Thursday's cancellations moved Muses to Friday meaning there would be four parades that night on what was still a cold and damp Uptown route.
Fortunately, I had time to prepare during the day so, Thursday night, I pulled another wild hog roast out of the freezer and brined it overnight. Here it is all dressed up with cumin, paprika, oregano, thyme, onions, garlic, potatoes, bacon... um... some other stuff.
Add a little beer and some lime and orange juice, throw it in the oven around 10 AM and come parade time, it should look like this.
That should keep the folks warmed and well fed as they trudge in and out from the cold and mud of a long evening of Carnival.
Hermes might be the prettiest parade of all. The floats are elaborately designed but not stuffy. They could pass as either a super-huge "old line" krewe or a super-artsy Superkrewe. I'm afraid my blurry night photography can be a little hit or miss. My best looks at Hermes were of the the signature float above, this blurry float,
And this blurry flambeaux carrier.
If it helps, keep in mind that my actual vision is usually about this blurry during the parade anyway so these shots are fair approximations of my memories of the event. Some of those border on the nightmarish such as when the Skeleton Krewe arrives at the head of Le Krewe D'Etat.
I was disappointed in both the Krewe D'Etat and Muses parades this year. They are known as two of the most witty and satirical krewes but I thought the theming was a bit uninspired Friday. D'Etat's political commentary was mostly driven by parting shots at Ray Nagin which, already, seem a little passe. There were some base celebrity gossip items (Tiger Woods, John and Kate) which strike me as irrelevant material. Finally, a few of the floats such as one depicting ACORN appeared to be informed mostly by the FOX News side of things. The Saints float featured a prominent representation of Tom Benson. I really despise this business of glorifying the owner in a triumph that really belongs to the players and to the city. But a lot of these krewe people tend to identify with ownership for the most part so I guess this was to be expected. On the bright side, I really enjoyed the Dancing Buddy Ds.
Muses' theme was "The Muses' Guide to Love and Romance" The floats were a string of trite "women be different from men" cliches that put me in mind of this Athenae rant about a similarly stereotype-ridden Dodge commercial. It's a shame to see the creative talents of these two Krewes so badly misused. Typically I enjoy both parades. I especially like the numerous marching clubs Muses incorporates into the procession. Here are the Camel Toe Lady Steppers,
The Pussyfooters,
And the 610 Stompers trying to get crunk as the parade speeds up unexpectedly
These are all very creative people and I love that they take their creativity to the streets every year to help us celebrate. Some years, though, the parades serve to remind me how little I have in common with the Krewes' membership.
I think the Muses krewe members, like the Krewe D'Etat members are comfortable with this kind of banal humor because they're typically the sort of people who are comfortable with their station and are reassured by its associated humdrum. The very act of joining a club is, after all, a calculated attempt to improve or cement one's status and fortune through contrived interaction with a group of similarly desperate social climbers. It's the same as what I said about John Georges' decision to join the Tulane goat-fucking society. They're all aiming at the same phony idea of success through the act of joining a club. Some clubs have their members show off their worthiness by parading through the streets in silly costumes. Some have their members do funny things with goats. And some, it turns out, wear silly costumes while parading their goats through the streets on mule-drawn carts.
Either way it's all part of the same exercise.
So that's the bad news, I guess. The good news is, you don't have to be in the dumb club to be a part of Carnival. For that all you have to do is get out in the street and play. Which is what I'm about to do right now. But first a few techniques for optimizing your chances at catching stuff. One, just be generally awesome like I am. I got this cool sword at Endymion last night which I'd love to show you but there's no time to add a photo now. Two, wear an appropriate shirt. This one seems to be the winner this year.
Note: She's worn it to every event and hasn't washed it yet.
Three, wear an appropriate hair color and maybe someone will throw you a glittery shoe.
Failing all of that, just keep drinking. Seems to be the catch all solution anyway.
Going back outside. More later.
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