Blog #11: Austerity from Europe
Five-hundred-and-forty degrees away from the ultra-extravagant European hypermarket invasion of the United States in the 1980s—a surprise attack that ended in utter failure—a new European incursion is set to commence. This time, two no-frills-to-the-gills discount supermarket chains are poised to sweep into North America. These two chains, both based in Germany, are Aldi and Lidl. In stark contrast to the hypermarkets of the ‘80s, which imported an awesome abundance to Americ
Blog #10 The Huey Long Influence
Sometime around 1930, when he was nineteen, maybe twenty years old, John Schwegmann and his best friend, Wilfred Meyer, took a stroll over to Macarty Park to attend a rock concert. Well, it wasn’t exactly a rock concert, of course, as rock n’ roll hadn’t been invented yet. But it was just as exciting, as this event, a political rally, featured the electrifying oratory of none other than Huey Long, the Kingfish, then at the peak of his speechifying powers. This experience—like
Blog #9: John Schwegmann’s Warrior Nature Best Expressed Through Music
The essence of John Schwegmann’s warrior nature is best expressed through music. Consider how lyrics from four songs composed in his heyday so perfectly mirror his fighting spirit. “Indian Red,” based on a traditional Mardi Gras Indian chant, is all about self-assertion and proud defiance. First recorded by New Orleans jazz legend Danny Barker in the late 1940s, the song announces in a powerful chorus: “We won’t bow down/Not on anybody’s ground.” Surely John was channeling th