orphaned-in-storyville

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I’m a musician who played on Bourbon street on New Year’s Eve. Here’s what I have to say about the republican politicians trying to score points at the expense of all the people around me that night.

Every act of terrorism is inherently political. And since the right wing power structure in charge of this country is rushing in to speak on behalf of me and my friends and coworkers—the folks who work on bourbon street and have to deal with the aftermath of this attack—I’m going to speak out too. If you feel it’s crass to “politicize” this, remember, the terrorists and the politicians already have, so why not hear from an actual musician who was actually working that night on bourbon street.

When the people in power impose their moral code on the populace using violence. Weather it’s the cops attacking random black men during traffic stops, or the military of an apartheid state bombing civilians, or the oligarchs in control of a private prison system filling their jails to capacity. It’s called state-violence, and it’s legal. When people who are not in power use violence against random civilians to impose their own morals it’s called terrorism.

The only things that differentiates a Jihadist attacking bourbon street, from a military drone bombing civilians or a policeman beating a handcuffed man to death is the flag they waive. Whether the flag has an isis insignia, a Star of David or a thin blue line makes no difference to the victims. To kill civilians at random is an act of terror. To collectively punish the people is a war crime. These people are all the same. The terrorist, the conservative senator and the billionaire all believe you should be forced to do as they say and if you resist you should be punished with violence.

That’s why the gauntlet of conservative politicians using this attack to their own ends makes my blood boil. The beliefs of an average Republican senator today are barely different from the Islamic fundamentalists commuting mass murder. The state government that bans pornography for religious reasons, that forces their own religious iconography in schools, that makes divorce illegal, that arrests women for the way they dress, that arrests women for having an abortion when the pregnancy will kill them, or when the mother is 12 years old—has more in common with ISIS than they do with you or me.

The conservative politician’s psychopathic need to force their particular interpretation of their particular religion on us is exactly the same need as Isis. Which sect of which religion they impose hardly maters. The only functional difference is that the conservative power brokers that run our country have the law and the police on their side.

So to Trump and Landry and the slew of right wing demagogs trying to profit from the death and suffering on New Years, I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart, you are the same as the terrorists. Your psychotic need to impose your beliefs, and your willingness to use violence on innocent people to do so, puts you squarely in the company of all the other terrorists. Your views on women’s rights and religious freedom are barely different than ISIS. Through the policies you’ve imposed you’re already responsible for more deaths than the shooter. You are bad people to the core not just for using these deaths to your own advantage but because your beliefs and desires are barely different than the terrorist that committed them.

New Orleans is the freeist city I’ve ever lived in, in the least free state. The Louisiana government is controlled by religious extremists imposing their religious doctrines by force. These people are not like us. Senator Mike Johnson has an app on his phone designed for evangelical fundamentalists that alerts him if his son masturbates. JD Vance is an avowed Christian Nationalist who’s stated goal of making America a Christian Nation means forcing the country’s laws to abide by HIS interpretation of HIS sect of HIS religion, which means everything from no drinking on Sunday to making porn illegal to re-criminalizing marijuanna to forcing doctors to let woman die rather than perform abortions.

The same reason the Isis inspired terrorist chose the French quarter of New Orleans as a target—the debauchery, the decadence, the partying and music and joie de vivre that the city is known for, is exactly what the conservative terrorists that control our legislature hate about the city. The only point of contention the Republican dominated government and the Isis inspired terrorist have with one another is which sect of which religion gets to impose its totalitarian ideals on the rest of us. Jihadism is already here, it’s just called Christian Nationalism. Sharia law is already here it’s just called Project 2025.

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This is an old song by Louis Armstrong called “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You” every so often someone dies and I’ll have to adapt it to a new person.

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Robot Halloween Costume (2023 pencil and watercolors)

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Purple Eye Study 3”x3” Acrylic on canvas

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Cloudscape — acrylic on canvass

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“Everything’ll be fine” Self portrait 11/7/24 #2 pencil

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Been stitching puppets together and then drawing their portraits

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Here’s a pen drawing I made for an upcoming story about Harpies. The sketch is based on an ancient tablet depicting the Sumerian god of the underworld. Here’s the original tablet and the first, and second draft sketches and the final product

Plus a quick video to prove this ain’t no AI bullshit

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This painting reminds me of a song I wrote video below the comments

mars black

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What’s the opposite of ethical non monogamy? Unethical monogamy? I think they call it serial monogamy. And this is a fable about that, and why there’s not a single holiday in August

When I was younger I fell in love with someone new every month. I dated April, then left her for May, then met June and ran off with her. Before I ran off though I gave each of my loves a special gift that seemed to suit them. I gave Halloween to October, Christmas to December and Valentine’s Day to February.

But when I was with August it was the dog days of summer and I just wasn’t feeling the relationship. He knew about the presents I gave everyone else and so, towards the end of the fling he came to me and said “I bet you’ve got a real big surprise for me don’t you? Don’t tell me! Hehe”

Of course I hadn’t gotten him anything so I thought up a lie real quick to make him happy. I said “well babe, the thing is, when I’m with you babe, every day is a holiday” the next day I ran off with a Virgo named September and that’s why to this very day there’s no holidays in August.

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ART DECO by Orphaned in Storyville

Alejandro Canales - Clarinet

Martín Moretto - Guitar

Sam Colgate - Drums

Nat Lawrence- Piano and composer

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Orphaned in Storyville live at Allways Lounge. Sam Colgate Drums Nat Lawrence Piano