OT - N.O. Getting back to normal?

[Anonymous]

Strippers help tease back New Orleans nightlife

First strip club reopens in city's famous French Quarter
A stripper dances Tuesday at DejaVu on Bourbon Street, the first
strip club to reopen in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Updated: 5:35 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - In a sign that things may be returning to normal in New
Orleans, strip shows are back in the city's famous French Quarter.

Erotic dancers and strippers are entertaining crowds of police,
firefighters and military personnel instead of the usual audiences of drunken
conventioneers and tourists in Bourbon Street's DejaVu club, which
reopened
this week.

It's the first strip joint to resume business, three weeks after
Hurricane Katrina struck.

"It's nice to get back to work, and all these men need some entertainment,"
Dawn Beasley, 27, a dancer at the club, said Tuesday night. "They haven't
seen anybody but their buddies for two weeks."

The crowd hooted and hollered as women peeled off their tops and gyrated
as customers tucked tips into their G-strings.

"This is our first time off the ship, and it's great," said one young sailor
as he left the club. He declined to give his name or say where he was
stationed.

"It's good to see the businesses getting back up and bringing the city
back," another sailor said.

Strip clubs have long been a fixture of Bourbon Street, where marquees
promise everything from "barely legal" dancers to transvestite divas.
Photos of the seedy shows inside the clubs line the windows, next to scores of
bars in the district, which draws tourists from around the globe.

The unstoppable strip club

The city's dusk-to-dawn curfew failed to prevent the DejaVu from staying open to the wee hours, with blaring music and neon lights spilling out into the Quarter, most of which remained bathed in darkness in the aftermath of
the storm.

"We were open till 2 last night, just long enough to get the testosterone
flowing," Beasley said.

Only a handful of restaurants and bars in the Quarter have reopened in
recent days, serving food and drinks - usually without charge - to rescue
workers and military who stream through the mostly empty streets. The
DejaVu waived its cover charge, drinks were selling for $3 and a private
dance was available for just $1.

For Deja Vu manager Brent Ardeneaux, reopening was a public service.

"It's a disaster zone. You got a lot of people in from out of town that need entertaining," he said as he unloaded supplies from the back of a pickup
truck.

The club even drew several women looking for a respite from their duties
patrolling the city, but they resisted entreaties to join the others on
stage and left after a few minutes.

One of them, a soldier, said: "We were just looking for any place open.
We've been working hard."

[jeaton]

When was New Orleans ever normal???

Jay

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

When was New Orleans ever normal???

Jay

I had the same thought.

[Big_Boy_4005]

I think it's back to wet T-shirts for New Orleans.[swg]

Put out the rain barrel if you don't have enough fresh water.

Just hope the railroads don't go back under.

[samfp1943]

The other evening RJ Corman was being interviewed on TV, and made the statement that his comapny had 90 days to get the CSX up and running east of NOLA, but he was going to have to bring in another 150 hands to add to the 150 already there to do it..I guess that was before Rita does her number...I guess when they get done on the East side they will have to move to the west and go towards Texas.... Those MOW guys are surely going to earn their $$$$$.. God bless 'em.

[dwil89]

And the latest reports show a break in a levee and water is pouring back in....New Orleans is supposed to get something like 4 to 8 inches of rain....the only thing they won't get will be the Hurricane force winds again.....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwil89

And the latest reports show a break in a levee and water is pouring back in....New Orleans is supposed to get something like 4 to 8 inches of rain....the only thing they won't get will be the Hurricane force winds again.....

But they are getting Tropical Storm force winds...

LC