Issue #47

An Ode to New Orleans, The Branding Journal. One Year On and more!

Feb 28, 2025

Dear readers -

Lots happening y’all. So excited for March to be here. Gives me hope.

I am rooting for all of you. We’ve got this!

Welcome to issue 47!

An Ode to New Orleans

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I recently made my 2nd visit to New Orleans. I hands down believe this is America’s best city for synthesis of cultures, history, location, cuisines, Jazz, folklore and the people. Here is my tribute:

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Oh, New Orleans, you mysterious, gumbo-scented fever dream,
Where history drips from wrought-iron balconies like last night’s Sazerac,
Where the air hums with jazz and the spirits (both ethereal and bottled) never rest.

You, city of paradoxes—
French sophistication meets alligator wrestling,
The birthplace of jazz and home to Mystikal’s Shake It Fast,
Where the first opera in America was performed,
And yet, Bourbon Street persists.

A city so resilient, even George Bush’s apathy couldn’t drown you.
You rise, second line dancing past multi-lingual ghosts,
A brass band behind you, a hurricane (the drink or the storm) ahead.

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Voodoo hums beneath your cobblestones,
Marie Laveau still whispering in the humid air,
Her spells tangled in the Spanish moss,
And Nic Cage’s pyramid tomb waiting for its future occupant,
A perfect absurdity among saints and sinners.

Your food? A religion.
A po’boy isn’t a sandwich—it’s a rite of passage.
A beignet isn’t breakfast—it’s a powdered sugar baptism.
And the gumbo? The city itself, stewing with French, Spanish, African, Creole,
A slow simmer of history, culture, and questionable 2AM decisions.

Your airport is suspiciously nice.
Too nice.
As if to say, “Leave with a good impression, but know you’ll be back.”
Because no one really leaves New Orleans.
Not Ignatius J. Reilly, who still waddles through the Quarter in spirit,
Not Louis Prima, whose voice still swings in the back alleys,
Not even Louis Armstrong, forever smiling from above,
Trumpet in hand, as the city plays on.

So play on, New Orleans, you eccentric, sweaty, beautiful thing.
Let the jazz funeral march in reverse,
Let the ghosts shake tambourines in the moonlight,
And let us all, for one more night,
Drown in your music, your madness,
And one last round of Pimm’s Cups before dawn.

The Branding Journal

Hey. I’ve started writing for The Branding Journal. This combines two passions of mine: writing and brand strategy - so I am quite chuffed.

Below is my first piece. I have another in review covering The Strategic Advantage of a Messaging House for Your Brand and I am pitching something around branding and Formula 1.

That’s it, that’s my announcement. 🤷🏻‍♂️

One year on

My mom passed away a year ago.

Grief doesn’t follow a script. It arrives unannounced, overstays its welcome, and never really leaves. It shapeshifts—sometimes a church whisper, sometimes a death metal concert.

Caring for a dying parent is an honor wrapped in heartbreak. A front-row seat to life’s cruelest magic trick: presence, then absence.

Without my parents, the world feels slightly less steady, slightly less safe. Like the training wheels have been ripped off, even though I’ve been popping wheelies for decades.

Hard times are supposed to shape us, stretch us, teach us. This past year has been an intensive course in all of the above. I am incredibly proud of my growth.

I miss her. And I always will.

Consumption

All the things going in my head.

Watching:

Hamster Maze Videos (YouTube). My youngest loves these. And I find myself glancing at them more than I should.

Mo, Season 2 (Netflix). I absolutely loved season 1 and so far the second is on par.

Sonic 3 (Paramount+). I really like this franchise.

Reading:

The Family Corleone. This is the prequel to The Godfather and it is really, really good. You get a lotta of Luca Brasi, which is only a positive thing.

Japanese Tattoos. I love Japan and I love tattoos. ‘nuff said.

Video game:

I just started Cyberpunk 2077.