Mayhem

How does one even do Carnival on COVID? It's a citywide party people come to from all over town... all over the world, really.  They all stand in the street talking, eating, drinking, sharing with friends, family and strangers. If you're doing it right, you will see every single person you know at least once by the end of the season. Carnival is a social binder. But you're supposed to be isolating; "socially distancing" as we say now. You can't really make plans to see anyone. You can't have anybody over. You should probably just stay home.  Is Mardi Gras a marathon or a sprint?  How can one do either if you can't even catch your breath?

But what if your quarantine quarters just happen to sit a block or so off of the parade route?  Are you really going to just lay there all night when you can hear the drums outside? Wouldn't you be just a little bit tempted to bundle up, put on a mask, and oh so carefully creep up to St. Charles to take in a few moments from the other side of the street?

No, of course you should not do that.  You should stay your sick ass in bed until you get better. 

I did try and do that on Friday, though. Here's what it looked like. 

Yeah okay so you really can't see that well from back there. At least not when the marching units are going by. The floats came out okay, though.  Even the Oshun floats, although all I really saw of Oshun was the king and court stuff.  After that I had to go back in and take a break.

So here's something about having COVID, you might not have heard.  It really sucks. Even when the fever is gone, and even when your cough is mostly under control, the fatigue is still very freaking real. My only plan this evening was to walk a block and kind of stand around for a while.  But I couldn't even do that without going back in to rest and get warm.  Oh also it rained during Oshun (it always seems to rain on Oshun) and I wasn't going back out until that stopped. 

By the time it stopped, Cleopatra was already rolling. Looked like they had some kind of gem theme going. This float was Diamonds.

And this one was Turquoise

Oh and Lapis Lazuli

By the way, I don't think I'd noticed before now how much nicer my float pictures come out when I take them from this distance. Maybe not great for detail, but there's a sense of scale and balance to them this way. And you can see the crowd well.  Also I can still zoom in when I want and... oh my that doesn't look very safe!

Don't worry. Nobody fell off a float.  Not on Friday night, anyway. 

Here's what did happen. 

Entergy New Orleans blames a car striking a utility pole for the electricity failure during Friday night's Uptown Carnival parades.

Spokesperson Lee Sabatini said the car hit a pole on St. Charles Avenue at Terpsichore Street at about 9 p.m., darkening the river side of St. Charles as far as Prtania Street between Felicity Street and Andrew Higgins Boulevard. Almost 1,500 Entergy customers were powerless until 10 p.m.

Wait. Is that what actually what happened?  Witnesses differ.

Bc there was no car that hit a pole. After that report, I walked Terpsichore over to Prytania and then back across St. Charles to Carondelet. Everything was business as usual. Asked people on both sides if they’d heard a car hit a pole & no one heard anything like that.

— Candice, right? (@YesICandice) February 11, 2023

Ok, fine, then, people from the internet. Please tell us about whatever crazy conspiracy y'all are on about now before Elon shadowbans you or something. If it wasn't a car, then what?

Confetti cannon at erato appears to have hit a transformer. Saw it blow. We have no power now. Parade halted.

— @Sharney@mastodon.social (@sharney) February 11, 2023

Knocking out the power by shooting confetti from a parade float sounds like something out of a 60s TV Batman episode. It's plausible, though. Jefferson Parish has already banned metal confetti specifically because of this problem having come up in the past. Still, Entergy is out here saying it was a car accident that nobody saw. Why would they make something like that up? I mean, sure, we know they're super defensive about the fragility of their infrastructure and all but they wouldn't just lie about it, right?  I mean what if somebody had it on video?

Hi, I have footage of confetti cannon blowing transformer. pic.twitter.com/YFmKJaKP1Y

— ⚜️A. Ruffins⚜️ (@lifethrufiction) February 11, 2023

What if there were more than one video, even?  What would this story look like then?

A video shared with The Times-Picayune, by a person who asked to remain anonymous, shows what presumably is a float-mounted confetti cannon blasting toward utility lines on St. Charles Avenue during the Krewe of Cleopatra parade. The blast results in sparks flying and darkness descending on the area.

How much would that change Entergy's position on the matter?

Sabatini said a confetti cannon might have contributed to the power outage, because confetti made of Mylar can act as a conductor on power lines.

Oh okay the cannon "might have contributed." That's good. I might have contributed to paying my light bill this month. I'll have to check back on that too. I sure hope they don't cut me off in the meantime. (You know.. on purpose for once.) Maybe I should say something to my Congressman about this problem.  You think I can get his attention?  I mean I'm all the way in the back of the crowd and he's up there on that float. 

Troy's a West Bank guy so it figures he'd show up in the Alla (Algiers, la) parade. I'm an Uptown guy and even though this West Bank parade comes through my neighborhood now, I barely had the energy to stay out and watch it.  It looked like they were doing a festivals theme. But it was cold and I was already overspent. So I let the rest of it go and went back inside to collapse. 

On Saturday, I was even more determined not to overdo it. I found an oak tree root I could sit down on, conserve energy, and people watch. I can't really drink. And it gets lonely when you can't go into the crowd or really even talk to anybody. But I like to take in the scene, and listen to the music, and watch some of my favorite totems roll down the street.  

But first I had to watch this cop parade. Troy Carter was also in that. 

So was Susan Hutson.  At least her float was better than the one in Krewe du Vieux. 

Oliver Thomas was there too. He was on the Army float.  This made me think of Elvis Costello. 

Also, in the cop parade, the cops. 

Don't know how this affected their delicate deployment issues. Maybe this is why nobody could substantiate Entergy's "car accident" theory about the power outage. The cops who would have taken that report were getting ready to ride on the float?  Sad, if true. 

Anyway, I was low on energy again Saturday afternoon so I hung around just long enough to see the big catfish before I went back inside. Ordinarily I like to watch Pontchartrain and play the little fill-in-the-blank game with their float titles. I just couldn't do it this time. 

Like I said earlier, though, I don't feel like I'm participating in the ritual unless I am able to bear witness to certain of the idols presented for admiration by the throng. The catfish is one. The Sparta helmet is another. So I had to go back out.

Sparta.. or.. The Spartan Society, now, I guess.. was, like Oshun doing a kind of global festivals theme. 

But theirs was a little more esoteric. These floats depicted Carnival celebrations around the world and the music associated with them. So we got float titles like, "Maslenitsa - Hopak" and "Carnival-Danzon" or  "Ostatki-Polonaise" Also if you are wondering what the big reflective jacket looking aura is in these photos, it is a ghost. When you have to step back from the crowd to photograph Mardi Gras floats, it turns out that you can see ghosts. 

Anyway, shortly after this, I ghosted.  It was too cold and starting to get wet and, um, I had COVID so.. time to go in and rest.  Besides, it would be a while before Pygmalion showed up, anyway. Why was that?

After taking too wide of a turn at Jefferson Avenue and Magazine Street, the Pygmalion parade stopped for at least 30 minutes before resuming on Saturday night.

The krewe's seventh float, titled "Jester," hit a tree. The float then appeared to disconnect from its tractor trailer.

Killer trees! Here's what that looked like. 

Jester float hits tree. Everyone is okay. @wdsu #mardigras pic.twitter.com/ynW5k3QaDt

— Jake Kleinmahon, MD (@jakekleinmahon) February 12, 2023

It's absolute mayhem. 

@wdsu Rider falls off Pygmalion Jester float after it hits tree. pic.twitter.com/GnAIKxjHZj

— Jake Kleinmahon, MD (@jakekleinmahon) February 12, 2023

You could call the police but they all went by in a float earlier that afternoon. The trees must have known they had free rein too because it just kept happening. 

On Sunday afternoon, a somewhat similar incident took place, when the 43rd float in the King Arthur parade plowed into what apparently was the same oak branch.

A NOLA.com editor riding in the parade said the Big Bird head on the float hit the limb. She said a second tractor driver arrived and tried to complete the turn, but hit the limb again.

Noooo not Big Bird too!

How did this happen?  Don't they inspect the routes anymore?  Of course they do. I can vouch for this because I saw it with my own eyes too but many people reported observing crews on the street taking measurements. This guy from the city confirms that's, at least, what they were supposed to be doing. 

A city spokesperson, John F. Lawson II, said via email Monday said that the route had been “previously inspected leading up to parade start dates” and that floats had routinely made the turn in the past.

Lawson said that after Pygmalion, members of the Department of Parks and Parkways' Forestry Division “confirmed that the branch was outside of the clearance zone.” The branch, Lawson said, “was roughly 10 feet from the curb, leaving approximately 18 feet of roadway for the turns to be made.”

Obviously everybody did their job.  Only one explanation at this point. The tree did it on purpose. Time to face the consequences.

A twisting branch jutting from an age-old oak tree was rammed by two parade floats over the weekend, causing considerable damage to the floats — in one case, decapitating a large jester — and frustrating delays to the parades.

By Monday afternoon the fern-covered limb at Jefferson Avenue and Magazine Street had been cleanly removed by the city’s Parks and Parkways Department. The 25-foot-long, 9-inch-diameter branch was a safe distance from where floats were supposed to pass, according to City Hall, and shouldn’t have interfered with the turn in the first place.

Sorry, tree. But let this be a lesson. 

And for me too. Let it be a lesson to not go to Mardi Gras if you are sick with COVID.  I was so beat from just sitting outside for 45 minutes on Saturday that I couldn't make it out for Sunday at all.  I'd better be over this by Thursday at the latest. Otherwise, we might have to take it out on that tree I was resting on.

Carnival Bulletin and Photo Dump

A summary of the Carnival season so far. If you are looking for parade rankings, they are here.

Food:

Are you hosting a house party this season?  There's some pretty good advice in here.

How to be a good host and still party down at the parade?

To help less experienced parade party hosts master the day, we asked Scineaux, Tim Acosta of Rouses Supermarkets, who is known in his food-centric family for hosting big backyard parties, and longtime caterer Linda Kleinschmidt-Schmidt for tips.

Ok it's mostly common sense.  But the point about big batch dishes is good common sense to observe. At some point, over the course of the parade season, I usually end up making a big jambalaya. Menckles has a great chilli recipe that works particularly well when it's cold out. (It hasn't been this year. Last weekend, she made spaghetti instead.) For Mardi Gras Day I always make two pounds of red beans.  Last night, we made what we hope will be the final big grocery run of Carnival.  After Thursday, neither of us is all too keen to move our cars.

Meanwhile, Chrissy Teigen wants to know where to find the best gumbo.

Chrissy Teigen, the supermodel and author of the cookbook "Cravings" (Clarkson Potter), had a question Sunday (Feb. 19) for New Orleans: who makes the best gumbo.

Teigen is actually one of the better celebrity follows on social media. Even if you don't care about the Hollywood and lifestyle stuff, she's witty and outspoken on a number of topics. It's why she can ask about gumbo and cause that to become one of those "Today on Twitter" items on NOLA.com.  I even participated by way of having some of my photos retweeted at her by somebody. This truck looks like the sort of place to find pretty good gumbo.  I didn't try any, though.





If you weren't in the mood for that stuff, there were plenty of other options along the route on Sunday.  Here's a taco truck parked out in front of Rite Aid.



Brother's seems to have taken over Williams Supermarket.  I'm not sure how I feel about this. Seems like we've lost a local-oriented business in favor of a more visitor friendly grab-n-go.



On the other hand, 24/7 seems nice. Remind me to check on that later to see if it's real.

Then you've got the regular collection of traveling carnie vendors selling fried goo of various sorts.







The "brick-and-motar" places along the Avenue are selling street food as well.  One of the newest is the super-fancy Lula distillery and restaurant.  They were making fancy drinks and selling cheap beer at fancy prices.



But Mardi Gras really isn't a time for fancy drinks or prices.  It's more about the joys of tacky and cheap. On Saturday night, for example, this guy would sell you an orange daiquiri. If you wanted an orange daiquiri.



The Krewe of Pontchartrain even ran a food-based theme, as well they should given that their mascot is a catfish.



The first weekend parades are almost always lighthearted stuff. Pontchartrain's parade this year, for instance, was all about different things you can have on your po-boy.  One of their tropes is they like to tease the crowd with extremely easy fill-in-the-blank float titles.  So there were floats called "_oa__ _e_f" and "M_at__l" for (Roast Beef and Meatball) and, of course, "__ri_p"



Might want to hold off on the "S__t Sh__l C__b" for a while, though.  I don't think they are available right now.



Sports:

The NBA All-Star Game appears to have gone off fine for the celebrities and high rollers for whom the entirety of downtown was pretty much walled off throughout the weekend. It turned out well for Pelicans fans too.  First they got to see their hometown star pull down an MVP trophy with a 52 point performance. Nevermind that it was totally rigged. 

In a game typified by selfish play, it was clear West teammates were giving Davis additional opportunities that may not come when the game is outside of New Orleans. Whether it was Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Marc Gasol or DeMarcus Cousins, Davis was given chances to finish possessions, just as West coach Steve Kerr predicted Saturday.

“It was amazing,” Davis said. “That's what I wanted to do. I stressed that, I think more than enough, to the guys in the locker room before the game that I wanted to get the MVP for this crowd, for this city, and I ended up doing it. Them guys did a great job of just finding me, giving me the basketball. They wanted me to score 50. Every time, Kawhi (Leonard) was like, 'Six more points.' Or James (Harden) was like, 'I'm going to pass you the ball.'

Next, they apparently stole DeMarcus Cousins from the Kings. At least that's the way they seem to feel about it in Sacramento. Maybe it was totally rigged. Or maybe the Kings are stupid.

Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a top-three protected 2017 first-round pick, and a 2017 second round pick. That’s it. That’s all the Sacramento Kings got for a center who is still young and good enough to be a foundational NBA player. Exactly what sorts of shocked, horrified noises should you be making in response to that trade? Here’s some guidance: According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Pelicans had offered the same package minus Hield to the 76ers in exchange for Jahlil Okafor—who really sucks!—and didn’t get it done. Please, try to keep it down.

Whatever it is, you won't hear many complaints in New Orleans. All told, the All Star Weekend nobody really wanted could have gone a heck of a lot worse.

On Sunday morning, the Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale celebrated the All Star Game with a float full of players' wives introducing their theme, "Femme Fatale Hosts Game Day." Turns out "Game Day" meant floats representing various board games like this Candyland number for example.



Still, it made for a nice kid-friendly day parade. You have to get up early to see it, but Femme Fatale puts on the best all around show of the first weekend Uptown. In just three years they've really blown up.







It doesn't hurt, also that they've managed to book some of the best marching bands.  This year they were led by Southern University. They always bring the thunder and the lighting.



Music:

I had the bike Sunday morning which allowed me to get up and down the route and hear Southern play a few times. It's kind of dumb that I only stopped to record a few seconds of their cadence but I'm sure I'll see them again this year.  I did happen to film the US Marine Corps band leading Alla later in the day.  There are marching bands that are more exciting but the Marines produce a sound that is unique among them.



By comparison, Brother Martin High School here could use a little polish.



That's also Sunday afternoon, by the way, when Krewe of Carrollton once again unloaded all of the Catholic School bands... or maybe they left Brother Martin for King Arthur. Shit, I don't even remember now. Carrollton's parade was about music, in any case.



So.. you guessed it.. the floats were (mostly) songs you would find on jukeboxes. Like this KISS song.



Or these country "hits."



Some of the floats didn't make any sense, though. There was one about shrimp boots or something that didn't seem to have any connection to anything. Having the Elvi roll in front of a "Jailhouse Rock" float was pretty cute, though.



Seen a lot of the Elvi already this year. They were in Cleopatra too.  Anyway, it was a perfectly fine Carrollton parade. Maybe felt like they were going through the motions a bit.  I'm not really complaining, though. That's not what this section is about. The next section, however...

Complaints:

Actually, let's start with other people's complaints.  In Uptown Messenger this week we find Owen Courreges writing the obligatory parade etiquette column so that we don't have to. I guess, he says it well enough. He comes off as more of a scold than he probably wants to.  There are the standard reminders in there about the laws governing ladders and the blocking of intersections. Here is the point he makes about space saving.

POINTER #3: You can’t save a spot.

This is, perhaps, the most difficult rule for many people to remember. So many people visiting New Orleans suffer from the regrettable misconception that they can stake out a location in advance of a Mardi Gras parade, and then exclude any unauthorized persons from said location.

However, the places where people view parades are streets and sidewalks, i.e., public rights-of-way. You can’t claim “dibs” over them. Everybody has equal access. You can only claim a space with your physical presence.

Things would go more smoothly if everyone understood this from the get-go.  A lot of first-timers and/or people who only come into New Orleans for Endymion or for Thoth Sunday have a bit of a learning curve to deal with. I think if the city continues to take action like it did this week on the Orleans Avenue neutral ground, behaviors might start to change over time. The good news, though, is that they can also change within the space of an evening.

The secret to dealing with an over-Chad-ed parade route is patience. As tight as things may feel at the beginning of a parade, they almost always loosen up as the day or night goes on.  People get more familiar and less paranoid. Everyone stops worrying so much about their territory and focuses instead on watching the parade or talking to people or, well, just doing what they wanna. 

Nine times out of ten, you'll probably end up at the front for at least a float or two. Really, what you'll find is that you don't necessarily need to be in any one spot in particular anyway.  It would be nice if people would recognize this straight away. And, like I said, the city is right to step up enforcement with an eye toward accomplishing this. But, usually, the Chads don't have anywhere near the power to ruin your good time that you may think they do. There are always exceptions to that rule but just keep it in mind.



On Saturday, the tents and ladders on the neutral ground only blocked a few people's view of the hapless Krewe of Freret. Below is a photo of their permanent royal fixture, Councilman Jason Williams dressed up, for some reason, like a stormtrooper.

 

This is Freret's fourth year. Unlike Femme Fatale, though, they've never made the leap out of beginner status.  Their theme was, basically, "Hello this is our fourth year."  All of the floats were loosely titled with some sort of pun using the number four. The floats were also mostly the Krewe of Boo floats so, in a lot of cases, the theming made no sense. Here is a float called "May the Fourth be with you." Ok. But why is it Dracula?  No idea.



Freret, as usual, also just seemed pretty raggedy in general. Noticeable empty spots where riders could be. That sort of thing.  On the other hand, they do seem to enjoy themselves. I'm not sure about this but I think the "Lucha Krewe" appears in other parades although I also think they are a Freret creation.





So that's pretty fun.  Maybe this whole parade should just be a marching club or something.

Speaking of marching clubs, here is something else that came up this week. The T-P is running a column by someone calling herself,  "The Mardi Gras Czar." Okay, fine. I guess.  Can the Czar be cited for overuse of third person voice, though? And the gimmicky language in general? She's also a contrarian with hot takes to offer. Consider this, for example.

Truth is, Mardi Gras Czar loves the mostly-female marching groups' spirit, costumes, boots and skill at applying fake eyelashes.

But what Mardi Gras Czar doesn't love is that the ratio of women's marching groups to live bands seems to have mushroomed in recent years.

New Rule:

For every marching group that parades to recorded music, there should be at least three live bands, high school or otherwise. While City Carnival Ordinance Section 34-14 mandates that "each parade shall have at least seven, but no more than 30 (30!) marching bands," there is no language pertaining to marching groups.

For example:

The Krewe of Nyx was a highlight last year. Great throws. However, there were so many women's marching groups in Nyx that I wondered if the krewe simply forgot to book more than a few marching bands.

The thing is, despite the shticky presentation with the "New Rule" and such, she's kind of got a point.  I don't know if the problem is exactly recorded vs live music. But there are situations where the marching clubs are starting to feel a little bit redundant. There have always been dance troops in parades. In recent decades, a new generation of them inspired by the Pussyfooters (seen here in Femme Fatale Sunday) brought a refreshing DIY artistry to the game.



Groups like this added a new dimension to the parades. They're an element that really set Muses apart during its early years, for example.   Nowadays they're everywhere. And that's not itself a bad thing. Check out the Dames de Perlage and their homemade costumes, for example.



Or the fabulous Roux La La doing a Brazilian theme this year.



We seem to have reached a point, though, where these acts, including even the World Famous 610 Stompers, aren't the surprise element they once were. So when they are deployed by a parade that uses them, as The Mardi Gras Czar implies, in lieu of marching bands, then that can get a little boring.  Freret felt like this on Saturday.

So did King Arthur a little bit on Sunday. Although, I will give that parade a lot of credit for owning its own limitations, throwing generously, and having a sense of humor.. or at least.. for putting Monty Python quotes on all of the float titles.



Their rented floats didn't fit a specific theme on their own without a little narrative help from the tittle cards. That was fine, though. It's cheap but it works. See, the Knights of the Round Table dance whenever they're able... they dance to ABBA.


#LastKnightInSweden?

Finally, in complaints, there are probably too many parades the first Sunday.  This is yet another consequence of the over-crowded Uptown schedule. This is, I think, Alla's third year since moving over from the West Bank.  According to the schedule, they begin at 2:00 PM. In practice, they are a night parade.



That might be OK if they were worth waiting for. But there isn't much to distinguish Alla from the three parades that preceded it. There's this big "Alla-gator" float.



Also, Alla emphasizes military and law enforcement every year so you get to see the coast guard and some friends of Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand.





At the end of a long day and weekend, it can feel like a let down.

Police:



In addition to the Coasties and the JPs, in the parades, there is also the heavy presence of municipal enforcement all along the route.  Here is NOPD's observation tower.



I wonder what happens when they have to pee.

Of course NOPD aren't the only agents of the law you might encounter. The real business is being conducted by parking enforcement.



Also, here again is our friend with the daiquiri cart.  I didn't have the chance to investigate further but this appears to be a permit inspection. Or maybe there is some sort of code against selling orange daiquiris that are actually red.





Politics:

This is probably an item for later in the week. But as krewe politics becomes more relevant this week, here is a brief guide we produced last year for you to keep in mind.

@bobmurrell Carnival politics

Establishment Right: Chaos

Establishment Left: Muses, KDV

Tea Party: Druids, D'Etat

Hippie Left: Delusion

— skooks (@skooks) January 23, 2016

Yes, it's a joke. And, yes, some of those groups share riders and it's not... look, don't @ me over this.

Instead, here is something to read. It's an ANTIGRAVITY article by Robin McDowell about the 1946 flambeau carrier strike. There are echoes of this in the current plight of so-called "culture bearers" who struggle to make ends meet entertaining the tourists and upper classes of our increasingly stratified and unaffordable city.

So few people who live and work in New Orleans actually ride atop floats. Those who work ungodly hours day and night in restaurant kitchens preparing New Orleans’ famous cuisine can’t actually afford the food they cook (let alone a market rate apartment). The holders of exclusive tickets bestowed for glamorous balls dance away their one-night affairs, upholding the mutually engendering exchange of appalling sums of money and social capital. The hours of work of artists, security guards, sanitation workers, cooks, servers, and delivery drivers are also part of this exchange.

Working at a Mardi Gras parade isn’t community service. It’s not “patriotic,” as the post-World War II ads would have people believe. It’s not something you do out of the goodness of your own heart to improve the living conditions of vulnerable communities. Being paid for your physical labor in smiles is an embarrassing and exploitive idea. Most of the tasks that don’t include sitting on a float with plumbing, heat, cold booze and snacks are bonafide wage labor.

Let’s look backward down Canal Street to 1946, and give a nod to a tiny minority of courageous souls who realized a strategic advantage and seized it. A humble few can wield some serious power—enough to shut down one of the greatest shows on earth.

Advice:

Travel pieces about New Orleans this time of year can get pretty insufferable. But this National Geogrpahic listicle wasn't so bad. Maybe the restaurant recommendations are a little high end. Anyway, here is my "insider's tip" for this year. Skip Chewbacchus on Saturday night and go see the Uptown parades.  It's becoming a bit of scene at Chewbacchus anyway. And the reviews, as of late, are less than.. um.. stellar.

They need to change the name Chewbacchus to Intergalactic Krewe of people walking looking bored.

— RevVargVargas (@vargvargas) February 19, 2017

Things I have seen marchers in Chewbacchus doing tonight:  Looking bored, on their phones, eating sandwiches.

— RevVargVargas (@vargvargas) February 19, 2017

Meanwhile, the popularity of the Bywater spectacle thins out the crowd on St. Charles where there are plenty of lightsabers anyway. 



What you'll see there is Sparta, always a good looking classic style parade with flambeaux (pictured above.)  The Sparta theme was based on different editions of Cirque du Soleil (and some puns.) My pictures of their floats didn't come out so great. Here is this year's King.



Following Sparta is a very ambitious Krewe of Pygmalion.  Every year, Pygmalion tries a little bit harder to earn its Saturday night headlining slot. Here are their signature Jester and Pygmammoth floats.





Elaborate float design, fancy lighting, and a general bigly-ness gives this the feel of one of the later parades but on the first weekend and playing to a more manageable crowd. Pygmalion. Consider it.


Controversies:

Today is Wednesday and that means the "self-proclaimed Super-Krewe" of Nyx is back tonight for its sixth ride.  According to the Arthur Hardy guide, they're already the second largest krewe in terms of membership.



But its explosive growth has also come with some growing pains.  If you like one great big float after another, you will have enjoyed the last few years of Nyx.  Sometimes it feels uneven, though. Almost like a truck parade.  But, boy are they ever desperate to be recognized. 

The ladies of the Krewe of Nyx have cemented their place in Carnival history with the unveiling of a krewe crest plaque at the Mardi Gras Fountain.

The Nyx plaque is the first to be added to  the Lakefront landmark since 2001. Nyx members dedicated their plaque Monday night, in advance of their Wednesday parade.

“The Krewe of Nyx is honored to be represented here at the iconic Mardi Gras Fountain, a New Orleans tradition.  We are honored and humbled to be among the storied and historic krewes that comprise Mardi Gras today and in the past.” said Julie Lea, captain of the Krewe of Nyx.

I guess dedicating a plaque to her krewe is a better use of Lea's time than scheduling Delgado police for double-dip detail duty or.. whatever this was about last year. It's definitely a better use of time and money than going to court over the world's dumbest $200 T-shirt idea.  The point is, wherever Nyx goes, drama and controversy seem to follow.

At least in the news, it does.  For the nearly 3,000 krewe members, none of this stuff is important. They're just here for the big parade. And the remaining 40 percent of the city's population not riding are here to see it. Oh wait... but at some point we're expecting a Plus One.

Lost in the hurlyburly of the first weekend of Mardi Gras, the first month of Donald Trump's presidency and the firehose of "fake news" comes this definitely-not-fake-news from Weekly World News, the former supermarket tabloid that now seems to be an online-only affair.

Billed (rightly) as a "Mardi Gras STUNNER!," the WWN seems to be the only media outlet to report an alien vows: "I'LL LAND MY UFO ON BOURBON STREET — ON FAT TUESDAY!"

What could possibly go wrong?

E.T., the extra crispy... pic.twitter.com/znf47MQ5pA

— MacCocktail (@MacCocktail) February 22, 2017