(To be sung) As the old tune about Susie goes, “If you knew Susie like I know Susie, She’s Oh, Oh, Oh what a gal!”
Pomona may be just another street to neighbors & friends here just outside New Orleans, but to me it’s a lot, lot more.
After flooding at the Iberville Street Airlift Productions location TWICE through my 1989-2001 stay, just off Carrollton & Canal, I re-located the whole biz to suburban Metairie well outside the ‘bowl’ that is Orleans parish in March 2001.
Pomona sits on Metairie ridge in Jefferson Parish, naturally above the flood plain and, ironically, not even a mile from the now-infamous 17th Street Canal which breached and gave America the historical tragedy known as “Katrina”.
Furthermore, the Bonnabel subdivision here in Metairie seems somewhat preoccupied with the Holy (or otherwise) Roman Empire.
Really.
I routinely take morning walks past streets named “Nero”, “Claudius”, and “Feronia”. Go figure.
Punchline?
Well, unbeknownst to most of my neighbors and friends here in the ‘hood, Pomona is the ancient Roman mythological goddess of fruitful abundance!
Not that she gets that much attention here in this hectic, frantic-paced #MeToo generation, but check out her Wikipedia page here.
Living, loving, playing, and, yes, “working”/recording from Pomona for what is now nearly 25 years, and having found a success beyond my wildest dreams, I’d have to say that perhaps the Romans were onto something here.
Fruitful abundance?
Well, lemme see here, through my tour of duty on Pomona, I’ve seen in/out the studio doors… the notorious Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, Chef John Besh, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Dr. Morgus (the Magnificent), Necar Zadegan, Ronnie Lamarque, James Carville, Mary Matalin, Steve Scalise, Deuce McAllister, Quvenzhane Wallis, Tracy Duhon, Alden Ehrenreich, Toby Kebbell, Morris Bart, Lee Zurik, Greg DiLeo, Rich Lenz, Norman Robinson, Rachel Wulff, Camille Whitworth, Heath Allen, Troy Mutter, “Miss Linda” Mintz, Theresa Andersson, David Weill MD, Stacy Head, John “Spud” McConnell, Edoardo Ballerini, Bo “Boots” Walker, Ed Clancy, Jamie Neumann, Scott Walker, Sophie Amoss, Radio’s “Scoot”, the Krewe of Nyx, Bradley Edelman, Mike Weldon, Anne Gisleson, David Menasche, John R. Lee, Mike Church, Nathan Ales, P.H. Fred, and, well, even some folks you may have heard of. (I know, cheeky, huh? But try Googling just a few of these names…)
And from the high ground on Pomona, I’ve produced work that encompasses most all media – from Radio spots, TV VoiceOvers, Educational Software, Radio Imaging, Animation VO, Website Explainers, Industrial Narrations & Podcasts… to Phone Messages-on-Hold, CD-ROMs, and AudioBooks.
** Airlift Mike narrates “Murder In Coweta County” for Pelican **
Furthermore, I’ve been blessed to have my AudioBook recording efforts include work with the biggest & best-selling AudioBook producers on Earth – Penguin, Hachette, Recorded Books, RB Media, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Blackstone, Harper, Listen-Up & Random House.
So, while I indeed thank the One True Living God for the inspiration and effort to have made the move to Pomona all those years ago… let’s not leave the old gal herself out.
For all dat voodoo & hoodoo that you do… Thanks, Pomona!
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“Dr. Ziants:
My dear colleague, it was a true delight to visit and work with you in your digital laboratory. I somewhat envy your remarkable equipment, which far exceeds anything we can afford here in the old city ice house. Your audio production facilities are second to none, and I thank you again for the excellent recordings you produced for the Momus A. Morgus Institute. — Momus” ** A tested-by-time Testimonial from Dr. Morgus (aka – the late Sid Noel Rideau) direct from the old city ice house to the Airlift digital lab via email.
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