Enough Pre-season already it’s time for the real season to begin. Are you ready for some Saints football? If not, there is a preseason tailgating party just for practice this Saturday. Yep the Saints are Inviting fans to the Believe Again Bash. A free open to the Public Event that will Include Player Appearances, Live Music, food and drinks. Coach Payton and Drew will be there to lead a pep rally with appearances by more than 30 Saints players plus the Sanitations and the mascots for pictures and autographs.

And here’s what is really exciting. You can take pictures with the REAL Super Bowl Trophy. Fans can also enjoy food and drinks while grooving to the sounds of Rebirth Brass Band, Buck Town All-Stars and more local favorites.

WHEN:          Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010 Noon to 10 p.m.

WHERE:       Champions Square between the Superdome and Benson Tower

Click below to see a sneak peak at the new Cher movie “Burlesque” with Christina Aguilera. Out around Thanksgiving.

So here we are 5 Five years after Hurricane Katrina. Let’s focus on the positive things that are happening including the repaving of a lot of the streets. I know more need work but it’s a start. The Recession hasn’t affected us as much as the nation. From July 2008 to July 2010, the New Orleans metro lost 0.8 percent of all jobs while the nation lost 5.0 percent of all jobs. Average wages in the metro have increased 14 percent from 2004 to 2008. Entrepreneurship has spiked in the metro area post-Katrina with 450 of every 100,000 adults starting a business compared to 320 of every 100,000 adults nationally. In the most recent school year 59 percent of New Orleans’ public school students attended schools that pass state standards, up from 28 percent in the 2003-2004 school year. Blight is rapidly declining in New Orleans, down from 98,402 unoccupied residential and commercial addresses in March 2007 to 64,135 in June 2010.  In St. Bernard Parish blight has fallen from 19,525 unoccupied residential and commercial addresses in 2007 to 13,927 today. Housing and Crime are still major issues but with a new Mayor and Police Chief I have faith that the new leadership will move us even further in the next year. Still Proud to Call it Home. 

Date supplied by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center

Wednesdays here at Magic 101.9 are Wet Nose Wednesdays because we are all pet lovers here. We came up with the idea of using our very large audience to help connect homeless animals with loving homes. The New York Times recently reported a story about how dogs are now being enlisted to help these veterans reclaim their emotional balance and heal their wounds. The program is already achieving some very tangible successes, with a number of servicemen in the program now able to sleep, no longer needing multiple forms of medication, and even getting out of their homes and reintegrating themselves into society.  A treasured pet can provide consolation to a discouraged owner going through difficult times. Animals provide that unconditional love that is part of the healing process.  Pets provide the benefits of companionship and unconditional dedication that some people need.  

It’s always the people most in need of friends who typically have few, and that’s where pets can deliver a significant benefit to their companions. Please help us spread the word that every Wednesday we have loving pets that are in need of a loving home. Please check out the Wet Nose Wednesday page here on the website to see the latest pets up for adoption.

Saturday I’ve been invited to the AT&T store in Thibadaux and I’ll have a $400 gift certificate for someone to get a Great Escape package from H20. Includes Turkish Massage, Complete Facial, Spa Lunch, Spa Manicure/Spa Pedicure, Shampoo/Style, Makeup Application/Lesson. Register while I’m there from 11am-1pm. Winner does not need to be present to win. While you’re there check out the U-Verse triple play bundle and the new Flip cam.

I know it’s preseason but now that we are World Champions everything is exciting. And there is a reason to be excited about the Texans game saturday night. The ongoing renovations at the Superdome have gone almost unnoticed since most of the work is being done inside but if you pass the dome you can see the new “Gold” skin replacing those old worn silver panels. It looks good and there almost done. Construction began right after our Saints beat up Brett Favre and the Vikings back in January and included the addition of 16 luxury box suites on the 300 level and the construction of a press box on the 700 level. Now the new suites are displacing the old press box, and I heard Bobby Herbert complaining in the hall yesterday about the view from the new Press Box but the network anchor booth will remain on the 300 level. Sorry Bobby.

Phase I also included the remodeling of the Saints’ locker room, more than doubling the size of their old chambers and adding high-tech medical and X-ray equipment worthy of Super bowl Champions. For us fans A 6,000-square-foot Saints Team Shop located at Gate B has been added to go along with the ongoing addition of the re-doing of the outside of the Dome. Also part of Phase I was the demolition of the Gate C bridge that led from New Orleans Centre to the Superdome. This is pretty cool now In its place, a massive staircase has been added, serving as an entryway into the stadium from the new 60,000 square foot Champions Square presented by Verizon, a sports and entertainment area on LaSalle Street.  And there’s still more to come after this season construction will begin on Phase II -including the lower bowl of the stadium will be reconfigured, adding more than 3,000 seats. Construction crews will widen the Plaza Level concourse, enabling more concessions and restrooms to be installed, and new club lounges will be built under the Plaza Level.

  My X- girlfriend superstar and Mississippi native Faith Hill will perform a free concert Tues Aug. 24 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater not only to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina but also the Gulf Coast girl wants to show her support to our area due to the Oil disaster. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is slated to open the show. Yes it’s free but you need a ticket. Can’t buy em’ anywhere but they gave Magic 101.9 a bunch of tix to giveaway. So listen all week for your chance to win 4 tickets so you and your friends can enjoy the show together. The Katrina anniversary concert is sponsored by the Tide Loads of Hope program. After Katrina, the detergent maker dispatched a truck equipped with 32 washers and dryers to the Gulf Coast. So far, the truck has washed 36,000 loads of laundry, at no charge, for first responders, volunteers and families affected by the hurricane. The big question is will husband, Louisiana boy, Tim McGraw make a surprise appearance?

I wanted to take some time off to spend time with my kids Stevie & Kristi before they go back to school so I’m taking Vacation this week. But after looking long and hard for someone to sit in for me , Oprah didn’t return my calls and neither did Kate Goslin, Leeza Gibbons or Angela Hill so… if you’ve ever listened to Magic on the weekend there is a beautiful girl that works for us that has one of the smoothest voices I’ve ever heard. Her voice itself relieves stress. I have chosen her (They told me) to take care of you while I’m out. You’ll love her, I’m just worried that if she does too good of a job they might call and tell me to take another week off.

Mississippi girl Faith Hill along with her sponsor Tide who during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina inspired the launch of Tide Loads of Hope, a mobile laundry service that provides clean clothes to families affected by disaster. As the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, Tide will host a live concert on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 in New Orleans featuring Faith Hill.  Tide Loads of Hope Presents: A Celebration of Hope with Faith Hill will serve to honor the resilient spirit of Gulf Coast residents and demonstrate Tide Loads of Hope’s ongoing commitment to New Orleans. The concert will be free for residents of New Orleans and the surrounding area to celebrate how far the community has come in its rebuilding efforts since Katrina. But you must get a ticket to enter the concert and you can win those soon on Magic 101.9.

New Orleans own Ellen DeGeneres is leaving the judges’ table on American Idol and  Jennifer Lopez wants the job. Ellen says she told Idol producers and Fox two months ago that the show wasn’t the right fit for her, and she wanted to leave. She says while she loves “discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent,” it was hard for her “to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings.” As for Jennifer Lopez, a source says she’s close to signing on as the replacement. Lopez has appeared as a mentor on “American Idol.” As a judge, she would come to the show with first-hand knowledge of the music business. That’s something some had complained Ellen DeGeneres doesn’t have.