Category: Interview

Interview with hrilina ♡ : Water Wonderful World

A new reading and coloring book about New Orleans’ relationship with water will entertain and educate!
Katy recently interviewed hrilina ♡, a rising leader among young New Orleanians, who is proud to announce the release of a unique educational coloring book titled “Water Wonderful World.”
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Published by Trinity City Arts, the book explores the relationship we in South Louisiana have with water, particularly in and around New Orleans.
hrilina ♡’s vision for this book was to create an engaging and fun experience for kids (and grownups) that teaches about the role of water in New Orleans—from providing livelihoods to being an essential part of our recreation. The book also faces the challenges of coastal erosion and rising waters. In fact, it was funded through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Youth Climate Action Fund and supported by Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s office and the City of New Orleans.
“One of my favorite New Orleans Easter eggs in the book is on page six, where everything in the garden bed is a Louisiana export,” says hrilina ♡. “It’s Water Wonderful World, and it’s about the unique relationship that we New Orleanians have with water. But it’s also about how our waters matter to the world, and why people should care about our waters and issues relating to our waters.”
“Water Wonderful World” stands out not only for its content but also for its collaborative creation process. The artwork in “Water Wonderful World” was created by three talented teenaged illustrators from New Orleans: Lauren Landers, Zion Mercadel, and London Salvant. Each brings their distinct style to the pages. (They represent local arts programs such as New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), YAYA, and Morris Jeff.)

“Water Wonderful World” is now available for download as a PDF from the Trinity City Comics website. Printed copies are also available for sale. Dive into the wonder of water and explore New Orleans through this coloring adventure!
Thank you, hrilina ♡, for sharing your talent with Confetti Park in so many ways! hrilina ♡ is a veteran member of the Confetti Park Players and has long contributed her thoughtful creativity to this radio show and podcast. Here she is sharing poems as a little girl. One is “Teacher’s Prayer” and one is “The Coast of Louisiana.”
Confetti Park is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.
Interview with New Orleans musician Arlo McCracken Allen

At 12 years old, this musician and composer is already active on the local music scene in New Orleans. Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Arlo for Confetti Park
In a recent interview, New Orleans based music prodigy Arlo McCracken Allen shared insights into his musical journey that began at the young age of four when he first sat at a piano. Arlo quickly progressed from playing at home to performing with his dad’s band (Luke Allen, Happy Talk Band) and other notable musicians.
Arlo plays piano and cello, but he loves electronic music. Influenced by video game music creator Toby Fox, Arlo aspires to compose soundtracks for games and films. He enjoys creating electronic music using tools like Logic Pro X and making animations. Arlo even created a piece displayed on a large projection for an audience at Luna Fete, working with artist Courtney Egan.
Currently at Homer Plessy middle school, Arlo is preparing to attend NOCCA, a school for creative arts. He is actively involved in collaborative projects, including the development of a video game with friends for which he composed the main menu theme.

In this interview with Confetti Park, Arlo offers advice to other young musicians — on how to get started playing music, and on finding confidence to perform. Despite having stage fright, playing music liberates him, allowing him to connect deeply with his audience.
Arlo’s vision is to continue building his portfolio and expand his reach through platforms like YouTube. Whether flying solo or collaborating with others, Arlo McCracken Allen’s passion for music is undeniable. We’re excited to watch his journey!
Thanks for sharing your talent with Confetti Park, Arlo!
Arlo McCracken Allen is a New Orleans musician

Sign in front of Bywater Bakery advertises 12-year-old Arlo’s performance

Arlo McCracken Allen performing on piano in the street, Bywater (New Orleans)
Confetti Park is supported by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.
Steven Scaffidi on why authors should self-publish their books—and advice on how to do it!

In this episode of Confetti Park, we connect with the creative mind of Steven Scaffidi, a veteran of the entertainment industry.
Steven filming a documentary, The People’s Story, in Central America
For decades Steven has worked in film and television—writing, directing, and producing. Based out of New Orleans, Steven has deep connections to the industry in South Louisiana, but his work extends nationally as well. From commercials for restaurants, furniture companies, lawyers, etc., to full length feature films, TV shows and gritty documentaries, Steven has a vast amount of experience, connections, and know-how.
Lately, he has turned this experience and wisdom to a new industry—that of children’s book publishing. And Steven has lots of fearless opinions about how to publish books in 2021.
Papa Dude, a new children’s book series
Steven is the author of the Papa Dude series. Papa Dude is a solid and warm guide-type character, kind of an authority on all things as you travel with him on adventures. He’s a likable and solid dude—a Papa Dude! His best friend, Charlie Crab, offers a playful, lighthearted touch to every page, while Papa Dude delivers factual information about all sorts of things. With Papa Dude, young readers can explore the zoo, the continental USA, dog breeds, the history of Santa Claus, outer space, and more. The whole package makes for a supremely educational yet fun series!
The character of Papa Dude was inspired by Steven’s own dad. It’s a sweet tribute.
The character of Papa Dude was inspired by Steven’s own dad—what a sweet tribute! However, in this interview, Katy Hobgood talks with Steven not so much about the creative impetus for Papa Dude, but more about the savvy he’s developed when it comes to getting his books out there.
“I think I’ve cracked the code on getting books made, published and distributed,” says Steven. “The worst thing a writer can do is write, and then it sits on a shelf and nobody ever reads it. If you’re creative and you can tell stories, you can find someone to help you with the art. You can find a printer. You can publish it yourself.”
Steven also runs creative workshops to people who are looking to learn how to get their art out into the world.
Learn more about him at https://www.ghostriderpictures.com/ And check out Papa Dude books at https://www.heypapadude.com/
Thanks, Steven, for sharing your talent and advice with Confetti Park!
Valerie James Abbott on the shocking realization that her two-year-old had hearing loss

In this episode of Confetti Park, Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Valerie James Abbott, a mother whose journey with her own daughter’s hearing loss inspired a children’s book called Padapillo.
Parents should be aware that hearing loss in young children can go undetected for quite a while. Do you know the signs?
“My daughter Bridget passed her newborn screening test at the hospital when she was born,” Valerie tells Katy Hobgood Ray, host of Confetti Park. “It wasn’t until she was about two-and-a-half years old—she’d been in preschool for six months—when the teacher said, ‘Are you concerned with her speech?’ And I said, ‘Not really.’ Yes, she was using strange words and language, but we assumed that it was in the range of what’s normal.”
In fact, it wasn’t.
The family took Bridget to get a hearing test at the school’s recommendation, and discovered that the little girl had hearing loss. Valerie says that she felt many emotions—among them shock, devastation, guilt, and grief. And of course, the family had many questions. How did this happen?
Young Bridget was fitted with hearing aids, the family adjusted to the new normal, and Valerie was inspired her to lead her family on a search for hope. In the years that followed, she met many other parents who had initially responded to their child’s disability as her family had – with shock, worry, guilt, frustration, and sometimes feeling overwhelmed.
Valerie says she wrote Padapillo as a way to record the journey and process her grief, and as a way to help other families going through the same thing. The story is told through the eyes of Bridget’s older sister Mary Clare (three years older), “who really had a front row seat” to the diagnosis.
Valerie says she hopes when other families read Padapillo, they recognize some of their own emotions in the pages.
“I really hope parents and families see that whatever they’re feeling—whatever their emotional experience was, is, or will be—is valid,” says Valerie. “There’s no one way to go through this process.”
Today, Valerie is an active parent-advocate and champion for early hearing detection and intervention and parent-to-parent support organizations. She is co-founder of Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Week (May 4-10), an international campaign aimed at improving earlier identification of acquired hearing loss and connection to services and resources.
“One of my big missions right now is to focus on late onset hearing loss awareness, and that children can and do lose their hearing after birth for a variety of reasons,” says Valerie. “If there are any developmental delays that are of concern to you or the family, I encourage you to get a hearing screening. That can answer some questions quickly if there is in fact hearing loss.”
You can order the book Padapillo at Valerie’s website. This site includes a rich resource library as well as a blog.
Thank you, Valerie, for sharing your story with Confetti Park!
Listen to Valerie narrating Padapillo
Animator Deborah A. Anderson discusses black hair, illustrations, and animations

Deborah A. Anderson is a 3D animator and creator of the The Black Hair Alphabet

In this episode of Confetti Park, we meet Deborah A. Anderson, New Orleans based animator and creator of The Black Hair Alphabet, a children’s book that explores different African-American hairstyles from A-Z.

In this interview, Deborah discusses why and how she created the book, and shares insight into the interesting worlds of video game avatars, 3D illustration, and the animation industry.

Says Deborah, “The idea behind the book came from a conversation with some colleagues in animation. We talked about the representation of black hair in video game avatars…. It was actually guys complaining… they were complaining about how if you want to represent your ethnicity, you’re picking between an afro or dreads. There’s really not a myriad of hairstyles to pick from.”

Deborah decided to blog about a different black hair style for each day of the month during Black History Month, starting with a different letter of the alphabet, to explore the versatility of black hair. Each day during February 2017, she spent approximately three hours illustrating a different hairstyle inspired by a letter—A for Afro. B for Bantu Knot, C for Conk., etc. At the end of the month, she had the material for a book!

Deborah, who is primarily an animator (she has created background scenes for Family Guy, the Cleveland Show, Batman, Scooby Doo) created her illustrations using a 3D animation software.

“I would first choose a font I thought would kind of illustrate the hairstyle I was going to do on it,” explains Deborah. “I tried to figure out how to put hairstyle on the font, so, sometimes I would pick a font where I needed it to be a certain way. So, for ‘Geometric Cut’ for ‘G,’ I purposely chose a font with a square top so I could do that geometric cut.”

She published The Black Hair Alphabet on Amazon. You can purchase it in print or for Kindle. Check out blkwmnanimator.com for more information about Deborah and her work!

Thank you so much Deborah, for sharing your story with Confetti Park.

Listen to Deborah narrate the entire book in this episode of Confetti Park Storytime!
Students at Arden Cahill Academy share their love of Louisiana culture

Arden Cahill in the spotlight!

In this episode of Confetti Park, we meet some of the teachers and students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana, and hear some of the original poems and essays created by students in the seventh and eighth grades under teachers Nick and Rick Mithun.

Nick Mithun teaches French, while Rick Mithun teaches history. They are the grandsons of Arden Cahill, the woman who founded the school in 1968 along with her husband, Harry. Currently there are four generations of Cahill family members involved at the school—the youngest just enrolled in the infant center.

Education rooted in the arts

Arden Cahill envisioned an early childhood education center rooted in the arts, and rooted in Louisiana French culture, in a country-like atmosphere. The legacy of her dream is fulfilled today in a twelve-acre campus shaded with oak and cypress trees along Bayou Fatma in Gretna. At the back of campus, there is a country farmyard with animals that children interact with daily, and an equestrian arena with horseback riding lessons. Music, art, and theater classes are core parts of the curriculum, and all children learn French.

Confetti Park’s Katy Hobgood Ray interviewed Nick and Rick Mithun and some of their students, and gathered their poems about life in Louisiana. Listen

Thank you to all the teachers and students at Arden Cahill for sharing your great work on Confetti Park! To learn more about this wonderful school in Gretna, Louisiana, and its deep focus on French culture and the arts, visit ardencahillcademy.com

Students and (far right) Nick Mithun at Arden Cahill

Eighth graders from Arden Cahill show their school spirit in their last year

Miya Scaggs & Miles Perez of Arden Cahill

Students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana

Sydney Payne & Alaci Young of Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana

Students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana

Students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana

Rick Mithun at Arden Cahill

Students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana

Ardent Cahill student Hrilina Ramrakhiani forms giant bubbles outside during Whale Fest

Annalise Eiffert, Deryn Patin, and Caitlin Loo of Arden Cahill

Students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana

Students at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna, Louisiana
Andreas Sahar shares about a musical childhood and following the call
Andreas Sahar, of New Orleans, is a musician, songwriter, and the artistic director of Totally Square Records. In this interview with Confetti Park, Andreas talks about his record label, about his earliest childhood musical memories, and about nurturing a love for music within his own young children.

Wimmerpot

From Andreas’ childhood recollections is the enchanting nickname his grandmother gave him: “wimmerpot.” He discusses this nickname in the interview… and from his website:

“My grandmother made up the word,” explains Andreas. “Roughly translated from German, her moniker for me was something along the lines of “stewing teapot,” a reference to the constant humming I did while playing with my Legos or train sets. At four years old, music was already brewing inside my head, escaping in bouts of sonorous steam while I fiddled with my toys.” More from his website

Totally Square Records

Andreas discusses with Confetti Park the unique concept behind Totally Square Records, which features pop and pop rock music. The featured artists have more than captivating hooks, intriguing melodies, and tight harmonies in common—they also share a commitment to serve as positive role models to their fans.

“What we do is we sign recording artists who agree to stay out of trouble, to stay away from all the tabloid catchers, and focus on making great music,” Andreas explains. He then goes on to introduce some of the artists featured on the label. (Enjoy clips of the following artists from the roster of Totally Square Records in the interview.)
- “Anamaria Angel has a great pop rock feel…She is a fantastic artist.”
- “I’m also really excited to work with Justin and Alina, a brother and sister team. It’s amazing watching and hearing them work together.”
- “We also have an artist by the name of Nicole Raviv, a fantastic vocalist. She was raised in Canada and Israel. She goes back all the time to Israel to put on some really big shows.”
Outside of the label, Andreas creates his own music—which runs the gamut of styles from pop singles to long-form symphonic pieces and musicals. Much of Andreas’ musical creativity is inspired by his spirituality. (Listen to some samples.)

Andreas and daughter Ramona, who is already showing a love for songwriting

Passing on the love of music

Andreas also enjoys collaborating with his children, twin boys and a daughter, on music. Here is a song called “Rock ‘n Roll Star” that features a hook that his five-year-old daughter Ramona came up with.

“She just started singing it and I immediately screeched to a halt whatever I was doing and listened and started banging it away on the piano,” says Andreas. “It’s such a catchy little hook!”

Andreas’ advice to parents who want their kids to find a creative outlet is, first and foremost, let them breathe and have room to find their own passion. And once you see their passion, nurture it!

“Kids will have their own spark and their own interest, and you can pick up on that,” he says. “If you do see a spark, and a genuine interest, I say feed it!”
New Orleans comedian Mike Strecker publishes a joke book for kids

Mike Strecker is a stand up comedian who has published a series of joke books for kids. Photo by Sally Asher

Mike Strecker is a stand-up comedian who has been performing in the New Orleans area since 1995. And now, he is a published book author. Mike recently released two volumes of jokes, Young Comic’s Guide to Telling Jokes Vol. 1 and 2, which are nationally distributed by Sterling Children’s Books.

“The way it came about… my wife’s a school teacher, and I have a habit of coming up with these corny little jokes. And she would say, ‘You have to write these down; kids love these kinds of books.’

So I wound up writing them down, and sure enough, I sent them away and a publisher wanted to publish them.”

“First I wrote 150 jokes—I figured that would make one volume. Little did I know!” laughs Mike. “I sent it away, and they said, ‘Yes, we like this. But we want to make two volumes of 600 jokes each.’”

Whew! That’s a lot of jokes!

Mike rose to the challenge, and spent the next few months torturing his wife and kids with experimental puns and word play.

“I have to say, the experience was pure joy,” says Mike. “Some days I’d come up with ten, other days, I’d come home and say, ‘Honey, what a day! I did 45 jokes!’ Finally, she was like, ‘Can you turn this off?’”

“There is a pun every where you look…. Once you start looking for them!” says Mike.

Mike’s books came out in January 2017. Included with over 600 jokes each are tips of how to deliver jokes, which Mike developed from his 20+ year career in standup comedy. For example, a joke should always be delivered conversationally. “Act natural,” says Mike. “Don’t read your jokes from this book or any book.”

Mike is already working on a followup, which is tentatively titled “Jokes for Crescent City Kids.”

You can catch Mike performing his family-friendly brand of stand up comedy around New Orleans. Check out his schedule at http://openmikestrecker.com/index.html
Interview with Ol’ Chumbucket, co-creator of Talk Like a Pirate Day

Ol’ Chumbucket reads to kids at Hubbell Library in Algiers Point

In this episode of Confetti Park, Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Ol’ Chumbucket, the co-creator of International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19. Chumbucket, also known as John Baur in certain circles, lives in New Orleans today (he has lived in many places including the Virgin Islands) and spends much of his time traveling the pirate festival circuit promoting his books and pirate culture.

Chrissie Warren: Pirate Hunter, is his latest. It’s a truly entertaining young adult book about a 13-year-old girl in colonial Virginia who disguises herself as a boy in order to sign onto a merchant ship. What drives her to such rash madness? She must rescue her father, who has been taken by terrible pirates. This book is a great ride!

Ol’ Chumbucket has co-authored at least eight books about pirate culture with his buddy Cap’n Slappy (a.k.a Mark Summers, the co-creator of Talk Like a Pirate Day), including A Li’l Pirate’s ABSeas, “a piratical romp through the alphabet with all that that implies. Sometimes rude, sometimes downright dangerous and subversive, but always fun and always funny.”

Kids in the Algiers Point neighborhood where Confetti Park is located were very lucky to have Ol’ Chumbucket come to the Hubbell Library. He and the NOLA Pyrates Society sang sea shanties and shared pirate lore. Katy recorded this interview with Chumbucket outside the library located near the river. (You can hear the wind! Sorry for the rumbles.)

Here she talks to him about the genesis of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and they uncover what it is that makes pirates so universally appealing.

Says Chumbucket: “Pirates, they’re an expression of freedom. We always tell people it’s ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’—not ‘Commit Felonies Like a Pirate Day.’ We’re not advocating you actually waylay a Spanish galleon.

But… pirates were the freest people on earth. They lived by their own rules; they rejected convention. So when you go out and live your life for YOU instead of the rules that everybody else’s putting on you, the TV ads that tell you you have to smell like this, and the magazine ads that tell you you have to wear these shoes… if you do what you want, because it’s what you want, then you’re living like a pirate.”

For more information about Ol’ Chumbucket, visit his websites https://baurlife.com/ and http://talklikeapirate.com/.
Interview with Kid Chef Eliana about her foodie inspirations & aspirations

In this episode of Confetti Park, Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Kid Chef Eliana de Las Casas, a New Orleans-based chef who is seriously one of the hardest-working kids around.

Eliana has been cooking since she was four years old! Her interested hasn’t waned over the years from those early days of watching her family elders make food in the kitchen. Now at 16 years old, Eliana has bloomed as a chef, as an entrepreneur, as a cookbook author and as a culinary personality.

Eliana was born in Gretna and has a whole lot of cultural influences driving her style. She describes herself as a gumbo of Filipino, Cajun, Honduran, and Cuban.

“My whole family taught me how to cook, everyone. We always loved being in the kitchen together and having huge family gatherings,” says Eliana. “There would just be all kinds of different dishes at the table. I never wanted to leave the kitchen! I was never the kid to ask for toys. I always wanted something kitchen-related.”

Eliana’s mom is notable Louisiana children’s author Dianne de las Casas, and she encouraged Eliana to start a food blog when Eliana was touring with her at book signings around Louisiana. From there, Eliana’s abilities as a media mogul, too, grew! Soon Eliana was doing cooking tutorials for kids on YouTube, and before long she declared her intention to publish a cookbook. She was only ten years old when her first cookbook came out—today Eliana has three: Cool Kids Cook: Fresh & Fit, Cool Kids Cook: Louisiana, and Eliana Cooks: Recipes for Creative Kids.

In this interview, Katy and Eliana dive deep into Eliana’s early inspirations and her current aspirations, which include launching her own line of spices. They also talk about some of Eliana’s adult mentors, such as New Orleans-based chefs Tory McPhail (Commander’s Palace), Chef Adolfo Garcia (Primitivo, RioMar) and Chef Ryan Hughes (Purloo).

Eliana is currently a full-time student at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. She takes traditional academic classes in the morning, and in the afternoon, she studies in a culinary arts program funded by the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. She is also a radio host! Every Friday at 6pm CT, listen to Kid Chef Eliana’s weekly radio show, Let’s Get Cookin’, on 102.3 FM WHIV.

Learn more at http://www.kidchefeliana.com

Eliana is competing on Chopped Teen Tournament on Food Network in September. The tournament has 16 teens battling for a cash prize of $25,000. Let’s all support this teen chef representing the city of New Orleans!
Interview with Lashon Daley, author of the Mr. Okra story book!

This is a special Confetti Park interview with Lashon Daley, the lovely author behind Mr. Okra Sells Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.

Today Lashon is pursuing a PHD in Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. But for a while, she lived in New Orleans, and was inspired to write her sweet book about our favorite produce vendor.

In this interview Lashon talks about the first time she ever saw Mr. Okra, and how she went about creating a children’s book featuring his life’s calling.

Says Lashon: “It was an early Sunday morning, and I remember hearing the truck coming down my street and I thought, is that an ice cream man? And he was calling out these fruits and vegetables, saying there were strawberries and mangoes and bananas, and I thought to myself What kind of ice cream truck man is this?… I found out how well loved he is by the city.”

Lashon Daley and Mr. Okra

Mr. Okra Sells Fresh Fruits and Vegetables was published by Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. It is available in bookstores in New Orleans, Berkeley, and on Amazon.

Here’s what Mr. Okra has to say about the book (from the back cover): “I love selling fruits and veggies to the people of New Orleans because there are people who can’t get to the big stores and people who don’t really like to go to the big stores. . . . They depend on me and I depend on them. We are all family; even if they don’t buy nothing, they still come out and we talk. The fact that this young lady has put me in her children’s book means a whole lot to me. I’m very thankful.”

Listen to Lashon narrating Mr. Okra Sells Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Interview with multi-talented author Melinda Taliancich Falgoust

Melinda Taliancich Falgoust

Children’s author, actress, and musician just scratches the surface of the roles and capabilities owned by Melinda Taliancich Falgoust of Metairie, La., as Katy Ray discovers in this interview on Confetti Park.

Melinda, who has published several award-winning children’s books including Lousy Liver, Footprints, and her newest, Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein (which just earned a 5-star review with Reader’s Favorite), wears many hats. The navy veteran holds several jobs (including paralegal and school worker) and is a wife and mother to five kids. She also acts with the Porta-Puppet Players, a troupe of puppeteers, theatre actors and other entertainers that has been active in the Gulf South for decades. (Watch Melinda as Mother Goose on YouTube)

In addition to all this, Melinda writes—prolifically—and spends a significant amount of time on the road traveling to make appearances at book festivals, conventions, and in school visits. Melinda writes for adults and middle-grade readers (see The Gubbins Club), and her works have also won awards in competitions around the world. But it seems writing—and illustrating—books for young children is where she has the most fun.

“I have wanted to be a writer since I was twelve years old,” says Melinda. “I finally decided several years ago that it was time to dig in and get deep with it. So I pulled out the sketchbook, I pulled out the laptop, and started putting all those ideas that have been bubbling over the years right onto paper.”

Lack of sleep notwithstanding, Melinda has found a happy place in children’s literature: “I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, and I realized, that, really, writing in the genre that I write, I don’t need to grow up!”

Her Royal Majesty, the Superhero Bride of Frankenstein

Lousy Liver

Footprints

Listen to Melinda narrate Lousy Liver

Listen to Melinda narrate Footprints