The Casual Sentinel

Tim McNally

RAISON D’ETRE

The Reason for Being. I think as we embark right here on an extended journey with the printed word in conjunction with a daily radio broadcast, we should define why this is necessary and advantageous to you.

From your viewpoint, you have not lain awake at night thinking, “why doesn’t that McNally character write something instead of just shooting his mouth off every weekday afternoon on WGSO 990 AM?”

For the most part, the answer to your never-asked question is that I am doing this mostly to fulfill my perceived role as a journalist.  I like to write but I need discipline. I am very undisciplined. My reporting is usually limited to adult beverages, dining, and spreading the tales of events in New Orleans and beyond.

I cannot guarantee I will only report within those narrow confines, but mostly that is where I will be focused. And so what will unfold here week to week will fulfill that mission, This will not be just a regurgitation of our broadcast efforts. In fact, mostly this effort and what we discuss on-air will not be remotely on the same wavelength.

I have named this project, rather haphazardly, The Casual Sentinel. I intend to keep my eye on matters of mutual importance but I will not be getting worked up should we find injustice, untruths, or disdain for anyone involved. We are likely to find those negatives with frequency. There usually is not much we can do to effect change but having the knowledge is already a partial victory – a good enough outcome for the “little people.”

We seem to have so much in our lives that cause stress and angst. Adding to that circumstance likely will only shorten our already too-short existence within this mortal coil so why go that far? Give us the grace to know the circumstance and to know whether we can effect change or not, and is it all worth the emotional effort? Sometimes it most certainly is and sometimes we simply move on to the next stress point.

The general contention here, which we will pursue with each effort of this project, is that since you have chosen to be a consumer of adult beverages and excellent comestibles, the more you know of the history or components of these pleasures of life, the more you will derive enjoyment from their consumption. Knowledge brings additional satisfaction.

There is probably nowhere else in this great country where this is more true. New Orleans is indeed the ultimate melting pot of so many cultures. We current residents of this strange and wonderful place have not sought to homogenize our unique characteristics, rather we have chosen to celebrate our individual aspects, merging them together or intentionally keeping cultural differences apart.

We will cut this diatribe short at this point as that previous statement of fact and purpose will be the focal point of our next rant which will appear very soon.