Like most people, I will never forget this time two years ago in the days/week after Hurricane Katrina first struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.  I was literally glued to the TV's non-stop news' streaming images of the devastation and tales of the horrific conditions. I was transfixed by the shocking images and I was shocked by news reports of the ridiculously delayed help getting to those who needed it  so desperately - mostly the region's poor inhabitants.  And yesterday, as I watched the 3-DVD set of Spike Lee's HBO documentary "When The Levees Broke," I was reminded of all the horrors of Katrina.

Since September 2005 the national media's focus on New Orleans may have faded considerably but the needs of its inhabitants have not.  Luckily there are still a great many individuals and organizations  actively involved in helping in the long recovery process that has quite a ways to go still.  As you probably already know Amoeba Music is one of the many organizations doing its bit in the effort to help the victims of Katrina, through its  Amoeba auctions to benefit Katrina victims. Meanwhile one of the many individuals involved in helping the recovery process is my former KALX Cultural Affairs Dept. buddy Rohit Gupta who is one of those wonderful, quietly humble and giving individuals who is always down to help out those in need.  Rohit lives and works in Los Angeles but  has been making frequent visits down to New Orleans to volunteer in the slow post-Katrina recovery process.  I invited Rohit to write a report on what it is really like right now in New Orleans for this AMOEBLOG.    Here is Rohit's story:

It seems like everybody wants to have an album out this year on 9/11. It's such a big week next week, with new albums from Kanye West, The Black Lips, Film School, Ani Difranco, The Shout Out Louds, Pinback, Animal Collective, Hot Hot Heat, The Go Team, and a bunch more. Unfortunately it is only 9/4 and with the recent holiday of labor day the music releases are pretty non existent today. But there are some exciting DVD releases coming out this week. It is hard to believe that two of the classic films of Jim Jarmusch have never been on DVD. Both Night on Earth and Stranger Than Paradise are seeing their first release on DVD domestically this week. They will released through the fantastic people of Criterion. These awesome Criterion Collection editions are not just your normal DVD packaging. These are director approved editions and they look fantastic. Both these films have been long time favorites of mine and it is nice to finally see them out on DVD. I am sure a whole new generation of people have yet to see these movies. They were the kind of movies that you could find at any indie video store of the past. But I am sure over the years the old VHS copies have been stolen or broken down by now. I first saw Stranger than Paradise for a college course and then quickly went out and rented any of the other films of Jim Jarmusch that I could find. Night on Earth was easily one of my favorites.

Stranger Than Paradise came out in 1984. Jim had made one of the parts of the film a couple of years before that and had made only one other film before that. That first film, "Permanent Vacation" is included with this new edition of Stranger Than Paradise. It sort of became this famous little cult indie film. One of the first indie films that sort of made it into popular culture. After Down by Law in 1986 and Mystery Train in 1989, came the great film that is Night on Earth in 1991. This was way before Taxicab Confessions. Night on Earth was basically five different stories in one film. "Five Taxis, Five Cities, One Night." The setup of the film was brilliant. While most of my cab rides have not been this exciting. It is really interesting to see these little stories of what could happen in various cab rides throughout the World. Winona Ryder and Gena Rowlands star in the Hollywood cab ride. Gena is always fantastic and amazing to watch on the screen. Please go watch "Gloria" or "Woman Under the Influence" if you don't know what I mean. It is fun to see her here interacting as a casting agent with a young and tough cab driving Winona. I may not smoke anymore but it still is great to see these two smoking away as they have a conversation in the cab. Gena wants to cast Winona in a film but Winona has to turn her down. She seems to already have her life plan all worked out. One of other great interactions is between Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez and Armin Mueller-Stahl in the New York Taxi ride. Rosie Perez is sort of like Sandra Bernhard. You either absolutely love her or you can't stand her. I am for sure on the love side. But whatever you think of her, she is perfect in this part. The dialoge is just brilliant and hilarious. The three other cab rides take place in Rome, Paris, & Helsinki.  Roberto Benigni is hilarious in the Rome cab ride. He makes a very detailed sexual confession to a priest. 

Gary Numan's 1979 gloomy & seductive synth-pop hit single "Cars" ( from the album The Pleasure Principle), which was a  big hit both  in his native United Kingdom upon its release and the following year in the States, is one of those classic songs that just  never seems to age but always manages to sound as fresh and engaging as the first time you heard it.   When Numan arrived on the charts, even though he was obviously derivative of Bowie and others, including T-Rex's Marc Bolan, it didn't really matter because he was so good at what he did. And he put his own unique stamp on things right down to the instrumentation - the synth sound was a Polymoog.  With "Cars" Numan became synthesizer pop's first big star. (Human League's "Don't You Want Me" wouldn't be released for two full years later). In fact so great a hit was Cars for Numan that it had an adverse effect by overshadowing everything he did since then - even his other number one hit "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and the album it came from:  Replicas.  Below check out the lyrics and the video for the song Cars, which went on to become a hit again in both 1987 and 1996:




CARS lyrics:

Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars

Here in my car
I can only receive
I can listen to you
It keeps me stable for days
In cars

Here in my car
Where the image breaks down
Will you visit me please?
If I open my door
In cars

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