New Orleans History, Culture, Music, Food, etc.

[Driad]

Here's a thread where we can discuss New Orleans history, culture, music, food, people (real people and non-NCIS fictional people), accents, and anything else that doesn't fit into the episode and character threads.

[BooksRule]

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this, but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else.  Does it bother anyone else that those big double doors seem to always be open?  No matter what time of day or year?  I live in the same part of the country as New Orleans, and except for a tiny part of the year you would not want to leave those doors open.  The heat, humidity (and bugs) would be terrible.  I always cheer when there are a few days where I can open doors and windows to get some 'real' air into the house (but I have screens to keep the bugs and any other unwanted critters out).  I know it's a TV show and not real life, but a part of me is always saying to myself that having those doors open to the weather can't be good for those fancy computers and monitors!

[secnarf]

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this, but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else.  Does it bother anyone else that those big double doors seem to always be open?  No matter what time of day or year?  I live in the same part of the country as New Orleans, and except for a tiny part of the year you would not want to leave those doors open.  The heat, humidity (and bugs) would be terrible.  I always cheer when there are a few days where I can open doors and windows to get some 'real' air into the house (but I have screens to keep the bugs and any other unwanted critters out).  I know it's a TV show and not real life, but a part of me is always saying to myself that having those doors open to the weather can't be good for those fancy computers and monitors!

Also it never rains unless it is important for the plot.

[friendperidot]

I asked a similar question on the Dwayne Pride topic. I also want to know if people just wander in off the street & help themselves to all that equipment and is that where Pride lives? So many questions...

[laredhead]

I commented on that when the show first began, and said that would not be possible here in Louisiana.  The humidity combined with the heat would make that place unbearable several months of the year.  We have lots of creepy crawlers too, and screens would definitely be necessary.  I remember vacationing in San Francisco many years ago, and the weather was fabulous.  We ate outside a lot at various restaurants and never saw any bugs which fascinated me.  South Louisiana is not like that.  I'm not sure where in New Orleans they shoot the office scenes, but maybe they have portable A/C units to keep the actors comfortable.  I read that they were having trouble acclimating to the heat and humidity during the filming in the first season because they began in August.         

[BooksRule]

I read that they were having trouble acclimating to the heat and humidity during the filming in the first season because they began in August.

 

If you're not used to it, it must be unbearable.  I've lived in this area all of my life and I've found it to be harder and harder to cope with as I get older.  I remember taking a trip out west to desert country one year and when I got back to the airport in N.O., I felt like someone had thrown a hot wet blanket over me--the heat and humidity was so bad (and I had only been away for about three days!). 

 

Another thing I've noticed is that almost always any home they go is one that seems to have that New Orleans 'flavor' to it.  I mean it's the type of house that tourists would picture when they think of New Orleans.  They seem to range from a run-down frame house to a restored Garden District-type home.  Not the usual 'ranch-style' home that most of the rest of us live in. (LOL)  However, I did notice that in the most recent (I think) episode, they actually visited a neighborhood with ranch-type homes (when they were chasing the guy on the motorcycle).  Of course, as a viewer, I have to admit I like to see the Garden District-type homes more than the type I live in myself.

[Driad]

What biting insects and other pests do they have around NOLA? What diseases are spread by local mosquitos etc.?

I have not visited the Deep South but have been far enough south to encounter chiggers, sweat bees, and leeches. I didn't like those but I enjoyed watching mud dauber wasps, which are hard working and not hostile to humans who don't bother them.

[kaygeeret]

I really wanted to love this show because I like Scott Backula, but just, yikes, nothing is remotely related to reality....not that that is a requirement to me, but so CLUMSY, I mean gosh.

[laredhead]

Driad, we have an abundance of mosquitoes and roaches for one thing.  Flies are pesky too.  Fire ants are rampant in some areas, including cities.  Mosquitoes carry West Nile virus which affected one of my neighbors a couple of years ago.  I live in the city of Baton Rouge in a well populated area that is sprayed on a regular basis by trucks or planes (at night).  Mosquito control is a big thing in most places here, but there are still areas that are not sprayed, or where a virus carrying mosquito might be found.  Pest control businesses do a big business here.    

[BooksRule]

Yup, mosquitoes, fire ants and roaches (although I like to call them 'Palmetto bugs', which fools no one) are the norm. I don't know about New Orleans proper, but where I live you just get eaten up by swarms of gnats as soon as the sun starts going down. 

[SoTheresThat]

The NCIS office is actually on a soundstage.  The courtyard is not open to the outside environment.

[Prevailing Wind]

But in the NCIS universe, it IS open to the outside.

[MelinaBallerina]

Don't the double doors open up to that driveway that has the locked bars on the street side?

[Driad]

In last night's episode some people were working in an office with the doors to the "outside" wide open. Is there a time of year in New Orleans when the air temperature and humidity are comfortable, and there are no annoying or dangerous insects? If so, is February it? Of course these people can run around outdoors without sweating, so maybe nothing bothers them.