The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, as a part of the Entergy Masterworks Series, is performing Gustav Holst’s The Planets and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, with guest soloist Charlie Beck, boy alto. This concert is sponsored by The Lohengrin Group. This performance is only happening tonight. Concert starts at 7:30pm—doors open at 6:30pm—at the River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts. Tickets will be sold at the door starting at $17; students with valid ID at $10. For more information, you can call the BRSO ticketing office at (225) 383-0500 or visit them on the web. The Highland Road Observatory, Baton Rouge Astronomical Association and the Mars van will also be there in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy with exciting exhibits and a chance to view the stars.

General Growth Properties, the parent company of the mega-retail center the Mall of Louisiana, announced this morning that it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a southern New York court. The collapse of mortgages put GGP into a tight situation financially and the credit crisis made it impossible for them to refinance or consolidate their debt outside of bankruptcy. They’re seeking for a total restructuring to lower their debt and increasing corporate leverage.

From GGP:

The Company has requested, and expects to receive, additional approvals to give the Company the authority to make payments to ensure that the Company’s shopping centers and other properties continue to operate uninterrupted in the ordinary course of business, including paying employee compensation, certain critical service providers, insurance and other claims. The Company intends to pay all providers of goods and services delivered post-petition.

Essentially, they’ve asked that even under their bankruptcy that they can continue doing business with their some 158 retail centers, which includes the Mall of Louisiana. There should be no disruption in service at this time as it seems unlikely that their bankruptcy protection would interfere with them doing business. The Mall of Louisiana is involved in these filings.

GGP’s retail centers, office properties and master planned communities will be open for business as usual as the company restructures our debt. Our properties will continue to operate, our employees will continue to come to work and get paid, and shoppers will continue to shop.

Fair enough—they don’t want anyone to worry and to continue to patronize their tenants.

It’s dubious whether the executives are culpable for any mismanaging or if the collapse of the mortgage market directly interfered in this capacity with their market. However, I don’t think that there will be any closing of the Mall. It continues to be a retail hub and generates significant capital. With the recent openeings, I find it hard to believe that either tenants will vacate the Mall (except for other financial reasons as with the case of Circuit City) or that patrons will cease visiting. The Mall receives over 12 million visitors annually, as reported by GGP. If GGP can’t sustain a restructuring and does indeed go under (as with the case of Circuit City), I’d think that it’d be likely that someone would buy the Mall (or that it’d spin off and become its own entity) as a property and continue running it.

We’ll develop this story as more information continues to flow.

[Sources: News Release; thanks to @nolagregschultz for the tip.]

Today is Tax Day, but instead grudgingly crawling through a long work day murmuring about taxes under their breath, conservatives are “protest[ing] against out of control government spending.” (Tax Day Tea Party) This is a national movement with organized events happening around the country today. Several are going on right now in Louisiana and the Baton Rouge coalition is at the State Capitol from 1-3 pm. We’ve received reports via Twitter that nearly 1,000 people have shown up at the protest.

This is, for obvious reasons, quite a big story. We’re working on getting more details so we’ll update you when we get word. I’m reaching out to the Republican leadership to hopefully get a statement about this event and their reactions. I read an announcement yesterday about this event from the President of the LSU College Republicans that stressed the importance of this event. I’m also reaching out to him about a statement.

But, to be honest, I’m not really that surprised. Louisiana is a traditionally strong conservative state, so now that the White House is no longer Red, I imagine we’ll see more activity. Stay tuned for more information.

[Update: 04/15/09 6:25pm] Reviewing the Twitter stream, we found the following picture that clearly shows a mass of people. From this picture, we can clearly see that the aforementioned 1,000 person attendance is believable. Credit to @jacobluneau for the picture. Click the picture for full size.

Baton Rouge Tea Party

The third annual LSU CxC Digital Media Festival is this Thursday and Friday. This two-day event is packed with art exhibiting, keynotes, and other miscellaneous events including EA game testing stations. Students who attend can register to win a free Kaplan Test Prep Course, valued at up to $1,849. All events are in Coats 151, so be sure to check it out. More information at the CxC Digital Media Festival web site.

Marjane Satrapi will be addressing the LSU general body about her book The Complete Persepolis, which was featured in the 2008 LSU Summer Reading Program. She will be in the Bo Campbell Auditorium of the Cox Communications Center for Student Athletes at 6:30 pm today. The talk is free and open to the public with a book signing to follow. Her book is her account during the Islamic Revolution and is a graphic novel. The feature film is an animated adaptation which has gained much acclaim.

I read this book for the Summer Reading Program and it was the topic of much discussion in one of my honors courses. I have mixed feelings about the media (and, specifically, that a graphic novel shouldn’t be chosen for summer reading), but the book is still a good, albeit quick, read and it discusses an important event in modern history. I will not be in attendance, but if anyone goes, tip us with the details.

We’ve been posting a few reviews recently, so I thought I’d take the time and explain the calculus that’s been employed thus far.

Whenever I go to a restaurant, I go to eat, not to review, and so my primary focus is entertaining an enjoyable meal—both in food and company. Moreover, the Baton Rougean isn’t yet well known and so I don’t have any claim to fame, so when I show up in a restaurant, people don’t really know who I am. I think this works well because it means that I get no special treatment; the assumption is that I’m getting the same treatment and level of service that anyone else would get.

I write the reviews anywhere between 15 minutes to six hours after I’ve had the meal, but I never wait beyond a day. This is important because I need to get the review out before my brain compresses the memory in my sleep. (This is slightly disingenuous to how it works, but this isn’t a science journal. Just know that there’s more to it than that.) I also talk about the experience with whomever was in my party (usually my family) to ensure that my treatment isn’t unique.
Continue reading “Reviewing Metrics” →

When students go on Spring Break, it gives the maintenance people an opportunity to do a lot of work without the congestion of the normal school day and. So usually, we see a lot of new or updated things around campus—this is nothing new.

However, when I returned to campus, I really didn’t expect to see three gaping holes in the concrete. These were the only I saw, but there might be more. The deepest one was at least 10 feet deep. I haven’t been able to get an official statement about what’s going on, but it appears that they’re doing some work on the underground pipes—maybe water mains. If anyone knows more, tip us.

Click on the pictures to see larger versions.

Turead Hall Hole

Frey Center Hole

Williams Hall Hole

Recently, a friend of a friend asked me for suggestions of great restaurants for a two-night stay near LSU. This list is based on the recommendations I gave to him. These are all great restaurants for anyone traveling to Baton Rouge—say for orientation or an academic conference—and are local favorites, so it’s great to get a little taste of Baton Rouge. All of these are right off the gates of LSU—literally within walking distance.

Quick lunches

1. Louie’s
   Louie’s has been around since basically the beginning. As LSU’s 24-hour diner, Louie’s is a great stop for anyone at anytime. The coffee is good, too.
2. Roul’s
   It’s a hole in the wall, but it’s got the best burgers ever—guaranteed. I’ve actually used these burgers as a “bribe” to get registered in a class. But don’t tell anyone that.
3. Cane’s
   Cane’s was started at LSU and now is a rapidly growing chain. You should try it just because Baton Rouge is the home. Make sure you eat the sauce and try their lemonade or sweet tea.

Sit-down lunches

1. The Chimes
   The Chimes is a local favorite for it’s great tasting Cajun cuisine. It’s an LSU classic that serves delectable seafood.
2. Reginelli’s
   Reginelli’s is a great pizza parlor. It’s a New Orleans-based pizzeria, so it has some semblance of being local. I recommend getting the alfredo sauce-based pizzas. It’s different, but really good.
3. Walk-On’s
   Another local restaurant, Walk-On’s caters to the sports guy in every LSU Tiger. It also serves crawfish during season, which is a must for any visitor to Cajun land.

Coffee

1. Highland Coffee
   Highland Coffee is a great local place that roasts their own beans. It’s located right near the gates, so it’s a convinent location.
2. CC’s Coffee
   CC’s is a national brand with roots in Baton Rouge. The coffee is good, and as Ashton pointed out, it’s been around a long time. There is a CC’s located inside the Middleton Library on campus.
3. Coffee Call
   While Coffee Call isn’t located on campus, it’s not too far and the beignets are worth the trip.

   Fancy Dinner

   Tsunami’s
   It’s a sushi restaurant downtown and it’s super nice. It sits atop the Shaw Fine Arts building and overlooks the river with an outdoor terrace. It’s only a few miles down the road from LSU.
   Copeland’s or Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro
   These aren’t as close as Tsunami’s, but they’re both very good and a bit of Louisiana flavor. See Ashton’s remark for more details.

It’s been a week since we first opened our doors and I just wanted to say thank you. We’ve had a great week posting all kinda of articles and reviews and we’ve had unanticipated success bringing the community together. Over the course of the next few weeks, expect to see more articles and other exciting features we’ve got in the works. You might also see a new author or two. In short, thanks, Baton Rouge, for helping us break down the traditional news barrier and bring to Baton Rouge it’s first hyper-local news blog.

As a token of appreciation, here’s a funny Craigslist posting from the Baton Rouge area. Thanks to @mrcmb for the link.

Also, if you’re looking for a great restaurant for your Easter Sunday luncheon, look at the reviews we’ve posted of area restaurants.

When I walked into Dingo’s on Coursey with my family for lunch late Thursday afternoon, I expected two things: decent, maybe good, food and quick meal. What I didn’t expect was for owner and native Australian Patrick Muller to stop by—and entertain us for a good half-hour.

But as I reflect on our experience at Dingo’s more and more, it becomes clear that this classifies the establishment. It’s as exciting, eclectic, interesting and captivating as Muller was. He told us wonderful tales of his days as a youth traveling the world as an Aussie football player and the unlikely string of events that first brought him to Louisiana—and the love that kept him here. I won’t even begin to recant his evocative tale, mostly because I couldn’t begin to bring it justice, but also because this is a review about the food. (But seriously, when you go—and you certainly should—look for the bald guy running around and ask him to tell you the story behind Dingo’s. It’s well worth the time.)

Menu and Food

The first thing that struck me once I sat in my booth (which, oddly, still had an Italian design from it’s former tenant, Semolina’s) was that Dingo’s menu is only one page. And at that, there are only a few food types to choose from: burgers, paninis, a few entrees and that’s about it. However slim, there’s plenty to chose from and all should be able to eat well. I tried the Dingo’s Bacon Burger, which is a savory patty served with thick, smoked applewood bacon, cheddar and all the trimmings. It was delicious, but not unlike any good burger. However, the Dingo burgers are served on ciabatta bread, which really adds an interesting flavor to it. The same goes with the chicken sandwich: the wheat bun added a sweet flavor to the patty. Both are recommended. Another in my party tried the salmon burger, which they reported was also good (I’m not one for seafood, so I stayed clear). Oddly, it’s topped with coleslaw, which Muller told us was because his mother used to slap a heap of coleslaw onto everything. For dessert, we tried the chocolate toffee cake, which was absolutely incredible—I highly recommend this.

Menu Selection Rating—

Quality of Food Rating—

Atmosphere

Inside and out, Dingo’s does it best to give it the feel of an Australian restaurant. I give them accolades for turning the former Italian restaurant around, because besides the tables, you can’t really tell. And even down to the serving they do a great job: they don’t take up your plates until after everyone is eating. Our waiter had to assure us he wasn’t just being lazy. Muller told us it’s part tradition, part subliminal messaging to your dinner partners to hurry up! And as I said, we had a wonderful time talking with Muller—he is filled with great stories and trivia!

Atmosphere Rating—

Overall Review

Overall, we recommend Dingo’s. It’s a good restaurant with a lot of great atmosphere. We had a great time dining there and Muller was such a great host. We’re excited to see another restaurant move into the vacated building and wish the best of luck to Muller and crew. We hope this bodes well for the blossoming restaurant scene around that area.

Overall Rating—

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