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Welcome to the highly lauded Friday’s Food for Thought post hosted by got geoint? The weeks are flying by and check this out. We are 38 days away from the kick off of GEOINT 2010. Since the GEOINT symposium is headed back to New Orleans, we have decided the make the theme of this week’s FFT post all about the Big Easy. While much of the attention around this great city still focuses on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one thing remains true. The soul of the Big Easy is very very special. So, take a ride with us today as we explore all things that make NOLA a special place. And, happy Friday!

The History of New Orleans
Before the founding of what would become known as the city of New Orleans, the area was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years. Beginning before 1000 BCE, the Mississippian culture peoples built mounds and earthworks in their communities in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Later Native Americans created a portage between the headwaters of Bayou St. John (known to the natives as Bayouk Choupique) and the Mississippi River. The bayou flowed into Lake Pontchartrain. This became an important trade route. French explorers, fur trappers and traders arrived in the area by the 1690s, some making settlements amid the Native American village of thatched huts along the bayou. By the end of the decade, the French made an encampment called “Port Bayou St. Jean” near the head of the bayou. They built a small fort “St. Jean” at the mouth of the bayou in 1701. These early European settlements are now within the limits of the city of New Orleans, though predating its official date of founding. Pretty cool, huh? Check out the full Wikipedia entry here.

What Is So Special About New Orleans?
It is very easy to get basic tourist-y information about any city online. What is more challenging is finding a blog or media outlet that really gives you the insider scoop on a place. Well, we were lucky enough to stumble upon a blog called “What Is So Special About New Orleans?,” which is a blog about the special cultural, but little known, aspects of New Orleans. The blog is run by Mary Grace and we highly recommend you check it out. One of our favorite posts is “Everybody Feels French.” Check out out here.

The Music of New Orleans
The music of New Orleans assumes various styles of music which have often borrowed from earlier traditions. New Orleans, Louisiana is especially known for its strong association with jazz music, universally considered to be the birthplace of the genre. The earliest form was dixieland, which has sometimes been called traditional jazz, ‘New Orleans’, and ‘New Orleans jazz’. However, the tradition of jazz in New Orleans has taken on various forms that have either branched out from original dixieland or taken entirely different paths altogether. New Orleans has also been a prominent center of funk, home to some of the earliest funk bands such as The Meters. The city is also the home of some of the world’s most important sludge metal bands and arguably the place where the style was born. Check out more here.

French Quarter (Vieux Carré)
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré – or the “Quarter” to locals, sits on a crescent in the Mississippi River on some of the highest ground in New Orleans. Not only is this is city’s cultural hub, but is a community where residents take time to reminisce with neighbors about times gone by and to welcome visitors in the streets. Intimate and unique, New Orleans’ oldest neighborhood has exerted a spell over writers and artists since the time of Mark Twain, Lafcadio Hern and John James Audubon. Hollywood celebrities and software magnates have joined the residential mix, keeping the glamour up-to-date, but it is the year-round local residents who keep the neighborhood vibrant. Oh, and of course, the editorial staff of got geoint? will be enjoying the fruits of the French Quarter during this year’s GeoWalk! Be sure to check out the karaoke action at the Cat’s Meow by the way!

The People And Culture of New Orleans
Normally when tourists or first-time residents come to New Orleans, they have a difficult time understanding the city. It looks like no other place in the United States. The first puzzling impression usually comes from the appearance of the French Quarter near many of the city’s hotels. It is more than just a few blocks of townhouses and cottages standing side-by-side, up against the sidewalk. The size of the district startles even those well traveled in the rest of the nation. Few visitors, moreover, are accustomed to such a melange of people moving at all hours of the day and night in the very center of the city. They quickly learn that bars have no closing hour, that the food is spicy, and that the music is pulsating almost everywhere. And they may also take note that the locals talk funny but seldom have southern accents. Read more here.

New Orleans Music Had No Fear and Boundaries to Keep It Down
One would have to be completely tone def to not appreciate the vibrant music scene in New Orleans. The place just has musical notes teeming through its DNA. Check out this This is a short written and narrated by Grammy award winning musician Anders Osborne about the music scene in New Orleans for The New Orleans Hope and Heritage Project. It’s awesome.

Happy Friday!

Tags: Friday's Food for Thought, GEOINT and the Big Easy, geospatial intelligence, New Orleans and GEOINT 2010, USGIF, What is So Special About New Orleans