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Earth Day Footprint Quiz

Mine's 15. Room to improve.  Earth Day Footprint Quiz.

Updater: Hip hops to Smithsonian

The National Mall ups its street cred as the Smithsonian's Museum of American History has started acquiring objects and artifacts for "Hip Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life," a major new collecting initiative tracing the 30 years of hip hop music.

  Two sided 
  Originally uploaded by The43rdDj.

Emerging from the South Bronx in the late 1970s, hip hop has grown from an underground expression of urban black and Latin music and culture into a hugely lucrative, global cultural phenomenon.

Artifacts collected from seminal figures in the scene like Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Ice T & Russell Summons will help build a permanent collection that commemorates one of the biggest cultural movements in modern American history. The exhibit will span the genre, featuring objects from the worlds of muisic, fashion, language, graffiti, sports, technology and more, with vinyl records, handwritten lyrics, dj gear, clothing & accessories, boom boxes, posters, videos & interview all in the house.

  Flyer - Run DMC - Beastie Boys 
  Originally uploaded by MWers.

The museum will gather objects for several years, with an estimated opening in 2010.

Updater: Jazzfest '06 Superflied

Not like you need more incentive to go to this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, to be held late April-early May, but the uber-promoters at Superfly Productions have announced Superfly During Jazzfest 2006. Sick lineups throughout, with shows held at favorite facilities around town: the Meters & Robert Randolph at the Contemporary Arts Center; George Clinton & Parliment-Funkadelic at Republic NOLA; the Radiators & Greyboy Allstars at Riverboat Casino Queen; Walter 'Wolfman' Johnson at DBA.

No question, the first Jazzfest post-Katrina will be an emotional outpouring of mad love for the city, one offering attendees greater access to the music and musicians throughout.

And if you haven't seen Superfly's for Bonnaroo 2006, take a gander and start booking tix for Tennessee.

Updater: A'dam fetes Rembrandt

In Amsterdam, they're ramping up Rembrandt-mania, with a full calendar of nods to the Dutch master's 400th birthday.

The Rijksmuseum, the city's premiere arts repository, features Rembrandt 400, a year-long series of special exhibits and events including "Nightwatching by Peter Greenaway", the film director's take on Rembrandt's signature piece come to life, and "The Storyteller" and "The Observer", back-to-back exhibits featuring all of Rembrandt's 60 drawings.

The Rembrandt Recycling Project features local artists and creative designers' modernist takes on more than 30 of Rembrandt's paintings. Night Watch at the Rembrandtsplein is an emormous bronze sculpture exhibition consisting of 22 life-sized figures. 

Rembrandt the Musical traces the man's triumphs and failures as he cascades from Amsterdam elite to outcast artist.

More events courtesy of the helpful Amsterdam tourist board.

Back to the Big Easy

As Commissioning Editor - US East at Lonely Planet, my terrain includes New Orleans and the American Gulf South. It also covers Florida, so I was aware of that class one hurricane that ripped across the state, toward the Gulf of Mexico and class 5 infamy as Katrina.

I wrote LP's breaking news dispatches during the week of Katrina, and hosted a Lonely Planet podcast discussion of post-hurricane Louisiana with Lonely Planet author Pableaux Johnson.

  New Orleans Protest Car 
  Originally uploaded by howieluvzus.

In November, I returned to New Orleans to report on its progress, three months post-Katrina. I toured the neighborhoods, with an eye toward the reopened few outposts amid the bathtub ring.

  Debris 
  Originally uploaded by emmajane82.

The city has far to go but many believers and a hearty defiance. To survey and spread some love, go now.