My good friend, Cat Malovic plays pool on occassion with Phat, Swerve, and Jamal at their neighborhood bar, the Half Moon. Cat thought I should meet them and hear their story. They grew up in the St. Thomas project, a low-income housing project that was recently replaced by a mixed-income project, the River Garden. The River Garden model, championed by local developer, Pres Kabacoff is being discussed in the redevelopment plans post Katrina. Phat and Swerve live in the new River Garden project and are very positive about the change. As they say; "if this was the old St. Thomas projects, we might never be talkin' to y'all." Thanks Phat, Swerve, and Jamal for sharing your love and flavor!