Sept. 8, 2010
Written by The Independent Staff

SEED FEEDER
Love the birds, hate the housework. Anyone who has hung a bird feeder in hopes of attracting everybody from a tufted titmouse to a rose breasted grosbeak knows that the feeder eventually needs a major cleaning overhaul. Mold, mildew and damp-sprouted seeds always seem to pack down in the bottom of feeders, and it’s hell digging that concreted conglomerate out. Enter the EcoClean, seed tube feeders that are embedded with antimicrobial material that keeps the damp at bay.

TIGER TALES
We may live or die by the Bayou Bengals beating ’Bama, but, it turns out, LSU enjoys a literary reputation that is second to few. Plainly obvious through its title, Best of LSU Fiction ($19.95, The Southern Review) is a collection of short stories (and excerpts from longer works) by writers with intimate connections to Louisiana’s flagship university.

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010
Written by The Independent Staff

SEARCHING FOR HOME
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? It was a frequent question for New Orleanians struggling with their post-Katrina sense of place in 2005 and one that is central to the new book, Culture after the Hurricanes: Rhetoric and Reinvention on the Gulf Coast. The collection of six essays deals directly with the changing identity and language of New Orleans, as well as Plaquemines, Calcasieu and Cameron parishes over the past five years, exploring how cultural assets are salvaged and lost.

IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE
Most everybody has had a day wandering through the Jungle Gardens on Avery Island, getting lost in the explosion of azaleas and wisteria in the spring, or studying the camellia collections in winter. But there is a lot more to the gardens than easily observed alligators and Bird City.

SHINE ON
Make your loafers luminous and celebrate the past with Mr. Gloss, downtown Lafayette’s newest shoe shine man. A native of California who came to Lafayette by way of Dallas, Mr. Gloss — he won’t reveal his real name but did say he has a shoe-shining cousin in Lubbock, Texas, who goes by the moniker Boss Gloss! — searched the Internet recently to find a suitable city for his skills.

LIQUID DESSERT
Bailey’s Restaurant’s crackerjack bartender Sean Aitken has come up with a decadently delicious Tiramisu martini. Channeling his Italian background, Aitken masterfully mixes a potent but smooth combo of vodka, Disaronno Amaretto, Frangelico, crème de cacao, Bailey’s Irish Cream and half and half.