The horrific Mother's Day shooting left 19 people injured, some severely. In an effort to help the victims, folks can head to the Arts Market, near the Spotted Cat, (623 Frenchmen Street) at today’s Blood Drive. The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, the Blood Center, and the city came together for the event, which began at 3pm today and will go on until 9pm. 

June 9, when the "Philadelphia Spelling Book"  was the first book copyrighted under constitution (1790), when five hundred mormons left Iowa City and headed west to SLC, Utah (1858), when the first Automat restaurant opened (1902), when Jelly Roll Morton recorded "Jelly-Roll Blues” (1924), when Donald Duck made his cartoon debut (1934, and when Bruce Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia (1972). It’s Cole Porter’s (1891), Michael J. Fox’s (1961), and Johnny Depp’s (1963) birthday, Charles Dickens’ last day (1870), and National Heroes’ Day in Uganda. How to celebrate...go to Disney World, watch Back to the Future (and/or What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and/or 'Big Love'), or realize there's too much to choose from right here (as per usual): 

Hola Nola, and hola the first non-celebrity music mixtape in weeks. The original Hola Nola hop skip and jump is back to address the announcing of the cubes - the Jazzfest cubes, that is. The schedule is out for this year's fete at the Fair Grounds, and decisions must be made. The following playlist goes through my top two choices per day, and the sacrifices that will need to be made when circling (in pencil) the who/what/where from April 29th-May 8th.

The Big Bad Wolf will look to have had his way this weekend in City Park, as over 40 teams are set to invade the city's prime public space for a mammoth pork-a-pa-looza.

The weather is becoming more predictable (read: nice), meaning it's time, once again, to stand around outside a lot and get drunk with good, live music playing in the background. But weekend festivals aren't the only time to engage in this tried and true Luzyana passion. Over the past several years, the Wednesday at the Square series has cured many a humpday longing for hangin' out. This year's lineup, slated to start ticking off March 30 in Lafayette Square, has been released by the event's organizers, the Young Leadership Council. See it all, including one of the Radiators' many career-capping 2011 performances, a set from the typically high-priced Galactic and all the old favorites like Trombone Shorty, Anders Osborne and Kermit Ruffins, after the jump.

By Laura Cayouette

The Radiators will be playing this week's Harvest the Music benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank.  The free weekly event at Lafayette Square takes place every Wednesday at 5 pm through November 3rd.