The wait is over.

Tonight the Saints kick off the preseason in a game against the Steelers at the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. My late, great dad would have been incredibly excited to see that Thurman Thomas (who, while he retired as a Dolphin, will always be remembered as a Bills great) is being inducted. Dad was a native of western New York, and tried to made a point to watch Bills games when he could. The grief is still pretty fresh, even months later, but I'll try to keep this entry from being too angsty. (To learn more about my dad, you can click here:

http://www.mem.com/Story.aspx?ID=1618331

Anyhow, as D. and I sat over our weekend "coffee" (er, smoothies) at CC's on Magazine, we discussed tonight's game. While the preseason is mostly meaningless, it means something for players still battling for roster spots, and it certainly means something to New Orleans. Since Katrina, this city has arguably developed its own global brand. It's both a marketer's nightmare come to life and dream come true. Tonight gives that brand a stretch - let's see if the interest that made Bush's jersey the top-seller last season has some continuity. Here's D.'s take on it:

http://blog.nola.com/gladow/2007/08/the_start_of_something_good.html

You'll probably see my comment on the potential outcome. While the defense is very, very questionable still, even with some solid offseason pick-ups, the offense has looked very good in training camp. So here's what I'll be watching tonight over beer and po-boys at Cooter Brown's with my blogtastic better half (naturally, I'll be wearing my Deuce McAllister jersey):

• Marques Colston - T-P staff writer Mike Triplett makes an excellent point that with the 10 lb. weight gain in the offseason, Colston has the potential to have another phenomenal season.
• Lance Moore - while he can't replace Beerman (Michael Lewis), his work ethic has made Sean Payton sing his praises.
• Olindo Mare - considering he was still in south Florida when I packed up and moved here this spring, it's comforting to know he's now a part of the Saints organization. Let's see if he can help boost an already decent special teams.
• Brees' arm. 'Nough said.
• The defense - and therein lies the rub. Even Rex "Dirty Gator" Grossman was able to shred the Saints' defense in the NFC Championship game, much to my chagrin.
• The kids - even if they only get a couple of minutes worth of playing time, it'll be nice to see if Meachem and Young show earlyearlyearly potential as impact players. Let's see how Meachem's knee is progressing, shall we? (This, kids, is why you don't report to camp overweight.)

So there you have it...tune in tonight at 7:00 PM CST. GEAUX SAINTS!

Other coverage of tonight's game:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/steelers/2007-08-05-hall-game-preview_N.htm

Black Water Transit

So FOX has picked up "K-Ville" for its fall schedule. As most of y'all probably know, it's a buddy cop drama set in post-Katrina NOLA starring Anthony Anderson (from "The Shield) and Cole Hauser ("Pitch Black" and "Paparazzi"). I had heard they'd been filming down in the warehouse district and in the French Quarter, but I tend to avoid the Quarter and hang out in uptown, since parking is plentiful and cheap (as is beer).

A couple of weeks ago, D. and I were driving in to New Orleans around 11:00 PM, the end of a two day drive from south Florida. We were tired and cranky, and yawning our way down St. Charles Ave. towards our house. And then we saw lights, from a parked police car. Hmmm, that's kind of random. St. Charles is a relatively safe road, even at night. As we continued down the road, we saw that right across the street from where we turn to head up to our house, film crews were set up, filming a scene on the front porch of a mansion on the Avenue. Tractor-trailers and catering vans were everywhere, and the cop car was just a prop for the scene.

Random, I know, but still kind of cool. So we assumed at the time that it was filming on "K-Ville," which is a reasonable guess. But last night, as we made our way down to The Bulldog to meet up with K., A. and M. for Free Pint Glass Night (woot!), we noticed a crap ton of trailers and lights and cameras. Hmm...the same house, at the corner of Peniston and St. Charles (a scant 3 blocks from La Maison)? Couldn't be "K-Ville."

We shrugged, and went on our merry way. A couple of beers later, we made our way back up Louisiana to St. Charles, and decided to stop and grab a drink at The Superior Grille. As we parked, a guy stumbled across the streetcar tracks towards his van (parked in front of D.'s car), decrying the strength of Superior's infamous margaritas. He beseeched us to help him guide his car out of his spectacular parking spot, rambling semi-coherently about margaritas and parallel parking and Cheetos. (At least, I *think* he mentioned Cheetos.) We helped him out of his spot, and he took off, on his drunk and happy way home. Only in New Orleans, right?

So we sat down at the bar at Superior (no kidding, those margaritas ARE strong) and began chit-chatting with the bartender, who pointed out good ol' Larry Fishburne's trailer through the window. That's right - MORPHEUS IS FILMING A MOVIE IN NEW ORLEANS.

It's called "Black Water Transit," and it's a...well...post-Katrina crime story. It's based on the book of the same name, which was, oddly enough set in New York. ::shrugging::

The IMDB entry on it: http://imdb.com/title/tt0490087/

Here are the pics we took last night on my handy little camera phone...

(The actors' trailers, right on Amelia Ave. next to Touro)

(Production trucks)

(This was the third time we saw them filming at this house on St. Charles.)

So yeah, very cool, all in all. Earlier that afternoon, as D. went to deposit our rent checks downtown, he texted me to tell me that he thought he saw Bernie Mac. Hmmm.