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  • City Park: Green Fills the Holes in The Great Concrete and Roosevelt Mall Smells Like Money

    This week an 18 wheeler delivered a truckload of plants for the final stages of The Great Concrete Lawn in City Park. This multi-million dollar project sure provided a lot of money and work. That’s economic development. And that truckload of plants sure helped keep people employed—in Florida! As the photo [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 10:30pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • City Park Soil Remediation Project: One Step Forward

    City Park’s consulting arborist, Tom Campbell, working with contract arborist Tom Benton, has taken the first step in best practices for live oaks with a soil remediation project for two trees at the site of the new dog park. This location, where cars parked for decades and compressed the soil, [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 3:31pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Cashio Cochran Takes “Risks” in City Park

    Number of comments: 5
    Thanks to Lolis Elie and the Times-Picayune for telling the story of how I’ve been trying to promote best practices for tree care in our area. This is just a brief post for new visitors. I’ll be updating in greater detail later. But, I have to address a statement made by [...]
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    Posted: October 23, 2009, 12:29am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Cayne Miceli Ordeal Included in Justice Dept Report That Declares Sheriff Gusman’s Orleans Parish Prison “Violates the Constitutional Rights of Inmates”

    Number of comments: 4
    See Nola.com story here. Orleans Parish Prison and Sheriff Marlin Gusman run a hell hole. The United States Department of Justice, in a 32 page report, spells it out in great detail. And perhaps now something will be done. After the maiming and deaths of so many people, such as our dear, [...]
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    Posted: September 22, 2009, 7:37pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Iowa Film Credit Program Suspended Over Corruption

    Geez, I wonder how many of the tragedies that befall us down here are going to happen in Iowa? They’ve flooded and know what it’s like to deal with FEMA.  Now they’ve had corruption of their film tax credit program resulting in their economic development director’s resignation. Who could have [...]
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    Posted: September 21, 2009, 3:01pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Killing the Green with Green Building, Part 2: Lafitte Redevelopment

    I really like the people behind the rebuilding of the Lafitte Projects. They’re nice. They said the new development will have many green and innovative features. But evidently everything must fit in nice square spaces and these trees are just not part of their vision for what the neighborhood should [...]
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    Posted: September 16, 2009, 10:20am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Dozens of Trees Damaged on Harrison Ave in City Park

    Number of comments: 3
    Good grief. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of this latest horrible development. Evidently the City of New Orleans bears some responsibility for restoring Harrison Ave through City Park. Not only are they widening the road–to the detriment of the oaks–but they’ve specified that a path be cut, [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2009, 3:19pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • City Park of N.O.: Live Oak Destruction Area

    Number of comments: 1
    After sending  a still-unanswered correspondence about how the new Great Lawn project was damaging one of the older trees in the park, I noticed that these signs went up. Doesn’t that make you feel better? No? I thought not. I did learn that the park’s primary contractor for tree “care” has [...]
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    Posted: August 17, 2009, 1:52pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Killing the Green at Green-built Schools

    Number of comments: 3
    We are all excited that children in New Orleans soon will be walking the halls of beautiful new schools built to USGBC LEED standards. However, though the buildings may have been constructed to green standards, the actual green settings the schools sit within–the grounds, the trees, the soil–are being killed [...]
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    Posted: August 06, 2009, 10:48am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Damage Continues at City Park

    Number of comments: 4
    Special note: I want to apologize if this post ruffles feathers. I admit that I am frustrated. I feel like I’m watching a loved one being assaulted and I’m supposed to be diplomatic and say, “please stop hitting her.” I pray that I find the inner-peace, wisdom and tact to [...]
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    Posted: August 05, 2009, 12:10am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • State of Louisiana Continues to Fail to Support Music

    Number of comments: 9
    Ok, it’s time for me to re-visit a festering splinter. I apologize to readers who are bored with this subject. But here goes…. The basically non-existent Louisiana Music Commission (LMC), operating as a very minor component of Louisiana Economic Development (LED), continues to fail miserably at it’s mission “to promote and [...]
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    Posted: July 22, 2009, 10:09pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • What Does Pres Kabacoff Have Against the Master Plan Process?

    Number of comments: 1
    UPDATE Thursday June 25: Zombies live in Legislature: SB75 briefly returned from the dead, attached as amendment to SB104 in manipulative move to revive it. See the story here on the T-P website. It ultimately was stripped from the bill in conference committee and finally died. However, the powers behind [...]
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    Posted: June 21, 2009, 1:18pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Motorcycle Brains to Remain in Buckets in Louisiana

    A senate committee today killed the bill to repeal the helmet laws in Louisiana. It appears to be dead for the session. However, bills don’t die easily and this one might find a way to resurrect. So, the next post in this blog is only half-correct. Congratulations to the legislators who [...]
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    Posted: June 10, 2009, 4:07pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Cancer and Carnage Big Winners in Louisiana Legislature

    Number of comments: 4
    In what is turning out to be one of the ugliest legislative sessions in my adult lifetime, the Louisiana Legislature seems bent on further eroding both our reputation and our wellbeing. After passing a bill requiring rear seat passengers to wear seatbelts, the leges kowtowed to the will of former [...]
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    Posted: June 04, 2009, 1:08pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Credit Card Bill Needs Support

    Number of comments: 1
    OK, I went to Washington and lobbied for S. 414, the Credit Card reform bill. Here’s what happened. We started the day at Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office, so I was up first. The staffer (I don’t recall his name but will update this when I get it) we met with [...]
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    Posted: May 07, 2009, 5:03pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Heading to Washington to be a Citizen Lobbyist for Credit Card Reform

    Consumers Union called Friday afternoon to offer me the opportunity to join them in the Capitol this week to lobby for passage of S. 414, the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Act. It seems that my participation in advocating for passage via http://creditcardreform.org caught their attention. My story was “one [...]
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    Posted: May 03, 2009, 7:27pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • A Proud Legacy

    Number of comments: 3
    This is a rather primitive path in a park out west: This is what the N.O. City Park Improvement Association, park directors and contracted designers consider a modern path: Don’t you feel better knowing that people on the public payroll showed their wisdom in the management of one of the world’s great [...]
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    Posted: April 15, 2009, 3:00am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • What Louisiana Loves: How to Get Rich in the Bayou State

    Number of comments: 4
    I’ve decided on a new career that I know will make me rich. I’m going to be a chicken plucking, film making, sports team owning, wood pulping for export, drug testing entrepreneur! Yes, that’s the key. Since it’s increasingly obvious the state doesn’t care for its arts, music, environment, mental health [...]
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    Posted: April 01, 2009, 12:34pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Paving N.O. City Park

    Number of comments: 2
    As I write this, N.O. City Park (NOCP) is laying 4800 linear feet of 8 foot wide impermeable asphalt pathways in its Big Lake construction project. Also, construction crews are demolishing old parking and tennis courts between the Peristyle and Botanical Gardens to install yet more, polluting, impermeable, heat-inducing asphalt. With [...]
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    Posted: March 17, 2009, 9:39am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • State Invests $100 Million in Film and Damned Near Nothing in Music

    Number of comments: 1
    OK, so the numbers are in and, as reported today in the Shreveport Times, in 2007 Louisiana invested $100,000,000 in film (after recouping $14m in taxes) on $429,000,000 of film spending. Of course verifying these numbers, particularly the spending by film companies, is a fuzzy math situation in which we [...]
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    Posted: March 03, 2009, 10:17pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • Antoinette K-Doe Passes on Mardi Gras Day

    Number of comments: 3
    The world lost another great light with the passing of Antoinette K-Doe earlier on this beautiful Mardi Gras Day. With the city packed with revelers and many making their annual pilgrimage to the Mother in Law Lounge, the loss of Ms. Antoinette is a poignant reminder of the fragility of [...]
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    Posted: February 24, 2009, 11:11am EST
    by nolamotion

  • Caynebration #1 Wed Feb 11 @ Le Bon Temps

    Friends are throwing a fundraiser/musical event in honor of  Cayne Miceli at Le Bon Temps Roule on Magazine St this week on Wed, Feb 11. Here’s a link to the Facebook invitation. Here’s another great link to Cayne-related events. Artists scheduled to perform include George Porter Jr., Juice with Joe Krown, Billy [...]
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    Posted: February 10, 2009, 12:58pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • Sheriff all but admits guilt in killing of Cayne Miceli

    Number of comments: 4
    Today’s Times-Picayune reports that the ACLU is looking into deaths at Orleans Parish Prison. Near the end of the article it reads: Gusman emphasized that Miceli, who stopped breathing less than five hours after she was put into the restraints, didn’t die at the jail but at University Hospital. She [...]
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    Posted: January 17, 2009, 7:07pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • “I think that we gave her maybe the best medical care that we could have given her.”

    Number of comments: 4
    With those poorly phrased words in Wednesday’s Times-Picayune, Sheriff Marlin Gusman rationalized Orleans Parish Prison’s mishandling of asthmatics like Cayne Miceli and others whose medical conditions are obviously beyond the scope of OPP’s capabilities for humane and legal treatment. And with the death of yet another holding cell inmate this week, [...]
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    Posted: January 16, 2009, 9:37am EST
    by nolamotion

  • The Weekly Hades Report?

    Number of comments: 1
    Yesterday I learned that while my partner Grasshopper lay in bed reading, while Maj. Elder of the 3rd Dist NOPD addressed our neighborhood association, while I sat in Israeilite Baptist Church helping with a presentation for the AgCenter (and a funeral for a murdered 18 year old took place mere [...]
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    Posted: January 13, 2009, 9:31am EST
    by nolamotion

  • Cayne Miceli R.I.P.

    Number of comments: 10
    UPDATED 1/10/08: Note: When I originally wrote this, many facts were unclear. Now that more information is available, I have re-written parts of this piece to reflect more accurately the chain of events and overarching realities that have come to light. This being a blog and not a printed publication, [...]
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    Posted: January 08, 2009, 4:04pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • Wilbert “Junkyard Dog” Arnold, R.I.P.

    Number of comments: 6
    We’re sad to learn that New Orleans drummer Wilbert “Junkyard Dog” Arnold died. Junkyard was a special person, sort of New Orleans’ answer to Keith Moon–a talented, unique drummer whose life was filled with joy, pain and a drumming technique all his own. As the longtime drummer for Walter “Wolfman” [...]
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    Posted: December 28, 2008, 2:18pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • Chickens Headed to Roost Soon

    Number of comments: 2
    The film tax credits scandal list of scoundrels is apparently nearly complete with the guilty plea today by Malcolm Petal. It’s a damn shame how the few writers/publishers making money off Louisiana music have completely ignored the details of this story and its connection to the demise of the state’s main [...]
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    Posted: December 12, 2008, 2:26pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • The New Fame

    Number of comments: 2
    In this economy, nothing is what it was. And that’s bad news for the once-famous. Celebrity has changed. Thanks in no small part to the plethora of channels/movies/sites, the machinery of fame suffers from the media’s general state of dilution: there are too many sources pushing too many vapid “products” [...]
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    Posted: December 07, 2008, 1:09pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • The Louisiana Film Investment Company:Where’s Our Share?

    Number of comments: 2
    Louisiana’s overly generous film tax credits finally made the New York Times. Thanks in no small part to the ease (caused by lax oversight) with which budgets are overstated and credits overpaid, film tax credits are being challenged around the country. Economists are having a difficult time justifying the state [...]
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    Posted: October 15, 2008, 12:43am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • The REAL Louisiana Music Commission

    With the State of Louisiana annually funding the Tipitina’s Foundation at a higher rate than it ever budgeted for the Louisiana Music Commission, it’s becoming more and more obvious that Tip’s has become the state’s de facto music commission. That’s fine because the foundation has done an amazing job establishing [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2008, 12:49pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • News & Updates

    An update Saturday in the T-P regarding the film tax credit scandal is worth reading. Another name added to the list of perpetrators–or in this case purpose-traitors for these folks are traitors to Louisiana. They used, abused and stole from the taxpayers and got caught. And they impacted the state’s [...]
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    Posted: July 02, 2008, 11:31pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Recruiting Our Way to Success?

    Number of comments: 4
    Too many folks in economic development overemphasize recruiting. At a time when most admit that Louisiana’s greatest export is our smart, talented, innovative people, highly paid government “leaders” continue to believe they can recruit outsiders to save us. When I was at the Louisiana Music Commission, we used to joke that [...]
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    Posted: April 20, 2008, 10:57am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Sentencing of Mark Smith Delayed

    Follow this link to get the latest information on former film office director and co-saboteur of the Louisiana Music Commission, Mark Smith. According to the Times-Picayune Smith’s sentencing has been delayed, evidently because he’s cooperating. Though I don’t wish him any more misery than Allah desires (he’s Muslim), he and [...]
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    Posted: April 04, 2008, 3:04pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Ive got a new job

    On Monday, March 17 I started a new job as the Crescent City Area Housing Agent at the LSU AgCenter. I’m going to be responsible for educational outreach to consumers, builders and others seeking to rebuild safer, smarter and more sustainably. It’s not a clearly defined role and it crosses [...]
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    Posted: April 04, 2008, 2:44pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • A Letter to the Governor & Staff

    Dear Gov. Jindal and Staff: I write you today about music, an issue connected to both economic development and natural resources. Since 2005, the Louisiana Music Commission has been a broken agency. It was sabotaged by an alteration of its legislation in which it was turned from an independent, dedicated commission [...]
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    Posted: March 21, 2008, 10:28am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Stories & Links

    Lots of news/info/links to bring to your attention this week. Times are getting tough and the folks at Strategy+Business want you to know the Signals for the Coming Year. The New York Times recently reported that an obscure banking market, credit default swaps, is soon going to be getting everyone’s attention. We’re [...]
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    Posted: February 21, 2008, 4:10pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • Simien Wins First Cajun/Zydeco Grammy

    Capping years of hard work by Cynthia Simien, the winner of this year’s first-ever Cajun/Zydeco Grammy® was Terrance Simien. Congratulations! Update: Terence Blanchard just won a Jazz Big Band award for his amazing work “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)”. [...]
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    Posted: February 10, 2008, 4:25pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • Gerry McGee a 2008 Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Inductee

    Number of comments: 3
    Eunice native Gerry McGee, a guitarist with The Ventures, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the band in ceremonies on March 10 in New York City. Gerry’s career spans 50 years and includes work with Elvis Presley, John Mayall, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, [...]
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    Posted: January 10, 2008, 9:42pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • New Year, New Ideas, ACTION

    Thanks to my dear friend Nancy Tilton, I’m now plugged-in to TED. which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, an organization that’s been around since 1984 and which holds an annual conference that showcases the brightest minds on the planet. TED provides many of the conference presentations and talks online. Some [...]
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    Posted: January 02, 2008, 8:06pm EST
    by nolamotion

  • And Now a Pause for Refreshment.

    OK, so not everything I write here is going to be bitching. I also want to share. Here are a couple of important things I’ve connected to recently. The Long Tail is a book by Chris Anderson of Wired magazine. The link is to his blog based on the book. Anderson [...]
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    Posted: December 20, 2007, 1:29am EST
    by nolamotion

  • Tax Credits Gone Wild!

    Kudos to the Times-Picayune for pulling back the curtain (be sure to read the comments) more on the Mark Smith scandal, showing how film tax credits were abused to include 3 of New Orleans’ most popular music events: Jazz Fest, Voodoo Music Experience and Essence. It was revealed that more [...]
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    Posted: December 12, 2007, 10:14am EST
    by nolamotion

  • Public Notice? That Doesnt Mean YOU Should Know

    Number of comments: 1
    It’s kind of weird being the only “reporter” to cover the attempted regeneration of the formerly amputated government appendage that was/is the Louisiana Music Commission. Since they’re working on a new vision for the agency, commission members, staff and contracted help (Jerry Goolsby of Loyola) recently held a retreat at [...]
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    Posted: October 15, 2007, 10:33pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • How Can It Be Corrupt If Its Done By Moi?!

    Number of comments: 4
    Monday’s T-P story and Wednesday’s editorial about Mayor Nagin’s arts & entertainment director Ernest Collins’ inability to discern between what is ethical and what is not is a classic tale of hubris & snobbery. Power is the ultimate test of one’s character. Sure, tragedy and disaster can be final exams; but, [...]
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    Posted: September 19, 2007, 10:03am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Telling the Good Guys from the Bad Guys

    Number of comments: 9
    So now the truth is out: Mark Smith, former director of the film office for Louisiana, is a crook. (See the FBI Bill of Information here) And, when he walked into the offices of the Louisiana Music Commission (LMC) on May 18, 2005 to fire me, he was actively stealing [...]
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    Posted: August 17, 2007, 10:49pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Music in the schools: A First Step PASSES

    SB 299 by Sen. Broome is making its way through the Louisiana Legislature. The bill is part of the legislative package put forth by Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and creates a system whereby there will be one hour per week of arts education available to K-8 within 3 years and [...]
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    Posted: June 13, 2007, 4:40pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Cajun/Zydeco Grammy Category!

    Number of comments: 2
    A hard fought, more than 6 year battle, singularly led by a determined Cynthia Simien, is finally won. There is now a Grammy category for Cajun & Zydeco music. The effort was perceived by Louisiana music advocates as an obvious gap in the awards; but, the process of adding a [...]
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    Posted: June 08, 2007, 1:29pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Hollywood & Louisiana: A Love Affair in a Brothel

    You know, it really upsets me how Louisiana politicians and press fall all over themselves for Hollywood. I mean, how is it that millions upon millions of dollars can be spent to help subsidize production for movies and people who are admittedly doing a job here, but whose lives, work [...]
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    Posted: June 02, 2007, 11:58pm EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Orientation, Bloviation, Platitudes and Attitudes: How Not to Re-start a Small Government Agency

    Warning: this post, like the meeting it covers, is looooonnnggg….. The Thursday, April 26 meeting of the Louisiana Music Commission was attended by only 4 people who weren’t either commissioners or state employees: me, Eric Cager and his Cutting Edge Music Business Conference cohort Vernon P. Thomas, and Carlo Ditta, founder [...]
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    Posted: May 15, 2007, 2:16am EDT
    by nolamotion

  • Gov appoints Music Commission then announces impending retirement

    Number of comments: 1
    After 3 years of neglecting music, Governor Blanco finally appointed 15 people to serve on the Louisiana Music Commission, see the list here. Within a week, the governor then announced that she was not running for re-election. Thus, the new LMC has less than a year to somehow re-start, re-staff, [...]
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    Posted: April 22, 2007, 9:53pm EDT
    by nolamotion
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