RHYME AND REASON
It’s not often these days that a poet chooses the hard way — writing formal verse with tight meter and rhyme. Even more rare is the poet with a sense of humor. Breaux Bridge’s Gail White has it all in her new book of verse, Easy Marks. She can spoof the rhapsodies of a besotted lover, berate a flagrant cell phone abuser, or explain God’s ways to man, and do it all with sly irony and a crackling end rhyme. Take her short poem “Hero’s Journey” — “A spiritual explorer in my youth,/I sought to know and to believe the Truth./ Much older now, I only wish I knew/What I believed, so I could think it true.” This slim volume filled with wit and erudition is available for $17 from online booksellers like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. — Mary Tutwiler
DYSFUNCTIONAL BLUES
On the title track to his new album, Somethin’s Wrong, Bobby Lounge sings: “Why does your mama keep a goat indoors? Why does your brother dress in vintage Christian Dior? Why is it always happy hour at 8 a.m.? I know that Jesus understands you honey but I ain’t him.” Something’s always askew in the warped Southern Gothic tales Bobby Lounge narrates in his songs. The eccentric south Mississippi piano man has built up his own mystique; his rare performances only occur on Saturdays, and he only plays in the key of C. His new self-released effort contains five new songs, two remakes of classic blues numbers (“Oh Baby” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”), as well as his own boogie rock cover renditions of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Jesus on the Main Line.” To listen to free MP3 samples or order Somethin’s Wrong on CD, visit www.bobbylounge.com. — Nathan Stubbs
SOME LIKE IT HOT
Conventional wisdom says it’s good to sweat when it’s 90 degrees. That trickle down your temple will cool you off. One way to heat up is to go outside into the humidity. Another is to scarf down some spicy food, and Linda Joe’s Salsa will do the trick. Made from fresh tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, green onions, cilantro, lemon juice, cider vinegar and olive oil, the salsa’s got a nice kick to liven up your chips craving. For those with a more timid palate, scale back to the mild version. Linda Joe’s Salsa sells for $4 and $6 at the Oil Center Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Call 216-0784 for more info. — Mary Tutwiler
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
RHYME AND REASON
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