Life with My French Quarter Puppy
My wife and I recently came upon a new addition to our family. Her name is Bourbon and she is a sweet puppy with what we believe is Labrador and Boxer lineage. Raising a puppy is a lot of work. Although the accountability that comes with doing it properly can sometimes be annoying and lifestyle cramping, I can honestly say that a well trained dog is well worth the time, be it for convenience of a well behaved dog or just good old fashioned pride. Our little girl can sit, lay down, stay (when she feels like it) and will bark on command when we ask her “Who Dat?!”
Having a puppy in the French Quarter is an overall fun experience, both for us and for Bourbon. As a dog, you couldn’t ask for any more smells than the sidewalk on Bourbon Street provides. Her first month walking the streets was mostly a never ending stream of “No!’s”, “Drop That’s” and expletives. I could almost see her little puppy head exploding when she saw all of the trash from her first Mardi Gras parade (Krewe du Vieux - 2011). Although she has gotten more discriminating, there are sometimes still temptations lurking in the gutters that are beyond her level of self control.
Luckily, Bourbon is a very social creature, much like her mommy and daddy. She does not judge in her affection, be it a well dressed businessman or a crusty kid asking daddy for his change and/or leftovers. She is also extremely friendly and playful to other dogs and cats, although the cats normally do not return her exuberance. She is almost old enough to play in the Cabrini dog park. Bourbon has no idea what that is, but mommy and daddy can’t wait because she seems to have more energy than the two of them put together.
We usually do not get more than half a block without being Bourbon being greeted and reassured that her puppy narcissism is well deserved. Some folks that come by do not even acknowledge my wife or I. I have to check my reflection to make sure I haven’t turned into one the many apparitions purported to be hanging around. Be that as it may, I think there is a business opportunity here somewhere. I would be looking for eligible bachelors who want to spend time walking around the Quarter and meeting women (or men for that matter). I think $10 an hour would be fair. She is also amazingly good in the bar, but only if she has her own bar stool and is fed ice cubes regularly. How lucky are we that her favorite treats are frozen tap water?
![This is going to be way too much fun for a Sunday…. but I think I can handle it. For those of you reading from outside the Gulf coast area, here’s a little background on Buddy D. Oh, and he pledged on numerous occasions that he would wear a dress if the Saints ever went to the Super Bowl.
Bernard “Buddy” Diliberto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bernard Saverio Diliberto, a.k.a. “Buddy” and/or “Buddy D” (August 18, 1931 – January 7, 2005) was a sports commentator in New Orleans for over 50 years. Buddy earned a Purple Heart for sustaining shrapnel wounds in the Korean War, during which he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes. He got his start as a sportswriter at The Times-Picayune while attending Loyola University in 1950, eventually becoming the newspaper’s daily sports columnist in his last two years of his stint there. His sportscasting career began at WVUE-TV in 1966, where he remained as its sports director/anchor until he switched to WDSU-TV in 1980, becoming sports director/anchor at that station for 10 years.
Buddy D was either loved or hated. For the New Orleans Saints fans, Buddy was a caricature of all their hopes and the team’s inadequacies. He hosted a daily sports talk show on WWL radio in New Orleans after years as the sports anchors on two different local news shows. If he thought the comments were ridiculous, he was apt to refer to the caller as a “squirrel.”
His ardent fans, such as “Abdul D. Tentmakur” and “Dr. Kevorkian” were as colorful as the host. In later years he would also read a halftime editorial during each Saints game. He campaigned for Mike Ditka to get the head coaching job after Jim Mora left. Buddy was the originator of the “Aints” in 1980 (and the paper bag over the head) as the team went 1-15 and also memorably characterized the despair of the typical Saints fan with the quip “When you go to Heaven after you die, tell St. Peter you’re a Saints fan. He’ll say, ‘C’mon in, I don’t care what else you done, you suffered enough.’” [1]
During the week of Super Bowl XX, which was held in New Orleans, Diliberto reported that Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon had referred to the women of the city as “sluts” and the men as “idiots”, which sparked controversy in New Orleans. McMahon later denied the statement by saying that he was a late sleeper and wouldn’t have been up early enough on the day in question to make the comment. Diliberto apologized and was temporarily suspended from WDSU as a result.
Buddy D suffered a massive heart attack and died on January 7, 2005. He is remembered by “Abdul D. Tentmakur” in numerous Mardi Gras parades with a memoriam on the front of the float carrying his band. Few sportscasters have ever had such an impact or such a following in such a relatively small local market.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx0mw4eKjw1qavzpzo1_500.jpg)
