Smiley Anders for August 21, 2008

• By SMILEY ANDERS
• Advocate columnist
• Published: Aug 21, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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It seems that not everyone loves crawfish the way the folks in Louisiana do.

Wayne Cambre says, “While watching TV over here in sunny Saudi Arabia, I saw a CNN story about an Egyptian who came to the U.S. to buy baby freshwater prawns to start a business.

“Instead he got some baby Louisiana crawfish.

“When they got larger and he realized what they were, he tossed them in the Nile.

“The crawfish grew like crazy, and fishermen started complaining because the mudbugs were damaging their nets. They want them done away with, and gave them the name ‘Nile cockroaches.’ ”

And Tom Terrific came across a BBC News report on a “kill crayfish on sight” appeal by Scotland’s environmental minister, Mike Russell.

“The signal crawfish has been blamed for eating young fish and destroying their natural habitat,” the story said.

Russell added, “As well as competing with valuable native fish, such as trout and salmon, the holes they bore into river banks for their nests can leave the land weak and lead to a greater risk of flooding.”
The crawfish, introduced to England and Wales through fish farms some 20 years ago, showed up in Scotland in 1995.

Both Wayne and Tom say the problem could be easily solved by sending a handful of Cajuns to both countries.

Brass Rail Blues
Musician and songwriter Dorothy C. LeBlanc says the Sunday night meetings with other songwriters at Brew Ha-Ha has been inspiring:

“I have been writing like crazy. One of my new songs is ‘Old Brass Rail’ (about the mid-’70s Highland Road establishment I might’ve frequented a couple of times).

“Another is ‘Flip Flops,’ about hiking at Tunica Hills (a bit ill-prepared).

“Oh, and you might dig ‘Diva Dude,’ too. No, it’s not about you. I’ve not written your song yet.”