We just returned from New Orleans, where the food was great and the people were awesome. But, hey - that town is just about empty. You all need to get down there and spend some bucks to help keep the French Quarter alive if nothing else…Most of the restaurants are open, and the streets are dry, even when it rains!

Read more about our extravagances at CoffeeBeanShop. You can start there and work backwards, or start with our first night at K-Paul’s on Friday and work forward. Either way, you might see one or two photos that will bring back memories if you’ve ever visited this city.

I’ll be back soon with some updates on contests, news, and etceterarara on design issues. Falalala.

PS: Need to recycle your Christmas Tree? Go to Earth 911 to find a tree recycling place near you.

The press releases and emails are slowing down for the holidays…I’ll post a few notes next week before I leave town if anything of value shows up. Otherwise, I’m headed to New Orleans to re-visit the French Quarter for the holidays. Only this time I’m going to sleep in a hotel rather than an MG (yes, that’s a car). Plus, I’ll be eating at restaurants rather than chugging beer and begging for free oysters on Decatur Street. Oh, that was a long time ago…

How do you like Curly’s costume? He picked it out all by himself at Pup and Stuff. Seriously. He’s paying for it, too.

Webstock and WIPA (Web Industry Professionals Association) are more than pleased - in fact hugely excited - to announce “World Wide Web-a-thon,” the start of an international series of web competitions.

Yes, geek Olympics is happening!

The concept is simple. A team of the representatives from two countries take each other on, at the same location, to build a complete website in 24 hours. No excuses, no extensions and no overrun budgets. Read the rest of this entry »

At left: “Don’t Bug Me!� beaded bag by Pat Mayer, from Beadwork Creates Beaded Bags: 30 Designs (Interweave Press).

To celebrate Beadwork Magazine’s love affair with bags, Beadwork announces their fifth international juried exhibition: The Beaded Bag! For some, a stylish handbag is the epitome of bags. Others may conjure bags as diverse as an amulet bag, a shopping bag, or a doctor’s bag. From glamour to utility, bags tell many stories! Beadwork looks forward to seeing where your skill and imagination will take you! The winning new designs will be featured in a gallery in Beadwork magazine and the bags will be exhibited at Bead Expo in 2007.

Preliminary Deadline: 12 January 2007. Visit the site for details.

Cotton Bay Estates & Villas, operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and the first The Luxury Collection branded property in the Bahamas, will host a young architects’ design competition.

Licensed and registered architects under 40 may submit a 3,000-sq. ft. to 5,000-sq. ft. one-story or split-level private resort home design on an estate lot at Cotton Bay, in Eleuthera, Bahamas. Qualified architects can register at the site. Deadline: 1 March 2007.

The 2007 Eerie Horror Film Festival and Screenplay Competition has officially opened its call for entries and is currently seeking submissions from all over the world. Since 2004, the Eerie Horror Film Festival has screened over 150 films and has featured appearances by Tony Todd (Candyman), PJ Soles (Halloween), Gunnar Hansen (Texas Chainsaw Massacre ‘74), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma), Eugene Clark (Land of the Dead), Joe Pilato (Day of the Dead), Lynn Lowry (The Crazies), Tom Atkins (Halloween III), Charles Cyphers (Halloween), Nancy Loomis(Halloween), Alex Vincent (Child’s Play), Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick (The Omen ‘06), Brian Andrews (Halloween), Mark Borchardt (American Movie), John Hancock (Let’s Scare Jessica to Death), Dorothy Tristan (screenwriter), Mark Steensland (The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick), Sean David Morton (Joe Killionaire), Len Kabasinski (Swamp Zombies), Jamien Snow (author), Greg Lamberson (Slime City), Debbie Rochon (Hellblock 13), Michael Stanley (Attack of the Beast Creatures), actress Pam Sutch and many, many more!

Deadlines begin 7 January and end in September 2007. For more information about all fees and deadlines, visit the site!