According to a text message we received from NOLA Rising (which stated “VICTORY IS MINE OVER RADTKE!”) and a message on the local artist’s blog, it looks like Michael Dingler has emerged victorious in the battle he was forced into by Fred Radtke, a.k.a. The Gray Ghost. Dingler reportedly faced over $50,000 in fines for placing free art around New Orleans and was “turned in” (my words, not Dingler’s) by Radtke. Supposedly Radtke stormed out of the courtroom following the verdict. Dingler promises more details on his blog later today.

Congratulations to Michael, who painted our signs for the Alternative Media Expo back in February. We’ll work on getting our two-part Gray Ghost feature on this blog to help shed some light on the subject.

We just received word that New Orleans: After The Deluge, the webcomic that features the real-life Katrina stories of six New Orleanians, including mine, has secured a publishing deal with the graphic novel division of Pantheon, which itself is a division of Random House.

A.D. author Josh Neufeld joins a very distinguished catalog of authors that includes some of my personal favorites: Jessica Abel’s La Perdida, Charles Burns’ Black Hole, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Craig Thompson’s Goodbye Chunky Rice and Art Spiegelman’s Maus.

Neufeld has planned for the web version of A.D. to run 12 chapters, and the GN version will be expanded to further delve into all the characters’ stories. A.D.’s set for a Summer 2009 release and will appear in both hard and softcover editions.

It’s kind of mind-blowing to be a character in a webcomic, much less a graphic novel published by a company like Pantheon. How awesome is this?

ANTIGRAVITY has learned the three headlining rock acts for the ‘08 Voodoo Music Experience: Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M. and Stone Temple Pilots.

Set for October 24th, 25th and 26th at City Park, the tenth Voodoo also features traditional New Orleans artists the Neville Brothers, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Irving Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Bingo! Show.

Tickets go on sale ($100 for a 3-day pass) this Friday, May 2nd at TheTenthRitual.com.

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the new AG blog. We have a classic good news/bad news situation for you. We just talked to our web designer and he’s going to have a brand new, all original AG site for us sometime next week. The good news is that it’ll feature all the same permalink and blog capabilities that WordPress is giving us now—the bad news is that, if you’ve linked to a story here or bookmarked this page, that link is likely not going to go to the new site and may not work once we’ve launched.

We’ll do our best to make the transition as seamless as possible (like providing new links on the stories already posted here), but with that in mind we’re going to refrain from posting any more new or classic stories until the new site’s up. Still look for news, calendar info and random rants in the meantime, though!

We apologize for the confusion—we weren’t expecting a new website any time soon but we feel this will work out well for everyone. Stick with us, please!

I was asked by ESPN: The Magazine contributing editor and SMITH founder Larry Smith (publisher of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge) to contribute a short blurb for the mag’s pre-NFL Draft “Moving Kit,” where they ask players in this year’s draft to list some of the best things about their city. The mag tabbed LSU defensive back Chevis Jackson for his top spots to eat, drink and club, and asked me to name an under-the-radar place to watch a sports game. I came up with the Mid-City Yacht Club, and you can read it on page 63. If you’re an ESPN Insider member, you can view it online, otherwise check it out at a bookstore/magazine rack near you!

Team Worn Again’s second annual fundraiser for Recycle 4 The Arts isn’t until June 27th, but event organizers are calling for artists now! Here are details on what’s going on, provided by Karen Kemph of Recycle 4 The Arts:

WORN AGAIN NOLA II: A recycled fashion show. Designers have 10 days to take a random bag of recycled clothing and materials and create new, original and mind-blowing fashions. Registration ends June 7th; $10 registration fee.

WORN AGAIN JR.: Artists between the ages of 8 and 15 will have an opportunity to take the Worn Again challenge. Recycle 4 The Arts will offer young designers free sewing tutorials leading up to the event. Registration ends May 10th, and class space is limited; $10 registration fee.

THRIFT STORE ART EDIT: Artists have 2 weeks to revamp a random piece of thrift store art. Registration ends June 7th; $5 registration fee.

RECYCLED DANCE COMPETITION: 10 teams with a minimum of 4 members will receive a mystery dance routine and have 3 weeks to learn it before performing at the Worn Again afterparty. Registration ends June 7th; $10 registration fee.

For more information, e-mail Karen Kempf, call 504.945.0240 or visit the Team Worn Again MySpace page.

AG-friend and sponsored program Static Television is looking for an intern. We’re stocked on summer interns (though we are looking for Fall interns—drop us a line if you’re interested in getting college credit for writing and helping us out), so if you or someone you know would like to help film interviews with musicians, check out Static and get in touch with Wesley Swinnen.

Rehage Entertainment (Voodoo Music Experience, Essence Festival) has announced that M.I.A. will play the parking lot/warehouse across from d.b.a. (619 Frenchmen St.) on Saturday, May 3rd at 11pm.

The Lineup:

Holy Fuck

King Britt

Bingo!

M.I.A. (Late)

Preservation Hall (Later)

?uestlove (DJ Set) (Real real late)

Tickets are $25 and available through Ticketmaster.

With one act up for a 2008 Big Easy Entertainment award (Chef Menteur’s up against MC Trachiotomy and Quintron for “Best Electronica Artist”), local label Backporch Revolution is throwing its hat into the ring for 2009 as they release two albums this week: Potpie’s Potpie Plays the Classics and Liteworks’ Sound Sensation.

Liteworks is Mike Mayfield of Electrical Spectacle and Buttons fame. Sound Sensation is available for free and can be downloaded here.

Potpie Plays the Classics is the last album Potpie recorded before leaving New Orleans, and is available only at McKeown’s Books and Difficult Music.

According to Michael Patrick Welch, Noizefest is indeed going to happen on Saturday, May 3rd (noon ’til 5am Sunday morning) at 609 Lesseps St. They need artists to play alongside those who’ve already committed: Rob Cambre, DJ Twist, Mikroshards, Vargr Wulf, Quintron, Ratty Scurvics, Paint With Music, Ray Bong, Dave Hyman (of Triple Delight), the dude from HateMoms, PinkySquish (Dan from Chef Menteur), LOID (Dan from New Moon).

Says Welch: “

Personally, in my experience, NOIZEFEST is the only event in the city that celebrates a scene more than its individual components. Really, there is no real SCENE of anything in New Orleans. There are certain New Orleans people and entities that good times revolve around, so tons of us show up, sure. But a real SCENE is something in which EVERYONE is (almost) EQUALLY important. HELP SUPPORT NOIZEFEST AND HELP SUPPORT THE UNDERGROUND NON-TRADITIONAL MUSIC SCENE.”

If you’re interested in playing or helping some other way, e-mail Michael Welch here.