Mardi Gras Blurbs

Note: Some minor editing and formatting and additional photos added this evening. (As always, click the images to enlarge.) Enjoy.

• This "abbreviated" (where they mean to say "condensed") parade schedule is whack. Muses and Chaos should not be allowed to roll on the same night. The parades tend to be similarly clever and each should have its own evening on which to be the main event. Of course once upon a time this was indeed the case but....
  
  Anyway so despite the sub-freezing temperatures, we stood outside like idiots and slurped down several Miller Lites from an (unnecessary thanks to the weather) pink cooler to view these major events of Carnival.
  
  Chaos, which traditionally rides on Momus Thursday and makes use of the antique Momus floats and...well pretty much is Momus put on yet another traditional Momus satire. The style of the parade makes it much more important for onlookers to read the floats rather than scramble for baubles... that is unless you're lucky enough to catch one of these decks of Chaos trading cards on which are printed descriptions and graphic images of all the floats.
  
  
  
  In an ordinary year, Chaos would be the highlight of the Thursday night schedule and as such would not be set to be upstaged by Muses. Muses is simply the best parade there is. It's big but not too big. It manages to be witty and fun and innovative and... and they throw all the best stuff.
  
  
  The Adventures of Supermuse Comic Book to go with this year's theme.
  
  
  A Coloring book (crayons included) featuring the Nine Muses
  
  
  
  Assorted Muses trinkets including a bead purse thingy
  
  
  Next year, in addition to putting Endymion (and maybe even Mid-City) back in Mid-City, let's be sure to get Muses back on it's regular Wednesday. It's a beautiful parade made even more enjoyable by the gentler weeknight crowd.



• Thursday and Friday night brought some of the coldest parade weather I can remember. I think my brain actually froze sometime during Muses. And no that had nothing to do with the liquor. Things got nicer for Sunday through (and especially) Tuesday. The following are shots of the Krewe of Okeanos during the nice weather Sunday morning.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



• We first saw this guy during the Carrollton parade last weekend. Further investigation reveals that the head-mounted contraption is known as the "Bead Master 2007" Next year it will be reborn as the "Bead Master 2008" The name change keeps the concept fresh for the participants. It was a major hit of the season drawing aggressive throwing from riders in every parade. Plus, at night, it lights up.
  
  



• Of course I don't have any pictures of it at night because my night photography is utterly crappy. Here are the halfway decent night shots. I think they're both from Babylon.
  
  
  Something about the Prison Rodeo
  
  
  Float coming down St Charles



• Carnival food: I miss the Jambalaya and crawfish bread from the Katrina-shuttered Fortissimo at the corner of Louisiana and St Charles. It hasn't been replaced adequately. I was hoping to see a few taco trucks along the parade route this year but I guess the operators of these ventures are not yet familiar with the city's weird street vending permit lottery process. Maybe next year. On Saturday, I paid eight dollars for a Gyro. That's just ridiculous. I discovered to my surprise Sunday afternoon that there is next to no wait for an Oyster po-boy at Parasol's during the parades so that's good to know for future reference. Already the nights are becoming a blur but it was probably Saturday night when I had my annual Carnival meal of a Lucky Dog with a Pat O's Hurricane. (This is the only time of year I allow myself to consume these items.) And, of course, Fat Tuesday itself brought along yet another giant pot of Jeffrey's World Famous Carnival Red Beans. (recipe posted back in 2005)



• Football football football. I've already mentioned the uninterrupted football game generated by parade attendees that encompasses the entire uptown route before.. after.. and sometimes during the parade itself. The football theme was further elaborated by the presence of Sean Payton and several Saints players during various parades this season. Football was a very popular theme during the Truck parades. In 2002 (or maybe 2001) I caught some beads from Kyle Turley when he was grand marshal of Endymion. This year, I added to by football player tossed bead collection a strand launched by Scott Fujita and another by Drew Brees. (Brees used his right arm. I almost said he used his "good" arm but it's difficult to tell which is the good arm.. or if he even has one..these days.) Also adding to the theme, I wore my Sammy Knight jersey on Tuesday... for the thousandth year in a row.



• For the third or fourth consecutive year, I and several people I know came down with a mild-to-medium cold or a case of the "skank flu", as Adrastos calls it, during Carnival. Luckily, I was well into recovery mode by Saturday but it was rough going for a while. Let's hope for better health next year.



• Sinn Fein moment: We took our visitors from Baltimore on the obligatory "misery tour" of Lakeview, Gentilly, and the Ninth Ward. Despite my attempts to lay out for them the complicated problems of recovery from the Federal Flood, and despite Dad's impassioned screaming argument about the culpability of the Federal Government and the Corps, it seems that their impression was largely "People shouldn't build below sea level" with a side of "These people shouldn't be asking the government for help" I guess you can't win 'em all... but it goes to show how entrenched this view has become amongst even some otherwise well meaning people. I'm sure many tourists took a similar tour this weekend. What will they tell their friends when they get home?



• The crowds that amass for the Superkrewes were as obnoxious as ever. Check out the developing discussion at Adrastos for more on this. I think the problem is easily alleviated by only slightly stricter rules about roping off territory and guidelines for the placement of ladders at least ten feet away from the curb and not so close together as to obstruct crowd movement between them. I very nearly got into it with some ornery family members of the Thoth royalty who felt a little too entitled to "front-row seating" so to speak. If there's one thing I'd like to see improved for next year it's this territory problem.
  
  
  Ugh! Ladders! On the curb!
  
  
  Also what the hell is up with Bacchus? For the second year in a row it just looked raggedy and unorganized.. particularly toward the end. Also, what happened to the gorilla floats? I saved a whole pile of beads to throw at King Kong and he no-showed. What gives? If you have to see a Superkrewe, try and catch Orpheus. It really is the prettiest and the Monday night crowd isn't nearly as bad.



• Fat Tuesday worked out well. In these later years I've become more of a manager than a reveler on this day. During the mid-morning I became so preoccupied with greeting the guests and making sure everyone could get in the house if I wasn't there and just running between Jackson Ave, Dryades Street and St Charles, that I put the camera away before the Indians came out. I caught some of Zulu though.
  
  
  
  
  
  And watching the Wild Magnolias come out onto Draydes Street and sing Indian Red is probably the closest thing I (secular bastard that I am) get to having a spiritual experience. It's almost fitting that I didn't have the camera when it happened.
  
  
  
  The good news is, I managed to see everyone I wanted to see and do everything I wanted to do. From early in the morning when I stood out on St Charles in flip flops and pjs to see Pete Fountain to late in the evening when I stood on St Peter Street in front of Johnny White's drinking (another) hurricane and talking to Daisy on the phone in San Jose, it was yet another full day. May there be many many more.