Biloxi Post: Le Bakery August 4, 2008
Posted by Vincent in Explorations.1 comment so far
I believe I’ve mentioned Le Bakery before, but the world deserves to know more about this place, a sublime union of French and Vietnamese cuisine. It is, by far, my favorite restaurant in Biloxi, due to its delicious $3 vietnamese po-boy sandwiches (meat and veggies on a fresh-baked roll), bubble teas, and desserts. I recommend the following: a coconut curry chicken po-boy with an avocado-almond bubble tea and a bavarian cream turnover for afters.
If you’re ever near Biloxi, head over to Oak Street and check it out. It’s so good that I’m not sure how I’ll go on living after Biloxi without Le Bakery in my life.
Trinh and Leo chat with Vu, behind the counter:
A framed photo of their classic Katrina sign:
Bread crab!
Bread gator!
A selection of amazing-looking desserts:
Bread snowman & fresh-baked rolls.
Biloxi North 40 May 26, 2008
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I took my new Trek out on its maiden voyage this morning, doing a route called the Biloxi North 40 with my friend Anne. The land here changes pretty quickly as you head north of the coast. Biking just a couple miles inland, the cities of Biloxi and D’Iberville morph into a rural landscape interspersed with concrete distributors and uninspiring subdivisions. The coast’s southern live oaks are replaced by scrubby forests of longleaf and slash pines. We headed out around 11, so we had a hot and sunny two-hour ride. The bike was a good choice; it’s a hybrid road bike which rides fast and smooth but can handle gentle trails if necessary. I was reluctant to leave my mountain bike at home, but there just aren’t that many mountains around here.
What a fun and productive Memorial Day weekend! I found a great house to move into next month, test-drove a car that I’m thinking about buying, and did some other errands. (I rented a car to get all this done). Saturday night, people from Hands On and Habitat gathered at Sweet’s for Leah’s birthday. Sunday, we celebrated the return of Air Force Alan, who’s been in Iraq for five months, with an All-American party featuring grilling, American music, beer, and lots of red, white, and blue.
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me!
Boston & Structures for Inclusion Part 2 April 11, 2008
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This is mostly a picture post - click below for more! I also wanted to quickly elaborate on some of the themes that came out of the conference:
Top-down vs. bottom-up: There was a lot of discussion about top-down (centralized) versus bottom-up (grassroots) approaches to planning and architecture. One strong point of view held that bottom-up work best engages the community and produces the most useful results. However, I think a large number of people also realized that architects and planners are uniquely able to mediate between top-down and bottom-up approaches. This theme came out in Teddy Cruz’s talk as he discussed the potential of working in border conditions and areas of conflict. It came out in Jim Diers’ advocacy of Neighborhood Matching Funds Programs as a way to support neighborhood initiatives without trying to control them or make them dependent on the central government. It also came out as Dan Adams talked about the role of architecture and art in creating a dialogue between industry and community.
Money: The question of funding came up several times, and it’s a critical one for alternative practices. The conference highlighted a number of opportunities, including the Rose Fellowship, Loeb Fellowship, New York Prize Fellowship, the newly created SEED Grants, and of course the Design Corps Fellowship. More generally, the presenters emphasized that young professionals can’t be timid about talking money; you need to ask for money, particularly if you’re seeking out your own projects. Design services create value. As Teddy Cruz put it, “The problem is not a lack of resources, it’s the stupid way the resources are often applied.”
Collaboration and networking: The Structures for Inclusion conference itself makes this theme very clear: sharing ideas and knowledge within the field is an extremely valuable thing. In terms of non-profit practice, David Perkes in particular emphasized the importance of developing as many partnerships as possible. Other speakers addressed the need to coordinate among non-profits in order to avoid duplicating the same work. Simon Trace and others spoke about ways to build and share institutional knowledge.
Going to Boston! April 3, 2008
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I’m very excited about going to Boston tonight for the Structures for Inclusion conference this weekend. Biloxi is sending a large contingent — 9 from our studio, 3 from Architecture for Humanity, and 6 students. I’ll report back — and I may even have a new camera, as my old one is broken.
Alabama Fun Weekend Road Trip & Doonanny April 1, 2008
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OK in 1994 john henry toney was plowing my garden and plowed up a turnip root that had a face in it . 2 eyes a nose and a mouth , looked just like a man . so he drew a picture of it and gave it to me and i gave it to frank turner who ran a dinky junk shop in Pittsview , and he stuck it in his window as a joke and put a $50 dollar price tag on it . well in about a week some folk art collector came along and bought it . so thats how it all started.
then we started having these DOONANNYS and this is the 12th one. we didnt know what DOONANNY meant, but john henry always said it. Then about 2 years ago we were at the DOONANNY and after this woman walked by john henry leaned back to me in his chair and said” you know thats one thing i cant stand” and I said what is that , and he said “the way a big woman’s DOONANNY smells! ” and everybody lived happily ever after.
This is the Doonanny, which is what happens when you have a folk artist with a bunch of land in Alabama, and lots of friends who want to get together and sell art and see unusual things and listen to music and watch movies and eat food together. Jessie from the Studio is an Alabama native and she and Will and I went on a pretty sweet road trip to see the Doonanny, sell some art and t-shirts, hang out at her mom’s house, visit Auburn University, and generally have a good time. Some of the highlights:
- The Museum of Wonder, a labyrinth-like collection of art, bizarre junk, curiosities, and thousands of other accumulated objects.
- Hearing the words, “Now THIS is an interesting snake” as something is dumped on the ground near my feet.
- Picking dozens of pecans.
- Jamaican barbecued ribs.
- Riding a tandem bicycle at unsafe speeds around a crowd with Jessie.
- Short films like “Tumbleweeds”, consisting of footage of tumbleweeds, and “Road Reflections”, footage of reflections of the road off a shiny tanker truck.
- Delicious food at Jessie’s mom’s house.
- Road trip “20 Million Questions” guessing game.
Edit (4:30 pm):
UVA Visit - the Epic Tale February 29, 2008
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It’s Monday, February 18th, and I’m finishing up at work when I get a message from my friend Chris. He has a challenge for me: be at UVA for the club swim meet that weekend. The time has come to return, and that time is Vince O’Clock. Reason takes over, but is subsequently defeated, and by Tuesday night I have bought my plane tickets. I’ll be flying to North Carolina, where Chris works, on Thursday night, then driving up for an epic three-day weekend in Charlottesville.
Pictures and more after the break:
Going to UVA! February 19, 2008
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I am taking a few days off work to go back to UVA! The plan: flying into Greensboro on Thursday night and driving with Chris up to Charlottesville on Friday. Saturday is the Club Swim meet and party, and we’ll stay through Sunday afternoon. If you’ll be around, give me a call! I want to catch up with everyone that I can.
Excited!!
