• by August 30, 2005

DOWN ON THE LEVY -- New Orleans is proud of its hurricanes, but locals normally like to experience their liquid effects gastronomically, not sloshing in the tsunami-like swells that have made the Crescent City look more like Venice than the Big Easy. The images being televised of Katrina's devastating impact on the Gulf Coast states is a stark reminder of how fine a line we walk between the pretense of civilization and the wrath of nature. It's been less than a year since we witnessed similar images televised worldwide of the South Asian tsunami and its aftermath. It's been only months since many of Madison Avenue's top media execs, attending the Four As' Media Conference, walked the same streets of New Orleans that are now negotiable only by boat.

Then and now, media - particularly television - is what brought us together, enabling us in the safety of our living rooms to feel the loss of Katrina's victims, and hopefully, to contribute in what ways we can to ease their suffering.

We hope relief finds its way quickly to those who need it. Meanwhile, we'll hum a few bars courtesy of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter:

Well the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry any more,
'Cause when life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door.
Think this through with me, let me know your mind,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, is are you kind?

Come hear Uncle John's Band by the riverside,
Got some things to talk about, here beside the rising tide.
Come hear Uncle John's Band playing to the tide,
Come on along, or go alone, he's come to take his children home.
Wo, oh, what I want to know, how does the song go.