NOLA legend stands at own wake

Wakeeeee

Famed New Orleans musician "Uncle" Lionel Batiste presided over his own wake last week. His embalmed body was propped up against a prop lamp post inside the funeral home. "He looks better today than when I saw him the Thursday before he died," Storyville Stompers tuba player Woody Penouilh told the Times-Picayune. "Heaven is agreeing with him." For Chris Granger's lovely photo gallery of Batiste standing in state: "'Uncle' Lionel Batiste gets sendoff as unique as the man himself"