking a trip to the swamp. :-)


 




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