Thursday Thirteen #8

13 Semi-Interesting Things About Louisiana (Where I'm from originally) 1. There's a town in northwest Louisiana called Shongaloo. Is that cool or what? 2. The highest point in Louisiana is Mount Driskill, at 535 feet (163 meters). Woo-eee! I'm gettin' a nose bleed just thinking about it. That's the lowest state high point west of the Mississippi River. My heart swells with pride. 3. Bonnie and Clyde were killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. And they have The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum to prove it. Ya don't see wonna dem every day do ya? 4. Next to Death Valley, Cal-i-forn-eye-aye, Louisiana has the lowest spot in the Continental U.S. Can you guess where? Yep. It's New Orleans at 8 feet (2.44 meters) below sea level. Stupid Katrina. You caused everyone to already know the answer to that question. Grr. 5. Louisiana has WAY more tongue-twister names for Parishes (= counties), rivers, and towns than you can shake a stick at. I'm from Ouachita Parish (WASH-i-taw), my parents used to live on the banks of the Boeuf River (Beff). The movie Steel Magnolias was set in Natchitoches (NACK-uh-tish). There's way more where those came from too. 6. Louisiana has two distinct cultures, the red neck protestants north of Alexandria, and the cajun Catholics south of Alexandria. It's like two different worlds, in speech, in customs. Louisiana could be two separate states. And New Orleans? That's a world unto itself, with it's own culture and way of life that's different from the normal red necks and cajuns. Not that any one group is better than the other, and they are much more mixed now than ever, but it IS interesting. 7. When I was a kid and we went to Baton Rouge, we saw the chips in the walls inside the State Capital Building, from the bullets fired in killing Senator Huey P. Long. I figure they still are there, but I haven't been there in many years, so I'm not sure. 8. Unbelieveable humidity. Absolutely unbelieveable. When I lived in Atlanta, I laughed when people complained about the heat and humidity. They don't know nothin' about humidity. If you ever saw the movie, Biloxi Blues, where Matthew Broderick's character is in Army basic training and says, "God, it's hot! This is Africa hot! Tar-zan couldn't take this kinda hot!", that's pretty much how it is in Louisiana too. 9. Much of Louisiana state law is still based on the Napoleonic Code, from when the French owned Louisiana. It makes for some strange laws. 10. Louisiana is named after Louis XIV of France. I think he's famous for making furniture, or some other such nonsense. 11. The whole time I was growing up there, the public school system in Louisiana ranked anywhere from 47-50th in the 50 states. My heart is swelling with pride again. 12. Famous people. Well, supposedly there's all kinds of famous people from Louisiana, but when I looked them up, I was so bored I almost fell asleep. But since I've started this subject, I'll say, Hey!, did y'all know Harry Connick, Jr. is from Louisiana? I don't care for his music very much, but his spot-on impression of Jesse Jackson in the movie Independence Day (1996) is certainly worthy of note. 13. Pelicans. Pelicans are cool. I grew up in north Louisiana so I pretty much never saw pelicans unless I went to the Gulf Coast somewhere (Texas, Florida, etc.). But after living in Florida for almost ten years, and seeing whole bunches of pelicans, I think the choice of the brown pelican as the Louisiana state bird is a great choice. They are so serious, that they're kinda comical to me. Jeesh. Louisiana is so boring, I almost went crazy trying to finish 13 things. The two photos are scans of old 35mm slides of mine, taken in December of 1983 of DeSiard Bayou in Monroe, Louisiana. The building in the lower photo is the DeSiard Country Club. (DeSiard, duh-ZEERD) The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!