There is a growing sense of peace in the Who Dat Nation.

Logo Express Marketing Company is a locally owned business with offices in New Orleans, Gretna, and Harvey. It’s a family owned business, recognized as a giant in the manufacturing and sales of apparel, including T-shirts, uniforms, and other similar goods. The firm has now announced that it is taking the lead in helping to form an alliance of businesses called “The WhoDat Network”.

Ironically, Logo Express was once a part of the litigation activities surrounding the ‘who owns Who Dat?’ controversy. However, after careful study of numerous pages of documents, the owners of Logo Express have recognized WhoDat?, Inc. as the true owners of the original trademark. As a result, the manufacturing giant has accepted a licensing agreement from Who Dat?, Inc. to manufacture and market a full line of “WhoDat?” apparel and other merchandise to local T-shirt shops, gift shops, and sporting goods stores.

A company spokesperson said, “We were offered a licensing agreement last year, but we wanted to study all of the legalities involved. We are now 100% convinced that they (WhoDat?, Inc) own the trademark. We encourage other local businesses to take the same position, and join us in growing the WhoDat Network. This is good for New Orleans and Louisiana owned companies”.

(For WhoDat Network information, contact International Marketing Systems, 504-831-9400.)

The Synergy Group of Slidell, Louisiana has been awarded the exclusive sales and distribution rights to officially licensed Who Dat merchandise.

In a deal announced just last week,  Synergy said they are pleased to be involved with Who Dat?, Inc, the owners of the Who Dat trademark.  A Synergy representative said , ” don’t believe what you read in the papers, see on the news or hear on the radio. This company is fair and really supports local business”.  The Synergy representative continued, “we have been able to add many new items and unique designs to the Who Dat Brand product line”.

You can find Synergy’s offerings at mywhodatstore.com. You can also shop online at whodat.com

Synergy joins a long list of Louisiana companies licensed by Who Dat?, Inc.  For more information, contact Synergy at info@mywhodatstore.com or Team Who Dat at inquires@whodat.com .

September, 17 2010

New Orleans

Team Who Dat  is offering 50% off on all Who Dat merchandise to members of the Who Dat Fan Club. As a push back to the high prices that the Who Dat Nation suffer in the retail outlets, the pricing is designed to make a multitude of products available to all. Membership in the fan club is free and you can sign up by going to http://whodat.com/fan-club/ .

Who Dat Records has just released a ring tone of the Original Who Dat Song by Aaron Neville. It’s available now at http://www.myxer.com/get/item/9424764 .

Seafood just happens to be everywhere in South Louisiana. Shrimp, crabs, crawfish, oysters, frog legs, alligator, turtle are a few, and of course, fish. A few are reptiles and amphibians but what the heck, they live in water, they’re seafood to me. Click on the links above or just scroll down, your choice….

Shrimp

Shrimp are harvested on the Louisiana saltwater bayous and in the Gulf of Mexico. In general we have two seasons; the Brown Shrimp or May season usually starting in May and lasting for about 45 days. The White Shrimp Season usually begins in August and lasts until around December (more on Shrimp in Louisiana….)

Fresh shrimp are usually de-headed and frozen with the shells on in a little water in a zipper lock type bag (get all the air out). The water is essential to prevent freezer burn. Some folks peal the shrimp first. Leaving the shells on leaves me with more cooking options also; like baked shrimp and making shrimp stock. Fresh shrimp should be kept covered with ice (not ice water) for handling. If they get warm they’ll spoil and start smelling immediately. If you see any red on a fresh shrimp it means it got too warm at some point. I won’t buy em’!

I like a 40 count (number per pound, heads on) shrimp for gravies and 20 count for boiling, baking, grilling and frying. To me, any larger has too much of an iodine taste.

With large shrimp you can even pull the leg sections from the heads and fry them. “Oh yuk” you say, but, it’s no different than frying a soft-shell crab.

Shrimp dishes include boiled, gumbo, etouffee, stew, jambalaya, Creole, baked, stuffed, dips, soup, grilled, boulettes, and of course, fried. ….. see “cooking shrimp”.

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Crabs

The Louisiana gulf coast crab (Blue Claw) is normally found in abundance during the summer months but can be had at other times. Freshwater and saltwater crabs are available, saltwater being the more popular. Crabs are caught in the shrimp trawlers’ nets but mostly by crab fishermen using traps. You can also catch them yourself using string with a chicken neck tied to it, a dip net and a little finesse (the kids love this)! Hey, when the fish ain’t bitin’ the crabs probably are!

Fresh crabs will usually stay alive if kept moist and cool with a decent air circulation. Icing crabs down with too much ice (we call this “iced hard”) will kill them as will excessive heat. If you put crabs in an ice chest laying a small bag of ice on top of them will do just fine. Another trick to keeping live crabs “Live” is never let them sit up-side-down. If you have to, dump them into another container and place them one-by-one back into the holding container. Once a crab dies the meat gets mushy, same as crawfish. If you’ve ever eaten boiled crabs and found that some of them had mushy meat it means they died before hitting the boiling water. I’m sure there is a time period that must elapse between death and the mush. I don’t know what it is but it’s not long. That’s why when it comes to boiled seafood in Louisiana you hear people say “don’t eat the dead ones”, that’s what it means. An experienced boiled crab or crawfish eater can tell the difference right away. I can’t say that it will actually hurt you to eat it, but, boy the pallet gets a nasty feeling! You can usually look at a fresh crabs’ mouth and if the mandibles are hanging loose, it’s dead. This is not so prevalent in crabs that have been iced hard. If they try to pinch you they’re most likely alive!

Fresh whole crabs can be prepared for the freezer by scalding them about 2 minutes and cleaning them. They can also be prepared live. Freeze them as you would shrimp. If you boil the crabs you can pick the meat and freeze it in a zipper bag with a little water (get the air out).

Soft-shelled crabs are a delicacy to me. A soft shell crab is just a regular crab that is molting. The crab sheds its smaller shell to allow for a new larger shell to grow. This crab is now being farmed, in that the experienced crab farmer can actually look at the color changes on certain parts of the crab and is able to tell when the molt will begin. At the precise time the crab is pulled from the water and hard packed in ice to stop the molt.

Some of the favorite dishes are boiled, stew, au’gratin, patties, stuffed and is used in creamy soups. [Cooking Crab]

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Crawfish

Mud-bugs (or “bugs” for short) are very popular here in Louisiana, especially boiled. Crawfish can be purchased right from the fishermen, if you know one, but normally they’re available at seafood stores that specialize in fresh and boiled seafood. Restaurants abound serving this delicacy throughout South Louisiana.

Crawfish come from the Atchafalaya Basin, rice fields, and, are farmed in dedicated crawfish ponds. They, as crabs, are caught in traps. If you’re willing to brave a snake or two you can go out and catch them yourself in the right ditch.

Handling fresh crawfish is pretty much the same as crabs. Keep them cool and moist. If they died before cooking the meat will get somewhat mushy. You can tell when you pull the tail away from the body and the first piece of meat breaks off. Most of the time the crawfish tail won’t be curled.

Great dishes with this rascal are boiled, etouffee’, bisque, stew and fried soft-shell. They also make a great omelet. [Cooking Crawfish]

When Freezing your crawfish tails in water add a little lemon juice. They keep a while longer.
Make a “Fat” cube by separating the fat, simmer it a little with lemon juice and freezing it in an ice cube tray adding a little water. Once frozen remove from tray and put in zipper bags and back in the freezer.

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Oysters

Here’s one of my favorite sea creatures. Oysters from South La. are harvested in saltwater bays and bayous by oyster fishermen year round. The commoner can pick a few for himself which is another “fish ain’t bitin’” activity. I’m from South Louisiana and have picked, shucked and eaten many an oyster. Down here the “R” month concept does not fully work. The concept (I’ve heard) was developed up north in the colder regions of the U.S. People have mistakenly adapted it down here. The best months are normally Nov., Dec., and January. In February they start to become milky and loose their firmness. If I’m going to eat raw oysters I’m very selective about where the oysters are picked. For me it’s Empire and Grand Isle Louisiana; these areas have good water flow and salt content is high. I’ll also wait until the daily high temperature is at least 45 degrees for several days. Eating raw oysters can be very dangerous.

Oysters must naturally be shucked. My paternal Grandfather was an oyster shucker in New Orleans way long ago. He showed my father not only how to shuck them but how to make an oyster knife. This might seem simple but the “pro shuckers technique” was complex and produced a perfectly shucked oyster 99.9% of the time.

Handling oysters follows the basic rules, cool and moist. After you get them out of the shell they must be refrigerated.

Oyster dishes include; on the half shell, fried, soups, jambalaya, Rockefeller, dressing, grilled and gumbo… see “Cooking Oysters”

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Frog Legs

Frog legs come from the chicken! Aw come on nah! Of course they’re from frogs and those frogs are usually the marsh bull frog. You ain’t lived unless you’ve been at the camp and heard those bad boys croak. Froggin’ (hunting frogs) is a night time activity usually done in small jo-boats and pirogues. They’re taken with a gig or with a looped-wire stick. The frog is then skinned, gutted and head removed. If the frog is big enough we eat the body too! Hey, don’t waste nuttin round here. Frog actually tastes a little like chicken but better.

Favorite dishes here are fried, sauce piquant and smothered.

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Alligator

Yea, usually if it moves we’ll eat it! Alligator is farmed, and, caught in the wild in South Louisiana freshwater marshes. Cultivation is not for the meat but for the hide, but, as fate would have it, there’s meat beneath that hide and, well…. we’re eating! If you’re lucky enough to know a farmer or hunter you can get a little alligator tail meat for usually nothin’. The meat is now available via seafood outlets and believe me, it’s worth trying. The meat is off-white and has a taste combination in the chicken, fish, frog area and has no “wild” flavor. It kinda depends on the size of the animal, and to me, the younger the better.

Favorite dishes are fried, and naturally, a good sauce piquant.

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Turtle

Turtle is abundant in the fresh water swamps of Louisiana and of course it moves, so what do we do?…. eat it! No, we don’t eat “Ripley’s believe it or not” turtles. We got enough fresh water varieties. Snapping turtle (cah-wan, somebody correct me on this) is probably the most popular but there are other types that fit just fine in the pot. Turtle meat is available in the local seafood place and if you’re out fishing and run up on one just grab em’ and throw em’ in a sack. Chances are you’ll find somebody who knows how to clean one around here. Turtle is one of the animals that has meat that tastes different dependent upon the part of the body it comes from.

Turtle is also a sauce piquant favorite. I’ve heard a gumbo is good too but haven’t tried that one yet.

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Fish

As I’m sure everyone knows fish fits any plate and most people like it. One of the nice things about South Louisiana is that fish is abundant in both fresh and saltwater varieties. Personally I like perch (a.k.a. blue gill), sac-a-lait (a.k.a. white perch or crappie), goggle-eye, catfish, fresh specks (speckled trout), red fish, drum and flounder. I honestly can’t say I have one favorite when it comes to fish, I just love them all. Each has it’s own spot on my tongue. The Gulf waters give us snapper, ling (cobia), amberjack and many others (too many to list here).

Most of us know that fish must be kept iced down at all times (but I had to say it).

Fried, grilled, with sauces, hey you can’t hardly mess up fish. Favorite dishes are sauce piquant, courtbullion, fried and stuffed (flounder). See… “Cooking Fish”

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Well that’s about it for the seafood section. I hope you’ve learned a little and I didn’t gross you out…haha! Seafood is a big part of South Louisiana eating. We say,” it’s here – we eat it!”. On to Cooking Seafood…

Oh by the way, if your visiting South Louisiana and want to partake in any of the outdoor activities mentioned above, be sure to follow the laws set forth by our state. Your link to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Have a good one……

For those in the know, 1811 was the year that the steamboat New Orleans arrived in this city of its namesake under the command of Nicholas Roosevelt, a Great Grand Uncle of none other than the 26th President of the United States, Theodore. The first steamboat to ever dock in this, the Crescent City (so nicknamed because of the shape of the Mississippi as it flows past New Orleans) it heralded in an age of prosperity when steamboat traffic along the mighty river became king. Romanticized by Samuel Clemens (his pen name itself, Mark Twain, a term for noting the depth of safe passage on the river) in his famous memoir about his career as a steamboat pilot, Life on the Mississippi, you too can experience what it was like to cruise past the New Orleans riverfront and relive those by-gone days and tall tales that Mr. Twain made famous.

Steamboats leave from the riverfront both afternoons and evenings and can include meals, entertainment — including our own jazz, born in the city of New Orleans — cocktails, and a historic narration about the city and this, the fourth largest port (by volume) in the world. Relax on deck and time travel back to a unique time while the Mississippi rolls by under your feet and the Crescent City skyline is seen as one only can from the vantage of that mighty river.

When the final BCS rankings were released Sunday night, LSU was ranked 10th, barely ahead of 11th-place Boise State. But statistical guru Jerry Palm, who is best known for his work in replicating college basketball RPIs, has found a computer error that switches the Tigers and Broncos.

According to Palm’s blog entry at CBSSports.com, the error occurred in Wes Colley’s final rankings, one of the six computer rankings used to comprise one-third of the BCS formula. Colley omitted the Football Championship Subdivision second-round playoff game between Appalachian State and Western Illinois in his calculations.

With neither LSU nor Boise headed to one of the five BCS bowls, the point is somewhat moot. Another place in the standings, though, and the uproar this afternoon would be unbelievable.

“But,” Palm says in his blog entry, “the bigger point is that nobody checks the BCS computer data. We should all be grateful to Colley for having a system that is open, accountable and verifiable. The BCS owes us an entire system that is open, accountable and verifiable.”

NEW ORLEANS– No matter whether fans are rooting for Southern or Grambling University, it is the City of New Orleans that is looking to come up a winner during the Bayou Classic.
“The Sheraton, that’s where we’re at,” said Southern University fan Michael Hayes.
Hayes and his family drove in from Baton Rouge and New Iberia for the game. They are spending $500 this weekend, just on hotel rooms.
“It’s something we hadn’t done before as a family,” he said. “Just enjoying ourselves.”
Others in town for the Bayou Classic are spending as well, by either shopping and eating out. In all, the weekend generates an economic impact worth tens of millions of dollars to the city.
“That’s all in the plan, you know. You’ve got to spend money,” said Grambling University fan Odessie Buckener.
It is events like Bayou Classic that keep the city going, according to City Council Member At Large Jackie Clarkson. Without those special events, Clarkson said associated sales tax revenue would plummet and the city’s current financial woes would be much worse.
“[We would be] serious trouble– that’s why we depend on events and festivals,” Clarkson said. “They all make it work and that is such a major part, not only of our economy, but our culture and what we’re known for.”
UNO economic research professor Janet Speyrer said events that draw big crowds are crucial to giving the city a needed economic boost. In the case of Bayou Classic, that translates into nearly 200,000 extra people drawn to the city this weekend.
“They really are very, very important,” Speyrer said. “It’s like we have that many more people in town that day, buying things.”
Despite the nationwide recession, Speyrer said the amount dollars spent by visitors in the city so far this year, appears to be holding its own.
“We have been doing very well with our tourist population this year, and that’s going to help with sales tax to some extent,” she said.
The boost in sales tax comes during a time when the city is struggling to come out from under a major budget shortfall, with the City Council needing to pass a balanced budget by Dec. 1.
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Who Dat Ownership History

As I understand it, Who Dat originated one damp day in the swamps of Louisiana in the year 1983 BC. It seems that Ron Swoboda was crabin’ in the bayou when his net became full. He lifted it out of the water and to his surprise, Aaron Neville was among the crabs and other creatures. Aaron jumped out and started singing “When the Saints go marching in”. About that time, the entire Patterson Lumberjacks football team fell out of the sky and landed on Swoboda. Before Ron could pick himself out of the mud and get out from under all those Lumberjacks, he was run over by a pirogue carrying the St. Aug Football team. Well the Lumberjacks were mad because they wanted credit for Who Dat. So the Lumberjacks pounced on St. Aug and a hell of a rumble ensued.Meanwhile, Neville just kept singing. It was as though he realized his rendition was just a  back drop for all this drama.

When the dust settled, the football teams were so exhausted from the fight, they decided to both take credit for Who Dat. Just when the players, Swoboda and Neville were all in agreement that they all started Who Dat, Harpo Marx ran by with his flute, playing the Who Dat song. Everyone started chasing Harpo until they all ended up out of the swamp and back in Kenner. Along the way, Harpo told the gang a story about the Minstrels and how he had heard about Who Dat from them. No one believed a word Harpo had to say.

While in Kenner they all took a stroll down California avenue. They passed the house of Steve Monistere and heard him singing the lyrics, Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum along with “Who Dat Sey Dey Gonna Beat Dem Saints”. Swoboda, Neville, the football team and Harpo were all confused. It seems this wasn’t the “Who Dat” they knew, but they did like what they heard. So they told everyone about Monistere’s Who Dat. Hell they even told Tom Benson! Tom loved it too! Harpo knew Angela Hill and she also became a fan of Monistere’s Who Dat. Even Archie Manning and Howard Cosell knew that Monistere’s Who Dat was THE Who Dat dat everyone was singing!

Monistere’s Who Dat went on to become the most popular of all the Who Dats, even the Minstrels version was forgotten!  Steve’s Who Dat got so popular that  after many years the entire swamp was singing it.

Then some years later… about 2010 BC, all the swamp creatures tried to take Monistere’s Who Dat away. It seems that no one was old enough to remember that he made it popular. Monistere reached out to to his old friends, Swoboda, Angela Hill, Neville, Manning… he even tried to get a hold of Tom Benson (Monistere wrote a song for the old guy called the Benson Boogie). But none of Monistere’s friends from 1983 BC would even talk to him!

The one and only person Monistere could count on to tell the real story was Harpo, but he was deft and dumb.

So Steve decided to go back to live in the swamp and let his lawyers sort it all out. In the mean time, a WWL News Crew captured a group of Steve’s old friends shopping at Walgreens. There were buying up all the Who Dat stuff on the shelves.

The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week’s ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS 1. (1) Paul McCartney; $3,434,998; $145.72.
2. (2) Dave Matthews Band; $1,560,586; $58.89.
3. (5) The Black Eyed Peas; $1,155,868; $63.74.
4. (7) Michael Buble; $1,154,485; $87.15.
5. (8) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers; $1,066,364; $65.95.
6. (9) Rush; $759,731; $72.91.
7. (12) Jack Johnson; $684,195; $42.83.
8. (10) Toby Keith; $676,814; $36.10.
9. (11) Iron Maiden; $632,352; $54.25.
10. (13) Tim McGraw; $614,101; $41.31.