NEW ORLEANS - There's only one finished room in David Fountain's formerly flooded house in the Upper Ninth Ward, just a few blocks from the Habitat for Humanity construction site. But, oh, what a room.
He's got a big color TV, Internet-connected computer, DVD player, VCR, camcorder, printer, CD player, some serious speakers and even a few old-fashioned turntables to spin records on. The air conditioning also feels pretty damn good on a hot, sticky day in September.
And, oh yeah, "Just got digital cable last month!"
"There's nothing else down here but me," Fountain explains, laughing and smiling with gospel music humming in the background.
The room's not that big, but Fountain says a dozen or so people cram in to hang out with him every day, some of whom he doesn't even know.
"Everybody will come here when they get out of work and see who can tell the biggest lie," he says.
In a neighborhood where most of the houses are still abandoned, walking into Fountain's media center feels almost like discovering a high-tech secret lair in the back of a cave. The only difference is that Fountain's house isn't so hard to find. He's set up an array of musical instruments in his front yard (mostly collected from his neighbors' trash piles and deserted houses), and his music is audible all the way out to his front gate.
"I try to show the good side that people haven't been able to see," he says.
A retired riverfront boxcar-loader, Fountain says his money comes from his pension checks, not from the government.
Still, he refuses to say anything bad about Uncle Sam - sort of.
Printed images satirizing the mayor, the president and government in general cover the walls and, he says, "I won't talk about nobody, . because if I talk about somebody, they might not give me" anything.
One question remains, though. Even with his deluxe entertainment center, why is Fountain, who is obviously frustrated with so much, so happy?
"These people down here are in trouble," he says. " And you got to smile - a smile goes a long way."
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