In local news, New Orleans Saints safety and LSU legend Tyrann Mathieu has retired. It was unexpected but he’s 33 and the Saints are likely to suck again this season. I met Tyrann once. His uncle Tyrone was my UPS man when I had my shop. We bonded over our mutual love for Carnival and the Tigers. During peak Honey Badger mania, Tyrone brought Tyrann around to say hey. I was so excited to meet the local hero that I forgot to take a picture. Oh well, what the hell.

The heat has been smothering my city like a pork chop at a soul food eatery this week. The only relief has come from scattered showers that included a spectacular light show one evening. It was a minor miracle that we didn’t lose power at Adrastos World HQ. Perry Mason hates storms so he became a one-cat protest movement howling at the lightning. What can ya do?

Aaron Neville wrote this week’s theme song as the title track of the Neville Brothers 1989 album, Yellow Moon: my 13th Ward homies’ commercial breakthrough.

We have three versions of Yellow Moon for your listening pleasure: the studio OG, the Nevilles live at Tipitina’s, and Aaron with Daryl Hall:

Robert Hunter is best known as Jerry Garcia’s lyricist, but he wrote and recorded his own Yellow Moon in 1975.

Emmylou and Rodney. Say no more.

We begin our second act with a piece about a former New Orleans writer and Katrina character who’s on the skids as the 20th anniversary approaches.

Chris Rose Thinks He’s Skink: Skink is one of Carl Hiaasen’s most memorable characters. He’s a fictional former Florida governor who lives in the woods and feasts on road kill. I am not making this up, Carl did. Chris Rose is making like Skink and living in the woods. I have no idea if he dines on road kill.

Chris Rose was a journeyman Picayune reporter before 8/29/2005. His dispatches about the storm, flood, and their aftermath were the stuff of legend. A book of his stories, 1 Dead In Attic, was a bestseller and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

That’s the good stuff about Chris Rose. I’m acquainted with him and am sorry to report that he’s an asshole. My dealings with him were few but unpleasant. He was one of two Krewe du Vieux royalty that gave the Krewe headaches, my lips are zipped about the other rogue royal.

In the period after the storm, Rose lived across the street from my late friend and fellow OG NOLA blogger Ashley Morris. Ashley repeatedly invited Rose over for a beer and porch sit and Rose declined. It ended up being a minor controversy after Ashley’s death when Rose admitted to being a douchebag for snubbing his neighbor.

Picayune/Advocate/NOLA.com music writer Keith Spera visited Rose in his woody fortress of squalitude and wrote a sympathetic piece about him for the paper they worked on together. It was a fixture on New Orleanians’ social media feeds. People who never had the Chris Rose experience were enthralled, those who knew him less so.

My friend Kevin Allman used to be the editor of Gambit Weekly. He posted his thoughts about Rose on Blue Sky:

The “talented but tormented man child” — I have no patience whatsoever. Provide for your children. Be good to your wife. When you fail at everything I guess you go live in the woods. Nice to know he’s still getting pussy. Important detail.

— Kevin Allman (@kevinallman.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T20:16:46.396Z

Unmentioned in the story: Chris raised $57K online to write his next book, which he never produced. “And I will not let you down!”

— Kevin Allman (@kevinallman.bsky.social) 2025-07-18T21:36:02.693Z

Chris Rose: Douchebag and grifter who thinks he’s Skink.

The last word of our second act goes to Cowboy Mouth with a post-K anthem:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth: This week, the cover of Spy Magazine’s second Separated At Birth collection.

The Movie List: I haven’t done one of these in eons. It’s inspired by last Sunday’s movie post about The Prowler. Writing it reminded me of how many good movies Van Heflin was in. Here are ten of them:

My Top Ten Favorite Van Heflin Movies

1. Shane
2. Act Of Violence
3. The Prowler
4. Possessed
5.  3:10 To Yuma
6. The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers
7. Patterns
8. Battle Cry
9. Black Widow
10. They Came To Cordura

Here’s Frankie Laine with the theme song for the #5 movie on the list:

Your Weekly Oscar: Still feeling moony? This OP doubleheader has medicine for what ails you.

Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?

The Best Of Tyrann Mathieu: The Honey Badger’s time at LSU is the stuff of legend. As a sophomore, he finished 5th in the Heisman trophy vote, a rare honor for a defensive back.

Saturday GIF Horse: Ready for more Van Heflin content? Here he is tussling with Shane co-star Alan Ladd.

In our second GIF, Van gets slapped by Joan Crawford in Possessed:

Poor Van. I feel an earworm coming on:

Ouch.

Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.

Saturday Closer: Let’s open the desk drawer for a set by Aimee Mann.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Brandon de Wilde, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, and Alan Ladd in Shane.